Strange Life of a Cat

After breakfast, Wei Ling took Zheng Tan and Nougat home. As for the large cat, it showed no intention of moving off the sofa. Ye Hao tried threatening it, but it ignored him with a yawn. So far it was fairly obedient except when it refused to be leashed.

Ye Hao was set on getting rid of this cat, but his son had begged him to keep it. It was the first time the boy made a request. Though they didn’t seem to get along, Ye Hao pampered his son whenever he could. He begrudgingly agreed to keep the cat for now, keeping it under observation for the time being.

During this period of observation, Ye Hao stipulated that his son would not be alone with the cat. If he was to approach the cat, at least three people had to be in the room. If he…

After a series of ‘he must not’ Ye Heng was losing patience and looked to his mother for help. She was on Ye Hao’s side this time. Ever since she learned that the cat had human blood on its paws, she opposed the idea of keeping the cat. She had relented after realizing her son was relentless and decided there were to be people guarding the cat at all times.

Were all cats shameless?

Ye Hao decided that cats were capricious, neurotic, inconsiderate and shameless.

Anyway, the cat stayed. Ye Hao, who lived with his grandfather, started visiting more often. Even Qi Ye came to visit after hearing about the cat.

Qi Ye thought quite highly of the large cat. After learning that it was capable of killing humans, Qi Ye slapped the table and exclaimed, “Great!”

This made Ye Hao speechless.

Qi Ye planned to show off the cat to Shijiu after it got used to its surroundings. He wanted to have it fight Shijiu’s super cat and hopefully win. This would show them. That stupid cat had sent his parrots into depression mode.

When Long Qi was discharged, he got a scare seeing the large cat on Ye Hao’s sofa. He had thought it was a dog at first, before realizing it was just a special cat.

All of this had no effect on Zheng Tan. He stayed home these days.

The continuous hot days were unbearable. Papa and Mama Jiao stayed at home these days too. It was like a sauna outside. One could probably fry an egg on the asphalt road outside. Even Jiao Yuan was showing signs of fatigue. He watched television at home every day.

Youzi was doing every day’s portion of homework while Jiao Yuan and Mama Jiao were watching TV. Zheng Tan was rolling around on the sofa. He wasn’t interested in soap operas. He kicked the newspaper when he was turning and tossing, so he decided to read it since he had nothing better to do.

It was the Chuhua Daily, a common subscription among Chuhua citizens. Many kept old newspapers to use as coasters, then eventually to sell.

Jiao Yuan and Mama Jiao were fixated on the TV and didn’t notice what Zheng Tan was doing. Zheng Tan flipped a page after finishing the entertainment news. There was a whole page on the vice mayor of the city being caught for corruption. The timing coincided with Zheng Tan’s return from Ye Hao’s villa.

Could this have something to do with Ye Hao?

None of his business.

He rolled over and kicked the papers off the sofa. The smell of ink was making him nauseous. Half asleep, he heard a knock on the door. He didn’t open his eyes and stayed on the couch. Soon, however, he was thrown into the air by Jiao Yuan.

Fuck!

Zheng Tan was wide awake now. He ignored Jiao Yuan’s outstretched arms and kicked him. He jumped onto the floor and ran into Youzi’s room. Kids were unreliable.

He eavesdropped in her room and figured out the reason behind Jiao Yuan’s excitement.

The visitor was Sahara’s owner Ruan Ying. He had managed to score tickets to the new city pool. The pool was newly built and had a beach. Chuhua was an inland city and the beach was bound to attract a lot of people. The pool was not opened to the public yet, tickets were only distributed through selected means. The pool would officially open five days later.

The pool would be packed when it opened to the public, but even so, people were looking forward to it.

Papa Jiao had planned to take the kids there when it opened, who knew Ruan Ying would have tickets already?

He gave tickets to families in the quarters with kids. Beside the Jiaos, Lan Tianzhu, Su An, and Shi Rui all got tickets. As for Xiong Xiong, he was not living in the quarters but with his mom.

