start with a pet store

Chapter 1001: Rat crossing the street, everyone shouts to beat it

Lu Jingxing nodded: "Okay, when you have nothing to do, go to that area and see if there is any progress. If the boss lady doesn't take any action, you can act according to the situation."

"Okay, it's definitely impossible for him to attack again. I will run over there more often." Jian said.

"Why don't you go and take a look, Brother Lu?" said Xiaopang.

Lu Jingxing thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible. How about I go to the coffee shop you mentioned with Ji Ling later?"

"Okay, you have more experience. There is a western restaurant next to that coffee shop. You can go to the coffee shop to have a cup of coffee first, use this excuse to ask, and then go to the western restaurant for dinner." Jian suggested.

“A date by the way…” Xiaopang blinked.

All three laughed.

"You guys have made all the arrangements for me very clearly. Since you are so enthusiastic, I must make an appointment for this meeting." Lu Jingxing said with a smile.

Ji An told Lu Jingxing the name of the store and its specific address.

After walking out of the office, they saw Ji Ling in the lobby. They smiled and greeted each other: "Sister, don't be busy. Go on a date with Brother Lu."

Ji Ling was confused: "Ah? What do you mean?"

"Hehe, you'll know soon." Ji An smiled slyly.

"You two devilish bastards, are you still leaving some suspense?" Ji Ling smiled and patted Jian.

Jian and Xiaopang ran to the backyard laughing.

Ji Ling came to Lu Jingxing's office suspiciously: "What are those two little devils talking about?"

Lu Jingxing told her what Jian and Xiaopang said: "The surgery is just over. Why don't we go out for dinner tonight as they suggested?"

"Okay, of course I have no objection. I'll talk to Aunt Xie and the others and ask them to prepare less for two people." Ji Ling frowned at first, but when he heard that they would go to watch it together, he quickly nodded in agreement.

After Lu Jingxing had arranged everything, the two went to the cafe together.

The cafe is located at the entrance of the alley. It looks like a makeshift house with a small yard. The door is not very wide and there are many potted plants beside the house.

From a distance, it looks like a small castle surrounded by flowers.

"Wow, this cafe looks like it has some backing. How could the urban management allow such a large building to be built at this street corner?" Ji Ling was very curious. You know, now even if you put a light box outside the storefront, the urban management will come to check it out, not to mention such a large cafe. It looks like an illegal building no matter how you look at it.

The two walked into the cafe hand in hand.

The old-fashioned gramophone in the corner spins gently, playing a lazy tune, adding a touch of retro atmosphere to the cafe.

Customers sat in groups of three or four, some holding books and immersing themselves in the world of words, while others sipped coffee and chatted with friends. The air was filled with the aroma of roasted coffee beans, which was a rich and mellow aroma that made people intoxicated.

The house doesn't look big from the outside, but the space inside is quite large.

At first glance, just as Jian said, there are quite a lot of cats in the museum, two ragdolls, a tabby cat, a calico cat, and a big orange cat. The little guys are probably used to it and are not afraid of people at all. They are lazily lying or crouching on the cat climbing frame.

There was a boy mixing coffee at the bar, and a woman in her twenties was cutting flowers at the table in front of the bar. When she saw someone coming in, she looked up and smiled at Lu Jingxing and Ji Ling: "Welcome... What would you like to drink?"

Lu Jingxing didn't say anything. Ji Ling walked to the bar first: "I want a cappuccino, how about you?"

She turned around and asked Lu Jingxing.

"Latte, please..." Lu Jingxing ordered and paid.

The two of them turned back at the same time to look at the proprietress who was cutting flowers. From the back, they discovered that she was actually sitting in a wheelchair. However, she was wearing Hanfu and the wheelchair looked quite delicate, so the two of them did not think about it that way when they came from the front.

At this time, the tabby cat slowly walked up to the two of them and rubbed their feet. Ji Ling squatted down and stroked it gently. The little guy then exposed his belly, turned his head, and let the two of them touch his belly.

"Xiao Qi, what's wrong with you today? You usually don't let anyone get close to you, but why are you so proactive today?" The proprietress exclaimed when she saw Xiao Qi lying on the ground.

Then he looked at the two of them with a smile on his face: "It seems that he likes you very much..."

