Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Even though it was practically their first time meeting, Teacher Sun already believed Wang Yaning a 100 percent. She pointed at Zhang Zian and asked, “Do you know this person?”
Wang Yaning turned her head back to look at Zhang Zian, and her face instantly changed from a smiling one to a one as cold as ice. Even the face changes of the singers in the Sichuan Opera were not as sharp.
Zhang Zian almost knelt down. The girl definitely could not be provoked after she was grown up… No, even now, he still could not afford to provoke her, if she accused him of being a pervert, then even if he jumped into the Yellow River, he would not be able to clear his name!
Fortunately, the script did not develop in the direction of a social ethics drama. Wang Yaning just glanced at him contemptuously, then turned around and resumed her cute smile. “He is the owner of a nearby pet shop. I know him, but I am not very familiar with him.”
“Oh, then are you sure that this cat is his?” Teacher Sun pointed at Vladimir again and asked.
“It’s his.” Wang Yaning nodded.
Zhang Zian finally let out a breath of relief. His whole person was about to collapse. He had already made up his mind––if Wang Yaning wanted to stay in Binhai City and develop her career when she grew up, then he would definitely have to move as far away as possible!
But why did she help him? He did not believe she was doing it with a sense of righteousness.
Only then did Teacher Sun offer an embarrassed apology to Zhang Zian. “I’m sorry, it’s my misunderstanding.”
Even though it was the other party’s mistake, Zhang Zian had some kind of gratitude like he had received amnesty. He almost shouted, “Thank the Lord!”
He did not want to stay there for very long, as both the older and younger woman were not good to provoke. He planned to retreat for the time being and come back again the next day.
However, Wang Yaning seemed to see through his plan. She did not wait for him to leave before she said, “Teacher Sun, this Uncle Zhang volunteered to help your esteemed school investigate the cat abuse case. He came specially to do that today.”
Zhang Zian: “…”
Teacher Sun was stunned upon hearing that, wondering in her heart what kind of ability he had.
Wang Yaning helped him introduce himself and said, “This uncle is a bit famous in Binhai City. I believe you have also heard of him before, actually. The dog that he trained won the Best Actor Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, and he even helped the police solve a whole series of cases related to pets.”
Teacher Sun widened her eyes in shock. “You… You’re the trainer of Lightning? No wonder I found that you looked familiar… I was planning on taking the weekend to watch Dog Warrior, but in the end, I was chosen to keep watch here. Furthermore, our school might organize an event to book the theater to watch it!”
Zhang Zian was also very shocked, but he was also confused. How did Wang Yaning know so much about him? Then, after taking another look, he saw the screen on the phone in her hand. He immediately guessed that Wang Yaning had searched him.
“Haha, it’s really nothing much. It’s just that I had some time today, so I came over to take a look,” he hurriedly said, “I utterly hate cat abuse, so if I can help, that would be for the best.”
“Teacher Sun, since Uncle Zhang is happy to help, then let’s not reject his goodwill.” One would guess that Wang Yaning went to Shimen Street Primary School from the way she talked.
Zhang Zian had kind of guessed that she had probably thought that if she used the opportunity to come up with a clue, then she would become more well-known at school and perhaps she would be able to add one more red bracelet on her arm…
Teacher Sun had been totally convinced by her. She followed the well-intentioned advice and said, “All right, then thank you, Mr. Zhang. Please follow me. I’ll bring you to where the cat abuse case was discovered.”
Zhang Zian thought about it. At least Teacher Sun was a part of Shimen Street Primary School… It was better than listening to the citizens that were unrelated to the case.
“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to bother you, Teacher Sun.” He gave up trying to resist. Teacher Sun brought them into the bamboo forest, and Vladimir followed behind.
The bamboo forest was full of dirt roads and rugged terrain. Teacher Sun took them next to a small slope, pointed to it, and said, “That day, the old man living nearby heard the cat crying out loudly. He found a kitten whose eyes had been gouged out. He found another cat that seemed like it was from the same litter next to it, too young to be weaned off its milk. He said he saw the figure of a child running out of the bamboo forest quickly, so he reported it to the school.”
Meow! As Teacher Sun was talking, there was the upset wailing of a cat.
They turned their heads at the same time to look. A stray cat came out from the grass, around 20 meters away from them. It seemed as though it wanted to come near but it didn’t dare to. It continuously called out, its cry filled with misery.
Teacher Sun sighed, saying, “The litter of kittens whose eyes were gouged out are most likely this cat’s kittens. Its kittens suffered such a cruel fate when it went out to look for food… Ever since that day, it has been wandering around the small slopes screaming, like it’s calling for its children…”
Zhang Zian squatted down to take a look. The cat’s chest was swollen, and it really seemed to be in the lactation period. Teacher Sun seemed to know what she was talking about.
A young cat whose eyes had been dug out would have definitely died. Its body was most likely buried by people with goodwill, but the female cat did not know. It probably believed that its children had gotten lost, and it was still searching, not willing to give up.
“How horrible!” Vladimir raised its paw and slammed it on the ground heavily. “Where there is oppression, there is rebellion!”
Zhang Zian: “…”
“By the way, have the students and teachers of your school, or the old people living nearby, ever seen in the bamboo forest… the bronze statue of Cat God?” he asked.
Teacher Sun was astonished. She did not understand why he suddenly asked such a weird question. “Statue? How big is it? What kind is it?” she asked.
Zhang Zian used his hands to show how big it was, then described what the Holy Cat Statue looked like and what color it was.
Teacher Sun frowned. “Wait, let me think… I vaguely remember a student mentioning a statue or something…”
“Which student?” Zhang Zian asked.
Teacher Sun looked to the left then to the right. After confirming there was no one around, she reduced her voice and said, “It’s ‘that’ student…”
Zhang Zian was confused for a while before he understood. She was talking about the student who had abused the cat, but because he was a minor, she could not specifically say his name.
He nodded. “What did they say about the Holy Cat Statue?”
Teacher Sun looked at him strangely. “We all thought that he was lying at that time because when we went to look for it later on, we did not find any statue at all…”
After the old man who found the blinded kitten contacted the school, they had to go through rounds of investigation. Only then did they figure out which child it was. The child did not manage to hide it. He ried and admitted his mistake to the teacher.
He claimed that, on the way to school, he had passed by the bamboo forest and had seen the young kittens, but there was no adult female cat nearby. He said that he did not want to harm these kittens and had originally only wanted to play with them then go to school. He was already at the back door of the school, so it would not delay him much.
After playing for a while, he saw the strange statue in the grass. It seemed to be made of metal. When he first saw it, he was scared, because he felt that the statue was dark and evil.
At that moment, he said that his head suddenly buzzed and he felt very dizzy. All of a sudden, memories of being scolded by his parents when he was a child, memories of being scolded by his teacher for copying homework, and many more unpleasant memories poured into his mind, making him feel very much in pain. His heart felt like it was being burned.
The kittens kept meowing, which made him even more irritated. He did not know why, but his hand reached out for one of the kitten’s eyes… After he acted, a strange feeling of happiness came out from the bottom of his heart, and it seemed like all the unhappy memories disappeared as the blood flowed out of the kittens…
When he returned to his senses, seeing the kittens that had been subjected to such abuse, he was very scared. At that time, someone walking by, so he immediately escaped, feeling very sure that he would not be recognized. In the end, however, he was still identified…
