Upside Down Grocery Shop - Chapter 4

As soon as Su Ran opened the door, he saw Xiao Ling standing outside, somewhat surprised. “Officer, good morning.”

Xiao Ling glanced at Su Ran. “Boss, your eyes are bloodshot. Didn’t sleep well?”

“Yeah, my stomach’s been acting up lately, so it’s hard to sleep soundly at night,” Su Ran replied casually, opening the shop door. “Officer, here so early—need something, or are you here to buy something?”

Xiao Ling walked into the shop, finding it just as ordinary as a few days ago. She looked at a black umbrella by the door. “Boss, I noticed the weather looks bad, and it might rain, so I thought I’d borrow your umbrella.”

Su Ran looked at Xiao Ling. “Officer, you must be joking. It’s broad daylight. Where’s this storm coming from?”

Xiao Ling looked at Su Ran. “Seems the boss can’t bear to part with it. How about I just buy it, then?”

“Twenty.”

Su Ran’s straightforwardness left Xiao Ling momentarily speechless. “That’s way too expensive! Other places only charge ten.”

“Mine’s better than theirs.”

Xiao Ling chuckled. “Fine, twenty it is. What’s your WeChat?”

“Sorry, this shop only takes cash,” Su Ran said with a smile.

Xiao Ling didn’t say anything else, just looking around the shop. It looked as ordinary as any other convenience store. “Boss, what do you think about the murder case from a few days ago?”

“Officer, you must be kidding,” Su Ran, noticing Xiao Ling wasn’t really interested in buying anything, simply sat down to play a game. “I’m just an average citizen. Solving cases is your job. I wouldn’t know a thing about it.”

Xiao Ling looked at Su Ran. “I don’t even know the boss’s name yet.”

“Su Ran.”

“Su Ran, got it.” Xiao Ling stared at him. For some reason, she—a straightforward person by nature—felt she should’ve asked him directly about last night’s events. But after exchanging these few words, she found herself feeling a bit awkward. “Sorry to bother you today.”

Su Ran smiled. “No worries. We’re all part of the community, right?”

Just as Xiao Ling was about to turn and leave, Su Ran called out, “Wait, Officer.”

Xiao Ling turned around. “What is it?”

Su Ran took out a ticket. “This is a ticket to a circus my friend gave me. I’m honestly too lazy to go, so I’ll give it to you, Officer. No point in wasting it.”

Xiao Ling took the ticket, glancing at it. “Thanks, and you can just call me Xiao Ling. No need for all the formal ‘Officer’ stuff.”

Xiao Ling left.

Su Ran watched Xiao Ling’s back as she walked away, then returned to his game.

Xiao Ling made a call. “Xiao Liu, check if a circus has recently set up near the city outskirts. I’m hailing a cab now, so bring a few guys over right away. Make sure to come in plain clothes.”

“Yes!”

Xiao Ling looked at the ticket with a picture of a bear walking on a balance beam and felt an odd unease.

A moment later, Xiao Ling arrived at the circus. It was not small—loudspeakers blared, garish posters covered the place, and clowns sold balloons and popcorn.

A clown approached Xiao Ling. “Pretty lady, want a balloon? Just ten bucks each.”

“Too expensive. No thanks,” Xiao Ling waved him off casually.

The clown chuckled and went off to sell balloons to others.

Since Xiao Liu and his team hadn’t arrived yet, Xiao Ling decided to head inside on her own. It was just a circus, after all. She got her ticket scanned and entered smoothly, finding a secluded spot to sit. More people filled the venue as the show was about to start. Still, Xiao Liu hadn’t arrived. Xiao Ling made several calls, but none went through. The performances were lively, but Xiao Ling had only one thing on her mind: finding the bear.

Finally, it was the bear’s turn to perform. But the bear that came out made Xiao Ling’s jaw drop—a tiny black bear, no bigger than an average large dog, likely still needing milk. This was supposed to be the fierce-looking big black bear from the poster?

Xiao Ling wasn’t the only one disappointed. Many people started complaining, and a few hot-headed ones were even shouting for refunds. It was clearly false advertising.

With growing discontent in the crowd, the organizer had no choice but to come out and explain. He went on about a lot of meaningless things but ultimately promised to compensate everyone with a free ticket for another show. That managed to calm the crowd down.

The audience, realizing that aside from the bear, the other acts were quite good, happily accepted the free tickets. They’d just skip the bear’s act next time.

A young woman approached Xiao Ling, apologetically saying, “I’m sorry, but here’s your ticket.”

Xiao Ling took it, glanced at her, and softly said, “I’d like to see your manager.”

The woman looked embarrassed. “Miss, we’ve already given you another ticket. There’s no need to keep pushing this.”

Xiao Ling showed her police badge. “This is about something else.”

The woman immediately apologized profusely. “I understand. I’ll let him know right away.”

Before long, Xiao Ling was brought before a middle-aged man with a somber face. Upon seeing her, he forced a smile. “Officer, even if we did exaggerate a bit on the poster, there’s no need to involve the police, right? We’re just trying to make a living. Could you cut us some slack?”

Xiao Ling replied, “Relax. I’m not here about your posters or performances. I just want to see that bear.”

“The bear?” The man looked confused but agreed.

The little black bear was in a cage, looking dirty and frightened. It seemed it had been bullied due to its poor performance earlier. Xiao Ling examined the bear’s limbs. “Boss, is this really the only bear you have?”

The man gave a bitter smile. “Officer, it’s tough making a living nowadays. This one is already pushing our limits. We wouldn’t dare have any more.” He thumped his chest. “Believe me, everything we do here is legal. We’re just trying to keep the family business going, but times are rough. Soon, we won’t even have food on the table. Just today…”

Xiao Ling cut him off, as he was already getting teary-eyed. “Calm down. I’m not here to shut down your circus. No need to be so tense.” She gave the bear one last look before turning to leave.

The rest of the circus acts were entertaining, but Xiao Ling was no longer interested. As soon as she stepped out, her phone rang. “Captain, where did you go? We couldn’t reach you!”

After clarifying the address, Xiao Ling met up with Xiao Liu. “You guys go inside and check every corner. See if anything’s out of place.”

Xiao Ling checked the time. It was late enough that the convenience store might still be open.

But when she got there, she saw a note on the door.

“Owner out on a date. Be back tomorrow!”