Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 546 Unreasonable
"These cats must have been bullied badly by the dogs in the past! Otherwise, why would they be so enthusiastic? They seem even more eager than us!"

A city management officer wiped his sweat as he watched curiously as more than a dozen cats of various kinds leaped and bounded around the neighborhood, searching every nook and cranny, all in an attempt to find the pesky enemy that had hidden away.

"Bully?"

My colleague shook his head, his expression strange, and said, "Why aren't these cats the ones who actively go looking for trouble with the dogs after discovering that we humans are their henchmen? With that cat from the Zhanghe Police Station backing them up, stray dogs are being bullied by the cats in our area. That's the reality of the world, isn't it? To be honest, if it weren't for this rabies incident, I would have felt sorry for the dogs in Zhangshi! With that cat protecting their rivals, their lives as strays are really tough!"

"Even so..."

The city management officer paused for a moment, then shook his head and said, "To be honest, if it were me, I'd rather see many stray cats around than a stray dog ​​that might bite me at any moment. Even if a stray cat is mischievous, it can only eat birds and damage the plants a little; what else can it do? But those stray dogs with their messy fur, looking dirty and dangerous, make me tremble just seeing them from afar, afraid of being bitten at any moment. And even if they have a hard time surviving, they're still something we can't trust. If there were stray dogs near my neighborhood, frankly, I wouldn't dare let my child go out to play alone..."

"That's true. Stray dogs are indeed more dangerous to people than stray cats."

Another urban management officer nodded, accepting his colleague's point of view.

Looking ahead, the cats had already located a vegetable patch outside the community fence. What used to be wasteland between two communities had been turned into small plots of land for planting vegetables by some idle elderly women. A puppy hiding in the patch was pulled out by the cats, and four or five cats surrounded it, hissing and threatening it. The little mixed-breed, which looked only four or five months old, was terrified and could only tuck its tail between its legs and bark desperately to bolster its courage.

"They actually found another one! Time to get to work!"

The three urban management officers stopped chatting and quickly grabbed their tools, searching for a way to climb over the wall to the other side of the vegetable patch. What looked like just a wall actually required a detour of over a kilometer, going around the entrance of the residential area. The officers couldn't help but wonder how much free time those old women had, willing to walk so far to cultivate a small vegetable garden. There wasn't even a puddle of water nearby; carrying water to irrigate the vegetables every day was a huge undertaking, yet they didn't seem to mind the effort?

By the time the officers jogged around to get there, the little mixed-breed cat was already too scared to move after being bullied by the other cats. But even so, the city management officers could only continue to deal with it instead of chasing the cats away to protect it.

"It feels like we're aiding and abetting evil."

The city management officer glanced at the little guy trembling in the net bag, who seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief, then hoisted the net bag onto his shoulder and sighed.

"Let's finish what we were told to do first."

My colleague smiled and, seeing that the cats had stopped wandering around and were now huddled together grooming and playing, knew that there were probably no stray dogs in the area. So he tossed the dog into the pickup truck and sent a message to his superiors to indicate that the mission was officially complete.

Haha... It was much easier than in previous years. I got this troublesome thing done in less than a day.

If it weren't for these cats, heaven knows how long we would have had to chase after these dogs.

This wasn't just limited to the staff responsible for this particular neighborhood; the same applied to arresting personnel in other areas.

The task of capturing stray dogs, which was initially expected to be arduous, was completed remarkably quickly this year. Thanks to the cooperation of the cats under Lin Ge's command and their proactive efforts, all the stray dogs hiding or escaping in Zhang City were brought to justice. The combined efforts of cats and humans ensured that each dog was found and successfully brought into custody. After counting at the assembly point, a total of 74 stray dogs were captured in one day, including 52 large dogs and 22 puppies – a truly considerable number.

Further analysis revealed that very few of these stray dogs were mixed-breed or mongrels; most were abandoned pets or mixed-breed dogs. Overall, the existence of stray dogs in the city remains a result of irresponsible dog owners.

