Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 442 Deadly Takeout
An orange and white cat walked gracefully ahead, its tail curled up in a small hook. Its wide-eyed gaze swept left and right, like that of a proud princess.

It strolled lazily down the noisy street, oblivious to the traffic and passersby. Even a sparrow suddenly darting out from a roadside food stall couldn't pique its interest.

Because it knows that it is doing something very important right now, which is the task given to it by its leader.

Another thing it knew was that every time it completed its boss's orders, it could freely enjoy the endless food in that yard. Or, on rainy days or when it was in a sorry state, it could freely enjoy the warmth in that house. No one would drive them away, and no one would emit an aura that would frighten them. The humans in that house were also the boss's subordinates, a fact that Princess Orange-White knew very well.

How can our own people bully each other?

right?
Princess Orange and White glanced back at the two humans following behind, then meowed proudly, indicating that they could follow a little closer.

"I think that cat wasn't afraid of people at all; it even looked down on us."

Xiao Yunteng glanced back at his companion and said with a wry smile, "Even now, I still think this is outrageous. Our dignified city law enforcement team is being forced to follow a cat around looking for a target? It's so childish I can't explain it to anyone. Don't you think the way people look at us is like we're idiots? I'm afraid someone I know will come up to me and ask what I'm doing here. How am I supposed to explain that to them?"

"That's a classic case of looking down on people! What's wrong with a cat? The team has already told us about Mimi's deeds. Are you going to deny the incredible things it did?"

He Jing tucked her hair into her hat, then put her city management hat back on neatly. She glanced at her male partner and said, “Besides, facts speak louder than words. You saw the message Lao Sun sent; that black cat did indeed lead him and Officer Zhang from the police station to a shady restaurant. Even though the restaurant was right at the alley entrance, and there was a food delivery rider playing on his phone outside—we could have found it even without the cat—you have to admit the cat didn't get lost or lead us to the wrong place. That's a fact. While we can catch restaurants like that ourselves, there are some hidden in residential areas that are really difficult for us to handle! Having a cat as a guide certainly saves a lot of trouble, right?”

Xiao Yunteng had no way to refute it.

If these cats can truly help them complete this task, it will be a great help. In the past, when such tasks were assigned from above, everyone often had to search aimlessly under the scorching sun, catching one at a time like a blind cat chasing a dead mouse, and being helpless with those they couldn't catch. Although the task was completed, it never truly got things done thoroughly, allowing those people to continue in another location.

The problem in many cities isn't that urban management officers are irresponsible, but rather that it's simply too difficult to achieve the desired results.

Unfortunately, the urban management team cannot meet any of these three needs.

Any street vendor, shameless enough to ignore the patient advice of the urban management officers and constantly changing locations, could keep the city management team on its toes. Could they be arrested and imprisoned, or severely punished? Neither!

The urban management officers could only follow behind these people, stopping them from setting up stalls illegally time and time again. But there were other stall owners in other places, and even if each urban management officer was divided into ten groups, it wouldn't be enough.

In this situation, urban management officers are both criticized and helpless. Some of the more unruly ones simply give up, while the more upright ones, seeing the situation, can only helplessly choose to transfer to other positions, thus further reducing the effectiveness of the urban management department.

This time, the unit's leaders, at the suggestion of the Zhanghe Police Station, launched a joint law enforcement operation and also tentatively included stray cats in the team.

If the experiment succeeds, urban management officers will no longer need to wander aimlessly and inefficiently. They can simply follow the cat army and deal with the targets they find. In terms of efficiency, time and manpower costs will be reduced by more than half. At that time, those sneaky illegal vendors will not be able to escape the cat army's surveillance, and urban management officers will be able to deal with them much faster, making their aimless wandering completely meaningless.

When arguing with the urban management officers becomes pointless, their only way out is to act in accordance with the law, find a fixed shop or set up a stall in a designated location, so as not to cause serious damage to the city's appearance.

And this is only the area under the jurisdiction of the urban management department, specifically the street vendor project.

Take this illegal restaurant as another example. If the crackdown by the urban management officers and the police station exceeds their rent and operating costs, they will have no choice but to give up this harmful, unethical, and dangerous business.

To achieve this goal, we'll have to see if the Zhanghe Police Station's cat army can accomplish its objectives.

All of these may seem like trivial matters, but they are the daily work of urban management officers. And countless small things piled up together can clearly show whether a city is civilized or terrible.

"Meow?"

Princess Orange vaguely sensed that the gazes of the two people behind her had become much more intense. She turned around in confusion, but found nothing unusual. She flicked her ears as if marveling at how strange humans were, raised her nose to sniff, and quickened her pace again.

"It's running! Has it spotted its target?"

