Chapter 24: Paying Taxes

The car pulled up to the residential complex gate, and the old man was unceremoniously kicked out by Zheng Yi, along with the old lady and her husband.

The old man gasped with anger. Seeing that his daughter-in-law was clearly upset and furious, he still tried to assert his authority as an elder, but in the end, he only dared to low-key scold his son: “Our family is truly unfortunate. How could you marry such a crazy woman? And those ‘divine’ man and woman, you shouldn’t have let them come…”

The old lady didn’t dare to speak to her daughter-in-law, so she turned to her son: “Spending so much money just to find a cat, it’s really not worth it. Back in our hometown, you can buy another kitten for at most a hundred yuan. All cats are the same, and they get just as attached.”

Faced with the endless insults, complaints, and nagging, Zheng Yi’s husband showed clear impatience, and with a flare of anger, he said, “Stop talking.”

But he didn’t completely abandon the two elderly people either.

Qin Qing watched with cold eyes.

The old man was a blusterer, a good-for-nothing who only dared to bully small animals. He thought that because his wife revolved around him, the whole world should let him have his way.

Now that he had alienated his daughter-in-law and lost the protective aura of an elder, Zheng Yi had become assertive. He didn’t even dare to raise his voice when scolding. He only dared to manipulate his son, who still had a blood relation and responsibility towards him.

Yang Sang carried a travel bag full of gear. Compared to Qin Qing, who was empty-handed, he looked truly professional.

Zheng Yi was anxiously tapping her foot on the ground.

Qin Qing held the Notebook, selected the cat’s location, and after looking left and right, found a direction: “Follow me.” She needed Zheng Yi to stay within 50 meters of the Notebook.

Yang Sang interjected, “I don’t care where you go, but the cat owner can’t leave. I need to communicate here. According to the previous link, the furbaby is very scared and needs its owner’s comfort.”

“If we waste time and something happens to the kitten, will you take responsibility?”

Yang Sang: “Don’t blame me if you’re incompetent. I’m not taking that rap.”

She directly asked Zheng Yi, “What do you say, with me or with him?”

Zheng Yi asked, “Where’s my cat?” She was asking both of them simultaneously.

Yang Sang: “In a certain green belt. The specifics require further communication.”

Qin Qing looked at the Notebook for a while and estimated, “About 500 meters in a straight line?”

Yang Sang looked at her as if she were a mentally ill patient who had forgotten to take her medication.

Zheng Yi decisively said, “Let’s go together, to the place you mentioned.” She said to Qin Qing, then called out to Yang Sang, “You continue communicating on the way. If we can’t find it where she said, then we’ll look for the green belt you mentioned.”

Zheng Yi’s husband offered to join them, but she refused: “If you really want to help, don’t let your dad appear in front of me.”

The three walked in the direction Qin Qing indicated.

Yang Sang openly badmouthed Qin Qing to Zheng Yi: “Furbaby parent, do you really believe her? Holding a blank notebook like an idiot, as if no one has ever read fables, just showing off ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ to pretend to be a big shot.”

“I’m an idiot? I’d say you’re a liar. Also, this isn’t a notebook, please respectfully call it the Wordless Heavenly Book.” Qin Qing shook the Notebook. “Don’t underestimate this small book; it records the major life events, the Merit and sin, of all living beings in the world.”

“The more you brag, the more addicted you get, don’t you? According to you, isn’t this just the Book of Merits? Why don’t you just say you’re a judge of the underworld? And what’s with ‘Wordless Heavenly Book’? Please, read more books next time you make up stories, don’t suffer from a lack of culture.”

“Book of Merits? Judge?” Qin Qing repeated.

Yang Sang: “No, sis, you really haven’t heard of it?”

Qin Qing just felt that Yang Sang’s unintentional remark was very accurate.

Isn’t the Notebook’s function just like the legendary Book of Merits?

Could it be that this is actually the truth?

The Notebook is just the display screen for the System Panel, so the real Book of Merits is the System Panel.

