Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 390 - Chapter 390 Chapter 378 Secret Weapon

Chapter 390: Chapter 378 Secret Weapon Chapter 390: Chapter 378 Secret Weapon Zheng Tan could openly contact only Liu Ba using his cellphone without concealing anything, and besides, Zheng Tan thought that Liu Ba was already an expert in this area. Even if Liu Ba couldn’t help find the orchid, getting some clues would still be beneficial.

Fortunately, Liu Ba had just completed a big deal recently and came to Chuhua City to rest for a while, and by the way, help Jing Gui with some minor favors.

When Liu Ba received Zheng Tan’s text message, he was reading the newspaper about today’s news. Jing Gui was gossiping beside him non-stop, and their topic of gossip was precisely the stolen orchid.

The hype had been too intense, and now with the sudden theft, the topic became even hotter. There was no time to cover it up anymore. The media’s nose for news was always astonishing–the newspaper and the internet already had quite a few discussions about this theft case.

Liu Ba was originally interested in that pot of orchid; his unavailability due to busyness elsewhere in Chuhua City meant he missed the best viewing period. He was already feeling regretful when the orchid got stolen, and was even considering whether to investigate it himself with a bit of pot calling the kettle black. Receiving Zheng Tan’s text, Liu Ba couldn’t help but “heh” and laughed out loud.

This wasn’t Schadenfreude. First, he hadn’t expected the orchid to be related to Zheng Tan; from what he had gathered before, he only knew the flower was linked to a Cat, and now it seemed it was indeed the “Cat Immortal.” Second, Liu Ba had been considering taking action himself when he received the text message.

After replying to the text message, Liu Ba got up and left. Now that he decided to get involved, the sooner the better. Waiting too long, regardless of whether the flower could be found, it might just be ruined.

Zheng Tan was surprised to see the reply–Liu Ba didn’t mention wanting any benefits, only that he was already interested in the matter.

Turning off his cellphone, Zheng Tan put it into his vest pocket and took it back home. Under the special circumstances, he needed to stay updated on the progress and couldn’t run out to hide in this tiled room every time. Anyways, no one was at home during the day.

These past couple of days, Old Man Lan’s condition was not good. Regarding the theft of the orchid, he was even more anxious than the Jiao Family. The orchid was stolen from its independent exhibition hall in the botanical garden. The hall used for the flower show had long been closed, but due to the “Jade Cat Fairy,” the botanical garden had specially opened a separate exhibition hall just to display this orchid for viewers coming from all over. With the flower stolen, the botanical garden surely had to take responsibility, and the insurance and compensation would be substantial.

But to Mr. Lan, money was not the issue; the real problem was his troubled heart.

If the orchid could not be found, or worse, if it was found but already destroyed, Mr. Lan’s heartache would never heal.

Old Man Lan had even planned to send it to the Qiong Island orchid exchange meeting in November, never expecting such a thing to happen. After putting in so much effort and nurturing it as if it were a treasured child, his hard work disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday, Zheng Tan followed Mr. Jiao downstairs to visit Old Man Lan, and the old man looked as though he had suffered a serious illness, a stark contrast from his usual spirited state. Mr. Jiao had intended to offer some consolation–they weren’t that attached to the orchid–but his words were ineffective.

At that time, Old Man Lan was too agitated, his words trembling, eyes reddened, “Xiao Jiao, I’m filled with rage, my heart aches so much!”

He resented the thief who stole the orchid, and resented himself for not protecting it better. Why flaunt it like that? Wasn’t that just inviting thieves?!

“Those thieves who stole the flower, can they take good care of it? An orchid worth tens of thousands–would they just sell it for a few hundred? The fate of that orchid… sigh!” Old Man Lan said, shaking hands again as he wiped the corners of his eyes.

“The security measures in that independent exhibition hall were done very well, and there’s been no trouble over the years. Ordinary people wouldn’t have the ability to steal it, and those with the ability are certainly not ordinary. They wouldn’t have a narrow view, so it seems they must value that orchid highly. Once it’s in their hands, they should take great care of it,” said Mr. Jiao. He knew to Old Man Lan, the flower was the most important–if it was well-cared for and not ruined, everything else was of lesser concern.

After leaving Old Man Lan’s place, Mr. Jiao made a call to Ye Hao, asking them to help gather information, while Zheng Tan went to seek out the blind old man, Mr. Kun. Although Mr. Kun only held sway over one area and didn’t interfere with matters beyond his territory, it was still good to find out if there were any issues within his jurisdiction.

As for how Zheng Tan could convey this to Mr. Kun, it was impossible to say directly, but he flipped through a newspaper at Mr. Kun’s place, then placed the page about the orchid theft in front of him. Naturally, someone would tell Mr. Kun about it; with Mr. Kun’s intelligence, he would certainly grasp what Zheng Tan meant.

Ermao and others were also helping to search. The orchid was stolen at night, and the botanical garden’s surveillance cameras provided little assistance, as they had been tampered with. As for now, whether the flower was transported out overnight after being stolen or if it was still in Chuhua City, nobody knew, and they could only try their best to search.

The police would not inform Zheng Tan about the progress of the case, and even for Old Man Lan, the nominal owner of the orchid, Zheng Tan believed the police would not tell him much. Instead, to soothe Old Man Lan, they would likely tell some well-intentioned lies.

