Swire: "What Did You Say You Were Stealing from His House?" / The Cat Secretly Trying to Recruit People

"It's almost time, we should leave. Griseo, continue drawing later when you have time."

Having read about Griseo's painting in "New Little Sister Care Handbook," Chen was extremely careful in all her actions, afraid that abruptly interrupting her painting would make her uncomfortable.

"Hmm..."

Upon hearing this, Griseo slightly as she applied color to the canvas. After a moment of silence, she slowly put down her brush, turned her head slightly to Chen, who had appeared beside her at some point, and gently nodded her head.

"Okay, then you can pack your things first." Looking at the super cute little one in front of him, Chen couldn't resist giving her a gentle pat on the head before returning to his desk to pack his things.

"Good."

After Griseo nodded in agreement, she seemed to suddenly notice something and quietly peeked out from behind the easel towards Hoshiguma's workstation.

Then, realizing that he was still engrossed in writing the report and hadn't noticed him, he quickly and directly stored all his unfinished paintings, drawing boards, and other items in his space.

"Hmm???"

After finishing these tasks, Griseo glanced at Hoshiguma with a hint of regret.

I was so engrossed in drawing that the little girl didn't even notice when Hoshiguma finished and returned to the office, and now it's too late to put on the stickers...

It was a pity, but she wasn't angry. After all, there would be other opportunities later. For her, unlocking Mei's sister was just a matter of time.

"What are you staring at Hoshiguma like that, so engrossed?" Chen finished packing and turned around to see his cute little sister staring at her friend, seemingly lost in thought. He couldn't help but tease her with a smile.

Speaking of this, she couldn't help but recall the time Griseo was so attached to Hoshiguma... Really, she was becoming increasingly curious about the "colors" she saw.

Unfortunately, when Chen went to call for help, she couldn't figure anything out from the unfinished painting. Let alone discern anything, she couldn't even be sure who Griseo was painting it for...

"Hmm..." Hearing this, Griseo withdrew her gaze, then walked to Chen's side, gesturing for her to lower her head. She then whispered in her ear in a calm tone, "I was thinking about what to bring back as gifts for Hoshiguma and Swire when I go out tomorrow..."

"Oh, I see. Don't worry, I'll secretly tell you what they like tomorrow." Hearing Griseo's words, a smile flashed in Chen's eyes, and he also lowered his voice to say.

"Hey, I'm still here. Chen, what are you two plotting? Why don't you go outside and say it!" Just as Chen and Griseo were whispering to each other, Hoshiguma looked up at them from somewhere and complained with a rather helpless tone.

"Hoshiguma, just pretend you didn't hear that. Alright, Griseo and I will head back now. See you next time!" Chen smiled without a care in the world in the face of Hoshiguma's teasing.

"See you next time, Lao Chen." With that, Hoshiguma waved helplessly at the two of them.

"Um... Goodbye Hoshiguma- neechan."

"...?"

After watching the two leave the office, Hoshiguma subconsciously glanced around the room, and then a question mark appeared above her head.

She scratched her head, somewhat bewildered, and muttered, "Where are Griseo's easel and paintings? Did she take them?"

P. S.: Who's up at 2 AM writing this? Oh, it's me... I'm out of ideas... I don't know if I can finish another chapter before 6 AM. If not, I'll have to sacrifice a sick leave note.

Chapter 116 Swire: "What did you say you went to his house to steal?"

"Phew... Swire, aren't you tired?"

Taking a deep breath, Pardofelis, who was holding Swire, couldn't help but rub her stiff arm and whispered in her ear.

At this moment, the cat wasn't physically tired. It was mainly feeling mentally exhausted. Why was it able to walk around so much?!

If they were shopping in other places, like food streets or fun places, Pardofelis wouldn't be in this state, but unfortunately, Swire keeps going to big shopping malls.

It's not that big shopping malls aren't fun, but cats aren't really that interested in them.

And to be honest, she had a legitimate suspicion that someone had deliberately sneaked into her shopping mall and stolen the piano before retaliating...

As for why there is such suspicion, there is, of course, evidence. For example, Swire once bought a bunch of things and planned to have Pardofelis help carry them.

In the end, if she hadn't been so overwhelmed with carrying that it would have been too easy to expose the handcuffs, she probably would be covered in things by now.

Of course, this little "revenge" didn't stop there. Swire had even planned to have Pardofelis pay for it, but she suddenly remembered that someone seemed to be a "thief," so she gave up the idea.

After all, the little tiger was also afraid that if he hurt someone too much, that person would run out of money and then go around hurting others... that would really be a sin.

"What's there to be tired about? We've only been out for a short time." Hearing this, Swire, who was thinking about where to have dinner, looked up at the person next to her and said expressionlessly.