The holder of the Book of Merits is a judge, and Qin Qing holds the System Panel, but she is clearly not a judge.

So who is the judge? She thought of the two laughs she had heard.

Doesn’t the System Panel’s trend of judging good and punishing evil also align with the judge’s role?

Instantly, Qin Qing’s mind was filled with various speculations and scenarios.

For example, a judge, for some reason, must come to the human world to reward good and punish evil, but underworld personnel cannot directly walk in the human world, so he chose an agent in the human world—which is Qin Qing.

Damn! The more she thought about it, the more it seemed like the truth.

If there really was an underworld in this world.

There was no point in thinking about it more now. The System Panel wouldn’t answer her, and there was no reward for guessing correctly.

She looked at Yang Sang, her eyes scrutinizing.

“What are you looking at? Are you hating me because I hit the nail on the head?”

Qin Qing: “You’re not entirely useless.”

Yang Sang jumped up, pointing at Qin Qing and about to curse, but Qin Qing was no longer going to waste her breath on him. The place she led them to was already not far from the cat.

They arrived at an abandoned driving school practice field, with construction waste piled up all around the area.

The kitten’s displayed location was a pile of concrete pipes. The pipes were scorching hot from the sun, and there was no sign of the cat.

“Look for it, it’s right here.”

Yang Sang was still muttering about how it was impossible. Zheng Yi had already begun to softly call out, “Candy, where are you? Mommy’s here…”

Qin Qing also called out, using her phone flashlight to search pipe by pipe.

Yang Sang still insisted his theory was correct: “It can’t be here, the image I communicated with clearly showed it in the bushes…”

Before he finished speaking, Zheng Yi let out a surprised whisper, “Found it.”

Yang Sang: “Impossible!” No one was paying attention to him anymore.

Zheng Yi was overjoyed and tearful, calling out even more anxiously, “Candy, Candy, it’s Mommy, come out quickly, come to Mommy.”

The kitten remained unmoved.

Zheng Yi, who hadn’t cried even when scolded by her father-in-law, was now tearfully and frantically asking Qin Qing for help, speaking rapidly: “What should I do? Is it stuck? Please, help me, help it.”

Qin Qing went to the spot Zheng Yi had moved away from and indeed saw a dirty cat huddled deep inside the pipe. Seeing people, it visibly flinched and tried to shrink deeper.

The pipe was wide outside and narrow inside, leaving no more room for it, so it was forced to stay in its original spot.

“Are you sure this is your cat?” She was a bit doubtful. “You called it, and it didn’t even meow.”

“Yes, yes, it’s my Candy. It used to be like this too, it doesn’t like to meow. But you see, when I call it, its ears twitch, which means it heard me.” Zheng Yi’s breathing was rapid, and her voice trembled as she repeated, “It’s my cat, it’s my cat,” as if afraid Qin Qing would stop helping her and abandon Candy.

Qin Qing glanced at the System Panel. Candy’s health bar showed that it was only physically weak due to hunger and dehydration, with no indication of injury.

She comforted Zheng Yi: “Calm down first, don’t cry loudly. Have you forgotten that you’re pregnant? Candy isn’t injured. Could it be that it didn’t recognize you because you were crying?”

A pair of hands pushed the two of them aside; it was Yang Sang.

“This is normal. Cats are different from dogs; they always trust themselves more than their owners. A house cat that has been straying for two or three days and is traumatized won’t respond immediately, even to its owner.”

He asked Zheng Yi, “What does it usually like to eat or play with at home? We can use that to lure it out.”

Zheng Yi haphazardly wiped away her tears and snot.

“Candy loves a green bird toy that makes sounds. It can play with it for a long time. The toy is at home, I’ll have my husband bring it over right away…” She pulled out her phone to send a message, but the more anxious she was, the more mistakes she made, entering the lock screen password three times before getting it right.

“…Also, Candy loves catnip cookies. They’re not very nutritious, so I usually don’t give them to it. But as long as I pick up the box and shake it, no matter where it is, it’ll come running to me. I’ll have my husband bring those too.”

