Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 595 Designated Driver
Nie Guoqiang glanced at Lin Ge.

Seeing that Mimi was looking up at him, he simply asked, "Mimi, are you afraid of being scolded? Like this case, even if we solve it, we might not get any thanks, and people might even say we're meddling behind our backs. Are you worried about that?"

"I don't care!"

Lin Ge lazily flicked his tail, feeling that he had a strong mental capacity and didn't need to worry about stress at all.

If he could endure something as unbelievable and even devastating as turning from a human into a cat, then what would mere criticism matter? Besides, those people only dared to talk about it behind his back; anyone who dared to make a sound to his face would surely get a swipe of his claws.

Lin Ge brandished his sharp claws at Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun, indicating that he didn't care about those boring rumors at all.

The two looked at each other, then shook their heads and chuckled.

Yes! How could a cat possibly empathize with human struggles and worries? If Mimi cared about these things, she wouldn't have become the lovable creature she is today, nor would everyone be willing to accept her capriciousness.

Mimi, how could you possibly compromise?
Haha ...

Although they didn't get to eat the fancy meal they were looking forward to, Nie Guoqiang and Xie Changjun still took Lin Ge to a nearby night market stall, where they leisurely ate and drank together.

We're parting ways tomorrow; some are going back to Zhangzhou, and others are taking a different train back to Jinhua. Honestly, unless there's a particularly special case, it'll be difficult to see each other even once a year. Of course, we might get lucky and bump into each other again while working on a case in another city. Then we can work together again, drink together, and complain about all sorts of random things.

‘Click! ’

Lin Ge tilted his head, bit off a piece of the small fish head, and swallowed it whole, bone and all.

Looking around, the night market was quite lively. People who had finished get off work gathered together to drink, eat, chat, and joke, each with a slightly tipsy smile on their face. The stalls along the entire street were basically full, and the roadside was also packed with parked cars.

In the gaps between the cars, several designated drivers could be seen huddled together chatting and puffing away. One of them was watching a live stream on his phone very loudly, and the female streamer had a very sweet voice.

This person was intently focused on his phone, ignoring his colleagues who tried to talk to him. A short while later, the broadcaster on his phone said some ingratiating things, and he immediately started sending gifts with a beaming smile.

"You're really willing to do that?"

A nearby designated driver, witnessing this scene and hearing the streamer's sweet thank you, couldn't help but shake his head with a sigh.

The man ignored her, keeping his head down and rapidly typing on his phone, seemingly interacting with the female anchor.

It's true that it's hard for outsiders to judge whether it's worth it to spend so much time tipping only to get a few seconds of attention from the streamer and have a chat opportunity.

Unfortunately, his questions were not taken seriously by the female anchor, who gave him a few perfunctory replies and then changed the subject.

But the person didn't give up and continued typing.

Curious, Lin Ge jumped onto a motorcycle parked by the roadside next to him, and could see the contents of the phone with a simple tilt of his head. Seeing that his chat was being ignored, the man quickly sent another gift, this time seemingly a bit more expensive.

Of course, there are advantages to being expensive. This time, the female anchor finally saw what he posted and then used it as a topic to chat with the audience.

"Seventh Mom? That's Chu City dialect, isn't it? Is it okay to talk about this kind of thing in public?"

Lin Ge frowned, sensing that the female anchor seemed a bit frivolous.

But just then, a private chat window popped up on his phone. The name and suffix of the other party caught the driver's eye. He then discovered it was a QR code invitation to a VIP group, and he quickly opened his WeChat to scan it.

Soon, he was added to a WeChat group chat with only about thirty people.

The group chat was muted, and only the group owner could speak. After this person joined, the group owner sent a download link for an app, explaining that it was a more 'private' live stream by the female streamer on another platform, only accessible to VIP viewers.

The content even contains some suggestive words, roughly meaning to perform certain 'services' according to the audience's orders in order to satisfy the additional needs of VIP viewers.

"A scammer, right?"

