Jiang Xiaoyu stayed in the hospital for two days. His cold hadn’t gotten better yet, but there was nothing to be done about that except rely on his own immune system. His butt was still red and swollen, making it impossible to sit for long, so he simply took a few more days of leave to focus on finding a place to live.
When he went to pay the hospital bill, he was told that someone had already settled all the fees. Without needing to think, he knew it was Ye Lian.
Jiang Xiaoyu opened Jianxin and realized that Ye Lian had used his photo as his profile picture again… To be precise, it was his cat form…
He typed and deleted in the input box over and over again, silently repeating to himself in his mind that it wasn’t him, it was Ye Lian’s Little Black Cat. Finally, enduring intense shame, he sent what he wanted to say: “Um, thanks for paying my hospital bill. This isn’t a couple hundred bucks—I have to transfer it back to you.”
Ye Lian didn’t reply. Jiang Xiaoyu packed up his things and led the Labrador toward Luo Xi’s ward.
“Officer Jiang.” He hadn’t even reached the bedside when the other party turned his head and called out to him.
Jiang Xiaoyu was a bit surprised. “How did you know it was me?”
Luo Xi’s face was pale, his pupils unfocused, but the curve at the corner of his eyes was very gentle. “I heard Abu panting.”
To hear it from that far away—his ears were really sharp. Jiang Xiaoyu let go of Abu, and the Labrador wagged its tail like an electric fan, whining and nuzzling toward its owner. “Master, when can you take Abu home? Abu misses you.”
Luo Xi stroked Abu’s head and turned toward Jiang Xiaoyu’s direction with some apology. “Sorry for troubling Officer Jiang with taking care of Abu. If you don’t mind, I’ll pay you for these past few days—as Abu’s food expenses.”
“No need.” Jiang Xiaoyu refused. “Abu has been very good, and I’ve been on leave these past few days anyway. I just looked after him while I was at it.”
Luo Xi demurred a few more times, but seeing Jiang Xiaoyu’s firm attitude, he didn’t mention money again. He quietly decided to send a embroidered banner to the Public Security Bureau after discharge.
Jiang Xiaoyu had no idea that in a few days, he’d receive an embroidered banner saying “Little Dog Savior Five-Star Review” along with an audio recording. For now, he was still saying, “I’m checking out soon. Abu can come back with me first.”
Even though Luo Xi had hired a caregiver, regular wards didn’t allow pets, not even guide dogs. Luo Xi’s ink-black brows furrowed slightly, carrying a hint of worry. “Won’t it be too much trouble for you?”
“Nope.” Maybe because Luo Xi was blind and had such a gentle temperament, Jiang Xiaoyu felt much less pressure around him. He waved at the Labrador. “I’ve got a ton of furry kids at home already. One more won’t make a difference.”
Jiang Xiaoyu brought the Labrador back to his suburban house. The moment he pushed open the door, a Jianzhou Cat pounced into his arms. “Boss! Cat caught a huge sparrow today!”
The Half-Eared Little Tabby chased after it, hanging onto the Jianzhou Cat’s tail and yanking it down from Jiang Xiaoyu’s embrace. “That was caught by Cat! Not you!”
“Lies! It was me who caught it!”
The two cats argued relentlessly, raising their paws to scratch at each other. The Labrador stuck out its massive head from the side, staring in shock at the yard full of fluffballs. “Cat Officer, how do you have so many at home?”
The Little Strays also noticed the big dog following their boss. The Tawny Dog barked once. “Boss, is this a new dog you picked up?”
“Nah, Abu has an owner. He’s just staying here for a few days. Everyone get along, okay?”
The Tawny Dog snorted disdainfully. “So big and it’s a house dog!” With a body that size, it should be helping the boss conquer territory and recruit all the dogs around—how could it be someone’s pampered house dog? What a loser!
Abu felt rejected by one of its own kind…
“No bullying the dog.” Jiang Xiaoyu patted the Tawny Dog’s head. With so many fluffballs climbing all over him, one hopped down only for another to jump up. Annoyed by the fuss, Jiang Xiaoyu shook himself off—and in the next second, a black curly-furred cat appeared in his place.
