Strange Life of a Cat

Zheng Tan sat in the toy car. Though it started moving again, the speed was much slower than before. Zheng Tan wasn’t worried about being thrown off.

Of course, Zheng Tan would have preferred the model car to run faster. That would be much more fun. However, he couldn’t ask for too much.

Like he had originally thought, Liu Yao didn’t want to hit him and was only curious. The boy was not naive and simple like others kids his age. This was probably due to his past experiences.

After Zheng Tan got on top of the car, he kept his tail close to himself to avoid it being run over by the car or being hooked by an outstretched branch. Thankfully the backyard had been swept earlier by a worker, and only the occasional leaf littered the ground. The few branches he could see were a result of Liu Yao and Bun. In other words, there weren’t many obstacles in the yard. The model car moved smoothly. Liu Yao was good at controlling it and managed not to hit anything.

They managed to catch Bun’s attention, and the puppy dropped his beloved tree branch and ran towards Zheng Tan. He started running after the model car. He barked at it and pawed behind it. He was having a lot of fun.

Tong Qing observed the trio and realized the kid seemed less gloomy now.

No wonder his boss sent this cat on this mission.

It was harder for people to open up to other people. Someone like Liu Yao who had experienced that ordeal with his mother would have a difficult time trusting other people. He had a hard time getting close to people he knew after all. This was why he played here alone instead of mingling with the other kids on the lawn.

If Fang Shaokang had sent a kid over here to meet Liu Yao, Liu’s people would probably be suspicious. It was no secret that Liu Yao was the apple of Liu’s eye and people would try to use the boy to get close to Liu.

Animals were a different story. No one would suspect a cat of having ulterior motives. Even if this cat was strong beyond belief, he was still a cat.

The model car took Zheng Tan around the yard. Someone had set a track for the car in the middle of the yard. The track seemed to be able to withstand the weight of Zheng Tan; only the uphill part posed a problem. However, there was still Bun to consider.

Bun watched the car run on the tracks and followed. His tail wagged and he stepped cautiously onto the tracks. He was a tad large for these tracks, but it seemed like he would be fine, so the puppy picked up the pace and chased after the car.

Zheng Tan turned to watch what the dog was doing. Seeing that Bun was chasing the car, he was very worried the tracks would break. However, seeing that they didn’t even shake, Zheng Tan relaxed. At that moment, Bun decided it wasn’t enough to just run after the car, so he hopped.

Ka!

Part of the track broke and Bun fell to the ground. Thankfully the tracks were only ten or so centimeters above from the ground, so the fall didn’t hurt. Bun stood up and kept running after the car. This time he remained on the ground and only put his chin on the track once in a while.

The tracks were broken but there weren’t any tools or replacements available. Liu Yao didn’t plan to run the model car on the tracks anymore. He whizzed the car around in circles with Zheng Tan on top.

Zheng Tan was thinking.

Cars were a good tool. When he was human, he loved driving around when he was upset. It was his way of letting off steam. Now that he was a cat, could he have his own car?

It was hard.

Even if he had a toy car of his own, even if the car were larger than this one, it would still be someone else controlling it. Zheng Tan didn’t like the feeling of laying his fate in someone else’s hand. However, even if he was given the remote control, his paws couldn’t hold it nor use it.

Zheng Tan sighed and struck a sad pose.

Bun couldn’t share Zheng Tan’s sadness – he was having a blast.

Ignorance was bliss. In other words, being a stupid dog was a sure path to happiness.

Zheng Tan looked at Bun then slapped him. Obviously, he didn’t use that much force. Bun had thick fur, and the slap didn’t seem to have hurt him at all. He was still hopping around happily.

Zheng Tan decided since he didn’t know how to play with the kid, he would spend his time sitting on this model car and beating Bun when he felt like it. When the car passed the flowerbed, Zheng Tan pulled off leaves and flowers and even found a branch to hit Bun.

It was likely that a dog like Bun probably went through all kinds of training to strengthen his muscles. However, with his intelligence, Zheng Tan didn’t know what he would do with all that strength.

Bun might turn out like Tiger, serious on the outside and an idiot on the inside.

Liu found time to come down to check up on his son. Seeing the boy’s expression, he could tell he was happy. After listening to the guards explain what had happened, he decided Bun was staying with the family. Even if the dog wasn’t that smart, he proved his worth by playing with his son. As for what other people might say, none of that mattered compared to his son’s happiness.

Bun, who was still chasing the model car, didn’t know he had managed to change his owner’s mind. There were restrictions in Chuhua on what breeds of dogs were allowed as pets in the city. However, these bylaws had little effect on people like Liu. Bun could live a happy and safe life in the city.

Soon, it was lunch time. The pets had a separate dining area, and there were special caretakers for them. Cats and dogs were kept in different areas. Zheng Tan didn’t join the other cats. He and Tong Qing found a spot, and Fang Shaokang had someone bring them food. Zheng Tan noticed the caracal eyeing him. The caracal quickly left when it saw Zheng Tan look its way. Zheng Tan didn’t chase it. He wouldn’t start a fight with another cat unless the other cat bothered him first.

When Zheng Tan was done eating, he saw two people walk out from the villa. One was Zhao Le, the young man with her was someone Zheng Tan had seen earlier upstairs. His name was Wang Bin. Judging by how the two interacted, they knew each other well.

Zheng Tan was debating whether to go over and eavesdrop when Zhao Le started walking this way.

She sat down on a chair and asked Tong Qing what Zheng Tan had eaten. Tong Qing answered briefly, then stepped away so that Zhao Le and Wang Bin could continue their conversation. He couldn’t leave because Zheng Tan was still there.

Zheng Tan had expected gossip. However, the relationship between Zhao Le and Wang Bin wasn’t what he had thought. They were friends but not that kind of friends. They chatted about Zheng Tan, then about Wang Bin starting off as a normal employee at his family firm. Eventually, they started chatting about Wang Bin’s brother Er Mao. Both Zhao Le and Wang Bin sounded frustrated when they mentioned Er Mao.

Zheng Tan was curious as to what kind of a person this Er Mao was.

Many people left after lunch. After all, they were all busy people and didn’t have that much time to spend here idly. Most people like to hold banquets at night; Fang Shaokang was always different. When Zhao Le asked why they were having lunch instead of dinner, Fang Sanye yawned and said, “Waking up early is good for the health.”

Zhao Le wanted to roll her eyes.

Of course, not everyone left. Liu, for instance, stayed a bit longer to chat with Fang Shaokang.

Zheng Tan stayed and played a bit longer with Liu Yao and Bun before finally going home.

He didn’t know what Fang Shaokang had told Liu, but one night he overheard Papa Jiao on the phone chatting to Yuan Zhiyi when he was watching TV on the sofa and learned that the company had got the business.

Papa Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi had learned Zheng Tan’s role in this from Fang Shaokang, and Yuan Zhiyi brought Zheng Tan quite a bit of food to show his gratitude. He even remembered to pay his respect to the black lucky cat statue in his office.

Zheng Tan would have been pleased with the food if his mind wasn’t so fixated on model cars now. If he hadn’t seen one that day it wouldn’t bother him this much. However, being able to drive his own car was the only thing he dreamed about these days. He didn’t want to sit in Youzi’s bike basket or in someone else’s car anymore.

He had been thinking of ways to get a car suitable for the cat he now was.

Who could he turn to for help?

Fang Shaokang maybe?

How would he bring it up? It’s not like he could text Fang ‘Hey, I’m Charcoal, get me a car’.

That wouldn’t work.

He needed to plan this out.