Chapter 41

Chapter 41: Chapter 41 — The Cat Has No One to Feed It.

When facing something they had never been exposed to before, people are always more sluggish than expected.

So when Jian Qing saw He Linfeng retreating step by step in front of him, helpless and at a loss as if surrendering, he faintly began to understand why the other party liked to tease him in ordinary times.

He Linfeng had always been sharp.

Yet at this moment he looked like a big dog forced into a corner by its owner, showing an uncharacteristic clumsiness. And Jian Qing knew that apart from himself, there probably would be no one else who could ever see this side of him.

Curiosity, stirred by alcohol, made Jian Qing suddenly want to hear He Linfeng’s inner thoughts right now.

Unfortunately, his “ability” only worked on transmigrators.

Forcing down the hand that almost reached out to touch him, Jian Qing walked around him and slid open the glass door behind. “Let’s go.”

His aunt’s family was still waiting for them to continue the meal.

As the elder closest to Jian Qing, Ning Shuyan was very certain that the He officer Jian Qing brought home today was a different kind of friend from Bian Shao.

For example, that strawberry used to “shut someone up.”

If it were Bian Shao, Jian Qing would never personally pick it up to “feed” him—or rather, “shove it into his mouth”—he would only expressionlessly tell him to shut up.

But her dear nephew himself seemed completely unaware of this.

Knowing Jian Qing’s personality too well, Ning Shuyan carefully chose to let things take their natural course, while secretly stuffing the originally normal amount of return gifts into an entire paper bag.

It was even more full than the one Jian Qing was carrying.

Fruits, side dishes, braised beef, plus two large bags of cute-looking cookies. Most of them were homemade by Ning Shuyan, clean and hygienic, enough to cover He Linfeng’s dinners for the next week.

“You can take them to the office and share,” Jian Qing said, worried that his aunt’s excessive enthusiasm might cause trouble for the other party. “Do whatever you want with them.”

In the elevator, He Linfeng pressed the button for B1 and suddenly asked, “Does Bian Shao have some too?”

Jian Qing: ?

Unable to understand the meaning behind the sudden mention of Bian Shao, he glanced at He Linfeng, as if about to question “what nonsense are you talking about,” but in the end swallowed it back and only said:

“Xu Hao isn’t getting kidnapped every day.” There aren’t that many lifesaving benefactors.

He Linfeng then laughed.

Honestly speaking, Jian Qing felt that this kind of happiness came a bit late, but remembering the successfully changed plot, he also unconsciously relaxed.

“As for the compensation issue for the unfinished building, I will have the company’s legal team assist in pushing it forward,” Jian Qing said, staring at his reflection in the elevator. “I can’t guarantee a good outcome.”

Li Guojian’s capability was mediocre. The main reason he had managed to make a name for himself in North River City was riding the wave of real estate. Now that the property boom had long passed, the Li family was already a hollow shell with rot inside. Even if bankruptcy liquidation happened, the owners might not even recover their full down payments.

He Linfeng looked surprised.

He felt that Jian Qing had misunderstood something—his happiness came from indirectly confirming through Ning Shuyan’s actions that the young man treated him as special, not from any official business matters.

“Looks like the Bureau Chief Zhao’s commendation banner really needs to be implemented soon,” He Linfeng said thoughtfully, bumping his shoulder lightly against the young man’s. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re especially kind?”

After interacting through several cases, he found that Jian Qing’s sense of morality far exceeded that of ordinary people, creating a strong sense of incongruity for He Linfeng.

Very few people would willingly take on troubles unrelated to themselves.

…Could it be that the other party had some extremely hidden connection to these cases?

Due to professional habit, a doubt arose, and He Linfeng’s mind suddenly flashed with an instinctive, intuitive guess—but he couldn’t find any evidence to support it.

“Ding.”

The elevator arrived.

Along with the young man’s belated reply, it drifted into his ears: “No.”

“That’s good too,” He Linfeng said sincerely, immediately setting aside the chaotic thoughts. “From my experience, overly kind people often live very tiring lives.”

“So.”

“No matter what the outcome of the Lai’ao New City case is, you’ve already done everything you should and could do—including the previous few cases.”

Jian Qing paused. “…I know.” Then he raised a hand to block the elevator door as it was about to close. “Aren’t you getting out?”

Even his aunt and Doctor Feng had never said such things to him.

Jian Qing was once again surprised by He Linfeng’s sharpness.

He had a vague feeling that if this conversation continued, some secrets that should have been deeply buried might be exposed.

Fortunately, He Linfeng did not dwell on this topic. Old cases were closed, new cases had not yet arrived—perhaps the plot of the original novel had entered a gap period, and Jian Qing’s life, to his delight, gradually returned to calm.

It was a sunny weekend when he was once again woken up by a video call from He Linfeng.

Wrapped properly in his blanket and curled up in a corner, the right half of Jian Qing’s bed was so neatly arranged it looked untouched. Suspecting it might be the serious crime unit contacting him through the other party, he reluctantly sat up and slowly swiped to answer.

The dark, empty bedroom with the curtains tightly drawn had only the phone screen as its source of light, casting a cold glow on the black-haired young man’s face and making his skin look pale.

Yet He Linfeng remained calm without even blinking. “Did I wake you?”

A blatantly obvious fact. With his throat dry, Jian Qing didn’t bother responding. He habitually reached for a glass of water on the bedside table, his finger moving toward the bright red hang-up button on the screen.

—After the appreciation banquet, He Linfeng still hadn’t given him a few days of peace: the serious crime unit had recently been investigating the unidentified white skeleton buried under an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. He had been sent by Captain Yan to travel with Wang Lai, but he kept contacting Jian Qing nonstop—instead, it had gotten worse, sending over a dozen messages a day, using the chat window like a memo board.

