Chapter 25: The Parrot’s Tip-Off
To someone like Feng Jinye—a live-in son-in-law—those two words, divorce, were nothing short of a thunderbolt out of a clear blue sky.
Especially since he’d been married to Tan Xiangyu for less than two years and had gained virtually no real authority in the company.
As for money, the two of them had signed a prenuptial agreement. If he divorced now, he’d only be able to walk away with a tiny portion of the assets.
“No! No divorce!” Feng Jinye’s refusal was entirely within Tan Xiangyu’s expectations.
But she’d already made herself perfectly clear: divorce wasn’t something up for discussion. It was a decision—final, nonnegotiable—not a suggestion waiting to be debated.
“You did something like that and you still have the nerve to keep this marriage going? Since you like dirty things so much, then crawl back to your pigsty!” Tan Xiangyu had money, a career, and a beautiful face—what kind of man couldn’t she find? Why would she settle for a ladybug?
Feng Jinye panicked and tried to rush over to grab her, but Shang Fuyan stopped him. “Sir, I think you’re getting a bit worked up. To prevent you from harming a pregnant woman, I suggest you stand farther away when you speak.”
Lin Jiangye silently stepped forward half a pace, placing himself in front of Tan Xiangyu to shield her.
“Pack your bags. Get out of my house right now. I’ll hire a lawyer and file for divorce—wait for the court’s notice.” Tan Xiangyu stared coldly at the man before her.
Feng Jinye flared up on the spot, but the moment he met Shang Fuyan’s icy gaze, the anger in his chest went out like a candle snuffed with a puff.
There was a criminal police officer here. If he laid a hand on anyone, he definitely wouldn’t be able to brush it off with some “domestic dispute” excuse.
“Xiangyu…” Seeing brute force wasn’t going to work, Feng Jinye switched tactics and tried going soft. He’d just started to drop to his knees to beg when Lanbai sprang down and smacked him hard with a paw.
[Bad man! Get out of Mommy’s room!]
Even though Lanbai was much thinner now, a cat’s claws were still plenty dangerous.
Three fresh scratch marks immediately appeared on Feng Jinye’s face. The two elderly parents looked heartbroken—then turned to Tan Xiangyu with eyes that had completely lost what little warmth they’d had.
Huh? So there had been some warmth before? Well, gone was gone. Who cared?
“Get out. I’ll say it one last time. Otherwise I’ll call property management directly.” This villa was her premarital property, purchased in full—she had every right to kick out anyone inside.
Feng Jinye still tried to cry and plead, but his parents forcibly yanked him up and dragged him toward the door. “Don’t beg her. Divorce then divorce—I’d like to see who’d want a secondhand woman!”
As the former mother-in-law left, she even spat and cursed loudly, “A secondhand woman is worthless. And you’re pregnant—our village’s Zhang Dashu wouldn’t even take you as his wife!”
Zhang Dashu was the village’s idle, shameless loafer—no woman around would marry him.
Tan Xiangyu didn’t know who Zhang Dashu was, but she didn’t care. She simply kept urging the three of them to hurry up and pack.
Under her relentless pressure, they sped up—though it would’ve been even better if Tan Xiangyu didn’t keep rummaging through their suitcases and pulling out her own belongings.
“Just a friendly reminder: theft over one thousand can be filed as a case. Over five thousand is considered a relatively large amount—and you could be sentenced to jail.” With a police officer watching, even if they wanted to argue back, they didn’t know where to begin.
While packing, Feng Jinye kept dragging his feet, the kind of sluggishness that made people simmer with irritation—especially since he wouldn’t stop talking sweetly, trying to coax Tan Xiangyu.
What man doesn’t sneak around?
He only betrayed her physically—his heart was still loyal.
He even shamelessly accused Tan Xiangyu: “If you weren’t pregnant, would I have gone looking elsewhere? I have needs too!”
Lin Jiangye watched, dumbfounded. It was his first time seeing someone mooch off a woman and still act so righteous about it.