But in fact, the little tiger was already feeling very tired at this moment, otherwise she wouldn't have been thinking about finding a shop to rest and have dinner.

But could she really say that? Giving in was out of the question! She could fight for another 800 rounds!

"... Waaah, but I'm so tired! Let's find a place to eat, it's my treat!" Hearing Swire Yamu's heartfelt reply, Pardofelis couldn't help but let out a mournful cry, then hugged the person next to her and started to act coquettishly.

She really couldn't shop at all in this shabby mall!

"Cough... cough cough..." Suddenly being hugged, and then seeing Pardofelis's pitiful expression, Swire's face couldn't help but turn red. She then turned her head and coughed twice, saying, "Since you've begged me like this, let's go eat."

"Yay!"

Upon hearing this, Pardofelis, who had been feigning pitifulness and acting coquettishly, instantly changed her expression, then excitedly gave Swire a big hug and couldn't help but cheer. She looked just like a cat having a blast.

Not only her, but even the Canned Food that had snuggled into Swire's arms earlier had its eyes light up when it heard the word "eat".

"Stand still, and don't try to hug me all the time!"

Swire, whose face was already flushed from someone's actions, became even more uncomfortable after being hugged like this, and couldn't help but speak in a "fierce" tone.

Swire's words only made things worse. The cat, who had been frolicking, immediately drooped its ears and looked at her pitifully with its big, watery heterochromatic eyes, accusingly saying, "Waaah, Swire, you actually look down on me..."

"I didn't..."

Seeing the change in the person beside her, Swire subconsciously spoke, but halfway through her sentence, she suddenly realized what she was doing, her expression abruptly changed, and she reached out to pinch Pardofelis's cheek, saying, "Pardofelis! You think it's fun to tease me!?"

"If you're so energetic, let's shop for another two hours!"

"Ugh! We were wrong!"

Upon hearing this, Pardofelis, forgetting about her pinched cheek, quickly said, "Let's go find a restaurant to eat now, Swire, what would you like to eat!"

"...I want to eat something good." Seeing that Pardofelis had given in, Swire finally released her soft cheek and said.

"Okay, you choose." Hearing Swire's request, Pardofelis, who was barely able to free her hand to rub her cheek, readily nodded in agreement.

Although the cat felt that eating two good meals today was a bit extravagant and wasteful, it didn't matter. As long Swire happy and didn't cause her any trouble, that was fine.

"... Let me see."

Pardofelis's decisiveness prompted Swire to give her a complicated look.

After looking around, Swire ultimately decided against overcharging Pardofelis and simply chose a reasonably priced restaurant with decent food.

"Hmm? Swire, are you sure you want to go to this place?" Seeing Swire's final decision, Pardofelis couldn't help but look at her with a strange "you've changed your personality" gaze.

Swire, whose mood had calmed down after the afternoon's events, felt a sudden surge of anger when she met Pardofelis's gaze. She said with a forced smile:

"What? You think this place is too cheap? Then I wouldn't mind looking for another place!"

"Oh, no way! You can't go back on your choice now!" Hearing this, Pardofelis quickly shook her head and said with a smile.

"Then why are you asking? Let's go."

Swire glanced speechlessly at the Pardofelis and said...

"Uh-huh!"

In the restaurant--

Sitting in the private room, Swire handed the menu to the waiter, then turned to Pardofelis, who was sitting next to her, and said, "We've done enough shopping today, Pardofelis, shouldn't you keep your promise?"

"There's no one else here. Quickly tell me the whole story, what exactly happened?"

"I knew it Swire, you'd definitely be curious about this. Don't rush, let me think about where to begin." Pardofelis said with a grin as she watched Swire finally start asking questions after holding back for hours.

"Anyone would be curious about something like this, right?" Swire's lips twitched as she listened to Pardofelis's exclamation.

"No, shouldn't no one believe this kind of thing normally?"

After muttering her complaint under her breath, Pardofelis began to explain to Swire, "Actually, it wasn't a big deal. I just sneaked into Wei Yenwu's house to steal his stash of money and some hidden contraband..."

"???"

The moment Swire heard Pardofelis's words, she began to wonder if she had misheard something again. "You said you went to his house to steal what?"

"Is it really necessary to be so surprised?" Looking at the incredulous expression on the person's face, as if she had misheard, Pardofelis muttered to herself, touching her nose.

P. S.: Today was a real time crunch; I was just a hair's breadth away from using up my leave slip. I don't get many leave slips each month, so I just try to avoid using them if possible... I was just a few seconds away from using it up, it scared me to death! I was barely breaking the deadline.

Chapter 117 is about the cat's subtle attempt to recruit others.

Is it really necessary to be so surprised?