Abu froze, its eyes going wide. “So you really are a cat!”
“Didn’t I tell you?” Jiang Xiaoyu picked up his scattered clothes in his mouth and dashed into the house. The group of fluffballs followed in a rush, their movements perfectly synchronized like a National Day parade.
Abu scratched its head with a paw. It had thought this human was pretty okay before—he could understand dog speech, and most importantly, he could take it to find its owner. Now seeing that he could really turn into a cat and shelter so many animals, Abu felt genuine fondness. It stuck out its tongue, bounded forward on all fours, and followed.
During the days Jiang Xiaoyu was hospitalized, Jin Ge had come by to feed the animals. A big watermelon sat on the table with a note stuck to it: Stupid thing, remember to eat.
The Little Black Cat’s mouth twitched. Ever since the day Jin Ge saved him, he’d been showing goodwill. He scratched a few times on the watermelon rind with his paw, recalling the message Jin Ge had sent. He had indeed been tricked by Jin Ge into going to the Police Academy, but undeniably, Jin Ge had shown him a path in life and given him a direction.
Back then, he’d been lost and detached from society—whether he lived or died hardly seemed to matter. But now, he had his little ones, his master, and a friend.
The corners of Jiang Xiaoyu’s mouth lifted slightly into a smile he himself hadn’t noticed. He used his paws to tear off the note and tuck it into a storage box, then said to the fluffballs, “Wait while Cat cuts the watermelon for you guys.”
“Yay—awesome!” The fluffballs bounced around excitedly. “Boss is the best!”
He jumped down from the table and shifted back to human form. The Labrador caught sight of his naked body and quickly squeezed its eyes shut. Jiang Xiaoyu gave it a puzzled look, thinking that animals raised by humans were indeed different—they even knew not to look at impropriety.
It was a hot day, so Jiang Xiaoyu turned on the house AC before ducking into the kitchen to grab a knife.
“Little Raccoon… come here…” He looked at the bird huddled in the pot. “This is what you caught today?”
“Yeah! Isn’t it huge? Cat caught such a big sparrow for the first time!”
Jiang Xiaoyu eyed the creature in the pot—about twice the size of a sparrow, but with an owl face on top—and his temple twitched. “This isn’t a sparrow.”
The Jianzhou Cat hopped over to the pot, and the Collared Scops Owl flapped its injured wing in terror, nearly scaring it to death.
“Not a sparrow? Can we eat it then?”
Of course cats and dogs could eat it, but for humans, that meant jail time. He tapped the Jianzhou Cat’s head. “Stuff that looks like this can’t be eaten. Someone will come arrest me if we do.”
The cats gasped in horror. “What? It’s that evil? It’ll get humans to catch Little Cat Cop?”
The Flower-Arm Cat wiggled its butt and bellowed roughly, “Outta the way, let Cat take it out!”
Jiang Xiaoyu helplessly blocked it. “We can’t hurt it. It’s a protected animal. I’ll send it off tomorrow.”
“Boss, what’s a protected animal?”
“Animals that humans have rules to protect. Hurt them, and you go to jail.” Jiang Xiaoyu grabbed a vegetable basket, covered the trembling Collared Scops Owl with it, and added some water and millet. “Jail is punishment—serious punishment.”
The Little Calico Cat tilted its head. “Then why aren’t cats and dogs protected animals?”
Jiang Xiaoyu glanced at its missing half-ear and paused. After a long moment, he touched it gently. “I… don’t know.”
He pursed his lips and forcibly changed the subject with feigned cheer. “Alright, let’s go eat watermelon first.”
The fluffballs were carefree with short memories—good food made them forget the topic instantly.
But Jiang Xiaoyu couldn’t forget.
Before falling asleep, he finally got Ye Lian’s reply: Sorry, I was too busy today and just saw the message.
Jiang Xiaoyu originally wanted to ask for the exact amount, but after staring at the words, his fingers hovered over the keyboard for a long time before he typed: Good evening. Have you eaten?
