Strange Life of a Cat

Chapter 15: What Did You Do Now, Charcoal?

In front of Zheng Tan were two puppies.

One nestled against Tiger. The other one, that just came running over, began to bite Tiger's ear after a few barks. From the look of it, he was just play biting or else Tiger wouldn't be taking it so calmly.

The three of them seem familiar enough that they must have met before. These two puppies must have arrived in those two days he was gone.

Zheng Tan jumped on a nearby tree. The owner of the two pups should be in the vicinity; he was prepared to find out who they were.

Half an hour later, several old men slowly walked over; two of them had dog leashes in their hands.

Listening to their conversation, Zheng Tan figured out the reason behind the appearance of the puppies.

The first of the two men, Mr. Li, was also a retired biology professor. He specialized in botany and often went on walks to Professor Lan's garden. He lived on the first floor of Tiger's building. Tiger often went in through his place when he couldn't open the front door. Zheng Tan was familiar with him.

The second man, Mr. Yan, did not belong to the department of health sciences. Zheng Tan had seen him around the Eastern quarters a few times but didn't know much about him.

According to them, several cases of theft had happened last week in the quarters, so the two men decided to raise dogs to guards their homes.

Mr. Li's building hadn't been robbed so far, but he lived on the first floor and decided to take precautions. He called his son to get him a large dog. He said he didn't have any requirements except that the dog had to be large. He wanted something that looked imposing. He didn't want anything like a Chihuahua. They didn't look they were capable of much.

His son thought about it then contacted some friends. City bylaws had restrictions on large dogs, which made pet registrations extremely difficult. It wasn't like he could get his father an aggressive dog anyways. What if it harmed someone living in the faculty residence? But it wasn't like he could refuse his father's request.

Eventually, he bought a St. Bernard from a friend. It was big enough and relatively gentle. Though the drooling could become a problem.

Mr. Li studied plants, so dogs weren't his specialty. He decided that as long as it was a large dog, he would be happy. So when he saw the dog, he immediately decided he was going to take it.

"This is a nice pup. I'll call him Daisy."

Zheng Tan pictured a full grown St. Bernard, with its droopy face, being called Daisy. It was awful.

Mr. Yan lived in the building where the theft happened. His home was untouched but he too was worried. So he rang up his daughter, who was abroad, for some advice. His standards for a dog were different from Mr. Li. He didn't care about its size, as long as it bit.

Of course the dog wasn't supposed to bite anyone living in the quarter, but it needed to be able to protect its owner if someone dangerous came near. Some dogs only looked scary, but wouldn't even bark when thieves break in.

So his daughter had a friend bring him this bull terrier. It was the somewhat deformed looking puppy that just ran over. It was white with black circles around its eyes, like it was punched in the face. The puppy looked somewhat funny with its small beady eyes.

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Mr. Yan had named the bull terrier Mighty. After learning that the breed was aggressive to other animals, he decided to let it familiarize itself with the animals in the quarter. Even if it was going to grow up into a mean little thing, it shouldn't be mean to its neighbors

It appeared that this bull terrier, like the noisy parrot, liked to bite on cat ears. It was also a tad too energetic. It had been jerking around this whole time. It was probably not going to calm down after it grew up. In contrast, Daisy, who was larger than both Tiger and Mighty, was much quieter. After whining a bit, she was falling asleep after being licked by Tiger.

The three were getting along well, but who knew what would happen after the puppies grew up?

In any case, Zheng Tan could foresee peace forever leaving the Eastern quarters.

Zheng Tan went back home to have lunch. Yi Xin had brought back some food. It was cold by the time he got home, but he had to live with it.

Yi Xin had fallen asleep on the couch after lunch. He still had to work on his thesis later.

Zheng Tan grew bored, so he went out again. Basking in the warm afternoon sun, he was growing sleepy. He didn't see the other cats around, so he decided to go to the lake. At this hour, the area was usually deserted. Zheng Tan jumped on a willow tree.

Since he became a cat, Zheng Tan developed a habit of lying on high places. it was strange that he was not afraid of the height, nor was he afraid of falling off in his dreams. He always slept peacefully on trees.

He heard someone approaching, Zheng Tan opened his eyes. A young woman holding a stack of books sat down on a bench near his tree.

The women looked familiar. He searched his memory. It was the "actress" from the "soap opera" that parrot was watching the other day.

Zheng Tan looked at her belly. Perhaps it was because she was wearing loose fitting clothes, she didn't look three months pregnant. Zheng Tan had left early that day and missed the rest of the "show". He didn't know much about her, but from the looks of things, she was close to her due date.

He twitched his ears. Zheng Tan didn't try to figure out the plot of that day's events. It had nothing to do with him. Besides, "soap operas" like that one happened every day in this country.

He closed his eyes, ready to fall back asleep, when he heard approaching footsteps again. This time, it seemed like a man.

