Chapter 205: Chapter 204 Different Buyers Chapter 205: Chapter 204 Different Buyers Before returning to Chuhua City, Jiao Ma took the two kids to the county city.

Old Sir Jiao and the old lady were living in the county city during this time, and it wouldn’t be right not to visit the old couple while taking the kids out for summer vacation, right?

Zheng Tan had visited the house in the county city last “National Day,” so he was familiar with it. The two elderly were very happy to see Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi, and the old lady, having prepared the meal in advance, insisted on having the kids stay for a few more days. After all, as long as they could register on time, it didn’t matter, why rush back only to stay at home?

In the heat of summer, the high temperature persisted, and neither Jiao Yuan nor Little Youzi had any intention of going out. Different from the old couple, Jiao Yuan was particularly heat-sensitive, spending most of his time in a room with air conditioning, as he couldn’t stand just having a fan blow on him since the air was hot. Playing chess with Little Youzi in an air-conditioned room wasn’t bad either.

Zheng Tan didn’t stay indoors; he found it stifling and suddenly missed the feeling of running around the countryside.

In the afternoon, when the sun shifted, Zheng Tan went out and walked along the shady side of the road, taking a stroll.

As Zheng Tan had seemed not to be in good spirits lately, Jiao Ma hadn’t insisted that he stay home. Seeing Zheng Tan head out, Jiao Ma thought it was good for him to get out as long as he felt better, everything else could wait.

Zheng Tan looked at the scenery and buildings along the road. He remembered this area from his walk last year, though he hadn’t gone far.

There was a stall nearby selling cold dishes and it drew quite a crowd. As Zheng Tan passed by, he heard several people talking at the stall about a recent theft in a newly built residential area not far away.

Zheng Tan went closer to see; the complex wasn’t large and was newly built with unimpressive landscaping, but there were still many people gathered around on this hot day. Some who couldn’t find shade held parasols or shielded their heads with fans as they discussed something.

However, Zheng Tan didn’t plan to go inside. At the security room nearby, two policemen were squatting in the shade, and Zheng Tan could hear their conversation.

“Finally caught the guy. Coming out in the sun was worth it, Huang,” said one of the young men. “Nowadays, thieves dare to strike in broad daylight, so bold.”

“It’s hot, people stay indoors during the day, and in a new complex like this one, where neighbors don’t know each other well, no familiarity. As long as no one’s home, a thief just needs to break in to steal something like a big TV without anyone saying a thing. But, what they didn’t expect was that the family got a dog last night.” The other policeman, a middle-aged man, took a swig from his water bottle and answered.

“Who would have thought a small dog could be so deadly? I was shocked to see all that blood in the living room,”
“Heard it’s the homeowner’s friend’s dog, they were just taking care of it temporarily. Now, they treat the dog like a hero, sent it to the Pet Center. If they weren’t tied up here, they’d probably be over there watching over it.”

Hearing the conversation of the two policemen, Zheng Tan had a good grasp of the situation. When there was a thief in the courtyard back then, wasn’t Niu Zhuangzhuang also fierce? But today’s hero dog, apparently just a Pekingese mix, was far more imposing than the delicate Pekingese in their courtyard.

The two policemen gradually shifted their topic, and Zheng Tan decided not to continue listening and was about to leave to continue his walk when they mentioned something about Jiao Ma’s township, stopping when he heard the words “selling daughters.”

“Hey, Huang, weren’t you posted there before? Do you know about this?”

“The one who had nine daughters and sold them off consecutively? Of course, I know.”

Zheng Tan edged closer.

“Really? And nobody did anything about it?” The young man couldn’t believe it.

“Intervene?” The middle-aged policeman wiped the sweat from his forehead, “Interventions were made, but it’s a case of the willing striker and the willing sufferer. If you forcibly intervene, you end up being counter-blamed.”

“Who would willingly let themselves be sold?” The young man was skeptical.

“Being sold meant a better life, an escape from their cage. Why wouldn’t they want that? For them, even being sold as a bride was better than staying at home starving or being beaten, they might even have a decent life,” he sighed, shaking his head, “Beating children is common in the village, but selling them is different. I was also impulsive once, ran to intervene after overhearing villagers’ casual talk. I thought, ‘as long as any of those kids admit to being sold, I’d see it through!’ Unfortunately, they wouldn’t speak up. Even at the trials, they would stick to their stories, and I’d end up getting the blame. Don’t the villagers ignore it? You think they’re really intimidated by a few hooligans? Many people simply don’t care; it’s more about helplessness.”

“What about this last one? I heard from my uncle that this child was stubborn and wouldn’t go quietly.”

“…That’s likely a different buyer,” the man paused, his expression turned serious, then he advised the young policeman, “You better not inquire anymore.”

Seeing the young man didn’t take it seriously, the middle-aged man added, “I don’t want to hear that you’ve been dragged off to feed the shrimps.”

The young man’s expression changed before he smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I don’t have that much free time.”

They had worked on a murder case before, where the victim was thrown into a Wild Pond, and by the time the body was discovered, it had been so badly eaten by shrimps that it was unrecognizable. There had been no progress in the investigation, and it ultimately became a cold case.

