Chapter 16 – The Former Owner
Lin Yan sprang to his feet.
The lock on Lin Yan’s front door had just been replaced. He had registered both his fingerprint and a passcode, but for convenience he always unlocked the door using his fingerprint.
He had never once used the passcode.
In those few short seconds, countless possibilities flashed through his mind — who could have entered his apartment?
If it was a thief, it wasn’t impossible for them to try the passcode.
With this type of lock, if someone enters the passcode for a long time, fingerprints are left on the screen. Blow a little dust on it and you can roughly tell which numbers were pressed. But even then, it wouldn’t succeed on the first try.
They would have to test dozens of different combinations.
And if someone tried that many times, the lock would automatically trigger an alarm and shut down.
“What’s wrong, Xiao Lin?” Zhao Ming looked up, still chewing.
“Director Zhao, I’m really sorry,” Lin Yan said anxiously. Even he knew the excuse sounded far-fetched. “It seems someone has entered my apartment.”
Zhao Ming put down his chopsticks and pushed his glasses up. “You mean… someone went into your place?”
“Yes.”
Zhao Ming clicked his tongue lightly. “Alright, then hurry back and take a look.”
“I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you next time.” Lin Yan stood up and left immediately.
When he reached the door, he turned back, paid the bill, and by the time he finished, his phone had completely run out of battery. Panic rising, he hurried back.
“Xiaoyue, what do you think of Lin Yan?” Zhao Ming watched him leave and then turned to Hu Xiaoyue.
Hu Xiaoyue poked at the food on her plate, the gloom in her heart refusing to fade. Her eyes were lowered.
“I think he’s okay, but he doesn’t like me.” She puffed her cheeks slightly and shrugged as she continued eating.
“Otherwise, who would leave using an excuse like that?”
Anyone with half a brain could tell what the dinner meant.
Normally, whether interested or not, people would finish the meal before leaving. Even if they felt uncomfortable, they wouldn’t walk out halfway.
But Lin Yan had suddenly found an excuse and left.
Hu Xiaoyue understood — this wasn’t just a matter of “not being interested.”
He simply didn’t want to deal with her. He didn’t want to get entangled.
Zhao Ming smiled and shook his head.
“Xiao Lin is straightforward. It’s probably not an excuse. Someone really did go to his place.”
“I remember your department has several people,” Hu Xiaoyue said. No longer in the mood to eat, she put down her chopsticks and looked at Zhao Ming. “Why introduce him to me?”
Zhao Ming finished the tea Lin Yan had poured for him and smacked his lips.
“This guy’s relationship with the big boss isn’t simple.”
Lin Yan ran out of the Japanese restaurant. He didn’t have the patience to wait for the elevator and chose to go down by escalator.
On the way, he passed the cat café where he had previously come to buy cat food.
Two employees were talking.
“What should we do? The boss is coming back tomorrow. If he finds out that cat is missing, won’t he skin us alive?”
“Sigh… let’s inform the boss first. I’ll check if anyone posted about it locally.”
The clerk pulled out their phone and scrolled.
“But the boss is in the mountains right now — there’s no signal.”
Those words turned into grains of sand, carried by the wind, brushing past Lin Yan’s ears.
Lin Yan showed no reaction and continued hurrying home.
…
Lu Heng got off work half an hour early today. He went to the car parked downstairs in the company lot to retrieve the items the housekeeper had sent over that morning.
The housekeeper had prepared four or five boxes. Each storage case contained a full set of work clothes for the office, along with a set of casual wear.
Holding a spare phone, Lu Heng swapped in a secondary SIM card and put on an anti-vibration phone case.
After everything was ready, he rolled down the car window.
The person in the neighboring car stepped out — Lu Heng’s driver. Two cars were parked here, both of which Lu Heng normally used.
Ever since he discovered he could turn into a cat, he had been driving less. But he worried that if the car wasn’t driven often, it might fail him when it truly mattered, so he had instructed Uncle Chen, his driver, to come and run the car regularly.
Uncle Chen got into the driver’s seat, tilted his head slightly, and asked, “Where to, Young Master?”
“The same neighborhood as last time,” Lu Heng replied softly. He lowered his head, fiddling with his phone, opening the post Lin Yan had made earlier. Dozens of comments had already piled up beneath it.
He opened the photo and scrolled through it, muttering quietly, “Why did he take such an ugly picture of me?”
“What was that, Young Master?” Uncle Chen asked.
The space inside the car was enclosed, and with the noise insulation, even while driving you could barely hear anything outside. Sounds within the cabin were therefore especially clear.
Uncle Chen thought Lu Heng had spoken to him.
“Nothing.”
“Young Master, did you buy a place here? I see you coming around quite often,” Uncle Chen said with a smile, making small talk.
Buy a place?
That actually reminded him — perhaps buying an apartment near Lin Yan’s home would indeed be much more convenient.