He Jing's eyes lit up, and without even calling out to Xiao Yunteng, she quickly took a few steps to catch up.

"Maybe they just spotted a bird, or saw something interesting! Expecting a cat to obey is a joke! The team wasted time this time; who knows how they'll clean up the mess later!"

Xiao Yunteng muttered something to himself, but obediently followed.

"Meow!"

Princess Orange and White had already smelled the scent that their boss had ordered them to keep watch on. Although it was faint, it was very distinctive. This scent made her uneasy; mixed with the delicious smell of food, it felt as if the cat treats were laced with poison.

Princess Orange didn't know why her boss wanted her to find the source of the smell, but she knew that if it were her, she would absolutely refuse to eat such food unless she was truly starving! Just like when she used to rummage through garbage cans for food, she would avoid such smells at all costs. She would rather eat something spoiled and smelly than touch anything that looked tempting. And now that her boss had provided such delicious food, she would absolutely refuse to eat it!
Thinking this, Princess Orange ran even faster, dashing into the flower bushes and entering what appeared to be a very loosely managed residential area.

The buildings in this residential complex are quite old, mostly seven or eight, or even nine stories high. The top and bottom floors of these buildings often lack proper permits and are sold as insulated floors or garages to residents on the second and third floors. Despite the different names and shorter building height, the internal structure of these two floors is identical to the other floors. With some simple renovations, selling or renting them out can generate a considerable income for ordinary people.

The location of this neighborhood is actually quite good, surrounded by bustling commercial buildings. Opening a restaurant or takeout shop in such a place would undoubtedly attract frequent customers from the white-collar and blue-collar workers of nearby companies.

This time, the target that Princess Orange and White discovered was located in the garage on the ground floor of a building deep inside the community.

The garage door had been replaced with a commercial-style glass door, but there were no seats inside, and no sign outside. Inside the glass door, four square metal boxes were casually placed on the ground, labeled with names like "Liangtuan" and "Ele.me." A middle-aged woman in greasy clothes carried two pre-packaged takeout bags in each hand, with two bags of food waste hooked on her little fingers. She used her foot to pry open the metal box labeled "Liangtuan," bent down, and put three bags of takeout inside. She accidentally spilled some food waste, muttered annoyed, but ignored it, instead placing the last bag of takeout into the "Ele.me" box next to it.

Afterwards, he went outside, threw the kitchen waste into a row of trash cans across the street, wiped his hands on his clothes, went back into the house, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A delivery driver, who was smoking and playing on his phone at the entrance, saw this person but ignored him and instead put his feet in the delivery box on his vehicle to warm them. He knew that the four deliveries he took out this time were not his; business here was much better than he had imagined.

"Meow?"

Princess Orange walked past the deliveryman curiously, hearing a strange cat sound coming from his phone. It sounded like a cat, but not quite; more like the odd, disdainful imitation of the sounds it occasionally made when someone called to it.

"Pfft~"

The smell in the trash can was unpleasant, pungent and complex, causing the orange-and-white princess to shake her head and sneeze uncomfortably. Normally, she definitely wouldn't come to a place like this; the pervasive, awful odor was truly terrifying for a cat.

So, choosing a well-ventilated spot, Princess Orange carefully crouched down and looked back. Where were her two lackeys?

"What a rip-off restaurant!"

Xiao Yunteng's eyes widened in surprise; he hadn't expected that the cat would actually find its target after going through so many twists and turns.

Even without looking inside, the overflowing garbage bins filled with various food containers, the spilled food scraps on the floor, and the foul-smelling grease dripping from them were enough to demonstrate just how unreliable this unlicensed restaurant was. Even though Zhangzhou City doesn't yet have professional food waste transport vehicles, how could restaurant swill smell so awful? It's unbelievable how the surrounding residents tolerate it; what's the difference between living here and living near a garbage dump? This outrageous, shady restaurant has single-handedly made this old neighborhood even worse than before.

"Isn't it said that there are no leftovers in pre-cooked food? It's just a simple reheating, so how come it smells so bad?"

He Jing covered her nose, utterly bewildered as to how the food industry could be so outrageous. She had been on duty at the Xicheng vegetable market last week; it was the largest agricultural product distribution center in the southern half of Zhangzhou City, and even the smells of rotten chicken, duck, pork, goose, fish intestines, beef scraps, shrimp, and crab shells mixed together weren't this overwhelming. Was this a restaurant or an industrial workshop? Wouldn't people get food poisoned from eating food from such a place?

"Pre-cooked meals naturally don't produce much food waste, but to make them taste better, they'll definitely add more advanced technology. Who knows what they're actually putting in homemade soup bases and such!"

Xiao Yunteng spoke fiercely, even feeling a bit nauseous.

