Chapter 251: Unexpected Encounter (First Update)

At that moment, Su Ming suddenly spotted a very familiar figure in the crowded crowd ahead. That figure was none other than Mink.

He was browsing the stalls here alone.

It truly was meeting an old friend in a faraway land.

Su Ming couldn’t help but smile slightly and prepared to go over to greet him.

Suddenly, Su Ming noticed a petite figure wearing a gray trench coat and a hood sidle up to Mink and pull out a corner of a wallet that was peeking out of Mink’s pocket.

“Ankajia, hold this for me.”

Su Ming directly handed the companion ore in his hand to Ankajia and then quickly walked over.

The reason he didn’t call out to Mink directly was to avoid alerting the thief.

After succeeding, whether out of caution or coincidence, the thief instinctively glanced back. Just then, they saw Su Ming rushing towards them and immediately panicked, running forward.

Su Ming then stopped hiding his intentions and dashed forward. As he ran past Mink’s side,

Mink suddenly reached out, grabbed Su Ming’s arm, and exclaimed excitedly.

“Su Ming!”

Su Ming was instantly speechless. This guy hadn’t reacted when he was being pickpocketed, but now his eyesight was so sharp. So he hurriedly said to Mink,

“Don’t grab me, your wallet’s been stolen.”

Hearing this, Mink was also stunned and quickly felt his pocket. The wallet was indeed gone.

“Let’s chase!”

Su Ming immediately chased after the thief.

Mink snapped back to reality and hurriedly joined Su Ming in chasing the thief.

The thief was also desperately running forward, taking advantage of their petite size to weave through the dense crowd.

“Make way!”

Su Ming and Mink kept shouting at the people ahead while squeezing through the gaps.

Of course, doing this naturally bumped into many people who were browsing the stalls.

“What the hell!”

“Are you blind!”

Those browsing passersby immediately started cursing loudly.

“Sorry!”

Mink shouted back while continuing to chase forward.

“Never mind that, just chase first!”

Su Ming shouted to Mink, quickening his pace to catch up.

At that moment, the thief glanced back, saw Su Ming and Mink rapidly closing in, panicked even more, hurriedly turned into an even more crowded street, and desperately squeezed into the crowd.

“Huff~ huff~”

The thief kept panting, constantly turning and weaving through the crowd.

After running who knows how far, the thief glanced back again, found they had already shaken off Su Ming and Mink, and hurriedly ran towards the street on the right.

A short while later, the thief arrived at a remote alley.

Outside the alley were placed several trash bins. Inside the alley, a middle-aged woman wearing a gray trench coat on the outside and a blue knitted sweater underneath leaned against the wall. This woman’s face was extremely pale, with messy red hair strands falling beside her cheeks.

“Mother, mother, I have money now, I can take you to see a doctor.”

The thief excitedly raised the wallet in their hand and called out to the middle-aged woman.

Just at that moment, a hand suddenly grabbed the arm holding up the wallet.

The thief turned their head in panic to look. The person grabbing their arm was none other than Su Ming.

Su Ming took the wallet back with one hand while pulling back the thief’s hood with the other, revealing a young face.

Su Ming was slightly taken aback, a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected this thief to be a girl with slightly bluish skin, around thirteen years old.

“Sir, it’s all our fault, we offended you. Please be lenient. We fled here as refugees from Scarlet Country, truly with nowhere else to turn. That’s why Katini did such a thing. Please, I beg you, spare her.”

At this moment, the sickly middle-aged woman pleaded weakly.

Su Ming glanced at the middle-aged woman. Although the corners of her clothes that were visible were stained with dirt, one could still see the exquisite craftsmanship they once had. Moreover, from the woman’s pleading words, it was clear she wasn’t an ordinary refugee; her cultural refinement was quite high, likely a noblewoman who had fallen on hard times.

Also, from the middle-aged woman’s condition, one could tell she was likely seriously ill.

Su Ming then released his grip on Katini’s hand.

Katini crawled fearfully to her mother’s side and hid in her embrace.

Su Ming put Mink’s wallet into his own pocket, then took out his own wallet, pulled out three bills from it, and handed them to Katini.

Katini looked at Su Ming in astonishment, but in the end, she timidly accepted them.

“Thank you, sir.”

The middle-aged woman before him said with immense gratitude.

Su Ming didn’t say anything and simply turned and left.

As Su Ming walked back along the street, Mink rushed over, panting heavily, and said,

“They probably ran ahead.”

“Stop chasing. I got the wallet back. See if anything’s missing.”

Su Ming took out Mink’s wallet and handed it to him.

“Okay!”

Mink happily took it and quickly opened it to check.

After confirming everything was there, he let out a long sigh of relief and said,

“Great, the ID documents and everything are all here. Otherwise, I’d be in trouble.”

“As long as they’re all there. I didn’t expect to run into you here. It’s been a long time.”

Su Ming replied with a smile.

“It really has been a long time. When I saw you, I could hardly believe it. By the way, how did you end up here?”

Mink asked very happily.

“The school organized a large-scale practical mission to escort supplies to the Neutral Countries. We’re stopping here for a break. What about you?”

“Same, I came with my school too.”

“I see. Where are you staying now?”

Su Ming chatted along with Mink.

Hearing Su Ming’s question, Mink said with a look of frustration,

“Don’t even ask. Right now, I’m staying in a small inn in the commoners’ district with my classmates. The kind that’s in one of those pigeonhole buildings. And there are ten of us crammed into one room, with even water usage limited.”

“We’re all in a similar situation. How have you been lately?”

Su Ming comforted with a smile.

“Pretty good. I got into a decent high school in Rainy City. Of course, it’s not as good as yours. I’ve been following your news. I never expected you to win second prize in the Three School League. That’s seriously awesome!”

“It was alright.”

“What do you mean ‘alright’? When I told my classmates I know you, they all said I was bragging.”

Mink grew more and more excited as he spoke.

Su Ming smiled and said to Mink,

“Mink, have you had lunch?”

“Not yet.”

“Let’s find a place to eat and chat. I’ll call my classmates over too. I was so focused on helping you catch the thief earlier, I have no idea where they ended up.”

“Okay, my treat.”

Mink said warmly.

“No problem.”

Su Ming and Mink walked towards the street ahead.

A short while later, Su Ming, Mink, and Ankajia sat at a small street-side stall.

“What would you three like to eat?”

A somewhat scruffy-looking uncle asked politely.

“Three bowls of noodles, with extra minced meat.”

Mink ordered very skillfully.

“Three hundred federal currency!”

The uncle replied to Mink.