But it wasn't a man. Zheng Tan saw a woman, around 50, walking towards them. She had a stern look that was comparable only to that of Professor Lan's. She had the aura of someone in high places, who was used to commandeering those around her.

The woman deliberately looked around to check that they were alone, before walking up to the younger woman.

"Zhuo."

The lady's expression softened, and her voice was gentle. Zheng Tan felt she was using hushed tones so as to avoid being overheard.

Was something shady going on?

Zheng Tan stuck up his ears.

"Professor Ye."

"Sit. Sit. Don't get up."

She sat down next to the young woman, but for a while, the two did not speak.

The atmosphere felt heavy.

Finally, the older woman sighed and asked: "You really decided?

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"We're talking about project A!"

She lowered her voice even more when she said "project A". Zheng Tan could barely hear them with his hearing.

"I know Professor Ye. I have decided."

They talked for a while. Zheng Tan attempted to figure out what this "project A" was, but the rest of their conversation was all about physics and so technical that he barely understood a word. This project A was never mentioned again.

The willow branches hid Zheng Tan. The lady only checked for people but not animals. So she never caught Zheng Tan eavesdropping.

The woman, Zhuo, didn't leave until last period.

Zheng Tan, too, went back home. All night long, he couldn't take his mind off that project A. It was so very mysterious.

The next day, Zheng Tan finished his daily run with Wei Ling, went home for lunch, then strolled over to the lake again. Sure enough, Zhuo was at the exact same spot reading a book with a pen in her hand, jotting down something in her notebook.

Zheng Tan considered it, then walked over and hopped on the same bench.

Zhuo looked up and saw a black cat with round eyes staring at her. She smiled at it, then resumed what she was doing.

Zheng Tan saw she didn't mind, so he inched closer to look at what she was writing.

He saw a series of abstruse formulae made up of symbols he never seen before and etc. In short, it was stuff he didn't understand.

As for the book, it was in English and consisted entirely of professional vocabulary and terms. Zheng Tan thought he knew some English, but this was way beyond his level.

How frustrating!

Zheng Tan didn't understand the book or her notes, but he did not leave immediately. He was really curious about the so-called "project A". He figured if that he stuck around long enough, he should be able to find a chance to figure out what it was.

So, Zheng Tan spent the afternoon on the bench. The other woman came by. She checked his pet ID after seeing him, then left without saying anything.

The next few days, Zheng Tan settled into a routine. He would train in the morning, then sleep on the bench by the lake in the afternoon. The older woman would come by every day. She would stay for a few minutes, sometimes saying a few words before she left again. If Zhuo was doing calculations, she would stand and watch quietly.

One day, Zheng Tan went home straight after his run. He had nothing planned for the rest of the day and waited on the sofa. It was Wednesday again. A week had gone by and the Jiao family was coming home.

Yi Xin had to spend his day in the lab so he wouldn't be bringing lunch. Zheng Tan ate snacks instead.

Checking the clock on the wall every few minutes, Zheng Tan felt that time had never passed slower.

Finally, at three in the afternoon, Zheng Tan heard Jiao Yuan's voice downstairs. He rushed onto the balcony.

Mama Jiao, Gu Youzi and Jiao Yu were downstairs each holding a bag. They saw Zheng Tan's head poke out from the balcony railing and all smiled. After they entered the building, Zheng Tan opened the front door and waited.

Back at home, the three look tired and somewhat sad. But being home, the kids were much more relaxed. After a bath, Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi went back into their rooms to take a nap. Kids got tired easily and they had not been able to get a good night's sleep since they left. They weren't used to sleeping elsewhere.

Mama Jiao was preparing to make dumplings. She would wake the kids after dinner was ready.

Zheng Tan laid on the couch watching TV. He was in a good mood, and for the moment, he couldn't care less about project A or Daisy and Mighty or whatever.

The Jiao family returning meant he wouldn't have to eat cafeteria food and snacks anymore. Life was beautiful.

Papa Jiao came home at five. He had to take care of some business. Yi Xin needed to borrow lab equipment from the physics department, some of which required his mentor to be present to vouch for him.

Papa Jiao looked confused when he came through the door. He saw Zheng Tan on the couch and asked: "Did you do something, Charcoal?"

Mama Jiao, who was testing her cooking, was displeased at what he said. "Charcoal is a good boy. What on earth can he do to anger you? You are a scientist. You need to present proof before you make accusations."

"I just went to the physics department to borrow equipments and ran into 'the Buddha'. She actually smiled at me!" Papa Jiao frowned in confusion.

"Do you mean sneered?" Mama Jiao asked.

It was a fair assumption. Every time Papa Jiao went to borrow equipment, 'the Buddha' always treated him like he owed her a billion dollars.

"No, she actually smiled."

Smiling like a normal human was not normal for 'the Buddha'.

Mama Jiao frowned. She came out the kitchen, still holding a spoon in hand, and looked at Zheng Tan, who was lying innocently on the couch.

"Charcoal, what did you do now?"

Zheng Tan: "..."