Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 704 Extra Chapter 2: The Newcomer at the Police Station

The familiar alarm bell rang, and the once quiet police station break room was immediately filled with a series of clanging sounds.

It was midday, a time when people are usually sleepy, but Zhu Jun, who was dozing off at the table, reflexively jumped up before opening his eyes; without saying a word, he grabbed his police uniform jacket from the back of the chair, put on his clothes and equipment, and ran outside.

When Zhu Jun ran halfway there, he realized that the new colleague who was supposed to be on duty with him was not there, and his expression changed.

"Ling Ge, where did you run off to?"

"Meow~"

The response from the walkie-talkie was a soft, sticky meow. The voice carried a hint of displeasure, as if blaming Zhu Jun for the interruption, accompanied by a soothing, amused voice.

"Did you go play with the cat again?"

Zhu Jun twitched his lips and hung the walkie-talkie back on his chest. He checked his uniform in the mirror on the wall as he walked down the corridor before hurrying to the front desk to receive the emergency call, and then jogged to the police car parking area in the courtyard.

When I got to the location, the new guy was already in the driver's seat, and he seemed quite enthusiastic.

Just as Zhu Jun opened the passenger door to get in, he saw a tortoiseshell cat perched on the seat, baring its teeth at him. The little guy seemed to be saying that this was its territory and that if he wanted to get in the car, he should sit in the back.

"whispering sound!"

Zhu Jun grunted in annoyance.

Especially when Zhu Jun saw the police cat vest that the little hawksbill turtle was wearing, he disliked the newcomer even more.

So what if this guy got in through Nie Guoqiang and Zheng Mingxing's connections? How dare you touch Mimi's things like that? I'll still dislike you!
The person wearing the vest was Mimi's daughter, and given the urgency of the situation, Zhu Jun would have loved to drag the kid out and give him a good beating right now.

Mimi has been missing for over a month, but everyone at the police station is still grieving. It's only Nie Guoqiang and Zheng Mingxing's calm demeanor that gives everyone a glimmer of hope; otherwise, the police station would never be so quiet.

"Brother Zhu, what's going on this time?"

The new driver started the car, left hand on the steering wheel, right hand on the head of the tortoiseshell cat in the passenger seat. Since it was a manual transmission car and required frequent gear shifting, he would pet the cat for a while, then shift gears, then pet the cat again, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Zhu Jun was speechless.

Little Tortoiseshell, who wasn't particularly close to any of the police officers at the station except for Li Siyu, was surprisingly affectionate towards this newcomer. And it wasn't just Little Tortoiseshell; all the other cats at the station adored him. On his first day, he played happily with all the cats in the cattery, no wonder Boss Nie entrusted him with its care. But… no matter what, petting cats during work hours was a bit much! You're a police officer, isn't this attitude a little too casual?

Even so, Zhu Jun patiently explained, "The Liuhe Island community called the police, saying they saw an elderly woman beating her daughter-in-law in the building across the street. She was hitting and yelling at her, making a huge scene and disturbing the peace. We need to go over there and check the situation quickly."

"Tsk! An old lady hitting a young man, isn't her daughter-in-law's personality a bit too good?"

"Meow~"

The newlyweds responded with a smile, and the cat next to them also meowed in agreement.

"So we need to go over and see what's going on."

Zhu Jun, with a stern face, couldn't help but cough and said, "Ahem! When we get there, take off the vest on this cat! This is an official police cat vest; not just any cat can wear it. In our police station, only Mimi is qualified to wear it."

"It's alright! I talked to Boss Nie, and he agreed to let me try to train Little Tortoiseshell to be our police station's new police cat. Little Tortoiseshell is calm and obedient, and its abilities are no less than that cat named Mimi."

The newlyweds responded with a smile.

Zhu Jun was instantly enraged. What the hell did he mean by "not inferior to Mimi"? There is no cat in this world that can compare to Mimi! This damn newcomer is a bit arrogant, how infuriating!
This mere auxiliary police officer... showed absolutely no respect for his seniors!
Zhu Jun clenched his fists so tightly they made a loud cracking sound.

