The Thief is a Cat?

　　不管阿午怎么说,就算直接点明,郑叹也决定一装到底.反正他现在只是一只猫而已.而且,阿午给郑叹的印象并不怎么好,在这里郑叹总感觉不自在.

Regardless of what A Wu tried to say, even if it was something very direct, Zheng Tan was continuing his act to the end. Anyways, he was only a simple cat now. Needless to say, his impression of A Wu wasn't very pleasant. At this point in time, he felt very uncomfortable.

　　所以,就在阿午心里得意的时候,郑叹直接扭头,转身头也不回地走了.

So, as A Wu was frenzy with excitement, Zheng Tan whipped his head around and turned around to leave.

　　不理会阿午在后面喊话,郑叹加快步子往东区大院那边跑,下次见到那三只猫还是不理会了.郑叹也不怕阿午乱说,反正就算阿午说出去别人也不会真相信,就算信也不会全信,毕竟很多聪明些的跟人类生活久了的动物确实能够听懂一些简单的语句,郑叹在大部分人面前还是比较低调的,知道些郑叹底细的人也不会出卖他,怕啥?

Completely ignoring A Wu's continuous shouting in the background, Zheng Tan sped up his steps towards the Eastern Quarters. Next time he saw those three cats, he would completely ignore them. He wasn't afraid of A Wu spouting nonsense, no one would believe it anyways. Even if they did slightly believe him, they wouldn't believe every word he said. Anyways, it was proven that certain intelligent animals who lived with humans tended to develop an understanding of simple words and phrases. Zheng Tan tended to be rather low-key among people and those who had a better understanding of him would never sell him out. What was there to be afraid of?

　　周五晚上,卫棱开车过来带郑叹和二毛去夜楼那边玩,今儿许久不见的核桃师兄恰好有空,他们三个师兄弟聚聚,郑叹蹭个车.

Friday evening, Wei Ling brought Zheng Tan and Er Mao to the Night Building for some fun. Fortunately, Walnut had some time today and was able to meet up with the rest of them. Zheng Tan was only there to hitch on hype of the meeting.

　　师兄弟三人都很随意,不会像上次生日宴郑叹见到的那些人挂着面具踹着小心思演戏.这三人在剥花生的时候也很自觉地剥点到郑叹面前的盘子里,所以郑叹只需要坐着等吃就行了,听听外面现场演绎的小调,饱了就趴沙发上眯一觉.

The three treated each other very casually. It was nothing like the environment at the birthday party. There was no hiding behind masks nor treading on thin wire to secure good impressions. When they cracked up open peanuts, they dropped a few in the plate in front of Zheng Tan. All he had to do was to simply sit and enjoy his food. He listened to the tunes from the stage and when finally full, he stretched out on the sofa and napped.

　　不过,郑叹听到旁边卫棱师兄弟三人在谈论"驯猫师"的时候睡意一下子没了.

However, as soon as Zheng Tan heard the three's discussion about the "cat trainer", all instances of tiredness escaped him.

　　话题起始于核桃师兄提起的正在调查中的案子,其实年前就有一些失窃案发生,只是大家都觉得大概是年关将近,牛鬼蛇神都出来捞点过年费,很多人听到也都没真正往心里去,往年这种事情也见得多,而核桃师兄等人也将原因归到一些有黑底记录的那些人身上,那些人抓到后罚点钱或者扔牢里蹲段时间而已,算不上大事.

The new topic stemmed from Walnut's current case investigation. Apparently, in the beginning of the year, a few thieving incidents had occurred. But most people thought it was due to the approaching year end that certain people were coming out to collect small fees. All the people who heard of this rumor didn't take any of it to heart, but the amount of times it had occurred was rather frequent. Walnut and his team had placed the blame on people who were on the blacklist. And when these people were caught, they were either made to pay a small fine or thrown into jail for a little while. It wasn't anything big at all.

　　可后来,过完年报案的人依旧持续着,比往年同时期的数量要多,如果不是一个偶然的机会,核桃师兄也只会认为是那些留案底的人蠢蠢欲动罢了.

But afterwards, even after the new year, there was a continuous inflow of thieving reports. The number had even increased from the previous year. If it wasn't for a simple coincidence, Walnut and his team would have continued to think it was the trouble making habits of these people with criminal records.

　　"猫?!"二毛惊讶得手里剥的花生都掉了.

"Cat?!" Er Mao dropped all the peanuts in his hand due to pure shock.

