Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 238 Learning Never Stops

"Joint law enforcement?"

Lin Ge was somewhat curious.

When he was a human being, he had indeed seen police officers, traffic police, and urban management officers jointly enforcing the law on the streets. But he hadn't yet figured out why it was so complicated.

Lin Ge has witnessed firsthand how understaffed and overworked a police station is. Why then should limited manpower be diverted to assisting traffic police and urban management officers in dealing with street vendors? Can't they handle that themselves?

"The scope of law enforcement powers is different, and in many cases, it is indeed impossible without our police officers."

Sun Chang completed the sick leave procedures at the office, and thus had some free time to chat with Lin Ge: "For example, the urban management department is responsible for managing the cleanliness of the city. Whether it's street vendors or small stalls doing business arbitrarily, they all have to be coordinated and restrained by the urban management, right? But the urban management doesn't have the authority to take action, you know? In the past, when the legal system wasn't perfect, there were news reports of urban management officers beating people, but now... when they encounter some difficult small stalls or elderly people, the urban management officers can only try to persuade them with kind words and almost beg them on their knees. But in many cases, this attitude is useless against those unreasonable people, so the only way is to ask the patrol police or the police station for help."

Lin Ge seemed thoughtful, as if the soundness of the legal and human systems had indeed placed considerable constraints on law enforcement agencies. Of course, separating law enforcement powers to some extent also protected society and prevented many potential evils from occurring.

Seeing that the cat seemed to understand his rambling, Sun Chang happily continued, "It's the same with the traffic police. They can manage illegally parked vehicles on the road, but if they see a kiddie ride blocking the tactile paving in front of a supermarket, they have no jurisdiction. In this situation, they have no choice but to call the urban management officers. Or if two cars collide and the owners start fighting, they can only try to reason with them. If that doesn't work, then it's our turn to step in."

Perhaps it was the happiness of being able to rest for an extra week that made Sun Chang so talkative today. Mentioning the joint operation in a few days, she chuckled, "Actually, Mimi, you don't need to be nervous. Regular joint operations aren't too much trouble; they're similar to our usual work. But during long holidays like May Day and National Day, joint operations can be deadly. I once heard a senior from the police academy say that a few years ago, during a National Day Golden Week, the number of tourists in Shanshi surged, leading to a shortage of police manpower. So the Shanshi Public Security Bureau mobilized all the students from their academy to help. For seven whole days, that senior only got two full nights of sleep; he almost died from overwork."

Lin Ge gasped. He'd only slept two nights in seven days. Was being a policeman really this dangerous?

"It won't kill you, a cat!"

Sun Chang smiled teasingly and tried to grab Lin Ge's tail, but Lin Ge dodged him.

Despite Sun Chang's "comfort," Lin Ge was still somewhat apprehensive about the joint law enforcement operation that was scheduled for a few days later. Seeing that he probably couldn't escape the trouble at the police station, he wanted to find somewhere else to hide. Why should he have to do such tiring work right after returning from a business trip?

But upon further reflection, he realized he didn't have many places to go in the entire Zhang City. He went to the old man named Chen Zhe's house, but when he saw that he hadn't returned yet, Lin Ge discovered that he didn't even have a place to stay.

"No! There's one more!"

Lin Ge suddenly remembered that he had a "poop scooper"! Professor Liu Junshu from Zhangzhou University, not counting her troublesome daughter, should be Lin Ge's first poop scooper.

Of course, it wasn't that Lin Ge had forgotten, but rather that the reality of the harm he had suffered there, deep in his memory, made him not think about going there to stay overnight.

It's not that he's really forgotten Liu Junshu, otherwise why would he bring her a gift?
Remembering that he hadn't brought back a gift for old man Chen Zhe from Zhuzhou, Lin Ge felt guilty and went to a boutique to find a snuff bottle for the old man. The price was really not cheap, and it took Lin Ge a lot of effort to bargain with the shopkeeper.

"Strange things happen every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual! I was actually bothered by a cat for a whole afternoon, and in the end I took a pang of pity and sold it my stuff for half price? Tsk tsk, a cat that won't leave until the price is lowered, I've really seen it all before!"

The owner of the boutique, who was also exhausted, looked puzzled as he smoked a pipe. He didn't even know that if it weren't for the saliva on his pipe, Lin Ge actually preferred pipes to snuff bottles.

After hiding the wrapped gifts in the cat house, Lin Ge stuffed the scarf he was going to give to Grandma Liu Junshu into his police uniform vest and asked Li Siyu to help him put it on. Then he slowly dawdled toward Zhangzhou University on his own.

He got tired halfway through dawdling, so he hitched a ride on a free bus. The presence of the police uniform vest prevented the bus driver from losing his temper, so he could only pretend not to see the damn cat squatting on the driver's seat, occasionally making eye contact with him.

"are you crazy!"

The bus driver was terrified the whole way.

Lin Ge himself didn't know why, but after returning to Zhang City, he became much bolder in his actions.

Compared to his restraint in Zhuzhou, back in Zhangzhou he dared to do whatever he wanted. Whether it was buying things on his own or taking the bus by himself, he no longer cared about what others thought, doing things he would never have dared to do before.

Perhaps from a cat's perspective, the entire Zhangzhou city is considered its territory, which is why it can be so carefree and willful.