Even the quarantine personnel discovered that most of these stray dogs were ill. Most had skin diseases, while a few suffered from festering wounds, broken legs, lameness, and other problems. Frankly, seeing these sick dogs pitifully howling in the train carriage was heartbreaking and distressing. However, they undeniably posed a threat to ordinary people, and it was impossible to allow them to roam freely in the city simply because they were pitiful.

"Good boy! Once you get to the shelter, someone will take care of you! If you're lucky, you might find a kind adoptive parent, and then you can live happily ever after... Holy crap!"

A community official sighed and couldn't help but pat the cage. But as soon as he reached out, a large black dog inside opened its mouth and bit him without hesitation, scaring him into backing away.

Even though he knew the dog couldn't bite him from inside the cage, the man still turned pale.

He muttered a couple of curses to himself, then looked back at the litter of stray cats of all sizes crouching not far away. Those creatures were behaving themselves, curiously peering in this direction from a distance. He couldn't help but sigh and admit that stray cats were still safer than stray dogs.

What was initially thought to be a difficult task of catching the dog was completed quickly with the help of the cats under Lin Ge's command. The day passed in the blink of an eye, and the work pressure brought on by the May Day holiday was already beginning to show.

When they returned to the police station for a meeting that evening, all the officers looked exhausted and drowsy. Whether they were catching dogs or maintaining order, everyone had worked extremely hard that day, and Zhao Zhigang had been yawning non-stop the entire way.

In the office, only Qian Wei was in a good mood. Today, he caught three pickpockets taking advantage of the river in the Zhanghe Scenic Area, which was a rare opportunity after more than a month.

Qian Wei even felt a pang of nostalgia for the days of catching thieves, finding it regrettable that there were fewer and fewer thieves now. With the shift in the direction of the criminal industry, various scams replacing petty theft, he felt a sense of helplessness, as if his heroic deeds were no longer relevant.

Don't jinx it!

Jiang Yiyi glared at Qian Wei and earnestly pleaded with him to shut up.

The thing police officers fear most is being nagged, because often what they mention will lead to something bad happening.

And this time will be no exception.

"You have a new police report. Please check your messages."

No sooner had Jiang Yiyi finished speaking than the alarm sounded outside. Her expression changed slightly as she looked speechlessly at Qian Wei, then at the scoundrel next to her who was pretending to be stupid and slacking off while playing on his phone. With a muffled snort, she pushed back her chair and stormed out of the office.

She's on duty tonight, and it's already past 9 p.m., so only she can handle this call.

Halfway there, Jiang Yiyi suddenly stopped. She turned around, picked up Lin Ge who was lying on the chair with a blank expression, and walked away with him, leaving the cat looking bewildered.

"Huh? What does this have to do with me?"

Lin Ge, who was completely out of his mind the whole time, was caught off guard and taken out of the office. He tried to struggle but was frightened by Jiang Yiyi's fierce eyes and could only obediently calm down.

It was clear that the woman was in a bad mood today. If you took a sniff, you could smell the signs of menstruation. Faced with this situation, Lin Ge could only give up resisting and give up provoking the woman who was in an abnormal mood at this moment.

The other people in the office looked at each other, their expressions somewhat awkward.

"It's alright, Zhu Jun is here with me! Several young couples at our police station have all put on the same duty roster these days, so they're all having a good time on duty at night. We don't need to worry about them." Qian Wei grinned shamelessly at the people around him, determined not to be a good guy this May Day.

The others nodded and unanimously agreed to pretend to be deaf and dumb.

Working 12-hour shifts a day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then from 12 p.m. to midnight, is exhausting enough. Then there's the paperwork, taking statements, work summaries, and reports after get off work—a whole host of miscellaneous tasks. By the time you get home, it's usually past midnight. After that, you still have to deal with the kids and household chores, so bedtime is often well past midnight. Add to that waking up at 6 a.m., and you're left with less than six hours of sleep a day. And that's not all! During the May Day holiday, everyone at the Zhanghe Police Station has to work 24 hours a day, with only a half-day off the next day before starting work again at 2 p.m.!
All of this adds up, and for all the police officers, the so-called May Day holiday is nothing short of a nightmare. The public is happy to have a holiday, but the police suffer, enduring a life-threatening ordeal just hoping to get through those five days as quickly as possible.

Aside from praying that nothing bad would happen during the May Day holiday, everyone was at a loss. So, sacrificing a friend for oneself was a matter of life and death; showing chivalry at this time was a matter of life and death. Unless Jiang Yiyi desperately needed help, everyone preferred to play dumb.

"We've repeatedly warned businesses against causing trouble during the May Day holiday, but our words have been ignored, haven't they?"

Jiang Yiyi gritted her teeth as she thought this, while the police car sped off with its siren blaring.

The surge of people traveling during holidays poses a significant challenge to social order, demanding that the police remain vigilant. Every year at this time, numerous incidents occur, and today is no exception. Jiang Yiyi is genuinely annoyed to see people still committing crimes at this time; isn't this just creating trouble for the police station? They could easily make a fortune during the five-day holiday, so why resort to underhanded tactics to cause problems for the police and tarnish Zhangzhou's reputation?
"Merchants are driven by profit; what wouldn't they dare to do?"

Lin Ge squatted in the passenger seat, pouting, very unhappy that he had become Zhu Jun's substitute. But since Zhu Jun had already gone out on a call, Jiang Yiyi naturally had no choice but to turn to a cat, whom she couldn't refuse.

The police car quickly arrived at the entrance of a hotel not far from the Zhanghe Scenic Area. As soon as it stopped, it saw three groups of people confronting each other inside. One group consisted of hotel staff, while the other two groups appeared to be guests from out of town.

To be honest, in Lin Ge's opinion, Zhangzhou's scenery and tourism are unremarkable, and there's absolutely no need to spend two days there. Wouldn't it be better to start in the morning, explore in the afternoon, and then go to the next destination in the evening? Why bother staying overnight in Zhangzhou?

Without these overnight travelers, the police would have far fewer problems. As for the business issues of the night market and hotels, Lingo stated that they were none of his concern.

Once inside, Lin Ge quickly learned the whole story.

It's quite simple: the hotel sold rooms twice, reselling the rooms that were so popular during the holiday season both at the front desk and online.

Although the hotel manager outwardly told Jiang Yiyi that it was a data error on the website, an unexpected result caused by a mistake on the travel website's end, Lin Ge, after overhearing some whispers from the back-office staff, realized that the so-called truth was simply that the hotel discovered the guests who had booked that room hadn't arrived by 7 PM and assumed they weren't coming that night or something else, so they secretly gave the booked room to another group of guests who had just arrived from the scenic area.

To be honest, it's pretty unethical.

Moreover, this kind of thing is usually easy to resolve. You could change rooms or even upgrade your level, and a few kind words would be enough for everyone to accept it.

However, during the May Day holiday, all the hotel rooms were fully booked! This meant that the hotel had no other options and the only thing they could do was to refund the guests from one side of the hotel.

But who would agree to this tantamount to 'driving away'?
It's already past 9 p.m. and it's completely dark. It's the May Day holiday, a busy time for tourists. Is it possible that other hotels are not?
Out-of-town tourists, who were forced to check out under the pretext of "network error" and only offered a 100 yuan shopping card as compensation, refused to check out and leave after contacting several nearby hotels by phone and finding them all fully booked.

The family that had already checked in naturally wouldn't leave, so the hotel couldn't resolve the situation, and the three parties got entangled, escalating the matter to the police (110).

"In other words, the issue now isn't whether you have to stay in room 317! It's that there are no suitable hotels around, and you think you'll have nowhere to go for the night after leaving, so you're refusing the hotel's offer?"

Jiang Yiyi quickly grasped the key point and looked up at the young boy beside her who looked indignant.

