Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 298 Undercover
"Hey! Ningning, do you think this hair tie is pretty?"

Hu Miao took a red bow from the shelf, held it up to her head a couple of times, and said, "I think this goes really well with the outfit we saw online last time. What do you think?"

"Hmm, it looks good."

Zhang Yining gave a rather perfunctory answer, while her eyes were fixed on the shop entrance, sneaking peeks out like a thief.

Lin Ge didn't care about the two girls at this moment. After they got close to the suspect, he hid in a gap next to the display case, his eyes fixed on the outside. The colorful paintings on the doors and windows of the jewelry store were the perfect camouflage for a cat, making it impossible for anyone outside to spot him.

The store was bustling with people, and neither the staff nor the customers paid any attention to the cat squatting at the door, or even knew that the cat had been squatting there for five or six minutes.

Lin Ge quietly looked at the man outside, a hint of doubt gradually appearing in his eyes.

In fact, he had never seen the appearance of the suspect whom Zhao Zhigang and Zhang Ke had lost track of, but there was no doubt that the smell of the person in front of him was the same as the smell he had smelled in the rented room that day.

but……

Whether it was a misperception or not, Lin Ge felt that the guy in front of him looked strangely familiar, and his demeanor didn't seem like that of a bad person.

He didn't know why he had this thought. Even though the way this person stared intently at the matchmaking venue below and occasionally chatted with people was very suspicious, there was a... indescribable sense of familiarity about him.

Just then, a middle-aged man in a trench coat came to the rest area and sat down behind the man.

The two sat back to back, neither turning to look at the other.

"I hope nothing bad happened."

"Ah."

"Safety first. Protect yourself in any situation, and don't hesitate to evacuate when necessary."

"Ah."

"Then... give me what you've collected."

The man's hand rested naturally at his side, brushing against the other man's hand as he reached into his pocket, showing no sign of anything amiss. But only Lin Ge, with his sharp eyes and constant observation of the two, noticed that something that appeared to be a memory card was transferred into the middle-aged man's hand.

The way this transaction was being conducted looked like something out of a movie.

Lin Ge was somewhat shocked, but then, combined with their quiet conversation that couldn't escape the cat's ears, he suddenly realized something.

"Be careful."

The two didn't exchange any more words. The middle-aged man quickly rested enough, whispered a few words of advice, stood up, and naturally left.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the man remained expressionless, showing no emotional fluctuation. The departure of the person behind him had no effect on him; he merely pursed his lips, rubbed his shoulder, and continued to keep an eye on the situation downstairs.

"Gulu..."

Lin Ge swallowed hard.

"Mimi, what's wrong?"

Hu Miao, oblivious to everything, only noticed Lin Ge's strange behavior at this moment. Seeing the cat's wide-eyed, shocked expression, she crouched down and looked outside in the direction of Lin Ge's gaze.

"Hey!"

Zhang Yining wanted to stop it, but it was too late.

Fortunately, Lingo had already reacted by then. He shook his body, flicked his tail, and walked out of the jewelry store as if nothing had happened, heading downstairs in another direction.

"Fool!"

Zhang Yining glanced at her friend with disdain before following Lin Ge into the elevator.

"what?"

Hu Miao looked completely bewildered from beginning to end.

"Those two children..."

The man also saw the two noisy little girls carrying a cat coming downstairs. The familiar faces made him pause for a moment. But then he smiled as if he suddenly realized something. He blinked to calm himself down and continued operating his phone.

On the other side, after observing repeatedly, Zhang Ke had developed serious doubts about the identity of the woman in red.

To be honest, even at a matchmaking event, it's rare to see a woman as unreserved as her. Her eagerness to get all the men's contact information made several of the more level-headed men back down.

Even so, her decent looks and attractive figure were enough to make other men fantasize about her. The men who managed to get to the matchmaking event weren't particularly intelligent or experienced; greed and excitement prevented them from prioritizing their suspicions about the woman. After a brief exchange with the woman in red, many men assumed they had won her favor, and eagerly crowded around her.

Such men are undoubtedly the easiest to deceive, and any men who are wary are eliminated from the target pool from this point onward.