The meddlesome colleague who worked as a designated driver also saw the content and immediately raised questions.

"How could she be a scammer? This group was sent to me by Xiao An's account, it must have been her own idea! Besides, don't treat me like an idiot, I know what kind of people these so-called female streamers are, I just spend a few bucks to play around with them, how could I take it seriously? You don't think I'm planning to find a woman like this as my girlfriend, do you? No way, don't worry! I know they all use beauty filters, it's just to pass the time!"

This person rarely has time to explain to his colleagues; what he actually thinks is another matter entirely.

He quickly bypassed the security warnings from WeChat and his browser, downloaded the app to his phone, and installed it successfully. It soon turned into a suggestive live streaming platform. The first step after clicking in was to register, which required filling in a lot of information.

However, tempted by the suggestive content, he quickly filled out the information and logged in quickly according to the verification code sent in the group and the subsequent facial recognition requirements.

Lin Ge tilted his head slightly and saw that the room was indeed filled with provocative live streams, each with an increasingly enticing name. Clearly, this was an illegal live streaming platform, most likely involving sexually explicit content.

Looking back at Nie Guoqiang, who was refusing Xie Changjun's offer of a drink, Lin Ge thought that this was not his jurisdiction, and considering what happened with Ma Shun earlier, he yawned and gave up on calling the police.

I thought the driver would go in and admire it right away, but perhaps he was a little embarrassed because it was in public, or perhaps his favorite female streamer wasn't working there at the time. He quickly scrolled down the page and closed the app.

Just when Lin Ge thought there was no more excitement to be had, the man's phone rang, displaying a notification for a designated driver service.

He quickly gathered his gear, looked up, and soon found the vehicle he was looking for. Standing by the car door was a drunken man with a beer belly, supported by a thin man, both waiting somewhat wearily for the designated driver to arrive.

The driver quickly ran over, showed the order page, and then carefully asked the customer for the car keys.

Then... he got a good scolding from the middle-aged man with a beer belly, who was probably the boss. The scolding was all sorts of nonsense, and it seemed like he had the wrong person to scold.

The designated driver wasn't angry; he just nodded and bowed to appease him.

Just then, his phone beeped with a series of text message notifications, but he didn't have time to look at them.

After about five or six minutes of this back and forth, just as Lin Ge returned to his desk, the skinny man finally managed to get the keys from the boss's waist and hand them to the designated driver.

Then the two of them worked together to help the boss into the back seat, the designated driver laid out the seat cushion, got into the car, and started the vehicle.

"Boss, get some rest!"

The skinny man humbly bowed and waved, his face bearing a warm yet weary smile.

A few seconds later…

'Boom! '

A luxury business car that looked expensive crashed into a red Mustang parked across the street with a sudden acceleration.

"Holy crap! My money!"

Inside the car, the driver's desperate screams could be heard, suggesting that something else terrible had happened.

Something's happened.

Xie Changjun sighed, put down his wine glass, and stood up.

“But we’ve been drinking, and we’re not local police officers. We don’t have law enforcement authority and we can’t enforce the law while intoxicated. Let’s go over and see if we can help you with anything.”

Nie Guoqiang had already seen some diners walking in that direction, and some were actively calling the police, so he felt much relieved. He asked a waiter for two bottles of mineral water, rinsed his mouth and spat it out before catching up with Xie Changjun and handing him the other bottle.

When I got there, I found that a crowd of onlookers had formed a circle, pointing and commenting on the two cars that had been hit.

Upon closer inspection, the hood of the car that caused the accident had been ejected, obscuring most of the windshield; the left fender, bumper, and headlights were also smashed. As for the Mustang coupe that was hit, its entire side was crumpled, and even the side window was completely shattered, indicating that it was more seriously damaged than the car that caused the accident.

The luxury car involved in the accident seemed to have suffered some other malfunction; the doors remained closed, and neither the driver nor the passengers emerged. Faint sounds of cursing could be heard from inside, but onlookers couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Spread out a bit, don't get so close!"

