Lin Nuan lowered her head and looked at the big fat cat next to her feet.
That cat seemed to notice that something wasn't right. Lin Nuan didn't bend down to stroke its head like she always did but was, instead, looking at it with a shadow of a smile.
The smart fat cat immediately rolled to its feet, shrunk its neck, and got ready to flee.
Seeing that the fur on the big fat cat's paws and chest was wet, Lin Nuan bent down, grabbed its front paws, and lifted it up…
The cat drew back its four paws, tensing up and appearing very docile.
Lin Nuan sniffed the smell on the cat's face before carrying it in her arms, feeling relieved. She smiled at the middle-aged married lady and said, "This can't prove that our cat killed your fish. Even if our cat did that, we still need proof."
"I witnessed it with my own eyes! Isn't that evidence enough?" The middle-aged married lady saw that Lin Nuan was young and that her voice sounded soft and gentle, so she became more oppressive. "I've seen your cat around our family's pond many times! It has been setting its eyes on our fish!"
"I can say that I witnessed that our cat didn't bite your fish!" Auntie Li didn't falter.
"You're the one who's being unreasonable!" The middle-aged married lady looked at Lin Nuan. "You must give me an explanation for this!"
When Auntie Li saw the middle-aged married lady continuously trying to find trouble for Lin Nuan, she felt extremely infuriated. This person was just trying to pick on someone who looked like a pushover!
"Hey! We're both humans, and each of us has two eyes. How can you say that what you saw is evidence but what I saw isn't? Do you have three eyes or something?"
Through the surveillance monitor, a security guard had seen that Auntie Li was quarreling with this middle-aged married lady and had come over on a battery-operated cart. He quickly jumped off and ran over, asking, "What happened?"
When the middle-aged married lady saw the security guard, she anxiously explained the situation.
"We have security cameras within the estate. Let's just bring out the recordings to take a look. Moreover… There'll be a fishy stench left behind in a cat's mouth when it eats fish. Since this lady says that she was chasing after our cat, to be fair, let's have the security guard smell to see if there's any smell left behind in this cat's mouth,"
Lin Nuan had spoken slowly, forming a clear contrast with the middle-aged married lady's frenzied state.
All yards within Tianfu Bay's villas had been equipped with security cameras. As long as the owner gave their permission, the recordings could be obtained. This was designed in the beginning for the sake of safety.
When the middle-aged married lady heard Lin Nuan saying this, she suddenly appeared a little guilty. She had seen Lin Nuan carrying the cat and smelling it earlier.
The security guard was clear in his speech and asked if the middle-aged married lady was the owner. If she was, then she could present her identification document to gain access to the surveillance records.
The middle-aged married lady stuttered and explained that the owner was her son-in-law. He had gone overseas on a business trip and would only be back half a month later. She then said that she'd just consider herself unlucky and told Lin Nuan to keep an eye on her cat before leaving with the Showa koi.
"I hate this kind of person the most! She thinks that everyone is afraid of her!" Auntie Li said angrily as she slapped her chest.
After thanking the security guard, Lin Nuan carried the big fat cat and entered the villa with Auntie Li.
Auntie Li closed the door, changed into clean indoor slippers, and couldn't help but start nagging…
"Kitty Cat doesn't eat fish. I went to the supermarket to buy fish for it previously, but it refuses to eat. Kitty Cat probably just wants to play with their fish! The moment she came, she started going on about how her son-in-law is the young master of Pengcheng's Mu family and that we can't afford to offend them and stuff like that. She's really…"
Kitty Cat was the name that Tuan Tuan had given to this big fat cat.
The young master from Pengcheng's Mu family?
Lin Nuan suddenly thought of the stout-looking man who had been crippled and rendered impotent by Fu Huai'an last night.
She recalled that the middle-aged married lady from earlier had said that their villa in Tianfu Bay had been gifted to them by the Kaide Corporation's chairman…
Could she be referring to Fu Huai'an's grandfather—Fu Qingquan?
When Fu Huai'an came home that night, Lin Nuan brought this matter up to him.
Fu Huai'an changed into his home clothes and said, "Back then, in order to have Tianci and the young miss from Pengcheng's Mu family get engage, Old Master Fu gave that Mu family's young master quite a lot of benefits. Tianfu Bay's villa isn't much. The benefits given to him through the company's projects make up the larger share of the profits."
Lin Nuan was very surprised. It seemed that Old Master Fu's determination to fight against Fu Huai'an for the Kaide Corporation on behalf of Fu Tianci was very strong.
"Then, the Mu family young master from last night…"Lin Nuan frowned and seemed hesitant to speak. After giving it some thought, she decided not to hide her worries. "Will Old Master Fu think that you did that on purpose?"
Fu Huai'an sat by the bed, reached out his hand, and pulled Lin Nuan into his arms. He got her to sit on his lap and then said in a soft voice, "You don't have to worry about this. It doesn't matter what he thinks. Have you thought about where you want to go? Do you really want to go to Dubai?"
Seeing that he wasn't willing to continue the conversation about Old Master Fu, Lin Nuan didn't press on.
She nodded. "Tuan Tuan wishes to go…"
"Then what about you? I haven't taken long leave over the years, and I'm going to take them all at once, so I have plenty of time. We can also go to a place you want to go." Fu Huai'an pressed his big hand onto Lin Nuan's leg and looked at her small, fair, clean, and exquisite face with a deep gaze.
"There isn't anywhere in particular that I'd like to go."
Lin Nuan's character was one that had a bit of an inclination toward staying in.
Even when she had taken leave in the past, she would stay at home and read books or do something along that line. She tended not to head out and about.
The most would be for Bai Xiaonian and Song Yao to come to her place, and the trio would eat, drink, and chat.
Thinking about how Fu Huai'an said that he hadn't taken any long leave over the years, Lin Nuan's gaze landed on Fu Huai'an's chest. Seeing that his home clothes hadn't been buttoned properly, she helped him to button up while asking, "Do you have anywhere you'd like to go? Tuan Tuan and I will accompany you…"
"Yes, of course!" Fu Huai'an smiled. "We have plenty of time this time around, and we can go to all the places that we want to go. There's no hurry. Take your time to think about it. We can first head to Dubai. You have plenty of time to think about it slowly. Let's head down for dinner first!"
Fu Tianci's engagement was tomorrow and he still didn't show up at the Tianfu Bay.
After dinner, Tuan Tuan brought out Monopoly and wanted to play. It was rare that Fu Huai'an wasn't busy with work, and he had switched off his phone a long time ago to focus on spending time with his wife and kid.
The big fat cat had its fill of food and drink, so it leaped up onto the coffee table and sat there, watching the father and son play a simplified version of Monopoly on the rug in the living room.
Lin Nuan helped Auntie Li clean up and got Auntie Li to head out first while she headed to the kitchen to peel fruits.
Hearing the movements coming from the kitchen, the fat cat turned its head and looked over. It then jumped down from the coffee table and moved its short legs, running over toward the kitchen.
Seeing that Lin Nuan was cutting up a watermelon, the big fat cat meowed and jumped up onto the counter. It sat by the side with its head tilted as it watched Lin Nuan. It bore a slight resemblance to Mushroom, whom Lin Nuan had in the past.
When Mushroom was still around, Lin Nuan would also feed it some fruits. Mushroom loved watermelons the most.