The woman in red smiled as she walked among the group of men, occasionally taking out her phone to check things. She couldn't help but glance upstairs every now and then, which immediately made Zhang Ke suspect that she might have accomplices hiding up there.

However, Zhao Zhigang did not send any clues or alerts that the target had been found, so Zhang Ke could only patiently wait.

Two hours passed quickly, and the matchmaking event was coming to an end. Zhang Ke estimated that very few couples would actually find partners. At this point, the woman in red made an excuse to go to the restroom and prepared to leave, politely declining several men's invitations to dinner.

After leaving the matchmaking event, the woman in red quickly went to the second floor.

Zhang Ke quietly followed them.

A woman and a man walked through the crowd and quickly got on the elevator. The woman went straight to the restroom, and Zhang Ke looked around and suddenly spotted the man sitting in the rest area.

Who else could it be but that bastard who slipped through his fingers that day?
Enemies meeting are bound to be furious. Zhang Ke gritted his teeth and, ignoring the woman in red, pushed his way through the crowd toward the man.

"Ok?"

The man looked up and quickly noticed Zhang Ke, who was conspicuous and behaving strangely. He immediately stood up, turned around, and left.

Seeing the man trying to escape, but with the crowd jostling and getting in his way, Zhang Ke quickened his pace. He desperately wanted to reveal his police identity but was also worried about intimidation and a stampede, so he could only apologize while forcefully pushing people aside.

But this man moved through the crowd more smoothly than Zhang Ke, a policeman, even like a fish swimming in water. Zhang Ke became extremely anxious.

Fortunately, Zhang Ke saw Zhao Zhigang rush down from the elevator after hearing the noise, and he quickly shouted a warning.

"stop!"

"Ok?"

Zhao Zhigang realized what was happening and immediately saw the man walking towards him, about to walk around him.

The two were only an arm's length apart. If Zhao Zhigang had taken two steps forward or reached out his hand, he could have at least hindered the suspect's escape, if not caught.

However, at this crucial moment, Zhao Zhigang suddenly twisted his leg and fell off the elevator. He was only two steps away from the bottom of the elevator, but this grown man inexplicably tripped and fell flat on his face.

Fortunately, Zhao Zhigang held the handrail firmly, otherwise he would have fallen to his knees.

Zhang Ke was dumbfounded.

Zhao Zhigang's slight sway meant he completely lost the chance to catch the suspect. The man glanced at Zhao Zhigang with a slight smirk, then quickly lowered his head and squeezed into the crowd, disappearing from Zhang Ke and Zhao Zhigang's sight after several turns.

"What...what a joke!"

Zhang Ke felt like his heart was about to explode. Why was it this kind of messy stuff again, Brother Zhao? Can't I just call you brother?!

By this time, it was too late to turn around and look for the woman in red. Zhang Ke knew he had messed things up again; he wanted both suspects but hadn't caught either of them.

After a whole morning of hard work keeping watch, it all turned out to be for nothing.

Staring speechlessly at the embarrassed Zhao Zhigang, Zhang Ke took a deep breath to calm himself down. Seeing that Zhao Zhigang was still limping, he could only sigh and ask, "Are you alright? You were walking fine, how could you have fallen?"

"Hehe... I guess the injury hasn't fully healed yet."

Zhao Zhigang's face flushed with embarrassment. He could only slap his leg and chuckle awkwardly at Zhang Ke, "Sorry, it's my fault again that the guy got away. Actually, I don't know what happened, it just inexplicably went wrong. Sigh! How about next time I keep watch and you take charge of the pursuit? Honestly, you're young, energetic, and have good stamina. This kind of good opportunity to catch criminals and earn merit should be given to you." This guy, in the blink of an eye, thought of a way to avoid trouble.

Zhang Ke shook his head, not wanting to listen to any of this nonsense.

The fact is that the suspect has escaped again, and this time it's the kind of escape where he's been thoroughly alerted and is unlikely to resurface anytime soon. After losing this best opportunity, catching him easily again won't be easy.

"I'll go to the monitoring room to find the cameras first."

Zhang Ke turned and walked towards the mall's security room.

Zhao Zhigang continued to apologize and say nice things until Zhang Ke had walked away, at which point he put on a helpless face.