"What do you think! Would a normal person do something like that?!" Hearing Pardofelis's mutterings, Swire snapped out of her shock and asked back with a slightly distorted expression.

To be honest, before meeting Pardofelis, the little tiger had never heard of anything like this before. This was truly an eye-opening experience!

What kind of person would sneak into the home of a city's lord (governor) and steal his private stash...? Aren't you afraid of being stabbed to death?

Just as Swire roughly guessed why an arrest warrant wasn't issued, she now roughly understood why the higher-ups only intended to "crush" the guy next to her privately...

After all, scandals shouldn't be aired in public. Especially considering the way Pardofelis looked, the little tiger figured the theft of her secret stash of money was probably a done deal...

"Why not? We're just normal people!" Pardofelis blinked innocently at Swire's question, retorting without any real basis.

"No, Pardofelis, you've already been kicked out of the realm of normal people in my eyes." Upon hearing this, Swire's lips twitched involuntarily, and then she said emotionlessly.

"Hey!"

Hearing Swire's words, Pardofelis couldn't help but widen her cat-like eyes and accuse her, "How can you do this? Swire, you have no right to dethrone me!"

Meeting Pardofelis's accusing gaze, Swire couldn't help but reach out and gently pinch her cheek, which was so close to hers, raising an eyebrow as she said, "I think I would, no, rather, anyone who heard your glorious deeds would do the same thing as me."

"Ugh... Swire, why do you always pinch my cheeks? It's a bad habit!" Suddenly having her cheek pinched, Pardofelis no longer cared about the previous topic and complained helplessly.

"Hmm? I've already done it. Do you have any objections?"

Upon hearing Pardofelis's words, Swire narrowed her eyes slightly, showing no restraint whatsoever. Instead, she raised her left hand, which she hadn't used much today because it was handcuffed, and climbed up Padre's other cheek, then gently pinched it without any hesitation.

Actually, you can't blame the tiger cub for developing this habit; it's just that... can you imagine it?

A mysterious guy who's usually elusive and aloof, yet always manages to annoy you, is now being completely at your mercy because of his guilty conscience and other factors. Plus, he keeps showing a pitiful expression that's so different from his usual self... it's practically inviting you to bully him.

Therefore, Swire was naturally unwilling to give up such a rare opportunity for "revenge." Not only was he unwilling to give it up, but because of the fact that he felt no guilt about what someone had done before, he was even more adept at it.

"Ugh!... No, Swire, whatever makes you happy." Hearing this, Pardofelis originally wanted to say something, but after meeting Swire's "unfriendly" gaze, she decisively and silently changed her mind.

"That's more like it..." Swire said, then gently squeezed her hand again before letting go.

Although the little tiger's expression didn't change much at the moment, the slightly raised tail behind her betrayed her joyful mood.

"Alright, continue. Now that you've done this and been discovered, and you're still sitting here in front of me unharmed... did Madam Wen Yue protect you?"

"So what's the price for protecting you?" Swire straightened her expression slightly and got back to the point.

She wasn't stupid. Even though Pardofelis hadn't explained things clearly, she pieced together what she considered the most reasonable answer from various clues and details, and then confirmed it with her.

"Oh dear, your guess is a little right, but not much." After hearing Swire's guess, Pardofelis, who was rubbing her little face, gently shook her head and said.

"To put it simply, Swire, your thinking is very clear, but your information or understanding is somewhat limited!"

Pardofelis lowered her hand, leaned closer to the person beside her, and looked directly into her beautiful, emerald-like eyes, saying, "In Swire, what kind of existence am I?"

"You don't really think that someone who could so easily infiltrate the governor's house could escape unscathed because of someone else's protection, do you?"

Because she had a good impression of Swire, and because she was somewhat guilty about trying to ease the tension, Pardofelis didn't mind telling her some of her true feelings and secrets when she was with her.

She was telling the whole truth just now. Although the incident at Wei Lao Er's house ended with her "giving in" to Fumizuki, and Fumizuki extending an olive branch of interest, it was only on the surface.

Cat never gambles everything on others, especially those in power (corrupt politicians). Everything she does is based on her own strength plus other aspects of herself.

Although Pardofelis often tells others that she is weak, it depends on who she is being compared to...

Take Lungmen for example. Cat Cat isn't actually afraid of its threats. Its desire to make a deal with the higher-ups is simply out of a desire to avoid trouble and for peace of mind.

If a fight breaks out, she will definitely not be the one who suffers.

"..."

Meeting Pardofelis's unusually heterochromatic eyes, Swire fell into a rare silence.

Just now, in a few words from someone, she obtained new information and easily hacked into the system...

To be honest, Swire's first reaction upon hearing this was disbelief. She had complete confidence in Lungmen, especially considering it was likely the governor's residence, one of the city's best-defended residences...