Unfortunately, this guy hadn't been at the police station long, but he not only got along well with the cats at the cattery, but also with Jiang Yiyi and the other women. Zhu Jun decided to let him off this time for Jiang Yiyi's sake, and of course, there was also the reason that it would be too embarrassing for the police to have internal strife.

The police car arrived at Liuhedao Community very quickly, just ten minutes after the call was received.

He had to admit that the kid was a good driver, but he was a bit too arrogant, driving recklessly with the siren on.

This attitude is somewhat similar to Mimi's usual one.

"Pooh!"

After realizing what had happened, Zhu Jun spat in disgust, nimbly got out of the car, and looked around for the person who had called the police earlier, whom he had contacted in the car. The person who called the police claimed that the noise was coming from around Building 11, but Zhu Jun couldn't find anything unusual at the moment.

"Where!"

The newlyweds suddenly spoke up, holding the baby tortoiseshell in their arms with their left hand and pointing to the entrance of Unit 3, Building 11 with their right hand.

However, Zhu Jun only saw a closed roller shutter door and didn't notice anything unusual. There was no one outside at midday, and the neighborhood was so quiet it seemed like a hoax or a false alarm.

However, seeing the newcomer confidently walking in that direction, Zhu Jun could only contact the person who called the police while following them.

"Woooooo~"

When Zhu Jun got a short distance from the roller shutter door, he actually heard crying. The crying was coming from inside the house, blocked by the door, and could not be heard at all unless you got close.

But this kid... sensed the movement from dozens of meters away?

Zhu Jun glanced at the newcomer with surprise.

You've got some skills!
The two arrived at the roller shutter door, and Zhu Jun knocked on it, banging on the shutter door loudly, which stopped the crying inside.

"Please open the door! We are police officers from Zhanghe Police Station. We received a report and came to check the situation."

Zhu Jun was not in a hurry and patiently revealed his identity.

After a long while, there was no sound from inside. Even the crying had vanished without a trace, as if the sounds just heard had been a hallucination.

"Hehe... She ran over there! She's quite rich, she owns two apartments on the first floor."

The newlywed grinned and pointed to the next apartment, separated by only a wall. Not only him, but even Little Tortoise turned to stare at the window there, as if they had completely locked onto it.

"Please open the door and come out! Please cooperate with the police enforcement, otherwise I will have to take coercive measures!"

Zhu Jun did not choose to question his companion, so he went to the neighbor's house and knocked on the roller shutter door again.

A moment later, movement finally came from inside.

Zhu Jun glanced at the newcomer a few feet behind him, quietly holding a cat and scratching its neck, and twitched his lips before taking two steps back.

With a 'whoosh,' the roller shutter door was pulled open from the inside, and an old woman with half-black and half-gray hair and a somewhat mean-looking face looked at the two policemen outside with a very impatient gaze, focusing on the strange guy holding the cat.

However, a hint of fear flashed in the old lady's eyes when she saw the vest the cat was wearing. She had naturally heard of the famous police cat in her jurisdiction and knew that nothing could escape the cat's eyes and ears.

"Is there something you need? It's the middle of the day, and I'm still taking a nap. You have to understand how difficult it is for an old person like me to get a proper afternoon nap..."

The old lady kept rambling on, the main point being that even the police shouldn't disturb the peace.

"sleep?"

Before Zhu Jun could speak, the newcomer blurted out with a laugh, "You keep the TV so loud while you're trying to sleep? Oh, you're watching a variety show? Those people are laughing so awkwardly, how can you sleep with that on? Is that some kind of noise you're trying to cover up something?"

The old lady's expression froze instantly.

Zhu Jun turned around and glared at the impolite newcomer, speechless. Then, with a serious expression, he said to the old lady, "Madam, is there anyone else in your house besides yourself? Someone called the police saying you were beating someone in your home! You should know that beating someone is illegal, and if it's serious, it's a crime, a very serious offense! Can't you resolve things properly by talking it out? Beating and scolding won't solve anything. Hmm, let us go in and take a look?"

"..."