It was also the first time Lin Jiangye had seen Shang Fuyan threaten someone—yet he did it in a tone that sounded like a legal-education lecture. Even if someone complained, the higher-ups probably wouldn’t be able to punish him for it.
In the end, the three of them left with only two lonely suitcases.
“When they moved in, they brought a ton of stuff. But later, to match their ‘status,’ they threw away their old things. I didn’t even make them strip off the clothes on their backs—that’s already me being merciful.” Tan Xiangyu held the cat and stood quietly at the doorway, watching them go.
She was a mentally tough woman. After being betrayed by someone close, she could calm down immediately and make the best decision.
Lin Jiangye and Shang Fuyan exchanged a glance. Tan Xiangyu didn’t seem to need comfort from them.
With Pearl in her arms, she already had her best consolation.
But things never develop the way anyone expects.
After she’d kicked that family of three out, a silver-gray African Grey parrot suddenly landed on the front gate.
“Well hello there, little kitty.” The gray parrot lifted a foot and greeted Lanbai—though its intonation sounded oddly strange.
The parrot wasn’t very big. It looked a bit smaller than Opal—probably still a young one.
Lin Jiangye was sizing it up when, out of nowhere, the parrot twisted its head, stared at him for a long time, then flapped over and landed on his shoulder—doing something shocking.
It took a deep sniff at the young man, fanned open its red tail feathers like a little fan, and said gleefully, “Human, you smell so good!”
That single line made everyone fall silent. If it weren’t a bird, they could’ve accused it of sexual harassment.
Lin Jiangye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. When the parrot leaned in and rubbed its head against him, he could only reach up and give it a couple of strokes.
Mm. The parrot’s owner had taken good care of it—clean, no odor, feathers sleek and soft.
Everyone thought it was just a parrot that had wandered into the villa by accident, but the conversation between it and Pearl startled Lin Jiangye badly.
Pearl was delighted to see the gray parrot and told Lin Jiangye that this was the bird that had been feeding her and protecting her from starving to death.
[Bird is really good to me! Like a mom!]Hearing Pearl, Lin Jiangye’s head started to ache a little.
Pearl, have you not noticed the gray parrot is even younger than you? You’re an adult cat—how do you have the nerve to let an underage bird feed you?
[It’s fine! I like it!]Not only did the parrot not mind, it was thrilled!
This cat-and-bird duo got along unexpectedly well, and it turned out the parrot had “broken out of prison” from home only after spotting Lanbai returning.
[Those people who bullied you finally got kicked out?]the parrot asked, looking at the figures walking away.
Pearl’s round eyes glittered as she nodded repeatedly. [That’s right! Mommy drove all the bad people away!]
With no bad people in the house, she wouldn’t go hungry anymore!
The parrot was happy for the little kitty too, so it kept asking: [So your mommy knows now that her darling husband tried to kill her, right?]
Pearl: ???
Lin Jiangye: ???
“What?”
Shang Fuyan and Tan Xiangyu were startled by his shout, but at that moment, Lin Jiangye was the one most shaken.
“What do you mean he wanted to kill Ms. Tan? How do you know? Do you have evidence?” After the initial shock, Lin Jiangye forced himself to calm down, grabbed the parrot, and strode outside.
If it was true, he couldn’t let that man leave yet.
Shang Fuyan immediately caught the meaning in Lin Jiangye’s words and hurried after him, leaving behind one bewildered person and one bewildered cat still standing at the gate.
The moment the parrot realized they didn’t know, it panicked and screeched several times: [Last month he brought a woman home. After they—did it—he talked about killing his wife so he could take over all the property! He said the plan was already set: once he tossed the cat out, he could start! I heard every single word! Clear as day! Not one word missed!]
The African Grey was extremely intelligent. It recounted the whole incident in full, even mimicking Feng Jinye’s tone and repeating a line.
“Once I get all the assets, I’ll marry you and bring you home, hahahaha!” Even the lewd laugh at the end was perfectly copied.
…Honestly, that part didn’t need copying.
When Lin Jiangye learned the man’s plan was saved on his laptop, he stopped short and said to Shang Fuyan, who was close behind, “Have Ms. Tan come over and make Feng Jinye leave his laptop behind.”
