Chapter 45: A Welcome Sight

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Chapter 45: A Welcome Sight

Young Master Lin You was nearly blinded by the glitter of gold and diamonds covering the floor.

In an instant, his earlier frustration over dealing with his blind owner vanished, replaced entirely by the thought: Holy crap, did a windfall just drop from the sky, or is someone trying to set us up? But when he hopped down and spotted ten large rats lined up in the shade beside the jewels, the realization hit him immediately.

“Mwahaha! Hahahaha!” The lynx laughed aloud as he trotted up to the lead rat squad. “Did you guys haul this stuff out of Zhang Shan’s place?”

The lead squad was headed by the Rat Boss. He couldn’t quite tell whether the Cat King before him was overjoyed or had simply lost his mind, but figuring that fortune favored the bold, he nodded and let out a series of squeaks.

“We brought back the biggest, brightest things we could find, as long as they weren’t behind glass. What do you think? Does this count as our achievement? Can we get extra chicken legs as a reward?”

Boss Rat was a little nervous, but he had already made up his mind. If the Cat King refused, he would fight tooth and nail for the sake of his underlings! After all, he had heard that humans considered these glittering things extremely valuable!

Cat King Lin You, however, didn’t disappoint Boss Rat in the slightest. He bared his fangs in a grin, then immediately stepped forward and gave Boss Rat an approving pat.

“Don’t worry! I’ll make sure you all get plenty to eat!”

The ten large rats were thrilled, squeaking excitedly. Once they had finished celebrating, Cat King Linlin solemnly warned them to be careful the next day.

“Don’t go into the house tomorrow. Things happened so suddenly today that they weren’t prepared, so you didn’t suffer much loss. But tomorrow, that house will definitely be filled with traps meant for you. Just stay hidden in your underground burrows and keep an eye on what Zhang Shan says and does. If anything important comes up, especially anything involving ‘documents’ or ‘keepsakes,’ you have to tell me.”

The ten large rats squeaked in acknowledgment of the Cat King’s warning. But Lin You still had some concerns. After all, rats weren’t human. Compared to cunning humans, even the smartest rat could easily be killed.

Afterward, Cat King Linlin waved his slightly chubby paw, sending the ten large rats on their way. Then, with an excited meow, he pounced straight onto the pile of gold, diamonds, and jewelry scattered across the ground.

By then, Mu Yanxiao had also heard from Mu Three about the jewelry scattered throughout the garden. The news struck him as rather amusing. He had been locked in a struggle with Zheng Yuhu for years, and he had also been openly and covertly at odds with his two aunts for just as long. As for Zheng Yuhu, his cunning and devious nature had made it impossible for Mu Yanxiao to defeat him completely. Though they were cousins, they were more like sworn enemies, so there was no room for any familial affection between them.

However, when it came to Zhang Shan and Zhang Ya, no matter how recklessly the two of them behaved, Mu Yanxiao always remembered his mother smiling as she told him that one of her sisters was strong-minded and dignified, while the other was lively and adorable. The sisters had been very close when they were young.

That was why Mu Yanxiao could never bring himself to be truly ruthless toward these two aunts. Although he had repeatedly pushed Zheng Yuhu and Chen Yuhe to the brink of death during their struggles for power and the inheritance, the three of them had a tacit understanding not to target anyone else.

In that regard, Mu Yanxiao and Zheng Yuhu each had their own bottom line. Yet whenever those two faced each other, both of them wished the other dead. There was not the slightest trace of mercy.

Precisely because Mu Yanxiao had never dealt a fatal blow to Zhang Shan and Zhang Ya, the two aunts would occasionally show up in front of him just to make their presence known. Sometimes, when Mu Yanxiao grew annoyed and had them escorted out, Zhang Ya would throw a tantrum and wail at the doorway. Over time, rumors naturally spread about Young Master Mu’s ruthlessness and cruelty. But in reality, Mu Yanxiao had never actually done much to either of these two aunts.

But today, when Mu Yanxiao heard about the pile of jewelry, he was genuinely delighted. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more amused he became, until he eventually laughed out loud. He could roughly estimate how much jewelry his eldest aunt owned, and as Mu Three listed the pieces one by one, Mu Yanxiao became certain that this had to be most of Zhang Shan’s jewelry, didn’t it? Tsk, tsk. It didn’t take much imagination to picture just how furious his aunt must be right now.

“Ha… Blind master, you’re very happy?” Lin You tilted his round, fluffy head, looking slightly puzzled. “Feels pretty good to have a windfall fall right into your lap, huh?”

Mu Yanxiao shook his head, a smile still playing on his lips. “Even though this jewelry would be worth a lot on the open market, Zhang Shan has definitely reported it to the police by now. That means we can’t openly sell any of it, so its value will drop considerably.”

Cat King Lin pawed at the ground, his tail held high with a haughty air. “So what? Worst comes to worst, we melt the gold down into ingots, or just make a golden statue of yours truly! As for the gemstones and diamond necklaces, we can take them apart and turn them into pendants or use them as decorations. And if all else fails, we can sell the stones individually. They’d still fetch a hundred or two hundred thousand.”

Mu Yanxiao chuckled again and agreed, “Mm, selling them separately is a good idea. They’d still fetch at least a few million. As for the gold, let’s just have a golden statue of you made. It can be a permanent good-luck charm to guard the house!”

