Strange Life of a Cat

“Why are you all blocking the door?”

Zheng Tan recognized the voice.

His trip here today turned out to be worthwhile. From now on, he could come here without the worry of being caught.

“Brother Bao, you came too,” the man leading the group said with a smile.

Most of the people here knew Long Qi as he was in charge of the project. Not a lot of people knew Boazi. He rarely came over here.

“What’s going on?” Baozi asked.

His face was void of expression. People nervously cleared away from the door. Only Long Qi still stood there.

Before someone could explain, Baozi had entered the room and saw Zheng Tan.

“Charcoal! You’re here.” Baozi looked around but didn’t see Wei Ling. Wei Ling shouldn’t be free anyway.

“Brother Bao, you know this cat?” the middle-aged man asked.

“Yes.” Baozi didn’t explain.

He came here today simply because he had nothing better to do. None of their people knew much about the construction industry. However, Ye Hao had told them that leaders nowadays were capable of leading in all industries. They just needed to come here and make sure everyone was doing their job. They supervised attitudes.

So, Long Qi and Baozi came here today and happened to run into Zheng Tan.

Everyone here was smart enough to tell this cat was more special than they had thought. Baozi was even smiling.

Long Qi and Baozi knew that Charcoal had played a role in helping Ye Hao get in touch with Fang Shaokang. They weren’t sure if they got they project thanks to the cat, but still, he had given them contacts. Even Tang Qiye told them to pay notice to this cat because it may be of help in the future.

Baozi didn’t understand how this cat could help them. There was no way people made business decisions based on a cat. However, Tang Qiye had spoken and Baozi was ready to follow orders. Both Tang Qiye and Ye Hao regarded this cat highly, and Baozi trusted them.

Zheng Tan didn’t look at Baozi and Long Qi. He stared coldly at Li.

Baozi, who was now familiar with Charcoal, could tell he was in a sour mood. He glanced at Li, whose face had turned ashen. Without addressing the matter, Baozi told everyone to go back to work. Lunch break had ended and it didn’t make sense for them to all be gathered here. Brother Ning pulled Zhong Yan away.

Only the people accompanying Long Qi and brother Ning stayed.

The person leading the way explained what had happened. Brother Ning made additions as he saw fit. He didn’t take the chance to exaggerate anything and only told things as they were.

Long Qi’s face was stone cold, and he sat as far away from Zheng Tan as he could.

Baozi didn’t care. He thought there was something borderline creepy about this cat as well, but he was willing to overlook everything if this cat was of help to them.

After listening to what happened, Baozi didn’t say anything. Long Qi was in charge here and he should be the one to deal with this issue.

They didn’t stay here for long. Long Qi and Baozi soon left to check out the other areas. Zheng Tan followed them. When they were done, Baozi even bought Zheng Tan a roast chicken. Zheng Tan only had a drumstick.

Though he was still upset, and a chicken was nowhere near enough to win him over, Zheng Tan knew the men would deal with Li. He shouldn’t make a fuss over something so small.

Baozi talked to Zheng Tan. Wei Ling had told Ye Hao to talk to this cat like he was human instead of a pet. Long Qi and Baozi were there when he said it. Long Qi never followed through on this instruction and Baozi was making his first attempt.

Did the cat understand the human language? Baozi wouldn’t have believed it before. Now he was doubtful.

After his meal, Zheng Tan went home to nap. Long Qi and Baozi returned as well. They reported everything to Ye Hao.

“That cat is everywhere.” Ye Hao rubbed his temples.

Two days later, Wei Ling came over to the eastern quarters with Baozi. Little New Year’s day (seven days before the Chinese New Year), which didn’t mean anything in the city, was close. The occasion gave people a reason to visit.

Baozi was here on Ye Hao’s orders and Wei Ling was here because the Jiaos didn’t know Baozi.

When Wei Ling’s car entered the quarters, they saw that Fang Shaokang’s car was already there.

Fang Sanye stood there babbling on about something.

Papa Jiao had received a call from Fang Shaokang that morning saying he was going to visit.