As long as they seized the laptop and pulled up the records inside, the man’s crimes would be exposed in front of everyone.
Whether or not he’d carried out the plan yet didn’t matter—so long as there was a murder plan, Ms. Tan could get a fast divorce and force him out with nothing!
A beast who lives off a woman and still acts tough deserved to have his name and deeds broadcast far and wide—so he’d never be able to survive in Yue City again.
Shang Fuyan didn’t hesitate. He spun around and ran back to find Tan Xiangyu. Thankfully, Tan Xiangyu had snapped out of it too—realizing the man beside her pillow hadn’t just betrayed her, he’d wanted to swallow her whole and take everything.
They met quickly in the middle of the road. After hearing the murder plan was on the laptop, Tan Xiangyu’s lips curled into a mocking smile.
“That laptop… was my first gift to him.” Years had already passed. Before, seeing he still used it had even made her feel sweet. Now… ha. She really was a fool.
After hearing her self-mockery, Shang Fuyan shook his head. “Miss Tan, don’t use a normal person’s thinking to understand an abnormal person’s thoughts.”
He’d been a criminal police officer for years and had seen plenty of vicious criminals—some he’d personally arrested and interrogated.
Some people broke the law by accident. Some acted on impulse. But more often than not, it was greed.
Greed was enough to twist a person’s character—and their entire life.
“From a normal perspective, his life is already comfortable and successful. To outsiders, he should be ‘happy.’ Even though he married into your family, my investigation shows that besides a few of you, almost no one knows—so it basically doesn’t affect him.” And even if everyone knew—so what? No one forced him to marry in.
As they talked, they quickened their pace toward Lin Jiangye.
When they found him, he had already stopped Feng Jinye’s family of three and was blocking them from getting into the car and leaving.
“What exactly do you want?! Are you really trying to make us strip naked and leave with nothing? Help! Someone’s bullying a seventy-year-old man!”
The old man shouted louder and louder, and in the end he simply collapsed on the ground, wailing.
Soon, the crying drew people over.
They pointed at Lin Jiangye, suspecting the handsome young man was bullying the elderly.
But just as the old man sat on the ground bawling, the African Grey suddenly hopped onto Lin Jiangye’s head and yelled, “Look! A man who freeloads and still acts tough!”
When Feng Jinye lunged ferociously at them, the parrot shrieked and flapped up into the air. “Save the bird! Someone’s gonna eat the bird!”
Lin Jiangye nearly stumbled from the parrot pushing off his head with its claws. Seeing Feng Jinye pounce, he instinctively stuck out a foot and tripped him flat onto the ground.
“Wooow, he fell~” The parrot was delighted and perched right back on Lin Jiangye’s shoulder.
Tan Xiangyu quickly shoved through the onlookers and squeezed in. Right in front of everyone, she yanked Feng Jinye’s suitcase over and dug out the laptop from inside.
Feng Jinye tried to stop her, but Lin Jiangye blocked him.
And who knew what that tall, skinny, innocent-looking young man had been fed growing up—he used just one hand to clamp down on Feng Jinye’s shoulder, pinning him so hard he couldn’t break free.
When Feng Jinye realized Tan Xiangyu’s target was the laptop, his pupils shrank sharply. He instinctively ignored everything around him and bellowed at her, “Put it down!”
Tan Xiangyu’s hand paused for a split second. She lifted her head, revealing a pair of large eyes misted with tears. The sight instantly dragged Feng Jinye back to the scene of their first meeting.
“This was something I bought for you too,” Tan Xiangyu said evenly. “I have the right to take it back.”
She flipped the laptop open and booted it up quickly. There wasn’t any password at all—probably on purpose, to lull her into lowering her guard.
She clicked through file after file until, deep inside, she finally found a locked folder.
Tan Xiangyu tried entering Feng Jinye’s birthday.
Password incorrect.
Seeing that, Feng Jinye let out a small breath of relief—only for confusion to flood in right after.
From the moment that young man inexplicably stopped them, to Tan Xiangyu pulling the laptop out of the suitcase… it meant they most likely already knew about his plan. But the question was: who leaked it?
