Chapter 5

Ling Yue poured out fresh meat shreds from the plastic bag, the red-and-white meat shreds piled into a small hill in the bowl, very striking.

The lead crow big brother instantly swallowed saliva, the two crow little sisters on left and right drooled, tilting heads and shaking brains, saliva flowing.

"Hiss, big sis this looks like meat!"

"Wuu wuu wuu it smells so good, so good, so good, I'm drooling to death!"

Leader big brother: "Yeah, also drooling to death—" it suddenly perked up, warily looking at Ling Yue, even though already starving, its small eyes still sharp, suspecting this human harbors ill intent!

"Human, what are you trying to do? Old lady tells you, beastfolk never become slaves!"

Ling Yue followed up: "Unless you provide food and lodging?"

Ling Yue herself laughed, saying: "You're called Ya Ya, right? I just heard you, flew all day, want to eat something first?"

She said, pushing the three small bowls forward, the meaning couldn't be clearer.

Ya Ya encountered such a strange human for the first time, possibly because it's the first time a human could understand her words; otherwise, according to her usual temperament, she would have already flapped her wings and flown away.

"What do you want to do?"

She was still putting up resistance when suddenly she heard a puff, turned her head, and saw the crow little sisters dive into the meat mountain, eating without lifting their heads.

Ya Ya moved her wings, not knowing whether to cover her face or fly away, utterly losing face as a bird!

But it was exactly these two silly ones that let Ling Yue successfully infiltrate Ya Ya's inner circle, learning that they are the three crow sisters, the leader is eldest sister Ya Ya, the three crows' parents died unexpectedly before they fled the nest, Ya Ya as eldest sister raised her siblings.

Ling Yue pushed the water-filled dish: "Really impressive."

She stated her purpose, which she had already considered at the police station: if not for the crows' help, she wouldn't know what consequences she'd face going alone into danger.

Thinking this, Ling Yue's expression turned solemn, she told herself she must not act impulsively in the future.

Ling Yue: "... Anyway, if it weren't for your help today, I wouldn't have gotten away so easily; this meal is on me, and if you want anything else later, just tell me, I'll do my best to satisfy."

Ya Ya patted her wings: "That's what you said."

Five minutes later, Ling Yue's balcony was a patch of scorched black, looking as if baked by the sun, actually—dozens of crows stood densely on the balcony, shoulder to shoulder, constantly shifting.

"Hey, you bumped my butt!"

"You squeezed me, newcomers step back a bit?"

"Which turtle bastard, don't you know respect elders and love the young, my claws are about to rot!" This one still has the violent temper of a Sichuan relative who crossed provinces to join family.

Ya Ya: "Alright, everyone be quiet."

"Gaa—!" Ya Ya let out a long cry, under her command the crow little brothers shouted in unison: "Greetings, big sister!"

Ya Ya proudly puffed her chest: "Since you say I helped you, then first feed my few dozen little brothers; they don't need meat, they eat mung beans, wheat, or fruit—after all, we crows are omnivores."

Hearing the big sister say that, the few dozen crows froze, dozens of identical soybean eyes stared at Ling Yue—humans feeding them? Impossible!

When the crows didn't know, humans as a species are detestable to them; seeing one they'd curse "bad luck", feeding them?

The dozens of crows squawked chaotically, suppressed by Ya Ya's one sentence; she coughed twice, as if covering up, saying: "What was that earlier help? Whatever you want to do later, my underlings will help you."

Clearly just a bird, Ling Yue somehow sensed a hint of underworld big shot's aura, eyebrows raised: "Then I really have a matter to trouble Ya Ya with."

"But first, let Ya Ya's little brothers eat their fill; after all, we should be considered friends now, right?"

Ya Ya's face flushed; if not for her black feathers, the hateful human would have seen it, she snorted: "Alright, alright maybe."

Her sparkling little eyes weren't telling Ling Yue that; while the little brothers ate, Ling Yue tried to use the knowledge she'd learned before.

Her gaze fell on the two crow little sisters.

Human fingers didn't know when they landed on the bird heads; the silly little sisters already rubbed against the human's soft fingertip pads, the spots on top of their heads they couldn't reach felt so good.

They're not white-eyed crows; such a pleasant thing they'd surely not forget their sister.

Hearing the little sisters' calls, Ya Ya's eyes flickered; detestable, it really looks so comfortable!

Ling Yue, relying on her superb massage technique, completely subdued the three crow sisters; the crow little sisters waved their wings, wishing to collapse straight onto the human's hands, Ya Ya still retained a bit of elder sister pride, her head subtly rubbing against Ling Yue's soft fingertip pads.