Arriving at the university gate, with dusk already falling, the students wandered around the campus like spawning monsters. Seeing a cat strut confidently into the gate, the group, curious yet timid, whispered amongst themselves and glanced at Lin Ge. But despite constantly teasing their cat-like senior, they ultimately didn't dare lay a hand on the cat in its police uniform. Watching the cat leisurely stroll into the family quarters, they turned away dejectedly and posted the story in their friends' group chat.

"A cat in a police uniform?"

Li Ping, who was busy in the lab, saw the message in the group chat and then looked at the picture in the group chat. She immediately recognized Lin Ge.

"Did it go to see Teacher Liu?"

Xue Yi turned his head to peek at the screen, only to be glared at by Li Ping and turn back with a smile. He took out his phone and sent a message in the group chat, which immediately drew a disapproving look from Li Ping, who said, "Xue Yi, what nonsense are you talking about! This cat clearly belongs to Teacher Liu, why do you say it belongs to the Zhanghe Police Station?"

"But the fact is, the cat was chased away by Ma Xiaomi and no longer belongs to Teacher Liu." Xue Yi shrugged, fiddling with his phone as he spoke. "Although I don't know how this cat, so badly injured, survived, there's no doubt that it was the police officers from the local police station who helped treat it. They saved its life, fed it, and took care of it. Don't you think it's shameless of you to say it's yours now?"

You're the one who's shameless!

Li Ping replied with that, but ultimately didn't refute Xue Yi's words. She knew, of course, that Ma Xiaomi was in the wrong back then. But Teacher Liu… was innocent! After the cat went missing, Teacher Liu was the most heartbroken person!

"Alright, don't think about it too much. Look, this cat even came to find Teacher Liu on its own initiative, so it still has some feelings for her after all."

Xue Yi zoomed in on the photos his classmate had taken, pointed to the gift box tucked into the pocket of his vest, and said, "Look, they even know to bring gifts for Teacher Liu! In my experience, this is either a scarf or gloves; I wonder who bought it."

"Here's your experience back!"

Li Ping glared at Xue Yi again, "With this experience, I haven't seen you buy me any gifts in the past few years!"

But in the end, Li Ping stopped dwelling on those meaningless things and changed the subject while busy at the control panel: "You know, Ma Xiaomi hasn't been back for a long time, right? Is she really that heartless? She doesn't even come back to see her own mother?"

"They might be dead, buried somewhere out there right now!"

Xue Yi spoke bluntly, staring into the microscope, and said, "Tell me, is plant forensics a truth or pseudoscience? Although it's true that you can determine a plant's growing environment by its species, generally speaking, the types and quantities of plants within a few hundred kilometers should be largely the same. Unless you encounter rare pollen or special plant residues, it shouldn't be able to provide precise support for solving cases. Would prosecutors accept such an insufficiently rigorous analysis? Surely a discipline can't only be responsible for cases involving special plant residues, right? I don't quite understand the significance of Professor Liu's research into plant forensics."

"You don't understand? This is what true love is!"

Li Ping sneered, staring at the microscope as well, and said, "We all know that Xiao Guai is now the star cat of Zhanghe Police Station and has solved many important cases. But as a cat, its abilities are limited. Isn't Professor Liu's choice to study plant forensics precisely to help Xiao Guai? Even if the applicable conditions are rare, even if it is not used in general, if it can help Xiao Guai, it is Professor Liu's way of showing his care for it."

Xue Yi shook his head. "Tch! It would be better to use all of Teacher Liu's connections to help the cat! Besides, what's the point of a cat being a policeman? If it had that ability, would it have been beaten up so badly by Ma Xiaomi?"

"..."

Li Ping also fell silent, but as Liu Junshu's student, she couldn't criticize the matter and could only continue to study it slowly according to Teacher Liu's requirements.

Meanwhile, Lin Ge arrived at Liu Junshu's residence.

As luck would have it, Liu Junshu had just returned with a package, and the two met at the door.

They were both taken aback for a moment. Liu Junshu was the first to react and smiled at Lin Ge, saying, "I heard you went out to handle a case? You came to visit me as soon as you got back? That's so sweet. Come in and sit down. I prepared your favorite food."

What do I like to eat?

Lin Ge was somewhat stunned and couldn't refute the fact that he had indeed come to seek refuge the day after returning to Zhangzhou City.

Following Liu Junshu into the house, Lin Ge found that there weren't many changes inside. Time seemed to be of little importance to the old woman, but some newly purchased items revealed her hopes and persistence.

"This is the only photo I found where the three of us are together. Look how happy Xiaomi is smiling. I don't know why she turned into the way she used to be."

Liu Junshu came out carrying a plate of cat treats. Seeing Lin Ge staring blankly at the table, she walked over and patted Lin Ge's head, saying, "If I have the chance, I'll have Xiaomi apologize to you. But I guess it doesn't mean anything to you anymore, right? Oh, by the way, an old friend of mine in Zhuzhou called me a couple of days ago and said you've been making quite a splash there! You know, as a cat, you should really keep a low profile."

"What can I do? I can't just ignore it when I see it!"

With a grumble, Lin Ge watched as the old man placed the plate in front of him. The plate contained various shapes of granular cat food and cat jelly, more like the colorful and shaped soft candies that children eat.

For some reason, when Lingo saw this cat food, his stomach rumbled reflexively.

It seemed he really liked this cat food, though he didn't know what brand it was. A sense of nostalgia washed over him, and Lin Ge obligingly ate some before glancing at the stack of books on the table.

The words "biology," "detective work," and "forensic medicine" are quite obvious.

(End of this chapter)