Chapter 51: An Orange Cat?

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Chang Yu retorted righteously. “How could I ever do something so disgraceful?”

Faced with Feng Sanpao’s suspicion, Chang Yu naturally... couldn’t admit it.

“But you just said yourself, everyone’s been young and reckless!”

Feng Sanpao looked a bit confused. Chang Yu had been young once; that wasn’t wrong, so why was he so agitated? He couldn’t figure it out. The world of adults was truly too complicated.

Chang Yu’s face flushed deep red, almost like pig’s liver. He felt his integrity had been called into question.

“I’m one of those rare men who’s never been reckless. My body has always been unsullied.” Chang Yu’s words sprayed from his lips as he spoke passionately to Feng Sanpao.

“I swear upon my entire family’s livelihood and my dignity as a man, I truly have never done such a thing.”

“Apologize now! Your slander has struck at my honor and disturbed my life!”

“If we don’t clear this up today, how am I supposed to maintain my spotless reputation?”

“I am a noble, upright person, undaunted by sacrifice or adversity—someone who has risen above base amusements, who loves his country and his people. How could I possibly do anything so disgraceful?”

As he spoke, Chang Yu was actually moved by his own shameless words, sinking into a self-satisfied reverie, with a hint of pride on his face.

Feng Sanpao, meanwhile, had long since been overwhelmed by Chang Yu’s toxic bravado, left utterly despondent.

He turned his face away in disgust, dodging the accidental spray of Chang Yu’s spittle, and said, aggrieved, “Fine, fine, I’m sorry. It’s all my fault, is that good enough?”

Just as the conversation reached this point, Chang Yu suddenly noticed that the bedroom door, which had been tightly shut, swung open.

A chubby boy in a white T-shirt emerged from the room, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.

All eyes were fixed on him, and the expressions of Chang Yu and the others were indescribably peculiar.

Especially Katerina, whose anger—just barely extinguished by Chang Yu—flared up again, her face darkening to the shade of a soot-blackened pot.

Yet the chubby boy looked completely unperturbed, as if oblivious to the strange looks and expressions around him.

He clutched a long, white body pillow, more than a meter in length, printed with the image of a sweet-faced anime girl.

The pillow was mottled with yellowish stains, making it clear that it had weathered many battles.

One could easily guess that on countless lonely nights, the chubby boy hugged this pillow to sleep.

If only it were just the pillow, but even his T-shirt bore the same anime girl’s portrait.

Looking past him into his bedroom, the walls, wardrobe, and desk were all plastered with photos and posters of the girl.

There were ones in athletic wear, magical costumes, white dresses, black sailor stockings, swimsuits... everything imaginable.

All the different outfits and poses belonged to the same anime character—the very “Suzuko” whom the boy had just shouted for.

Chang Yu thought to himself, isn’t this the classic shut-in, a true otaku?

No wonder Katerina said getting him to leave the house was harder than climbing to the heavens. From the looks of him, he’s a hardcore recluse.

Seeing Chang Yu and the others sizing up the posters, the chubby boy felt no embarrassment. He flashed everyone a bold, lovesick grin.

“Oh-ho-ho~ You like Suzuko too? Let me tell you, Suzuko is a magical girl. She’s my favorite!”

The odd tone, exaggerated smile, and the slight tremor of his right hand.

No matter how you looked at him, the boy seemed sleazy.

Chang Yu thought, no matter how you spin it, the woman you love most is just a cartoon character printed on your clothes.

People like him, living in the real world, can never understand those who dwell in the two-dimensional.

“Zhen Youcai! How many times have I told you, don’t take that pillow everywhere with you!”

“If you’re not ashamed, I am! I’ve told you over and over, stop watching so much anime, but you never listen!”

Katerina grabbed at the pillow in the boy’s arms, trying to wrest it from him.

“Don’t, sis!”

The boy clung to the pillow with all his might, howling like a banshee.

“You can’t separate us! We love each other sincerely! Even in death, we’ll die together!”

Katerina clenched her teeth in silence, dragging the pillow so fiercely that she toppled him to the floor.

Seeing the battle turn against him, the boy threw propriety aside.

He wrapped arms and legs around the pillow, clutching it tightly, resisting Katerina with all his weight.

“You monster! Executioner! Menopausal old witch!”

“Suzuko is mine in life and mine in death—you’ll never tear us apart!”

“Who are you calling an old witch?” Katerina was nearly dizzy with fury at his words.

