Chapter 333

Returning to Chu Hua Shi, Zheng Tan felt his whole body much more relaxed, probably because his mental pressure had decreased a lot, and he slept soundly.

Zheng Tan placed Hou Junyi's treasure chest under Xiao Youzi's bed; the room was too small, with not many suitable spots, so he could only put it under the bed, making do.

Two days after returning to Chu Hua Shi, Zheng Tan took advantage of an empty house to sneak onto the computer and go online, looking up news about Gongzi Xiao. He found that there hadn't been much recent coverage of this person; only that two entertainment shows originally invited Gongzi Xiao but later replaced him, causing dissatisfaction among Gongzi Xiao's fans. However, it seemed there still wasn't much genuine reporting about Gongzi Xiao; likely most people didn't know he had already been taken away by the police. Moreover, Zheng Tan guessed that Gongzi Xiao's entertainment career would probably end here.

Besides going online, Zheng Tan also paid attention to the newspaper subscribed by the Jiao Family; although there was no dedicated entertainment publication, some current affairs newspapers would have a page or two with entertainment news, and Zheng Tan would also keep an eye on that.

However, Zheng Tan only enjoyed two days of leisure before Xiao Guo personally came to his door and took him to the pet center; seeing Xiao Guo's heavy dark circles, Zheng Tan unusually did not lose his temper over this 'kidnapping'.

It's not easy at all.

Earlier, because Zheng Tan left for a month to film a documentary, the pet center had also lent two cats for a movie shoot; when the pet center filmed its Christmas special, they discovered that not only the main attraction was missing, but also two important supporting roles were absent, so the effect would surely be much worse; online, many people had already complained, with all sorts of speculation. Moreover, due to having signed a confidentiality agreement, the pet center staff could not speak the truth before getting permission from the film crew, so rumors grew wilder, and some people even came specially to the pet center to block Xiao Guo; Boss Guo had not had a good sleep for a long time.

That's exactly why, upon hearing Zheng Tan had returned, Xiao Guo rushed over immediately; this was still the result of Jiao Ba hiding it for two days, otherwise Xiao Guo would surely have gone to Zheng Tan on the day he returned and taken him to clear the rumors.

Fortunately, a few days before filming the New Year special, the cats from the movie side were also ready; Xiao Guo took them over to film together. This would now shut up those who love to stir trouble.

Besides filming the New Year special at the pet center, Zheng Tan had another matter on his mind: keeping that bag of diamonds felt uncomfortable, like a hot potato. He is now just a cat. What would he need these diamonds for? Although they are worth quite a bit. But to Zheng Tan, this is a hot potato that cannot be openly taken out; giving it away would only pass on the trouble.

So Zheng Tan pondered when to return that bag of diamonds; after all, the Jiao Family's living conditions were not bad, and from filming the documentary and the pet center's New Year special he had earned some extra wages, enough to get by; more money Zheng Tan couldn't spend, and holding onto the diamonds only made him feel uneasy.

After making the decision, Zheng Tan thought about how to get the item into Tang Mo's hands.

Yesterday Zheng Tan heard Xiao Guo talking on the phone with Tang Mo, learning that Tang Mo was now staying at a hotel; during the time Zheng Tan was away, Tang Mo had also gone abroad for a trip and had just returned a few days ago; the five-star hotel Xiao Guo mentioned, Zheng Tan also knew, was not far from Chu Hua Da Xue, within his acceptable range.

When Xiao Guo made the call, he said that around seven p. m. this Friday he would go over to discuss cooperation with Tang Mo, and this time when uploading the New Year special they would insert a jewelry advertisement for Tang Mo's company; the specifics would be discussed in detail when Xiao Guo went over.

Around 6:30 p. m. on Friday Tang Mo would return to the hotel, but early Saturday morning he would have to fly again to the other side of the ocean for an urgent matter, so the time is tight.

Friday, that is, tomorrow.

Since he knew the approximate time, Zheng Tan wondered how to return the diamonds—should he just toss them out together with the bag?

Zheng Tan didn't really want to, because the bag had some of his shed cat hair on it; if he returned it like that, he didn't know whether they would trace it back to him.

While he was thinking, Zheng Tan suddenly heard a 'pa' sound; turning his head, he saw it was the wind blowing a paper bag against a tree trunk, making that noise.

A paper bag?!

Zheng Tan walked over there; it was already night, with few passersby who wouldn't notice Zheng Tan in the grass.

That was the kind of paper bag used for holding pastries at stalls near the school gate, which Zheng Tan had seen before; this paper bag had no oil stains, obviously unused.

On the first line of the paper bag were four large characters: 'Domestic pizza'.

On the second line were five larger characters: 'Wu Tarou flatbread'.

Zheng Tan stared at that 'Tai' character for a long time, wondering if this was counterfeit goods.

Today a strong wind suddenly blew up, sending many plastic bags and such flying; this paper bag might have been blown over as well.

Walking some distance toward the school gate, Zheng Tan again found several unused paper bags, which also confirmed his guess.

He picked a dry, clean paper bag without water stains and headed toward the old tile-roof area; since it was night, as long as he stayed hidden, no one would notice this cat running on two legs.