　　"嗯,失主家对面有个书店,虽然不大,但那家书店的店主手头有些钱,因为最近身体不太好懒得去一直紧盯店里的人,就装了一些摄像头,店门口也有个,只是不太惹人注意而已,刚装上没几天,周围很多人都不知道.我手下有个人当时只是运气好,见到后找那店主要了最近的监控视频."

"Yea, the victim's home faces a bookstore. Though it's not too big, the owner of the bookstore does have a bit of money. But since he's gotten older, he's not bothered to always be in the store to check on the employees. So he decided to set up an entire camera system. One of the camera's was installed at the front door with the intention of being inconspicuous. It's only been up for a couple of days. Most people still don't know about its existence yet. One of the guys under me luckily noticed it and went to ask the owner for the recent camera feed."

　　说着,核桃师兄拿出一张照片.

As he said this, Walnut took out a picture.

　　郑叹凑上去看了看,监控视屏的拍摄效果并不怎么好,比不上银行以及一些大公司的监控器,不过,确实能够从这张照片中看到一个模糊的身影,在它前端有一个物体,那应该就是失窃的东西.

Zheng Tan moved over to get a better look. The camera's quality wasn't to good. It couldn't compare to the security system of banks and larger corporations. However, a blurry figure could still be discerned from the captured image. The figure carried an object at its front. It had to be the stolen items.

　　这个体型,再加上敏捷的身法,只能是猫了.

This figure, complete with the nimbleness, could only be a cat.

　　"这事我压下了,没对外传,书店的老板也并不知道.那个画面很短暂也比较暗,不仔细看的话也没谁会去注意一只猫."核桃师兄继续说着,将自己的怀疑也说了说,他觉得接到的报案里面有一部分就是猫犯下的,而猫就算聪明也不会像郑叹这样,除非有人专门训练过.

"I've hushed this up so far. It hasn't gotten out yet. The owner of the bookstore doesn't know anything either. This particular frame is so dark that if you didn't inspect it, you wouldn't be able to conclude that it was a cat." Walnut continued to talk about his suspicions and how he thought that the crimes were all carried out by a cat. But even if a cat was smart, it would never be like Zheng Tan. Unless someone had trained it.

　　郑叹在看到这张照片的时候就直接联想到了阿午,难道是他?不过照片上的并不像是桂圆,莲子,八宝这三只猫之一.

Zheng Tan continued to stare at the photo and then made the suddenly connection to A Wu. Could it be him? But the cat in the photo was obviously not Gui Yuan, Lian Zi, or Ba Bao.

　　正当郑叹疑惑的时候,核桃师兄也提到了阿午的名字.

Just as the confusion started to spread in Zheng Tan's mind, Walnut mentioned A Wu's name.

　　原来,阿午是接了个活后来楚华市的,本来阿午只打算在楚华市呆段时间将接下的活完成就离开,没想到会被警察找上门.而他接的活估计就是训练那只豹纹猫吧.

Originally, A Wu had come to Chu Hua to fulfill a work contract. He had planned to leave the city right after completing the work he had. Never did he expect the police to arrive on his doorstep. The work contract he had probably involved training the leopard spotted cat.

　　"他确实是怀疑对象之一,不过,阿午虽然没洗清嫌疑,但他似乎对这件事很感兴趣,主动表示愿意协助调查,当然,他还没洗清,我们也并没有真将案子调查进展告诉他.一直到现在他还呆在楚华市,很多时候找不到人,派去盯梢的人也会被他甩脱,不过,他一直带着三只猫,特征明显,出来晃悠也只是在晚上,再加上..."顿了顿,核桃师兄叹气,"我并不认为指使猫偷窃的人是阿午.他这人有些傲气,也不缺钱,我让人调查过他的收入,让我都想学着驯驯猫."

"He's definitely one of the top suspects, however even though he has been cleared of all suspicion, but it seems he's very interested in this particular case. He made a direct offer to aid us in our inspection. Obviously, he has still to clear his name, so we haven't fully disclosed all case developments to him either. Till now, he's always been in Chu Hua. But it's been difficult to track this guy. The guys we assign to tail him are always left in the dust, but he always has three cats with with the noticeable attributes with him. If they come out, it's often in the evening. On top of all of that..." Walnut paused for a moment and let out a sigh. "I don't believe that the one controlling the thieving cat is A Wu. This guy is too proud and it's not like he's lacking any money. I had someone look into his income. You know it made me want to change careers."

　　后半句显然带着开玩笑的意思,驯狗的人不少,驯猫的却极其罕见,猫的脾气太臭,要不怎么说猫是唯一的人类尚未完全征服的家养动物呢,从猫走进人类社会,这都多少年了.

