Chapter 112: The Manhole Cover

"A clever hunter often presents himself as the prey, only to unleash a thunderous strike when the moment is right!"

Zhang Xiaoman crouched by the edge of the manhole, cupping his face alongside two young children as they peered into the pitch-black sewer. He squeezed out a smile as bright as sunshine. "How about that? The force of my kick was just right—more accurate than any domestic soccer player; those guys can't even score into an empty net half the time... Trying to play hide-and-seek with me is like trying to pull fresh ginger from hard-packed earth—you're still too green! Come on, look up and let me see exactly what kind of trash you are!"

Wang Chao slowly crawled up from the sewage-filled drain. With his head hung low, his face livid, he hissed, "Are you that idiot everyone talks about? How the hell do you look like an idiot?"

Zhang Xiaoman rubbed his nose. "Playing the fool is a craft... I’m getting on in years now, and my brain isn't what it used to be. If I were a few years younger, ten of you wouldn't be a match for me, and I wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble."

"Do we know each other?" Wang Chao chuckled softly. "You’ve got a lot of nerve kicking someone into a sewer for no reason. Do you really think I won't call the police right now and have you eating prison food for a few days?"

"I'm just trying to get to know you, which is why I asked you to look up and do me the favor," Zhang Xiaoman said with a light cough. "As for calling the police? Do you dare? I, on the other hand, am about to call them right now. Care to guess who’ll be the one eating prison food? Here’s a hint, so you don't guess wrong: the puzzle of those three bags is complete, and I’ve already found several sets of fingerprints inside and out. I’ve just been worried about finding someone to match them against."

Wang Chao didn't blink. "What puzzle? I have no idea what you're talking about. It seems you really are an idiot; only an idiot would spout such nonsense."

"The biggest idiot between us is you. You became a lovesick fool for a woman—my wife calls it 'romantic brain rot,'" Zhang Xiaoman pouted. "Not only are you spouting nonsense, you're committing crimes! Do you think you were perfect enough that no fingerprints could be found on those bags? True, the surface of the bags might be clean of yours and that woman's prints, but there was an identical fingerprint on one of the courier packages and on the zipper of one of the bags. One oversight, and your whole game fell apart!"

"Fell apart?" Wang Chao sneered, glancing left and right. "I feel like it’s only just begun... Everything you’ve said is nothing more than speculation. To prove it, you need a prerequisite."

Zhang Xiaoman narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. "Oh? And what condition is that?"

Wang Chao pulled a tissue from his pocket, methodically wiped the yellowish stains from his body, and said with composure, "The prerequisite is... you have to catch me first."

"Aren't you caught already?" Zhang Xiaoman pinched his nose. "Living in sewage really makes your words stink... Just stay put. This pit is over four meters deep; no matter how good your jump is, you won't get out. I went to a lot of trouble to pick this spot for you. Someone was relieving themselves here earlier, and I followed the smell to find it. It's still warm, so you won't get cold."

The older child suddenly chimed in, "Old man, you're wrong. There were two of them."

"Two?" Zhang Xiaoman blinked. "You saw them?"

The smaller boy nodded earnestly. "It was definitely two. We were playing soccer here, and those two men showed up. They saw there was no manhole cover, dropped their pants, and started pooping—*plop, plop*. The smell was so bad it drove us away."

"I guess they had the runs?" Zhang Xiaoman clicked his tongue. "I only smelled someone unloading here with such heavy thuds, but I didn't know it was a joint effort. Truly, hearing a hundred times isn't as good as seeing once. You two shouldn't copy them; only animals defecate in the street."

The older child pouted. "We never go to the bathroom on the street. We kids are civilized; it's the adults who spit and litter everywhere. Those two were adults, too. They didn't even cover the hole after they were done and just rode off on their electric scooter."

"That’s poor form," Zhang Xiaoman muttered, curling his lip. "But thank goodness they didn't cover the hole, or we wouldn't have caught this wooden puppet..."

Just then, the smaller boy’s expression changed, and he shouted, "He ran away! He ran away!"

Zhang Xiaoman waved a hand. "Let him go. They just took a dump here; they didn't do anything truly heinous. Nature calls, after all..."

The smaller boy shook his head, pointing at the hole. "No... the wooden puppet is gone!"

Zhang Xiaoman’s eyes widened. He looked into the manhole, and sure enough, there wasn't even a shadow of a person left. He stood up, coughed in embarrassment, and murmured, "I got a bit too complacent..." He turned to the smaller boy and asked softly, "Did you see which way he ran?"

The smaller boy pointed to the right of the hole. "I think that way... but do you think he might have pretended to run that way, only to dodge along the edge of the sewer and escape in the opposite direction? My brother uses that trick when we play hide-and-seek. He calls it something like..."

The older boy made a fist and held it to his mouth, coughing twice and assuming a profound air. "All warfare is based on deception."

"Well said!" Zhang Xiaoman looked at the older boy deeply. "What's your name?"

The older boy said shyly, "Edogawa Cao, Holmes Mu."

