Chapter 234: Chapter 227 Are You Freaking Kidding Me? Chapter 234: Chapter 227 Are You Freaking Kidding Me? Zheng Tan accepted the old lady’s invitation with composure and hopped onto the couch next to him to lie down. The caretaker had wanted to say something, but seeing that the old lady didn’t mind, she held her tongue. However, she was thinking that later she should go out to buy some flea medicine and the like; she had heard that the fleas were rampant on outdoor cats, and she didn’t know if they would bring fleas inside. Just to be safe, it was better to take precautions.

Zheng Tan was aware of the caretaker’s not-so-friendly attitude towards him, but didn’t sense any malice—nothing beyond a little pettiness, which he could ignore.

The caretaker placed a small bowl of warm fish soup on the side table of the sofa chair. Zheng Tan sniffed it but didn’t eat. He wasn’t hungry, and moreover, he didn’t eat carelessly when outside, but most importantly, there was half a fish head in the bowl, and Zheng Tan didn’t like to eat fish heads.

The caretaker turned to the old lady, asking if she should bring some other food instead.

The old lady glanced at the cat on the couch, waved her hand dismissively, “Just leave it there for now.” Then she looked at that person, “This cat is the one I saw during my hospital stay. I feel a certain connection with this cat, and I was wondering if it could belong to someone from around here. I never expected to encounter it here.”

The person sitting on another sofa chair smiled politely as he listened to the old lady’s musings, but inside he was seething. He didn’t feel any “bond” with the cat; rather, he felt like the energy between them clashed, as if they were adversaries destined to cross paths. The old lady went on about the coincidence and luck of running into the same cat at the hospital and at home, which meant he had even more to brood over.”

The man had no doubt this was the same cat he had met before the New Year; he could recognize that much. Never in all these years had he encountered a cat with such eerie vibes.

Running into the cat in a mountain area several hours’ drive from Chuhua City, encountering it in a city hospital, and then stumbling upon it during a night out—now even coming across it while talking with a target for an investigation! What was he supposed to say about that? Still “fate”?

The shitty “fate” of cat shit!

Look at it! The cat just crouched there, silent, not eating, simply watching you with a look that seemed to laugh and scorn, as if its eyes were saying, “Come on, spin another yarn—go ahead!”

How could that not be frustrating?

“Ah, Xiao Gao, where did we leave off just now?” the old lady finally redirected the conversation back to him.

Zheng Tan looked at “Xiao Gao,” remembering that the fake ID in Senior Hetao’s hands definitely didn’t carry the surname “Gao.”

“Xiao Gao” clearly noticed the stare from the cat on the couch a couple of steps away. Although the ambiance and emotions he had been building were disrupted, Xiao Gao’s skill was not lacking, as if he had experienced nothing regarding the black cat’s encounter and had not seen its scornful gaze at all. Maintaining the right amount of smile, he kept up the expression and tone from before, saying, “You were just about to tell us one of your past stories.” In this day and age, who isn’t thick-skinned and mentally tough, ready to deal with all kinds of emergencies?

“Oh, right, that’s where we were,” the old lady smoothed the creases on her clothing, took a deep breath, seemingly reflecting on her past.

“Xiao Gao” gently placed his teacup down, as if afraid to disturb the old lady’s recollections, and listened attentively, focused on the old stories, to confirm if this was indeed the person he was looking for. This was his third suspect, and the one with the highest probability. If he could confirm it, he could complete the job smoothly.

Just as the two began to be emotive again.

The sound of a spoon stirring, “ding ding ding ding,” pulled the old lady out of her memories. She looked up and saw the black cat standing up, one paw propped on the armrest of the sofa chair, the other paw fiddling with the porcelain spoon in the bowl of fish soup on the side table.

The old lady didn’t scold Zheng Tan, instead she smiled kindly, reaching out to pet Zheng Tan’s head, which he dodged, but he did stop playing with the spoon, seemingly sitting obediently on the couch.

As the old lady began to talk with “Xiao Gao” about some past events, Zheng Tan started to create a racket again, clinking and clanging.

Zheng Tan guessed that this person probably wanted to extract some information from the old lady. He had a good impression of the old lady, but this phony young man in front of him, with his thickly applied mask, made Zheng Tan feel an irresistible urge to agitate him.

Clearly, Zheng Tan was successful in being a nuisance.

Even though “Xiao Gao” still managed to maintain an almost perfect facade, inside he felt like he might as well clutch his chest and spit out a mouthful of old blood. Many times, opportunities were not easy to come by; it couldn’t seem abrupt, couldn’t raise suspicions. Missing one meant waiting an unknown amount of time for another chance to arise.

For “Xiao Gao,” the task he had taken on seemed straightforward enough until now, small talk—easy. But ever since the appearance of the cat, things had not been going smoothly.

Damn it, it must be that he clashed with black cats, right? No wonder people say encountering black cats is unlucky, leading to misfortune. “Xiao Gao” could personally vouch for that now. After running into the black cat that night, he had a tire blow out halfway home from Night Building, a string of bad luck.

