The thieves were caught, all the stolen cats were recovered, and the culprits had confessed, but the matter was far from over.
Some of the past, scattered crimes committed by this gang of habitual animal thieves had vague evidence that could lead to a conviction, while others were long untraceable. However, combined with the massive financial value involved in the theft of the teahouse cats, they would be charged with grand larceny under national law and faced a minimum sentence of three to ten years in prison.
Moreover, Shao Xiuye, who had instigated them to steal the cats from the teahouse, naturally wouldn't get off lightly either.
After goading the thieves into stealing the cats, Shao Xiuye had been feeling quite smug. He thought he had exacted a harsh revenge on his detestable ex-girlfriend and fantasized about her miserable state after losing so many expensive, purebred cats. Little did he expect that within just a few days, the local police would track him down and get straight to the point.
"Shao Xiuye, you are suspected of soliciting others to commit theft. Furthermore, this is a severe case involving massive property damage exceeding one hundred thousand yuan. Come with us to the station for questioning."
Shao Xiuye had never imagined that his carefully selected online "proxy" meant to cause trouble for Lin Lan and make her suffer a minor loss out of spite would end up bringing ruin upon himself.
Under national law, soliciting someone to commit a crime is considered complicity, and the instigator is sentenced for the same crime as either a principal or an accessory.
Lin Lan was a woman of her word and had absolutely no intention of letting him off the hook. After all, if he hadn't harbored such malicious intentions, her cats would never have suffered this unprovoked ordeal. Therefore, she flatly rejected his apologies and offers of compensation. Given the substantial financial value of the crime, there was no way Shao Xiuye could escape unscathed. Ultimately, he fared only slightly better than the cat thieves, who had extensive criminal records and faced heavier charges, but his fate wasn't much better—he was sentenced to several years in prison.
"Lin Lan, you vindictive bitch! I must have been blind to ever fall for you!" Shao Xiuye cursed furiously after the verdict was announced.
In response, he received only her calm, faint smile. "I don't think you're blind. I think you're just stupid. Shao Xiuye, I've realized that you never seem to consider the consequences of your actions, nor do you ever learn your lesson. It was like this when you cheated on me behind my back, and it's the same now when you hired people to steal my cats. I was the blind one for ever falling for someone like you."
Looking at the woman standing at a distance, Shao Xiuye was momentarily dazed, recalling the scene of their breakup last year. When faced with him and the woman surnamed Jiang cheating on her right in front of her, she had acted exactly like this—wearing a smile while mercilessly orchestrating a plan to strip away their dignity and expose them in public. Later, when he was exposed and went viral online, he realized she had set a trap for him. When he went to confront her, she had similarly scolded him with a smile, while her employees and Lie teamed up to scare him off. Now, she was even more ruthless. After he had actually taken action to get his revenge, her counterattack left him with absolutely nothing. Not only did he have to pay reparations and bear a permanent stain on his criminal record, but he would also waste several of his golden years rotting in prison.
From start to finish, he had never been a match for this woman. But what tormented him the most was the sudden realization that they never had to be enemies. She could have been an incredible asset to him in every aspect of his life. Yet, he had systematically destroyed their relationship step by step, ultimately bringing this disastrous situation upon himself.
"Lanlan, I was wrong! I shouldn't have let my obsession with revenge blind me! Please forgive me, I swear I'll never do it again! ... Just, just think about the days we were together. I was always so good to you! Whenever I had anything good, I always thought of you and gave it all to you!"
In the end, all he could do was beg incessantly, playing his final emotional card and banking on a woman's innate soft-heartedness in hopes that she would let him off the hook. For a solicitation charge, obtaining the victim's forgiveness could lead to a reduced sentence or even an acquittal.
Cheng Fengyang, who had accompanied Lin Lan, felt nothing but disgust listening to the man's pathetic pleas. Why hadn't he thought of this when he was repeatedly causing trouble? It was too late for that now! He turned to look at Lin Lan, not in the least bit worried that she would soften her heart toward this scumbag.
Sure enough, Lin Lan maintained her faint smile, which only deepened upon hearing his cries. "I was very good to you back then, too. When you faced difficulties at work, I was the one who came up with solutions for you. Otherwise, how do you think you got transferred from the branch office to the headquarters so quickly? Why didn't you think about how good I was to you when you were cheating on me? Now that I think about it, the only reason you even had the chance to meet that rich heiress was partly thanks to my efforts."
Shao Xiuye instantly choked on his words, his eyes darting around as he found himself speechless. It was only then that he remembered the real reason he had been promoted to the head office: Lin Lan had been the one to help him overcome the most difficult hurdle in a project he was managing. But once he reached the head office, mingled with the true upper echelon of the company, and noticed the beautiful, flamboyant CEO's daughter showing an interest in him, he had completely forgotten all of that.
"Shao Xiuye, if the law dictated that cheating in a relationship was illegal, I would have dragged you and that woman to court last year. You never would have had the chance to come back here and stir up trouble. From now on, you can undergo rehabilitation in prison. Take a good, long look at yourself!"
Having said her final piece, Lin Lan turned on her heel and left the scene without looking back.
With that, the cat theft lawsuit was finally brought to a close. Lin Lan walked at the front, followed not only by Cheng Fengyang but also by Wang Jiayi and Tang Xiaoya, who had specifically tagged along for the occasion.
The two girls were buzzing with excitement.
"Serves them right! They all deserve the karma coming to them! Stealing cats and dogs to sell as pets is bad enough, but some of them actually sold the animals to restaurants! Well, look at them now—all going to prison!"