Now it seemed this person had finally finished his work and only then had time to make the trivial call to wake him up.

“Wait,” He Linfeng quickly judged the young man’s expression and stopped him in time, turning the camera around and sweeping it around the surroundings. “I really need your help today.”

Jian Qing narrowed his eyes slightly.

Completely different from his side, He Linfeng’s surroundings were brightly lit. Scattered brick-and-tile houses lay on both sides—it was an unfamiliar mountain village.

Most cases in the original story took place in North River City, so he was momentarily confused. “Hm?”

“Mimi,” guessing that the young man had misunderstood, He Linfeng explained with a smile, “we just found some new clues. Wang Lai and I will be a day late coming back—the cat has no one to feed it.”

Jian Qing, who caught the implied meaning: “……”

“Address and password I’ll send you later,” He Linfeng continued on his own. “Food is in the leftmost cabinet in the kitchen. Just change the water to clean water.”

By Jian Qing’s understanding, his relationship with He Linfeng was nowhere near close enough to warrant going to his home to feed a cat.

So he decisively refused: “I already made plans today with…” a doctor.

Halfway through the sentence, Jian Qing suddenly paused, because he belatedly realized that mentioning a follow-up visit to Linggang Psychological Clinic to He Linfeng would be even more troublesome than feeding a cat.

In just two breaths of hesitation, the other party had already leaned in, raising an eyebrow. “Made plans?”

“Plans with Bian Shao,” Jian Qing lied flawlessly. “Officer Song and Officer Zhou both like cats—they should be very willing to help you with this.”

He Linfeng immediately blinked, pretending to clutch his chest in heartbreak.

He didn’t speak, just looked at Jian Qing with a wronged, pitiful expression, as if he hadn’t noticed the other party was lying—like he was deliberately acting cute, or as if he truly felt a trace of disappointment.

The cold light surrounding the young man made Jian Qing’s expression even more indifferent as he pressed his lips together. “Hang up.”

A few minutes later.

The rushing sound of water in the bathroom stopped. A pale, slender hand dripping with water returned, picked up the quietly lying phone beside the pillow, and typed an ambiguous symbol:

【.】

As if having already predicted the other party would soften, the Samoyed-like sender instantly replied with a celebratory “victory” sticker.

Along with an address string.

Friends of the same age were few, and those who were relatively homebodies were even fewer. Jian Qing rarely visited anyone, let alone going to feed a cat in the owner’s absence.

“Beep-beep.”

After the password was entered correctly, the lock flashed green twice and opened. A sleek black cat silently jumped down from the coffee table, lifted its head, and studied Jian Qing with its emerald eyes, cautiously keeping a safe distance.

Green plants, framed paintings, wool carpet, fabric sofa… He Linfeng was clearly someone who knew how to enjoy life. Bright and lively colors were harmoniously matched; the balcony’s sturdy, breathable screen window was open, and there was no strange smell in the room.

After closing the door, Jian Qing casually glanced at the cabinet beside him and indeed found a pair of unopened slippers on top.

“Meow.” After tilting its head in thought for a while, the aloof-looking Mimi finally approached gracefully after hearing the rustle of the cat food bag.

Blocked by the cat, Jian Qing said, “Move aside.”

The black cat yawned, flicked its tail innocently, and—thinking it understood everything like when it usually flattered He Linfeng—began circling around the young man’s ankles, rubbing against his pant leg with its head.

Jian Qing froze completely.

He wasn’t used to physical contact with animals—or rather, with any living creatures—but this black cat was clearly just like its owner: extremely familiar and self-invited.

“Meow.” It bit down on the cat food bag and shook it urgently. “Meow.”

“Let go.” Using a bit of strength to tug-of-war with Mimi, Jian Qing looked it straight in the eye and calmly educated it:

“He Linfeng said it has to be poured into a bowl before you can eat.”

He didn’t expect it to understand, and was already prepared to carry both the cat and the food over. But unexpectedly, in the next second, it flopped down at his feet like it was making a scene, exposing its soft belly on purpose.

The same kind of coaxing tactics had been used countless times by the cats and dogs at Linggang Psychological Clinic. Expression unchanged, Jian Qing stepped over the flattened Mimi and crouched down by the porcelain bowl in the corner of the living room.

The black cat, abandoned for the first time, looked utterly shocked. It scrambled up and let out a long, aggrieved “meow~”.

It quickly ran over, not even bothering to check the food pouring into the bowl with a rustle. It flopped down again near Jian Qing, rolled over, and stubbornly challenged this new two-legged creature.

As expected of He Linfeng.

Jian Qing thought.

He had actually managed to turn a stray cat into something this bold and unruly.

Casually, Jian Qing reached toward the black cat. The moment his fingertips sank into the soft fur, the cat suddenly sprang up and retreated to the cat tree, then looked down from above and shook its head at him in a mischievous way.

Want to pet me?

Too late!

Jian Qing, who had been thoroughly outplayed by a cat: …

Half an hour later.

Linggang Psychological Clinic.

Familiar footsteps sounded. The silver-shaded cat, who was sunbathing on top of the golden retriever’s back and had always disliked this “beautiful two-legged creature,” accurately identified him by sound. It habitually closed its eyes to nap—but was suddenly lifted into the air on all fours, confusedly picked up by the black-haired young man and placed on his lap, where it was kneaded into a messy little white ball.

Doctor Feng, who had just come out to pour water: “…Jian Qing?”

“Meow meow meow meow!” Look at him! Quick!

Struggling to poke its head out from the young man’s arms, the silver-shaded cat with round, almond-shaped eyes urgently blurted out its answer:

The two-legged creature has changed!

He smells like another cat!