"Cao Mu? 'Trees and grass as soldiers'—a fine name!" Zhang Xiaoman pursed his lips and pulled a business card from his pocket. "If one day you want to be a hero who cleans up the filth in this city, go to the address on this card and look for a man named Nie Yi. He will help you realize your dreams..."

"Is he a scavenger? I don't want to be a cleaner. A man's ambitions should be grander. I don't want to say it out loud..." The older boy lifted his chin, puffed out his chest, and put his hands on his hips. "I, Cao Mu! One day, I will be a world-renowned detective!"

Zhang Xiaoman’s face twitched. "Perhaps you'd be better off finding Li Jun instead... Never mind, that's not for me to worry about." He took out his phone, dialed He Wei’s number, and waved goodbye to the two children. "Kids, remember my words: cleaning the streets and cleansing the world of evil are the same thing. Neither is lesser than the other."

The older boy stood stunned for a moment, looking down at the words "Yiming Detective Agency: Zhang Xiaoman" on the card. His eyes lit up, and he watched Zhang Xiaoman walk away with excitement.

The smaller boy glanced at Zhang Xiaoman’s back, then turned to his brother, puzzled. "Brother, who was that old man? What did he mean? I feel like he had bad intentions sending you to that Nie Yi guy. Being a cleaner is dirty, tiring work..."

"He is the person I've always told you about," the older boy said, his eyes filled with reverence as he carefully tucked the business card into his pocket. "He’s the person I’m going to become... It doesn't matter if you don't understand now. You’ll understand naturally when you’re as old as I am."

The smaller boy nodded, half-understanding. Suddenly, his stomach gave a loud growl. He rubbed his shriveled belly, blushed with shame, and said awkwardly, "Brother, I'm hungry again..."

The older boy rolled his eyes. "Didn't you just eat eight loaves of bread earlier?"

"I eat a lot, so I grow fast!" the smaller boy scratched his head. "Plus, I do all the heavy lifting..."

"At this rate, who could afford to feed you? No wonder Mom and Dad ran off. I’m the only fool left dragging you around as a burden..." The older boy sighed, pulled a handful of coins from his pocket, and counted them. "Only 18 yuan left. Only enough for three loaves of bread. It won't fill your bottomless pit of a stomach. A single penny really can stump a hero!"

"Don't worry, don't worry..." The younger boy grinned. He walked to a corner of the alley, grabbed a burlap sack, and hooked his little hands under the edge of a round object. With a heave, he lifted a thick manhole cover and balanced it on his head. "If we sell this cover, won't we have money again?"

The older boy watched the younger boy walk over with the cover, his face turning pale and then red. "Put that down! Didn't I tell you not to bring this out during the day?"

The younger boy gave a soft "oh" and dropped the cover to the ground, clapping his hands together as he walked back to his brother.

The older boy watched the cover clatter and vibrate against the ground, kicking up dust. He grinned slightly. "Your strength is almost rivaling that of Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu... But brute strength is useless; you have to use your head. Liu Bang wasn't as strong as Xiang Yu, yet he was the final winner. That’s a classic case of intelligence triumphing over brawn. From now on, you must use your brain more and your muscles less, or you'll end up like Xiang Yu."

"Brother, I have you to use your brain," the younger boy said, blushing. "Besides, Liu Bang wasn't much better than Xiang Yu; one was a hoodlum, the other a bandit..."

The older boy glared at him, touched the business card in his pocket, and let out a long sigh. "Either way, we can't keep up this bandit business of stealing manhole covers. Since I’m going to be a famous detective, I have to find us a new way to fill our stomachs."

The younger boy gasped in surprise, pouting. "Brother, if we don't steal covers, what will we eat? I told you that old man was trouble—a few words and he’s already ruined your livelihood..."

"It’s not entirely because of him. I’ve realized for a while that this isn't a sustainable path. Think about it: there are only so many manhole covers in the city. Eventually, we’ll steal them all. What will we eat then? Being a detective is different. We can help people solve problems and fill our bellies at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds."

"Great! Then let's be detectives! Brother, what do we do now? Should we go find that Nie Yi the old man mentioned?"

"No rush. First, put the cover back on the hole so that wooden puppet doesn't pop out again."

"Okay... it's covered! I'll put seven big rocks on top just in case, so he doesn't get out and turn someone else into a vegetable who can't eat or drink! Now, are we going to find Nie Yi?"

"You've rubbed your belly three times already. Go fill that wretched stomach of yours first; the growling is giving me a headache!"

"Brother, we only have 18 yuan. We can't get full. Let's just find a way to be detectives."

"I'll take you somewhere free. You're guaranteed to get full."

"There's such a good place?"

"Yes! Those two adults who were pooping here earlier said they just came from a jewelry store. They’re having a huge promotion—free food and free drinks. That fat guy was even complaining that he didn't eat enough! We’ll go there, eat until the sky turns dark and the world flips upside down! We’ll eat until we have to lean against the wall to walk out!"