The topic of conversation between the two quickly changed, and Zheng Tan no longer needed to listen further. The middle-aged police officer obviously had his share of experience over the years and probably knew some things. However, seeing that they clearly didn’t want to bring it up, Zheng Tan couldn’t catch the information he wanted to hear, which deepened his suspicions.

He had always found it strange why they would choose Xiao Jiu. If it was really like the villagers said, to sell her off as a wife or for some other special industries, Xiao Jiu’s age and temperament were not suitable. Yet they skipped her two older sisters and went straight for her.

This puzzle remained unsolved even after Zheng Tan returned to Chuhua City.

Once home, Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were busy with the two turtles. Zheng Tan followed Jiao Ma to the third floor to check on the kittens, which, being over a month old, were a lot sturdier and visibly larger than average; Huasheng Tang had been the same.

The destructive proof of these two kittens was clearly visible on the fabric sofa in Ermao’s living room, which was completely covered in “fur,” and many scratches from cat claws could be seen on the tables and chairs.

With just these two, the havoc they wreaked was evident; when Zheng Tan entered, the kittens were leaping around, growling softly at Jiao Ma without showing any signs of fear. However, they seemed somewhat affectionate when they saw Zheng Tan. As for Heimi, probably annoyed by the two, it was lying on Ermao’s bed in the bedroom, too lazy to even open its eyes, only its ears moved, indicating it was paying attention to the sounds around it.

These two were now also following Ermao in eating some meat, and they had large appetites and strong digestive abilities, perhaps due to the strong genetic traits from “Lord.” Ermao mentioned that Heimi had started to despise them recently.

“These two probably won’t stay for long, Heimi has been getting upset more frequently lately,” Ermao sighed, pointing out their respective cat beds to Jiao Ma. They never stayed in one bed; during the day they would play and sometimes lick each other, seeming to have a good relationship, but if they were put in one bed, they tended to fight. This wasn’t apparent when they couldn’t run, but now that they could run and jump, they were growing bigger, and the phenomenon was becoming more apparent.

Zheng Tan remained silent. It seemed to be the result of “Lord’s” genes.

“Where do you plan to send these two?” Jiao Ma asked.

“I guess I’ll have to send them far away,” Ermao replied somewhat reluctantly, as it was hard to let go seeing them grow up day by day.

Ermao had considered giving them to familiar people like Wei Leng or Senior Hetao, but those two outright refused upon hearing. Being able to coexist with cats doesn’t mean one is willing to keep them.

Jiao Ma and Ermao sat on the sofa talking, while Zheng Tan watched the two kittens play. Although they still looked immature, when they fought, they seemed rather fierce, and Zheng Tan, listening to their growling, noticed that it was different from the kittens at the Pet Center. Having worked with many kittens for advertisements, he knew about their different cries, although there might be differences among breeds, they shouldn’t be like these two. Zheng Tan could hardly remember what Huasheng Tang sounded like as a kitten, since back then at the Pet Center, Huasheng Tang was always being “educated” by Li Yuanba, and Zheng Tan didn’t interact much with him, starting only when the cat was almost grown.

Since returning home these past few days, Zheng Tan hadn’t ventured far out, barely walking around the campus, and once classes started, his life resumed its rhythm from before summer vacation.

Today, Zheng Tan decided to head over to the construction site and also to check on the blind old man. Was the old man still persisting at his post in the hot weather?

When Zheng Tan passed by Zhong Yan’s residential area, he glanced and seemed there was no one at Zhong Yan’s home. This time in the college entrance examination, Zhong Yan had soared to the top, ranking among the top three in the school and getting into Beijing University, which didn’t sit well with his family members.

After making a round at the construction site and not seeing Zhong Yan, Zheng Tan guessed he must have gone to Beijing to report for university, which meant there would be one fewer acquaintance around here in the future.

Just as he was about to leave, Zheng Tan heard someone calling his name. The voice sounded familiar, and when Zheng Tan turned around, a man in a blue vest and safety helmet came running over—it was Ning, the man who had helped Zhong Yan.

“Hey, glad you finally came.” Ning fished in his pocket and pulled out a 50 note, saying to Zheng Tan, “Come on, I’ll buy you something to eat. Before Zhong Yan left, he specifically told me to treat you well when you come by; he even gave me the money.”

Ning talked nonstop for a while before suddenly remembering that he was just talking to a cat. Did it understand what he was saying?

However, seeing that the black cat didn’t leave, Ning stepped forward. After a few steps, he looked back and saw the cat was indeed following. He muttered to himself: This cat really gets it, huh? No wonder it’s known by a top student.

Zheng Tan followed him to a shop selling boxed lunches where Ning picked out some meat dishes, including fish.

Having paid, Ning turned to speak but found the black cat, which had been squatting next to him, suddenly dashed away, not responsive to his calls.

Just earlier, Zheng Tan had indeed been waiting for Ning to buy the food, but a nearby bus stop caught his eye. When he casually glanced over, he spotted the Santara driver just alighting from a bus!

So, without a second thought about the boxed lunch, Zheng Tan quickly followed the lead. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welcome you to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep