They were in for a surprise all right. The surprise was a bit hard to handle. Zheng Tan shuddered at the thought of the roasted duck feet.
Zheng Tan and Er Mao left after installing the camera. They went to pick the other two locks.
The blinds were shut in the bedroom and the study. They found work-related documents in the bedroom. They also found a few locked drawers that probably contained bank books. Er Mao wasn't interested in those so he left them locked. They found a computer in the study but it was password protected. Er Mao didn't have the skill set necessary to break into the computer, nor did he bring the necessary tools. Er Mao placed a camera on the bookshelf.
"This man is either too cautious or too afraid. He has something to hide, so he doesn't even dare draw the curtains. He might just be evil-minded though."
Zheng Tan didn't smell 'cat' in these two rooms. Maybe air freshener covered it all up. He waited for Er Mao to finish with the camera and then the cat and human left together.
The black and white cat was sitting on the fence waiting for them. It saw them and showed curiosity. It remembered that Er Mao had given him tasty food before and liked him.
The two went back to the Eastern Quarters. Zheng Tan slipped into Er Mao's house. He wanted to know what Er Mao was about to do next. Unfortunately, Er Mao didn't welcome him.
Er Mao tried to shoo him away but Zheng Tan showed no signs of leaving. Er Mao eventually gave up and closed the door. He dragged over a chair, putting him at eye level with Zheng Tan who was sitting on a table.
"Oh, Black Charcoal, our country's animal protection laws are lacking. There is no written law that forbids the killing of cats, or else cat restaurants would all be closed by now. However, killing cats and torturing cats are two different issues. The only way to deal with people who torture animals is to condemn them. If that was an effective method of prevention, you cats would have a much better living environment."
It's all about who your owner is. If your cat father becomes powerful, you can do anything you want."
Er Mao appeared to be explaining this to Zheng Tan, but he might have just been convincing himself.
"Even if we sue that guy, he's going to get out of this unharmed. Legally speaking, me breaking into his house is way more serious an offense than him torturing cats. He might be the only one we know, but there are bound to be loads more people in Chuhua city that torture cats. Some of them might be using methods that are even crueler. We don't know those people, but we should start a public outcry to pressure them into behaving."
There might be formal legislation in the future, but currently law enforcement can't step in. It's all up to normal folk like us to stop those animal torturers. We need to make a lot of noise to attract society's attention," Er Mao said.
"My grandpa always said the general public will side with justice. He also said the public is capable of anything. We need to trust the public."
Zheng Tan wondered what Er Mao's grandpa would think if he knew his grandson was citing him like this.
Er Mao saw the black cat tilt his head in deep thought and shoved him. "Go home now. I'll deal with this. Go. I want to nap. Don't even think about stepping on plastic water bottles."
Zheng Tan was shoved off the table and out the door. He sat in front of Er Mao's door thinking about what he had said. He reached a conclusion then went upstairs.
Zheng Tan was curious what Er Mao had planned, bu
t he didn't run into him the next time he went downstairs. Zheng Tan couldn't pick locks, so he could only wait.
The next day, Zheng Tan was surfing the internet when a post on the front page of the pet forum caught his eye. He clicked the link.
The title of the post was short and succinct. "Cat-torturing Scum at Large!"
The ID of the person who posted this was 'GoodNamesAreAllTakenByCats'.
The post had pictures and a vivid description of events. It caused an uproar in the comment section. The events reminded people of the student that tortured cats. The fact that the central figure was a member of society's elite only served to anger people even more.
Zheng Tan recognized the pictures. He knew the flowerbed and the burnt cat paws and that strange roasting device.
The only thing pixelated was a human's face. The man was mentioned only by his last name.
Zheng Tan was not a computer expert. He only used the internet to play games or watch movies. He wanted to trace the IP address of the person who wrote the post but he couldn't see the date on which the ID was registered.
It was registered three years ago. Zheng Tan guessed it belonged either to Er Mao or a friend of his.
