Chapter 11 Rolling? Coquetry? To hell with it!

Riding the bike basket over the gravel road was a process Zheng Tan really didn't want to think about anymore.

Once they had reached the destination Wei Leng mentioned, Zheng Tan hurriedly jumped off the bike, almost collapsing dizzily to the ground.

This was a two-story building surrounded by residential private homes, though this area was also within the demolition range. Many houses were vacant, marked with large demolition signs, and high advertising billboards hung around.

The High-tech Zone was expanding outward. It was inevitable that this area would be demolished. Within ten years, it would gradually be covered by various newly established high-tech enterprises.

Wei Leng opened the door, pushed the bike inside, rummaged through the fridge, grabbed a handful of beef chunks, and settled onto the sofa to watch TV and eat without paying any attention to Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan looked around, jumped onto the coffee table, and dragged over the beef chunks from Wei Leng's side, tearing open the outer wrapping and started eating. Wei Leng had mentioned on the way here that after finishing here, he would ride straight to Chuhua University to drop Zheng Tan off, so Zheng Tan wasn't in a hurry to leave… nor could he if he wanted to.

About ten minutes later, the door rang, and a man in a police uniform entered.

Seeing Zheng Tan, the man exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you pick up this cat? I definitely don't keep cats! You know I'd rather have a dog."

"You don't need to keep it; this is someone else's. I'll return it tomorrow." Wei Leng peeled a beef chunk and threw it into his mouth, then handed the glass jar to the man.

The man didn't say much else, took the glass jar wearing gloves, and went toward the bathroom. He soon returned with a small transparent bag that allowed one to see the contents inside.

Jade, diamonds, gold rings…

Though just a small bag, the contents were quite valuable.

"Did you meet the person yet?" asked the man.

Wei Leng shook his head and pointed at Zheng Tan, "This cat found it."

"Tsk, you must be kidding!" The man obviously didn't believe it, and then said, "Tell me, what else did you find? I couldn't hear clearly over the phone… You should really replace that old phone of yours to avoid losing contact when out of the central area."

Wei Leng described the situation near the dilapidated house, "Someone had deliberately scattered medicine around to keep animals away, but it didn't kill the weeds. The nearby residents have been busy moving out, so no one bothers checking those weed-infested ruins. They hid this bag of items very well, and the surrounding traces were cleanly cleared. They were very careful… It wasn't their first time doing this kind of thing."

"Of course it wasn't their first time. That person has several lives on their hands, they're experienced with such things. Only you could have discovered it; my guys would have walked around that broken house all day and found nothing."

The policeman flicked the bag in his hand, thought for a moment, and handed a folder to Wei Leng from behind him.

"A man?" Wei Leng frowned as he looked at the documents in his hands, different from what he had suspected. He had been suspecting the sole female among several suspects.

"The results tested by the new equipment at the station, could they be false?" The policeman patted Wei Leng's shoulder, "Alright, brother, I really appreciate your help in finding this evidence. The area is already being monitored. Keep us posted if there's any activity. Look, you've been discharged for three years, and your injury has healed, find something to do. Whether joining the police force or starting a company is fine, you have the connections and capital."

Wei Leng lit a cigarette, propped his arm under his head, and leaned back on the sofa, "Lazy."

"Bullshit!" The policeman grabbed the folder and hit him with it, frustrated but shifted the topic away and looked towards Zheng Tan, who was fiddling with the beef chunks packet with his furry paws, "This cat is quite clever, but compared to the master's old mountain cat…"

He stopped mid-sentence.

"Why do I even mention it!"

"Why do you even mention it!"

The two spoke almost at the same time.

Remembering the way that mountain cat looked at people, just like their master, both were visibly disturbed. That was also why Wei Leng, despite seeing various behaviors from Zheng Tan, had not been too surprised.

Rubbing his arm which had goosebumps, Wei Leng kicked the policeman, "Brother, you should get back to your office duties, you have enough cases to keep you busy."

"True," the policeman gathered his things, his face looking serious but his tone rather smug, "I wouldn't feel right about getting promoted without solving these cases."

"Narcissism is a sickness, you need a cure."

"Haven't you read the newspapers? Narcissists make good leaders. Napoleon, Roosevelt, Stalin, Edison, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, and even Hitler, they all share a common narcissistic trait." Saying this, the policeman whistled and walked out, adding before the door, "Don't return my daughter's bicycle, just buy a new one as compensation, her birthday is coming soon, get one of those foldable ones."

Although Zheng Tan kept fiddling with the beef chunks, he was all ears listening to the conversation between the two men. It seemed both men had no simple identities and came from the same mentor.