Lin You flicked his tail. Hmph, at least you know what’s good for you. A lynx itself could ward off evil and protect a home, after all. Especially one as majestic as him.

“Wait. What were you laughing about earlier?”

Mu Yanxiao coughed. “Just thinking about the look on my eldest aunt’s face right now puts me in a very good mood.”

Young Master Lin You tapped his little chin, then narrowed his eyes and added, “And the looks on your younger aunt’s and your cousin’s faces are pretty delightful too.”

This time, Mu Yanxiao really burst out laughing. Shaking his head, he held out a hand, and Lin You haughtily placed his chubby little paw in Mu Yanxiao’s palm. Mu Yanxiao scooped the cat into his arms and carried him inside.

As he stroked the little creature’s fur, a glint flashed through Mu Yanxiao’s eyes. He was growing more and more fond of his Linlin.

The following day, the second day of surveillance, the twenty large rats encountered a fierce counterattack. By the time they returned that evening, the first team had lost two rats, while the second team, despite being protected by the Meow Squad, had lost one and had another injured.

Moreover, the information they brought back wasn’t what Lin You had hoped to hear. There were only a few matters related to business.

Cat King Lin You was somewhat disappointed, but he still gave the surveillance squad plenty of food and treats to comfort them. After all, there was still one final day. Maybe they would find something useful.

And that was exactly what happened.

At noon on the third day, Lin You was sprawled on a soft cushion like a queen, waiting for his blind owner to feed him some boiled shrimp, when several consecutive cat cries suddenly sounded outside the window.

Under normal circumstances, the Mu Family would have dismissed them as nothing more than an ordinary cat making a fuss. But when Cat King Lin You heard those particular cries, he immediately straightened up. In three quick bounds, he leapt out the window and landed beneath a nearby tree.

“Meow-rowl-meow!”

“Meow?”

“Meow-meow-meow-meow!”

“Meow-rowl!”

Translation as follows:

“Reporting, Boss! We heard that old woman and the hothead talking about a ‘keepsake’!”

“Really? Where is the keepsake?”

“She said it’s at the very back of her large wardrobe, so no one would ever think that her most precious possession isn’t in the safe! Hahaha!”

Lin You’s mouth twitched. The younger aunt’s way of thinking was a little… Well, she was a wealthy lady worth over a hundred million, after all. Hiding valuables in a wardrobe was such an incongruous habit. Then again, it really would be difficult to find. At a rough estimate, she probably had five or six large wardrobes, so searching through them all would be quite a challenge.

“Meow~”

“Good work. We’re eating right now. Want to come have a meal?”

“Meow!”

“Sure! Can we get some to go? My five brothers haven’t eaten yet.”

“Meow meow.”

“Don’t worry! There’s plenty of food for everyone!!”

And so, Young Master Mu listened to one meow after another, his mouth twitching as he found his meal completely tasteless. Having their private time together ruined was not pleasant at all. Even the adorable cat seemed considerably less cute now!

In the end, Young Master Mu had no choice but to summon a bodyguard and have him take a taxi to the private hospital while carrying an adorable yellow tabby cat and a bag of boiled shrimp and two braised fish.

This left Henchman N, who had once both feared and worshipped his boss to an almost ridiculous degree, completely unable to process what he was seeing!

Since when had his mighty, imposing boss become such a cat lover?! He’d heard that not long ago, the boss had been absolutely obsessed with parrots and guinea pigs! Wasn’t his boss getting over his old pets a little too quickly?! Was he planning to keep all twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac? But the others were easy enough. What about the Dragon? Would he use a seahorse or a sea snake as a substitute? …Too terrifying. Stop imagining things!

And so, Henchman N walked off, still wrestling with his conflicting thoughts, while carrying the message-delivering cat underling. Left behind in the villa were Young Master Lin You, currently in full-on “Little Lynx” mode, and his blind owner, whispering together.

“Tsk, blind master, now that we know where the thing is, hurry up and send someone to steal it! We’re meeting them tomorrow. Hehe, they actually think they can force us to submit! They really ought to take a good, hard look at themselves and see how shameless they are! One swipe of my paw and I’ll guarantee they all end up disfigured! Meow! Once they’ve lost their leverage, let’s see how they keep up their act. I’ll make sure they regret it!”

Mu Yanxiao rubbed his temples with a slight headache. He had already made his Linlin change his voice several times today, and that particular tone and inflection really made his hands itch.

He was seriously asking to be smacked.

“All right. I’ll have Mu Four take some men to try this afternoon. But while the Chen Family’s security isn’t quite as tight as the Zheng Family’s, it’s not far behind. Stealing something from there probably won’t be easy.” Mu Yanxiao paused, and Cat King Linlin’s eyes immediately lit up. He chuckled mischievously, then waved a paw with great swagger.

“What the hell is there to worry about? With yours truly, the King of Beasts who commands all creatures, on the job, are you really worried that we won’t be able to open the Chen Family’s wardrobe? Mwahaha!”

Young Master Mu’s mouth twitched, and he said helplessly, “As far as I know, Third Cousin Chen is particularly fond of keeping dogs. The fiercer the dog, the more he likes it. So…”

Cat King Linlin immediately sat up straight, his expression solemn. Oh my, was he going to encounter his natural enemy that afternoon and have a real cat-versus-dog battle? As a Cat King, he absolutely could not allow a defeat by a dog to become a stain on his glorious feline legacy!

Hmm. He needed underlings and comrades-in-arms!

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