Strange Life of a Cat

There was a knock on the door while Bai Yang was in his stare off with Diudiu.

“Who is it?” Bai Yang asked through clenched teeth. He was still angry at the cat.

Opening the door, he was instantly ashamed when he saw Mama Jiao at the door.

“Oh, Mrs. Gu, it’s you. Come on in.” Bai Yang wiped a chair down . All the chairs had been frequented by the cat and he didn’t quite clean them since he seldom had visitors.

Zheng Tan came out of the bag Mama Jiao was carrying. He surveyed his surroundings, eventually setting his eyes on the cat sitting on a chair.

“Is this your cat Mrs. Gu?” Bai Yang asked, handing her a cup of tea.

“Yes, this is Charcoal. He got lost earlier but was recently found again.” Feeling lucky to have found her cat, Mama Jiao was unusually cheerful these days.

“So this is the famous Charcoal.” Bai Yang looked at the black cat who had jumped onto a chair. This was the black cat that Li Xiaoxi was always praising.

Zheng Tan felt Bai Yang’s gaze and turned to face him.

Bai Yang had an odd feeling when his eyes met Zheng Tan’s. The cat was weird. Maybe it was because he was used to Diudiu’s ADHD, but the calm in Zheng Tan’s eyes sent a chill down his spine. It was as if there was a stranger sitting here in front of him instead of another cat.

He preferred Diudiu to be honest. Though Diudiu was at times annoying, he could yell at it or even punish it a little. This cat made Bai Yang wary. He couldn’t even get angry.

Zheng Tang turned away and looked back to the cat who had now moved to the desk. The cat was hostile towards strangers and especially other male cats. Zheng Tan could see he had his guard up. He seemed like he had been bullied before.

So Zheng Tan stayed on his chair and didn’t bother to go over for a greeting.

After some time as a stray cat, Zheng Tan had grown better at sensing the mood of the people and animals around him. This saved him a lot of trouble. It was like when Li Yuanba correctly observed who needed to be avoided and who needed to be warned off.

Mama Jiao brought over some canned cat food that she picked up at Mr. Guo’s store earlier. Mama Jiao had promised Li Xiaoxi she would come over from time to time to help with the cat. She had some time today so she decided to bring over some things. She also had to talk to Bai Yang.

Bai Yang was graduating soon. He still wasn’t sure where he was going to work afterwards. He had some options but he hadn’t signed with any company yet. Papa Jiao wanted him for his company. Tian Yuan Biology needed people skilled at management, so Mama Jiao was here to make the offer. Obviously the choice was entirely up to Bai Yang.

Mama Jiao gave Bai Yang a proposal and a contract drawn up by Yuan Zhiyi. She explained it briefly before leaving with Zheng Tan.

Bai Yang read through the documents, then placed them carefully inside a drawer. He looked at Diudiu, “You behave in front of other people, why can’t you do it now.”

“Meow.”

“What? You have a problem with what I said?”

Bai Yang picked Diudiu up from the table and dropped him on the floor. He went back to work on his paper, pretending to not notice when Diudiu climbed onto his lap.

Wei Ling was waiting for them downstairs when they got back to the residential quarters.

Wei Ling hadn’t seen Zheng Tan for some time. Ever since he moved to live near the company, they seldom saw each other. He sometimes asked about Zheng Tan when he called Papa Jiao.

“Wei, you came to visit! Why didn’t you call me? Have you waited for long?” Mama Jiao asked.

Wei Ling smiled. “I asked the guard at the gate, he said you were out with Charcoal. I figured it was near the end of school and you guys would be back soon, so I didn’t call.”

He then looked at the black cat, “Long time no see, Charcoal.”

Zheng Tan twitched his ears and grunted.

“Well, I see you haven’t changed. Still ignoring people are you? Too bad, I was planning to take you out for some fun.” Wei Ling sighed.

Both Mama Jiao and Zheng Tan turned their heads when they heard his words.

“Let’s talk more inside.” Wei Ling scratched his head. He could tell Mama Jiao was against the idea. The incident had made her nervous.

Zheng Tan, on the other hand, was very interested. He was growing bored of doing nothing on campus. After a month on the streets, he was hungry for adventure.

