Strange Life of a Cat

Grandma Jiao didn’t mind the kids letting the cat play with firecrackers. They were in their yard after all and only family members could see them. If other people saw this scene, they might cause trouble.

In the village, people liked smart animals, but being too smart wasn’t good.

Grandma Jiao said so to Papa Jiao and he told the kids to be careful.

Zheng Tan was satisfied with just trying it out. He didn’t need to play with firecrackers.

“Hey, dad, is the dog having stomach issues?”

Papa Jiao pointed at the dog’s poop under the grape vines.

“Stomach issues?” Grandpa Jiao came over. “It appears so.”

The dog was having diarrhea. However, the big yellow dog appeared quite lively and was happily waiting for food to fall on the ground.

“Don’t worry about it. He’s probably having digestion problems because he ate too many random things,” Grandpa Jiao said.

This was how people in the village raised animals. Cats and dogs often ate what humans ate and the villagers never bothered to make sure their food wouldn’t hurt animals. Most of the pets here didn’t get to die a normal death. People often stole cats and dogs to sell to restaurants. Cats weren’t worth much and were often left to survive on their own. In short, animal lives weren’t worth anything around here. People needed to worry about their own lives. In comparison, Grandpa Jiao was a very good dog owner.

“Should we not chain him there?” Papa Jiao asked. If the dog was leashed in the kitchen he would always be able to find food. Grandma Jiao was frying meatballs and if her hand shook again, the dog would be in for a treat.

“He whines if I lock him in the house. Let him go outside and play. He’ll be back by lunchtime. Most of the dogs in the village are like that.”

“Aren’t you afraid someone will steal him?”

“No one steals dogs during the day and Lucky won’t go far. He’ll stay in the village and there are people everywhere. We need to lock him in at night but he’ll be fine wandering around on his own during the daytime.”

Grandpa Jiao pushed the dog, who stubbornly wanted to stay in the kitchen, out of the gate. “Go play. Come back before lunch.”

The dog wanted to squeeze back inside but Grandpa Jiao blocked the door. He realized he wasn’t getting back inside and left after barking a few times.

“Won’t he be upset?” Papa Jiao asked.

“He wouldn’t dare! You’ll know when lunch is ready.” Grandpa Jiao shook his head. “He isn’t like the pets you guys have in the city. I heard someone say pets can harbor resentment. What’s Charcoal like? How’s his temper?”

“…He’s…OK.” Papa Jiao managed to squeeze out the words. He thought for a second then added, “He treats his family well.”

Jiao Yuan and Youzi were making dumplings with Mama Jiao. They had helped before and could at least make dumplings that looked the way they were supposed to.

Zheng Tan was bored so he followed the dog out. He wanted to see if Lucky would get lost.

“You’re going to let him out like that?” Grandpa Jiao pointed at Charcoal.

“Don’t worry, Charcoal’s very smart.”

Zheng Tan jumped off the fence and followed the dog. He kept an eye out for unfamiliar dogs. Dogs were often allowed to run around freely here and not all of them were friendly towards cats.

Lucky seemed familiar with the road around the village. He followed the smell of food. He knew which family would give him things to eat and which families wouldn’t. Animals were much smarter than people realized.

A cat who was sun bathing on top of a barrel opened one eye to look at Lucky but didn’t move. When Lucky left, it went back to sleep.

Lucky kept collecting food. Zheng Tan almost admired him. He was thick-skinned and smart. These two qualities guaranteed he never went hungry.

Suddenly, he heard barking. The barking had a warning tone to it. It was the kind of barking aimed at danger.

Zheng Tan looked up and saw Lucky baring his teeth at a man.

The man was ugly but he gave off the aura of a rascal. He did not leave a good first impression.

He had a toothpick in his mouth and was shaking his leg. He wasn’t at all afraid when Lucky barked at him. He picked up a brick and threw it at Lucky. He used all his might and Lucky would probably have broken a few bones if he was hit.

Thankfully, Lucky ran away in time. The brick scraped the fur on his back but didn’t hit him.

No wonder Lucky treated the man that way. He obviously wasn’t a nice man.

