Strange Life of a Cat

The party was a success. Many people had come to Papa Jiao to express their willingness to help out Mama Jiao and the kids when he went abroad.

The Jiaos decided to rest on Sunday after a busy day. Zheng Tan had different plans.

His Saturday was spent in leisure. He napped and ate, then went to bed early when they returned home. He was very energetic on Sunday.

The Jiaos all slept in and didn’t get up until lunchtime. Zheng Tan left the house after lunch. There were people all around campus. After being teased for the seventh time, Zheng Tan decided to take a stroll off campus.

The weather was good. Zheng Tan ran into several cats sunbathing on the fence. He had met most of them before. A few showed hostility, but Zheng Tan ignored them. He didn’t have time for them today.

He took a stroll around the construction site. He was happy with the progress they were making. The site looked different every time he was there.

He had planned to visit Uncle Wintersweets. He could tell by the look on Wei Ling’s face yesterday that he had learned something important. He wanted to see if Uncle Wintersweets was doing anything.

He didn’t have proof that Uncle Wintersweets was Chen Zhe, but his instinct told him this was true. He was avenging the death of his family.

Near Uncle Wintersweet’s neighborhood, he saw someone familiar. He searched his memory only to remember he saw this man with Lai Er yesterday. Why were Lai Er’s people here?

The area was made up of residential housing. Many people chose to rent here because of the cheap rent.

Zheng Tan watched the man say something to two other men. The two men nodded, then stood guard. The three men were dressed in plain clothes. If Zheng Tan hadn’t recognized one of them, he wouldn’t have noticed the group.

The man from yesterday entered the neighborhood. Zheng Tan followed him. The men standing guard saw Zheng Tan but didn’t react. After all, he was just a cat. Many of the residents had pets.

There were grey residential buildings on either side of the road. There were clothes hanging on the balconies. The two buildings were close together so the residents didn’t get much sun.

The road was narrow to the point that it only allowed one car through at a time.

Zheng Tan kept some distance between himself and the man. He noticed people standing guard on the side of the road. The man nodded slightly to them as he passed by. Zheng Tan could sense danger off these people. He tried to act natural.

Thankfully, like the two men earlier, these people didn’t really notice Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan was curious. What did these people want?

They reached a patch of private houses. The man kept walking.

After almost ten minutes, the man stopped in front of a two-story house. There was a yard in the front, but only weeds grew in it.

Unlike the earlier buildings, there was a fair amount of distance between the houses in this area. Zheng Tan noticed most of the houses had yards and the houses were all well designed. People who lived here obviously knew how to enjoy life.

A year ago, there were many houses like this around here. Most of them were torn down now. People had moved away from this area leaving empty houses behind.

A few men were standing in front of the house. The man Zheng Tan was following said something to them then took out his phone.

Two minutes later, a car pulled into the driveway. Construction was being done all around the house. Soon, this place would be demolished as well. People who rented here probably moved because of this.

Lai Er was in the car.

Zheng Tan went near the house while avoiding Lai Er’s people. He didn’t know if they would kill a cat just to be safe. He was too curious and had to know what was going on.

No wonder people say ‘curiosity killed the cat’. After he turned into a cat, Zheng Tan was having a harder and harder time controlling his curiosity. Maybe it was because life as a cat was too boring.

Zheng Tan avoided the car and climbed up the wall to a window on the second floor.

Zheng Tan was very good at climbing walls now. As long as the wall wasn’t completely made of glass, he could easily reach a very high level.

Lai Er came out of the car. The man Zheng Tan had followed went to him.

“I placed guards all along the road leading here. The buildings along the way have been cleared and there are people standing guard downstairs. We found a surveillance camera and disconnected it. The camera is linked to an apartment. There was a computer in the apartment but it hadn’t been used in a long time.”

Lai Er nodded, then entered the house.

Zheng Tan had planned to enter the house through a window. However, he heard noises inside. He carefully moved to the source of the noise. It was hard to hide in broad daylight. Thankfully, the people guarding the door weren’t looking up.

Lai Er went upstairs into a room.

There was scarcely any furniture in the room, only a desk with a laptop on it.

One of Lai Er’s people turned on the computer.

Zheng Tan moved to the window and peeked through the shades.

Everyone except Lai Er had left the room. Lai Er didn’t want anyone knowing his secrets. He didn’t trust anyone.

He was making a video call to someone using the laptop. Zheng Tan had great hearing and could hear them talking even though Lai Er turned the sound down.

On the screen was a man wearing a black coat and a mask. The mask was the kind that could be found everywhere. It looked like a kids’ toy.

“Long time no see, Uncle Qiang,” the man said.

“Chen Zhe?” Lai Er stared at the screen and said through clenched teeth.

Zheng Tan recognized Chen Zhe’s voice. It was Uncle Wintersweets.

“Oh, I forgot. You like being called Lai Er now. Don’t you feel the house you are in is familiar? I remember my father built an American style house in the area. The neighbors soon followed suit. The area was Chuhua’s first high-end living district.” Chen Zhe was lost in memory.

“I’m not here to listen to you reminisce about the old days. Where is the stuff?” Lai Er asked.

But Chen Zhe wasn’t done. “Then father made a name for himself in the city, so we moved downtown. He would still come here on weekends from time to time. Mother would cook.”

“Enough! I don’t have much time. Where is the stuff?!” Lai Er was practically shrieking.

“What’s the hurry? Are you afraid? You had them burned here, don’t you remember? What were you thinking at the time? They’re all watching you, you know?” Chen Zhe’s voice was low.

“You think you can scare me this easily?” Lai Er laughed. “You bought the land, rebuilt the house then sent me an email anonymously. You talk about your parents as if I would be afraid. I wasn’t afraid of them even when they were alive. Why start now?”

Lai Er suddenly remembered something. “Did you place that surveillance camera? Too bad. I had it disconnected. I realize you are not a boy anymore. I got to give it to you. The way you finished off those two people without anyone knowing it was you. However, you are no match for me! I can find the stuff even if you don’t give it to me. As for you, since you came out of hiding, then prepare to die.”

Chen Zhe didn’t seem surprised. He asked Lai Er, “Do you believe in karma?”

When Chen Zhe said this, Zheng Tan suddenly felt a chill down his spine. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get rid of the foreboding feeling in his heart.