After sending it, he bit his lip in regret. It was so late—how could he not have eaten yet?
Ye Lian: ^^Of course. What about Officer Jiang? Taking good care of yourself?
Jiang Xiaoyu: Yeah…
The two chatted awkwardly for a bit. Jiang Xiaoyu asked again: What’s the exact hospital bill amount? I’ll transfer it to you.
This time, Ye Lian didn’t refuse and directly gave a number.
Jiang Xiaoyu stared at the figure on the screen in disbelief. He’d only stayed two days—were the fees really that high? Better to let his butt split open than stay…
He sighed, opened the transfer page, and entered his password—only to get a “insufficient balance” prompt. He checked quickly and found that this month’s salary was almost spent, nowhere near enough for the bill. Worse, he still needed to save some for renting a place.
Talk about when it rains, it pours. Jiang Xiaoyu felt like his whole cat self was about to collapse.
Ye Lian saw “the other party is typing…” linger for ages without a message and couldn’t help asking: What’s wrong?
Jiang Xiaoyu: I’m so sorry! I just realized my balance isn’t enough to cover it. If you’re not in a rush, can it wait until next month’s paycheck? I’ll add interest!
Ye Lian raised a brow. Hadn’t he tipped him a bunch just the other day? Even after platform fees, it should’ve been hundreds of thousands. How could he be broke?
Little did he know, Jiang Xiaoyu had never intended to touch that money and was planning to find a chance to return it.
“Ye Lian: No need for interest, but Uncle helping Little Yu like this—shouldn’t Little Yu show some appreciation?”
“Li-Little Yu?” Besides Jin Ge, no one had ever called him that… He turned his face away, his gaze wandering as he didn’t dare look at the phone screen. But suddenly, he felt a heat on his head, and something popped up on top.
Jiang Xiaoyu was startled and subconsciously reached up to grab it, only to seize a pair of fluffy ears. He was dumbfounded—he hadn’t been able to control his partial transformation! Only people just starting out with transformations lost control like this. It hadn’t happened to him in years!!
The pair of ears twitched uncontrollably, as if responding to the turmoil in their owner’s heart. Meanwhile, Ye Lian, who hadn’t received a reply from Jiang Xiaoyu for a long time, narrowed his eyes in thought before dialing a call.
Jiang Xiaoyu jumped in fright, even the smart whiskers on the tips of his ears bristling. He fumbled to hang up in a panic, then quickly typed: It’s too late today—how about I treat you to a meal in a few days!
He swiftly turned off the screen and tossed the phone onto the nightstand, then covered his ears and burrowed into the blankets. Half a minute later, a fair hand quietly slipped out from under the covers, felt for the phone, and yanked it back into the nest.
The dim glow of the screen lit up inside the blankets. He typed two words into the input box: Good night.
The Ye Residence had gone quiet early. Ye Lian lounged on the sofa in his study, fiddling with the book that Jiang Xiaoyu had replaced for him. His fingertip traced the elegant yet softly rounded handwriting on the title page—he found it endearingly cute, just like the person. He clicked his tongue and let out a low chuckle.
The next morning, as soon as Jiang Xiaoyu opened his eyes, he touched his head and sighed in relief upon finding the ears gone. He fed the cat and dog, then called out to the Labrador: “I’m heading out on some business. Wanna come with?”
The Labrador hesitated—afraid of causing trouble but unable to resist missing its owner—so it let out a soft woof: “Will you pass by the hospital?”
Jiang Xiaoyu knew its concern and patted it. “We can swing by the hospital once the errands are done.”
Abu instantly grinned excitedly and barked: “Then the dog will go with you!”
Jiang Xiaoyu brought the Collared Scops Owl back to the police station and handed it over to the relevant person in charge. Only after learning it would be transferred to the Forestry Bureau for proper placement did he finally relax.
He led the Labrador toward the Case Handling Office when his phone vibrated twice in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was that scam message again: We’ve noticed you’ve been browsing rental sites lately. Really not interested in this place? 2000 a month, fully furnished!