The old lady was silent for a while, then turned her head and said, "Who's spreading rumors? I'm an old lady in my sixties or seventies, who could I possibly hit? It's just me and my daughter-in-law at home, there are no outsiders! I couldn't possibly hit my daughter-in-law, could I? That's not true! My relationship with my daughter-in-law is excellent!"

The old woman, now emboldened, put her hands on her hips, looked around, and angrily said, "Are there some scoundrels among these neighbors? They can't stand seeing others do well, so they spread rumors, can they? You shameless, spineless bastards, I curse you… Officer, tell me, who is slandering an old woman like me? This kind of person is just shameless, you know? They have nothing better to do than stalk outsiders, they can't stand seeing others do well… They don't even look at themselves…"

The old woman's voice grew louder and louder as she spoke, pointing outside and cursing incessantly. She became increasingly arrogant, even making various overt and covert taunts, cursing everyone around her and upstairs.

"Alright! Stop talking!" Zhu Jun could only sternly stop her; the old hag was getting uglier and uglier.

"..."

The old lady stopped talking, but soon started muttering incoherently again.

"Meow~"

The little tortoiseshell cat jumped down from the newlyweds' arms, walked around the house with its cat-like steps, and suddenly stood in front of a large bamboo broom used for sweeping the yard, turned around and meowed at the newlyweds.

The bamboo broom was quite worn out; many of its branches had broken off.

When the old woman saw a policeman and the police cat staring at her, her face changed drastically, and she couldn't utter a word of curse.

"You've gone a bit too far, haven't you?"

The newcomer squatted down, looked at the bamboo broom, sniffed it, and turned to the old woman with a sneer: "There's even a bloody smell on it! Didn't you hit her a bit too hard? She's your daughter-in-law, after all. Doesn't your son feel bad for hurting her? And beating her to this extent should at least get you detained, you know that? Don't think you can ignore the law just because you're old. The Zhanghe Police Station doesn't give leniency to the elderly!"

"I……"

The old lady's body suddenly stiffened.

"Where's your daughter-in-law? Call her out here!"

Upon hearing the newcomer's words, Zhu Jun's expression turned serious. If someone had truly bled, then even if the two parties were relatives, the police station would have to handle the matter properly.

"I...I didn't hit anyone! Who saw it? Even the police need evidence to speak!"

The old lady stubbornly muttered as a reflex, but still obediently went back inside. Soon she led out a young woman in her twenties who looked fine, but whose eyes were red and swollen and whose hair had just been hastily combed.

"What's going on? Did she hit you?"

Zhu Jun didn't stand on ceremony and directly questioned the girl. This kind of thing needed to be handled carefully; after all, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law would be living together for many years to come, and wouldn't they be bullied again?

"..."

The girl just shook her head and didn't say anything.

Zhu Jun asked a few more questions, and the girl briefly told him everything she could, but still denied being beaten by her mother-in-law.

Seeing her daughter-in-law's attitude, the old lady behind her revealed a satisfied yet arrogant smile.

"Are you from Sichuan Province?"

The newlywed standing to the side suddenly spoke up.

The girl and the old woman were both taken aback, as they didn't recall mentioning their place of origin earlier. Furthermore, the girl spoke fluent Mandarin and didn't have a Sichuan accent.

Zhu Jun also turned to look at the newlywed who had taken over the role of host.

"I've been to Sichuan Province many times, so I'm quite familiar with their way of speaking and some of their modal particles. Even when they speak Mandarin, I can find many subtle differences in subject-verb-object order."

The newcomer smiled confidently, but didn't tell the three people in front of him that he had only smelled a faint aroma of fried chili peppers. The smell even made Little Tortoise Sneeze; it was as if the scent had seeped into his body.

However, it's quite unusual for such a feisty young woman to be bullied by her mother-in-law.

"The distance from Sichuan Province to Zhangzhou City isn't short. Marrying into this place, without relatives or friends, has truly been difficult. With your husband not around, you have nowhere to confide in when you suffer grievances; it's truly heartbreaking that you've endured it all... But why not call the police? Some things shouldn't just be endured; asking the police for help isn't shameful. Perhaps you're worried about affecting your relationship with your mother-in-law, but at least it might make her a little more considerate next time..."

