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Chapter 91: Crack
He Wei had not slept so peacefully in a long time. He didn’t even have a single dream throughout the night. However, he didn’t wake up naturally; he was awakened by rhythmic pawing on his chest.
It wasn’t just the paws; the fluffy tail also brushed against his face, swiping it a few times. It seemed to be telling him not to sleep and to get up quickly to prepare food because the child needed to grow and couldn’t go hungry!
“Alright, alright, let me open a can for you.” He Wei yawned, rubbing Stephen’s little head, and got out of bed. When he checked the time, it was only a little after seven. He prepared breakfast for Stephen, then went back to bed to catch some more sleep.
In a daze, just as He Wei was about to drift back into slumber, those two little paws started tapping on his arm again.
If it were just the soft paw pads, anyone would be intoxicated by the heaven of fluffy paws. But when the claws were added to the mix, it was a different story. He Wei felt sharp objects digging into his arm and quickly held Stephen, requesting the massage service to stop.
“Your nails are a bit long, and so is the fur on your feet. I don’t have specialized nail clippers at home. Shall I take you to the store for a trim?” He Wei sat cross-legged on the bed, holding Stephen’s two front paws. “I know you want to play with me, but your weapons are too fierce. Let’s get those off first.”
“Meow, meow.” Stephen’s soft and charming meows were like a siren’s call, melting He Wei’s heart. He broke free from his usually strict and disciplined life, sitting on the bed and playing with the cat for an hour.
After having brunch, He Wei carried Stephen out. When it saw the door of 403 across the hall, it struggled to pounce. He Wei continued to knock on the door of 403, but there was no response. He shrugged, planning to take Stephen to the pet store first and then see if he could find its owner when he got back.
“If we can’t find your owner, how about you live with me?” He Wei lifted Stephen over his head. “I’ll make sure you have enough canned food and snacks, and I’ll buy you a cat climbing frame as high as the roof. I guarantee you’ll love it.”
After getting its nails and fur trimmed at the pet store, He Wei came back with Stephen. Suddenly, he remembered something and went to the management office to check. Surprisingly, 403 turned out to be an unoccupied apartment.
“Is it true that no one has moved in yet?”
“You can trust us; we have a record of it,” the security guard said, looking at the cat in his arms. “This cat is really good-looking. Could it have come down from upstairs?”
“Well, I was planning to ask both upstairs and downstairs today,” He Wei said, holding Stephen with one hand and writing down his number in a notebook. “Please also keep an eye out. If someone comes looking for the cat, just contact me.”
On the other side, Cheng Zesheng was extremely anxious as he searched for his lost Ragdoll cat. He even mobilized some of his colleagues who had free time to help, and they pulled up the surveillance footage in the security office, treating the matter as seriously as a criminal case.
The security office was occupied by the Criminal Investigation Division team, and the security guards stood helplessly in the corner. “Vice-Captain Cheng, are you really sure it was after 7 o’clock last night? We’ve watched the video three times, and we haven’t seen a trace of it.”
“It was definitely at 7:10 p.m. I went to take out the trash, and when I came back, I couldn’t find the cat. I even made a mental note of the time.” Cheng Zesheng, being from the Criminal Investigation Division, had the same instinctive reactions when dealing with cases; whether it was a cat or a person, there was a golden search time.
But there was a fundamental difference between cats and humans. For example, if a cat went missing, Le Zhengkai believed it might have gone out to play. It could have gone out through the main door, or maybe it slipped out through a window. Animal behavior is much more flexible than that of humans.
“…” Cheng Zesheng pointed outside the window. “Take a look for yourself. Is there a tall tree nearby at an appropriate distance? The closest tree is ten meters away from our floor. Could it be a flying cat?”
Le Zhengkai waved his hand dismissively. “Well, it’s not impossible. Don’t underestimate the potential of your Ragdoll cat.” Cheng Zesheng couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and left Xiang Yang in charge of watching the surveillance footage. He took Le Zhengkai upstairs, and the two of them went door-to-door, asking residents.
