Chapter 82

Bian Tou flipped his hand, and the plastic film resting on his thumb fell; before the film hit the ground, Bian Tou's middle and ring fingers pinched it.

The rubbing between his fingers removed the cat saliva adhering to the surface of the plastic film, making the feel clearer; Bian Tou confirmed it was the kind of plastic film he thought. Looking again at the cat squatting beside the dish, sniffing the cat food but not taking a bite, if Bian Tou still didn't get it now, he shouldn't be doing this undercover work.

Although he felt inside as if struck by lightning, his expression remained unchanged; after obtaining the plastic film, Bian Tou understood what his top priority was now. This cat must have been trained, right? Nothing should happen for the time being.

He retracted his arm; the plastic film originally pinched between his fingers had already disappeared somewhere. Bian Tou stood up and said to the woman standing at the doorway, "I'll go find a pair of gloves to put on, and also grab a flashlight, then I'll pull it out later so it doesn't keep hiding in there."

The woman nodded, and after Bian Tou left, she pulled her robe together, slightly squatted down, and looked under the cabinet.

Zheng Tan wasn't actually hiding deep inside; the spot where the dish was placed was just a forearm's distance from outside the cabinet, so the woman could also see a bit of what was inside—not clear, but at least she could make out a rough idea.

As the woman bent down to look, she happened to see the cat inside open its mouth, revealing its sharp teeth. When the cat closed its mouth and their eyes met, the woman saw those two reflective, bright eyes.

She sprang up abruptly, the woman stepped back two paces because the motion was too sudden, nearly toppling over.

She recalled the cat she had someone dispose of while Bian Tou wasn't around; it too was a stray like this one.

In short, stray cats are the most detestable—ugly, stupid, and with a fierce gaze!

If Zheng Tan knew that his behavior had made the woman despise him so much and speak ill of him, he would surely protest, for he was merely trying to yawn; earlier something had been stuck in his mouth, so he dared not open it, but now that the plastic film was removed, he could yawn freely.

The woman also didn't want to stay here staring at the cat any longer. She went to the storage room, watched Bian Tou rummaging for things, and seeing that he indeed had gloves in hand, she relaxed.

By the time Bian Tou found a flashlight and came out, the woman was standing some distance from the kitchen. Although Bian Tou's reach was fine, she was afraid that if Bian Tou didn't grip the cat tightly and let it escape, she herself would be scratched.

Bian Tou put the flashlight aside, then with a gloved hand reached into the cabinet. He moved his fingers slightly, and the plastic film piece from earlier appeared at his fingertips.

Unlike before, this plastic film now wrapped a square block over a centimeter long. Zheng Tan thought this must be what Wei Leng and Ye Hao and the others wanted.

However…

Zheng Tan's cleanliness compulsion flared up again.

But, in order to resolve the matter as quickly as possible, Zheng Tan endured his discomfort, raised his paw to take the film piece, put it in his mouth, and lodged it between his canine teeth, which also prevented him from accidentally swallowing it.

Seeing the cat's actions in front of him, although he had mentally prepared himself, Bian Tou still couldn't calm his inner turmoil. He already knew the information on the film piece and acted according to its instructions, but he hadn't expected the cat to really handle it as the film said, 'It will take care of itself,' by placing the film wrapping the memory card properly.

Is this really just a cat?

Bian Tou really wanted to grab some instrument to test it, to see if it was some new high-end simulation robot—no, to see if it was a simulation robot cat.

After everything was handled, Bian Tou grabbed one of Zheng Tan's arms and pulled him outward. After thinking, he extended his other hand as well, thus lifting the cat up so the cat shouldn't feel too uncomfortable.

Zheng Tan walked outward following Bian Tou's pull; when he was lifted up from the bottom of the bowl cabinet, he recalled Wei Leng's words, so he struggled a few times, raised his paw, and scratched the part of Bian Tou's arm not covered by the glove, immediately leaving several bloody marks.

Regarding this, Zheng Tan also felt helpless; Wei Leng had said, which wild cat doesn't scratch people? To lower the chance of suspicion, this sort of self‑injury ploy still had to be carried out.

Bian Tou didn't mind at all; this little injury wasn't worth his attention.

But even if Bian Tou didn't care, the woman standing outside the kitchen thought differently; upon seeing the blood on Bian Tou's hand, she stepped back several paces, suddenly thought of something, and hurried to the gate to fling it open, gesturing for Bian Tou to quickly throw the cat out, otherwise the blood on his hand would increase and look terrifying.

After going out the door, Bian Tou loosened his grip, and Zheng Tan sprang away, leaping onto the courtyard wall and instantly disappearing from Bian Tou and the woman's sight.

Bian Tou stared at the empty wall; his face showed nothing, but he felt much relieved inside, at least the item had been handed over. Recalling the sight of that black cat, Bian Tou thought the cat was strangely uncanny, and he admired the people over there, truly not knowing where they had found such a cat.

"Ah, quickly treat the wound—that cat might be carrying some disease!" the woman said, looking at the scratches on Bian Tou's hand.

Bian Tou laughed indifferently, turned, and went inside.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan, having leapt over the wall, sprinted all the way to the relatively concealed meeting point Wei Leng had mentioned, waited a while, and then Wei Leng arrived.

Zheng Tan jumped into Wei Leng's backpack, and then Wei Leng carried him out of the place. Arriving at the roadside, he hailed a taxi, rode for five minutes, and got off at a large supermarket.

In the supermarket's parking lot was the car Wei Leng had driven over.

After getting back into the car, Zheng Tan then came out of the bag.

Sometimes Zheng Tan felt that Wei Leng handled things overly cautiously, overcomplicated his thinking, and thought he was really being superfluous.

Wei Leng drove the car onto the main road, glanced at the rearview mirror, saw the cat eagerly jumping out of the pack, looking impatient, and jokingly said: "Many things are like doing that—you can just grab your gun and go into battle, but 'foreplay' adds interest, makes things more natural, and lets them fall into place. To get a better result, some things are unavoidable. Never mind, I'm telling you, you wouldn't understand anyway."

Zheng Tan: '……' I get it. But this metaphor is really fucking lewd, completely inappropriate.

"How was it? Did everything go smoothly in there?" Although he had already obtained what he wanted, Wei Leng was in a good mood at the moment and thus seemed talkative. He didn't really expect an answer from a cat, and then he started talking to himself.

"As for Bian Tou, although he likes cats, he has never actually kept one himself, so he doesn't really know much about their temperament and habits. Oh, I heard he used to have one. Then the cat had an accident. After that, nobody heard of Bian Tou keeping a cat anymore; they only knew he often bought canned food for stray cats. Actually, everyone can understand, after all, Bian Tou entered this line of work. It's hard to settle down. Keeping cats or dogs is just a burden. These days it's fine, a few years ago…"

Wei Leng was doing this to boost Bian Tou's favorability; after finishing, he picked up his phone and called Ye Hao.

Zheng Tan watched the person ahead driving while talking on the phone, shook his head, and hoped Wei Leng wouldn't drive the car straight onto the flowerbed.

He glanced around, then Zheng Tan dragged a bottle of mineral water out of Wei Leng's pack, placed both paws on the cap, twisted hard to open the mouth, and then held the bottle to his mouth to pour it in. He wasn't trying to drink water; he just wanted to rinse his mouth.

After rinsing his mouth, Zheng Tan felt his body also getting quite wet; drop by drop, water mixed with dust fell onto the rear car seat.

Suddenly he felt a bit itchy; could he have picked up fleas again?

Just thinking about fleas gave Zheng Tan a headache. So he simply held the mineral water bottle and sprayed its water onto his body—after all, the temperature wasn't low, so a rinse wouldn't hurt.

Meanwhile.

When Wei Leng's call came through, Ye Hao was discussing the next step's plan with Long Qi and Baizi, preparing to resend someone to contact Bian Tou; he needed to launch the next phase of the plan, and to be safe, it was best to obtain those data as soon as possible, lest something go wrong and they get screwed over.

To be frank, Ye Hao didn't have much confidence in this operation of sending the cat to make contact; even if it failed, as long as the plastic film in the cat's mouth wasn't exposed, that would be fine. And even if the film were discovered, the other side wouldn't know what information was actually conveyed on it.

But he hadn't expected Wei Leng to tell him the news of success.

After hanging up, Ye Hao looked at Long Qi and Baizi in front of him and said, "The items have been obtained; later we can speed up the rollout of the plan."

"Got it?!"

Long Qi suddenly felt goosebumps rise on his skin again; that a cat could actually handle such a thing smoothly made him feel creeped out.

Wei Leng finished the call, heard a sound from behind, raised his head to look at the rearview mirror, saw the cat on the back seat hugging a bottled water and pouring it over himself, almost driving the car straight onto the roadside flower bed.

"You actually started taking a shower in the car?!"

Anyway, after this, Wei Leng's car had to be cleaned inside and out.

This time, the place Wei Leng took Zheng Tan to was not Ye Lou, but a secluded villa.

Inside, Ye Hao, Long Qi, and Baizi were all present; upon seeing Wei Leng enter, the three simultaneously glanced behind him, didn't see the cat, then shifted their gaze to Wei Leng's large backpack.

After Wei Leng set down the pack, Zheng Tan jumped out of it, without even looking at the three people with varied expressions, and started looking for the bathroom. Just thinking about having gotten fleas again made him feel uncomfortable all over. He must have picked them up in the grass where Bian Tou was. His luck is really damn bad.

Seeing Zheng Tan's behavior, Wei Leng knew what he was about to do; he handed things to Ye Hao, went to the bathroom, and filled the tub. After the cat finished bathing, he still held the hair dryer to blow-dry its fur.

After being cleaned and blow-dried, Zheng Tan finally felt refreshed. Wei Leng didn't stay long either; he refused Ye Hao's attempt to keep him, switched cars, and sent Zheng Tan back to Chu Hua Da Xue. Not coming home again overnight, the Jiao Family would likely scold him again; it's better to send him back quickly.

In the evening, at the Jiao Family, Zheng Tan took another bath, sprayed some anti-flea medicine he had gotten from Old Man Lan, then crawled into Xiao Youzi's blanket.

Regardless of whether dark tides surge and winds and clouds stir outside, Zheng Tan now only wants to enjoy the peace and tranquility here; as for the rest, it's none of his business—let those people toss and turn as they please. (To be continued...)

ps: 【The following word count is not counted toward VIP chapters】

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