He remembered that he hadn't eaten dinner after get off work yesterday, and since he was really hungry and his wife wasn't home, he simply ordered takeout. The braised beef brisket with potatoes tasted pretty good, and the price was cheap.

Oh shit!

Could it be something like this?
"Shall we just go in and enforce the law?"

He Jing hesitated for a moment, and then two more food delivery drivers rode over from the intersection, chatting and laughing. She quickly moved to the building next door.

"Call the people from the Industry and Commerce Bureau, the Fire Department, and the local police station! I didn't see any fume extraction equipment at all! If they're just dumping it into the sewers or keeping it to refine some kind of gutter oil, this shop is in big trouble! Damn it!"

Xiao Yunteng felt increasingly nauseous.

But because of this, he no longer had any complaints about the orange-white princess beside him. This guy did a great job, actually discovering such a damn thing! If this kind of shady restaurant continued to exist, who knows what would happen.

"Meow?"

Princess Ju Bai noticed that the attitudes of her two underlings seemed to have changed again. Had they already acknowledged that they were her underlings, that is, the underlings of the boss's underlings?
About five minutes later, three law enforcement vehicles drove into the residential compound. There were no obstacles along the way; the security booth at the entrance was empty, and the railings stood proudly upright, allowing vehicles from both inside and outside the compound to enter and exit freely. During those five minutes, three more delivery drivers rode in on their bikes, and one left. An elderly man wearing a mask and carrying a supermarket bag walked past the law enforcement vehicles, expressionless and covering his nose.

When the group arrived at their destination and got out of the car, they were all disgusted by the strange smell, and their faces turned quite pale.

Oh shit!

Isn't it a routine fire safety inspection that also includes checking for food hygiene and safety hazards? Why did they discover such a terrifying toxic food delivery manufacturing machine?
Without waiting any longer, the group showed themselves and headed straight for the nameless, shady restaurant.

A delivery driver, carrying his takeout order, saw the approaching law enforcement officers and slammed on the brakes, his face changing drastically. The phone on the hood of his bike was still playing TikTok music, with a pleasant female voice excitedly shouting, "Thanks, bro, for the Porsche!"

No one paid any attention to this guy, nor did they notice the four other deliverymen at the restaurant entrance who were hurriedly turning around and trying to escape. They pushed open the glass door and went inside.

Upon entering, the walls and floor were covered in wet, oily stains.

Inside, several microwave ovens were humming loudly, and there was also the bubbling sound of soup boiling. In another room, even before entering, one could see a large number of pipes haphazardly laid out on the floor, their purpose unclear, each covered in thick layers of grime, greasy and nauseating. In addition, numerous small plastic bags were scattered on the floor, stuck to the damp floor, bearing many footprints.

"Who is it?! Delivery drivers are not allowed in! Also, we do not offer dine-in service here. If you need anything, please call or order through the platform!"

Hearing the commotion outside, the people inside shouted impatiently before even arriving.

It's almost lunchtime, the busiest time of the day. They have to prepare all the dishes an hour or two in advance and put them in the warming cabinet so they can take them out directly when someone needs them.

As the voices were heard, the person came out by lifting the thick, dirty curtain, a cigarette dangling from their mouth and blackened oily gloves on their hands.

“I always say…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was stunned when he saw five men and women in various work uniforms standing at the door. His cigarette butt fell from his mouth and extinguished with a 'plop' in the sewage.

"Anything you want to say?"

Xiao Yunteng sighed, feeling there was no point in trying to communicate in this situation. This guy, and everyone in the shop, must pay the price for his actions!
Even after witnessing the scene, he had already messaged the Zhanghe Police Station. The best course of action for this shop would be to move beyond administrative wrongdoing and pursue criminal charges – that would be the highest praise and the optimal solution.

The group exchanged glances, their eyes revealing the same thought.

"Should we chase after those delivery drivers who ran out just now? Otherwise, those unlucky guys who ordered takeout will be in too much trouble, won't they?"

He Jing had another idea.

"Ah woo~"

Lingo tilted his head back and yawned loudly. Looking down, you could even see the layers of his mouth and the barbs under his tongue.

Sitting at the police station waiting for news is actually a very boring thing. Lin Ge now hopes that he can go out and wander around like other cats, catch one or two in the act and give them a good beating, that would be much more fun.

However, Nie Guoqiang forbade him to wander around.

Even though the entire cat army has been deployed, they still need Mimi's help to maintain order when they occasionally return. Plus, if any cats act up along the way, Mimi will also be needed to calm them down.

Cats aren't human, they don't understand human rules. Once the cat king leaves, they won't care about the police station, the city management, or the fire department; they'll definitely scatter like birds and beasts.

(End of this chapter)