Anyone who had stayed in the Future Domain Apartments over the weekend claimed they hadn’t seen a cat, let alone a Ragdoll cat. The cleaning lady had seen it once, but that was during the incident when Stephen had previously escaped. She hadn’t seen it last night.
“There are no eyewitnesses or physical evidence, and Future Domain isn’t that big. We’ve searched everywhere.” Le Zhengkai shook his head, “It’s like a locked room mystery!”
Cheng Zesheng was frustrated and sat down in a chair, unable to even drink water. Although he hadn’t had Stephen for long, he had truly become emotionally invested, just like a family member. Losing it was a cause for real concern.
Le Zhengkai tried to console him. “If we can’t find it here, how about we search the courtyard downstairs? Maybe it’s hiding in one of the flowerbeds.”
Cheng Zesheng had already checked the flowerbeds last night and found no trace of Stephen. However, Stephen’s absence the previous night didn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t there now. Cheng Zesheng had just sat down for a short while before standing up again, and together with Le Zhengkai, they went downstairs.
They called out Stephen’s name in the courtyard, hoping to coax it out. But Stephen was nowhere to be found, though they did discover a group of stray cats and kittens. Since the courtyard was not that large, they returned empty-handed once more. Xiang Yang had watched surveillance footage frame by frame several times and still found nothing.
Le Zhengkai saw Cheng Zesheng’s gloomy expression and shook his head. “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought you were talking about your significant other.”
“It’s like family to me, and you wouldn’t understand,” Cheng Zesheng’s voice dropped, “And… I raised it for someone important, so the meaning is different.”
———
“You haven’t seen it? Alright, thank you.” He Wei politely thanked the neighbor and closed the door. He had already asked all the residents on the top floor.
“It looks like your background is a real mystery. Besides me, no one has seen you here.” He Wei pinched Stephen’s ear, “Where did you come from? You’re so beautiful; your owner must be really worried.”
Stephen clung to He Wei’s hand, rubbed against his thumb, and licked it a few times. He Wei carried it down the emergency staircase and returned to the fourth floor. Stephen’s eyes were fixed on a blue trash can. He Wei’s eyes shifted. “Your owner lost you when they went out to throw the trash? How careless, not even bothering to lock the door.”
Stephen meowed, as if arguing that it didn’t listen to Dad and got lost on its own.
He Wei stood on the emergency staircase, observing the corridor. From here, he could see the door of 403. If it was taking out the trash, it would only take ten seconds to come back. He Wei wouldn’t bother to lock the door in that case. But 403 was unoccupied, with no registration at the property management office. Why was it so fixated on scratching that particular door?
Suddenly, Stephen’s ears twitched, and He Wei also heard a faint, almost inaudible call.
The sound was very unfamiliar to him; he didn’t recognize it. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs—distant and unclear.
“Is your owner downstairs?” He Wei held Stephen and pushed open the ventilation window, leaning out to look below. Downstairs, there were only two people smoking and chatting, and they didn’t seem to be looking for a cat. Just then, Stephen broke free from He Wei’s hand, swung its fluffy tail, and dashed into the corridor. He Wei hurriedly followed, but in the blink of an eye, Stephen disappeared.
He Wei rubbed his eyes; he had seen Stephen run from the emergency staircase to the corridor. There was only a one- or two-second gap between them, yet such a large cat had vanished into thin air.
Where could it have gone? He Wei searched the entire corridor but couldn’t find Stephen. Ragdoll cats weren’t small; he had checked all the hiding spots, and this corridor was visible from end to end. There hadn’t been any sounds of doors opening. Where could it have been hidden?
Suddenly, He Wei turned and stared at the snow-white and icy wall. This wall was where 404 used to be, across from his apartment. Normally, he could see it just by pushing open the door.
Had Stephen gone there?
A normal person would never think about parallel dimensions first, but He Wei had experienced too much. When a living creature could disappear so easily and effortlessly, besides entering another world, he couldn’t think of a better explanation.
“Cheng Zesheng,” He Wei called out softly.