“Wei, you know what happened to Charcoal. He just got back and we are all nervous about him going out. I took him for a check up myself today instead of asking Mr. Guo to pick him up.”

“I know, of course. I already talked it over with Professor Jiao.” Wei Ling said.

“What did he say?” Mama Jiao had a sense of foreboding.

“Professor Jiao said it depended on Charcoal.”

Wei Ling didn’t expect that answer at all. After all, who let their cat decide things like this. Even if this cat was different, it was still just a cat.

Mama Jiao considered it and asked, “Where do you want to take him?”

“Don’t worry. I’m taking him to a friend’s place in the city. I want them to get to know Charcoal, so if anything happens in the future, they could help look for him. They run most of the black market transportation routes in this city. Charcoal is a good boy, he won’t run off. I took him out once.”

Wei Ling coughed sheepishly seeing that Mama Jiao was glaring at him. It was his fault that he took the cat outside without the approval of its owner. It was good that nothing happened, but still, a mistake was a mistake.

“Charcoal, what do you say?” Mama Jiao knew their cat was special and understood human language. However, what Wei Ling proposed seriously worried her. The cat had just gotten back and was running out with these people already. What if the cat becomes unsatisfied with being a domestic pet?

Zheng Tan, who was sitting on the coffee table, looked left towards Mama Jiao, then right towards Wei Ling. He inched right, then inched right again. And again.

Zheng Tan knew Mama Jiao was probably upset now, but he really didn’t want to be holed up in this place. He had a human soul after all and a young soul too. It was nice to be idle like a pet cat once a while, but he didn’t want to be trapped here.

His little adventure in the outside world had made him hungry for more. Even when he was human, he liked driving around aimlessly. It was the same as a cat.

Mama Jiao was silent for a while. ” Well, if Charcoal decides to go, there’s nothing I can say. Take care of him alright? Will you be back before bedtime?”

“Of course I’ll look after him. I’ll be with him at all times and bring him back myself. We won’t stay out at night and it’s not everyday.” Wei Ling promised.

Mama Jiao nodded. “It’s dinner time already. Why don’t you stay for dinner.”

Wei Ling declined and said he had some business to get to, and that he would pick up the cat tomorrow.

After Wei Ling left, Mama Jiao called Papa Jiao. She cut straight to the chase and asked about Zheng Tan going off campus with Wei Ling.

Zheng Tan didn’t know what Papa Jiao told her but she didn’t say any more, although she was still opposed to the idea.

Professor Jiao rubbed his forehead and sighed. He was in his office at the moment. He knew that Wei Ling must need his cat’s help on something. He wanted to refuse but remembered a phone call with Fang Shaokang two days ago. Fang had helped out with a deal when he learnt that Yuan Zhiyi and him had a small company. With Fang as a middle man, the buyer side was very cooperative.

Yuan Zhiyi had been very excited when the deal happened. The company was developing faster then he had expected and it was all thanks to the cat. He wanted to go honor the cat once again but was stopped by Papa Jiao. It wasn’t something he wanted people to know.

Before Fang Shaokang let Chuhua, he had called Professor Jiao. The two chatted about Zheng Tan. At the end of the call, Fang had said that it was best not to confine the cat. Charcoal wasn’t a normal pet and if Papa Jiao gave the cat some freedom he might run into more unexpected surprises.

He didn’t care about the surprises, Professor Jiao just wanted his cat to be safe and healthy.

The next day, Zheng Tan napped on a tree while waiting for Wei Ling. He had wandered around the residential quarters, then, bored, went for a walk on campus. He didn’t have anything to do in the afternoon so he got some rest to prepare for tonight.

Wei Ling arrived after dinner time.

It was still light out when Zheng Tan followed Wei Ling downstairs.

Wei Ling drove a old little car this time instead of riding his motorcycle. Though the car didn’t look like much, it had four wheels and it was more comfortable than the bag he had to sit in on the motorcycle.

“I borrowed the car from someone so don’t shit in it.” Wei Ling turned around and said to Zheng Tan who was in the back seat.

Zheng Tan ignored him. Shitting on a car was what birds did. Who did Wei Ling think he was?