Lu Jingxing also smiled. It was indeed a little surprising to be seduced by a tabby cat.

Ji Lingze had already started petting it, and tilted his head to look at the proprietress: "From what you said, it's not allowed to be petted normally?"

"Yes, except for me, it is usually very aloof." The proprietress said with a smile, "It seems that you two have a cat-friendly physique. Do you have a cat at home?" she asked.

Lu Jingxing nodded and sat down at her table: "I run a pet shop..."

"Oh, no wonder. Where is the pet shop? I know several shops nearby, but I don't think I've seen you guys before." The proprietress asked the two of them.

"Oh, not here, in Xinjie, [Pet Home], do you know it?" Ji Ling simply picked up the little guy and sat on the other side of the table.

"Oh, it's Chong Ai You Jia. I know, I know. People who keep pets should all know about that store. They all say that the doctor there is really great. Hey, could it be you? Doctor Lu?" The proprietress stared at Lu Jingxing and asked with a smile.

Lu Jingxing smiled slightly and nodded: "Lu Jingxing..." and stretched out his hand.

The proprietress quickly put down her scissors and shook hands with him. "I've heard a lot about you. I finally get to see you alive... Ding Mimi..."

"Ahem... Hello, Boss Ding..." Lu Jingxing coughed awkwardly.

"Oh, haha, how come you have time to come here? Well, let me guess, are the two little boys who often come to my store these days also from your store? They told you to come, right?" Ding Mimi asked. Although she was sitting in a wheelchair, her posture was unusually elegant.

An unyielding temperament was revealed between her slender eyebrows, and the golden sunlight cast a faint edge of light on her hair.

The slightly curly hair ends fall gently on the shoulders, adding a touch of tenderness and grace.

Her fingers are slender and powerful. She gently turns the wheels of the wheelchair, making a slight sound. That is her unique melody of communication with the world.

She kept smiling and talking softly to the two of them.

Ji Ling was shocked by this scene. It was not until the barista brought the coffee to her that she reacted: "Oh, thank you..."

The barista placed two cups of coffee on the table before retreating.

Lu Jingxing nodded to Ding Mimi and said, "Yes, they told me about the situation. I happened to have some time, so I came to take a look."

Ding Mimi looked at the customers in the store, then raised her hand and said, "Try the coffee and see how it tastes."

She didn't continue with Lu Jingxing's words, but pointed at the coffee in front of them.

"Not bad, the taste is very authentic. The taste of freshly ground coffee is different from that of instant coffee..." Ji Ling seldom goes to a coffee shop to drink coffee. Sometimes when she is too sleepy, she will get a cup of instant coffee. However, the feeling is nothing compared to hand-ground coffee.

Ding Mimi smiled: "I have opened this store for two years, and most of the customers are old customers. You are considered newcomers..."

"There are so many flowers. You not only sell coffee, but also flowers, right?" Ji Ling asked, looking at the flowers and plants on the side.

"Yeah..." Ding Mimi followed Ji Ling's gaze and turned in a circle.

"You have so many cats, aren't you afraid of being bitten by them? And there are some things that cats can't eat, right?" Ji Ling asked.

"Yes, I put those that are inedible in glass cabinets. For example, the ones in that cabinet are lilies, which are absolutely not edible, so I put them all away. And, these..." Ding Mimi seemed particularly confident when talking about flowers and plants. She took Ji Ling to the side.

"This is green ivy, chrysanthemum, and carnation. I have sealed them all in the cabinet. We usually pay attention to it. Even the pollen will not fall outside and will be cleaned up immediately. Moreover, I am also careful when purchasing goods in my store. I will only buy a few of these necessary ones. I will not buy anything else that is harmful to them." The wheelchair rubbed gently on the ground, with only a small sound of electric current. She operated it very smoothly, making people feel as if she had merged with the wheelchair.

Ji Ling couldn't help but admire her. Despite her disability, her spirit was strong. She was truly sublimated at this moment.

The two of them walked around for a long time. It was already dark and most of the customers in the store had left. After all, not many people drank coffee in the evening.

Back at the table again, Ding Mimi took the initiative to say, "Let's sit by the window in front..."

Ji Ling nodded immediately, and Lu Jingxing carried their coffee and came to the window in the wheelchair.