Qin Qing held up a can of cat treats: “Is it this kind?”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Zheng Yi stepped forward and grabbed it, as if clutching a lifeline.

What a coincidence, she used the same treats to feed Feifei and Chaichai.

Next, unexpectedly, Yang Sang, who wasn’t pretending to be a psychic communicator, showed a professional side in animal interaction.

First, he poured some treats at the pipe opening, then had Zheng Yi hold some in her hand, shaking the box occasionally.

He also instructed: “Remember, your own voice shouldn’t be anxious, just like when you call it at home. Don’t keep calling; it will get nervous. Don’t stand at the pipe opening and appear in its line of sight; just stay close enough for it to smell you. It will slowly calm down. When the cat confirms it’s safe, it will naturally come out.”

“You need to stay calm. When the cat comes out to eat, don’t act like you want to grab it. Relax your muscles. Even if you’re the owner, don’t force yourself to hold it. If it gets scared and hides again, it will be even harder to coax it out.”

Yang Sang’s voice was steady, listing each step for Zheng Yi. His Stability calmed Zheng Yi, as if following his steps would surely achieve the goal.

Finally, he took off his shirt, which he was wearing as an outer layer, folded it, and placed it on a relatively flat stone next to the pipe: “You sit here and wait.”

He then took an umbrella from his travel bag, opened it, and handed it to Zheng Yi.

“Thank you.”

Yang Sang waved his hand.

He came to invite Qin Qing: “Master, let’s wait a bit further away.” He also explained, “The scent of strangers will interfere with the kitten’s judgment of its surroundings.”

Oh, so now he’s calling her “Master.”

Qin Qing and Yang Sang, who was wearing a sleeveless undershirt, squatted in a distant shadow to avoid the sun.

Yang Sang, with a shameless grin, asked curiously, “Master, which sect are you from? Wudang? Longhu?”

His professional image from a few minutes ago shattered, and his integrity dropped to the floor.

“I remember someone saying they were going to make me cry.”

“Slap!” Yang Sang clasped his hands together, raised them above his head, and bowed ninety degrees: “Master above, it was my dog’s eyes that looked down on people, I failed to recognize a great talent. Please accept my most sincere apologies.”

Qin Qing could only see the stubble on the back of his head.

“You, aren’t you kneeling too fast, too directly? Where’s your dignity?”

Yang Sang looked up, grinning, completely unbothered by bowing to Qin Qing, who was several years younger than him: “Don’t worry, Master, I, Yang Sang, am the most pragmatic. If I don’t kneel on my own, how much would it hurt to be beaten into kneeling by you? Didn’t you just say you were going to make me cry? As for dignity… what’s that? Isn’t it currently being rubbed under your shoe, hehe…”

Qin Qing was amazed: “You really are quite adaptable.”

“Hehe, and I’m also very trustworthy.” He pulled out his phone, the screen showing a QR code. “Master, let’s add each other as friends, I’ll transfer today’s service fee to you. Don’t worry, I’m willing, I’ll honor my bets.”

Seriously, she had never seen anyone so shameless. He knelt so fast that Qin Qing felt awkward about taking action.

“You transferred an extra 2000.”

“That’s my consultation fee. The furbaby parent said she paid 2000. Master, why don’t you also tell my fortune?”

Qin Qing collected the money: “You don’t even suspect that I’m also a swindler?”

“Master, I have to say, your use of ‘also’ is very sarcastic.” Yang Sang praised Qin Qing by putting himself down. “I’ve been in this line of work for several years, and I understand it quite well. So, whether it’s just a facade and a pretense, or if there’s real skill, I can tell.” He pointed to his eyes, “My eyes are sharp.”

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Actually, there’s nothing specific I want to know. Just tell me whatever you see.”

She hated it when people said “whatever.”