There was no response, and the corridor remained silent, with only He Wei’s presence. He touched his chin and contemplated for a few seconds, then rushed back to the emergency staircase, leaning out of the ventilation window and shouting, “Cheng Zesheng!”
Cheng Zesheng suddenly looked up, and Le Zhengkai asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I just heard someone call my name.”
Le Zhengkai and Xiang Yang were puzzled. Who could have called him? Besides the sounds of birds and the wind, there was nothing else in the courtyard.
Cheng Zesheng stared at the row of ventilation windows at Future Domain; the voice had come from there. It sounded somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. He stepped out of the flowerbed, pointing upstairs. “I’ll go check up there.”
He Wei waited for a full five minutes but still received no signal from the other world. He felt a subtle sense of disappointment, closed the ventilation window, and wondered if he had been too neurotic and guessed wrong.
He Wei returned to the spot where he had just stood, running his hand over the white wall, inch by inch. There was a slight irregularity, like a thin line.
He squinted, running his fingers up and down the location of the thin line, then looked up.
This wall had been freshly painted not long ago, yet it had a very faint crack.
———
Le Zhengkai and Xiang Yang followed Cheng Zesheng upstairs. As soon as they got off the elevator, they heard sweet and gentle meowing echoing in the corridor. Cheng Zesheng was so excited that he rushed over in a hurry.
As expected, Stephen was crouched in front of 403, meowing. Cheng Zesheng was overjoyed and immediately picked it up. “Stephen! Where did you go? It took you so long to come back!”
“Don’t be too hard on it. It’s been less than 24 hours.” Le Zhengkai chimed in. “When kids grow up, they can’t stay at home all the time. Parents should be understanding.”
“…” Xiang Yang muttered under his breath, “Can’t be understanding. If we understand, next time it might really disappear.”
Cheng Zesheng happily carried Stephen back home, thinking that it would devour the canned food like a ravenous wolf after going hungry for a night. However, it only took a few bites before sitting down and licking its paws, showing little interest.
Le Zhengkai was surprised. “As expected of a fairy-like cat, it really doesn’t eat the fireworks of this world!”
Cheng Zesheng, frowned, patting Stephen’s belly. The little one’s belly was filled with food, and its nails and fur seemed to have been carefully trimmed. It appeared that Stephen hadn’t been wandering outside last night but had been lodging somewhere.
Was it the person who had just called him?
The voice was so familiar, he was sure he had heard it before. The person’s name was on the tip of his tongue, almost ready to come out, but his brain failed him at the crucial moment, causing a headache.
After Le Zhengkai and Xiang Yang left, Cheng Zesheng stared at Stephen. “Where did you go last night? Confess and you’ll get leniency; otherwise, resistance will be met with strict measures.”
Stephen continued to groom its paws, seemingly quite satisfied with the care it had received and showing no remorse for its escapade.
Cheng Zesheng had no choice but to lightly tap the little cat’s head as a lesson.
———
The night was dark, and Cheng Zesheng was wearing a trench coat over a light blue shirt, standing inside a spacious and eerie, dilapidated villa.
Where was this place?
He walked around, observing the old sofa, cracked floor-to-ceiling windows, and a thick layer of dust on the ground, all indicating that this house had not been inhabited for a long time. It was only when he noticed a familiar statue in the room that Cheng Zesheng opened his eyes wide and finally understood where he was.
This was the old mansion on the mountain. The beginning of his long dream was his own death, with He Wei kneeling beside his lifeless body, crying.
“Cheng Zesheng!”
Cheng Zesheng turned around and saw He Wei’s figure reflected in the glass of the French window.
“Cheng Zesheng!”
He Wei waved to him with a gentle smile.
Cheng Zesheng quickly walked over, nervously swallowed, and reached out his finger. His fingertip touched the glass, and with a “crash,” the glass shattered into pieces, and He Wei’s smiling face disappeared.
Cheng Zesheng woke up abruptly, sitting up in bed and breathing heavily.
He finally made the connection. The voice that had called him during the day was that of He Wei in his dream.
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