"Zhao Zhigao!"

Zhao Zhigang clenched his fist, wishing he could give that bastard a good beating. This bastard had humiliated him beyond measure and made him a laughingstock in Zhang Ke's eyes; it was simply outrageous!
Whether it's the first time or the second time, why does that bastard always keep wandering around in front of me?

Oh shit!

If we can find an excuse to let him off once or twice, are we going to keep being so stupid as to give him a chance to escape?

What if someone notices that you look bad, you idiot!

With a stomp of his foot, Zhao Zhigang walked in another direction, hoping that he would never run into that person again.

"Mimi, please help me!"

Zhang Ke first checked the camera, but with the year-end approaching and the mall packed with people, he couldn't find the man's face clearly in the crowd.

So Zhang Ke went to Lin Ge again, hoping that Lin Ge could use his sense of smell to find that guy.

"Ow~"

Lin Ge yawned widely, lazily rolled over in Zhang Yining's arms, turned his back to Zhang Ke, and rested his head on Zhang Yining's soft steel plate.

This attitude is a very clear rejection.

"You guy..."

Zhang Ke's temples throbbed, and his head was buzzing. He felt like nothing was going right today, but he couldn't figure out why.

"Comrade!"

Suddenly, a large hand pressed down on Zhang Ke's shoulder.

Zhang Ke instinctively grabbed the hand to retaliate, but when he turned around and saw the face of the person he had touched and that familiar aura, he froze for a moment.

“Zhong Kai, Municipal Narcotics Control Detachment.”

A man named Zhong Kai whispered something to Zhang Ke, then led him out of Wanda Plaza. The two didn't exchange a single word until Zhong Kai led Zhang Ke to the parking lot and into a car, at which point he smiled at Zhang Ke again.

"I'm sorry, I've interrupted your work."

"It's nothing, what's wrong with you..."

Zhang Ke had already made some guesses, and his emotions had stabilized.

"The guy who escaped from you twice is a policeman from the Second Detachment of our Narcotics Control Brigade."

Zhong Kai gave Zhang Ke an "I knew it" answer. Seeing Zhang Ke's sudden realization, he could only shake his head helplessly and say, "Originally, I shouldn't have told you this. After all, the more people know, the more dangerous it is for him. But you're too persistent, and you always manage to keep an eye on him, which makes us very helpless. Hehe... I applied to the brigade leaders and will now briefly explain the situation to you. I hope you will abide by the discipline and keep it strictly confidential."

"Undercover?"

Zhang Ke uttered two words.

Zhong Kai nodded.

Just as he was about to continue explaining, he saw Zhang Ke wave his hand and say, "No need for further explanation, lest I accidentally let something slip and endanger that colleague. I just don't understand, does your anti-drug squad also handle fraud cases?"

“Criminal acts are all the same. What bad person only does one kind of bad thing? Moreover, the things behind gangs like theirs are much deeper than you can imagine.”

Zhong Kai smiled but didn't say anything more.

Zhang Ke understood, and also realized the real reason why Mimi, that jerk cat, was giving up. As for Zhao Zhigang... to be honest, Zhang Ke was quite conflicted. He really didn't know whether to take Zhao Zhigang's stupidity as intentional or just plain stupid.

"His name is Zhao Zhigao. He is noble and strong, and comes from a family of police officers."

Zhong Kai's words left Zhang Keji speechless.

On the other side, Zhang Yining had Lin Ge sitting on his lap, and Hu Miao sitting opposite him, resting in the Starbucks by the door.

This was the two girls' first time at Starbucks, and the expensive price made Zhang Yining frown. But given Starbucks' fame, they were still curious about the difference between it and a regular milk tea shop. However, this so-called latte just didn't seem very appealing.

"I am bored!"

Hu Miao took a sip of matcha milk tea, looked around dejectedly, and said, "Ningning, where are we going to play next? I feel like this holiday is pretty boring, there are crowds everywhere. Just thinking about being watched by so many people tomorrow makes me so nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about? Let's just do our own thing."