Just a few minutes ago, they hadn’t known anything.
Could it be Xiaorui who told them? No—Xiaorui didn’t even know he’d written the plan on this laptop.
While Feng Jinye was racking his brain over how the secret had been exposed, Tan Xiangyu was also furiously trying to figure out the password.
His parents’ birthdays? No.
Their wedding anniversary? Still no.
Could it be a “hiding in plain sight” trick—his own birthday? Also no!
After running through Feng Jinye’s past in her mind, Tan Xiangyu slowly typed a string of numbers into the laptop.
And at that exact moment, Feng Jinye suddenly erupted with tremendous strength and lunged at Tan Xiangyu.
The next second, his vision seemed to flip upside down. With a crisp thud, he stared blankly at the sky stained red by the setting sun, unable to process what had just happened.
“Found it!” Tan Xiangyu clicked into the folder’s saved contents. The moment she saw what was inside, she clapped a hand over her mouth.
“You actually poisoned me!”
She swung her arm in a full arc and slapped the man across the face, leaving a deep red handprint on Feng Jinye’s cheek.
She hadn’t imagined he could be this deranged.
There were two separate death plans targeting her. One was to slowly poison her with heavy metals, causing her body to grow weaker day by day. The other was a trip scheduled for half a month later—he intended to shove her into the sea.
Pearl being abandoned had been part of their plan as well.
First, they couldn’t stand that a cat was eating and using better things than they ever had. Jealousy ate at them, so they used toxoplasmosis as an excuse, trying to scare her into throwing away her “baby.” They just hadn’t expected Tan Xiangyu not to be intimidated.
Second, once Feng Jinye realized how important Pearl was to her, he planned to exploit her grief. Under the pretense of “soothing her emotions,” he would invite her to see the ocean and then try to have her die under the excuse of “slipping and falling into the water.”
If that didn’t work, then fine—there was still the poisoning.
And that heavy-metal poison had been put into the milk she drank every night.
Which meant: there were already a lot of heavy-metal toxins lingering inside Tan Xiangyu’s body.
After being slapped back to his senses, Feng Jinye saw his laptop in the hands of the criminal investigation squad leader and immediately understood: his plan had been completely exposed.
“It’s all your fault… it’s all your fault!” He twisted his head and screamed at Lin Jiangye, who was holding him down.
If Lin Jiangye hadn’t suddenly found that damn fat cat again, his cheating wouldn’t have been discovered. He wouldn’t have been kicked out of the house. And then this murder plan would never have been uncovered!
Taking ten thousand steps back—even if he’d been found out, it wouldn’t have mattered. As long as he killed this woman, he could have his parents provide a “letter of understanding.” Her entire fortune would still end up in their hands!
But damn it—how hateful! Why were this skinny-looking young man’s hands so strong? Feng Jinye felt like the bones in his arm were about to be crushed.
“Bastard! Bastard!” The African Grey parrot didn’t stop either—it kept cursing Feng Jinye nonstop.
When even a parrot could curse him, Feng Jinye’s defenses shattered completely. He started spewing abuse at Tan Xiangyu, blurting out everything in one breath—from how he’d deliberately pursued her, to joining the company after graduation, to his refusal to live under others and his attempt to kill his wife to climb to the top.
When Feng Jinye’s parents learned their son had actually intended to harm his wife, they were shocked.
But beneath that shock, there was also a hidden greed in their eyes—something you couldn’t see unless you looked closely.
“I’ve already notified the people from Chiyuan District to come over. This case will be handed directly to the squad.” Shang Fuyan had just finished a phone call. Seeing how unconvinced the man still looked, he suddenly smiled.
“Do you know how your plan got leaked?”
The African Grey was just about to spread its wings and bask in its glorious moment—only to be pressed down and hugged tightly into Lin Jiangye’s arms. Facing the parrot’s incredulous stare, Lin Jiangye smiled and shook his head at it.
This really wasn’t the best time to steal the spotlight, little darling.
Feng Jinye stared wide-eyed, desire blazing in his gaze—yet Shang Fuyan raised a finger to his lips and murmured like a devil whispering, “Not telling you.”
Lin Jiangye nearly laughed out loud. He hadn’t expected Shang Fuyan to have such a mischievous side!
By now, the onlookers had exploded in uproar.
When they’d followed the noise over, they’d only seen Lin Jiangye pinning Feng Jinye down. They thought the young man was picking a fight—never imagining things would develop like this.
Good lord: a live-in son-in-law cheating, plotting to murder his pregnant wife, trying to swallow her family assets… Any one of those phrases alone would be enough to hit the trending searches, let alone all of them in one case.
“Human hearts are terrifying…” He looked like some elite professional, but who would’ve thought he was a beast in human skin?
Under everyone’s pointing and muttering, Feng Jinye clenched his molars tightly, trying not to show his face.
But he’d forgotten: when Lin Jiangye stopped their family of three from leaving, someone with too much curiosity had already recorded the whole thing.
Only when the police arrived and took Feng Jinye and his parents away did the crowd finally stop filming.
The criminal investigation squad leader from Chiyuan District was a stunning female officer with a close-cropped haircut—cool and handsome to the extreme. Not long after the report, she arrived at the scene.
She rode a heavy motorcycle, swung the rear end in a sharp drift to stop, then took off her helmet, revealing a pair of resolute, heroic eyes.
“Yo, Captain Shang. Why are you here in person?” Weren’t you supposed to be finding an owner for a kitty? How did it turn into a major case of murdering a wife for money?
But the moment she saw the victim, the squad leader’s expression froze solid.
She stared in horror at Tan Xiangyu, then turned to Shang Fuyan, and finally looked at Lin Jiangye standing between them.
“Long time no see, Captain Jiang,” Lin Jiangye recognized her.
When they’d worked together to crack a human trafficking case, she’d patted her chest and sworn to him that the Chiyuan District sub-bureau cafeteria was the best in all of Yue City’s public security system, trying to lure him over to help her.
This female captain was also more meticulous than most. After spending a few days with stray dogs, she could even roughly understand their “language.”
Unfortunately, his villa was simply too far from Chiyuan District.
Captain Jiang’s mouth twitched. She took a deep breath, then looked at Tan Xiangyu with a complicated expression. “Never thought the victim would be you, Ms. Tan.”
Tan Xiangyu gave a bitter smile. Maybe she’d been frightened too many times in a row—her heart had instead calmed down.
No matter how vicious and heartless Feng Jinye was, it was useless now. Her little Pearl had brought her a lifesaving benefactor—someone who saved Pearl’s life, and saved her life too.
“Ah—no, no. The main credit goes to the African Grey.” Lin Jiangye waved his hands repeatedly. “If it hadn’t secretly overheard the suspect talking with his mistress, and then seen him secretly writing the plan on the laptop, we might not have found evidence he tried to harm her.”
In his view, the person Tan Xiangyu should thank most was that African Grey.
And it was also sheer luck that Feng Jinye had run into a bird as smart as a parrot—one that could understand what he was doing and explain it clearly. If it had been some other animal, it might not have been able to “tell” anyone at all.
Lin Jiangye held the gray bird in his hands and lifted it high. “Today’s MVP is our African Grey contestant! Let’s thank it for saving a mother and child family today!”
The parrot cooperated enthusiastically, spreading its wings with a smug look. “That’s right! It was me!”
“Thank you, African Grey! You’re Pearl’s lifesaving benefactor bird—and mine too! When we’re back, we’ll definitely visit your home!” Tan Xiangyu hugged the parrot and planted kiss after kiss on it.
All of a sudden, she felt lucky.
Meeting a scumbag like this was unfortunate, sure—but choosing to marry him had been her own bad judgment. Still, if she could stop the bleeding before things reached the worst point… how was that not a kind of luck?
“Here, the laptop is for you. Now we need to figure out where Feng Jinye bought the heavy metal poison. I don’t think it’s in the villa.” Shang Fuyan recounted everything that had happened to Captain Jiang, step by step, and ended with his own speculation.
“They left the house today a little too cleanly. I suspect Feng Jinye has other property in his name, or it’s under his mistress’s name. Check all of it. The rest is in your hands.”
Captain Jiang hummed a couple of casual acknowledgments, then walked up to Lin Jiangye and grinned. “Consultant Lin, are you free lately? Can you come over and help us out?”
Honestly, seeing such a cool, dashing female officer pull a hee-hee grin was a bit eye-damaging.
But for the sake of solving cases efficiently, Captain Jiang didn’t care anymore.
Cool didn’t solve cases—what use was it?
Just as Lin Jiangye was about to agree, a large, well-defined hand pressed down on his shoulder.
“Captain Jiang, I’ve already prepared the evidence, the suspect, and the witnesses for you. What’s left is searching for more evidence and interrogations. That has nothing to do with Jiangye, right?” Shang Fuyan had somehow appeared behind Lin Jiangye, staring at Captain Jiang with a dark, chilling look.
Captain Jiang clicked her tongue silently. The way Shang Fuyan looked made it seem like she was trying to steal his kid.
The problem was—Consultant Lin wasn’t even Shang Fuyan’s!
During investigations, personnel transfers between sub-bureaus happened all the time. So what was wrong with borrowing Consultant Lin for a bit?
Damn it—how had she never noticed Shang Fuyan was this petty?
Shang Fuyan leaned close and reminded Lin Jiangye, “Look at the time. The raven’s flight should be arriving soon. If we don’t hurry, the raven will be stuck in the box longer.”
Lin Jiangye jolted. Right—he’d almost forgotten the raven!
“Captain Jiang, I have something urgent—I need to go to the airport. I really don’t have time to go with you. This case isn’t complicated anyway. You’ve got this!” He waved goodbye, then patted Pearl and the African Grey’s heads to say farewell, and dragged Shang Fuyan toward the parking lot.
“Hey—” Captain Jiang reached out as if to keep him, but all she caught was air.
Damn Shang Fuyan!
Meanwhile, Lin Jiangye and Shang Fuyan got back to their car. The Tibetan Mastiff and the German Shepherd, who’d been waiting a long time inside, both lifted their heads. The little tabby cat lazily stretched.
[Human, you’re finally back. I was about to fall asleep!]It yawned hugely the moment it finished speaking.
Lin Jiangye curled his lips into a mischievous smile. Quick as lightning, he slipped his hand in while the mastiff was yawning and gently tugged the kitty’s tongue.
[My tongue!!!]
“Hahahahaha!”
Shang Fuyan, who’d just buckled his seatbelt, heard the laughter from the next seat over. When he turned, he saw the tabby—the one called “Tibetan Mastiff”—had all its fur puffed up.
What on earth had this man and cat done? Seriously.
And while he was watching that man and cat, there was another gaze in the car watching Shang Fuyan as well.
The German Shepherd shifted its folded paws slightly, head still resting on them, silently observing Shang Fuyan.
This human…
Shang Fuyan hadn’t been joking about taking Lin Jiangye to the airport “on the way.” Yue City had two major airports and one smaller one. The plane carrying the raven landed at the airport closer to Chiyuan District.
From here, it was less than fifty kilometers.
They finally arrived before the flight landed.
“Hurry, hurry, hurry—baggage claim!” Pet crates were transported down mixed in with regular luggage. When Lin Jiangye and the others reached the carousel, it was just in time for the raven’s crate to come out.
It was a one-meter-tall bird cage, covered with a layer of black gauze. If you didn’t get close, you couldn’t tell what was inside at all.
Shang Fuyan went to handle the paperwork. Lin Jiangye lifted the cage down. The instant the bird sensed someone in front of it, faint sounds came from inside the previously silent crate.
“Hello?” Lin Jiangye gently tapped the cage. After he removed the black gauze, the enormous silhouette of the raven came into view.
This raven was already an adult—its size nearly comparable to two “diamond” crows combined, making it one of the largest varieties among crows.
As Lin Jiangye looked at the raven, the raven also stared back at the human in front of it.
“Hello. My name is Lin Jiangye. I’m your new owner.”
The raven tilted its head and said nothing, as if assessing its new owner.
“You can talk—I can understand what you say.” Lin Jiangye tapped the cage lightly again, but the raven remained silent.
Strange… He’d watched the videos the previous owner sent. The raven could clearly speak.
Lin Jiangye checked the setup inside the cage—food and water were both there. That meant the previous owner hadn’t abused the raven just because it was being sold.
Could it be stress from a change of environment? That it had gone quiet because it was overwhelmed?
Mm. That wasn’t impossible. It looked like he’d need to go to a pet hospital before heading home and have the raven checked first.
Animal stress wasn’t a small matter. Mild stress could lead to sudden death; severe stress could lead to attacking people. Worried something might be wrong, Lin Jiangye hurried out again the moment Shang Fuyan returned.
“What’s going on?” Shang Fuyan asked.
Lin Jiangye frowned slightly and explained his concern: “Otherwise it doesn’t make sense why it won’t make a sound. I really suspect it’s scared.”
Scared? Probably not… Shang Fuyan vaguely remembered his friend saying this raven was practically a raptor—able to catch rabbits and rats and such.
But thinking carefully, it wasn’t impossible. It had been moved to an unfamiliar place and stuck in the plane’s cargo hold for so long.
When Lin Jiangye carried the cage back into the car, both the Tibetan Mastiff and the German Shepherd lifted their heads quickly.
[Huh! A new companion?]
Lin Jiangye patted their heads and smiled. “Yep. Didn’t I tell you a raven would be coming home? This is the one!”
The Tibetan Mastiff curiously leaned in to take a look—only to see a bird far bigger than itself.
Its fur bristled a little, and it instinctively backed up several steps. If Lin Jiangye hadn’t said it was a companion, it would’ve started hissing.
Those sharp talons… that pointed beak… It felt like I can’t beat it, QAQ.
The German Shepherd narrowed its eyes, took one look, then quietly lay back down.
Mm. I can beat it. No problem.
Their completely different reactions made Lin Jiangye laugh, but when he turned back and saw the raven’s silence, he sighed silently.
He wasn’t just worried about stress anymore.
He was starting to worry the raven might be depressed or something.
After all, aside from the previous owner, no one knew what the raven had experienced during that time. Even if he asked, the person probably wouldn’t answer honestly.
Who would admit the thing they sold had problems?
And sometimes they truly believed there was no problem—while to the animal, it was a completely different story.
After driving more than a hundred kilometers, Lin Jiangye finally returned to Wen’an District.
After saying goodbye to Shang Fuyan, he went straight to the same pet hospital from before, planning to have the raven undergo a full-body check.
Unexpectedly, the moment he walked in, the cats in the clinic immediately started meowing and wailing—these were the stray cats he’d brought in for neutering before.
They’d all completed their surgeries successfully, and the moment they woke up, they discovered the “abnormality” in their bodies.
The female cats were still okay. The male cats’ voices were the loudest, cursing nonstop.
After all, having balls or not having balls—there was a pretty big difference.
Seeing Lin Jiangye come again, every vet in the hospital simultaneously broke into bright smiles.
Hooray—the big spender is back!
Lin Jiangye set the bird cage on the table and said, “I brought back a raven, but I don’t know why—it won’t speak at all. Please do a full checkup.”
A full checkup? A raven?!
A lot of vets’ eyes instantly lit up. They’d all heard of ravens, but few had gotten to see one up close.
Last time Lin Jiangye came, they’d seen other crows—but a raven was different, after all!
Hearing he’d brought a raven, every vet who wasn’t busy came over to watch. Even the other customers in the clinic couldn’t resist looking over.
Even though private ownership of ravens had “opened up,” the requirements were so strict that it was still rare to see someone keep a raven as a pet.
To avoid stressing the raven, Lin Jiangye asked for an empty room. After temporarily ushering everyone else out, he slowly opened the cage.
But the instant the cage door cracked open—
A massive black shadow shot out like lightning.
“Caw!!!”
[Die!!!]
