Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 393 Human Hearts Are Like Ghosts
The little monkey arrived at Baimiao Police Station and quickly discovered that the people there posed no threat to it.

The people here look fierce, but they're nothing compared to that cat's love for bullying monkeys. Especially after seeing that cat dare to bully even such terrifying humans, and then eagerly swiping at them without getting hit, this guy really became the big shot in the police station.

A female police officer from the household registration department brought it a banana, which it took one bite of and then threw on the ground in disgust. The officer scolded it angrily, and it even dared to bark back. It even threw banana peels at people, its attitude incredibly arrogant and rude.

So, Lingo flipped it to the ground and smacked its red rear end, giving it a good beating.

The guy was beaten until he screamed and cried, and finally he behaved himself.

It cowered behind the policewoman, too afraid to complain, and just whimpered as it picked up the bananas from the ground and ate them.

"A hungry monkey rummaging through trash cans, dares to waste food?"

Lin Ge glared at it fiercely again, which frightened it into yelping. The little guy finally realized who could protect it, and quickly grabbed the policewoman's trouser leg, pointing directly at Lin Ge, its little eyes even brimming with tears of grievance.

The officers from Baimiao Police Station were both amused and exasperated, but they didn't bother to comfort the mischievous monkey. After all, only when Mimi kept it in check could the creature be considered somewhat docile.

Then Liu Shengyou rushed back and immediately launched into a tirade against Lin Ge. From Sun Changbeibei, who had been abducted by the Zhanghe Police Station, to the collective third-class merit that was stolen in this fake liquor incident, he spat and pointed at Lin Ge with his thick fingers.

"Serves you right! You handed Sun Chang and Bei Bei over to Zhanghe Police Station willingly. What's the use of regretting it now? As for this third-class merit, I earned it by finding the most counterfeit liquor. What right does your Baimiao Police Station have to be jealous?"

Lin Ge glanced at Liu Shengyou with disdain.

He had only just learned that the fake liquor incident had been officially declared closed. Only after the incident was closed could the post-incident evaluation of merits begin. Lin Ge felt that the Zhanghe Police Station's mere collective third-class merit was too lenient and insufficient.

Everyone was risking their lives, staying up all night and working hard, and in the end they only got a mere third-class merit?

Unfortunately, it was too late to change anything now. Thinking about it further, since he wouldn't get any personal credit anyway, and the difference between second-class and third-class collective merits was only a slight difference in bonus for an individual, he decided not to care.

After all, he could never spend all of his salary.

"Mimi, can you help me out again?"

Liu Shengyou, born in the Year of the Dog, had just been teasing Lin Ge, but now he shamelessly came over and said, "Take this monkey and a few policemen with you, okay? Help us find the other three? This little thing is hard to handle, only you can manage it."

"Now you know how to ask for favors?"

Lin Ge gave Liu Shengyou a disdainful look, but did not refuse.

After all, when it comes to solving cases, why make things difficult for the police and make everyone work harder if you can resolve them quickly?

There are many ways to retaliate against Liu Shengyou, but it's wrong to make innocent police officers suffer as well. To be honest, ordinary police officers in any police station have a very difficult job.

So Lin Ge went up to the little monkey and slapped it on the head.

These days, only he would dare to take action against protected animals; other police officers would really be hesitant to do anything about these troublesome creatures.

"Where did you run off from? Lead the way to catch them, hurry up."

Lin Ge slapped him and then threatened him.

"Squeak!"

At first, the little monkey didn't understand what Lin Ge meant, but after being hit a few more times and seeing several policemen preparing their equipment and eager to try, it suddenly realized that it could take revenge.

When the tiger is away, the monkeys always dream of becoming king. But once the tiger has the tiger's backing, the monkeys become even more unrestrained. This little monkey, presumably named Yuanbao, saw so many people following him and instantly became incredibly arrogant, walking with an air of dominance.

During the journey, it even stuck its head out of a window and bared its teeth to threaten a pedestrian on the roadside, until it was beaten up by Lingo again and finally calmed down.

