Chapter 22

Jiao Ba is a man of action; after deciding to ask Wei Leng for help, he finished lunch and directly called Wei Leng. This time was outside working hours, making it convenient to reach someone.

Because of Zheng Tan, Jiao Ba sometimes runs into Wei Leng and chats a bit, mostly about Zheng Tan; besides topics about Zheng Tan, they seem to have talked about other things, which Zheng Tan doesn't really know, only that it concerns Wei Leng's future job prospects.

Wei Leng's little PHS has been replaced by a phone, so Zheng Tan no longer has to hear Wei Leng shout 'hey hey fuck' every time he answers a call.

Sure enough, Wei Leng agreed to come over in the evening to look after the two kids; he doesn't have much time during the day, but evenings are relatively free.

The two kids stayed in the hospital until after two in the afternoon; Ling Aunt came over once, she had made soup today and brought some over, so Jiao Ba just needs to heat it in a microwave. At the same time, Ling Aunt said she wanted to take the two kids to her place for dinner, to avoid them always eating hospital boxed meals, and then send them back home later.

Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma surely agreed, not refusing Ling Aunt's kindness.

However, after Zheng Tan followed them back to school, he split off from Jiao Yuan and the others; he didn't want to go to Ling Aunt's house because there were some young kids there, her relatives' children, and the last time Zheng Tan saw that brat pulling A Huang's tail. As always, clueless little brats are the public enemy of all pets.

Zheng Tan would rather eat biscuits than go to Ling Aunt's house and have his tail grabbed by kids; he can't be sure he wouldn't extend his claws if his tail were grabbed.

Standing in front of the main gate of the East Staff Compound, Zheng Tan thought for a moment, idle and with nothing to do, so he might as well go see Wei Leng, then come over together with Wei Leng. Zheng Tan was also thinking about how to tell Wei Leng about that matter.

The apartments where Wei Leng rents are all converted private houses, rented to nearby students and young office workers with little financial foundation; the area's management is also rather chaotic, so even if you lose something it's wasted effort—calling the police is useless, such incidents are common and never get investigated. The advantage is that rents around here are cheap, so there are always many tenants.

Zheng Tan doesn't often come here to stroll around Wei Leng's rented place; the crowd is too mixed and troublesome, and someone always shows up after seeing Zheng Tan, bringing rope and stuffed toys to tease him, unaware that Zheng Tan also looks at them with a lustful gaze each time.

When Zheng Tan arrived at this residential area, it was past three in the afternoon; at this time there weren't many people coming and going—those who work are at work, those who study are at school, and those with nothing to do are napping. There are also many stray cats here; the landlord himself keeps a cat, and since cats are common in this area, no one pays attention to a black cat entering the building.

As soon as Zheng Tan entered the floor where Wei Leng lives, he heard a 'bang'; preparing to go into the hallway, Zheng Tan stopped his steps and hid at the stairwell corner to look over.

A young man was clutching his stomach, curled up on the ground, groaning in pain. Wei Leng held a freshly peeled apple in one hand and a fruit knife in the other, slowly swinging it out, then squatted in front of the man and slapped his face with the fruit knife still sticky with apple juice.

"You've set your sights on my newly bought phone, you've got guts, coming to steal my phone while I'm napping—do you think I'm easy to bully or that I'm stupid?"

Wei Leng now spoke in a completely roguish tone; when that man tried to sit up, the knife Wei Leng held across his throat stopped him.

The man still wanted to speak, but Wei Leng pressed the knife down harder.

"I don't want to hear your bullshit." Saying this, Wei Leng casually threw the already-gnawed apple core downstairs.

Zheng Tan: "..."

Although the area's management is rather chaotic, that doesn't mean you should just litter randomly. Zheng Tan remembered that last week Jiao Yuan had littered used transparent tape and Jiao Ma docked him some pocket money.

But the next moment, Zheng Tan's ears twitched; it didn't sound like the apple directly hitting the ground. Down there is all concrete, so it shouldn't have made that kind of sound.

Although puzzled, Zheng Tan didn't immediately run to the railing to look; at this moment he was mainly paying attention to Wei Leng's side.

Looking again, Wei Leng's hand holding the knife remained as before, but his other hand had already started rummaging through the man's pocket.

Soon after, Wei Leng pulled out a wallet; it contained no ID, but there was a thousand yuan. Wei Leng looked disgusted as he took out the thousand yuan and put it in his own pocket, then put the wallet back.

Besides the wallet, there were also some small lock-picking tools; Wei Leng's disgusted expression deepened, but he still placed them at his feet.

Then Wei Leng took out a small white plastic bottle, twisted off the cap; inside there was medicine, but also some cotton.

Zheng Tan had heard Jiao Ba say that if it's newly bought medicine, the bottle contains cotton which should be discarded promptly after opening; the cotton placed in medicine bottles at the factory prevents the pills from knocking together during transport, serving as a fixative, and also absorbs moisture from the air to keep the medicine dry. But if the cotton isn't removed after opening, it will keep absorbing humidity, making the medicine more prone to dampness and spoilage.

Zheng Tan wasn't sure whether the man kicked to the ground knew he should discard the cotton to prevent moisture contamination of the pills, but he felt the man had put cotton in the bottle more likely to stop the pills from hitting the bottle and making noise during his theft. Seeing the cotton Wei Leng had pulled out, if it had originally been inside the bottle it would be excessive; plus, the label on the medicine bottle was half-torn, indicating the medicine had been bought a while ago, and not all medicines require cotton, so Zheng Tan trusted his guess even more.

