Chapter 6
Yu Tianwei did not rush to the police station the next morning. Her father, Yu Yuanzhou, called to say that he was heading there himself with a lawyer to review the case and would handle everything from that point forward. Her only task was to bring Yu Xiaoyuan safely home.
By nine-thirty, Tianwei had parked downstairs. As she rode the elevator, she scrolled through the residential building’s group chat, thoroughly amused by the videos and chatter flooding the feed.
Stepping into the twelfth-floor apartment, she called out in exasperation, “Little Yuan? Little Yuan? Hello?”
After several moments without a response, she grew puzzled. “Where is he? little hamster? little hamster?”
She pushed open the bedroom door and lifted the quilt.
Nothing. He wasn’t under the pillow, nor was he under the bed.
“little hamster! If you don’t show yourself right now, your sister is going to get very angry!”
She began the countdown: “One!”
“Two!”
“Three—”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!!”
Clutching a small pillow, the little hamster scrambled frantically out from underneath the wardrobe.
I’m here! The little hamster is right here!
Tianwei peered down at her brother. He was rubbing his sleepy eyes, hopping in place, waving his tiny front paws, and chattering anxiously at her.
A strange, complicated wave of emotion washed over her. It was a bizarre mix of ‘the sweet little brother I’ve raised for over a decade turned out to be a hamster,’ and ‘if I had known he could turn into a fluffy hamster, I wouldn’t have begged Dad for a pet all those years. I would have just asked him to transform sooner.’
“Why weren’t you sleeping in your bed? Why crawl under the wardrobe?” Tianwei reached down, picked the little hamster up by the scruff of his neck, and gently patted the milk-tea-colored furball before setting him on the mattress. “Are you ready? Can we get going?”
“Squeak, squeak~” Not yet.
The little hamster rolled over, his round, fluffy bottom sticking into the air, fully intending to burrow back into the soft quilt to catch up on his sleep.
Unfortunately, his sister snatched him right back out. She gently tapped his pink nose with the tip of her index finger. “Speak human, or I’ll go downstairs right this second and find a cat to keep you company. Like Uncle Zhang’s fat calico.”
“Squeak!” The little hamster slapped both paws over his snout in horror. “S-Sis… how did you know about that?”
Tianwei gave a triumphant chuckle. Unlocking her phone, she held the screen right in front of his face. “Take a look~ I have full footage of Uncle Zhang’s calico chasing a brave little hamster, not to mention a clip from that young man on the tenth floor meeting a tiny intruder in the elevator!”
She lightly poked his soft tummy. “Why did you sneak out in the middle of the night looking like this? Don’t you know how dangerous it is? That calico could swallow a tiny thing like you whole without even needing to burp!”
“A-actually, I’m very capable,” the hamster squeaked, his front paws twisting together self-consciously. “I wasn’t scared of the cat. Running away was just… pure hamster instinct!”
“Right. The kid on the third floor said he’s going to rewatch Tom and Jerry tonight because of you, Little Jerry,” Tianwei teased, placing him back on the bed. “Haven’t you packed anything yet?”
“Mm.” Looking toward the window with a guilty expression, the little hamster couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something terribly important.
“Forget it, I’ll do the packing,” Tianwei sighed. Her father was already at the precinct, leaving her with a free morning. “You just sit there and figure out how you’re going to explain this hamster form to your uncle.”
In an exceptionally good mood, she reached over and squished his chubby cheeks. The milk-tea-colored creature was so small, soft, and fragile. He sat upright on the bed sheets, rubbing his eyes and staring blankly out the window.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak…” How am I going to coax Uncle?
That was indeed a serious problem. The little hamster let out a heavy sigh: “Ai~”
Amused, Tianwei snapped a photo, made it into an emoji, and sent it straight to her father:
[little hamster sighing.jpg]
Over at the precinct, Yu Yuanzhou was having a serious discussion with the lead investigator. The previous night, his daughter had brought him up to speed on the main points of the incident.
The suspects vehemently denied stealing the valuables found on them. The most perplexing detail for the police was that not all the recovered items bore the suspects’ fingerprints.
There were no security cameras inside the apartment, and strangely, Yu Xiaoyuan’s fingerprints weren’t on the items either. When officers searched the apartment yesterday, they found no gloves or cleaning cloths that could have been used to wipe surfaces, making the whole situation rather bizarre.
