Chapter 60: Please Choose to Cherish Animals

The old woman was almost scared out of her wits. When she saw the figure vanish, it took her quite a while to fumble her way to the window and peer down. There was nothing outside, as if everything that had just happened was nothing but an illusion.

“Are you looking for me?”

A girl’s innocent voice sounded from above her head. The old woman looked up and saw Mo Fei hanging upside down in front of the window, her eyes wide as she gave her a twisted grin.

The old woman’s eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.

Mo Fei’s expression shifted to seriousness, and she carefully adjusted her posture. When she climbed back onto the windowsill, she noticed the master bedroom door had been quietly opened. A young woman stood in the doorway, staring intently at the old woman collapsed on the floor.

The woman’s gaze slowly rose from the floor up to Mo Fei, and she gave a smile that teetered between tears and laughter, opening her mouth without making a sound.

But Mo Fei understood her lips.

She was saying, “Keep it secret.”

It was a secret. They were accomplices.

Mo Fei smiled at her and began climbing down the wall. Once this matter was over, he would file a complaint. What kind of wall was this, so ridiculously easy to climb? He’d have to install security windows for himself and Grandma Zhang when he got back.

After he left, the young woman slowly closed the door. By moonlight, she retrieved a box of medicine from the deepest recesses of a kitchen cupboard.

On the blue and white box were printed several bold characters: Sertraline Hydrochloride Tablets.

She scraped out five small white pills, crushed them with a spoon into powder, put it in a glass, and sat quietly in the kitchen, waiting for dawn.

She had waited for this day for a long time—one more night.

As sunlight washed over the earth, the woman heard screams and curses coming from the master bedroom. A smile touched her lips. She poured warm water into the glass, watching the powder dissolve, then left the kitchen, putting on an anxious, timid expression and knocked on the master bedroom door.

The old woman had lain on the floor all night. When she got up in the morning, her back ached, and to make matters worse, she saw blood-red writing on the vanity. She immediately began cursing without restraint.

It was true she’d abandoned children in her youth, but only because they’d been girls. How could the family afford to keep so many worthless girls? If they were gone, so be it—it was their own bad luck!

She muttered filthy curses, growing even angrier at the sight of her daughter-in-law standing there with her head bowed meekly.

The woman handed her the glass, speaking gently, “Mom, have some water.”

The old woman, exhausted and parched from her ordeal, took the glass and drank it down, smacking her lips and frowning. “What’s that strange taste?”

“Maybe there’s still some disinfectant in the water from this morning,” the woman replied with an ingratiating smile.

The old woman scowled and started in again. “You can’t even boil water right—what can I expect from you? Bad luck follows you, you can’t even bear a son. My son’s in trouble and you can’t even pull any strings to help!”

“I’m telling you, you’re not going anywhere until my son gets out! If you dare try to seduce someone outside, I’ll kill you along with that worthless brat!”

As always, the woman kept her head lowered, but her grip on the glass tightened.

Faster. Just a little faster.

After dawn, Mo Fei was staying at a little hotel near the residential complex, ready to face whatever tricks the old woman might pull.

He’d shown his face on purpose yesterday, just to wait for the old woman to come after him.

Mo Fei had taken every precaution—even if she called the police, there wouldn’t be any evidence. And with both the old woman and her daughter-in-law secretly against her, Mo Fei felt confident.

But he waited and waited, and never saw the familiar black-and-white police car.

He pondered this for a long time. It just didn’t make sense. That old woman wasn’t the type to take a loss without making a scene. Very strange.

While Mo Fei was puzzling over this, a black sedan pulled up at the curb.

Officer Xiao Xu, dressed in plain clothes, stepped out and grinned at Mo Fei. “I saw you squatting here from a mile away. What are you doing, guarding the gate for the neighborhood?”

Mo Fei shook his head frantically. “I have my reasons! Officer, don’t you care about public harassment?”

Officer Xu raised an eyebrow. “Let’s hear it.”

Mo Fei recounted, without embellishment, how he’d spent all day yesterday struggling to get home, only to be greeted at his door by red paint and a bucket of filth.

Officer Xu’s expression was hard to describe—it looked a bit like that legendary ache only men know.

“What you described does fall under our jurisdiction, but this sort of thing is a civil dispute, and the culprit’s an old woman,” Officer Xu spread his hands. “That’s like stacking buffs. If she just refuses to apologize or pay up, there’s not much we can do.”

Mo Fei immediately felt disappointed, though he’d expected as much. Sometimes, people here really did love animals—so many beasts around, all thriving.

“Then why are you here? You’re not even in uniform,” Mo Fei asked, his enthusiasm gone. “Out for a stroll?”

Officer Xu was so amused by his bluntness that he laughed. “You think I want to be here? If you hadn’t told me yesterday that the chef at that private kitchen kept a suspicious dog, I wouldn’t have to work overtime on my hard-earned day off.”

Mo Fei grinned sheepishly. “It’s just precaution, you know.”

“But if you’re investigating, why are you here?” Mo Fei asked, puzzled. “That place is nowhere near here.”

“You think you can run off when I’m working overtime?” Officer Xu said gruffly. “Lead the way. If this is a false report, I’ll haul you in myself!”

Mo Fei nearly jumped out of his skin. “Don’t! I have a job, see for yourself.”

He pulled out his phone to show Officer Xu his schedule, but as he glanced at a new message from Xiao Qian, he fell silent.

Seeing Mo Fei hesitate, Officer Xu leaned over to look at the screen.

“Because you performed so well on yesterday’s shoot, you can take half a day off—report back in the afternoon?” Officer Xu read the message, his grin widening. “I didn’t know you could be so diligent.”

Mo Fei wore a pained expression. Even he hadn’t expected such a considerate film crew!

Officer Xu was brisk, not one for idle chatter. He simply grabbed Mo Fei’s arm and shoved him into the car. “Good citizens cooperate with police actions. Try to refuse, and you’ll be ordering takeout at the station from now on.”

He snorted, “Didn’t you say you liked eating at the cafeteria? I’ll put you on the blacklist.”

Mo Fei was so angry his hands shook as he buckled his seatbelt. “If you don’t feed me today, I’ll fight you to the end.”

“You want to assault an officer? That’s a crime, my friend.” Officer Xu slid into the driver’s seat and tossed him a bag of steaming hot buns. “Here’s your meal.”

“I won’t be bought by your sugarcoated bullets!”

Mo Fei took a bite—the filling was cabbage and vermicelli.

“Delicious.”