My home located in Yunyang District, every weekend, I leave school on Saturday afternoon and return to the campus on Sunday afternoon.

The other Sunday on the shuttle bus back to town, a real-life drama was unfurling. In the depths of winter, most passengers on the bus were donned in thick thermal wear. Seats all taken, every new traveller the bus picked up along the way was pushed into the aisle. All on board were packed like sardines.

At a stop along the route, a tall bloke with dark glasses and a facial mask on boarded the bus. It was weird to see him dressed in that manner, for wearing dark glasses in wintertime is not standard practice here in town. Having squeezed in, he planted himself right by my side. Next to me was a pretty girl.

When the bus was plying on, the man sometimes touched me. I did not know whether it was accidental or intentional. I did not give it much thought. Anyway, the vehicle was jam-packed.

All of a sudden, I saw the man’s fingers slipping into the girl’s pocket. I had an impulse to give the girl a warning directly, but on second thoughts I refrained.

At the time the girl was so much engrossed in social networking by QQ on her mobile that she was unaware of it at all. An idea hit me. I flicked on my QQ on the phone. The app has a function of befriending people nearby. Quickly I identified the girl’s QQ number and sent her a friend request. She approved it right away. On the IM, I tipped her off that someone was picking her pocket.

On getting my message, the girl abruptly turned around and hit the man. The commotion cast under the spotlight the guy in dark spectacles and a mask. A lot of passengers turned to him and stared. The pickpocket froze then and there, as if nothing had happened.

At the next stop, he got off.