As for those several dozen little brothers, they had long been tossed out of her mind; they didn't notice how shocked the little brothers felt seeing this scene, each staring wide-eyed: Is this the elder sister?

Ya Ya swept a domineering glance: "If not me, who else? From now on she's my friend, you lot aren't allowed to bully her!"

Ling Yue paused her action, a smile welled up in her eyes, feeling somewhat laughable and cryable, she thought, being protected by a crow?

Before she could speak, the crow little brothers responded in unison with loud "gaa gaa", Ling Yue didn't expect the sound to attract some people.

The neighbor opening the window for ventilation stared in shock at her: "Ling Yue, what's that on your balcony?" He curiously rubbed his eyes, being nearsighted he quickly put on glasses, finally seeing the true face of this heap of "things".

The neighbor's face looked awful, shocked he said: "Crows?!"

"Go away, go away, truly ominous!" The neighboring neighbor waved to drive them away, a whole balcony of crows opened his eyes, also worried about Ling Yue's situation.

He kindly handed over a bamboo pole from the balcony: "Ling Yue, grab it, drive away this ominous beast, simply a bunch of thieves who love to steal!"

He resentfully said: "My newly fitted glasses, haven't been worn a few days, and they were stolen by them!"

"Gaa gaa!"

The crow flock was like a drop of water falling into boiling oil, instantly exploding: "Nonsense!"

"These hateful humans are prejudiced; we didn't take his glasses, no shiny sparkle, no glitter, basically not good-looking!"

Light speckles on both sides of the beak, like freckles sprinkled, the crow tilted its head: "My nest is in the tree opposite, I saw it, his glasses aren't lost, clearly thrown into the window-side drawer by his youngster, not our doing!"

"Yeah, we now disdain a broken pair of glasses; diamonds are the most beautiful!"

"Diamonds?"

"That's what we stole, preparing to give big sister a birthday gift, covered all over with sparkling diamonds, almost blinded bird eyes, super pretty!"

"Is it a diamond-studded bow tie necklace, like this?"

Ling Yue said while opening her phone, inside the black velvet gift box lay a dazzling diamond bow tie necklace, colorful light radiating, it was the display picture Ling Yue previously asked Zhao Manager for.

She placed it before the crow flock, the noisy balcony instantly fell silent.

Ling Yue waved at the neighbor and said, "Mr. Liu doesn't need them; these crows are just resting. As for your glasses, I think I heard your son Lele say he put them in the drawer by the window for you. If not, you could go look for them now."

Ling Yue waved at the neighbor: "Mr. Liu doesn't need them; these crows are just taking a rest, and as for your glasses, I seem to recall you mentioning that Lele put them in the drawer by the window, so why don't you go look for them now?"

Hearing her words, the neighbor instantly flared up: "This little brat! If I find him I'll definitely treat him to a big meal!"

After he finished speaking, he turned back and forgot about Ling Yue's side.

Ling Yue curled the corners of her mouth; the neighbor Mr. Liu's son Lele was six or seven years old, exactly the age when cats and dogs dislike each other, and in the neighborhood he was notorious as a little troublemaker. It goes without saying that the little troublemaker would surely get a hearty meal at night.

As for now—

Ling Yue pulled over a chair and sat down, leisurely watching Ya Ya scold the little ones, and only then realized this was still an organized, disciplined little team that usually begged for food in trash cans or relied on its own hunting to eat small insects; stealing jewelry like this was the first time they'd done it.

Ling Yue had seen in the system that crows indeed like shiny things.

But these crow youngsters still hadn't realized what exactly they had done wrong; they only felt terribly embarrassed, especially in front of the big sister. Part of the reason they did this is due to the nature of crows: male crows actively collect such things to win the affection of females, thereby displaying their strength and ability.

Now, to lose face in front of the goddess they adore makes them unable to lift their crow faces.

Ling Yue didn't dwell on it but instead educated the crows about the terrifying value of the butterfly‑knot diamond necklace; when they heard it was worth eight million US dollars, these little crows were stunned.

"How much would that cost?"

"Has it always been valuable? I never imagined such a tiny thing could be worth so much—we're really capable!"

Ling Yue: "Yeah, that money could buy food—not just to feed you for a lifetime, but even to raise your chicks generation after generation; but it also shows how much humans value it."

She lowered her voice slightly: "If they knew it was you who took the stuff, they'd probably search every bird nest in Jing Shi, not just crows but other small birds too—what do you think the consequences would be?"

Ling Yue wasn't lying, and it was also fortunate that they weren't caught by surveillance or people when they stole the stuff; otherwise, Ling Yue might not have met the three crow sisters today, after all, the city isn't just inhabited by birds—this is an ecological chain, with other predators lying in wait.