“Not yet. Just taking a look,” Lu Heng replied, then pulled out his phone and contacted Secretary He.
He sent a message.
Lu Heng: [Help me check the listings in Building 7, Unit 2, South District One, Hongfu Garden.]
After sending it, he thought for a moment and added another line.
Lu Heng: [Preferably on the 5th or 7th floor.]
Lin Yan lived on the 6th floor. If he avoided that floor, it would be less likely to draw attention.
After hitting send, Lu Heng’s fingers paused.
What was wrong with him? Why was he seriously considering buying another apartment?
He wanted to take it back, but the next second, Secretary He’s reply arrived.
Secretary He: [President Lu, I’ve checked. That building has three elevators serving four units per floor. The two middle units are smaller — about 60 square meters, one bedroom and one living room. The units on both ends are large flats of about 200 square meters.]
Lu Heng pressed his lips together and turned to look out the window.
Cars sped by along the roadside. The streetlights had not yet come on, and the sun had long since disappeared from the sky, leaving only dim twilight draped over the city — boundless loneliness.
He was almost at Lin Yan’s neighborhood.
At a time like this, the place he wanted to return to was that little 60-square-meter apartment.
He lightly tapped the screen and replied.
Lu Heng: [Keep an eye on it for now.]
Secretary He: [Understood, President Lu.]
Lin Yan rushed home and immediately flipped on the light by the entrance.
The dark apartment lit up at once.
A small cat was waiting by his feet.
“Meow.”
That sound seemed to ask, Why did you take so long to come back?
Lin Yan scanned the room.
The scene he had imagined did not appear.
On the ride home, Lin Yan had been on his electric scooter the entire time, worrying about whether something had happened in the apartment — whether Meiqiu had run out or was hiding somewhere.
It would actually be best if Meiqiu had run away.
At least then he wouldn’t get hurt.
At worst, Lin Yan would never be able to find him again — but as long as he was still alive, Lin Yan felt that was enough.
But after Lin Yan got home, everything was exactly the same as before.
Except for one thing.
Why were these bags of cat litter and cat food standing upright?
Weren’t they always lying on the floor?
Today they were neatly lined up by the wall.
No wonder nothing blocked the doorway when Lin Yan came in — someone had clearly organized everything.
Yesterday, the clothes in the wardrobe had been neatly folded. Lin Yan had even suspected the cat had done it. After thinking about it for a long time, he had concluded that he must be sleepwalking.
Then today, the door lock had been tampered with.
Yesterday he thought it was sleepwalking.
But with what happened today, this was definitely not sleepwalking.
He didn’t have that condition at all.
Yet this person hadn’t taken anything, hadn’t taken the cat, but instead helped him fold his clothes and neatly arrange his things.
That was far too strange.
Only then did Lin Yan realize that his apartment was noticeably cleaner than before.
The smell of instant noodles was gone.
The trash bag in the kitchen had been replaced with a new one.
Something was wrong.
This was seriously wrong.
Lin Yan picked up Meiqiu.
Meiqiu kept sniffing at Lin Yan’s scent.
Lu Heng: Where did he go? Why does he smell like perfume?
Lin Yan plugged his phone in to charge and once again checked the door lock app.
The software clearly showed that someone had opened the door and entered.
Now he had no idea who it was.
And his lock didn’t have a camera function.
Left with no choice, Lin Yan decided that once his phone had enough battery, he would go to the security office to check the surveillance footage.
After playing with the cat for more than ten minutes, he grabbed his phone, said a few words to Meiqiu, and headed out.
He went to the security office to check the surveillance footage, only to discover that in this residential building, only the lobby had cameras.
And the image quality of the lobby camera was extremely poor — it could only capture a person’s silhouette.
You couldn’t even tell male from female.
Lin Yan pulled the footage from the ten minutes before the door was unlocked.
It was only a few minutes long, but it was close to the end of the workday, so people were constantly coming and going. He couldn’t tell who that person was at all.
The security guard was getting a little irritated by Lin Yan’s persistence.
“What can you even tell from that?”
“You can’t see anything clearly on this footage.”
The guard suddenly raised his voice.
“How is that unclear? Isn’t there a person right there?”
Lin Yan held his phone in his pocket, still staring at the screen.
“Did you lose anything from your place?”
“No.” Lin Yan shook his head.
“Tsk. You’re not messing with me, are you?”
As Lin Yan kept watching, he suddenly felt that one of the figures looked strangely familiar — a little like the blurry silhouette he had seen through the glass earlier that morning.
President Lu?
Why would President Lu come to his neighborhood?
The next second, the phone in his pocket vibrated.
He looked down — it was a private message from someone on the local forum.
Lin Yan opened it.
He had only ever posted one thing there: the post from the night he had found Coal Ball.
Stranger: [Hello, this kitten looks a lot like our shop owner’s cat. Could you bring it over so we can take a look?]