Nie Guoqiang squeezed into the crowd and quickly raised his voice to disperse them. After all, now was not the time to watch the spectacle; if the car went out of control again, it would be a huge problem.

"Boss! Boss!"

The skinny guy, who had just called a designated driver for his beer-bellied physique, never expected to encounter something like this so soon after turning around. Ignoring Xie Changjun's attempts to stop him, he rushed to the car window, tried to open the door but couldn't, so he pounded on the glass and shouted anxiously, "Get away from me!"

Nie Guoqiang grabbed him by the back of his collar and yanked him hard, causing him to fall backward to the ground.

Who the hell are you?

"police!"

With just one simple sentence, the skinny guy chickened out.

His face darkened as he anxiously waited to the side, then, as if remembering something, he quickly dialed a number.

Nie Guoqiang instructed Xie Changjun, who was more intoxicated, to help stop pedestrians, while he himself went to the hood of the car and peered inside.

Because it was pitch black and there were no lights inside the car, he could vaguely see that the person in the driver's seat did not seem to have lost consciousness, and he could even see a bright spot that looked like the light from a cell phone.

Nie Guoqiang took out his phone and shone it inside. Sure enough, the designated driver was sitting in the driver's seat with his head hidden behind the door of the car that had been hit, and he was still constantly operating his phone!

He didn't seem to have any intention of getting out of the car anytime soon, or perhaps the driver's seat had been deformed and he was stuck inside and couldn't get out.

But no matter what, the fact that this guy neither cried for help nor struggled, but just calmly sat there playing on his phone, still opened Nie Guoqiang's eyes with his big heart and calm demeanor.

"Calm down my ass!"

Lin Ge slowly slipped into the crowd and stood next to Nie Guoqiang, shaking his head speechlessly.

While others didn't hear, he clearly heard the cursing of the designated driver inside. This guy seemed to have been scammed by the pornographic app earlier; judging from his curses, it sounded like his bank account had been emptied of money. So, he was only focused on using his phone to get his money back and wasn't thinking about dealing with the accident at all.

The owner in the back seat seemed to have been knocked unconscious, but this person didn't care at all whether he lived or died...

As for why the money was transferred to a stranger so quickly, Lin Ge guessed it was related to the guy's lustful actions just now.

Lin Ge had absolutely no sympathy for this kind of person.

But at least the person in the back seat was innocent, and it was unknown whether the impact had caused them serious injury. So Lin Ge jumped onto the hood, squeezed into the raised gap, and then came to the driver's side and roared at the person.

"Ow~"

"Get lost! Aren't you annoying?!"

Unexpectedly, the designated driver had a bad temper. Annoyed by the noise, he looked up and yelled at Lin Ge.

"..."

Lin Ge remained silent.

Fortunately, the car had already been turned off, so there was little chance of anything worse happening. Lin Ge just stared at him coldly while waiting for the traffic police and ambulance to arrive.

Two minutes later, the driver finally confirmed through his mobile banking that all the money he had painstakingly saved had been wiped out. Only then, utterly despondent, did he put down his phone, unbuckle his seatbelt, and forcefully push open the driver's side door to get out.

Even though Nie Guoqiang called on a few kind-hearted people to help pull the front of the car out a little, the car door could only be opened a crack the size of a palm. Pushing any further seemed to get stuck, and he couldn't get out at all.

"Fuck!"

The irritable driver pushed and shoved the car door, even crawling up from the driver's seat to kick it, but the door remained unmoved.

When Nie Guoqiang loudly inquired about the situation of the person in the back seat, he completely ignored him. In fact, if Nie Guoqiang asked too many questions, he would impatiently retort, leaving the two policemen and onlookers speechless.

How much longer until the ambulance arrives?

"How do I know?"

The two policemen exchanged a glance. Nie Guoqiang felt uneasy but was helpless in the face of such an uncooperative person.

"Let me do it!"

Lin Ge sighed, jumped out of the car, and went to the driver's side door.