She struggled to tug the pillow several times, but couldn’t budge it, almost pulling herself off balance instead.

She’d nearly forgotten that by now, she was dragging not just the pillow but the full weight of a chubby otaku sprawled on the floor.

When Katerina’s face was flushed with effort and still she had no way to deal with the boy, Chang Yu quickly stepped in to offer her a way out.

“All right, all right, don’t be angry. If our little brother really likes it, let him hold it—what’s the harm?” His words were sincere and moving.

Especially that phrase “our little brother,” spoken so genuinely, from the heart!

Katerina, too busy fuming, didn’t notice Chang Yu’s “slip of the tongue.”

“I just hate that he’s so hopeless,” she said. “Kids his age should love singing, dancing, rap, and basketball.”

“Look at him, always holed up at home, either gaming or watching anime. He’s piled up trash all over the place and won’t even throw it out.”

“I wouldn’t even mind if he went out and fell in love! I wouldn’t scold him for dating early!”

“Well...” Chang Yu felt awkward. “Our little brother’s still young. We should give him space to grow.”

“We’re here on important business anyway. Hugging a pillow doesn’t get in the way—let’s forgive him for now.”

With Chang Yu’s casual reminder, Katerina finally remembered she had urgent matters to attend to.

She released her grip, letting the boy roll around on the floor with his pillow. “Get up now. Stop whining, it’s unsightly. Come talk with me in the other room—I have something to tell you.”

The boy, hearing this, immediately stopped fussing. He squinted pitifully at her. “You won’t separate us?”

“Not separating you,” Katerina conceded helplessly.

Watching the siblings walk off to the bedroom, speaking quietly, Chang Yu felt rather gratified.

After all, their reconciliation was thanks to him.

But then, an offhand remark from Feng Sanpao sent Chang Yu’s mood crashing from heaven to hell.

“Strange, are they really siblings?”

“If they’re siblings, why is one’s surname Wang and the other’s Zhen?”

...

“According to my investigation, there are two hundred and thirty-two stray cats in the entire shantytown.”

Amidst a flurry of rapid keystrokes, Zhen Youcai’s fingers danced across the keyboard so swiftly they left afterimages.

In front of him, several computer screens were arranged in a pyramid, each playing numerous cat videos simultaneously.

These videos were black-and-white, devoid of any artistic beauty; more surveillance footage than proper videos.

“This is the number I’ve calculated from all the shantytown’s surveillance cameras. Clear and accurate.”

At work, Zhen Youcai no longer seemed as careless as Chang Yu had first seen. Now he looked highly professional—reliable, even.

“How many stray cats have been spotted near the victims’ homes?” Katerina asked him.

“According to your report, the first victim appeared six days ago.”

“So I pulled up all surveillance footage from the past week around the homes of all three victims.”

“The footage shows there were forty-four stray cats near the victims’ residences.”

“If the killer is indeed a cat, it must be one of these forty-four.”

Zhen Youcai’s fingers flew over the keyboard once again. In a blink, most of the surveillance videos disappeared from the screens.

What remained were forty-four photos of cats—some playing, some eating—obviously the forty-four stray cats he’d mentioned.

His sequence of operations was seamless, leaving Chang Yu and Feng Sanpao dazzled and slack-jawed.

They’d seen people use computers before, but never at such lightning speed.

They’d witnessed firsthand how Zhen Youcai pulled up all that footage.

From the start of his search to now, it had taken less than ten seconds.

In those scant ten seconds, Zhen Youcai had accomplished what would take an ordinary person days—almost as fast as artificial intelligence.

“Is there an orange tabby among the forty-four cats?” Compared to the others’ astonishment, Katerina remained calm.

She’d long known of Zhen Youcai’s abilities with computers; if not for his extraordinary talent, she wouldn’t have sought him out.

Besides, she’d focused on the orange tabby because, after comparing various breeds, she was certain the cat hair she’d found belonged to one.

Orange tabby fur was easy to identify—pure orange, unmistakable.

“There happens to be one,” Zhen Youcai replied.

He worked the keyboard again, and the screens cleared, leaving only a single video.

It showed a plump, adorable orange tabby—slightly overweight, not at all frightening, actually quite cute.

All in all, it looked like an ordinary, lovable orange cat, nothing like the rumored bringer of calamity.

“So, you think this silly thing is the killer?” Chang Yu asked.