Chapter 175: What Does That Flower Cat Want?

The two policemen still couldn't avoid it, because a conflict had started over there, and they had to go over to mediate.

The cause was a passerby saying, "It's just a cat, killing it is no big deal," which directly sparked an argument; if these two policemen didn't go over, that person would likely be beaten by a crowd.

As for the reporters mixed in among them, they were busy taking photos; even if they couldn't block that person inside the house today, they still had something to report.

An elderly man living nearby walked out of the alley with his hands behind his back, shaking his head repeatedly, and said in a low voice: "Should I say that person lacks brains, or that he doesn't know the times, can't read the situation, and if he wants to speak he can only keep it to himself, not seeing what kind of people are around." Upon seeing Er Mao standing not far away, the old man shut his mouth and left.

Around noon, Zheng Tan stopped staring there, went back to eat, and would come out again in the afternoon to have a look.

After returning, Zheng Tan analyzed it a bit, guessing that Er Mao might have learned the password of that computer via the surveillance camera, copied the cat-abuse video files inside, then went back to dismantle the surveillance equipment installed in the house; that's why Er Mao acts so fearless, not at all afraid of those reporters and other relevant personnel coming to inspect. At the same time, he also used some means, leveraging media and the internet to guide public opinion, causing the situation to develop like this in a short time.

The screenshots in the post came from that person's computer videos; these past few days he probably hasn't gone after cats again, grabbing one to vent his anger every so often; as for that interval, it might be a few days, or two or three weeks, or a few months, depending on how long it takes for his resentment and anger to build up to the point of explosion.

That person hasn't come back all day. However, more detailed information about him is already online, along with several clear photos from multiple angles; every day people go to his home to smash eggs, splash paint, and put up slogans, but it's unknown what motives those people have for doing these things—maybe they're truly angry about this, or maybe someone just wants to take advantage to cause a disturbance.

Soon, news of that person's cat abuse was reported one after another by major newspapers such as the Chu City Evening Post, Chu City Urban Post, and the Provincial Paper, and even some fairly authoritative psychologists' analyses and commentary appeared.

At the same time, many people are using this incident to show their presence, or taking the opportunity to gain fame and profit to boost their reputation. Regardless of whether those people are just putting on an act or genuinely love cats and condemn the cat-abuse incident, as long as what they do satisfies Zheng Tan and Er Mao, it's fine. No matter the profession, regardless of gender or age, there are always cat lovers. As long as this matter becomes known to the public, that person cannot continue to stay peacefully in Chu Hua City, at least in the short term. I heard that person has already been beaten by some unnamed cat lover.

On the other hand, the social heated discussion sparked by this incident has not cooled down; instead, it shows a trend of escalating intensity. Many people feel it's too sudden, unbelievable—everything should have a gradual progression, right? Why did this suddenly become the focus of attention? In their view, this seems rather like making a mountain out of a molehill—it's just abusing a cat, what's there to hype up? Cat abuse has happened before, so why hasn't it caused such a sensation this time?

What's the cause? Besides Er Mao being the instigator, there are certainly other factors involved.

If it were just this single incident, the topic wouldn't have heated up so quickly; but not long ago, a cat-abusing genius had just appeared, and at that time an expert said this was merely an extremely rare phenomenon in society, so nobody needed to cling to it. Yet the result was that, only a few days after that matter passed, another cat-abusing white-collar worker turned up, and that expert's face was instantly slapped—literally, "pa-pa" sound.

Moreover, these two cat-abuse incidents happened so close together—so-called "one wave not settled before another arises"—making the condemnation even more intense; cat lovers' anger has been underestimated by many, just as when some people once violently defended cats. Many people have urged that relevant animal protection laws be drafted quickly, so these people can't be allowed to run rampant any longer.

The second factor is what Er Mao said: killing a cat and abusing a cat are different, mainly referring to how society reacts differently.

Killing cats or dogs is, for many people, a matter of no concern, just like slaughtering chickens or sheep—nothing worth arguing over; even if one kills wild animals or even protected wildlife, the punishment is about the same, and aside from a few people, society's overall reaction won't be big. Especially for ordinary folks constantly busy making a living, at most it's just a after-dinner news item they can discuss; even killing a first-class protected animal, most people would merely respond with an indifferent "oh."

But abuse is different; moreover, when public opinion gradually shifts the topic toward another direction, making people's focus not on the cat but on the person, they won't just utter a bland "oh," nor will it be mere moral condemnation—they'll need to take preventive measures.

What? People with a tendency to abuse cats might also abuse children?! That would mean they'd abuse people in the future—utter beasts! No, even beasts are better than that!

People won't tolerate having such individuals around; even suspected cat- or dog-abusers are now objects of high vigilance. Even during an educational program on provincial TV interacting with parents, someone has mentioned this. Who would allow such a dangerous factor to exist in their children's living and growing environment?

That genius should be grateful that someone has come to share his burden, to share the people's curses.

During this period, while wandering outside, Zheng Tan often hears people discussing who around them seems suspicious, especially those who kick or beat animals for no reason—they've become the focus of public observation. Even the car owner who got sprayed with a round of cat urine by A Huang merely twisted his face, took a few deep breaths to calm his anger, suppressed the urge to kick that cat away, then drove off without even scolding it; in public, with this being a "sensitive period," it's better to just endure. Otherwise, if he shouted, others wouldn't see the cat randomly urinating, only see him yelling at and kicking the cat—he wouldn't need to wait until tomorrow; tonight those aunties out and about would let him know why cat urine smells so bad.