The irritable driver was still kicking the door forcefully, damaging many of the plastic parts. It was unclear whether the expensive sound system was damaged. Lin Ge, growing impatient, took advantage of the driver's outstretched foot and slashed at it with his claws. The claws tore through the driver's sock, causing him to cry out in pain.

Seeing him obediently tuck his legs in, Lin Ge gave him a cold stare. After he stepped back a little more, Lin Ge squeezed through the gap into the car and quickly went to the back seat.

The beer-bellied boss slumped onto the footrest, his enormous belly wedged in the cramped legroom. His head was on the ground, bloodstains near his forehead and temples; his condition was rather bad.

It looks like the collision hit him pretty hard. After all, he was drunk and not fully conscious, and he wasn't prepared for the accident. Plus, he wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so injury was inevitable.

Fortunately, his breathing was still normal, which relieved Lingo slightly.

"Speaking of these designated drivers, they don't seem to require customers to wear seat belts even if they're in the back seat. But their clients are usually people who have been drinking, so it makes sense that they wouldn't dare to argue with drunks."

Lin Ge still had the mind to think about other things.

"Mimi, how is that person doing?"

Nie Guoqiang shouted loudly from outside; his biggest worry right now was the safety of the person in the back seat.

"Ow!"

Lin Ge looked up and called out, deliberately keeping his voice steady so that Nie Guoqiang wouldn't misunderstand.

"Phew... thank goodness! No need to worry too much. Now we just need to wait for the ambulance to arrive. And that guy inside, he needs to learn the price of being stupid."

Nie Guoqiang breathed a sigh of relief, nodded to Xie Changjun, and then glared angrily at the bastard who was squatting on the passenger seat and continuing to operate his phone.

God knows what this guy was thinking, playing on his phone at a time like this?
"What should I do? What should I do? The money I finally managed to borrow through a loan, how could it all suddenly disappear? More than 200,000 yuan, I haven't even spent much of it yet, and it's all been swindled out of it? And I still have to pay them back, what a joke, you bastards!"

The desperate driver muttered to himself as he frantically searched for customer service on his bank's app, clinging to the most futile hope that the bank would freeze the money or return it to him.

Lin Ge ignored the guy and continued walking around the back seat checking on his beer belly. Vomit slowly started to seep from the corner of his mouth. Lin Ge's expression changed drastically; he was terrified that the guy, in that position and unconscious, might kill him.

However, the idiot driver had no intention of cooperating at all, and Lin Ge was so angry he wanted to kill him.

He tried to open the car door from the inside, but still couldn't. Lin Ge didn't know if this was a special feature of luxury cars, a security lock, or if there was something wrong with the car. He could only run to the driver's side to check if there was an unlock button, only to find that the button had been kicked and broken by the valet driver.

Lin Ge quickly tried to start the car, hoping to roll down the window. The cat was bustling around in the cramped car, while the shameless chauffeur was only focused on typing with customer service, showing absolutely no curiosity about the cat's strange behavior.

However, even with electronic ignition, the car still requires pressing the clutch, and Lin Ge's height made it impossible for him to do both at the same time. Just then, he finally spotted the car keys under the driver's backside, and angrily pounced on him, swatting at them before snatching the keys away.

"what!"

The driver let out a scream, finally snapping out of his daze. He stared in disbelief as a cat pressed the ignition button on the key, restarting the car.

The engine whirred and stalled again, but Lin Ge ignored it. He hurriedly returned to the back seat and pressed the window down button. This time, the window finally worked properly and slowly closed, revealing Nie Guoqiang and the group of people peeking out from behind.

"here you go!"

Nie Guoqiang gave Lin Ge a brief compliment, then poked his head in and quickly saw more and more foul-smelling foam on the ground around the beer-bellied man's mouth.

His expression changed, and he quickly grabbed the beer-bellied man's hair to lift his head slightly, finally preventing the guy from suffocating in his own vomit.

At that moment, the sirens of ambulances and police cars arrived in unison.

(End of this chapter)