Jiang Xiaoyu frowned, thinking that these rental apps were getting way too out of hand, even colluding with scammers to sell user data!
He happened to pass by the Cyber Security Department and went in to have them check the phone number and the rental address from before.
“Not a scam,” the male officer confirmed after checking the info. “There really is a rental in that area, but it’s weird—so prime a location at such a low price, and it hasn’t rented out after all this time?”
Jiang Xiaoyu paused upon hearing it wasn’t a scam. Could there really be such a good deal? He pursed his lips, thanked the helpful officer, and led Abu toward the building exit.
Just then, Lu Wanhui walked in from outside with a few cops, including the female officer from last time who had called Jiang Xiaoyu a jealous bitch.
“What are you doing here?” the girl snapped rudely.
Jiang Xiaoyu ignored her as usual, tuning her out automatically. As he passed Lu Wanhui, the other man grabbed his arm. “Has Officer Jiang been transferred to the Archives Department? No wonder I haven’t seen you around lately.”
“He couldn’t crack any cases anyway—Archives is easier, and it sounds better,” one male officer chuckled.
“Perfect excuse,” the female officer chimed in.
Jiang Xiaoyu silently pulled his arm free, eyes downcast as he brushed past them. From afar, he could still hear their uninhibited griping.
“Seriously, how does he compare to Brother Lu at all? No idea why Boss Jin dragged him off to such a dead-end department.”
Lu Wanhui irritably cut her off. “Enough. Where do you get off talking so much?”
Once outside the building, Jiang Xiaoyu decided not even to bother with the Case Handling Office. He shaded his eyes from the blazing sun overhead, pulled out his phone, and dialed the rental number.
The call rang for a good while. Just as Jiang Xiaoyu thought it might not connect, the other side picked up: “Hello? Who’s this?”
A woman’s voice? Jiang Xiaoyu had his doubts—it sounded feminine, but the timbre was a bit too husky.
“Hello, you sent me a message earlier about renting a place for 2000 a month?”
There was a pause on the other end, then a quick agreement: “Yeah, yeah! You wanna rent it? If so, come on over.”
“Can I come view it now? Is that convenient?”
“Convenient? ‘Course it is!” The woman’s voice sounded bold and forthright as she laughed. “Just head straight here—give me a call when you arrive.”
Jiang Xiaoyu agreed and hung up. The Labrador stayed quietly by his side, its expression a little odd.
“What’s up?” Jiang Xiaoyu asked.
Abu hesitated before saying, “The dog doesn’t like those people from just now. Their voices made the dog feel really uncomfortable.”
Jiang Xiaoyu laughed. “Just ignore ’em. Can’t control what other people say anyway.”
Dogs couldn’t grasp complex stuff—their world was straightforward. Seeing Jiang Xiaoyu put it that way, it chimed in: “Yeah, you’re right! The dog just listens to its owner, and Cat Officer, you just listen to that friend of yours!”
The little dog’s analogies were always a bit off, but they never failed to poke right at Jiang Xiaoyu’s soft spot. He awkwardly scratched his neck. “Ye Lian and I are just friends—not like you and Luo Xi… Anyway, let’s go check out the place. Wrap it up quick, and I’ll take you to see Luo Xi.”
At the mention of its owner’s name, the Labrador dropped the previous topic and barked excitedly in agreement.
The Ink Orchid Mansion area was vast and sparsely populated. At the foot of the mountain was a riding field, and the house Jiang Xiaoyu was renting was right next door to it. Separated by wide expanses of grassland and a small river, the location was not only excellent but also incredibly serene and leisurely.
He couldn’t help muttering to himself: Such a great spot for 2000 a month? Missing a couple zeros, right? Definitely a scam after all.
Standing at the door with a stern face, he made the call. The moment it connected, a hearty, enthusiastic voice rang out from behind him: “You’re here? Come on in and take a breather—this heat’s brutal!”
Jiang Xiaoyu turned around, and his pupils shook. This auntie… she was way too tall…