After the policeman left, Wei Leng made a bowl of instant noodles. He grabbed a handful of beef chunks, placed them on the coffee table, and said to Zheng Tan, "I'm going to catch up on sleep. If you're hungry, eat the beef chunks; there's nothing else to give you. And, best not go outside, it's not like the places you've been before. Know why there are no cats or dogs around here? They all got caught by construction workers and turned into stew. Folk craving 'Dragon and Tiger Fight' are many here, with your skills, you can only bully little dirt dogs."

Zheng Tan: "..."

After spending a night in this crisis-filled area, the next day, Wei Leng packed a bag of clothes and rode his bicycle toward Chuhua University. Zheng Tan squatted again in the basket of the pink ladies' bike. Thankfully, as they approached the urban area, the roads were fairly flat. Besides the discomfort of the blowing wind, everything else was fine, if you ignored the incessant chatter of certain people.

From the time they left until they reached the street where Chuhua University was located, Wei Leng kept reprimanding Zheng Tan for various faults, "Your jumping power is poor, your response is dull, your hearing has degenerated to the point you wouldn't know someone is beside you just like a pig..."

Zheng Tan really wanted to retort, but unfortunately, he wasn't capable of it. Opening his mouth, he could only produce weird cat meows. So, along the way, pedestrians saw this scene: a man riding a women's bicycle kept speaking non-stop, and every time he said two sentences, the cat in the basket meowed once, looking like they were arguing.

Riding a bicycle from the New Technology Development Zone to Chuhua University took at least two hours, but Wei Leng didn't seem very tired.

Wei Leng rented a house near Chuhua University; he had purchased a house not far from Chuhua University but it was recently undergoing renovation and wouldn't be ready for at least half a year. Hence, he temporarily rented a place and paid six months of rent upfront.

The last time Zheng Tan saw the mother and daughter on the big lawn, they were the wife and child of Wei Leng's comrade, who had unfortunately sacrificed himself during a mission. Wei Leng had been helping take care of them and often visited the mother and daughter after retiring from the military.

The room Wei Leng rented wasn't far from the East Family Courtyard; it was just a five-minute walk from the East Gate, where many students rented rooms.

After arriving at the rented place, Wei Leng let Zheng Tan get off the bike, "You go back by yourself, and when you have free time, practice your skills well. As a cat that likes to wander around, if you don't have any skills, you'll sooner or later be caught up in a 'Dragon and Tiger Fight.' I will go running in the school in the morning, around six or seven; you can join if you want to run, that's it."

After finishing his talk, Wei Leng locked the bike and went upstairs, not caring whether leaving the cat here directly might result in someone taking him away. Wei Leng felt that if the cat could be so easily taken away, then it deserved it, and it would save him the trouble of training him.

Zheng Tan was quite familiar with the surrounding area, ignoring the calls of several students passing by, and walked toward the East Gate.

"That cat is so aloof."

"Exactly, not like the tabby a couple of days ago that was rolling over."

"Are all black cats like this?"

"Not at all, my aunt also has a black cat, which loves cuddling, unlike this one..."

Listening to the conversations of the few female students behind him, Zheng Tan twitched his ears. He was not in the mood now, rolling over? Cuddling? To hell with that!

Had to admit, when Zheng Tan scaled the wall into the East Family Courtyard, his heart suddenly quieted a lot, and it became much more peaceful. Maybe, this was what they call a sense of belonging?

Before Zheng Tan could finished contemplating, a dog's bark turned his just-calmed heart from partly cloudy to overcast.

He recognized this bark; he hadn't heard it for a month, and the courtyard had been relatively peaceful for a month.

Zheng Tan turned his head to look; a dog was running toward him biting a bottle of mineral water, followed by its owner calling out from behind.

This dog was named Sahara, not related to the famous desert. The name originated from its bloodline, which was said to be a mix of three breeds: Samoyed, Husky, and Labrador.

In appearance, Sahara had the serious expression of a Husky but also the upward curling mouth corners of a Samoyed. The combination of these features made it look rather sleazy. It inherited the intelligence of a Labrador, but unfortunately, this intelligence was never applied appropriately.

Like now, Sahara blissfully ran around with a bottle of mineral water that its owner had just bought, probably enjoying being chased.

Whoosh—

The plastic bottle was punctured by Sahara's sharp teeth, and due to the water pressure, it squirted out, hitting Zheng Tan right as Sahara ran past him.

Could it really be a slow reaction?

The culprit, now with the leaking bottle in its mouth, had run far away. Zheng Tan shook off the water from his body and hadn't even sighed when he heard the flapping of wings.

On the wall of the large courtyard behind him, a blue shadow landed.

"Yesterday when I passed in front of your door,~ you were throwing a bucket of water outside,~ it landed on my leather shoes,~ passers-by on the road,~ laughed, haha.~~"

Zheng Tan: "..."

Suddenly felt a strong urge to die.