Zhang Yining was much bolder than Hu Miao. Upon hearing this, he put down his cup and said to Hu Miao, "Besides, wasn't it you who initially suggested participating in the comic convention? Now that I've put aside my own affairs to accompany you, you're actually backing out?"

"hey-hey……"

Hu Miao gave an awkward smile.

"Great! You two are enjoying yourselves behind our backs!"

At this moment, Nie Zhuangzhuang and his two companions finally had enough fun and came over to launch a preemptive strike, only to be swiftly suppressed by Zhang Yining's glare.

Seeing the five little ones huddled together making a racket that was giving the cat a headache, Lin Ge jumped off Zhang Yining's lap, slowly walked out of Starbucks, and then came to the plaza outside Wanda Plaza to watch the children playing happily in the electric cars and various amusement facilities.

Further away, several parents of children were gathered together smoking. Most of them were talking loudly, while others nearby were chatting and laughing with acquaintances.

"Ah Gao, you're really unlucky."

"Yeah, I didn't check the almanac before I left home, and I ended up being targeted by those damn cops again."

The word 'police' struck a nerve with Lin Ge. He looked up and followed the sound to the direction of the voice. Near the flowerbed by the road, two men were smoking and chatting. One of them looked familiar, while the other looked nonchalant and suspicious.

"Aren't you afraid of being watched again if you just stand here like this?"

A young thug with dyed blond hair, a cigarette dangling from his lips, toyed with a metal lighter. He glanced sideways at his companion and said casually, "To be honest, what you're doing is really suspicious! You always run into the cops and get the brothers caught. It's fine if Yingzi and the other two getting arrested, since they're just three naive girls. But this time with Wanda, if the cops find out anything, you're in big trouble."

The man called Ah Gao showed no fear, only chuckling lightly, "Heh... how can you blame me? Brother Jian saw it too, it's just that Xiao Juan's appetite was too big, which led the policeman to notice something was wrong. If I hadn't deliberately led the police away, where do you think Juanzi would be now? She knows quite a lot, doesn't she? If she gets herself into trouble because of her greed, do you think she would confess to the police and try to get a reduced sentence?"

"Tch! You seem to know a thing or two, even admitting to a reduced sentence."

Yellow Hair stopped smoking, threw the cigarette on the ground, sneered, and crushed it with his foot. He brandished the lighter in his hand a couple of times, then sneered, "Anyway, the boss said, if anything goes wrong again, don't blame us for not treating you like one of our own. Ah Gao, you joined later, you know the rules of this line of work. To put it simply, if you're incompetent, you can't blame anyone else if you die, right? Also, the boss said you're in charge of inspecting this shipment, you get what I mean?"

Ah Gao's body stiffened, and his face turned extremely pale.

Seeing that the blond-haired man was staring at him intently, A Gao swallowed and said, "It's just about making money, why get yourself involved? Brother Jian, I just want to make a lot of money, I don't intend to turn myself into that inhuman, ghostly thing."

"Hey! What are you afraid of? You look like a ghost because you can't afford the drugs, and when the craving hits, you feel like you're dying. But we're in this business, so why would you worry about not having a constant supply of free drugs?"

Jian grinned, looking younger than A Gao but with a mature air, and said, "A Gao, you need to understand one thing. Once you're in, you can't get out! As long as this path of ours doesn't go wrong, your share will be endless. It's like those rich people who use this stuff, what harm is there? Isn't it all just a kind of enjoyment? Look at any rich person doing this, they all look bad, right? As long as there's the drug, it's fun! But once the path is gone, we'll either go to jail or get shot, and we don't need to think about the future! So, all that talk about being neither human nor ghost, it never existed from beginning to end, you know that, A Gao! It's a pledge of allegiance, don't tell me you don't understand."

Seeing that A Gao was still hesitant, Brother Jian sneered: "A Gao, there's no reason to want benefits without giving anything in return. Even when fishing, you know to bait the spot. The little things you did before aren't enough to make the brothers truly consider you one of their own. To be honest, how much money can you make by scamming a few idiots? If it weren't for the need to maintain a sense of kinship with fellow villagers, the boss wouldn't have bothered with those things at all! You know, it's too slow to make money, so nobody's interested in doing it."

(End of this chapter)