Strange Life of a Cat

Instead of going to the Night Tower, Ye Hao headed to the quiet villa where Zheng Tan went last time after the task.

Wei Ling was already waiting inside. He wasn’t worried. He had heard already that Ye Hao’s wounds were not fatal. The only thing on his mind was what to tell the Jiaos.

When Ye Hao came in, Wei Ling saw that behind him was a large cat.

Ye Hao had mentioned a cat on the phone, but Wei Ling hadn’t taken it to heart. He thought that in a city, a big cat is just a big cat. It wasn’t like lynxes and bobcats that existed outside of the zoo.

So, without any warning, the sight of this cat made Wei Ling’s face turn ashen.

Large cats like this brought back terrible memories.

Ye Hao knew about Wei Ling’s past, so he purposely left out a description of the cat, just to see the look on Wei Ling’s face.

“Stop laughing!”

Wei Ling kicked him, but Ye Hao dodged on time.

“What’s going on?” Wei Ling asked after deciding to sit down on the couch instead of launching another kick. The black cat was already rummaging for food in a fruit bowl.

Zheng Tan ignored them all. He was only here to observe, not to participate. He just wanted to know what the large cat was up to.

Ye Hao’s wounds were tended to by the doctor and were predicted to heal soon. Then it was Nougat’s turn. The doctor was nervous at first since he wasn’t a vet after all. He calmed down after he identified the cause of the problem.

Nougat’s leg had been lodged between wooden boards. He had splinters on his hind legs that were causing him pain though he was not bleeding. No matter how much he licked the wound, the splinters were still there.

The doctor planned to hold the kitten in place with something, but Nougat seemed willing to cooperate. So he started the task of pulling out the splinters. Whenever he pulled one out, Nougat meowed loudly. It seemed to hurt a great deal. Nougat almost turned around and bit the doctor once.

The doctor was hesitating. They were only halfway through, was the cat going to bite or scratch him later?

At that time, Nougat’s dad walked over. He pressed Nougat down and looked at the doctor as if telling him to continue.

Zheng Tan felt bad for Nougat. He already had a serious mom and now his father was like this.

Nougat kept moaning as the doctor worked. However, though he tried, he couldn’t escape from under his father’s paw. Wei Ling and Ye Hao exchanged a look.

The doctor was sweating profusely after finally covering Nougat’s leg with some ointment. He wasn’t hot but rather nervous. The large cat was too weird. He just wanted to get away.

Wei Ling called the Jiao household, telling them their cat was not going home tonight. Mama Jiao insisted on hearing Zheng Tan’s voice to make sure he was safe, so Zheng Tan shrieked into the phone.

The large cat licking the kitten jumped. It eyed Zheng Tan cautiously, only sitting down after seeing the latter back off.

With the Jiao family off their backs, Wei Ling and Ye Hao now had to think about Nougat. It was unclear who his owners were and it was too late to find out.

“Did you ask the Jiaos?”

“I was so focused on avoiding a tongue lashing that I hung up as quickly as I could,” Wei Ling answered.

Wei Ling thought for a moment then placed the phone in front of Zheng Tan. He pointed at Nougat, “That’s your problem.”

Zheng Tan understood what Wei Ling meant. Ever since Wei Ling found out he could dial a phone, he had been helping Wei Ling make calls when he was driving. However, Zheng Tan looked around the room before dialing.

The doctor had left. Baozi was on a mission as well. Long Qi was apparently hospitalized because of some injury. It was just them in the room. There were people in the living room outside, but they wouldn’t come in without Ye Hao’s permission.

So he pulled over the phone and dialed.

Ye Hao was seriously considering wearing a talisman like Long Qi. The animals he had been encountering were not normal.

The large cat had seen Zheng Tan dial the phone as well. It tilted its head as if thinking.

Zheng Tan had dialed Mr. Guo’s workshop. He was there most of the time.

The call went through. Wei Ling managed to get Nougat’s name out of Mr. Guo. He mentioned Nougat sustaining a small injury and that he would be dropped off home tomorrow.

Learning that Zheng Tan was there, Mr. Guo felt assured and thanked Wei Ling.

One more problem solved, the two men now turned to the large cat. The cat looked at them then yawned. It curled up next to Nougat and closed its eyes.