The latter part of the sentence was obviously a joke. There were an abundance of dog trainers, but the cat training market was much smaller. Cats had some real terrible personalities. How else could cats be the only house pet that humans have not been able to obtain complete control over. And after all these years that cats have become part of human society.

　　郑叹一边思量着,耳朵也注意核桃师兄他们的谈话.

As Zheng Tan thought about it, but kept his ears alert to catch the rest of Walnut's conversation.

　　"我曾经问过阿午,他说,确实有一些猫有'盗窃'癖好,而他们本来就比较喜欢找一些有'特长'的有天赋的猫训练,激发它们的长处,而那只偷窃的猫,估计就是哪个对驯猫感兴趣的人训练出来的."

"I had asked A Wu before and he said that there were some cats that have that 'thieving' hobby. Cat trainers tend to look for specifically talented cats with 'extraordinary traits' to train. The thieving cats was probably produced by someone who has a specific interest in training cats."

　　"那个叫阿午的驯猫师,难道不认识本省的驯猫师吗?那应该也算是他们圈内的人."二毛问.

"That A Wu cat trainer guy. Doesn't he know the other cat trainers in this province? Then it'd probably just be some trainer in their circle." Er Mao asked.

　　核桃师兄摇摇头,然后面色不自然地道:"我还打电话问过师傅呢."

Walnut shook his head, and slowly said uncomfortably: "I even called to ask the training masters."

　　卫棱和二毛闻言,一脸"你在作死"的样子看向核桃师兄.

Wei Ling and Er Mao exchanged looks and shot a look that said 'you're looking for trouble' at Walnut.

　　"师傅他老人家似乎对驯猫师没什么好感,而且他还说,他自己顶多算得上是教导,指导一下大山,而不是强行将大山的某些别扭性子掰正."核桃道.

"The old master doesn't seem to have a good impression of the cat trainers. He said that he can only considers himself a teacher. He's only someone who can guide a mountain, but he can't force awkward motions on that mountain, to achieve such an end goal." Walnut expressed.

　　"那肯定,就大山那破性子,绝对不是驯出来的!"二毛嗤道.大山那破性子绝逼是在日常生活中跟周围的人,尤其是师傅他老人家学的.

"Well that's obvious. Even that mountain's terrible personality, that can't be obtained from training." Er Mao exclaimed. That mountain's terrible personality was probably obtained through their daily interactions with the people around them, especially from that old trainer himself.

　　卫棱在旁边一声不吱,听到核桃问师傅驯猫师的那几句话的时候还撇了撇嘴,估计在心里说坏话.

Wei Ling stayed silent in his seat. When he heard what Walnut had asked the cat training master, his lips curled in contempt. He probably was just cursing in his head.

　　二毛剥了两颗花生扔嘴里,"我到时候注意点周围,看看有哪只猫比较可疑,不过我不想碰到那个叫阿午的."二毛最近都会带黑米出去走走,却不想让驯猫师见到自家猫,他觉得自家黑米就是核桃师兄口中所说的有天赋的比较聪明的那类,所以得保护好.驯猫师?谁知道他们会做出什么事情.

Er Mao cracked open another two pieces of peanuts and threw them into his mouth, "I'll make sure to pay attention to my surroundings to see which cat turns out to be more suspicious. But at the same time, I really don't want to meet that A Wu." Recently, Er Mao had been taking Barley out on walks, but he didn't want that cat trainer to see the cat that he was raising. He believed that his Barley was the so called gifted cat that Walnut was talking about, so he had to take extra precaution to protect her. A cat trainer? Who knew to what lengths they were willing to go.

　　"那你可以放心,阿午不会去楚华大学那边了,至少近期不会过去."核桃师兄说道.

"You can rest assured, A Wu won't be approaching Chu Hua University." Walnut said.

　　"为什么?"这下连卫棱都好奇.

"Why not?" Wei Ling was now very curious.

　　核桃笑了笑,"那个叫大胖的胖猫,它'爹'前两天找阿午了,警告让他别接近楚华大学.而且,一年多以前,阿午离开楚华市貌似就有大胖它猫爹的原因在内."

Walnut chuckled, "That fat cat called Fatty, his 'dad' found A Wu two days ago and cautioned him to not approach Chu Hua. Especially since how he had to leave Chu Hua a year ago, I heard it had something to do with Fatty's dad."

　　"大胖它猫爹?"二毛疑惑,然后恍然大悟,接着便开始感慨,这年头猫都比人牛气.

"Fatty's cat dad?" Er Mao was confused, then suddenly came to a realization and start to sigh. These days, cats were more arrogant than humans.