With him was a beautiful girl with long, flowing hair and a slender figure. She left all the negotiations to the man beside her, while she curiously stared at Lin Ge, who had come with Jiang Yiyi, and even tried to lure him over with her finger.

"That's true, but that's not the point! Officer, the point is I booked this room first. I showed you the order and payment time on the app, right? So why should I be kicked out since I arrived first? First come, first served is common sense, right? I'm not inferior, so why should I be treated differently? This isn't about the extra 780 yuan for a room; it's about the hotel insulting me! They insulted my dignity, understand? It's clearly the hotel's fault! Right? That's the truth. If you apologize sincerely, I can understand and accept it. At worst, I'll sleep on the street with my girlfriend tonight, what's the big deal?"

The young man continued, seemingly making perfect sense, "But now they're kicking me out, saying it has nothing to do with the hotel? They say they're not wrong, and the fault lies with me, the idiot, for not canceling at the front desk sooner! Haha... Officer, do you think I can accept that explanation? Since they accepted reservations online, they should have done their job properly! They messed things up and blamed the customers, then pushed the responsibility onto me. Do you think I can swallow this?"

Jiang Yiyi didn't reply, but turned to look at the hotel manager.

The embarrassed hotel manager didn't know how to explain, and could only helplessly lower his head and say, "But the situation is that our hotel doesn't have any extra rooms! So even if we were wrong in our attitude, the fact is that these guests have already checked into their rooms, and we can't just kick them out, right? So, officer, let's not talk about who's right or wrong for now; just tell me, is there any other way to resolve this?"

"..."

Jiang Yiyi glanced at the cunning hotel manager, then at the disgruntled young couple beside her, and then at the family of four across the street who seemed to be watching the commotion. She realized that this matter was indeed difficult to resolve.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, the young couple definitely needs a room. However, as he just mentioned, Jiang Yiyi also called her colleagues to check, and all the hotels within a few kilometers were indeed fully booked. She suggested using a police car or having the hotel send a car to take the two to another hotel in the city to rest, but the boy refused with the same moral reasons he had just given, insisting that the hotel make room for him.

However, the hotel receptionist showed Jiang Yiyi the check-in records, confirming that the hotel was indeed fully booked and hadn't lied. Unless someone happened to check out at that particular moment, there would definitely be one extra guest without a place to stay.

Looking at that family of four over there, their indifferent attitude was quite obvious. Expecting them to politely agree to check out was equally unrealistic.

"Can't you increase the compensation to satisfy him and resolve the matter first? This is your fault no matter what, don't give me any unreasonable excuses to absolve yourself! I also warn you not to tarnish Zhangzhou's reputation in front of tourists from other places, or even escalate this matter. If you affect Zhangzhou's reputation, your shop should just wait and see how the various departments in the city deal with you!"

Jiang Yiyi pulled the hotel manager aside and threatened him without any reason.

As a police officer, Jiang Yiyi knew very well that sometimes reasoning alone wouldn't work. Especially with these seasoned veterans, they knew exactly how to deal with the law, and kind words were meaningless to shameless people.

It might sound ugly, but sometimes the police really can't be too nice to these people. Kindness is a policeman's virtue, gentleness is a policeman's virtue, firmness is a policeman's virtue, and not wasting time lecturing you on nonsense is also a policeman's virtue.

"But... it really is the website's fault! They accepted the order, but didn't complete the interaction with my hotel's system..."

The hotel manager tried to argue his case.

Are you sure you want me to take this seriously?

Jiang Yiyi was annoyed and glared at the guy, saying, "Let me tell you, if you keep wasting my time by acting like a spoiled child, don't blame me for being impolite! No matter what, you're the one in the wrong, and you can't get rid of that no matter how you try to deny it! So you have to resolve this properly for me, and quickly! If you don't give both sides a completely satisfactory answer, or if this matter escalates, don't blame me for being impolite!"

(End of this chapter)