Wei Leng glanced at the medicine inside the bottle, tapped the man with the knife blade, and said, "Looks like you've used this many times already—quite a haul, huh?"

"No… I don't understand what you're saying…" the man stammered in difficulty, "It's just… my own… motion sickness medicine."

"Do you think my brain is full of scallions?" Wei Leng stood up and kicked the man again.

The man on the ground continued to curl up like a shrimp.

Wei Leng had already noticed Zheng Tan over there, so he didn't continue arguing with the man on the ground; he poured out three pills and forced them into the man's mouth, saying, "Welcome to come again next time—remember to bring more money, this amount is barely enough!"

The man who had been fed the pills didn't even care about the pain from being kicked; he scrambled up and rushed out, not noticing Zheng Tan standing by the stairs—of course, the stairwell was dark, and Zheng Tan was dark too, so it's normal he didn't notice.

Actually, Wei Leng is also someone with warped values; this is Zheng Tan's impression after getting to know him.

Wei Leng could have easily handed the thief over to the police or called them, but he acts purely on his likes and current mood; this time he probably thought it was too much hassle to bother with the thief, a waste of his time. This time the thief got lucky.

When Zheng Tan entered the room, Wei Leng was sitting on the bed, putting the thousand yuan he had just taken into his wallet. The small white plastic bottle was on the bedside table, with a cup of orange juice next to it.

Seeing Zheng Tan looking at the bottle, Wei Leng waved him over, and Zheng Tan jumped onto the nearby chair.

Wei Leng felt it was still too far, so he dragged the chair to the bedside table.

Zheng Tan just squatted on the chair, letting him drag it, since he was too lazy to jump down.

"You saw all that, right?" Without looking at Zheng Tan's reaction, Wei Leng pointed at the small white bottle and continued, "This thing is indeed motion sickness medicine, but that kid also used it to commit crimes."

Wei Leng pointed to the remaining bit of label on the bottle, which read 'one piece per time'; the medicine's name was only barely visible there, and Zheng Tan didn't know what it was.

"Most motion sickness medicines make you sleepy after taking them, but an overdose can cause drowsiness, headache, orientation disorders, and other adverse reactions, even hallucinations or consciousness disorders. Nowadays people are clever: buying sleeping pills draws extra attention from pharmacists, but many buy motion sickness medicine, so no one pays much heed; moreover, if you buy motion sickness medicine, even if caught you can deny it was the drug. Sometimes motion sickness medicine is a powerful weapon."

After a pause, Wei Leng stood up and poured out the orange juice, which had had pills placed in it, saying, "You should pay more attention from now on—be cautious about things given by strangers."

Wei Leng also told Zheng Tan about medicines to watch out for in daily life, or certain keywords to note, such as barbiturates, tropane alkaloids, etc.

Medicine can save lives or kill them; even a slight overdose causes problems for people, let alone a cat.

After Wei Leng casually bought some snacks around, he and Zheng Tan went out. As they walked downstairs, Zheng Tan deliberately noticed that the apple core Wei Leng had thrown was sitting in a plastic trash can.

Coincidence? Or is Wei Leng's aim just naturally good?

Wei Leng had just bought a new motorcycle, which he parks in the staff compound's carport when not in use; after all, the management where he lives is too chaotic, so leaving it in the staff compound feels relatively safe, and the gatekeeper knows Wei Leng and can help keep an eye on it.

Not long after Zheng Tan and Wei Leng returned to the Jiao household, Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi came back, brought by Ling Aunt.

While Ling Aunt was greeting Wei Leng, Qu Xiangyang across the way also opened his door, and the three started chatting. Ling Aunt had met Wei Leng once before and had a slight impression, while Qu Xiangyang was seeing Wei Leng for the first time.

"With you here, we can relax!" Qu Xiangyang said.

"Little Qu, are those cat scratches on your door?" Ling Aunt asked.

"No way! I don't even know when it got scratched. Is Hei Tan taking out his frustrations on my front door? Those claw marks are deep—I didn't expect Hei Tan's claws to be so sharp." Qu Xiangyang remarked.

"Of course—'To do a good job, one must first sharpen one's tools.' Being a cat means having the resolve of a cat; if your claws aren't sharp, how can you get anything done?" After saying that, Wei Leng turned his head to look at Zheng Tan lounging on the sofa and asked, "Am I right?"

Zheng Tan flicked his ears, ignoring them.

"Will you replace the door later? You should just buy a steel one." Ling Aunt teased.

"I won't replace the door; with cat claw marks, those mice probably won't dare come—just leave it there to scare them." Qu Xiangyang remarked.

In the evening, Wei Leng heated water for a bath, waited until the two kids had finished bathing and lain down on the bed, then came to sit at Jiao Ba's desk to look over the documents he had brought, and also used Jiao Ba's computer to check some information—all of which Jiao Ba had approved, so Jiao Yuan and the others wouldn't complain. Only Wei Leng closed the door, and Zheng Tan didn't know what documents he was actually looking at.

It seems there's no chance to tell Wei Leng about that for now; after thinking, Zheng Tan decided to just go to sleep first, ponder how to tell Wei Leng, and leave the rest for tomorrow.

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