After being interrupted by Zheng Tan several times, the old lady lost the interest to continue reminiscing, but she harbored no dissatisfaction towards Zheng Tan. Instead, she said to “Xiao Gao,” “Young man, you must seize the opportunity. I missed mine when I was young, and no matter how much I regret it now, it’s too late.”

“Xiao Gao’s” eyes flickered slightly, but he didn’t ask too much. Since so much time had passed, he politely bid farewell to the old lady. As he was leaving, he seemed to glance casually at the Black Cat watching from the sofa.

Zheng Tan glared back at him, however, intuition told Zheng Tan that this guy actually had a belly full of schemes, probably thinking about how to strike back later.

After “Xiao Gao” left, the old lady took Zheng Tan to the backyard to show him the flowers she planted, and said that he could come to keep her company whenever he had time. The old lady didn’t really expect the cat in front of her to understand anything, but sometimes she just wanted to find a suitable listener, especially when reminiscing about the past.

Sitting in the wicker chair in the backyard, the old lady sighed, “Almost sixty years now.”

Zheng Tan didn’t really understand what the old lady’s sigh meant, but after thinking about it, he guessed it probably had something to do with the reason why “Xiao Gao” had come probing. Too bad the old lady didn’t want to talk about it now. No matter, when the mood struck him to wander this way again, he could come here for a free meal and drink, and maybe then he would hear the old lady reminisce about the old times.

Meanwhile, “Xiao Gao,” who had left the old lady’s villa, was driving along the lakeside, preparing to leave the residential area. Just then his phone rang, and “Xiao Gao” pulled over to the side, looking at the caller ID “Jing Gui” before answering the call.

“Hello, Liu Ba, are you busy right now? I have a job I can’t take on, wondering if you’re interested,” said the person on the other end.

“Go on,” said the woman known as “Xiao Gao” to the old lady but “Liu Ba” on the phone. His tone was no longer as humble as it had been when facing the old lady; now it was more casual, as if there were very few things he took seriously.

After hearing a few sentences from the person on the other end, “Liu Ba” interrupted, “The pay is too low, the job too boring, I won’t take it.”

“Alright then, I figured you’d refuse. I’ll go look for someone else,” the person known as “Jing Gui” said. He had, in fact, anticipated “Liu Ba”‘s refusal when he decided to make the call. The reward for this job would be a big deal for others, but to “Liu Ba,” it was nothing compared to the smaller jobs he played with five years ago.

“Liu Ba” was a well-known figure in the “Private Detective” industry, said to have started making money by helping people catch mistresses and gather evidence when he was just a child. By now, extremely experienced and perceptive with an impressively high success rate, he was good at keeping confidences, tight-lipped, and, correspondingly, he charged high fees. Even when his charges seemed exorbitant, people still sought him out incessantly.

In China, there are clear regulations forbidding private detectives, so up to now, this industry couldn’t be “registered” openly, but societal reality made the development of private detectives necessary and left loopholes to be exploited. Consequently, more people were turning to this line of work for their livelihood. However, status in any industry varies, and “Liu Ba” is seen as a legendary figure within this unique industry’s community. There are numerous tales and rumors about him, confined only within this small circle, unknown to the outside world.

Having progressed from small-time operations to accepting only significant cases, “Liu Ba” could be said to stand at the pinnacle of this industry’s pyramid.

As for “Jing Gui,” that was also a code name. In terms of renown, he couldn’t compare to “Liu Ba.” “Jing Gui” worked on the side in a marriage counseling office while also taking on some jobs like investigating mistresses and gathering evidence for divorces. Such work was easy, the money came fast, and generally, there wouldn’t be any serious trouble. Sometimes, if he encountered someone wealthy, he could make a big score. Of course, “Jing Gui” knew that what they were doing now was merely what “Liu Ba” had left behind. “Jing Gui” could consider “Liu Ba” his half-master, although in terms of age, “Jing Gui” was actually ten years older than “Liu Ba.”

“What’s the matter, running into trouble? Don’t tell me another fool has offended you?” “Jing Gui” could tell from the other’s tone that he was not in a good mood.

“Liu Ba” scoffed, “You make it sound like I’m a natural disaster or fierce beast.”

“Not at all. A natural disaster or fierce beast underestimates you. Let me think, the last person who offended you suddenly passed out and lost his virility while in the act with his wife; the one before that started coughing up blood during an interview, sparking public speculation and losing all face and dignity; the one before him broke his arm while dancing and I don’t know if he’s even out of the hospital yet. Hey, these are just the ones I know about. I believe, and deeply so, that these people are just a small part of a larger whole, there are many others I don’t know about,” “Jing Gui” said.

“So?” “Liu Ba” prompted.

“So, hehe, I was just curious who the unlucky one to offend you this time is,” “Jing Gui” replied.

Chewing on gum, “Liu Ba” blew a bubble that popped with a snap before he slowly said, “A cat.”

“What?”

“I said, the one causing me trouble this time is a cat.”

“… Are you f*cking kidding me?!” (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on Qidian with recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep