Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 562 Youth
Lin Jia is using a vacuum cleaner to clean the cat house.

There are seven cats living in the cattery, and occasionally a family of little white cats and Lingo's little brothers come and go. In addition, cats are noisy creatures, so after the molting season ends, the house is left with countless cat hairs.

Although Li Siyu cleaned up most of them every day in her spare time, many stubborn ones still quietly hid in various nooks and crannies.

Cat hair is impossible to clean without a vacuum cleaner. Even though Li Siyu keeps many lint rollers in the cat shelter, it still can't stop the cat hair from flying everywhere. She uses her lunch break and occasional free time to clean it every day, barely managing to keep the cat shelter from becoming a garbage dump. But today happens to be Li Siyu's day off, so it has to be done by a well-meaning person who couldn't stand it.

Lin Jia was so focused on her work that she didn't even notice Lin Ge had returned. Amidst the hum of the vacuum cleaner, Lin Ge could even hear Lin Jia humming a song; it seemed she was in a pretty good mood today.

Lin Ge didn't disturb her, and quietly walked in and looked around.

In the corner of the room, the little plush toy lay lazily on a cotton cushion. Beside it were its mother hawksbill turtle and money tree, who were slowly licking its fur.

Lin Ge could now clearly see that the little rag doll's belly was noticeably protruding. The new life inside made the little rag doll's body look somewhat bloated, and its movements became a little inconvenient. Having never experienced such hardship before, it chose to lie down and rest more often than continue to cling to the snowclaw tiger-striped creature. However, with the mother hawksbill turtle and the money tree by its side, it didn't seem particularly nervous and remained relatively calm.

Seeing Lingo return, the little ragdoll raised its head and meowed in greeting. It even tried to get up, but the mother hawksbill turtle shoved it back into its cushion with a paw.

Lin Ge looked around but didn't see that brat, Snowclaw Tiger Stripe.

How dare it go out and play when its own wife is working so hard?
You heartless bastard!

Lin Ge felt a mixture of disappointment and frustration, as if a beautiful flower had been wasted on a pile of cow dung. That Snowclaw Tiger-Striped creature was truly unworthy of the little ragdoll! Lin Ge made up his mind that he would give it a good scolding when it returned.

"Mimi!"

Lin Jia finally saw Lin Ge and quickly waved to greet him with a smile. But she didn't give up halfway through her work. Instead, she patiently waited until the room was cleaned before washing her hands and coming to Lin Ge's side to pick him up.

"Hmm! You've grown quite a bit!"

Confined in Lin Jia's arms, Lin Ge calmly made a judgment.

The young girl's chest was still somewhat immature, not nearly as firm as Li Siyu's or Sun Chang's, and certainly not comparable to the mature women like Jiang Yiyi.

However, compared to when he first met Lin Jia, Lin Ge found that she had grown up a lot. There was a hint of youthful charm in her eyes and brows, and her lips had changed from a slightly darker white than her skin to a beautiful natural pink.

The little girl has grown up.

Lin Ge sighed inwardly, without any ulterior motives.

“It’s gotten heavier.”

Lin Jia carried Lin Ge to a blanket and sat down, then took a comb and brushed Lin Ge's hair for a while. She even took a few hair ties from her own braids and, laughing, braided them on Lin Ge's back, making him look like a hedgehog or a stegosaurus.

Lin Ge himself didn't feel anything, but Lin Jia couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Mimi, it's been so hard to see you since the New Year."

"There's nothing I can do. I feel like I'm getting busier and busier lately. Heaven knows where all this work comes from. I haven't even had a few days of rest before I have to go on a business trip to Chu City again."

Lin Ge sighed, lay on Lin Jia's lap, and let the girl play around on him without struggling.

Unfortunately, Lin Jia didn't understand cat language and didn't know that Lin Ge was about to go on another business trip. Seeing that Lin Ge was a bit listless, she patted Lin Ge's head, untied the hair barb on its back, and then crumpled the cat hair that covered her hands into a ball and put it into the trash can next to her.

Lin Jia suddenly spoke up, wanting to hold Lin Ge and play with him for a while longer, while secretly squeezing his soft paw pads.

"Mimi, are you free this afternoon?"

"Is something wrong?"

Lin Ge looked up with some curiosity, noticing that something was off about Lin Jia's tone.

Blinking, Lin Jia pouted and said, "If you have time at 2 PM later, could you come with me to Longquan Park? Last night, a boy in my class had my friend send me a message saying he needs to talk to me and asked me to wait for him at the lilac field in Longquan Park. Hmm... I'm a little scared, but if he really needs something, I can't refuse. So I need you to come with me, Mimi, before I can go."

Lin Jia spoke vaguely, her emotions somewhat off.

"Male classmate?"

Lin Ge looked up, wondering if some stinky boy was about to confess his feelings to the girl.

She's growing more and more beautiful, so it's no wonder she's attracting some precocious boys. But isn't it a bit too early for her? She's only in the second year of junior high; if she's really going to date, she should at least wait until high school... no, after she finishes college, right?

"You should have just refused outright!"

Lin Ge gave Lin Jia a disapproving look.

This kind of thing should be handled decisively and quickly. What's there to hesitate about, making it seem like a date?

"Meow!"

Suddenly, the mother hawksbill turtle called out to Lin Ge from afar, and then, without waiting for Lin Ge's response, went back to beckoning to her daughter-in-law.

"Tsk!"

Lin Ge silently avoided the mother hawksbill turtle's gaze.

For some reason, he felt a little guilty just now, but luckily the mother hawksbill turtle didn't continue to cause trouble.

“I heard from my friend that some boys in his class did secretly encourage him to do those kinds of shady things. But I don’t think he’s that kind of person, right? He has good grades, is a class leader, and never messes around with those bad students. So I’m thinking… what if something really happens… right? I don’t have his contact information, and it wouldn’t be good if something important happened that caused this, so I should still go.”

Lin Jia is a kind-hearted girl, and she is still trying to find excuses for the boy.

That's just her personality; she's hesitant and indecisive. But inexplicably, she becomes incredibly stubborn in places where she shouldn't insist. Like that night by the Zhanghe Reservoir—if it weren't for Lin Ge, who knows what she might have done?

So Lin Ge didn't say anything more and agreed to go with her.

Anyway, I had nothing to do in the afternoon, so I figured I might as well spend the afternoon with her.

After making the decision, Lin Ge let Lin Jia have lunch at the police station canteen and then go back to the cat shelter to rest for a while. It wasn't until almost 1 p.m. that he called her to officially set off.

Just before leaving, Lin Ge suddenly realized that although the little girl was determined to firmly reject a confession, she was actually a little vain.

After all, being liked isn't shameful, right? Even though Lin Ge was urging her, she still went to the bathroom to freshen up her face, comb her hair, and pat her clothes clean. Lin Ge's speechless look made her blush a little, so she quickly took a deep breath, hugged Lin Ge, and ran out the door.

"I was just being polite. Of course, I have to pay attention to my appearance when I go out."

Faced with Lin Ge's teasing gaze, Lin Jia stubbornly explained.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

Lin Ge nodded, as long as it wasn't something he actually wanted to date.

He hailed a taxi in front of the police station and quickly arrived at Longquan Park. Upon reaching the so-called sea of ​​lilacs, he looked around and discovered that the other person hadn't arrived yet. Generally, this wasn't the attitude expected for a date, and Lin Ge breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Lin Jia also noticed this, and felt a little regretful for some reason. She then secretly let out a sigh of relief along with Lin Ge.

"Disappointed my foot! How old are you?"

Lin Ge glanced at Lin Jia with disdain, jumped off her arms, and began to stroll around slowly.

"Hey! Don't get lost!"

Lin Jia quickly caught up.

While everyone else treated Lin Ge as an excellent police cat, a special being who didn't require any attention, only Lin Jia still cautiously felt he needed protection. Although the little girl thought the blooming lilacs were quite beautiful, she still stayed close behind Lin Ge, glancing around and exclaiming softly. Only when she spotted a particularly beautiful bouquet would she signal Lin Ge to wait a moment so she could quickly take a picture with her phone.

Although she was strolling through the flower forest with a cat, Lin Jia still had a great time.

Not long after, Lin Ge walked out of the lilac sea along the tree-lined path, and his ears twitched as he suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Cuck!"

"That wretched bird?"

Its unique cry is probably unparalleled in the world. Even the subordinates that the scoundrel had gathered by force could not produce such a pure crow's cry. Lin Ge knew as soon as he heard it that it could only be the scoundrel.

Sure enough, looking up, Lin Ge quickly spotted the magpie in the peach grove ahead. It was hopping from branch to branch, pecking at the newly formed peaches while chattering incessantly at its companions. On other branches of the peach grove, seventeen or eighteen magpies of various sizes were also busy filling their bellies. After all, it's not easy to find a place full of fruit like this in the city, and most people wouldn't allow wild birds to damage their fruit trees. Only this ornamental peach grove wasn't expected to produce peaches that could be sold; even if the birds didn't eat them, they would quickly clear them away once they were a little bigger to prevent unsuspecting children from picking them and stuffing them into their mouths.

"It's been a while, and that scoundrel has gained even more followers! Does it really intend to conquer all the magpies in Zhang City? And incidentally, make sure that the city will never hear the calls of proper magpies again?"

Lin Ge watched speechlessly as the rascal squawked merrily.

Its followers behind it made similar calls, some not quite like crows, but at least not like magpies. These strange sounds drew the attention of weekend visitors, who stopped to watch. Even adults couldn't immediately identify the birds. If they were crows, their feathers weren't entirely black. If they were magpies… well, what magpie heralding spring has such an unpleasant and piercing call?

Faced with their children's curious questions, the parents all looked conflicted.

"Pfft!"

Lin Jia couldn't help but laugh out loud; she recognized the magpies as well.

After all, although the mischievous bird liked to roam around outside, it would usually obediently return home by evening. Lin Jia would occasionally see it when she came to the police station after school, and over time she remembered the bird's distinctive features.

"Cuck!"

The rascal soon spotted Linko and hopped onto a branch in front of him, staring intently at the cat's ears.

"If you dare to lay a hand on me, I'll kill you!"

Lin Ge tilted his head and squinted, showing absolutely no respect for the scoundrel.

This is a scoundrel who loves to tease cats and takes advantage of any slight. Many cats in the police station have been bullied by it, and some of the underlings have even been bitten on the ear and never dared to come back again.

It was only after Lin Ge returned from Changshi that he taught the scoundrel a lesson, which made it behave much better during this period.

It ran outside the police station and bullied others, but it stopped hanging around in front of Lin Ge.

"Cuck!"

Feigning innocence, the bird barked at Lin Ge, but ultimately gave up, not daring to give Lin Ge a real reason to beat it up.

It pretended not to see Lingo and turned back, quickly leading its minions into the depths of the peach grove, leaving only its noisy calls echoing in Lingo's ears.

"Humph!"

Lingo swished its tail arrogantly.

"Mimi, hello..."

"Lin Jia, what are you doing here?"

Just as Lin Jia was about to joke with Lin Ge, a boy's voice suddenly came from behind. The two, one human and one cat, immediately froze, realizing that their important task for the day, though late, had finally arrived.

"He's late for a date with a girl? Isn't this guy incredibly unreliable?"

While inwardly grumbling, Lin Ge turned around to sized up the boy walking towards Lin Jia.

He looked much more mature than Lin Jia and was also quite tall. However, because he was rather thin and wore glasses, he still appeared quite refined. With his left hand in his pocket and his right hand waving at Lin Jia, he slowly walked over, trying to appear nonchalant.

But upon closer inspection, one could see that the boy's forehead was covered in fine sweat, and his breathing seemed somewhat rapid. He had most likely rushed over because he was late, making his supposedly dashing appearance look rather disheveled.

"Hao Junwen".

Lin Jia responded calmly, and stood up straight.

"Didn't we agree to meet over there in the lilac field? I've been looking for you there for ages, I thought you hadn't arrived yet! Hehe... Turns out you came here, luckily I was fortunate enough to spot you from afar when I was looking this way."

A boy named Hao Junwen walked over, rambling on as he went.

Upon hearing his words, Lin Ge raised an eyebrow.

This guy said he waited for Lin Jia for ages in the lilac field. Is he kidding? He didn't smell of lilacs at all, and he looked like he'd just run himself ragged. He must have just arrived at Longquan Park.

So, he was late but unwilling to apologize, so he lied and blamed Lin Jia?

Lin Ge's impression of Hao Junwen soured at first sight. A 14 or 15-year-old boy making minor mistakes is acceptable, but lying and shifting blame onto the other person reveals a problem with his character and conduct.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you over there, so I came over for a bit."

Lin Jia apologized honestly, seemingly genuinely believing it was her fault. Her honest demeanor frustrated Lin Ge, but he couldn't bring himself to criticize her at that moment.

"Hehe...Let's go for a walk over there!"

Hao Junwen turned and pointed to the sea of ​​lilacs, smiling with satisfaction: "I'm sorry to have called you out today, and I also want to thank you for accepting my invitation. To be honest, I was worried that you wouldn't agree, and I was worried all the way here about what would happen if you didn't come."

"..."

Lin Jia kept her head down and didn't respond, but she didn't refuse and followed behind Hao Junwen. Seeing Lin Ge walking unhurriedly beside her, she felt a little more relaxed.

"Could it really be a date?"

Both the person and the cat had the same thought popping into their heads.

"I definitely won't agree to this. How could I possibly hand Lin Jia over to such an unreliable brat?"

Lin Ge inwardly scoffed.

Along the way, Hao Junwen rambled on and on, mostly rambling nonsense, with a few bits about school matters. He also tried to find some topics he found interesting, but unfortunately, no matter how much he talked, he didn't get a response from Lin Jia.

This made Hao Junwen somewhat disheartened, but he blinked and didn't show too much disappointment.

Leading Lin Jia to a flowering tree where there were fewer tourists, Hao Junwen looked at the cat he had brought along for some reason, which looked rather fierce, and stopped in his tracks after a moment of change in expression.

He seemed a little conflicted, but quickly made up his mind.

Turning to Lin Jia, Hao Junwen smiled and said, "Lin Jia, I'm sorry! I called you out today... because I really need your help with something. Oh! There are two things, and I hope you can agree to help me. Please don't refuse, I'll treat you to milk tea later!"

"You go first."

Lin Jia raised her head, her emotions appearing relatively stable. She sensed that Hao Junwen's attitude was somewhat strange, not quite as she had expected.

"Hiss...that..."

When it came to actually asking, Hao Junwen hesitated. But he quickly gritted his teeth and said seriously, "I heard you have a complete set of Zheng Yuanjie's twelve zodiac animal series, could I borrow it to take a look?"

"Hey?"

"That's it?"

Lin Jia and Lin Ge were both stunned. All that fuss was just for such a small thing?

"No! This kid is looking for a reason to continue his contact with Lin Jia! Borrowing books, right? If you borrow, you should return them. Next time, the more you chat, the closer you'll get. Is that what he's planning?"

Lin Ge quickly guessed one possibility.

He didn't believe that Hao Junwen would ask Lin Jia out over such a small matter. Couldn't he have simply mentioned borrowing the book at school?

This is a classic case of ulterior motives!
"Sure! I'll bring it to school for you tomorrow... But never mind, the teacher doesn't allow extracurricular books in the classroom. How about I give it to you after school tomorrow?"

Lin Jia was indeed very honest and not good at refusing. Realizing that she could fulfill Hao Junwen's request, she agreed to lend him the book almost without hesitation.

"Thank you! I knew it, Lin Jia, you definitely wouldn't let me down!"

Hao Junwen was overjoyed and quickly struck while the iron was hot.

“There’s something else…”

(End of this chapter)