Strange Life of a Cat

Zhen Tan followed the Buddha out. The Western Quarters was near the west campus gate, where people often came and went. Thankfully, the Buddha didn’t leave campus but turned the other direction onto a small trail heading to the heart of campus.

The Buddha was famous on campus and attracted a lot of attention. Zheng Tan heard students asking each other if he was the Buddha’s cat and why she was walking with him.

If they took another road on the other side of the western quarters, they could avoid the unwanted attention. It was a much less used road.

Zheng Tan didn’t know what the Buddha was thinking.

Was she trying to tell everyone that this cat had her support?

Zheng Tan tried to figure out her thoughts while following her.

Zheng Tan was also curious as to why he hadn’t found Zhuo earlier. Had she moved? The house belonged to the Buddha, but she had lent it to Zhuo. It didn’t make sense for her to take it back right after Zhuo had a baby. She was one of the Buddha’s favorite students.

Zheng Tan couldn’t help but notice the Buddha had gravitas. It made him tense just walking next to her. He felt bad for the students of her department that had to deal with her every day.

She stopped at a bench on a quiet shaded road, sitting down and patting the space beside her, motioning for Zheng Tan to sit there.

Zheng Tan jumped on the bench. He felt nervous sitting beside her. Her co-workers must suffer more stress than their average academia colleagues.

The Buddha stared ahead at the trees after they sat down. Neither of them said anything.

Zheng Tan examined the patch of wood in front of them. There was nothing special about it. The Buddha obviously had something on her mind.

He suddenly felt that though Professor Lan was quick-tempered, he at least spoke his mind. People knew what he thought and could act accordingly. He was much easier to deal with in that respect.

Zheng Tan was also somewhat grateful he was a cat. He could pretend he didn’t understand anything. It wasn’t his responsibility to break the ice.

A few physics graduate students were headed towards the bank. They had taken this shortcut and ran right into the Buddha.

Everyone said the Buddha had gone home to rest. Why the hell was she here?!

This was not an hour during which wandering around was acceptable. The Buddha had an amazing memory and knew most of the students in her department. She definitely knew them since they worked on her project.

They had already turned a corner when they saw the Buddha. It was impossible to leave now. They wanted to pretend they hadn’t seen her and walk right past her, but she happened to look up at that moment.

“Professor Ye!”

“Good afternoon professor.”

Their smiles were glues on. They prepared themselves for the scolding they knew was coming.

“Where are you guys headed to?” the Buddha asked.

“We just got our student grants and are going to the bank to take out some money. Maybe open an online account too,” one kid answered.

The Buddha nodded and said, “Go then.”

The kids exchanged looks. Why did the Buddha go easy on them?

They hurriedly left as if scared she would change her mind.

The kids made Zheng Tan laugh inside. What bad luck, running into the boss while playing hooky.

“They act like I’m a monster,” the Buddha said in a quiet voice.

Zheng Tan looked at her. She seemed sad.

She looked at the cat and said, “I heard you brought Zhuo the herb that saved her life. You’re a good boy.” She rubbed his head.

Zheng Tan didn’t like being patted on the head but decided to let the Buddha do it just this once. After all, she had helped him.

“The baby is very healthy. It’s a boy. Zhuo nicknamed him kitty. Kitty Zhuo,” the Buddha went on.

Nicknames in China were a funny thing. They could be anything, from animals to plants. The logic in nicknames was poetic almost, in that there was no logic. Nicknames also expressed a parent’s love for their child.

Zheng Tan never had a nickname growing up. Or maybe he did, but neither of his parents ever mentioned it.

He envied those people with nicknames. Though the names may not sound nice, they enlivened a person. They made people feel more approachable.

Kitty Zhuo was it?

Zheng Tan couldn’t wait to meet him.

A newborn wouldn’t pull his tail like kids did he supposed.

Zheng Tan remember feeling the baby in Zhuo’s stomach. He had nuzzled him with his head.

The Buddha’s face seemed softer when talking about Kitty, it was as if he was her own grandson.

“I’ll bring him to see you sometime so that he’ll know where his name came from. He can meet the ‘blackie’ his mother so often talked about.”

The Buddha told him some more stuff about Kitty. For instance how everyone was nervous when he was born. Many had believed the kid wouldn’t be healthy. People close to Zhuo were all sorry for her. After a series of check-ups, however, the child turned out to be fine.

The Buddha told him that the necklace now belonged to Kitty. Zhuo said that her child would always wear it. It would never be replaced.

Zheng Tan noticed the Buddha only talked about Kitty but didn’t mention Zhuo.

What happened? Was Zhuo not coming back.

Why was the Buddha bringing Kitty to see him and not Zhuo herself? Where were Zhuo and her baby?

The Buddha seemed less scary now. Zheng Tan listened to her talk. He was interested in what she had to say. The two seemed to get along quite well at the moment.

The Buddha watched the cat intently as she talked. The cat didn’t meow or respond in any way, but somehow she knew it was listening.

No wonder Professor Lan had gotten so angry at Ren Chong because of this cat.

Unlike Zhuo’s nanny, the Buddha had no prejudice against this cat. Though she knew this cat was special, she didn’t freak out. She had seen so much that she could keep calm in the face of anything.

If the Buddha knew there was a human soul in this cat’s body, Zheng Tan wondered what she would say.

“Take care not to get caught again,” the Buddha said.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears. He wasn’t that stupid.

They sat together in silence. The Buddha sighed, “There are two types of people in this world, the kind that take things to heart and the kind that don’t. I feel better now that we had this talk. People want to do what they want to do. I should not try to stop them.”

Zheng Tan didn’t think he did anything to help the Buddha feel better, nor did he know what she felt better about. The Buddha got up, so he got up as well.

“Don’t bother going there looking for them.” The Buddha told him before she left.

She didn’t really know if the cat understood her, she just said what she felt needed to be said. The apartment at the Western quarters was empty for the most part. She occasionally went over for a nap, but certainly not every day. If the cat went over, no one would be able to open the door for it.

The cat and human split up at a fork in the road. The Buddha headed towards the western quarters while Zheng Tan went towards the east.

Back at the quarters, Zheng Tan saw Daisy the St. Bernard walking on the lawn with a child on her back. The kid lived in her building and was in kindergarten. The kid loved riding on Daisy’s back. Other kids envied him. Though Daisy was sweet-tempered, she didn’t let everyone ride her.

Zheng Tan thought about Kitty while he watched the kid riding Daisy.

If Kitty ever wanted to ride the dog, he would make sure it happened. Daisy was huge after all, she would be fine.

Zheng Tan heard a car honk behind him. He turned around, it was Wei Ling’s car.

Wei Ling waved to him and signaled for him to get on.

Did this mean the spying task was about to start?

Zheng Tan ran over and jumped in through the window. He looked towards Wei Ling.

“Let’s go over to the Night Tower, I told your owners already. We can leave right now.”

Zheng Tan had thought his task was to plant a wiretapping device, but from what Wei Ling told him on their way to the nightclub, it seemed like that wasn’t it. So was Wei Ling toying with him when he told the story of the pigeons and the wiretaps? Or was he just testing the water, seeing what he was capable of? Wei Ling was nothing if not cautious.

It made sense now. The KGB’s world-renowned wiretaps in the sixties were now available in toy stores. Ye Hao’s bunch probably knew those tricks inside out. They didn’t need a cat to help out with something basic like that.

Then what was this other business Wei Ling was talking about?