And once these birds lose the shelter of their nests, their fate is easy to imagine.

Ya Ya was the smartest of them, startled by her own imagination, she flapped her wings and shouted loudly: "Return the stuff quickly! You stupid birds, are you trying to get us all killed?"

The crows finally realized what trouble they had caused, looking anxiously at Ling Yue: "We'll return it! We'll return it right away!"

Ling Yue looked at the listless, sun‑dried‑looking crows and could imagine how big a blow it had been for them; she said: "Actually it's not so bad—you weren't discovered."

She suddenly changed the subject: "Right, with all this digression I forgot to ask you for help."

This nonsensical talk left the crows completely bewildered, and Ya Ya even pecked at her wings, mortified to death!

They heard Ling Yue say softly: "The person I know is the owner of the jewelry store where the butterfly‑knot was stolen; he wants me to recover it, so I want you to help with this."

Behind Ya Ya, the two crow sisters' eyes lit up and they exclaimed in unison: "Isn't that a coincidence?!"

They had also taken part in the butterfly‑knot theft case, and their nest was on that street by the jewelry store; right after hearing Ling Yue describe the serious consequences, they suddenly recalled all the people coming and going at the jewelry store these days, as well as any surveillance.

They're not stupid—stealing it wasn't easy, and returning it is even harder!

So they gazed hopefully at Ling Yue.

Ling Yue: "……"

"Well, then I'll help you once—hand over the butterfly‑knot diamond necklace to me, and once I get it to the jewelry store owner, he won't hold anything else against you."

After all, the mastermind is just a bunch of animals; if Zhao Lin weren't insane, he wouldn't lift a finger.

"Besides, I'll trade you things for it."

Ling Yue coaxed, waving at the crows: "Besides the butterfly‑knot diamond necklace, there are rubies and sapphires, big diamonds like pigeon eggs that sparkle—want some?"

In an instant, all the crows turned their heads toward her, even Ya Ya feeling moved by her words.

It already knew this thing was a hot potato for them—throwing it away would be too late—but now they could actually trade it for something else.

Ya Ya suddenly glanced to the sides, the sisters opening their beaks in daydreams, while Ya Ya snorted in disdain: "Really, no ambition!"

But the next second, it spoke first: "I want a huge crystal to line my nest, the kind that flashes in the sunlight and blinds birds' eyes!"

Ya Ya hesitated a moment, then continued: "We crows aren't ungrateful white‑eyed birds; from today on, you are our crow clan's boss!"

With that statement, the other crows dared not refuse.

As for the boss's welcome gift, the crows chattered nonstop and ended up noting half a notebook. Ling Yue also received the butterfly‑knot diamond necklace under a big tree, still warm from the birds' bodies, with a few tufts of fluffy feathers stuck to it.

Besides that, it matched the photo exactly, even more brilliant and dazzling.

Crafted by early‑20th‑century artisans, the butterfly knot is studded with expensive diamonds that sparkle in the light—that's the gleam of money.

Ling Yue held her breath; the clasp of the butterfly‑knot base meshed perfectly with the silver chain—everything was flawless.

Ling Yue had just put it in the box when her phone chimed with a notification: Alipay received—500,000 yuan.

Shortly after came Zhao Lin's good‑night message, brief and clear.

Ling Yue raised an eyebrow and typed: 【"I remember Longxiang Jewelry opens at eight tomorrow morning; I'll come see you at eight thirty—is that all right?"】

On the other side, Zhao Lin, who had just lain down, sprang up violently, prompting his wife in bed to complain: "Old Zhao, what are you doing? You're jumping around like a spring—won't you let anyone sleep?"

Zhao Lin exclaimed, brows flying: "What sleep? I'm not the slightest bit tired—I'm bursting with energy!"

He paused, then said: "Honey, you go to sleep first."

At this moment, Zhao Lin's myriad thoughts condensed into one phrase: "There's a way!"

He trembled as he replied: 【"Sure thing!"】

Ling Yue didn't reply; since the matter was already settled, she went to sleep early. It was only nine p. m., but she didn't know that elsewhere, Zhao Lin had stayed up all night because of her words.

The next morning, his wife saw him in formal attire, with dark circles under his eyes, still energetic after a night awake, and was startled: "Old Zhao, is it really worth it?"

"How can a baseless sentence merit such attention? I've heard you say that a girl barely twenty could have any talent? Don't let her fool you!"

Zhao Lin tried to explain, but it was obvious his wife didn't want to hear and had made a decision.

— "Today I'm going with you to the store to see just what background that girl has."