Lionel had cooked himself some pasta before leaving the house, so he wasn’t feeling hungry at all. Instead, he took a book from his bag and began reading intently.

Twenty minutes later, the announcement for boarding was made. Mindy and Miranda had little luggage, so they walked ahead and scanned their ID cards to pass through the gates. They waited inside for Lionel to enter.

Lionel followed closely behind them. He dragged a suitcase with one hand and held Mindy’s bag in the other. As he was about to pull out his ID, he suddenly realized his wallet was missing.

Lionel recalled that someone had bumped into him from behind while waiting in line earlier, almost knocking him over. That must have been when his wallet was stolen from his backpack.

“Dad, hurry up!” Miranda urged from the other side of the gates.

Lionel said, “I lost my wallet. My ID is inside.”

Miranda thought for a moment before an idea came to her. “Use your phone. You can apply for a temporary ID through an app.”

After all, the wallet only had less than a few hundred dollars. His ID could be replaced later.

Lionel gave her a wry smile. “I lost my phone too.”

Miranda was speechless.

Suddenly, Lionel spotted a figure in the crowd some distance away. It was the person who bumped into him!

“Catch that thief!” Lionel dropped the suitcase and chased after the man.

Miranda and Mindy were worried that he might be injured if he went alone. They tried to exit the gate, but the staff stopped them. “Ladies, passengers who have passed the gates can’t go back out according to the rules. If you want to exit, you’ll need to pass through the exit gates.”

They would need to take a long detour if they went through the exit gates and back to the waiting hall.

Mindy tried to explain, “My husband is chasing a thief, and I’m worried about him. Can’t you make an exception?”

“I’m sorry, but rules are rules. There’s nothing I can do.”

Miranda fell silent for a moment. “How about this, we’ll exit through the gates. Meanwhile, could you notify the police on duty from this end to assist my dad?”

“Don’t worry about that. Our police officers are already on the case once they heard someone’s call for help to catch the thief,” the staff reassured her.

Miranda let out a sigh of relief. She picked up the suitcase Lionel left behind and headed toward the exit gates with Mindy.

On the other end, Lionel was thanking a young man. “Indeed, you're a great help! If it weren’t for your help, I wouldn’t have been able to catch that guy!”

“You’re welcome, sir,” the young man replied.

“What’s your name?” Lionel asked.

“I’m Sam. Sam Cooper.”

“Dad!”

Miranda and Mindy took nearly 20 minutes to circle back from the exit gates.

“Mimi! I got my wallet and phone back!” Lionel said proudly.

Mindy looked him over. “Are you alright?”

Lionel was panting slightly as he replied, “I’m fine, just a bit sweaty from all the running.”

The family of three started walking back toward the waiting hall. They had definitely missed their bullet train, so Miranda quickly used her phone to change their tickets to the next available one. Despite that, the next train would only arrive an hour later.

They found seats in the waiting hall and sat down. Suddenly, Lionel stood up and waved excitedly toward a figure nearby. “Sam!”

Instinctively, Miranda and Mindy looked up and followed his gaze in that direction.

“Oh!” Miranda was shocked.

Sam heard someone calling his name but didn’t realize that it was directed at him, so he didn’t turn around right away. Only when Lionel called out a third time did he finally turn to see who it was.

However, the first person he saw wasn’t the person calling him. Instead, Sam noticed a familiar figure standing in the crowd.

His eyes lit up, and he strode toward Miranda without hesitation.

Lionel hurried to greet Sam excitedly and gave him a warm handshake. “What a coincidence! We meet again!”