In a restaurant's private room, Zhao Yao was sitting at the table as he awaited the arrival of brother Fei, his classmate from university.
All of a sudden, the door to the room was kicked open, accompanied by a loud boom. A slim, wretched-eyed teenager was forcefully thrown into the room.
A tanned and muscular figure entered right after, and immediately exclaimed, "my apologies for being late," as he saw Zhao Yao.
A look of bewilderment was all over Zhao Yao's face as he looked at the handcuffed scrawny teenager and exclaimed, "This is…"
"I bumped into him stealing while taking the metro, I cannot simply let him be, can I?" said brother Fei nonchalantly with a smile. "Besides, if I were to bring him back to the police station to take his statements, I will probably have to work late into the night till 11. Therefore, I can only bring him here, have a meal, then drag him back to the station."
"You surely are the People's Hero." Zhao Yao said with a smile, "your work sure is demanding!"
"I merely apprehended a small-time thief. If the other party had a dozen people, I would definitely have pretended to not see it and take another path!" As Fei was speaking, he called for the waiter, "have we ordered? Quickly serve the dishes! I haven't even had time for lunch today!"
The teenager by the side begged, "I was wrong, big brother! Please spare me this time."
He fired a glance at the teenager and preached, "Sit still, if you had known the consequences, why did you even do it in the first place?"
After a hearty meal with everyone satiated, Fei looked at Zhao Yao and said, "I suppose you didn't purely want to treat me to a meal? Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"Alright man! Big Brother Fei sure has a keen sense after being a cop for a year." Zhao Yao pulled himself to Fei's side as he said in a soft voice, "you are aware of Bai Yunlu's murder case right?"
The curious teenager sitting in the corner found himself unable to hear anything despite trying his best since Zhao Yao lowered his voice as he spoke.
However, Fei frowned as he was listening to the question. Immediately, he sent the teenager out and cuffed him outside before returning and questioned, "why do you ask? This is actually quite a serious case."
Zhao Yao calmly regurgitated the explanation which he had long thought of. "I personally knew that old lady who was murdered, I don't ask for much, all I want to know is how the investigation is getting along."
Song Fei frowned as he listened. Strictly speaking, matters of such classifications should not be disclosed to outsiders at all, but since he and Zhao Yao go way back, and based on Zhao Yao's character… After careful considerations of the pros and cons involved, he nodded his head and shared, "Alright, I can help you ask around regarding this matter but to my knowledge, this is an extremely tricky case and you definitely should keep yourself out of it. On top of that, please do not tell another soul about whatever I have to tell you afterward!"
"Don't worry!", Zhao Yao said as he wiped his mouth. "Have you forgotten? My lips are really tight! Remember all your secrets that you shared with me while we were in university…"
"You punk." Song Fei coughed as he stood up and said, "Alright then, I will be making a move first, just wait out for my good news."
As he watched Song Fei bring that teenager away, Zhao Yao heaved a sigh of relief. "Whatever happens next will have to depend on the police investigation already." At that moment, Zhao Yao discovered someone had added him on his WeChat as he switched on his phone.
"Huh? Sonia?" Zhao Yao stared at the profile picture and discovered that the person who has added him was Sonia. He accepted the friend request after dazing for a moment.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot to pay you for the ride. I got your WeChat from your colleague." She sent a blushing emoticon alongside her explanation before sending over a Red Packet.
Zhao Yao accepted the Red Packet and replied, "Not an issue."
To think that the girl he was crushing on just a few weeks back actually added him on his WeChat, Zhao Yao could only think of it as life is full of surprises.
He understood that Sonia wasn't someone materialistic. It was just that there's an irresistible charm to what wealth could do in the materialistic world they now live in; it definitely made an individual, be it guy or girl, more attractive.
It was just as if the exact same person, driving a sports car while wearing branded goods, was naturally more attractive than wearing plain clothes and squeezing amongst many in a crowded bus.
As he got home, Zhao Yao saw Matcha lying on his bed amid the magnificent living room, watching a cartoon on a phone with one paw, and fumbling around with a 'cat stick' with the other.
Mango squatted by the sofa, with his marble-like eyes glued to the fake mouse attached to the cat stick and being teased by the cat stick Matcha was holding onto, swinging his head and moving about according to the rhythm of the cat stick.
As he glanced at Mango, Matcha said in a disdainful tone, "Foolish creature, bow before my mighty stick!"
Zhao Yao said helplessly, "Stop bullying Mango already."
"Me, bullying him?" Matcha exclaimed. "He should be happy that I'm around to play with him! Ignorance is indeed bliss, just a simple cat stick and it entertains him so much, I'm starting to miss those days when I was younger, when a ball can keep me entertained for the entire afternoon.
"Sigh, even if I were to unlock God-mode and get a penta-kill in every single match, I
won't be able to experience that simple happiness anymore."
Zhao Yao ridiculed, "indeed, if we were to talk about getting owned by God-modes and the number of times you got penta-killed, you're probably the strongest on the server right?"
"Isn't it all because of how crappy the mobile phone is designed towards cat users!" Matcha glared at Zhao Yao as he exclaimed, "Zhao Yao, the reason why I can never play Mobile Legends well is due to the fact that the phone screen always interferes with my move executions. The hardware restricts my potential!
His eyes sparkled as he looked at Zhao Yao endearingly, showing Zhao Yao what was displayed on a page on the phone and said, "Look at this! It's the joystick that's exclusively meant for Mobile legends, and you can attach it directly to the phone screen."
"Buy one for me please?"
"Buy me a joystick today, and a Champion I will be tomorrow."
Zhao Yao leaned over to carry Matcha and instantly started squeezing his cheek, saying, "sure, point noted, I will buy it for you tonight after you allow me to stroke you for an hour."
Matcha's chubby cheek was barely recognizable after getting squeezed by Zhao Yao as he retorted, "You want to stroke me again? You have been stroking me so much these few days that all my fur will be gone!"
As Zhao Yao needed to focus and meet his daily objectives, he had been stroking Matcha to train his ability, as well as playing Mobile Legends with him.
Playing Mobile Legends was alright, and initially getting stroked for an hour a day was fine too, but as time passed, Matcha began feeling discomfort all over.
Besides, the hour-long power training makes one tired and hungry.
"Why don't you look for Elizabeth instead!" Matcha retorted.
But how could his strength match Zhao Yao's? He was flipped over instantaneously, and a pair of large hands were on his white fluffy tummy, stroking to their heart's content.
To be honest, even though Elizabeth was in his house, she has not been properly reined in and registered on BOOK. He had tried employing Elizabeth for some of the missions, but it was totally useless and thus, there was not really anything he could do.
"Alright, alright, after you are done with your training, I will carry you into Gold
League." said Zhao Yao.
"Meow~~" responded Matcha, "also, don't forget about my Mobile Legends Android Phone stick-on Joystick!"
"I know, I know."
After stroking the cat, training his superpower, and grinding Mobile Legends for about an hour, Zhao Yao appeared with cat food for Mango, Matcha as well as Elizabeth, who were all eagerly waiting for his arrival.
Just as he put down the cat food, three heads immediately dived towards it, wolfing down everything in sight.
Seeing how happy they were, a faint smile could be seen across Zhao Yao's face.
He went on to feed the stray cats in another room.
Of all the stray cats, a few were already chummy with Zhao Yao. Two daring kittens surrounded Zhao Yao and meowed lovingly upon seeing him, with one of them even climbing up Zhao Yao's trousers.