Chapter 46: Comrade Xiao Lu, come here for a moment

Lu Qiaoge turned her head, and sure enough, her tabby cat was perched on a lush, large elm tree opposite her, frantically waving its paw at her.

【Meow, meow, meow! Let's go to the lakeside! Swallow said a lot of fish and shrimp were washed up in the reed marshes. If we go too late, others will pick them all up.】

How could it be such a clingy brat, following her everywhere she went.

Lu Qiaoge said to it in her mind, "Can't you see I'm working? We'll talk about it at noon. Hurry home. Qin Hengzhi is arriving soon. That man is too sharp; he might suspect you can talk and have you captured."

The tabby cat actually let out a loud cry, meowing and meowing, seemingly laced with laughter.

【Little Mistress, you're silly. It's not that I can talk, it's that you can understand me. Qin Hengzhi can't understand me, so what are you afraid of?】

The tabby cat meowed several times toward the pigeons in the sky, asking quite bossily: 【Do you know whose house those stolen chickens and ducks are in?】

Lu Qiaoge looked up; her tabby cat was so clever.

It went straight for the answer instead of asking who the thief was.

The flock of pigeons was suddenly stunned.

It was as if their wings froze in mid-air for an instant.

Then, with a loud flutter, they scattered in all directions.

In their shock, their inner thoughts naturally vanished, replaced by panic. A grey pigeon actually flew straight toward the large elm tree where the tabby cat was located.

If the tabby cat couldn't leap, it would have been one thing, but the cat had learned this trick at some unknown time.

No wonder folk legends say that cats are the masters of tigers; they weren't wrong.

The tabby cat leaped to the treetops and actually swiped the grey pigeon out of the air with a single paw.

Qin Hengzhi hadn't come to handle a chicken theft case; such a case didn't require his intervention.

He was heading to the residential area in the north of the city to help with disaster relief.

The military and the people were one family.

The northern residential area did not belong to the military factory; it was mostly inhabited by local civilians.

Hundreds of houses there had been flooded, and people needed to be evacuated to a safe place.

He was truly just passing through.

However, passing through, Qin Hengzhi witnessed this scene.

A grey pigeon was swatted out of the sky by a familiar-looking tabby cat.

The pigeon was injured, stumbling forward as it tried to run.

That familiar tabby cat was chasing it from behind.

An elderly man with white hair was using a bamboo pole to beat the cat, cursing as he struck: "You wild cat, you dead cat! Get lost! How dare you eat my pigeon? I'll skin you alive!"

Lu Qiaoge, who had been chatting animatedly with him just yesterday with bright eyes, was now chasing after them.

"Old gentleman, don't run! The road is so muddy, what if you fall?"

Lu Qiaoge shouted to the tabby cat in her mind, "Hurry up and run! Stop chasing the pigeon!"

【Little Mistress, it knows where the stolen chickens and ducks are. I have to catch it.】

In order to help his little mistress finish work early so she could take him to catch fish to eat, the tabby cat was giving it his all.

Lu Qiaoge accelerated, passing the old man with the bamboo pole. When she looked back, wasn't this the old traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who had treated Xiao Si?

With a leap, the tabby cat actually charged toward the advancing Qin Hengzhi.

In a flash, Qin Hengzhi was even faster. Before anyone could see him move, the tabby cat was caught by the scruff of its neck.

The tabby cat meowed incessantly.

Lu Qiaoge ignored it. This was supposed to be a crime scene, and such a commotion made things complicated.

But the pigeon was injured.

It was cooing in terror.

Lu Qiaoge took a quick step forward and hurriedly caught the grey pigeon, saying to it in her mind, "Don't be afraid. Let me see where you are hurt."

Since these little creatures all said her hands were special, Lu Qiaoge placed the grey pigeon in the palm of her left hand and pressed down on its wing with her right hand.

Qin Hengzhi's gaze darkened. He said to the captain beside him, Xiao Duan, "Take your team and continue forward."

Captain Duan responded loudly, "Yes!"

The team continued running forward.

Soon, they disappeared from sight.

Qin Hengzhi stood by the roadside holding the cat; he did not step forward.

However, when Clerk Liu and Officer Li saw it was Representative Qin, they both stepped forward to speak with him.

Qin Hengzhi did not put the cat down; he continued to hold it. The tabby cat didn't meow and looked quite well-behaved.

By now, under Lu Qiaoge's soothing, the grey pigeon's condition was gradually returning to normal.

It actually rubbed its head against Lu Qiaoge's palm.

The old doctor also ran over, panting heavily.

Without changing her expression, Lu Qiaoge said softly to the grey pigeon, "You have a wound on your wing, but it's not bleeding anymore. Does it still hurt? I'm sorry; I apologize on behalf of my cat."

Since they could understand each other's language, they shouldn't hurt one another.

Grey Pigeon: 【I feel... much better. It doesn't hurt anymore. Who are you? How can you talk to me?】

Lu Qiaoge: "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

【Do you want to know whose house those stolen chickens and ducks are in?】

This time, Lu Qiaoge spoke to it in her mind: "Do you know?"

The grey pigeon cooed several times.

【I know. It's in East District 41. There is a human there named Chen Xiangqian. His house is hiding a lot of chickens and ducks in a cellar, but he is very fierce and often hits people...】

"Okay, I understand. Thank you," Lu Qiaoge thanked the grey pigeon in her mind.

Truly, searching everywhere only to find it right in front of her without any effort.

Lu Qiaoge handed the grey pigeon to the old doctor and offered a round of apologies. She didn't mention the little brother, as she had only seen him once in the Lu family courtyard in her memories.

There were many people here now, and a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

Lu Qiaoge had intended to pretend she didn't see Qin Hengzhi, but he said softly, "Comrade Lu, come here for a moment."

This area was actually quite lively and noisy. Lu Qiaoge had gone to catch the cat halfway through her registration, but no one else was in a hurry; they were all watching the spectacle.

But the moment Qin Hengzhi spoke, for some reason, the surrounding air seemed to fall silent for an instant.

Before the people could scrutinize her with strange looks, Lu Qiaoge immediately walked over, took the cat from him, patted the tabby cat's head, and said quite generously in front of Qin Hengzhi, "Hua Hua, hurry home. Don't run around."

Qin Hengzhi asked nonchalantly, "Hua Hua can understand you?"

Before Lu Qiaoge could answer, the tabby cat meowed several times and then ran off.

Lu Qiaoge shot a sidelong glance at Qin Hengzhi.

This man seemed to be becoming more and more different toward her.

Those eyes were not only sharp but also carried a sense of inquiry.

Lu Qiaoge didn't care if he saw through her, but she also didn't want to be stared at.

Even if he was a good man.

She gave Qin Hengzhi a half-smile and said, "Cats and dogs can actually understand and interpret simple human language and actions. This is basic common sense; doesn't Representative Qin know that?"

The corners of Qin Hengzhi's mouth curled slightly, acting as if he hadn't caught the underlying meaning in her words.

Clerk Liu, standing nearby, didn't notice the tension at all. He scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Representative Qin, could you help analyze the chicken theft incident from last night? The rain was too heavy; it washed away almost all the traces and clues..."