Jiao Yuan received a call from Xiong Xiong before he could call him. Xiong Xiong had learned of their plans and reasoned with his mother. She had agreed reluctantly and was able to obtain tickets for him herself. The kids planned to meet at the pool tomorrow.

Ruan Ying wanted to leave before sunrise. There was a restaurant at the pool and they could have lunch there. The would then go out for dinner together. However, Papa Jiao received a call from Xiong Xiong’s mother.

She was a good person, but very pushy. Maybe all successful women were like that. She worked at the ministry of education and was probably high up since she was often busy. Xiong Xiong’s father was busy as well, which was why he mostly lived with his grandparents in the quarters.

Xiong Xiong’s mother wanted to take everyone out for dinner to thank them for watching out for Xiong Xiong.

Papa Jiao couldn’t refuse. She had already made reservations and had told the other families.

If they overlooked her attitude, tomorrow’s plans were perfect and Papa Jiao didn’t want to disappoint the children. He went that night to borrow Yuan Zhiyi’s car.

Jiao Yuan couldn’t fall asleep because he was too excited.

Youxi was the same. After all, they were kids, and kids loved to play.

Zheng Tan didn’t mind. He wasn’t scared of water and didn’t mind a swim, as long as Jiao Yuan and his friends didn’t pee in the water.

The next morning, the kids woke up before their alarms. They finished breakfast and were downstairs at seven.

Every family was driving. Ruan Ying was in his family’s car alone with Sahara, who had his chin on the window and was looking out, barking occasionally.

“You guys are bringing the cat? Doesn’t it need to be leashed.” Ruan Ying asked.

“It’s ok. Our cat is a good boy.” Mama Jiao laughed.

Ruan Ying looked at the Jiao kids and the black cat, then back at his dog. He shook his head.

They didn’t need to bring swim rings, they were provided at the pool. They only needed to bring themselves. If they had to bring something, they could bring snacks, but it was summer and all people wanted to eat were watermelon and drink cold drinks. Zheng Tan looked around, no one packed a lot of stuff.

It was time to set off. Sahara who was barking at Zheng Tan was dragged inside the door by Ruan Ying. Air conditioning was essential in this weather, or else they would all probably need to be hospitalized.

The pool was quite a long drive away, so the kids took a nap. Zheng Tan looked at the receding scenery and sighed.

The streets were full of action in the morning. They waited at an intersection. While waiting, Zheng Tan saw a motorcycle behind them with a watermelon hanging on each side. The rider had no shirt on and was wiping sweat with a wet towel tied around his head. He threw the towel on behind his shoulder when the light turned yellow.

Being outdoors during the summer was hard.

The pool they were headed to was a large water park built beside the river. Large amounts of sand from upstream was deposited there forming a natural pool with water from the river. The pool was divided into deep and shallow sections with kids corners and little sightseeing pavilions. It was equipped with a parking lot, food stands and a changing room. Nearby was a large square designated as a leisure ground.

Someone was waiting in the parking lot when they got there. There were quite a few cars there already, it seemed many had come even earlier than them.

The person waiting knew Ruan Ying well. He introduced the layout of the grounds and highlighted some attractions. If not for their parents restraining them, the kids would be off by now. Though there were lifeguards around, parents preferred watching over their kids themselves. They couldn’t swim in the pool until late in the afternoon without risking severe sunburns anyway. The pool wasn’t opened to the public yet and they weren’t in a rush to find seats.

They planned to get to know the grounds first, so they knew where the changing rooms and washrooms were.

Xiong Xiong and his parents were waiting at the tea service area. His mother had some tea leaves out ready to make a brew. She didn’t seem pleased to see Mama Jiao take Zheng Tan out of her bag. She probably thought this was no place for a cat like him.

Mama Jiao noticed her expression and took her gang to a faraway table. A table only sat four anyways and they were surrounded by people from the quarters. She wasn’t risking getting lost.