He took the paper bag back to the house in the old tile-roof area where he hid the diamonds and phone, carefully poured the bag of diamonds inside, then checked to make sure no cat hair remained; he shook the paper bag holding the diamonds so they all fell to one corner at the bottom, folded the rest of the bag, then carefully wrapped a turn around the bottom corner to prevent the diamonds from easily piercing the bag and falling out; finally he tucked the excess flap of the bag into the seam.

After thinking, Zheng Tan came out of the house and ran to the several buildings often used for student club activities; he saw one with a window not closed tightly, slipped inside, looked around, found a small piece of pencil that hadn't been used in a long time, didn't find anything else usable, went back out, returned to where he kept the diamonds, bent his claws, held the pencil, and wrote a few characters on the paper bag.

Holding a pencil with cat claws was awkward, and Zheng Tan hadn't written in a long time; after finishing, he couldn't bear to look at it himself.

The next day, that is, Friday.

Zheng Tan didn't wait at home for dinner, put on his little vest, took the diamonds, and sneaked out.

In winter evenings it gets dark early; at six o'clock the sky already begins to darken.

Zheng Tan took several inconspicuous side alleys to run to the hotel; by the time he arrived, the sky was completely dark.

Zheng Tan didn't even know what time it was now; he was thinking that if he didn't run into anyone today he could only wait for the next opportunity. He didn't expect his luck to be good—just as he arrived near the hotel gate and hid behind a flowerbed, he saw a car slowly pull up to the hotel entrance, Tang Mo stepping out of the car with two people beside him, likely bodyguards.

Watching Tang Mo walk toward the entrance, Zheng Tan quickly pulled out the item from his vest, threw it hard toward Tang Mo, then after throwing it quickly changed hiding place, concealing himself behind a pine tree to watch.

The thing Zheng Tan threw hadn't yet hit Tang Mo when a person beside him raised a hand and deflected it; the object fell to the ground not far from them.

One of them guarded Tang Mo's side, staying alert to the surroundings; the other, at Tang Mo's gesture, walked over to examine the thrown object, poked open an opening, and upon seeing a corner of the paper bag peek out, his expression suddenly changed; he quickly brought it to Tang Mo.

"Boss, look!"

Tang Mo took it; he didn't need to see the whole thing—just a corner was enough, and even though the lighting wasn't great for him, he could tell it was probably his lost property.

Besides that, Tang Mo carefully examined the poor-quality paper bag; the bag was folded, and the words 'Wu Tarou flatbread' were no longer legible, but the characters on the bag were clear: they were a few crooked pencil-written characters: 'Don't ask who I am, please call me Red Scarf.'

Tang Mo: '……'

Tang Mo felt that since coming to Chu Hua Shi, he kept encountering very strange things.

Zheng Tan watched Tang Mo pick up the item and walk into the hotel door before leaving; before the person Tang Mo had left behind could discover him, Zheng Tan departed from there, and the bodyguard Tang Mo had instructed to look for the thrower would never imagine that the culprit was actually a cat.

In the following days, Zheng Tan paid attention to the surroundings of the school, especially the flatbread vendor; previously he hadn't thought much about it, but now he wondered whether this might cause trouble for that flatbread seller.

After paying special attention, Zheng Tan actually learned some information about that flatbread vendor.

He had always thought the 'Tai' in 'Wutaro' was a printing error, or that they were deliberately making pirated flatbread; later, while listening to the stall vendors chatting and gossiping in that area, he learned that the flatbread seller was named Wu Tai, a laid-off worker with a slight limp, of decent character, quite honest; the surrounding vendors and the students selling flatbread all had a good impression of him, and sometimes when people gave him too much money he would hobble after them to return the change.

It's unknown how his leg was injured, but when he walks he limps noticeably; I heard the injury happened years ago, untreatable and he couldn't afford treatment; I also heard Wu Tai's wife ran off with someone, leaving him with two tiny children, relying on that meager low-income allowance; a thirty-year-old looks like forty, showing life is hard. Wu Tai learned some flatbread-making skills from others, heard that business around the university was good, so he scraped together some equipment to set up a small stall here for student trade. His craftsmanship is good, he's a good person, the fillings are substantial, and business is decent.

Then, suddenly one day, Wu Tai disappeared—gone for two straight days; many students felt it a pity, as it was rare to find a flatbread that suited their taste.

Zheng Tan also wondered whether Tang Mo was causing trouble for Wu Tai, and thought about inquiring elsewhere; but two days later Wu Tai reappeared at the school gate, unharmed, in good spirits, looking as if he had encountered something fortunate.

Since this person was fine, Zheng Tan thought his own side seemed normal as well, and having heard nothing unusual at the pet center, he relaxed considerably.

As he walked back with light steps, Zheng Tan unintentionally overheard a conversation between two middle school students returning from school.

"I heard that the student who ranked first in the midterm exams, Gu Youzi, knows someone from the underworld."

"Ah? No way?"

"I heard her boyfriend is from the underworld."

……

Zheng Tan wanted to hear more, but the two students had already ridden away on their bikes.

The underworld?

Boyfriend?

How the hell do I not know?!

Damn it, what the hell happened to me on my business trip to the capital this past month?!

If I find out which bastard did this, I'll kick his ass! (To be continued...)

ps: Sorry, I went out during the day and only came back at night. I originally planned to finish two chapters and release them together, but I haven't finished the second chapter yet, and I'm also tired, so let's release both chapters together on Monday night.