The police car returned to the mall. After getting out, the little monkey quickly determined the location and led Lin Ge and two police officers to an old residential area near Baimiao Middle School. It led them to the door of a four-story red brick building in the residential area, pointing at the door and squeaking. Lin Ge saw an old pickup truck parked in front of the house. The truck was the same as the one Li Yiduo had seen in the surveillance footage, but the license plate was completely different.

"Fake license plate?"

Lin Ge leaned closer to take a look, but couldn't tell if the license plate was real or fake.

However, Ringo detected the scent of this monkey and other monkeys in the pickup truck, along with some distinctive aromas. In other words, the little monkey hadn't gone to the wrong place; this was indeed the spot it had previously lingered in.

The family had a brass sign on their door that said "Rental," but the police officers weren't surprised. These days, people who break the law are clever; they're adept at having multiple escape routes.

Jin Zeping knocked on the door, but there was no answer. It wasn't until he dialed the number on the rental sign that hurried footsteps came from inside. Soon, a man in his thirties with a buzz cut opened the door, feigning a yawn.

"What's the matter?"

The man rubbed his eyes innocently, trying to make himself look even more sleepy.

"Police officer from Baimiao Police Station, my name is Jin Zeping! I have something to ask you. What's your name?"

Jin Zeping flashed his police ID.

To be honest, his police uniform alone is enough to prove the point, and the fact that he dared to play dumb when he saw the police makes him increasingly suspicious.

"Oh. Sorry, I was taking a nap and didn't hear the knocking. My name is Feng Guohua. Is there something you need from me?"

Feng Guohua is still pretending to be stupid.

"You were just hit hard? When did you get out?"

Jin Zeping scanned Feng Guohua's face with his police mobile phone and quickly learned that the man had a criminal record. However, since the case was not in the jurisdiction of Baimiao Police Station, he didn't really recognize Feng Guohua.

"last month."

Feng Guohua replied with a grim expression, then whispered, "Officer, I've been behaving myself lately. I haven't done anything wrong, what are you doing..."

"Squeak!"

Before Jin Zeping could speak, the little monkey suddenly darted out from behind auxiliary police officer Wang Hongwen, pointing at Feng Guohua and squeaking incoherently.

Feng Guohua's expression immediately turned very bad.

He glared fiercely at the little monkey, but unfortunately, the little monkey had someone backing him up this time and ignored his threat.

Seeing this, Jin Zeping understood what was going on. He coughed and said expressionlessly, "Feng Guohua, you know the government's rules. Do you have anything else to say? Confess honestly now, and I'll consider it a voluntary confession."

"I...I didn't do anything wrong!"

Feng Guohua remained defiant, but after a moment's thought, he stubbornly insisted, "You mean the monkeys? That's right! I did find a few monkeys, and I was planning to call the zoo after I woke up. But I don't know where they came from! I just saw four monkeys wandering around outside, and worried they might hurt someone, so I caught them. Officer, this isn't illegal, is it? I was just doing a good deed, what crime did I commit? I don't understand!"

"Where's the monkey?"

Jin Zeping didn't waste any more words with this guy, though it was indeed difficult to find any fault with him at the moment.

"I locked the kitchen. Except for this little guy who accidentally ran away, everything else was locked up properly. I was really planning to call the zoo later, but I don't know their phone number yet."

Feng Guohua insisted that he was doing a good deed, that he had captured the monkeys, whose origins were unknown, to prevent them from harming people.

"What did you use to catch it?"

As Jin Zeping asked questions, he followed Feng Guohua into the house. The rented room was dimly lit and cluttered. The floor was covered in trash, and the coffee table in the living room was littered with cigarette butts and instant noodle containers, as well as piles of dirty clothes on the sofa.

"Hehe..." Feng Guohua chuckled dryly, not daring to answer.

Lin Ge was fully aware of this. Judging from the smell coming from the pickup truck outside, he guessed that the guy had probably drugged all four monkeys and killed them.

"This cat?"