After the three of them were seated, Ding Mimi pointed to a yellow door at the opposite corner and said, "That's the bookstore. However, it just closed. Before closing, it came to my store and said it was going on a long trip and wouldn't be back for a few days..."

"Have you discovered anything in the past few days?" Lu Jingxing went straight to the point. Since everyone knew what happened, there was no need to beat around the bush.

Ding Mimi nodded: "I am basically sure it was him, but there is no evidence. He came to my shop yesterday to threaten me, saying that he wanted to borrow my scissors to cut something..." She took out the scissors she just mentioned from the drawer under the table.

I saw a pair of scissors wrapped in a piece of cloth. When I opened it, I saw blood stains on the cloth and the blades of the scissors were also covered in blood.

Ji Ling was really shocked: "Threatening you, does that mean this is cat blood? Did he use your scissors to cut the cat?"

"Yes, I think so. I asked my brother to find an excuse to go to his store. Although I didn't see anything special, my brother said that his store has an annex, and you can't go down to the annex, so I don't know what's going on inside. Cats have started being lost on this street recently, and one was lost in my store, too, so I started paying attention to this matter." Ding Mimi slowly told the story.

"Doesn't anyone else suspect him?" Ji Ling couldn't help but ask.

Ding Mimi shook her head. "His resume is excellent. He is a top student. He looks gentle and kind to others. He always smiles when he sees anyone. So, he has a good relationship with the neighbors on this street. He would send me cat food from time to time, saying that he likes cats very much. I even said at the time that since he likes cats so much, I could give him one, but he said that he doesn't like to keep one and that he doesn't have the sense of responsibility. So, in this situation, if I hadn't been watching him every day, no one would have suspected him."

"Then how did you come to suspect him? You also said that he threatened you with a pair of scissors, which means he knew that you suspected him?" Lu Jingxing, who had been silent all this time, suddenly asked.

Ding Mimi nodded: "It was probably three or four nights ago. I was in a bad mood that night so I didn't go back. The lights were not on in the store. At about one o'clock, I saw him go out with a big plastic bag in his hand. I thought it was a bit strange at the time. I was looking at the stars in the yard in front. When I saw him, I didn't think much and said hello to him. He probably didn't expect me to be there and was shocked. I was very surprised at the time. Even if I said hello, he shouldn't have such a big reaction. He left in a hurry, and I don't know how the bag got scratched, and I saw a kitten's tail fell out, but he didn't notice it at the time and left in a hurry. Although I was shocked, I didn't point it out."

Ding Mimi said it lightly, but Ji Ling was terrified. You have to know, it was late at night, Ding Mimi was a woman, and a woman in a wheelchair. If she was angered, this pervert might kill someone like killing a cat.

"Did he find out about it himself later?" Ji Ling asked nervously.

Ding Mimi nodded: "That's for sure. He must have taken the bag to bury it. Even if he didn't find it at the time, he would have found that the bag was broken when he buried it. As for whether I knew it or not, he must have thought that I knew it, otherwise, he wouldn't have threatened me with this move."

"Then aren't you in danger?" Ji Ling swallowed. She never knew she was so timid.

Ding Mimi looked at her and smiled: "He probably doesn't have the guts, otherwise, he wouldn't have closed the shop and ran away."

"You have to be on guard against others. You still have to be careful. But what about now? Is there no solution?" Lu Jingxing said with a frown.

Ding Mimi shook her head and sighed, "Yes, there is no way. If we can't catch him, we can't do anything to him. And even if we call the police, this kind of thing can only be a warning at best, and at most a detention of more than ten days. Who can guarantee that he won't do it again in the future?"

"He left in a hurry. I don't think he could have destroyed all the evidence. I think as long as we can get into his basement, we should be able to find some clues." Ji Ling said.

Lu Jingxing couldn't help but nodded, the two of them thought of the same thing.

"But we don't have the key, so we can't get in at all. Besides, what's the use even if we find some clues?" Ding Mimi was still pessimistic.

"There will always be a way. Let's think about it carefully. As for how to bring him to justice, I think as long as we are sure that he has a problem and as long as we can find evidence, we can expose this kind of thing on the Internet. I believe that netizens will punish him. He will definitely be turned into a rat crossing the street and everyone will shout and beat him." A hint of ruthlessness appeared on Lu Jingxing's face.

(End of this chapter)