　　因为自家老子身担重任的原因,二毛对本省一些大人物也做过了解,租东区大院房子的时候对里面的住户尤其是B栋楼的住户做过调查,那只胖狸花家的,卫棱特意提过,二毛当时还感叹这看似平常的教职工家属大院卧虎藏龙,所以也经常帮大胖家那位老太太搬点东西啥的,赚点好感度.

Because of the responsibility that came with his background, Er Mao ad conducted research on the biggest figures in the province. When he decided to rent out an apartment in the eastern qu'écarter, he investigated the residents of each household. Especially the ones in building B. Wei Ling had specifically mentioned the fat tabby's household. At the time, Er Mao was surprised at how a regular faculty housing could hide such prominent people. He often went to help the fat tabby's owner just to build up a good reputation.

　　郑叹则在想,难怪那天见面之后,一直到现在都没见阿午出现在楚华大学,郑叹还以为阿午放弃过来惹自己了呢,现在看来,是大胖它猫爹的功劳.

Zheng Tan thought to himself, no wonder after that day, he'd never seen A Wu show up on Chu Hua's University campus again. He had initially thought the A Wu had simply given up on him. Looked like it was due to the hard work of Fatty's dad.

　　想到这,郑叹不由得再次在心里感慨——这是个拼爹的时代,人是这样,连猫都加入进来了.

Parking his thoughts here, Zheng Tan could help but sigh—This struggle in society, humans were already like this, but now, even cats were joining the party.

　　其实核桃师兄从阿午口中得知这原因的时候他自己也没少感慨,这年头,很多猫确实比人还牛气,比如大胖,又比如,面前这只正垂着脑袋不知道在想什么的黑猫.

Actually, when Walnut obtained this information from A Wu, he couldn't help but sigh as well. This year, cats were becoming more arrogant than humans. Cats like Fatty or the current black cat who hung his head low and masked his each and every thoughts.

　　从核桃师兄嘴里了解到阿午留在楚华市的原因,郑叹也注意着周围是不是有陌生的可疑的猫出现.

From the information that Walnut provided, Zheng Tan finally understood A Wu's reason for staying in Chu Hua. He needed to pay attention to his surroundings as well, in case some strange cat appeared.

　　安逸的周末后,周一一大早郑叹就被小郭从焦家接走.

After a restful weekend, early Monday morning, Zheng Tan was taken out my Guo from the Jiao's family home.

　　今天有任务,小郭作为绿翼协会副会长,这次带着宠物中心拍广告的工作组出去拍一个公益广告,帮着刷一刷绿意协会的存在感,提高下自己在协会内部的影响力.

Today, they had a task to complete. Guo as Green Wing's Vice President, took his team of media producers from his pet center to create a public service ad. They needed to promote Green Wing to give it the much needed presence in society. Additionally, he could use this project to increase his influence within the organization.

　　郑叹无疑是小郭手中的绝对王牌.

Without a doubt, Zheng Tan was Guo's best trump card.

　　今天选择了一个离楚华大学三十分钟车程的风景不错的地方,靠近一个湖,由于跟这边的负责人打过招呼,提前就围起了一块地方,郑叹到的时候就见那边很多都准备好了.

Today, they had chosen a scenic area that was only a 30 minute drive from Chu Hua university. It was by a lake. From meeting with the organizer on this side beforehand, they were able to secure a section of the area for the shoot. When Zheng Tan arrived, he noticed that most of the equipment and set was already prepared.

　　今天要拍的公益广告中要告诉人们巧克力以及一些强刺激性食物对宠物的危害.而这其中包含一些"高难度"的比如装晕厥,装呕吐等戏份,猫里面也只有郑叹才能挑大梁了,而小郭的宠物中心其余那几只则在旁边负责卖萌.

Today's public service ad was to be shot with the message of informing the public about the determinants of chocolate and certain other highly irritating types of food for pets. This has included some "highly difficult" actions such as pretending to pass out, vomit, and other such actions. Within the group of cats, only Zheng Tan was tasked with carrying the show. The other cats from Guo's pet center were only there to act cute..

　　在郑叹看来,这些广告拍得很幼稚,拍制的也相对粗糙一些,但毕竟只是宠物公益广告而已,人们对银幕中宠物的容忍度总会比人要大得多,不过,秉着"敬业"的原则,在拍摄的时候郑叹还自加戏份抽搐了几下,吓得那边拍摄的人脸都白了,一身冷汗,生怕这假戏真做,不然小郭会直接把他们解雇掉.

