Chapter 161: Bullying Too Much

In this world, many people are not afraid of snakes but are afraid of frogs. This is strange—they can calmly handle colorful, venomous snakes, yet when they see a toothless, clawless frog, they involuntarily turn pale and break out in a cold sweat.

Long Qi is similar to such people. He can stare unblinkingly and crush someone's skull, remain calm facing fierce vicious dogs, yet he instinctively stiffens when he sees a cat.

Actually, Long Qi's condition was not this severe before; ever since Zheng Tan and Jueye appeared one after another, his reaction has become increasingly obvious. Of course, if he encounters other cats, he at most stiffens slightly, and only when facing Zheng Tan and Jueye does this usually calm, wise, and bold person suddenly become listless several times over.

Long Qi came today with those three people; he originally just went to the construction site for routine business, to give a push and prove he, the project manager, was not just a figurehead. After the site visit, he prepared to drive to another place to meet Ye Hao and the others, and report the inspection results. He did not expect to see a familiar face while waiting for the green light at the intersection—a person he had only seen yesterday in the materials Ye Hao gave him, though Ye Hao had assigned Baizi to investigate that side, and Long Qi had not taken over nor initiated contact.

This person was just an inconspicuous one among those in the materials; although it was only a brief glance, Long Qi confirmed it was that person, whose observational skills even Wei Leng had to acknowledge. It was precisely this observational skill that allowed Long Qi to recognize Zheng Tan at a glance upon seeing him, rather than mistaking him for a cat kept by other residents in the neighborhood.

Long Qi was glad he was driving a subordinate's car today; his own car was in for repairs, and he temporarily borrowed this very ordinary vehicle, inconspicuous and convenient for tailing. Before this, Long Qi secretly rejoiced that his luck was decent—the investigation by Baizi's side had been going poorly, and if he could find something today, it would definitely push the investigation forward. And now…

Long Qi suddenly wanted to vomit blood.

Damn it. Isn't this cat supposed to be living near Chu Hua Da Xue? Why did it run so far!

Can a cat wander this far?

Long Qi doesn't know how other cats behave, but he knows the cat he sees now always manages to appear in unexpected places, regardless of whether it's far or near from its home.

A person and a cat stared at each other like that for half a minute; in the end, Long Qi was the first to look away. He didn't know whether he should continue his investigation or turn and leave.

If he continued the investigation, having this cat around would introduce too many variables, and the investigation might instead be discovered by others, which would be bad. But if Long Qi turned and left right now, he felt extremely unwilling—he had been following those three people, although he hadn't gone upstairs, he also knew they should be active on the floor above the parking spots, and he hadn't heard any knocking or the homeowner opening the door to speak. Long Qi didn't think these three lived here, so the most likely possibility was that they had pried open the door.

No argument, no fight—probably because the house was empty, and from outside, at this time, only one household among the residents had its lights off. When those three went downstairs, Long Qi quickly hid in the car; after they left, he planned to go check that household, but unfortunately, the cat he hated most was crouched beside that resident's balcony…

Can you guarantee that while he acts, this cat will stay put and not disturb him? Can you guarantee it won't make eerie wolf-howling sounds to draw more attention and expose him? Can you guarantee it won't sneak from the balcony into the house and cause all kinds of trouble? No! Long Qi has no guarantee at all.

Fucking hell!

Cats are the most detestable animals in the world. Long Qi thinks so.

Long Qi cursed Zheng Tan in his heart for being in the way, while Zheng Tan was also hesitating in his heart.

Before this, Zheng Tan hadn't decided who to give this hot potato in his hand to; he had even thought of hiding it first and taking it out later, but now seeing Long Qi, he had to admit it really was as Chen Zhe said—fate, opportunity, when you can't decide, let them decide for you.

The reason he hesitated was that Zheng Tan didn't know whether Long Qi was reliable or would silence him; if the person in front of him were Father San Ye or Wei Leng, Zheng Tan would not have hesitated this long, but now it's Long Qi, this guy who has an inexplicable prejudice against cats.

While Zheng Tan was hesitating, Long Qi had already made a decision—he planned to leave first, walk around the area, or nap in the car, stake out here tonight, and act after this black cat leaves.

So, after Long Qi glanced at Zheng Tan again and turned to leave, before he could take two steps, a black shadow swooped over and blocked his way.

Seeing Long Qi like that, Zheng Tan thought he wanted to leave, so he hurriedly jumped down to stop Long Qi; he still hadn't made up his mind, but he couldn't let Long Qi just walk away—if he left, Zheng Tan wouldn't know when he could toss this hot potato away, and the longer it stayed in his hand, the more danger he felt. He still had to go home at night; if he couldn't get rid of it, Zheng Tan felt uneasy.

Long Qi frowned, shifted his foot, and continued forward at a forty-five-degree angle to the left.

The next moment, Zheng Tan blocked him again.

Long Qi changed direction to the right.

Zheng Tan blocked him.

Long Qi turned and went backward.

Zheng Tan continued to block him.

After several back-and-forths, Long Qi flared up, thinking this cat was surely bored to death, looking for someone to play with, and he just happened to be unlucky enough to run into it. Even more infuriating was that he couldn't do anything to this cat—who let Tang Qi Ye and Ye Hao give orders? If he really acted in secret, not only would Tang Qi Ye and Ye Hao investigate thoroughly, but so would Wei Leng and Father San Ye, and Long Qi knew he couldn't bluff his way through. Understanding human complexity, Long Qi didn't want to, nor dare to, lay a hand on this cat; once he did, the chain reaction would be beyond his control. If two years ago someone told Long Qi he'd be driven to this state by a cat, he'd rather be beaten to death than believe it.

So Long Qi raised his hand, pointed at the black cat blocking his face, and said, "I'm telling you, don't bully people too much!" Obviously a show of ferocity masking inner weakness.

Wei Leng had told them that when dealing with this cat, they should speak in human language; any suspected animal sounds, this cat would ignore. Long Qi said that, and he waited for the cat's reaction.

Zheng Tan's reaction was to look even more contemptuous.

"Don't think I can't see your look!" Long Qi again wanted to vomit blood.

After a minute of standoff, Long Qi got into the car, took out his phone, and made a call.

"Brother Leng, I've run into a bit of a situation here." Long Qi briefly explained what had just happened, without mentioning what exactly they were investigating, and Wei Leng didn't ask.

Seeing Long Qi go straight into the car without pursuing, Zheng Tan didn't catch up—he wasn't that familiar with Long Qi, wouldn't jump into the car, and besides, Long Qi had shut the car windows tightly; opening the door made him afraid he'd follow in, so Zheng Tan wouldn't rush up to fawn over someone who disliked him. If Long Qi drove off directly, Zheng Tan would just assume Ye Hao didn't have this opportunity.

However, Zheng Tan saw Long Qi inside making a call, with no sign of leaving, and soon he got out of the car and walked over to this side; Zheng Tan wondered, and looked again at the phone Long Qi held—it was indeed a phone, not a steel pipe.

Due to the occasion, Long Qi didn't turn on the speaker, so he placed the phone on an empty patch of ground by the roadside and stepped back a few paces.

Zheng Tan looked at Long Qi's phone, still in a call, and walked over.

"Hei Tan, Hei Tan, are you there?" a familiar voice came from the phone,

Eh? Long Qi originally called Wei Leng!

To tattle?

Zheng Tan looked up again and gave Long Qi a contemptuous glance. Tattletale!

Long Qi was made stomach-ache by Zheng Tan's look. He knew that often a cat's gaze could directly reflect its mental state, just like the situation before him. Cats, indeed, are evil creatures.

Zheng Tan didn't care what Long Qi was thinking, continued listening to the call; he now thought this was good—having Wei Leng around added a bit of security, at least Long Qi wouldn't swallow everything and then silence him.

The swaying tail slapped the phone, making a light "pa" sound—this was the answer to Wei Leng's question.

On the phone, Wei Leng chuckled, "Hurry home, don't wander outside so late, and… you've run too far…"

Listening to Wei Leng's blah-blah-blah advice, Zheng Tan grew impatient again, turned and jumped onto the elevated platform above the parking spot.

Seeing Zheng Tan leave, Long Qi felt delighted, thinking Wei Leng's persuasion had worked; he walked over, picked up the phone, thanked Wei Leng, hung up, and raised his head—Long Qi saw the black cat standing on the edge of the platform, its feet beside a chain; what kind of chain exactly, it was dark, the streetlight's glow didn't reach that angle, so it wasn't clear.

Zheng Tan tossed the thing beside his paw downward; Long Qi hurried over to catch it, then quickly glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention, and looked at the thing in his hand.

When Zheng Tan threw the thing down, he had been watching Long Qi's reaction; seeing Long Qi's reaction, Zheng Tan now confirmed Ye Hao hadn't found this thing. However, whether it had been found or not, Zheng Tan didn't care; the hot potato was finally thrown away, and the heavy stone weighing on his heart was gone. He took a deep breath, felt relaxed in body and mind—indeed, throwing it out was the right move.

Having gotten rid of the thing, Zheng Tan didn't want to stay here any longer; he jumped down from the platform, didn't look at Long Qi, and ran out of the residential area toward Chu Hua Da Xue—time to go home.

What Ye Hao and the others will do next, Zheng Tan won't care; if this thing really is as valuable as Chen Zhe said, with Ye Hao's ability, he should be able to handle the impact it brings? Of course, if Ye Hao can't uncover its value, then it can only be said, this is fate.

Zheng Tan felt relieved, while Long Qi was full of doubts. After going to check the suspicious target and finding the house empty, he received a call from Ye Hao's side, then drove off to leave. (To be continued…)

ps: (2.13)