Strange Life of a Cat

The four cats were staring at him as if they understood what he had just said. They weren’t meowing. They just looked at him.

Maybe it was all in his head, but he felt the cats were looking at him differently after he said they were dumb animals.

He was about to say ‘cats don’t even know it when they are being cursed’, but stopped himself when he saw the look in those cats’ eyes.

Wei Ling looked at him and laughed. “Er Mao, why don’t you like those cats? They didn’t do anything to you.”

Er Mao, who was the man with the mohawk, pointed towards the cats on the tree and asked Wei Ling, “Are those cats looking at me with disdain? I think they are cursing me!”

“…It’s all in your head.” He knew Er Mao was a bit paranoid. It wasn’t all his fault. Anyone who had been through what he had been through would be the same.

In truth, it was a coincidence that all the cats turned to look at him at the exact same time.

Zheng Tan understood what Er Mao had said and Fatty probably understood a word or two. He could sense the hostility in Er Mao’s words. Tiger looked over because he heard Er Mao spit out gum. As for Sheriff, he did whatever the others did.

Er Mao scratched his head. Maybe it was all in his head. He looked at the cats and saw the look in Zheng Tan’s eyes. The look of disdain was too clear that he couldn’t kid himself it was all in his imagination.

He looked like he was being force-fed dog shit.

He took a deep breath and told himself not to get angry over a cat. He wasn’t here to deal with cats.

He wanted to get away from here so he turned and said to Wei Ling, “Come on, let’s go. Who are you looking for? Let’s find him and get out of here.”

“Ok.” Wei Ling waved to Zheng Tan, “Come here Charcoal!”

Zheng Tan had recognized Wei Ling’s car from afar. He saw the man who did card tricks in the back of the car and thought Wei Ling wasn’t here because of him. He went back to watching kids fly kites. However, the man had to curse cats. What did they do to him? Why was Wei Ling with this idiot?

He didn’t go over to Wei Ling immediately. The man in the backseat was a rascal, and Mama Jiao said to stay away from people like that.

Mama Jiao said this to Jiao Yuan and Youzi. Zheng Tan was surrounded by rascals. However, at that time, he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong.

Wei Ling yelled to him, “Come on, let’s go to the Night Tower. I told your owner already.”

Zheng Tan didn’t want to go out today, but on second thought, he didn’t mind finding out what Ye Hao was up to these days.

He jumped off the parasol tree and went over to Wei Ling.

Er Mao had a foreboding feeling when he saw the black cat walking in their direction. He had wondered who Wei Ling was talking to. It appeared he was talking to a cat. Er Mao wanted to shut his window so the cat couldn’t jump into the car.

Sadly Wei Ling’s window was still open. Zheng Tan jumped in and sat in the passenger seat. He didn’t want to share seats with the rascal in the back.

Er Mao stared at Zheng Tan like he had the plague. Unfortunately, there was only so much space inside the car. Zheng Tan stared at Er Mao too. Where had he seen him before? Zheng Tan couldn’t remember.

Wei Ling drove towards the Night Tower after Zheng Tan jumped in the car.

Wei Ling had an apartment near Chuhua University. It was a new neighborhood. He was rarely home. He preferred to stay at Papa Jiao’s company. It was boring staying at home alone. He liked staying at the company dorm where there were people who could keep him company. He went to the Night Tower on weekends to let loose. He even started dating an elementary school teacher recently, but he didn’t tell anyone this.

He had cleared out a room for Er Mao. Er Mao’s parents lived in Chuhua city as well, but he was definitely not staying with his parents. It was for the best. They would be fighting every day if they lived together. So he decided to call Wei Ling and ask for a room. He didn’t mention how long he would be staying – it would depend on his mood.

Er Mao complained the whole way. He didn’t understand why they were taking a cat to the Night Tower. Wei Ling told him about Zheng Tan and said, “This cat is quite popular. Not only Ye Hao, even Brother Walnut owes him a favor.”

Er Mao stared at Zheng Tan in disbelief. This cat must be very special to have Brother Walnut owe him a favor. However, the more special this cat was, the more wicked it must be. Er Mao disliked special cats.

“Cats are annoying, they’re a pain in the ass!” Er Mao exclaimed.

Zheng Tan observed Wei Ling and Er Mao as they chatted. He knew they studied martial arts together as children. He wondered what their master did for a living. His three students were in three different fields. He also wondered if he had more students.

He suddenly noticed the man’s name.

Er Mao?

He heard this name before.

He searched his memory, then remembered Wei Ling and He Tao had both mentioned the name before. Zhao Le and Wang Bin mentioned him as well.

Wang Bin?!

Zheng Tan looked at Er Mao again. He recalled the face of Wang Bin, who he met at Fang’s party.

The two men looked very alike, their features were identical but they gave off different auras. Wang Bin looked very much an elite. Er Mao, on the other hand, was a rascal. Even if the two men stood side by side, people wouldn’t realize the two were twins.

If they really were twins, why was Er Mao like this? The two seemed like the beggar and the prince.

Zheng Tan thought about Zhong Yan. Was Er Mao’s situation the same as Zhong Yan’s? Even if his parents didn’t treat him so poorly, his parents must not love him that much. Poor boy.

Er Mao kept an eye on Zheng Tan while chatting with Wei Ling. He noticed the cat was staring at him. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He patted the driver’s seat and said, “Brother Wei, can you make the cat look elsewhere? It’s getting creepy.”

Wei Ling sighed. “Charcoal, can you not stare at him?”

Zheng Tan’s interest in Er Mao was gone by now, so he curled up. The Night Tower was a half an hour drive away, and they might encounter traffic. He could take a little nap.

Wei Ling led Er Mao inside the Night Tower through the side door and they went straight to his usual room. Zheng Tan followed behind them. The guards were used to seeing him here. Er Mao was surprised that the guards didn’t react to Zheng Tan being there.

Ye Hao had been busy recently, so Wei Ling didn’t call him. They drank wine and watched the performance downstairs.

Wei Ling didn’t tell Er Mao what Ye Hao was doing. It was highly confidential. Ye Hao had Zheng Tan to thank this time. Tang Qiye called the watch ‘the golden compass’ because it had something to do with gold.

Lai Er’s underlings were too busy in-fighting, so Ye Hao took the chance to quietly make some money.

Zheng Tan took the entire sofa for himself. Er Mao sat on a chair and said to Wei Ling, “Since when were cats so respected? Are you sure your friend is ok with you bringing this thing here? What if it ruins the furniture? Even if your friend doesn’t care about money, you shouldn’t let a cat do whatever it wants.”

Wei Ling shrugged, “I told you this cat was special. Someone even gave him a nickname ‘lucky cat’.”

Er Mao burst out in laughter.

“This is a normal house cat. You can get one for twenty bucks in a village. How can it be lucky…”

Er Mao had wanted to say more, but he saw the serious look on Wei Ling’s face. “Are you serious?”

“I’m not joking.” Wei Ling nodded. “I suggest you spend some time with this cat. You can follow him on his walks. You have nothing to do anyway.”

Zheng Tan glared at Er Mao. He didn’t need this idiot to accompany him on his walks.