In Zheng Tan's opinion, these advertisements were completely immature. The quality of the filming wasn't detailed enough. But as it was a pet's charitable advertisement, people had greater tolerance in comparison to an advertisement composed entirely of people. However, on the basis of "dedication", during the shoot, Zheng Tan had improved additional actions for his performance. This shocked the producer so much that his face had a instant pale pallor, covering himself in cold sweat. He swallowed his fear and continued on, if a reel-to-real put him in a stupor, Guo would've already fired him.

　　大家都知道boss小郭将这只黑猫当整个宠物中心的招财猫,惹不起,伤不起.

Everyone knew that boss Guo regarded this black cat as the pet center's lucky cat. You couldn't annoy nor harm this cat.

　　总的来说,和平时在宠物中心拍广告的时候一样,顺利得很,所以郑叹这边很快就结束了,而负责宠物犬那边的人只进行了三分之一,工作组还得在这里继续.

All in all, just like what usually happened while filming in the pet center, everything went without a hitch. So on Zheng Tan's side, everything ended relatively quickly, whereas the people who were dealing with the dogs only got through a third of the filming process. The team had to continue working here.

　　小郭这位副会长很忙,来这里之后就没见人影了,不知道又去跟哪位大人物交涉,被小郭托以重任来照顾郑叹的是一个二十出头的名叫查理的年轻人,郑叹遗憾居然不是个妹子.

Guo, this Vice President was very busy. After arriving to the set, it was difficult to get ahold of him. He was probably interacting with another big name. Zheng Tan was put under the care of a early 20 year old manager by the name of Cha Li. Zheng Tan regretted it wasn't an cute girl.

　　查理是个绝对的本国人,只不过由于这名字的原因,姓氏"查"总被人念错,他是小郭今年从农大那边挖过来的,主修动物医学,大四了临近毕业,最近在宠物中心实习,今天被叫过来帮忙.

Cha Li was 100% native to the country, but due to his name, his surname "Cha" was often mispronounced. He was recruited by Guo from Nong Da this year. He studied veterinary sciences and was just finishing up his fourth year of university. He had done his internship at the pet center and was called out to lend a hand today.

　　查理负责照顾郑叹,这边一些要注意的事情都小郭都跟查理交代过了,比如盛水的一次性纸杯必须是干净的没用过的,食物中不能有猫饼干猫粮之类的,一开始查理看到给郑叹的那些食物的时候还说下其中危害,但后来发现这只猫确实比较独特,也就没提了,今天更不会提,而且还要做得隐蔽些,这都是与今天拍的公益广告相悖的,查理道行不够,有些心虚.

Cha Li was in charge of taking care of Zheng Tan. Everything that needed to be looked after was already conveyed by Guo. For example, the disposable paper cups used to carry water must be clean and unused. Food shouldn't contain cat biscuits or cat nip of any kind. At first, when Cha Li had seen the food that Zheng Tan had brought with him, he started listing off the possible dangers. But later, after discovering the uniqueness of this particular cat, he didn't raise anymore eyebrows. Especially after today, he would never mention a word of it. If the topic was ever raised again, it had to be very discrete, this situation was entirely contrary to what their ad was preaching. This wasn't too much of a concern since Cha Li wasn't super proactive, he was instead a little more on the shy side.

　　郑叹不想一直呆在这里,准备出去转一圈.查理刚才被人叫过去帮忙了,休息区这边也没谁盯着郑叹,好不容易来这边一趟,看看风景也好.

Zheng Tan wasn't going to just stay here all day and prepared to go take a walk. Cha Li just called over to help with something. Even here at the rest station, no one was paying attention to him either. It was quite the journey to arrive at the location, a little scenic exploring wasn't going to hurt anyone.

　　从围起来的布栏下钻出来,郑叹见到了一小片松树林,准备过去走走.

Zheng Tan slipped out from the fenced area and found himself by a small forest. He decided to head in and take a look.

　　刚走进松林就听到声响,看过去的时候,郑叹见到一个黄色的身影一闪而过,不过,察觉到郑叹的存在后,对方短时停顿了一下,看了眼郑叹,然后迅速离开.

Just as he walked into the forest, he heard a slightly rustling. He directed his attention towards the sound and was surprised by a flash of yellow. However, as soon as it detected Zheng Tan's presence, it paused for a moment to make eye contact. Just as fast, it darted away into the distance.

　　那是一只跟阿黄长得很像的猫,不过阿黄没有那么犀利的眼神.

This was a cat that looked a lot like A Huang, however A Huang didn't have such sharp eyes.

　　那只猫嘴里刚才叼的是一个短款的男士钱包.

Furthermore, this cat had a small sized men's wallet gripped in its mouth.