Hearing that many valuables had been stolen, the police officers from the local station arrived quickly.
Ye Zhiqiu explained the situation. The officers collected shoe prints from the walls and floor, lifted fingerprints from the door, and took photos of the damaged lock.
After the police left, Ye Zhiqiu entered the room Shen Liya had used before. She searched around briefly but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.
Chen Can must have been looking for something, and it must have been very important, otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone to such trouble.
Back home, Ye Zhiqiu was still pondering this issue when Ya Ya, with her big round eyes, stared at her intently.
Seeing that her mother hadn’t paid her any attention for a long time, Ya Ya grabbed a rattle and shook it a couple of times.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Ye Zhiqiu hurried over, picked Ya Ya up, and planted a kiss on her little cheek. “Ya Ya.”
“Wah—” Ya Ya placed both of her small hands on Ye Zhiqiu’s face, leaned up, and gave her chin a kiss.
Ye Zhiqiu’s eyes filled with surprise. This wasn’t Ya Ya’s first time kissing her, but it was the first time she’d done it like this.
“Ya Ya, give Mommy another kiss, okay?” Ye Zhiqiu brought her face close to Ya Ya’s. Ya Ya pursed her little lips and gave her a big, smacking kiss.
[What is Mommy thinking about? She didn’t look at Ya Ya for so long. Did Ya Ya make Mommy angry?]
[Probably not, Ya Ya is being very good!]
[Then who made Mommy angry? Daddy? Is Mommy missing Daddy? Ya Ya misses Daddy too.]
[Hmph, silly Daddy, why hasn’t he called for so long?]
[Maybe Daddy has another mission, out on assignment again. Hope Daddy is safe and sound, and doesn’t get hurt at all.]
[Haha, the kitties and doggies outside are gossiping about that big scumbag, saying he’s so old but still got hit by his mom, and even cried. So funny!]
[Serves him right! The ugly monster threatened him, that’s what he gets for being so blind. He actually believed the ugly monster was as gentle as she pretended to be. Pfft!]
Ya Ya rolled her eyes dramatically. Ye Zhiqiu glanced at her secretly and was amused by her little expression.
The ‘ugly monster’ was Shen Liya, so the ‘big scumbag’ must be Chen Can.
Shen Liya threatened Chen Can, and then Chen Can went to the house looking for something. It seemed Shen Liya had some leverage over Chen Can, and it must be serious leverage, otherwise, Chen Can wouldn’t have been driven to such desperation, rushing over to search the house in broad daylight.
Given Chen Can’s personality, leverage that could threaten him was likely related to his future prospects.
But would Shen Liya really have kept the evidence in her room?
Ye Zhiqiu absentmindedly gave Ya Ya a massage, while Ya Ya was also thinking about this matter.
The little devil’s people hadn’t found the leverage the ugly monster had mentioned, but they had uncovered some things.
The department the big scumbag belonged to was part of logistics, a department with a lot of ‘grease.’ He had frequently abused his power for personal gain.
Presumably, the ugly monster knew about some of this and held solid evidence. Otherwise, a shrewd person like the big scumbag wouldn’t have risked getting her out.
They had to find that evidence. They couldn’t let the ugly monster get out. Even though she wouldn’t be able to hurt her Mommy this time around, she was like a fly—annoying even if she didn’t bite.
But where was that evidence? Probably no one knew except the ugly monster herself.
“Hey hey, I know.”
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, a new voice suddenly appeared in Ya Ya’s head.
[Is that Flower?]
“What Flower? I’m not Flower.”
[Then who are you? Kitty or Puppy?] Ya Ya perked up her little ears and listened carefully, but it was quiet outside.
“No, no. Turn your head.”
Ya Ya turned her head and saw a gray mouse standing in the corner of the windowsill!
“Ah—” Ya Ya shrieked in fright.
Even though she had been a cat in her past life, she was particularly afraid of mice.
The little devil had teased her about this endlessly because of it.
“Oh? You’re afraid of me?”
The gray mouse wasn’t big, about half the size of a grown man’s palm. It shrank back into the corner. “How about now? Still scared?”
“Why so timid? Ah, well, can’t blame you. Who made us look unappealing and get labeled as pests. But I mean no harm, okay? Don’t be afraid of me, alright?”
[You’re a pretty nice mousey. Since you’re so polite, I won’t be scared of you anymore. But you have to hide well, okay? Don’t let my family find you.]
“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m the smartest mouse in the whole compound.” The gray mouse stretched out a tiny paw, waved a discreet greeting to Ya Ya, and immediately shrank back into the corner.
And the corner it hid in was in the shadows. If you didn’t look carefully, you wouldn’t see it at all.
[Mousey, do you have a name?]
“Us mice don’t have names. That’s something you humans have.”
[Then can I call you Little Gray from now on?]
“That’s a pretty good name, hey. Sure, you can call me Little Gray from now on. I know your name is Ya Ya. You’re a little celebrity in our compound. I often hear those silly cats talking about you. I’ve wanted to come see you for a long time.”
Little Gray had shifty, beady eyes, but after looking for a while, Ya Ya realized it was actually quite good-looking, for a mouse—clear-eyed and fine-featured. Especially those little black beady eyes, full of spirit.
[Little Gray, you said you know where that ugly monster hid the stuff?]
“Of course I know. My nest is in their building. I saw her hiding something.”
[Where did she hide it?]
“In the crack by the head of the bed. I even went and poked around. It’s just a bunch of old papers.”
[Heh, didn’t expect her to be that clever, using the ‘hiding in plain sight’ trick.]
Ya Ya asked Little Gray: [Little Gray, can you help me bring all that stuff over? If you want something to eat, I’ll have the little devil prepare it for you.]
“No problem! I knew sticking with you would mean food.”
Little Gray’s black beady eyes shone brightly. “Although we mice aren’t picky eaters, I really love those melon seed cakes. So soft, with fragrant melon seeds inside, slurp—”
“You wait here. I’ll go get it for you right now. That old hag should be asleep by now.”
With that, Little Gray jumped off the windowsill.
Ya Ya knew her mom wouldn’t sleep unless she did. But after her conversation with Little Gray, she was genuinely feeling a bit sleepy.
It seemed talking with the little animals was quite mentally draining.
With a big yawn, Ye Zhiqiu placed Ya Ya back in her little bed, held her small hand, and softly hummed a lullaby.
Ya Ya soon fell asleep.
Little Gray and its siblings worked quickly. In about an hour, they had brought over everything Shen Liya had hidden in the bed crack for Ya Ya.
After neatly arranging the items on the windowsill, Little Gray went and fetched a pretty feather to weigh them down, then left.
The next time Ya Ya woke up, the first thing she did was glance towards the windowsill.
“Eee~~ yah—” Ya Ya pointed her little finger towards the windowsill, prompting Ye Zhiqiu to look.
Ye Zhiqiu brought the items over and, after looking at them, got quite a fright.