Qin Qing flipped through the logs: “Yang Sang, physically healthy, mentally healthy. Parents deceased, and you have a pair of twin younger siblings relying on you. Graduated from a prestigious university in the capital, majoring in animal psychology in the Department of Veterinary Medicine. After graduation, you worked at a zoo and a pet product design company. Because the salary was too low, you started a pet shop with a friend and also work part-time as a Pet Communicator… From the current situation, there are no disasters or abnormalities.”

Although he was acting as a swindler under the guise of a Pet Communicator, Yang Sang’s Sin Value was not high, just average. In fact, his Merit Value was slightly higher than that of ordinary people.

“That detailed? Aren’t fortune tellers only supposed to give vague information?” Yang Sang leaned back, his eyes wide with shock, pupils dilated, eyebrows raised, and mouth agape, completely dumbfounded by the overwhelming amount of information.

Qin Qing was used to such expressions and didn’t react much. She refunded 1900 yuan.

“I’ll just charge you a basic fee. However…” She changed the subject, looking at the pink background color of Yang Sang’s System Panel, and smiled, “You have a blooming romance recently, though the connection is still very shallow, so it’s hard to tell who it is yet. But I see the color is a very pure pink, so it’s likely your true love. You can pay more attention to new girls you meet recently.”

“Ro… romance? I haven’t met any new girls recently.” Then, realizing something, Yang Sang’s eyes widened even more as he looked at Qin Qing, “Could it be…”

And because of this guess, he tumbled backward onto the ground.

Qin Qing reacted quickly, moving away from this audacious and imaginative fellow.

“No! I would absolutely, absolutely not fall for a shameless man.”

Yang Sang propped himself up, brushed off the dust, and with lingering fear, said, “Good, good, that puts my mind at ease. If I had a girlfriend who could see right through me at any time… that would be too terrifying.”

Qin Qing rolled her eyes without concealment, turning her gaze towards Zheng Yi to observe the progress.

The kitten had tentatively walked to the entrance of the hole, curled a small cookie with its tongue, then quickly retreated a bit, holding it with its paws to eat.

Yang Sang stood beside her.

“Master, you’re so amazing, which school are you from?”

“Haven’t you already guessed?”

“Huh?”

“I am a judge.” Qin Qing scared the guy who had just scared her, holding the Notebook up to her eyes. “This is my Book of Merits. Didn’t you ask me why I could tell specific information? Because I was reading from the Book of Merits. So, young man, do more good deeds and accumulate virtue from now on. Your actions are all recorded in the Book of Merits.”

“Are you telling the truth?”

Qin Qing smiled mysteriously, not directly answering: “Guess?”

Yang Sang scratched his ears and cheeks, but dared not ask further.

On the other side, the kitten was squatting at the pipe opening, biting into the cookies with big mouthfuls.

Zheng Yi remembered Yang Sang’s words and just sat quietly by the pipe, watching the kitten as if it were her own wronged child, silently shedding tears, even sniffing softly.

There were only a few cookies at the pipe opening. Zheng Yi opened the cookie box in her hand, trying to lure the kitten out with the smell.

The kitten poked its head out of the pipe opening, but didn’t move. This was a test of patience.

Everyone present played statue.

After a long time, Candy probably finally determined that the environment was safe. It meowed at Zheng Yi, jumped out of the pipe, and lay on the ground, its eyes on her, but it didn’t go over. Clearly, this was still a process of testing and waiting.

Just as Candy was finally tentatively crawling towards Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi’s husband arrived with the things she had requested.

The little creature was startled again, this time immediately lying on the ground, trembling and cowering by a stone.

What made the situation worse was that Zheng Yi’s father-in-law was also following her husband.

Qin Qing cursed under her breath, “This is going to be bad.”

She ran towards them.

The old man, God knows where he got the strength, ran incredibly fast. Before Zheng Yi and her husband could react, he pushed his son aside and swung the wooden stick he was holding down at Candy.

“I’ll beat this unlucky beast to death! It’s this scourge that’s disturbing our family’s peace.”

