Strange Life of a Cat

Zheng Tan surveyed the room after entering through the window.

The decor was plain, with only the bare necessities. The furniture and appliances showed years of wear. As Wei Ling said, everything in the room was left behind by the landlord. This meant that Zheng Tan could freely wreak havoc without feeling guilty.

The design was poor, so the first floor was dimly lit and humid.

Zheng Tan figured out the floor plan before anyone came so he would have an escape plan later.

Wei Ling said the house was bugged as well as under video surveillance. He tried to act natural and similar to a stray cat.

It was weird pretending that the cameras and wires didn’t exist when he clearly knew they did. It must be difficult for Bian Tou to live like this day in and day out.

He wondered what Bian Tou thought when he had private moments with his girlfriend.

With great responsibility came great suffering, the life of a spy was definitely trying.

Zheng Tan followed the smell in the air. If a cat didn’t steal food in homes, what else would it do? It wasn’t going to search the house for money.

He made his way to the kitchen while memorizing the electronics and furniture between the two rooms.

His ears twitched. He heard the woman coming down the stairs, so he quickened his pace.

When the woman reached the kitchen, the dirty, ugly, stupid cat was sniffing her plate of beef. She felt her anger rise.

“Go away, you stupid cat!” the woman yelled, picking up a spatula.

Zheng Tan pretended to be startled. He “accidentally” stepped across the plate of beef then brushed past the spice jars. A jar full of ground pepper fell to the ground, spilling the contents everywhere.

The salt jar was next, then the chicken stock jar. He managed to break a few pretty bowls as well.

The woman was absolutely fuming now. She wanted the cat out!

Zheng Tan jumped around while avoiding her spatula.

Wei Ling had told him he was allowed to mess the place up when he entered, so he decided to do just that.

He looked at the mess on the kitchen floor and decided that was about enough. He saw Bian Tou outside, so he ducked under the woman’s arm and jumped onto the cupboard.

The cupboards ran almost two meters long. The landlord used to own a small restaurant. He kept all the plates and bowls on it after the restaurant closed. Next to the cupboard was a rack with all kinds of pots and pans. They were dusty since the current occupants didn’t cook much.

The woman couldn’t reach Zheng Tan. She knocked the cupboard with the spatula hoping it would scare the cat, but it just ignored her.

She turned around angrily to face Bian Tou. “What are you waiting for, get this cat out of here!”

She realized Bian Tou might not be pleased after she tried to beat the cat, she pointed to the plate of beef and said, “You can give it the beef.”

Afterwards, she left. The room was a mess after her war on the cat and she needed a bath. She hoped the cat would be long gone after her shower.

Zheng Tan sighed in relief after the woman left. She wouldn’t be coming back for a while, but he couldn’t let his guard down. They could still be under surveillance.

He looked around the kitchen. Where would be a good place to approach Bian Tou?

Wei Ling had told him that surveillance cameras would be hidden somewhere up high. People often overlooked places above the eye level. A camera up high could capture everything. Of course, there was still the distinct possibility that the camera was close to the ground. Zheng Tan ruled that out. This was the kitchen after all.

No matter how difficult their current position, the opposite side was not the KGB. He could manage.

He had made a decision.

Bian Tou looked up at the cat. He left and soon came back with a can of cat food.

He opened the can and emptied the contents onto a plastic plate.

“Come kitty kitty kitty. I have food.” Bian Tou cautiously approached him.

Zheng Tan wanted to roll his eyes. He hated being called kitty. It was dumb.

His opinion of Bian Tou had dropped greatly.

However, he still had to complete the task no matter how displeased he was.

Zheng Tan jumped down and hid below the lower cupboards when Bian Tou came close. He crawled around looking for bugs, but all he found were actual bugs and more dust.

He was already filthy, he didn’t mind getting dirtier.

“How are things?”

The woman appeared at the door in a bathrobe, her hair still wet. She questioned Bian Tou as she dried her hair with a towel.

F*ck she was fast. Zheng Tan swore.

The woman was worried Bian Tou would do something behind her back, so she finished her shower as quickly as possible.

Wei Ling wasn’t lying when he said the surveillance was tight and they couldn’t contact Bian Tou.

It was up to Bian Tou now. Zheng Tan waited under the cupboard.

“Should we try getting it out with a broom?” the woman asked.

“The more you try to force it, the more reluctant it will be to come out.” Bian Tou shook his head. He crouched down and pushed the dish under the cupboard.

The woman had a look of contempt in her eyes. She stayed at the door. The room smelled of white pepper. She could see dust floating in the air. She frowned and backed up a step. She only had to watch Bian Tou, there was no need to put herself through unnecessary misery.

Three minutes.

Nothing.

Zheng Tan wanted to quickly finish his task, but Wei Ling had warned him to be patient and careful.

“As a stray cat, you must show caution and hesitation when coming into contact with people. Bian Tou won’t let you stay there for long. Those people killed a stray cat that got trapped in the house previously when he wasn’t there.”

Zheng Tan decided he needed to retreat and just wait.

The woman was quickly losing patience.

“When is it coming out? Don’t blame me, but I really want to beat it with the feather duster now. Look at the kitchen. I worked so hard to organize it, now it’s a mess again.” The woman complained.

Zheng Tan felt like laughing after hearing the woman’s words. Come get me if you can, he thought gleefully.

If the woman knew what he was thinking, she would probably be murderous.

The cat moved. Bian Tou moved the plate closer while watching the cat.

Zheng Tan eyed the feet at the door then looked at Bian Tou.

Bian Tou moved closer to the cat. From his angle, the cat eyes were gleaming even in the dark. He had an odd feeling.

Bian Tou didn’t know how to explain the feeling. The cat seemed different than all the cats he had encountered before. The eyes sent chills down his spine. He told himself it was just a trick of the light.

Just as Bian Tou was giving up using food to lure the cat out, he saw the cat start inching towards him. It was near his hand.

Bian Tou was pleased. He decided to let the cat eat first, then quickly catch it and take it outside. Leaving it in here might be dangerous since there was rat poison lying around. He told himself it would be ok if the cat scratched him. He had been stabbed before, a few cat scratches were nothing.

However, his good mood was short-lasting. The next moment, something happened that made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

When the cat was next to his hand, it raised a paw to its mouth then put the paw in his hand. He felt a plastic membrane.

It was the plastic membrane he used to contact Ye Hao’s people.

Zheng Tan did not particularly like this method of communication. He had to carry the thing in his mouth. It was slipped over one of his teeth. He couldn’t open his mouth this whole time and it was highly uncomfortable. Now that the thing was out, he felt much better.

Bian Tou was going through an emotional rollercoaster. He had not expected this at all.

This was his contact?

A cat?

His contact was a cat?!

How did they manage to do such a thing?

People train pigeons, rats, dogs, but rarely cats. At least, to the best of his knowledge.

The people watching him definitely weren’t expecting this. If someone had told him this yesterday, he would have laughed in their face.