Ye Lian’s perceptiveness surprised Jiang Xiaoyu. The injury at the base of his tail had happened over a decade ago and shouldn’t have been detectable anymore.
“Someone snipped it off.”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s tone was calm, showing no pain.
His tail had been clipped off by Jia Muqin—oh, Jia Muqin was his mother. He had only been nine when he first transformed, sprouting ears first, then a tail. He had clutched that thing in panic, not understanding what was happening to him, terrified enough to seek help from the parents who had always abused him.
But the panicked child received no comfort. Instead, he was grabbed by the tail. “You monster! Don’t call me Mom—I couldn’t have given birth to something like you!”
She took the scissors and snipped it right off.
The pain of the severed tail pierced his heart, and even now, with the wound long healed, it still ached faintly when Ye Lian brought it up.
But he was lucky that only his tail had been clipped off. Jiang Xiaoyu thought with self-mockery—if his ears had been clipped too, would he have become disabled in human form?
Ye Lian’s fingertip pressed against the stump, and with a slight rub, he could feel Jiang Xiaoyu trembling. “Who hurt you?”
Jiang Xiaoyu yawned nonchalantly. “Someone irrelevant.”
No need to rehash rotten matters; he had no desire to say more. As a child, he had hurt, hated, and been confused. Now, Jia Muqin was still in prison, Li Shouping was probably off gambling somewhere, and that family of three was cut off from him not just legally, but in every sense.
Occasionally, in the dead of night, he would recall what Lu Wanhui had said: “Officer Jiang, with a background like that, how did you pass the review?”
Yeah, he was lucky. Having his tail clipped had led him to meet Jin Ge and escape his birth family. Even with a criminal mother, he had still passed the political review and become a cop. So he was lucky, he thought.
The night outside the window was speckled with neon lights. The faint smile on Ye Lian’s face vanished completely, replaced by a coldness utterly different from his usual demeanor. He found Jiang Xiaoyu’s contradictory personality amusing but had never delved deeper—why bother with the past of a mere plaything? But now, he felt an urge to investigate, to find out who had hurt him and how he could speak of it so casually.
This guy had been holding his tail for ages without moving. Unable to stand it, Jiang Xiaoyu twitched and pulled his tail free.
“You’re not mad anymore, right?” He looked up at Ye Lian, only to freeze. The man’s eyes were profoundly deep, like bottomless cold pools, devoid of any amusement. Jiang Xiaoyu, used to his gentle face, felt a bit at a loss.
“Didn’t we agree one touch and you’d stop being mad?” Thinking he was still upset about the bite, he couldn’t help but meow like a normal cat before shoving his tail back into the man’s hand. “There, there, touch it some more!”
Ye Lian snapped out of his thoughts, his eyes curving into pretty crescent moons. He reached out and poked Jiang Xiaoyu’s plump tail tip. “How could Uncle bear to be mad at such a cute Baby?”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s head heated up. Suppressing the urge to bite him, he headbutted him instead. “Your mom told me to make you go to bed early!”
Ye Lian ignored the question, pulling him into his arms and cooing softly, “Is Baby sleepy? How about Uncle tucks you in?”
Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart was a mess from the constant “Baby”s, and his belly felt numb from the rubbing. Unable to take it, he chomped down before leaping out of his arms. “Cat ignores you! Cat’s going to sleep by himself!” He dashed to the door, nimbly pouncing on the handle, and after slipping out, even used his butt to slam it shut.
Even from far away, Jiang Xiaoyu swore he could still hear Ye Lian’s low chuckle. He cursed “bastard” in frustration before burying his head in the cat bed and refusing to come out.
After the Little Black Cat left, the smile faded from Ye Lian’s face. His brows furrowed slightly, dark gold swirling in his sword-like eyes. His well-defined fingers tapped idly on the desk. After pondering for a moment with lowered eyes, he dialed his special assistant’s number.
“Investigate Jiang Xiaoyu’s background.”
The special assistant, who had just dozed off after working overtime into the night, was dumbfounded despite his top-notch professionalism. “Which aspect?”
“All of it.”
At first, he had just seen him as an amusing little toy. When had he started tugging at his heartstrings like this? Recalling that line—”Your mom told me to make you go to bed early”—he found it funny. When had those two gotten in touch behind his back? The little dummy had dropped his disguise with one sentence in front of him; had he done the same in front of Ye Lan?
“He really doesn’t seem all that smart.” He let out a short laugh before rising and heading to the bedroom.
—
After that night with Ye Lian, the atmosphere between the man and the cat grew increasingly harmonious. Jiang Xiaoyu had developed quite the pet mindset, slipping into the study every evening to keep the man company while he worked.
Seeing the boss in a good mood, Chen Yiqu was happy with it too. He kicked the Husky drooling nearby, his face full of disgust. “Scram, go call the little cat over for dinner.”
The dog didn’t understand human speech and kept drooling shamelessly. Yan Feilang turned toward the Cat House and yelled, “Jiang—”
Under the old butler’s raised eyebrow glare, he switched mid-sentence, “C-can’t you hear me talking?!” He yanked the Husky’s ear. “Go call the little cat for dinner.”