His expression was wild and ferocious, with a sense of triumph as if a great revenge was about to be exacted.

Zheng Yi screamed, and her husband reached out to block…

Qin Qing arrived at the scene.

There was no bloody scene involving the cat. The cat’s reaction speed was several times that of a human. Despite being scared, Candy bounced away from the old man’s stick in fright, escaping harm.

The old man’s stick was blocked by his son. When it came down, it didn’t hit solidly. He himself lost his balance, stepped on rolling gravel, and slipped.

When Qin Qing arrived, she saw a shaken Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi’s husband with a swollen wrist, and the old man lying on the ground, unable to get up.

The moment the old man fell, she clearly heard two “crack” sounds from his body, like something hard breaking. Like, human bones.

She opened the old man’s System Panel health bar.

Qin Qing read the diagnoses, which she didn’t quite understand but knew were serious: “Compression fracture of the vertebral body, femoral neck fracture, intertrochanteric fracture of the femur.”

She instinctively stepped back a bit, to avoid being implicated by this malicious old man.

Zheng Yi got up to chase the cat and ignored her husband’s request for help to assist the man.

Qin Qing: “You’d better not help him either. He seems to have fallen very badly. Call an ambulance. Wait for the doctors to arrive before doing anything.”

She was merely offering advice out of humanitarian concern.

If it weren’t for these two father and son causing trouble, she would have already collected her day’s pay and gone home.

Now, she didn’t know how much more time she would have to spend looking for the cat and dealing with it.

She turned around and didn’t see Yang Sang. Had that guy run off in the chaos?

She walked in the direction Zheng Yi had gone, hoping that neither the person nor the cat had gone far.

She hadn’t walked far when she saw Zheng Yi and Yang Sang emerge from the other end.

Yang Sang was holding a net pole, and the net was being held by Zheng Yi. There was a small animal struggling inside the net. Clearly, they could call it a day.

Zheng Yi carried the cat back to her husband, looking at the man still lying on the ground, groaning.

Her husband said, “I’ve already called an ambulance.”

He had complaints about her prioritizing the cat over a person, and his tone was not good.

Zheng Yi: “I’ve thought it over. I can’t live with your family, and you can’t completely abandon them. After this incident, I’ve completely given up hope on them. So now, we have two choices before us.”

“First, our marriage continues, and I give birth to the child. But you find another place to settle your parents. I will never see them again in my life, nor will I let my child see them.”

“Second, we divorce, and I abort the child.”

The man hadn’t expected his wife to speak to him with such a calm tone and such resolute words. He panicked, wanting to grab her, his subconscious reaction was to deny his wife, to deny the facts that supported her decision.

“Is it really that serious? It’s just a cat.”

These words extinguished the last bit of hope in Zheng Yi’s eyes. She said something that seemed unrelated: “You’re just a man, too.”

“What?”

Zheng Yi: “To your family, Candy is just a cat because you have no feelings for me or for it. I have feelings for it, so it’s family, a companion. I love you, you are my husband. When I stop loving you, you’ll just be an ordinary man.”

The man didn’t really understand her words, but he wanted his wife to change her mind. He said urgently, “Of course you love me, we’ve had many happy times, and I love you too.”

“Before, I thought you loved me. But now, I’m not so sure.” Zheng Yi looked at him.

“I love you, there’s no doubt about it, I can’t live without you. You’re just pregnant now, and hormonal imbalances are causing emotional instability. Once you give birth to our child, you’ll realize how ridiculous these arguments were.”

Zheng Yi was completely disappointed: “If you love me, why are you still blaming all of this on me now? Didn’t you see how your father treated me? Is it wrong for me to even resist?”

The man was angry: “You can protect a cat so well, I don’t understand why you can’t tolerate an elderly person? He was wrong, but which family doesn’t have friction?”

Zheng Yi: “I also don’t understand why you can say you love me, yet allow your loved one to be wronged and bullied right under your nose, turning a blind eye? How ridiculous, you can’t protect me, yet you won’t allow me to protect myself. Is this your love?”