In the comments area, people started posting pictures of the man who lived in that house. They managed to find where he worked and his address. Of course, all this information came from 'a friend' or 'certain sources'. Someone mentioned Chuhua Daily.
The Jiaos didn't get Chuhua Daily so Zheng Tan didn't know what the paper reported. According to the comment, Chuhua Daily had mentioned this incident briefly.
That was not enough if they wanted to achieve the effect they imagined. Did Er Mao have more planned? Zheng Tan had a feeling this wasn't all.
Zheng Tan reread the mail post.
There were a few pictures of the roasting device. The metal net on the bottom of the device would produce electric sparks when turned on.
Zheng Tan knew the cat in the picture. He wondered what its owner would do if he or she saw this post.
Besides providing proof of cat torturing, the post mentioned several incidents of people going to jail because they tried to protect cats through violence. The post warned people to think before acting. As for where the line should be drawn, the post did not say. Many readers were already planning revenge by using the grey area of law enforcement.
Maybe this post was only a start.
Zheng Tan had wanted to solve this the way he dealt with the man with the tattoos. However, Er Mao appeared to want to take this to the next level.
After picking Youzi up from school that afternoon, Zheng Tan ran into Er Mao in the hallway. He had his lunchbox in his hand and had just come back from the cafeteria. Zheng Tan let Youzi go home alone and stood still on the third floor.
"We're in for a show tomorrow. Get up early," Er Mao said before quickly shutting his door.
A show?
So the post was just the start.
The next day, Zheng Tan got up early like he always did. He had to drop Youzi off at school. He ran into a yawning Er Mao on the stairs. The man usually got up around noon. Him getting up so early was a rare occurrence.
He dropped off Youzi then headed to that alley with Er Mao.
There was a noodle shop near that house. Er Mao sat down and had a leisurely breakfast. They saw a middle-aged lady pass by. She was headed towards that alley as well. Er Mao wiped his mouth and said to a bored Zheng Tan, "Let's go."
Their target had just gotten ready to leave for work. He wore a nice suit and had a briefcase in his hand. He was greeted by the disapproving face of the head of the neighborhood committee.
The last time he saw her was when there was a day of water outage because the water company was checking storage facilities. Why was she here this time?
He greeted her with his signature smile. He was about to say 'good morning' when the lady spat on his face.
"How can you do such a thing! I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover. You are scum. You are a disgrace."
Zheng Tan and Er Mao watched the lady berate the man from a distance. She managed to not use dirty words but somehow linked cat-torturing to peace and to a harm on one's country and people. She talked for ten minutes straight.
Zheng Tan felt middle-aged ladies were very lovely.
A few journalists arrived. Zheng Tan didn't know which paper they belonged to.
The man seemed impatient now. He pushed past the journalists and left quickly.
Er Mao showed no signs of wanting to leave so Zheng Tan stayed as well.
Soon the house was surrounded by people. A few ladies stopped a group of young people from breaking and entering. Clueless neighbors came out to ask what had happened. They were shocked by what he had done. They shuddered to think they were living next to a man like that. Would he torture kids like that as well?
"He moved here two years ago. The last owner sold him the house. We don't know him well. He doesn't interact a lot with neighbors." One of the neighbors tried to distance themselves from him.
More and more people were gathering around the house. They were all cat lovers. The alley was full of reporters.
A police car was parked at the end of the alley. Two policemen were watching the crowd. They had gotten a call saying people were illegally protesting something. However, they came and realized the situation was more complex than they had thought.
One of the two policemen sighed. "You watch. I need to go get a pack of cigarettes."
"No. I want to get away too." The other man rolled his eyes.
"I see my mother-in-law in the crowd. She loves cats. Don't you see she's fuming? I'm worried I would do something that would anger her even more. You got to help me with this one."
"Call your wife. Tell her to come bring her mother home."
"God no. My wife loves cats even more. If she were here, she would want me to shoot the cat-torturer."
The other policeman didn't know what to say.