Chapter 11

() Sitting in the bicycle basket, passing over the stone-earth road…… Zheng Tan really didn't want to keep recalling.

All the way to the destination Wei Leng mentioned, Zheng Tan hurriedly jumped off the bike, feeling dizzy and almost fell straight to the ground.

This is a two-story small building; the surroundings are all residential private housing areas, but this area is also within the demolition zone, many houses are empty, with big 'demolish' characters written on the walls, and tall advertising design boards are hung around.

The high-tech zone radiates outward; demolition of this area is inevitable, and within ten years it will gradually be covered by various newly built high-tech enterprises.

Wei Leng opened the door, pushed the bike inside, rummaged the fridge, grabbed a handful of beef chunks, sat on the sofa watching TV while eating, and ignored Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan looked around, jumped onto the coffee table, pushed Wei Leng's beef chunks over, tore open the packaging and started eating. Earlier on the way here, Wei Leng had said that after finishing his errands he would directly ride his bike to Chu Hua Da Xue and drop Zheng Tan off, so Zheng Tan wasn't in a hurry to leave… he couldn't leave even if he wanted to.

A few minutes later, the door sounded, and a person in police uniform entered.

Seeing Zheng Tan, that person exclaimed to Wei Leng, "Where did you pick up that cat? I don't keep cats! You know, I'd rather keep a dog than a cat!"

"You don't need to keep it; it belongs to someone else, I'll send it back tomorrow." Wei Leng tore open a beef chunk, threw it into his mouth, took out the glass jar and handed it to that person.

That person said nothing more, put on gloves, took the glass jar to the washroom, and shortly came out holding a small transparent bag through which the contents could be seen.

Jade, diamond, gold ring…

Although it's only a small bag, its value is not insignificant.

"Did you see anyone?" that person asked.

Wei Leng shook his head, pointed at Zheng Tan, and said, "This cat discovered it."

"Tch, you're just making excuses!" that person obviously didn't believe him, then said, "Go on, what else did you find? I couldn't hear clearly over the phone… did you replace your little walkie-talkie? That way we won't lose contact when you leave the central zone."

Wei Leng described the condition of that tiled-roof house: "They deliberately scattered medicine around to keep livestock away, but it doesn't kill the weeds. The nearby residents have been busy moving out lately, so they wouldn't look at those weed-choked shacks. This bag was also hidden well, the traces around cleaned up fairly neatly, very careful… that person isn't doing this for the first time."

"Of course it's not the first time; that person already has several lives on his hands, he's practiced at this. It's only because you managed to find it; if I sent my guys, even if they circled that tiled-roof house all day they wouldn't find a single clue." The police uniform man flicked the bag in his hand, thought for a moment, then handed a folder behind him to Wei Leng.

"Male?" Wei Leng frowned at the documents in his hand; this differed from his guess—he had previously suspected the only female among the suspects.

"The results from the new equipment bought by the bureau couldn't be false, right?" The police uniform man patted Wei Leng's shoulder, "Alright, brother, I really thank you for helping find this evidence; they've already stationed people over there, and will notify you of any movement. I'm saying, you've been discharged for three years, your wounds have healed, hurry up and find something to do, stop wandering around aimlessly; joining the bureau or starting a company are both fine, you're not lacking connections or capital."

Wei Leng lit a cigarette, raised his arm to pillow his head, leaned back on the sofa, and said, "Lazy."

"Cut the crap!" the police uniform man snatched the folder and slapped it over, so angry he didn't continue the topic, then turned to look at Zheng Tan on the coffee table, who was using his paws to push aside the beef chunk packaging, and said, "This cat is pretty smart, but compared to my master's old mountain cat…"

He stopped speaking mid-sentence.

"Why did I bring it up!"

"Why did you bring it up!"

The two spoke almost simultaneously.

Just thinking about how that mountain cat's gaze when looking at people was exactly the same as their master's made both of them feel uneasy. This is also why Wei Leng wasn't overly surprised by Zheng Tan's various behaviors.

Rubbing the goosebumps rising on his arm, Wei Leng kicked the police uniform man and said, "Senior brother, you should get back to work; these cases are enough to keep you busy."

"Yeah," the police uniform man gathered his things, his face looking serious but his tone smug: "I wouldn't feel right getting promoted without solving these cases."

"Narcissism is a sickness; it needs treatment."

"Haven't you seen it in the newspapers? Only narcissists can be leaders—Napoleon, Roosevelt, Stalin, Edison, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, and even Hitler all share the same narcissistic psychological trait." Saying that, the police uniform man whistled as he walked away, adding before leaving, "Don't return my daughter's bicycle; when the time comes, buy a new one to compensate—she's about to give birth, you know, the foldable kind."

Although Zheng Tan kept pushing the beef chunks, his ears remained upright, listening to the two's conversation. It seems these two aren't simple either; they likely come from the same master.