Lin Ge's strange expression startled Feng Guohua. He glanced curiously at Lin Ge, who was following behind Jin Zeping, and couldn't figure out what was going on with the cat.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the kitchen, Lin Ge quickly smelled the stench of monkeys. Entering, he found a large dog cage in the center of the kitchen, inside which three monkeys huddled listlessly, one of them appearing to be on the verge of death.

"Squeak!"

Upon seeing its relatives, the little monkey ran quickly towards them, using both its hands and feet. It jumped onto the iron cage and pounded on it, then looked up anxiously at Lingo and the two policemen for help.

The three monkeys in the cage were startled awake. They opened their eyes and saw the baby monkey, and their expressions showed excitement. But they didn't seem to be in good condition. They could only lift their arms with difficulty before closing their eyes weakly and making faint noises.

"Hehe... When I caught them, they were already like this. So catching them didn't take much effort, and their current state has nothing to do with me."

Feng Guohua continued to make excuses.

"What should we do now?"

Wang Hongwen looked at Jin Zeping.

Based on the available intelligence, the police station really can't do much to this guy named Feng Guohua. Even if they confirm that he caught the monkey, the appearance and sale of the monkey are subjectively unrelated to him, and there's no evidence that he caught the monkey for any illegal purpose. They can only give him a reprimand. Of course, if they find out that he's planning to do something to the monkey, the situation will be different, and he'll likely be back in jail.

Anyway, the monkey has been found now, so whatever happens, we can go to the police station first and then investigate slowly!

Jin Zeping didn't act on his own. He called Liu Shengyou at the police station and decided to take Feng Guohua and the four monkeys back to the police station first.

'Waaaaah~!'

Just then, police sirens suddenly sounded outside the door.

Everyone was stunned for a moment, but Lin Ge was the first to react, and even smelled a familiar scent.

Less than two minutes later, Zhao Zhigang and Liu Shuangquan barged in.

When Zhao Zhigang saw the police officers from Baimiao Police Station inside, and even the cat with a disdainful look on its face, he was stunned for a moment.

"What's happening here?"

"Hehe... You're too late! This matter has already been resolved by my Baimiao Police Station. Speaking of Zhao Zhigang, this area is under the jurisdiction of my Baimiao Police Station. What kind of attitude is it for a policeman from Zhanghe Police Station to come here without any prior notice?"

Jin Zeping laughed maliciously.

Upon hearing the words "Zhanghe Police Station," Feng Guohua's expression immediately changed. As if realizing something, his face turned extremely grim.

"It's alright! You guys go about your business, I'll do mine. Oh, you've found the monkey? Perfect! The real culprit is here too! Feng Guohua, right? Could you please explain what you meant by the WeChat message you sent to someone named Che Xiang?"

Zhao Zhigang ignored Jin Zeping and stared at Feng Guohua with a serious expression.

"..."

Feng Guohua lowered his head and remained silent.

"what's the situation?"

Jin Zeping was taken aback. Why did it seem like the Zhanghe Police Station knew more about the situation than he did?

"This kid messaged a farm owner and asked him if he wanted to do monkey paw teppanyaki! You know, putting live monkeys on a hot iron plate and grilling them, it's so cruel it's outrageous! The owner, Che Xiang, was terrified by his idea and quickly ran to us to report it to the police."

Upon hearing this, everyone glared angrily at Feng Guohua.

This guy is a monster! He actually did something like that – a monkey claw on an iron plate?
"..."

Feng Guohua remained silent, but he was furious inside. "I've worked so hard to get your business going and create a buzz, and you just call the police? Serves you right that your business is bad, serves you right that you've almost bankrupted your farm!"

'Crunch~'

A piercing sound came from the side; it was Lin Ge gritting his teeth and sharpening his claws. He truly couldn't believe there were such cruel people in the world—using live animals for teppanyaki. Was this an idea even conceived by a human being?
"Hey! Mimi, don't be angry! What's there to be angry about with this kind of person? The law will teach him a lesson! Hehe, you've only been out for a month, right? And now you're about to go back in?"

Zhao Zhigang reassured Lin Ge, then sneered disdainfully.