Looking at A Huang, who didn't know what he was doing, standing there and idly sharpening his claws on the tree trunk, Zheng Tan yawned, preparing to find a place to catch up on sleep; he's been thinking too much lately, and besides, he's spent too much time online during the day, while a cat's sleep time is naturally longer. Zheng Tan moved his paws to calculate, and indeed he's lacking sleep.

He was truly preparing to go back to the estate to look for a tree when Er Mao called out to him.

"Hey, Heimeitan, going out tonight?" Er Mao said as he walked toward the school gate.

Zheng Tan looked at Er Mao, wondering what scheme this guy was cooking up again.

Er Mao grinned with ill intent, "Eight o'clock tonight, meet at the side gate behind Dongqu Dayuan; if I don't see you by then, I won't wait."

Evening?

Zheng Tan faintly felt it should be about that cat-abuser; these past few days Er Mao has merely been using media and public opinion to achieve a certain goal, and Zheng Tan has always sensed he has another step planned.

No matter what. Only by waiting until evening will we know the answer.

All three members of the Jiao family were home that evening. Zheng Tan wasn't worried about Xiao Youzi being unsafe alone at home, and felt fine going out. When the hands of the hanging clock in the Jiao family living room pointed to 7:40, Zheng Tan headed out, reaching the side gate outside in no more than ten minutes.

Zheng Tan crouched beside the sidewalk with no flowerbed blocking it, watching the vehicles come and go. Not far away, someone got off at that bus stop; seeing Zheng Tan, those people still wanted to tease him, but Zheng Tan bared his teeth and scared them off. Today Zheng Tan couldn't be bothered to get entangled with them.

An ordinary-looking family sedan drove up and stopped, its window rolling down. Seeing it was Er Mao, Zheng Tan jumped in through the open passenger-side window.

As soon as he got in, Zheng Tan smelled a familiar odor—that of the cat-abuser, and also of that flower cat.

He didn't see that person, only saw the flower cat crouched on the back seat.

Zheng Tan looked at Er Mao, puzzled.

Er Mao pursed his lips, "I drove past there, saw it crouched by the roadside and called out once, and then it was like this; when getting into the car it kept sniffing around, snuffling while letting out low growls. Heimeitan, you say, does it know we're going to deal with that guy?"

Zheng Tan looked at the flower cat slumped in the back seat, head down, eyes half-closed as if dozing, and really couldn't figure out what it meant.

Not saying anything more about the flower cat, Er Mao drove off.

Er Mao's driving was somewhat like Wei Leng's, with the radio playing in the car and his mouth never idle: "That guy's in the trunk, and he's even changed cars—looks like quite a few people have gone to talk to him; when I found him, his head was still wrapped in gauze."

Turns out he was going to kidnap the person. Zheng Tan thought, sure enough, there's still another move.

The car headed outward past the Third Ring Road, driving all the way to the suburbs where tall buildings were basically out of sight, then it stopped.

After looking at the surroundings, Zheng Tan's first thought was: Is Er Mao planning to kill someone and dump the body!?

"Be good, don't run around; if you run off, I won't care about you anymore." Er Mao said as he got out of the car.

Zheng Tan didn't think those words were aimed at him; the flower cat in the back seat lifted its head to look outside, then slightly opened its mouth, let out a lazy "meow," also accompanied by that "hmm" sound from the nasal passages when just waking up, and even with the window open it didn't jump out.

Zheng Tan jumped out of the car and looked around; at this time the weeds around hadn't grown yet, only low clumps here and there. In the distance there were scattered lights, since tonight the moon is fairly close to full, the moonlight is good, so the surroundings aren't very dark, just hazy.

Er Mao dragged the person out of the car trunk; seeing that series of motions, it didn't look like a novice's work—no telling how many times he's done similar things.

The person's hands were bound behind his back, his feet also tightly tied, his mouth sealed, a cloth over his eyes; he appeared somewhat dazed, not fully conscious. All of this was Er Mao's handiwork.

After dragging the person out and putting him down more than ten meters from the car, Er Mao walked back to the vehicle, pulled out a stick from inside, and said to Zheng Tan, "You say, how should we hit him?"

Zheng Tan didn't look at Er Mao; he noticed the flower cat looking out from the car window, with none of the earlier lazy sleepiness.

It seemed to be confirming the person's identity, then the flower cat let out a "meow," jumped out of the car, and walked toward that person.

Seeing the flower cat's movement, Er Mao also stayed silent, turning the stick in his hand and fixing his eyes on that side.

The flower cat moved not quickly, pulling back its ears, whiskers slightly raised, emitting a "wu——" sound from its mouth.

Zheng Tan could tell it wasn't just a pure warning; it already carried a strong aggressive intent.

Meanwhile, the person had begun to wake up, kicking his legs and rolling side to side.

The night wind blew past.

The friction between leaves and grass produced a faint rustling.

The bright moon shone just right, the night air slightly cool. (To be continued...)

ps: (2.27)