So it was going to bed? The two men looked on in disbelief.

Mr. Guo hadn’t mentioned any other cat on the phone earlier. Wei Ling turned to Zheng Tan, who was gleefully munching on pork jerky. “Do you know that one?”

Zheng Tan thought about his answer, but eventually decided to shake his head. He knew Nougat and Li Yuanba and had guessed this was the father, but he didn’t really know the cat. He had never even heard of the cat. If such a cat was roaming the area, Papa Jiao would have warned him. Even the old ladies in the quarters who loved to gossip had never heard of this cat.

This large cat probably visited the area to see his girl and kid once in a while and hid somewhere suitable most of the time. Where would that be? Zheng Tan suddenly remembered a botanical garden and a park with a hill not far from the university.

There was a shortcut from the pet center to campus. It passed by the abandoned construction site. Zheng Tan never took that road. Maybe this cat was heading to the pet center to visit Li Yuanba and Nougat when he ran into someone trying to kill Ye Hao, who had Nougat in his arms. That caused him to interfere.

No matter what brought the cat here, it was here now and it wasn’t hiding from anyone.

Suddenly Zheng Tan squinted his eyes, looking first at the pair of cats sleeping peacefully, then towards Ye Hao who was discussing something with Wei Ling.

Was this large cat trying to stay?

He thought of the cat killing a man, then thought about Ye Hao’s background. Well…

Wei Ling caught a glimpse of Zheng Tan when he turned to drink water. The black cat had a piece of jerky in its mouth but was not chewing. It seemed to be thinking.

“What are you thinking, Charcoal?” Wei Ling asked. He knew the cat couldn’t talk and just wanted to catch its attention. The thinking cat was too weird even for him. He would be talisman shopping like Long Qi if he hadn’t known the cat for so long.

Zheng Tan looked at Wei Ling, then at Ye Hao. He went back to his jerky.

It wasn’t his problem. If the cat was determined to stay, Ye Hao probably wouldn’t refuse. Ye Hao was a good man and wouldn’t mistreat the cat. He owed the cat his life after all.

Zheng Tan thought about that. It would be funny.

“Why do I feel the black cat is laughing at me?” Ye Hao frowned.

“You’re overthinking things.” Wei Ling patted him on the shoulder.

The next morning, Zheng Tan sat next to Ye Hao’s at the breakfast table. He was eating liver soup on the chair. It was made with pork liver, kidney, and lean meat and was a favorite of Zheng Tan’s. Mama Jiao often made it. He didn’t think it would be available here.

Both Nougat and his father had bowls of soup in front of them, except that the bowl in front of the large cat was more like a basin. They were having soup and rice like everyone else. Ye Hao never owned a cat and didn’t know what to feed them. He decided they were going to eat like Zheng Tan. Thankfully, they weren’t picky.

Both cats were eating on the floor but the large cat saw Zheng Tan getting on a chair. He jumped on a chair immediately and stared at Ye Hao, who was pretending not to notice anything. So the large cat started meowing. It wasn’t pleasant, but Ye Hao was someone who had karaoked with Zheng Tan. The large cat at least sounded like a cat.

It was still not the most appetizing sound though.

Ye Hao told the maid that brought them breakfast to move the bowl onto the chair.

The cat was larger than Zheng Tan and had a larger bowl as well. The chair was too small so the maid brought another. She put Nougat on a chair too, since she might as well.

Ye Hao swore inside. He wanted all of them out!

The front door opened.

Wei Ling choked when he heard people talking at the door. He whispered to Ye Hao, “Your wife and kid are here.”

Ye Hao wanted to ask what was so wrong about that, then he remembered there were three cats here.

What did he tell his wife when she wanted to get a cat?

Oh, yes, that he didn’t like them. Now, he had three right here.

The next moment, a tall beauty with a boy about the same age as Jiao Yuan walked into the dining room.

Tang Xue heard Ye Hao had been attacked last night and hurried over with their son early in the morning. Ye Hao had guaranteed her on the phone that his wounds weren’t anything to worry about, but she still wanted to see for herself.

Before she could say anything, the three cats on chairs by the table stunned her into silence.

Unlike her, the kid who had looked at his father with contempt lit up at the sight of the cats.

Wei Ling focused on drinking soup, pretending not to see Ye Hao’s plea for help.