I received a phone call from Peng TouSi as I was still thinking. He told me Ai Mi was strolling around with 004 and 005 near 28 Middle where she got lost, and asked me to help look for Ai Mi if I was free.
I… I mean I have to look for my sister even if I wasn’t free!
But it would be more accurate to say she ditched her bodyguards instead of saying she got lose. It’s evident she wanted to eat as much junk food as possible since she even turned off her phone. But Ai Mi has a poor sense of direction and wouldn’t be able to find her way home without someone next to her.
I thought about all the locations Ai Mi might be in as I walked towards the hole in the chain link fence.
Xiao Qin followed behind blindly while copying all of my actions. If I held my chin to think, then she also held her chin as if she was a doppelganger.
There were footsteps near the chain link fence, but I can’t be sure it was indeed Ai Mi, so it wasn’t helpful for the search.
“Ye Lin, Xiao Qin, what are you guys doing?” The class leader walked over gently with a face full of expectation, “Did a kitten come in?”
You still remember the kitten, well it probably already forgot your skirt (I wouldn’t have forgotten if it was me). It’s kind of correct to to say a kitten came in, since my sister could be compared to a Persian cat and won’t let you pet her.
And Ai Mi was afraid of the class leader and gave her the ‘Katyusha’ nickname and compared her to Vasya, the Russian sniper. She’s afraid of the class leader’s hunter aura just like animals, so now it would be even more difficult to find her.
Speaking of the devil, the overlord cat, the only little tabby cat who wasn’t afraid of the class leader arrogantly crawled through the bushes and came out the broken hole in the fence.
“Meow~~” The cat lazily stretched its body.
“Meow.” That was Xiao Qin trying to communicate with the cat. Maybe she was asking where there was fish.
The class leader’s face flushed red, and she pushed me aside to welcome the cat.
“Kitty, did you miss me?”
“Meow.” The cat sat in front of Xiao Qin as it continued to communicate with her, but it ignored the class leader.
“I… I have food here…”
The class leader took a couple of… dried fish snacks out of her pockets. It was a small packet of almond strips and fish imported from Japan.
The little tabby cat walked next to the class leader’s feet under the enticement of the dried fish and happily ate buried its face in her hands.
The class leader couldn’t stop chuckling with a face full of joy as the cat tickled her hands.
Xiao Qin didn’t meow anymore. She stared at the dried fish in the class leader’s hands and looked as if she wanted a share.
The class leader felt uncomfortable being stared at by Xiao Qin and tried to pass her a bag of dried fish.
“Do you want some too?”
Xiao Qin pouted as she was easily seen through, then she nodded with no resolve.
Now the class leader was feeding two cats…
Suddenly, the sound of firecrackers came from far away. I wasn’t sure which business decided to have their grand opening at this time, but the sound scared the little tabby cat and it began to run away. It ran straight through the track field and the students could only dodge out of the way.
The class leader chased behind with worry.
There were many teachers and students in 28 Middle who weren’t friendly towards wild cats. The class leader wouldn’t forgive herself if she couldn’t catch the cat before someone injured it.
“Go help the class leader catch the cat.” I ordered Xiao Qin.
Xiao Qin wiped her mouth after she finished the dried fish, and unexpectedly, she easily agreed.
“Fine, I’ll help her out since she fed us cats.”
After she stood up, her sights instantly locked onto the little tabby cat that was scampering between people’s legs.
I thought Xiao Qin would rush out like a Super Saiyan and easily catch the cat, but who knew she would take a feeble step forward and even almost fall over.
I said angrily: “How long is it going to take for you to catch the cat if you act like that! I was planning on letting you take care of the cat while I go and look for Ai Mi.”
Xiao Qin looked back with a ‘I tried my best’ expression and said:
“A feeble girl like me can only use my intelligence to solve both those problems.”
“Intelligence? How’s someone as dumb as you have any intelligence, let alone solve both those problems?”
“Ye Lin classmate, please don’t look down on me. For someone like me who understands the nature of a cat, finding Ai Mi and catching the little tabby cat can easily be done with a simple plan.”
“Then may I ask Miss cat, for your brilliant plan?”
“Um… first we have to do a bit of preparation. Can you go to the store in the school to buy a bag of chips and a bag of dried shredded squid.”
“I know Ai Mi likes chips, but what’s the squid for?”
“… I like to eat squid.” Xiao Qin said without an ounce of shame, “The dried fish the class leader gave me was delicious, but it wasn’t enough.”
And you call yourself a strategist? Do you think Sun Tzu asks his chef to cook him a plate of pork before he pitches his plans?
Xiao Qin explained after I looked at her in derision:
“The squid would be used to catch the cat. Since I’m also a cat, then the cat would also like to eat whatever I like to eat. If you don’t quickly buy it, you will miss the perfect time to catch it.”
I wasn’t sure what Xiao Qin was trying to do, but I still ran to buy the chips and squid as fast as possible.
Some might ask why I don’t just go catch the cat if I’m going to put it all this effort.
Since I watched a lot of Animal Planet as a child, I would know even house cats can run faster than Usain Bolt, let alone a startled wild cat. And being nimble isn’t a strong point of mines, so if the class leader can’t catch it, then there’s no way I could.
After I came back with the snacks, I discovered Xiao Qin had retrieved two empty cardboard boxes from somewhere.
She reversed the boxes and supported them up with branches like box traps for birds, then she smiled and displayed them to me:
“Tadaaah~~ The traps to catch the cat and Ai Mi are set, now we wait.”
“Which one is for the cat and which one is for Ai Mi?” I asked.
Because the two boxes were identical in size and both can fit a person inside.
“(*^__^*) Hehe… that’s for Ye Lin classmate to decide. The one with the squid will be used to catch the cat; the one with chips will be used to catch Ai Mi.”
Are you putting my sister on the same level as a cat? The cat might not even fall for these traps, so there’s no way Ai Mi would fall for it.
“It took me a while to borrow these boxes from the clothing factory~~ It’s not like you would get pregnant if we try it, it’s fine even if we catch one of them.”
We spent a lot of time, it would be good if we could at least catch the tabby cat.
Although Xiao Qin’s plan doesn’t really sound reliable, she did place the traps in shade, so both Ai Mi who hates UV rays, and the tabby cat who likes to hide will have a higher chance of appearing here.
I put the chips in the middle of the left trap. Then I opened the package of squid and put it into the right trap.
I didn’t open the bag of chips for my sister, otherwise I would really be putting her on the same level as a cat.
Xiao Qin looked at the squid spread out on the ground and gulped.
I think you’re the one on the same level as the cat. We don’t even need to buy different food when we’re feeding you vs the cat.
At this time, the class leader had already chased the tabby cat one full lap around the school building. Even though the class leader didn’t give up, the cat made a beeline for our trap.
“I never thought the wild cat would be this dumb.” I clenched my fist in excitement, “If it doesn’t make any turns, then we would solve one of the problems. All that’s left is to find Ai Mi…”
While Xiao Qin’s and my focus was on the tabby cat in front of us, we suddenly heard a bang from the cardboard box behind us like an animal set off the trap.
“Kidnapping. Help, help.”
A girl cried out help in a mix of Chinese and English from beneath the cardboard box.
The 1 – 2m box was held up by the girl from the inside and only her feet were revealed. She ran around aimlessly until she hit a wall and then she returned to her original spot in a daze.
Xiao Qin’s eyes turned sharp, “Number one prey caught successfully.”
The other trap also made sounds at the same time. But not only was the cat caught… but also the class leader.