Mu Zimo held the autopsy report, lost in thought.
The man, who had no name or ID, was covered in wounds—all of them left by sharp animal claws. The attack pattern resembled a cat's, but the force far exceeded that of a small animal. A tiger, on the other hand, would be more likely to tear and bite rather than scratch.
The entire case was shrouded in mystery, leaving Mu Zimo completely clueless, especially since the perpetrator had apparently committed suicide to escape punishment.
Meanwhile, Qiao An rushed home. Only after she had closed the door did she pat her chest in relief.
"That scared me to death! I was almost found out..."
Watching Qiao An's strange behavior, two heads poked out from under the covers, looking at her with puzzled expressions.
After everything that had happened, Qiao An was in no mood to go out and stream. Afraid of getting into more trouble, she just crawled back into bed and played on her phone.
The moment she opened the app, her beat-up old phone started crashing like crazy. Countless red notification dots popped up, and the constant vibrating made Qiao An's palm go numb.
"Wh-what's going on?"
After several tries, her phone finally started working properly again. Qiao An stared at the countless "99+" notification badges, completely bewildered. She decided to check her private messages from the few fans who usually interacted with her to ask what was going on.
"Girl, you've gone viral! Did you know?"
Watching the video forwarded in the private message, Qiao An finally understood what was happening.
After being taken away by the police during two consecutive live streams, she had gone from an obscure "treasure-hunting" streamer to the internet's official "bad luck repellent." Comment sections were flooded with "HAHAHA," and people were sharing her videos with prayers for a smooth and prosperous new year, reasoning that no one could possibly be *that* unlucky!
The skyrocketing number of followers on her account was a pleasant surprise for Qiao An. Her income, which had been practically nonexistent a few days ago, had now reached four figures.
"Oh my god, I'm famous! I'm famous! From now on, when we eat plain noodles, we can finally afford to add meat!"
Stunned by the four-figure windfall, an ecstatic Qiao An leaped from her bed, phone in hand, and started pacing in circles around the cramped room.
"In that case, let's splurge tonight."
Sick and tired of instant noodles, Qiao An opened a food delivery app. She didn't even bother with any promotional coupons and directly ordered two large pork knuckles, plus five servings of rice.
As she unpacked the sumptuous dinner, Qiao An even made a point to film a short video and post it online to let everyone know she was doing okay.
Title: Thanks for all the support! Wishing you all the best of luck. I can finally afford to eat meat!
The moment the video was published, comments flooded in so fast that her old phone froze again. Qiao An could only continue shoveling rice soaked in fragrant pork knuckle broth into her mouth while repeatedly restarting her phone to read the replies, laughing with pure joy.
"Hey girl, when's the next stream? I haven't gotten to watch one live yet. Hope your luck turns around and you don't dig up any more weird stuff!"
"Our girl's finally eating meat! *Drools* (¯﹃¯)"
"You've really had it rough, sweetie. You just got out of the station, you should take a bath with pomelo leaves to wash away the bad juju."
"I'm scared to even comment, in case the streamer's bad luck rubs off on me..."
The hilarious comments had Qiao An laughing so hard her stomach hurt. She couldn't help but marvel, 'Humans really are adorable creatures!'
Qiao An clutched the greasy pork knuckle and gnawed on it directly. She tossed all the leftover bones to Little Qing; in this household, raising Little Qing was no different from having a dog. As for the patient, Ao Bai, he could only smell the fragrant aroma and keep drinking his goat's milk.
With money in her pocket, Qiao An felt a renewed sense of purpose. After waking up, she once again got fully kitted out with her cleaning tools and headed out into the darkness before dawn.
She had just stepped onto the path when she was startled by pairs of eyes shining with an eerie glow in the darkness. She nearly threw her broom in fright before she heard a dog bark.
The stray dog that had given her the tip about Ao Bai was squatting at the front of the pack. It looked at her imperiously and asked, "Have you found Ao Bai?"
Only then did Qiao An remember. She had been so busy covering her tracks yesterday that she had forgotten to pass the news on to these little guys.
"Don't worry, Ao Bai is fine. He's recovering at my place right now. He'll rejoin the troops soon and continue to conquer the four corners of the world with you."
Qiao An reached out to pat the stray's head, but it dodged with practiced ease. It was about to turn away with a look of disdain, but then it caught the scent of dog food.
"Go on, it's your reward," she said. "Thank you for helping Ao Bai find his way home."
Qiao An poured a full plastic container of kibble and set it down at the base of the wall. Next to it, she left a pile of peanuts, sunflower seeds, and mini sausages—thank-you gifts for all of them.
After leaving the food, Qiao An picked up her bucket again and headed straight to her work spot. Once she had finished sweeping the intersection, she looked up and saw a tall figure standing in the distance. The rising sun cloaked him in a sacred, golden light, yet his brow was still tightly furrowed.
Qiao An couldn't help sighing to herself. 'Such a handsome face, so why does he always look so troubled? What a tragic waste of good looks!'
He had assumed a frail-looking girl like Qiao An had turned to live streaming to avoid hard work. He never expected her to be so efficient, completely unafraid of getting dirty or tired.
"Officer, what are you doing here? Do you need me for something?"
Mu Zimo fiddled with the file folder in his hand, suddenly unsure how to begin.
'It feels a bit excessive to always be suspecting Qiao An of ulterior motives.' When he'd voiced the thought at the station last night, everyone had shot him down.
"That Miss Qiao doesn't have it easy. For her, just getting by is a struggle. She's so kindhearted she even worries about the safety of stray cats. How could she possibly hurt anyone!"
The old officer, who had taken an immediate liking to Qiao An, was the first to slam his hand on the table in protest.
Xie Shan, who had also read the autopsy report and knew the wounds were from a large animal, grumbled, "So Little Qiao has been acting suspicious. At worst, she's just incredibly unlucky. Anyone can see she's a kind person at heart. What, are you saying she can shapeshift? Your suspicion is getting a little too wild!"
Despite everyone's objections, Mu Zimo had followed his gut and come to wait for Qiao An at her morning job. But now that he was actually face-to-face with her, he was too embarrassed to speak.
"So... did you find the cat?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Qiao An's face broke into a happy smile, with faint dimples appearing at the corners of her lips.
"I did! Some cruel person hurt Ao Bai badly, I don't know who. I took him to a vet for treatment, and now he's recovering at my place. Once he's better, he can go back outside and lord it over everyone again!"
Faced with such a candid Qiao An, it was Mu Zimo's turn to be left speechless.
He still suspected something was off, but the autopsy report was clear: the wounds were caused by a large animal. The distinctive, hook-like marks couldn't have been faked with any kind of blade.
Qiao An watched as Mu Zimo's expression remained unchanged, but she noticed something strange.