Zheng Tan looked at the calendar. Little New Year’s Day was tomorrow. He was indeed true to his word.

Fang didn’t come upstairs so Zheng Tan met him downstairs. When Fang opened the car door, Zheng Tan immediately saw a small car and his eyes had been glued to it ever since.

It was even smaller than the toy cars made for children and was designed to look like a jeep. There was no hood and the steering wheel was larger than normal. He wondered what it would be like to drive it.

Zheng Tan was very happy. He suddenly felt Fang was a very nice guy after all. He noticed things other people didn’t. No wonder Tong Qing showed up at the clubhouse that day. Fang had this car made because he knew Zheng Tan liked cars.

“How is it? Not bad, eh? Want to go for a ride?”

Fang leaned against his car and looked very proud of himself. Wei Ling and Baozi were stunned.

Was this really Fang Shaokang?

Fang saw Wei Ling’s car but ignored it and said to Zheng Tan, “The weather is quite nice today. You could try your new car. Remember though, you promised to do me a favor.”

Zheng Tan was too excited about this car to mind anything else. He couldn’t wait to take the small car out and give it go. He was grateful too so he was happy to help Fang as long as he didn’t have to risk his life or do anything too weird.

Wei Ling and Baozi watched Fang Shaokang’s car leave with their jaw dropped. As for Zheng Tan, he didn’t even see them Tong Qing had blocked his view.

“That little bastard!” Wei Ling cursed. He was just joking though.

On the other hand, Baozi was truly shocked. He never knew Fang had this side to him. This was how he treated his family and friends.

Fang explained their afternoon plans to Zheng Tan. In short Zheng Tan would go for a ride, then play with children.

They were headed to Liu’s house. Liu had a villa with a very large backyard. Zheng Tan could drive his car there. Apparently, Liu Yao was going through a difficult time and Liu was very worried. He had cleared off his schedule when Fang Shaokang came over with the cat.

Both Liu and Liu Yao greeted them in the driveway. Bun was with them. He was much larger now. Zheng Tan still felt he looked more reliable than majestic.

Liu Yao’s eyes lit up when he saw Zheng Tan. His father had told him that black cat from the party was coming here to play with him. He had taken out his favorite toy car. It was large enough for two cats.

He was very surprised to see Tong Qing drag out a small car. He watched as the black cat jumped into the small car.

Was there going to be a race?

Zheng Tan hadn’t considered that much. They were on private land and he didn’t have to worry about anything. His new car was easy to operate. He used to love cars in his human days, so driving this was a piece of cake.

Zheng Tan rested both paws on the steering wheel. There was a brake button instead of a pedal so he didn’t have to use his hind legs. The car was electric.

He pressed the start button and the car started to move. Zheng Tan controlled the steering wheel. He felt like he was soaring while driving the first ever cat car.

Liu Yao came out of his shock and immediately started his model car. As for Bun, he happily ran after the two cars.

Tong Qi followed behind them to made sure no accidents happened. He had previously doubted that a cat could drive this car. Now it seemed he had greatly underestimated Zheng Tan. He was doing just fine on his first try. He had now realized this cat was special and he shouldn’t treat him like he would a normal cat. Fang Shaokang had made up a story about Zheng Tan being specially trained.

Fang Shaokang and Liu sat on the side and chatted business. Nannies took care of the children.

At first, Liu’s attention was on his son. He was full of worries. Liu Yao had been running and was now sweating. Was he tired? Would he get sick? However, he relaxed when he heard Liu Yao laugh.

People always complained that children were noisy and they couldn’t stay still. However, most people still believed that was the way children should be at this age.

They started to worry if a child was too quiet and obedient like Liu Yao.

Kids should be happy.

Now Liu Yao was running around and laughing like other children. Liu almost broke into tears.

They didn’t know that Zheng Tan was too fixated on driving to take care of the boy. When he realized it, the child was already covered in sweat. When he saw Liu Yao’s smile, he suddenly felt the boy was a good kid after all.