“I didn’t!” The man felt something was wrong but couldn’t find a stronger argument to refute her.

“You didn’t? I remember telling you today that if you wanted to help me, you shouldn’t let your father appear before me. What did you do? You personally brought him here, to kill my cat. To kill my love for you.”

Zheng Yi gave a bitter smile: “Today, because he was unhappy, he killed my cat to intimidate me. Tomorrow, will he control my work, cleanse my thoughts, torment my child, or kill me? I don’t mean my physical self, but my self. Using physical violence and mental torment to kill me, to make me a shadow in this family, at the mercy of others, a subservient appendage to a certain surname? And then, twenty years later, will this shadow torment another girl who enters this family, and assimilate me into being an executioner?”

The man took a step back, eyes wide: “Are you crazy? Do you know what nonsense you’re talking about?”

Zheng Yi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then forced a smile uglier than a cry: “No wonder they say you only know if the man you married is a human or a dog after having a child. I didn’t understand before, but now I do. I used to think you were my soulmate, but now I know you haven’t even listened to a word I’ve said. I take back what I said about giving you a choice. I will abort the child, and we will divorce.”

The man could only weakly utter meaningless protests: “You can’t be so selfish.”

“In fact, I can.” Zheng Yi covered her lower abdomen, with a hint of reluctance, “The law will also protect my choice. Even the child’s father has no right to interfere.”

After saying this, Zheng Yi walked away without looking back.

—

Half a month later, on a certain Q&A community.

In a help post about a father-in-law abandoning a cat, the original poster edited and updated the latest developments:

—————————-

After thinking about it, I decided to conclude this post and reassure the sisters who cared about me and my cat.

Regarding the cat: When I was almost desperate, a highly capable fortune teller and a professional Pet Communicator helped me, and the cat was found safe and sound.

Regarding the marriage: The divorce application has been submitted, and I am waiting for the cooling-off period. Asset division is going smoothly. My little angel has also been sent back.

Regarding me: I don’t regret my decision, and I even feel fortunate. The little angel probably came to help me recognize reality. I hope we meet again someday. This time, my biggest realization is that women are undoubtedly vulnerable at times, but when we are persecuted and bullied, the most important thing is not to see ourselves as victims. We must dare to look back and look down on the perpetrator. No one can save us but ourselves, and it’s even more likely that the perpetrator was once a close person.

I think this realization and belief are enough to sustain me for the rest of my life and help me become a better version of myself.

Finally, I still believe in love, and I still believe there is love in the world. I am only 28 years old, and my life has just begun.

—————————-

The original poster’s response made this post go viral again. Cursing the “dog man” and the “malicious father-in-law” was the main theme. Netizens were eloquent and articulate, mostly without using vulgar language, but their curses were particularly scathing.

More people praised the original poster for taking advice and celebrated her new beginning.

Suddenly, a different kind of comment appeared.

Meng Sha Tian Xia: “I feel sorry for the original poster’s experience, and I’m happy for the start of your new life. I don’t mean to break the formation, but I just want to ask, the original poster said that after the cat was lost, she sought help from a fortune teller and a Pet Communicator to find it. Is that true? Please reply, this is very important to me.”

Mr. Beard: “If the original poster isn’t trolling, I hope you can share the contact information of the fortune teller. I’ve sent a private message, please reply.”

Plum Blossom Ink: “Ahhh, please, miss, check your private messages, help a child out. Fortune teller! Pet Communicator!”

Commander Huru: “My furbaby is also lost. I hired a professional cat-finding team and a Pet Communicator, and I’ve already spent almost 20,000 yuan. Haven’t seen a single cat hair. For someone who can speak such words for the majority of women, I’m willing to believe that the miss isn’t a soft ad for those two. If it really works, please look at me. My kid is a homebody, I don’t know how scared he is outside now…”

Sleep Master: “Upstairs +1, if the master is from out of town, I’ll cover accommodation and airfare.”