After the police uniform man left, Wei Leng made a bowl of instant noodles, grabbed a handful of beef chunks and put them on the coffee table, then told Zheng Tan, "I'm going to catch some sleep; if you're hungry, eat the beef chunks—there's nothing else for you to eat. Also, it's best not to go out; this place isn't like where you stayed before. Do you know why there are no cats or dogs around here? Those construction workers have caught them all and stewed them. Lots of people want to eat Dragon Tiger Fight, so with your skills you could at most bully a little stray dog."

Zheng Tan: "……"

After spending a night in this dangerous zone, the next day Wei Leng packed a bundle of clothes, etc., rode his bicycle toward Chu Hua Da Xue, and Zheng Tan again crouched in the basket of that pink ladies' bike; fortunately, once approaching the urban area the roads were relatively flat, aside from the wind being a bit unpleasant, everything else was fine, if you ignore certain noisy people.

From departure all the way to the street where Chu Hua Da Xue is located, Wei Leng nagged Zheng Tan about his various shortcomings: "Poor jumping ability, slow reflexes, hearing deteriorated to the point of being pig-like—someone could walk up beside him and he wouldn't notice…"

Zheng Tan really wanted to retort, but he lacked the ability; opening his mouth only produced strange cat calls, so along the way pedestrians saw this scene: a man riding a women's bike kept talking, saying two sentences, then the cat in the basket would meow once, making the man and cat seem like they were arguing.

Riding a bike from the New Technology Development Zone to Chu Hua Da Xue took at least two hours, and Zheng Tan saw that Wei Leng didn't look very tired either.

Wei Leng rented a house near Chu Hua Da Xue; he had already bought a place, not far from Chu Hua Da Xue, but it's currently under renovation, so he won't be living there for at least half a year, thus he found this place and paid six months' rent.

The last time Zheng Tan saw the mother and daughter on the big lawn, they were the wife and child of Wei Leng's comrade-in-arms; that comrade unfortunately died on duty, and Wei Leng has been helping look after them, often visiting them even after his discharge.

The house Wei Leng rented isn't far from the East Staff Residential Complex; exiting the East Campus Gate, it's a five-minute walk, and many students rent there.

After arriving at the rental place, Wei Leng had Zheng Tan get off the bike, saying, "Go back on your own; use your free time to practice your skills. As a cat that likes to roam around, without some ability you'll eventually be caught for Dragon Tiger Fight out there. I'll go running on the school grounds in the morning, around six or seven; if you want to run, you can join me—just like that."

After saying that, Wei Leng locked the bike and went upstairs, not bothering to worry whether leaving the cat here would get it snatched. He thought, if this cat were so easy to catch, it would serve it right, and it would save him the trouble of training it.

Zheng Tan was fairly familiar with the surroundings; he ignored the calls of passing students and detoured around them toward the East Campus Gate.

"That cat is so aloof."

"Exactly, unlike that flower-patterned cat from the past two days that would still roll over."

"Could it be that all black cats are like this?"

"No way, my aunt's family also has a black cat that loves to be spoiled, unlike this one…"

Zheng Tan listened to the female students' chatter behind him, flicked his ears, he was in a bad mood—roll over? act cute? go to hell!

One has to admit, when Zheng Tan climbed over the wall into the East Staff Residential Complex, his heart suddenly became much quieter and more peaceful; perhaps this is what belonging feels like?

Before Zheng Tan could finish his reflection, a dog's bark turned his just-calm inner state overcast.

Zheng Tan recognized that dog's bark; he hadn't heard it in a month, and the compound had been relatively peaceful for a month as well.

Zheng Tan turned his head to look; a dog was running this way while biting a bottle of mineral water, with its owner chasing after it shouting.

This dog is called Sahala, unrelated to the famous desert; its name comes from its bloodline, and it's said to have three bloodlines: Samoyed, Husky, and Labrador.

Looking at Sahala's face, it has the Husky's solemn expression, yet oddly also the Samoyed's upturned mouth corners; combined, they look lewd no matter how you view it. It inherited the Labrador's intelligence, but unfortunately, that intelligence never hits the mark.

For example, right now Sahala is frolicking everywhere while biting the bottle of mineral water his owner just bought; he probably just likes being chased.

Whoosh—

The plastic body of the mineral water bottle was pierced by Sahala's sharp teeth, and due to water pressure the liquid sprayed out; it just happened to spray when Sahala ran past Zheng Tan's side, and Zheng Tan couldn't dodge in time, getting hit squarely.

Could it be that his reflexes really are that bad?

The culprit had already dashed off with the leaking bottle in its mouth; Zheng Tan shook off the water on his body, hadn't even sighed yet, when he heard the sound of wings flapping.

On the compound wall behind him, a blue-colored figure descended.

「Yesterday I passed by your door~ you were holding a bucket and splashing water outward~ splashed on my leather shoes~ passersby on the road~ laughing and laughing hehe~~」

Zheng Tan：「……」

Suddenly really want to poop.

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Thanks, Daxiong Xingkong, looking forward to bright moon in the sky, Jixie Baobao, Jingjing AG, Xingxing Mao, lazyorange's reward! Thanks, looking forward to bright moon in the sky (5), chh's rating vote! Thanks to all the readers who have been supporting~

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