Zheng Tan looked around. People obviously saw what had happened but none of them wanted to stand up against this man for a dog.

The toothpick man gave up on bullying Lucky. He pulled his jacket tighter and left looking very proud of himself.

Lucky didn’t relax until the man was finally out of sight. This probably wasn’t their first encounter.

Zheng Tan heard a child crying. The toothpick man took a child’s firecracker and threw it into a vegetable patch.

People starting murmuring, but still, no one came up to stop him.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears. He decided not to intervene as well. Papa Jiao had told him to lay low.

It was almost lunchtime and Lucky turned to go home. Zheng Tan was amazed at his sense of time. He didn’t have a watch and none of the families around were eating yet. No one told him it was lunchtime.

Lucky looked excited on his way home. Apparently, Grandpa Jiao was right. He wasn’t harboring any resentment.

Zheng Tan followed him. He saw Lucky enter the yard. Then the dog suddenly ran out and started barking furiously.

Zheng Tan entered the house and caught the toothpick man taking a piece of fried fish out of Youzi’s hand.

F*ck him!

Zheng Tan was furious. If Papa Jiao hadn’t come over he would have slapped the man.

It was none of his business if this man bullied other children but he couldn’t stand it if the man bullied his family.

Lucky had gone straight to the kitchen when he came home. Youzi saw him and knew Zheng Tan was probably back too. She had picked up a piece of fried fish to bring to him when she ran into the toothpick man. He took the fish from her.

Youzi was glaring at this stranger. She did not like him one bit. She was considering throwing her chopsticks at him.

Grandpa Jiao was angry as well. He picked up a shoulder pole and chased the man out of the house.

The man kept yelling. “I heard professors like brother Mingsheng work on projects that are at least worth millions. I just wanted to see what millionaires look like. What are you doing?”

“Stop bullsh*tting! The money is for research. If you keep blabbering I’ll take you to the police station.” Grandpa Jiao wanted to beat the man.

The villagers cared a great deal about seniority in the family. He could bully people his own age or younger than him, but he didn’t dare touch the elders. That would be inviting the fury of the whole village. He would get a beating and would end up at the police station.

Though Grandpa Jiao had chased the man away, Zheng Tan was still upset. He wanted revenge. It was New Year’s Eve tomorrow and he decided not to cause trouble just yet. He would wait a few days.

People had dinner early in the village. There weren’t many entertainment activities at night and people were used to going to bed early. However, people were busy with New Years preparation and bedtime was pushed back slightly.

A family’s pig had piglets and Grandpa Jiao took Jiao Yuan with him to check it out. Youzi didn’t want to go and was watching TV with Mama Jiao.

Zheng Tan was curious too so he went with Jiao Yuan.

Grandpa Jiao took a shortcut. Zheng Tan followed behind him then suddenly he heard something. He stopped and traced the voice to an alleyway. He saw the toothpick man smoking and talking to someone on his cellphone. He was bragging about stealing a box of ‘torpedos’ from the local supermarket. He tried them out and was planning to sell the box to children tomorrow at a higher price.

“Anyway. Got to go. I want to take a sh*t.”

The man pocketed his phone. He flicked his cigarette on the floor then went into the washroom while humming.

The tip of Zheng Tan’s tail swayed from side to side. He went over.

This opportunity to exact revenge on the toothpick man was more important than piglets.

He went into the toothpick man’s house and found the pack of ‘torpedos’ in his room. He opened the box and took out two. He then ran to the washroom.

It was dark outside and no one noticed a cat walking on his hind legs. The toothpick man’s family was all inside watching TV and didn’t realize there was an intruding cat.

Most of the washrooms in the village were just an area fenced in by brick walls behind the house. There was usually a potty that was half in the washroom and half outside so the villagers could use the natural fertilizer for crops. Zheng Tan was planning to use this structure to exact his revenge.

He picked up the cigarette the toothpick man threw on the ground and quietly went to the washroom.

He recalled how the kid lit the firecracker and lit the fuse. He threw it into the washroom and ran away as fast as he could. He remembered how the kid got water all over himself.

When he was some distance away, he hid behind some hay and heard a bang inside the washroom.