Chapter 55: Did the Thief Change Careers?

“Officer Tan, how did you just do that?”
After the initial shock, netizens flooded the chat with questions.
Tan Ping glanced at the comments and smiled, asking, “This skill—would you like to learn it?”
Wang Xingyun warned, “That’s not something you should learn!”
Among the comments, viewers couldn’t help but marvel:
“Luckily Officer Tan is a policeman; otherwise, he’d be useless to society!”
“With pickpocket skills like that, he’s bound to become an outlaw thief!”
“Do you think Officer Tan was a thief before he became a traffic cop?”
“That technique is too practiced—I can’t believe it without a thousand real-world runs!”
Seeing these outrageous comments, Tan Ping immediately cautioned, “Friends watching! You can be careless with your food, but don’t be careless with your words! If this gets out, I’m going straight to the station! I’m only this good because of practice! I’ve loved magic tricks since I was a kid…”
Hearing this, netizens suddenly understood:
“So Officer Tan has been training since childhood!”
“Gotta say, Officer Tan’s talent for pickpocketing is maxed out!”
“Officer Tan, why don’t you just quit being a traffic cop? A few thousand a month isn’t worth it. I have a gig that pays hundreds of millions per deal!”
“Hey, is your gig overseas?”
At this moment, a sincere question appeared in the chat:
“Officer Tan, if pickpockets are this hard to guard against, how should we protect ourselves?”
“Exactly! After watching this live stream, I’m too scared to enter crowds!”
“It’s terrifying! Without any clue, your belongings just vanish!”
“I think Officer Zheng is already mentally scarred—he feels like he’s lost something no matter what!”
Everyone laughed reading the comments: “Just a moment ago, viewers were saying no need for an explanation, now they’re begging Officer Tan to explain!”
Tan Ping didn’t hold back. Facing the camera, he explained seriously: “Pickpockets have a process before stealing, called ‘scouting.’”
“What’s scouting? It means figuring out what’s in the target’s pockets.”
While explaining, he turned to Li Dong, Li Yuwei’s younger brother: “Little Dong, you’ll demonstrate for everyone this time.”
“Me?”
Li Dong was reluctant.
“Come on over!”
Tan Ping beckoned him.

“All right.”
Li Dong reluctantly approached Tan Ping.
Once Li Dong was near, Tan Ping continued: “Scouting usually has two methods. The first is through physical touch—pushing or bumping like this—to feel what the target is carrying.”
After saying this, he looked at Li Dong: “Do you have a photo in your pocket?”
Li Dong immediately reached into his pocket, only to find it empty!
Clearly, when Tan Ping just demonstrated the contact, he had already taken Li Dong’s belongings!
“Wow! Officer Tan’s moves are way too fast!”
Netizens gasped in amazement.
“I just showed the first method—pretty direct, right? The second method is even more direct: visual observation.”
Tan Ping continued his explanation.
Then he glanced at Li Dong’s lower body: “For example, look at this bulge—there must be something inside, right?”
Li Dong looked down at himself immediately.
Cameraman Yang Wei quickly shifted the camera to a certain spot on Li Dong’s lower body.
The effect was immediate!
Tan Ping cleared his throat and quickly said, “Wrong! I meant the pocket!”
Yang Wei promptly moved the camera to Li Dong’s trouser pocket.
“There’s a pack of cigarettes and a lighter inside.”
Li Dong faced the camera and took out the cigarettes and lighter from his pocket.
Tan Ping went on: “Now that we know what and where the target is carrying, next we pick a crowded place to make a move. Do you know why?”
Li Dong answered at once: “When there are many people, the distance between them is very close.”
Tan Ping nodded and stepped forward, saying, “Exactly. See how close I am to Dongzi? At this range, you have to be very careful and keep a close eye on your valuables.”
Upon hearing this, Li Dong immediately reached to feel his trouser pocket.
Sure enough! It was empty again!
With a swift motion, Tan Ping slipped a lighter from his sleeve, then shook out a pack of cigarettes: “Were you looking for these?”
“Holy crap!”
Li Dong immediately stepped back several paces, keeping his distance from Tan Ping.
Tan Ping quickly reminded him, “We’re live streaming—please watch your language!”

Meanwhile, viewers flooded the chat:
“This is impossible to guard against!”
“Taking the bus or subway requires such close contact!”
“After watching Officer Tan’s stream, I’m never putting valuables in my trouser pockets again!”
Director Xu Gang, watching Tan Ping’s demonstration, immediately called Sister Hua, the veteran policewoman:
“Hua Hua, Tan Ping’s anti-pickpocket demonstration is excellent. Edit a video and post it on Douyin’s official account right away!”
“Yes, Director Xu!”
Hua Hua responded immediately.
Knowing the urgency, she and Officer Rabbit, Li Yuwei, quickly edited the video.
Soon, the video was ready and posted on Douyin’s official account.
At the same time, Qin Yanran received a request from the publicity department.
She promised, “No problem! I’ll do my best to promote this video!”
Quickly, with a series of promotions, the anti-pickpocket video went viral.
Within an hour, it had over 100,000 likes and thousands of comments.
In the comment section, netizens wrote:
“So Officer Tan himself is a master thief—no wonder he’s so good at catching thieves!”
“I watched the whole video six times before I figured out how Officer Tan stole Officer Zheng’s phone!”
“The main thing is, Officer Tan didn’t just steal Officer Zheng’s wallet, phone, and tissues—he stole phones from the surrounding viewers too!”
“Watching for fun, and your phone disappears!”
“The demo with Officer Rabbit’s brother made me afraid to get too close to anyone!”
“Yes! From now on, keep a safe distance! I’ll put valuables in my backpack and hold my phone in my hand!”
“After watching this, not only are we scared, I think the pickpockets will be scared too!”
“Exactly! With Officer Tan’s skill and sharp eyes, any thief trying to operate near him is doomed!”
Seeing the number of viewers rising, Tan Ping said, “Friends watching! That’s all for today’s anti-pickpocket lesson. Next, we’ll start today’s traffic law education segment. We’re behind the train station, which everyone knows is a place with mixed crowds and opinions. Today’s program starts here!”
Suddenly, Tan Ping noticed a street vendor had set up a stall in the middle of the road. He immediately said, “Friends, look! There’s a merchant occupying the road ahead. Let’s go over and teach him a lesson!”