Yu Yuanzhou stood behind the two-way mirror, his expression completely unreadable. Inside the interrogation room, Yu Xiaoyuan’s father, Pang Liangjun, was desperately pleading his case.
“I swear, Officer, I have no idea! We were just trying to scare him into signing over the apartment. We never robbed him or laid a finger on his valuables! I swear it on my life!”
The detective on the other side sneered, tossing a printed photograph onto the metal table. “Then care to explain how these gold bars ended up in your trouser pockets?”
“I… how would I know?!” Pang Liangjun cried, his face bitter and anxious. “I swear I never touched them!”
“You claim you didn’t touch them, yet they magically ended up in your clothes? What about the fingerprints on them? Were they in your pockets or not?”
“It was that brat! He set me up!” Pang Liangjun slammed his fist down, grinding his teeth in pure fury. “I knew from the day he was born that he was a vicious little monster! He framed me!”
The interrogator let out a dry laugh. “His fingerprints aren’t on the gold at all. On top of that, these items were tucked deep into your trousers and your wife’s purse. How could a terrified boy sneak gold bars into your clothes without you noticing?” He flipped through the case file dismissively. “Stop wasting our time with nonsense.”
Outside the room, the detective standing beside Yu Yuanzhou showed him several other photos. “The tricky part involves the items found on his wife and stepdaughter—especially the girl. Her prints aren’t on the jewelry, and the mother took full responsibility for carrying the bag. By law, we can only hold the two younger ones for forty-eight hours before releasing them.”
“And the adults?” Yu Yuanzhou didn’t care about the kids; his priority was putting the ringleaders away.
“We will continue building the case,” the detective answered. “Even if some pieces lack clear prints, the items with matching prints are more than enough to establish grand larceny. We can easily argue that the items were wrapped or dumped into the bags in a hurry. The whole legal process will take at least a month or two.”
“I understand. Thank you for your hard work.” Yu Yuanzhou felt a wave of relief. Although the detective spoke with professional caution, it was clear the evidence was airtight.
Satisfied, he turned to leave. But as he rounded the hallway corner, he ran straight into a foul-mouthed thirteen-year-old boy who was kicking and screaming at the top of his lungs. The boy’s vulgarity was vile and relentless.
“I’m only thirteen! What do you think you can do to me?! You have no right to lock me up! Let your grandpa go right this second, do you hear me?!”
“So what if we took his stuff? He’s my brother, which means everything he owns belongs to me!” He writhed violently against the two officers holding his arms.
Yu Yuanzhou’s brow furrowed in deep disgust. “Shouldn’t this delinquent be locked away in a juvenile correctional facility?”
An older officer nearby, taking a drag from a cigarette, sighed heavily. “He has no prior criminal record, and the juvenile protection laws tie our hands. But mark my words, scum like him always end up back in our custody sooner or later.”
Yu Yuanzhou shook his head in contempt. Just as he turned to open the door to leave, the boy caught sight of him and shrieked with venom:
“Hey, you old fossil! Tell Yu Xiaoyuan to scrub his neck clean and wait for me! The second I get out, I’m going to gut him like a fish! Once he’s dead, I get to inherit everything! The penthouse will be mine, and all his money will belong to me!”
Yu Yuanzhou’s face darkened with murderous rage. He lunged forward to teach the little beast a lesson, but a strong hand suddenly shot out from a luxury sedan parked nearby, catching his wrist with an iron grip.
“Don’t be impulsive.”
The voice was deep, steady, and filled with quiet, undeniable authority.
The older detective let out a breath of relief, thankful that someone had stepped in before a physical brawl broke out.
A tall man stepped out of the vehicle, his long legs clad in tailored black trousers. Behind a pair of silver-rimmed glasses, his eyes were as deep and cold as the ocean. He stood even taller than Yu Yuanzhou, who was an ex-military man, and possessed an impeccably upright posture.
“This is a police precinct,” the young man said smoothly, his tone cool and distant. “We can settle this once we return.” Leaning slightly closer, he dropped his voice to a whisper: “The more agitated you appear here, the harder it will be to handle things properly off the books later.”
Yu Yuanzhou immediately understood the implication. Suppressing his fury, he cast a venomous glare at the boy, who was now being gagged while smugly flashing him the middle finger.