Mr. Kun provided a vehicle license plate number, not saying much else–it wasn’t on his territory, and the other party had been quite secretive. Not much could be found in a short time. Ye Hao mentioned a few suspicious individuals, but that was all they were–suspicious, not certain. Moreover, Ye Hao and Mr. Kun both said someone was offering a high price for the orchid in the black market–whether the buyer was male or female, local or foreign, was unclear. On the black market, much of the identity information is fake.

Indeed, the promotion had turned into a tragedy, attracting the attention of many troublesome people. No wonder Zheng Tan had a premonition that something bad was going to happen these past days.

Zheng Tan sent the license plate number given by Mr. Kun and the suspicious individuals mentioned by Ye Hao to Liu Ba–how to investigate, Liu Ba was the expert.

The day after Zheng Tan sent the message, Liu Ba said he was going to look for someone and asked Zheng Tan if he wanted to come along.

Zheng Tan carefully considered and decided to check it out to understand the situation.

After arranging the time, Liu Ba, driving a Volkswagen, picked up Zheng Tan at the side entrance of a school near the East District.

After hopping into the car, Zheng Tan looked around. Jing Gui hadn’t followed. In the back seat, there was a laptop, still on, with a blank document open on the screen.

“Just type if you want to say anything,” Liu Ba said while driving.

Zheng Tan glanced at the laptop, then back at Liu Ba, who was driving and occasionally peeking at the rearview mirror.

Seeing that Zheng Tan didn’t type, Liu Ba didn’t remain silent but talked about the person they were going to meet.

The person they were looking for was known as “Poker King,” not because he dominated the poker world but because of his poker face. The Poker King loved to “gamble,” but according to Liu Ba, he didn’t frequent casinos like those addicted gamblers. In his own words, he preferred elegant gambling–a higher class of betting, not limited to poker or casino games. Poker King also gambled on stones and Gambling Grass, among other things.

For the perfectionist Poker King, self-control was an essential condition for a gambler, but even top poker players could sometimes reveal their hands due to certain situations in the game. Thus, Poker King had undergone poker face surgery. The so-called poker face surgery involved using an endoscope to remove all twitches, squints, and microexpressions to create a perfect poker face. Later on, many people started calling him by this nickname after seeing his poker face. However, Poker King thought this nickname sounded good and gradually it became a special title. More and more people knew him as “Poker King,” but few remembered his real name.

Poker King came across orchids after a gambling stone session, at a time when many had made a fortune overnight through orchids, which caught his attention.

It was said that wild orchids freshly dug from the mountains are known as “downhill orchids,” which typically looked quite different from the truly valuable orchids and weren’t worth much. However, these orchids carried a potential for variation, and after years of cultivation, could turn into “mature grass,” worth tens of thousands. Because “downhill orchids” were cheap, some people bought in bulk, hoping to find a premium plant among the “weed.” This process was called “Gambling Grass.” Many “orchid customers” made a fortune through Gambling Grass at that time.

Since it was gambling, it meant there was a risk. Poker King was lucky and earned a hefty sum at that time. According to Liu Ba’s information, Poker King had made several billion from Gambling Grass, but now, with turmoil in the orchid market, he had not been focusing much on it. Although not paying much attention, Poker King was well-informed about the orchid circle’s news, whether it was public or on the black market, and was worth consulting.

Liu Ba had once helped Poker King by chance, and they had interacted afterward. Their relationship was neither good nor bad.

The meeting place was a small teahouse with a quiet location and classical decor, which still looked quite classy. The waiter, seeing the note Liu Ba presented at the entrance, led them upstairs. The third floor had special VIP rooms. Zheng Tan noticed each room was named after a plant, with just one character, such as “Mei,” “Lan,” “Zhu,” “Ju” and so on. They were led into the “Lan” room.

Someone was already seated inside, a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties sitting beside a wooden table, sipping tea. When Liu Ba entered, he just glanced briefly in their direction without much expression, appearing quite inscrutable.

Definitely a poker face, Zheng Tan thought to himself.

Three people stood behind the middle-aged man, likely bodyguards, emanating a certain ferocity, but without any malicious intent at the moment, just watchful, staying true to their duties.

Poker King gestured to the seat opposite with his hand, motioning for Liu Ba to sit. His gaze lingered on Zheng Tan, who had followed Liu Ba in, for a couple of seconds without saying anything.

There was only one chair on the opposite side. Liu Ba moved a small stool from the side of the room for Zheng Tan to sit on.

“Is this the cat you talked about?” Poker King glanced at Zheng Tan and said to Liu Ba, “I don’t see anything special about it.”

“Keep it low-key, it has to be low-key. This is our secret weapon. If it’s high-profile, then how can it be called a secret weapon? A cat’s nose is much more sensitive than a human’s, right?” Liu Ba said somewhat casually, whether that was intentional or simply his natural demeanor given his relationship with Poker King.

Poker King nodded slightly, but it was unclear if he was acknowledging the first part of Liu Ba’s statement or agreeing with the latter. He didn’t dwell on this topic any further and said, “I’ve seen that pot of orchids, so beautiful.”

Perhaps due to his habitual stoicism, coupled with the poker face surgery, even when expressing admiration and praise, his face showed scant emotion, which, combined with his tone, seemed quite eerie.

Zheng Tan felt sorry for Poker King’s men, having to face a poker face all day, gradually being assimilated and turning into poker faces themselves. Looking at these poker faces, one’s appetite could plummet.

While Liu Ba and Poker King talked, Zheng Tan squatted seriously to the side, playing the role of the secret weapon. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (NovelFire.net). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)