"Exactly! And that scumbag... I thought he was already disgusting enough, but I never expected him to sink even lower."
"He doesn't have the guts to commit major atrocities, but he doesn't hesitate for a second to pull these petty, sickening stunts. He actually thought he'd be fine just because he didn't steal the cats with his own two hands. Bet he was dumbfounded when he got charged with the same crime! That's what he gets for trying to be a smartass. Serves him right!"
"It's a pity Little Song had to stay behind to look after the cats. Otherwise, I would've loved for him to be here to witness this."
Over the past few days, bonding over their shared hatred of the scumbag and the cat theft incident, the two girls had grown remarkably close.
While they chattered away, united against a common enemy, Cheng Fengyang carefully observed Lin Lan's expression. She wasn't expressionless, nor was she smiling; instead, she had her head lowered, deep in thought.
He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
She truly hadn't taken that guy surnamed Shao to heart and was clearly preoccupied with other matters.
"Lanlan, are you worried about the cats back at the teahouse?" Putting himself in her shoes, Cheng Fengyang had a sudden realization.
Lin Lan paused, hesitating for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."
The two girls, who had been excitedly chatting behind them, fell silent, a trace of concern creeping onto their faces.
Although the stolen cats had all been recovered, the two days they spent in captivity had been anything but easy. In their desperation to evade the police, the thieves hadn't treated the animals well. They had only given the cats a little water and some low-quality food at the very beginning, completely neglecting them afterward. Later, in a panic, the thieves had simply stashed the cats in a hidden corner and fled. Thank goodness the culprits were apprehended quickly, allowing the police to use their confessions to locate and rescue the cats still locked in their cages. Otherwise, the consequences would have been too dreadful to imagine.
Cats are naturally timid creatures, let alone purebred pet cats accustomed to living indoors. After being brought back, they all exhibited varying degrees of physical issues. It was already a stroke of luck that the worst-case stress reactions didn't occur. It was only because Lin Lan could speak the language of cats and directly soothe the traumatized kittens with her words, along with her constant companionship and physical comfort, that the group of cats gradually recovered their spirits.
This was also the fundamental reason why Lin Lan later flew into a rage, absolutely refusing to forgive Shao Xiuye and insisting on sending him to prison. Just because of his one malicious thought, her cats had almost paid with their lives. Since in his eyes, a cat's life was worthless, then in her eyes, the few years he would waste in prison were equally worthless.
"Although I've comforted all of them, Gray's condition isn't too good..." Lin Lan was currently worrying about this particular cat.
The other kittens were doing okay, but this one in particular...
When Gray was first sent over, its wariness and rejection of humans were obvious to everyone. Seeing that it had already improved under Lin Lan's subtle influence, this recent fright, while not completely reverting it to its original state, had made it timid and cowering. Whenever it saw strangers, it would press itself against the wall. If a stranger dared to reach out, it would even let out fearful, cry-for-help-like meows. It was no longer able to interact and play with the teahouse guests like before.
Secondary trauma, it was quite a headache.
"The other stolen cats are the same; they aren't as lively as before," Wang Jiayi chimed in. "My Silver Darling hasn't been acting affectionate lately and has even become a bit sensitive and irritable."
Hearing this, Lin Lan glanced at her. She recalled how the Chinchilla, after being brought back, had opened its mouth and meowed at her: "Pfft! That bad servant! Not only did he smell stinky, but what kind of rotten food did he give me? Just one sniff made me want to throw up!" After a moment of silence, Lin Lan said, "Just feed her some more delicious treats when you get back. She just doesn't want to eat low-quality food anymore."
"Oh, right." The young lady suddenly realized. "It seems like whenever I give her dried fish and cat treats, she becomes much gentler." She had thought the cat was just starving, but it turned out she was simply being a picky eater.
The group began their journey back in Cheng Fengyang's car. Chatting about the cats in the shop, the ride was not the least bit quiet.
"Gray's condition should just be temporary. I've read some materials saying that cats have very short short-term memories. As long as the stimulation isn't particularly strong, they will quickly forget those memories." In the car, Cheng Fengyang was also comforting Lin Lan. "After those cat thieves stole the cats, apart from locking them in cages and starving them for a while, they didn't have the chance to do anything else. I believe it will be fine after a little while."
"That's highly likely the case. I hope it can snap out of it soon," Lin Lan nodded. "It's just that we'll have to keep a close eye on it before it fully recovers."
It is well known that even normal cats are little creatures that occasionally act crazy, let alone a cat that has suffered some trauma. No one knows what it might do in the next second.
If Gray were just having crazy and silly moments like Diandian, it would be fine. The fear was that it...
While Lin Lan was lost in her thoughts, the car had already stopped at the entrance of the small building. As soon as the four of them got out of the car, Lin's father and mother, who had been waiting by the convenience store, both stepped forward. They wanted to ask about the follow-up on the case.
However, just as Lin's father opened his mouth and called out "Lanlan," the rest of his words were completely drowned out by Xiao Song, who rushed out from the direction of the teahouse shouting, "Manager, something bad has happened!"
"Gray jumped out the window and ran away!"
What!
Lin Lan instantly abandoned her conversation with her parents. Or rather, the entire group rushed toward Song Xinmin. "What happened? Wasn't it perfectly fine before?"
"I, I don't know either." Song Xinmin's face was pale with anxiety. "It was still there ten minutes ago, but when I looked again, it was gone. The cat jumped up and opened the door handle to the guest restroom, and it just so happens that I had opened the window for ventilation after cleaning the restroom earlier..."
Lin Lan slapped her forehead with a smack. Her worst fear had just come true.