Jiang Xiaoyu had already heard and come out, eyeing Yan Feilang suspiciously with his furry face. Why did this guy always sound like he was choking? With that big burly build, was he secretly frail?
The Husky stared at the boiled beef in Jiang Xiaoyu’s bowl, munching its dog food pitifully. “Dog wants meat too.”
Jiang Xiaoyu felt embarrassed under its gaze and turned his butt away, silently nibbling on something that looked like a mini cabbage. Bitter! He coughed from the bitterness and spat out the Brussels sprout.
The waiting Husky lunged with mouth agape, swallowing it down like Zhu Bajie eating ginseng fruit—without even chewing—and then stared blankly at Jiang Xiaoyu.
Jiang Xiaoyu: …
He quietly picked all the bitter veggies from his bowl to feed the dog anyway—the Husky couldn’t taste the bitterness.
Yan Feilang covered his eyes, unable to watch. He thought to himself, I give this guy plenty of snacks usually—how’s he still so picky?
The old butler grinned, filmed a video, and sent it to Ye Lian. Putting away his phone, he said, “Make do with it. In a few days, when Liu Qingqing comes back, you’ll get some variety.”
Jiang Xiaoyu chewed a bit of meat, remembering that Liu Qingqing was the owner of the last bedroom on the first floor.
After dinner, Jiang Xiaoyu wanted to call Jin Ge about the evidence collection but couldn’t get through. Glancing at the bright blue sky, he planned to sneak out to the Case Handling Office, only to find the Husky following him step by step.
“Why are you following Cat?” Jiang Xiaoyu turned helplessly.
“Play with Dog!” The Husky snorted and kicked the ball toward Jiang Xiaoyu.
Its eager gaze made it impossible for Jiang Xiaoyu to refuse, so he played along. But after two hours, he was dog-tired while it was still excitedly chasing the ball around the yard.
“No wonder it’s a Husky.” Jiang Xiaoyu collapsed on the ground. “This stamina would be perfect for construction work.”
Yan Feilang, passing by lifting dumbbells, touched his nose and rescued the half-dead black cat. “Husky, come here. I’ll take you swimming.”
After the man and dog left, Jiang Xiaoyu returned to the Cat House and called Jin Ge again—no answer. Getting worried, and since he rarely contacted other colleagues and didn’t have their numbers, he called the Case Handling Office.
Someone picked up. Zhang Pangpang’s voice came through. “Hello? Who is it?”
“It’s Jiang Xiaoyu. Where’s the chief?”
“The chief took leave, didn’t you know? He requested it yesterday.”
Jin Ge looked lazy but was a workaholic, staying at the office until dawn even without cases. He only took leave a few days a year—on his master’s wife’s death anniversary. The timing lined up for these couple of days…
Jiang Xiaoyu sighed inwardly and perked up. “Zhang Pangpang, you free? Help me out.”
“Shoot.”
“Log into the Shapeshifter Archive System and check someone for me. Name’s Ye Lan.” It wasn’t that Jiang Xiaoyu was paranoid—her behavior was just too odd. She could spot a shapeshifter at a glance, clearly from prior exposure.
“Hold on, logging in… Looking… Ye Lan… Nope, nothing. Not a shapeshifter.” The shapeshifter archive held records of all discovered ones—anyone who’d had a checkup or medical treatment was logged.
Jiang Xiaoyu hesitated, then asked, “Check Ye Lian.”
“Nada. Searched all Ye surnames—no matches.”
Hearing that, Jiang Xiaoyu relaxed. “Then check Ji Wangan.”
“No hits. Checked Ji surnames too.”
“Got it, thanks.”
Jiang Xiaoyu hung up, his heart settling. Probably Ye Lan had encountered other shapeshifters before, and his human-like behavior had made her think of them. After learning his identity, not only had she not made trouble, she’d even handed over her son’s phone to the police… Thinking back on how she’d defended Ji Wangan, it felt off now.
Was she practicing righteous family annihilation? Jiang Xiaoyu muttered to himself. A few days passed like that until he finally got through to Jin Ge.
The man’s voice was hoarse. “Hello? I sent someone to feed the critters at your place—no one’s starving.”
“They’re not critters. I’m worried about you…” Jiang Xiaoyu clawed at the soft pad beneath him, embarrassed to voice his concern.
“Yo~” Jin Ge let out a mocking, eerie cry: “What a rarity, seeing our Little Yu officer worry about someone. Master would be thrilled to death.”
Jiang Xiaoyu automatically tuned out his sarcastic yin-yang weirdness and asked softly again: “Is Shimu doing okay?”
“She’s fine. The grass on her grave is a few centimeters tall.”
“How can you talk like that!” Jiang Xiaoyu put on a stern face and glared at him: “Can’t you show a little respect for the dead!”
“How am I not respecting her? Your father here worked his ass off weeding the grass, okay?”
Jiang Xiaoyu wanted to curse him out, but hearing that broken-gong voice of his, he couldn’t bring himself to. He had no idea how many sleepless nights it had taken to rasp it that bad.
“Alright, no more teasing. Thing is, there’s something I gotta tell you. Get ready—we’re grabbing someone.”
