Chapter 7: The Thief

Jiang Xiaoyu really liked small animals. In a certain sense, he had been raised by them, fed a bite here and a bite there.

He had almost no memories from before age three. By the time he could remember things, he was living amid his parents’ curses and slaps. Things were somewhat tolerable at first, but after his younger brother Li Chenglong was born, it got even worse. They doted on Li Chenglong as if only the three of them made up a family. He went hungry and cold, with only the neighbor grandma sneaking him into her home whenever his parents took his brother out to play.

Little White was the dog at grandma’s house—a white mutt that always grinned with its mouth open. It had followed grandma for many years and was already quite old. After grandma passed away, it became a stray. Fortunately, the other families in the courtyard all recognized it, feeding it a bit here and a bit there, allowing it to scrape by.

Back then, he hadn’t started developing cat features yet, but he could already understand the speech of cats and dogs. Little White, just like its former owner, would secretly paw open the Li family door. “Eat up.” It tossed a chicken leg onto the ground.

Jiang Xiaoyu was so hungry he didn’t care about dirt. He squatted down and wolfed it down. “You’ve got to live longer, dog.” Little White contentedly licked his face. “At least until you can find food on your own.”

Unfortunately, it didn’t live to see that day. Li Shouping caught it, beat it to death, and cooked it up as a dish.

Li Shouping was Jiang Xiaoyu’s gambling-addict father—short and hunchbacked. But in the eyes of Jiang Xiaoyu back then, he was an insurmountable mountain. He spat on Little White’s corpse, ate its flesh, and griped that the meat was too tough.

Calling it anger wouldn’t be quite right. After growing sensible, Jiang Xiaoyu realized it was hatred—not hatred for that man, but hatred for his own powerlessness. That feeling was too heavy, too weighty, always sitting in Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart. Every time he encountered an animal he couldn’t save, his heart would go “thump thump” like a hammer pounding it—scarily loud, scarily painful.

And right now, that thump thump was right by his ear. Jiang Xiaoyu opened his eyes, momentarily unsure what year it was.

“Lazy thing, the master’s gone out and you’re still sleeping?” The old butler shoved open the doghouse door with a smack, half-bending at the waist to poke his head in, his face sour. “Get up! You want me to spoon-feed you or what?”

Oh, right—it’s now. I’m on a case.

Jiang Xiaoyu yawned, planted his front paws on the ground, sank his waist to loosen up his muscles and bones, then sauntered over in a cat’s prowl and rubbed against the old butler’s leg. “Morning.”

Chen Yiqu kept a stern face, fighting the urge to pet Little Slob. “Not a shred of cat etiquette. Who said you could get that close?”

Jiang Xiaoyu had no clue what cat etiquette entailed, but he quickly sussed out what the clanging racket outside was about.

The construction crew was laying a foundation right next to the doghouse. A worker held up the blueprints and asked the old butler, “Which style do you like?”

“Young master said let the cat pick.” Chen Yiqu shook out the papers and laid them in front of Jiang Xiaoyu. “Little Slob, pick one yourself.”

Jiang Xiaoyu stared at the blueprints, his mood complicated. He’d snuck in here for the case, never dreaming they’d take it this seriously and build him a custom digs. For a moment, he didn’t know what to do.

As a cat, he couldn’t act too human or arouse suspicion. Jiang Xiaoyu worked hard to make his expression more cat-appropriate. He cocked his head, batted at the papers with his paw like playing, then after a bit scooped up a sheet with the simplest design in his mouth and tugged at it like ripping apart prey.

Chen Yiqu looked down at him, dissatisfaction written on his face. “So immature?” Treating himself like a kitten?

Jiang Xiaoyu’s furry face went expressionless in speechless exasperation. Before he could react, the man nudged him forward with his foot. “Shoo, shoo, don’t mess around—go hunt your own food.” He yanked the blueprint from Jiang Xiaoyu’s mouth and handed it to the worker. “This one.”

The guy was prickly as hell. Jiang Xiaoyu stomped his foot and flicked his tail toward the house. Perfect—time to hunt for clues.

Jiang Xiaoyu noticed the Ye Residence had tons of servants, but probably because Ye Lian liked quiet, none of them stayed overnight. For now, only the butler lived on the first floor. Second floor had guest rooms and a gym or whatever; the third floor was entirely Ye Lian’s private domain, which Jiang Xiaoyu hadn’t had a chance to explore yet.

He’d barely stepped inside when yesterday’s maid spotted him. She squealed excitedly, “Little Coal Ball! You’re that internet-famous kitty!” His paw slipped, nearly sending him tumbling as he heard her go, “This is you, right? Right? Right?”

Jiang Xiaoyu looked up at the screen showing a curly-furred black cat chowing down and frantically shook his head. “No, no.”

But the maid wasn’t listening, indignation on her face. “How’d a kitty like you end up as a stray? Did your old owner abuse you?” She’d binged every archived video of Jiang Xiaoyu’s yesterday. The latest one was his last livestream, and the comments section was in chaos—all accusations of the streamer abusing the cat by skipping the AC and feeding it boring food.

“No wonder no updates in ages.” The maid pocketed her phone with a look of dawning realization. “The kitty must’ve sneaked out!” She snapped a pic of Jiang Xiaoyu and posted it online: Everyone, don’t worry—the kitty’s safe now. Probably bolted from its old owner. It’s been adopted at my workplace.

Jiang Xiaoyu was utterly speechless, baffled at how he’d supposedly abused himself. Miserably, he drooped his face as the maid mounded a whole basin of cat food in front of him.

He tried to make the best of it: “Whatever, once the case is wrapped, I’ll head back and clear things up.”