The newcomer continued to talk eloquently, which made Zhu Jun look him up and down in surprise.

This guy's got some skills!

How did he know the young woman's husband wasn't home? Couldn't a son choose to side with his mother? Also, why was he so certain that the girl had no relatives or friends here?
"Ah woo~"

The little hawksbill turtle yawned and rubbed against the newcomer's legs again. Although it felt a little bored, it would never act recklessly around him.

"What he said isn't wrong, is it?"

Seeing that the old lady and the young woman were stunned by the newcomer, Zhu Jun could only sigh and continue the conversation.

This guy makes it sound simple, but how can the police station just focus on legal statutes? The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law will be living together for a long time to come, so they should at least try to smooth things over to prevent the old lady from blaming her daughter-in-law for this.

“I…I didn’t hit her! It’s just that sometimes…our lifestyles are different…I can’t stand spicy food…she secretly…we had a little argument…and my son defended her…I…”

The old lady explained anxiously and awkwardly, fearing that the impolite policeman would actually arrest her and put her in jail. Sure enough, this policeman seemed easier to talk to, and she quickly reasoned with him and softened her stance to get the matter off the hook.

“If you have something on your mind, you can talk to your wife about it properly, right? Hitting someone is never right.”

“I’ll leave you my phone number! If she hits me again, contact me! I’ll call her son, and whatever he’s doing, he has to come to the police station with me immediately to explain!”

"I won't pursue this matter further, but this will not happen again."

"If all else fails, talk to your husband about living separately from your mother-in-law! It's not about never seeing each other again, right? She's still your mother-in-law! Look, these are two separate houses, aren't they? Don't knock them down, just put a door between them! From now on, each of you can live your own lives, and maintain a slightly longer relationship. It's better for both of you. Show her respect and serve her as needed; but for meals and daily life, each of you should live your own separate lives. Your lifestyles are different anyway, why force it?"

"old lady……"

"You..."

Zhu Jun and the newcomer played the roles of good cop and bad cop. Although it was said that one was communicating with the old lady and the other was giving advice to the out-of-town bride, in reality, they were listening to both sides! After this exchange, they both had a better understanding of the situation.

Even if the old lady was very assertive, she could only nod obediently when she learned that this matter would affect her son.

As for the daughter-in-law, she finally showed a relieved expression.

The matter is basically resolved here. Although it's impossible to guarantee that the family won't have conflicts again in the future, seeing that the daughter-in-law wasn't seriously injured—just a small cut from being accidentally scratched by a broom—this is the best that can be left at that.

Of course, if it happens again, the police station will definitely not let the old man off easily. If they really beat him severely, even if the family might fall apart, they will still have to deal with it.

As for now, the two have chosen to return to their posts.

The passenger seat was still occupied by the little tortoiseshell cat, so Zhu Jun could only sit in the back. He looked at the back of the newcomer's head in front of him, listening to him humming a song with nonsensical lyrics that only had "meow meow meow" in it, and suddenly a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Hey! Lin Ge, what did you do before? You've only been here a few days, how come you're already so skilled at law enforcement?"

"Me before?"

The newcomer adjusted the rearview mirror, looked at Zhu Jun in the mirror, and then smiled, saying, "I used to be a corporate slave! But in my dreams, I was a policeman! And let me tell you, I even received a first-class merit award!"

"Pah! You're dreaming!"

Zhu Jun interrupted the newcomer's arrogant remarks without saying a word.

First-class merit, indeed! Earning a first-class merit isn't that easy! Oh! Although Zhanghe Police Station does have two first-class merits, one is named Nie Guoqiang and the other is named Mimi. They are not ordinary police officers.

"Hehe... My dream has come true. Who says dreams can't be realized?"

The newlyweds grinned.

"Meow~"

The little hawksbill turtle cried out and looked up at him again, then suddenly jumped from the passenger seat into his arms; it rubbed against him and curled up on his lap.

It seems to be an expression of support.

(End of this chapter)