After some negotiation between the two police stations, Jin Zeping ultimately handed over Feng Guohua and the four monkeys to Zhao Zhigang. The main reason was that the case wasn't too complicated on his side, but it was the Zhanghe Police Station that had gotten it complicated because of the four monkeys.

An old man who performs monkey shows and steals on the side, a cook who buys monkeys to make monkey brains, and a middleman who catches monkeys to make teppanyaki—these three scoundrels come together and turn an ordinary case into something very serious.

Lin Ge also went back to the police station with Zhao Zhigang, mainly to see how the matter would be resolved in the end.

The three listless monkeys were released from their cage, and their condition seemed slightly better. The male monkey, Lai Cai, regained some energy after drinking a couple of sips of water, stretched out his ape arm to pull the baby monkey into his arms, and then looked at his wife with concern. The female monkey, Gui Hua, however, was visibly in very bad shape. According to Feng Guohua's confession, it was precisely because the female monkey was unable to move easily and the other three monkeys stayed by her side that he was able to capture them all in one fell swoop.

Back at the police station, Zhao Zhigang first detained Feng Guohua, just like that damned cook, and then called Huang Qi to rescue the guy from the harem and the cats.

Through an unexpected acquaintance with Lin Ge, Huang Qi has become the Zhanghe Police Station's regular veterinarian. Whenever there's an animal-related issue, the station seeks his help, and of course, he's always well-paid. This guy went from a nearly bankrupt animal clinic owner to a well-off, constantly busy individual, with almost all of his business coming from referrals from the Zhanghe Police Station. Even Li Yiduo alone has contributed significantly to his success.

Of course, treating monkeys was a first for Huang Qi. Especially the case of the mother monkey Guihua, whose health problems were very serious due to the death of her fetus, and she was even in danger of dying at any time.

The old monkey trainer claimed he cured Guihua's illness using folk remedies, a claim that drew a furious rant from Huang Qi. It turned out the old man had actually used something like a rolling pin to forcibly roll the stillborn fetus out of Guihua's womb, no wonder the mother monkey was so weakened and developed an infection. It was only thanks to Lin Ge's luck in finding the baby monkey and the police station's timely intervention with Feng Guohua that things turned out alright; otherwise, even Huang Qi wouldn't have been able to save her.

He quickly asked the police station to send someone to his clinic to take the four monkeys, and left in a hurry without saying a word.

"That old man is a real scoundrel!"

Chu Ting and Yan Ziming felt great sympathy for Guihua's plight, while Jiang Yiyi, standing nearby, frowned deeply, her mood extremely sour. She now regretted comforting that old man yesterday; he spoke kindly, but how could he treat his family like that?

At that moment, Zhu Jun called Nie Guoqiang.

"What did you say? The old man is gone?"

Nie Guoqiang paused for a moment, and the people next to him were also stunned when they heard this.

“When I arrived, he had already left. I called him, but he hung up after only a couple of sentences and then turned off his phone. The hotel also has a record showing that he checked out at 4 a.m. this morning. The hotel owner was woken up by him and remembers it very clearly.”

Zhu Jun, looking very serious, paused for a moment and then said softly, "Boss, Qian Wei seems a bit off. He seems to have discovered something, and he's very agitated and irritable right now. I originally wanted to come back with him to check the surveillance footage, but Qian Wei just kept looking around and wouldn't leave. His eyes are terribly red, and he even called Qian Siqi, who was in class, out of the classroom. I suspect... it might be related to what happened to his wife back then."

After overhearing the whole thing, Lin Ge, who was squatting next to Nie Guoqiang, was stunned for a moment.

What do you mean?
Could that old man be the murderer who broke into Qian Wei's house, robbed him, and killed Qian Wei's wife back then?

This is impossible!

Is that such a... coincidence?

The others nearby hadn't heard what Zhu Jun was saying. They were about to ask a question when they saw Nie Guoqiang's expression grow increasingly serious, his face turning frighteningly dark. They immediately fell silent, watching as Nie Guoqiang slowly put down his phone.

(End of this chapter)