"What a beautiful cat!"
A young girl passing by spotted Da Mei and exclaimed in delight.
Da Mei seemed to have some British Shorthair blood. Her face was rounder than a typical tabby's, and she trailed a large tail as fluffy as a feather duster. Her nose and all four paw pads were pink, and the markings on her face were perfectly symmetrical—she was prettier than many housecats.
This was why the neighborhood's cat lovers had never given up, organizing several adoption drives for her.
The girl squatted down, holding out her hand and calling, "Here, kitty, kitty."
Da Mei didn't even give her a second glance, still tugging relentlessly at Shen Xin's pant leg.
Shen Xin waved his hand through the icon on Da Mei's head. It seemed to be an illusion.
"Do you see anything on her head?" Shen Xin asked the girl, pointing at the icon.
'Am I really seeing things?'
"What?" The girl looked completely baffled.
Shen Xin found it even stranger. 'Could it be that I'm the only one who can see it?'
'This is insane!'
The girl couldn't resist reaching out to pet her.
But as her hand drew near, Da Mei hissed at her, startling her into quickly pulling her hand back. She laughed awkwardly. "This cat is so fierce, but she's just so beautiful."
Shen Xin nodded. After the girl left reluctantly, he picked Da Mei up again and examined her up close.
It was a faintly glowing, light green icon.
It looked just like a battery icon: a rectangular frame divided into bars. He estimated it had about ten bars in total, and right now, there were six.
No, there were only five now.
The sixth bar was fading away.
Shen Xin leaned closer, still unable to figure out what this thing was, how it had appeared, or why he was the only one who could see it.
'And why is it losing bars?'
'It's as if it represents something that's disappearing.'
Da Mei was still meowing, her round, amber eyes staring right into Shen Xin's.
Her gaze was so expressive that after a moment, Shen Xin understood.
Da Mei's eyes showed a look of anxiety and disappointment.
Combined with her constant meowing and tugging at his pants, Shen Xin suddenly had a realization. "Are you trying to ask me for help?"
'It feels like Da Mei is asking me for help.'
Da Mei meowed, her eyes seeming to say, 'You finally get it.'
At that moment, Shen Xin was surprised to see the icon on her head go from five bars back to six.
A thought struck Shen Xin.
'Could the number of bars on the icon represent how close Da Mei feels to me?'
'When I didn't understand her, she got angry, so she gave me a gentle bite, and one bar of favorability dropped.'
'And now that I've understood her intention, the favorability has gone back up.'
Shen Xin was still a bit dazed. 'What is this? Is it some kind of special ability?'
Just then, Da Mei leaped out of Shen Xin's arms, ran a few steps away, then stopped and turned to look back at him.
Shen Xin understood immediately. 'She wants me to follow.'
After a moment's hesitation, Shen Xin turned to lock his door and followed her.
Da Mei moved nimbly, using the landscaped greenery for cover as she advanced.
She would even pause deliberately so that Shen Xin wouldn't fall behind.
Shen Xin trailed her, wondering where Da Mei was leading him.
The community police post was located between the North and South Sectors of Phase One. Da Mei was now leading him south, across the road, and into the South Sector.
A few minutes later, she stopped in the ground-level parking lot in front of Building 113.
She leaped onto the rear step of a large van and began frantically pawing at the back door.
She kept turning her head to meow at Shen Xin.
"You want me to help you open the door?" Shen Xin understood at once.
Da Mei meowed.
Shen Xin wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought he saw Da Mei nod her little cat head.
Shen Xin walked over.
It was an ordinary van, its body covered in "Lalamove" decals. The wrap extended over the windows, making it impossible to see inside.
Normally, a modification like this would get a ticket the moment it hit the road.
Da Mei was still clawing away. Shen Xin had no idea what was inside that would make her specifically seek him out for help.
Shen Xin walked around to the driver's cabin.
The cabin windows were also covered with a dark privacy film.
Shen Xin could feel the heat from the engine bay; the van must have stopped recently.
Moving to the front, he looked through the windshield and noticed that a partition had also been installed between the driver's cabin and the cargo area.
The kind that sealed it off completely.
A thought struck Shen Xin. 'This couldn't be one of those illegal mobile gas vans, could it?'
His precinct had issued bulletins before about cases where vans were completely sealed and modified to hide illegal fuel pumps.
But when he leaned in and sniffed carefully, Shen Xin didn't smell any gasoline.
Instead…
He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but Shen Xin faintly heard what sounded like cats meowing from inside the van.
He pressed his ear against the window to listen closely, and sure enough, there it was.
A possibility suddenly struck Shen Xin, and he said in surprise, "Da Mei, you didn't give birth to your kittens in this van, did you?"
About ten days ago, a very pregnant Da Mei had finally given birth.
But Shen Xin didn't know how many kittens she'd had, or where.
Connecting that with Da Mei's strange behavior now, it seemed very likely she had given birth to her kittens inside this van.
'No, that's not right.'
Shen Xin frowned again.
'This is a delivery van. How could Da Mei hide her kittens in here?'
But Shen Xin was certain he had heard the sound of kittens meowing.
Just then, someone suddenly called out from behind him.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
He turned to see a man in his thirties wearing slippers. He had an average face with rough, dark skin, like a driver who spent his years on the road, exposed to the elements.
He eyed Shen Xin warily, then looked at Da Mei, who was still pawing at his van's rear door. He stepped forward and aimed a kick at her.
Da Mei leaped off the van to dodge it, then crouched on the ground, growling low at him.
"You're still making noise!" the man snapped at Da Mei, then immediately bent down to check the rear door.
Seeing no marks, he cursed sullenly, "Get lost."
Shen Xin frowned. "Open the door. I want to take a look."
'Da Mei must have really gotten her kittens inside the van.'
Unexpectedly, the moment Shen Xin mentioned opening the door, the man's expression changed abruptly. "What for?" he asked, alarmed.
His reaction only deepened Shen Xin's suspicion.
"I'm a police officer."
Shen Xin took out his badge and explained the situation.
In truth, even if it weren't for the kittens, Shen Xin would have wanted the man to open the door.
His modifications, which obstructed the view from the rearview mirrors, were clearly illegal.
The moment he saw the police ID, the man's expression changed instantly. He stammered, "You're... a cop? For real? And what's this about kittens? Impossible. I just got back. There are no kittens in there. I have to take the van out again tomorrow morning."
His tone had changed. After a rambling, incoherent excuse, he turned to leave.
"Wait a second."
Shen Xin called out to stop him.
'This reaction isn't right. He's clearly got a guilty conscience.'
But unexpectedly, as soon as Shen Xin called out, the man broke into a run!
Even more incredibly, before Shen Xin could even react, Da Mei shot out from beside him with a WHOOSH.
She was incredibly fast, catching up to the man in just a few steps. She leaped, using his back as a springboard to launch herself at his head while unleashing a furious volley of kicks from her powerful hind legs against his skull.
A pained scream rang out as she landed on him.
Hampered by his slippers, the man tripped and fell flat on the ground.
And while in the air, Da Mei hadn't been idle, her two powerful hind legs delivering a rapid-fire series of eighteen kicks against the man's head.