The maid loomed nearby, watching intently lest he not eat enough. “Eat up, kitty—auntie’ll top you off with more.”

Jiang Xiaoyu’s scalp crawled. The second she turned back to the kitchen for more, he scooped up his paws and bolted deeper in. He ducked into a corridor, made sure she wasn’t following, then let out a breath and began scouting.

Besides the kitchen areas, the first floor had three bedrooms. One was the old butler’s, with a nameplate and a bunch of feather decorations hanging on the door. Jiang Xiaoyu craned his neck to look, thinking it odd. “These feathers kinda match his hair color.”

The other two had a bone-shaped nameplate and a honey jar one, labeled respectively: Yan Feilang, Liu Qingqing. Doors locked tight—couldn’t get in. No leads on the first floor, so Jiang Xiaoyu aimed for the second, only to run smack into the old butler with a sour face. He flashed cat-quick into the nearby stairwell.

Instead of going up, he went down the stairs and discovered a basement level—the servants’ rest area, probably. Jiang Xiaoyu nosed around and found the Monitoring Room. Deserted. He slipped in. The desk held several monitors displaying live feeds of the mansion’s various spots.

From the front courtyard through the inner yard to the public areas—Jiang Xiaoyu’s heart stirred. He hopped onto the desk and pulled up the underground garage feed.

Most surveillance systems had a fixed retention period, after which old footage got overwritten by new. Jiang Xiaoyu figured the incident date: over 30 days ago. He could only pray it hadn’t been wiped yet.

Replays required a password. He planned to swing back to the Case Handling Office, grab some tech gear to crack it. Just as he prepped to leap down, voices echoed from outside—someone heading this way.

“Gutsy thief, stealing at the Ye Residence.” The old butler’s voice dripped anger.

Jiang Xiaoyu panicked, clawed wildly at the door handle, and bolted into a room. A changing room—with a woman stripping naked to don her work uniform. She heard the thud and tensed to scream, but spotted the cat and exhaled, quickly locking the door behind.

“You the new kitty mister just took in?” Stark naked, she advanced. Jiang Xiaoyu freaked and dove under the table. “Thou shalt not peek, thou shalt not peek—sorry, sorry, saw nothing!”

The woman tsked, turning back to her clothes. “Even dumb beasts get villas now.” She recalled the construction crew outside. “That stupid dog’s got sharp instincts, anyhow. If it can fool this black cat, good enough.”

With eyes squeezed shut, Jiang Xiaoyu twitched his ears to catch her words. “Eh, long as I snag Mr. Ye’s eye, what’s here ain’t mine?” She admired the diamond ring on her finger, humming, “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”

Zhou Wantong admired it contentedly for a bit before tucking the ring into a hidden pocket in her apron. She squatted to peer under the table, cooing softly, “Kitty kitty, come to sis~”

Jiang Xiaoyu had no idea if she was dressed yet. Eyes clamped shut, he burrowed deeper into the gap.

She cooed a few times, but the cat stayed put. Irritated, she cursed, “Beast gonna beast.” She reached to grab him—just then, a knock. She hastily smoothed her uniform, plastered on a sweet smile, and opened up. “Xiaoting? What’s the matter?”

Zhao Xiaoting replied, “One of the gem samples Mr. Ye brought back a while ago went missing. Butler Chen’s checking the monitors and wants to question us. Hurry over.”

Zhou Wantong’s heart skipped a beat, but she played it cool. “Got it, coming right now.” She shut the door, fished out the ring to stash it, hesitated, then shoved it back into the apron pocket and headed out.

Jiang Xiaoyu waited till she’d gone before wriggling out and slinking silently back to the first floor.

Outside in the courtyard, the construction crew clanged away at the foundation. The Cat House was prefab—once the style was set and it got delivered, installation would be a breeze.

Jiang Xiaoyu tiptoed through the crowd. He hadn’t intended to meddle in human affairs, but he halted at the old butler’s words.

“The person in charge of the estate’s security is away on business and can’t be reached for now. But once he gets the call, he’ll immediately pull up the surveillance footage.” Chen Yiqu snorted coldly. “I suggest you turn yourself in now. Otherwise, just that diamond alone is enough to keep you in prison for life.”

Accessing the surveillance required logging into the management page. Jiang Xiaoyu sidled up to the old butler and called out in a coquettish voice, hoping to follow him and sneak a peek at the password.

Chen Yiqu’s face twitched. He had no idea what this little undercover was up to now. He simply ignored him plopping his butt crookedly onto his shoe and continued sternly, “I’ll give you one last chance. Come forward and admit your mistake, and we’ll go easy on you.”

The crowd stirred with murmurs, but no one stepped forward. It made sense—no thief had nothing to fear from an investigation, but the actual culprit’s heart probably wasn’t feeling so great right now.

Jiang Xiaoyu observed their reactions, his gaze involuntarily landing on the woman he’d met in the changing room. Not because of that awkward scene earlier, but because of her actions now.

Zhou Wantong tugged at Zhao Xiaoting’s sleeve and whispered, “Xiaoting…”

Zhao Xiaoting looked puzzled. “Huh? What’s up?”

Zhou Wantong’s watery eyes held a hint of conflict. “I remember you cleaned the master’s room a few days ago.”

Zhao Xiaoting was baffled. “Yeah, isn’t it our rotation every week? It was my turn this week.”

“I know your family’s going through tough times…” Zhou Wantong trailed off, “but you can’t steal things.”

“Huh? Me, stealing?” Zhao Xiaoting was stunned. A male servant nearby overheard and shouted, “Butler Chen, it was Zhao Xiaoting!”