Yu Yuanzhou spat on the ground. “I’ll heed your advice today, Second Young Master Mu.”
Once both men were seated in the car, Yu Yuanzhou finally exhaled, composing himself with an apologetic nod. “I am truly sorry. You were kind enough to offer me a ride, only to witness such an unpleasant spectacle.”
“Your family matters take priority, Mr. Yu. There is no need to trouble yourself over petty scoundrels,” the young man replied. Taking off his glasses, a faint, mocking smile touched his lips. “As the saying goes, the barking dog is rarely the one to fear. The quiet ones are the dangerous ones, and the loud ones are easily silenced behind closed doors.”
“Second Young Master Mu is entirely correct.” Yu Yuanzhou nodded. In theory, it made complete sense, but remaining cool-headed in the heat of the moment was easier said than done.
Then again, the man beside him was far from ordinary.
Grateful for his company, Yu Yuanzhou spoke warmly: “I was desperate to return yesterday, but my commercial flight was grounded due to a mechanical failure.”
A notification chimed on his phone. Checking the screen, he continued with a wry smile, “If Second Young Master Mu hadn’t offered me a seat on his private jet, I wouldn’t have made it back in time.”
He opened the picture his daughter had just sent him.
“Hmph, this cheeky boy really went and brought home a hamster behind my back,” he grumbled playfully, though his eyes softened. “Still… the little thing is quite adorable.”
Second Young Master Mu glanced sideways at the screen.
The hamster in the photo was remarkably tiny and soft, resembling a nursing pup that hadn’t even been weaned yet. Its dark, innocent eyes gazed blankly into the distance, with two pink front paws resting neatly against its chest as it lounged comfortably upon a fluffy blanket.
The young master’s first thought upon seeing the tiny creature was: Has it even been weaned yet?
Why would anyone adopt a hamster so young? Was it the runt of the litter that couldn’t fight for milk, prompting the pet shop to get rid of it?
Yet judging by that noticeably chubby body, it certainly hadn’t starved. Perhaps it had eaten far too much, and the shop owner simply couldn’t afford to feed it anymore.
“I suppose so. I’ll take a look at it when I get home,” Yu Yuanzhou said, typing a quick reply to let his daughter know he was on his way. He slipped the phone away and returned to their business discussion.
He remembered that Second Young Master Mu was looking to offload two food-processing plants under his control. Tianwei had mentioned earlier that Yu Xiaoyuan seemed keen on acquiring them.
Back at the apartment, Tianwei received her father’s message mentioning that they might be able to acquire two food factories from the Mu family—one of which specialized in canned provisions.
Overjoyed, she leaned over the bed and buried her nose into the soft fur of the little hamster, inhaling his sweet, milky scent. “Good boy! You really are your sister’s lucky charm!”
“Squeak?” The hamster tilted his head, staring up at her with large, bewildered eyes full of innocence.
He was so well-behaved, so incredibly soft.
Tianwei’s heart melted completely. “Oh, my sweet little baby~”
Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a miniature nursing bottle!
“Look what your sister brought for you!”
Tianwei had genuinely planned to adopt a pet hamster yesterday. She had even arranged to pick out a chubby, healthy pup from an acquaintance. Raising it in her private apartment meant her father wouldn’t be able to object.
Who could have guessed that a baby would drop right out of the sky into her lap? Better yet, this was a baby she could bring home openly, spoil without restraint, and treat like an honored little ancestor!
Having prepared every conceivable pet supply beforehand, her apartment was fully stocked—including specialized hamster nursing bottles that were barely two finger-joints long.
The little hamster held the tiny bottle in a daze, looking from his sister to the sweet-smelling warm milk in front of him.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, right? Drink up,” Tianwei said, stroking his fluffy head with a gentle finger. “From now on, just leave everything to me~”
With that, she hummed happily as she began packing her brother’s luggage.
Curled up against the soft blanket, the little hamster clutched the bottle with all four paws and took several steady gulps. Gurgle, gurgle.
His gaze drifted back toward the window. What on earth did I forget?
“Squeak, squeak, squeak!!”
The jade pendant!!
He dropped the bottle, scrambled to the edge of the mattress, and leaped straight to the floor. “Sister, I have to go out for a second!”
“Turn back into a human before you leave the house!” Tianwei shouted, chasing after him in a panic. “Do you really want to run into that fat calico again?!”
