Chapter 3

My fingers were practically sparking on the screen as I typed furiously into the group chat:

[Your daughter stole something, and you have the nerve to accuse me of tampering with her milk tea?! Was that her milk tea?! That was something I paid for!] [You people are ridiculous. If you're not thinking straight, maybe you should see a doctor. There's video evidence of how many times your daughter has stolen from me!

Last time, I kindly reminded you in the group without posting the video. And what happened?! She kept stealing! You still dare to come to my door and cause trouble?! I didn't call the police to have your daughter locked up because I'm kind-hearted. ] With such solid evidence in front of them, they still wouldn't back down. One moment they said I was seeking revenge, the next they claimed that if I hadn't left my things outside, their precious daughter wouldn't have mistakenly drunk it, accusing me of poisoning her!

I was so angry I could hardly believe it. That girl looked at least twenty-something, not a two-year-old toddler who could mistakenly drink something!

Blatantly taking someone else's things without apologizing and then making a fuss—I finally understood that there was no reasoning with these unreasonable old folks.

I directly posted the surveillance video of the milk tea theft online, kindly pixelating the faces.

Thanks to the trending topic of "autumn's first cup of milk tea,"

my video went viral instantly, with people leaving comments like:

[Without the surveillance footage, this delivery guy would have been completely wronged!

] [Wow, if this girl is a college student, her roommates must have a tough time.

] [This is theft, plain and simple!

It's theft!] Most netizens sided with me. I made it clear in my post that all I wanted was an apology and for them to stop harassing me. The video quickly garnered tens of thousands of likes, and I immediately shared it in the neighborhood group, tagging those two old troublemakers, stating clearly that I wouldn't delete the video without an apology.

Soon, the two old folks panicked and repeatedly posted in the group:

[My daughter is still young; it's just a cup of milk tea!

Why are you making such a big deal out of it?

] [You're a grown man shaming my young daughter like this. Have you no decency?! ]

This time, other residents didn't indulge them: [Your kid stole something. What's wrong with asking for an apology? The guy's request isn't unreasonable.

]

[Yeah, how are you raising your kid? 507 is being quite generous, and you're still making a fuss. ]

Maybe realizing they had angered everyone, the upstairs neighbors quieted down a bit. After a while, they sent a long voice message to the group.

"Fine!

You just want an apology, right? Sorry, okay? Seriously..."

"Sorry, I'll make sure my daughter is more careful in the future and doesn't mistakenly take other people's things!

"

Seeing that I wasn't buying it, they sent another voice message after a while, crying and lamenting about how difficult it was to raise their daughter and asking for my understanding, saying they were old and didn't understand young people's matters, apologizing on behalf of their daughter.

Throughout all this, the girl herself never showed up.

I told my friend about this bizarre incident, and he agreed that the neighbors were over the top, acting completely unreasonable. However, he advised me to let it go, considering they were elderly, and it wouldn't be good if something serious happened.

I didn't want to escalate things either. Thinking they had apologized, I decided to let it go and took the video down.

Unexpectedly,

the very next day after I deleted the video, the old couple deliberately blocked me in the neighborhood. When they saw me, they spat at me:

"Spit! You cursed childless wretch! We're old enough to be your parents, and you dare make us apologize!"

"Hahaha, we only apologized because of those stupid videos you posted. Otherwise, who would bother with you!"

I took a big swig of bottled water and spat it right back at them.

Seriously, spitting? Anyone can spit!

The two of them were so furious they raised their hands to hit me. I kicked up my heels and ran, drinking water as I went and spitting it back at them. They couldn't catch up or reach me, hopping mad.

Hands on my hips, I looked at their disheveled state and shouted:

"Let me tell you! There are surveillance cameras in the neighborhood. You think you can push me around because you're old? Fine, I'll re-upload the video and show everyone how arrogant you are. I'll make sure your whole family can't step out without being drowned in spit!"

Hearing that I could re-upload the video, the old couple was so angry they were grinding their teeth, pointing at me and stammering but unable to say anything coherent.

I was worried they'd have a stroke and pin it on me, so I rolled my eyes and went upstairs.

Honestly, I was just bluffing. I didn't want to keep wasting public resources on such a trivial matter. Unexpectedly, while I didn't call the police, the old couple turned around and did.