Strange Life of a Cat

Exactly how the commands were given was unclear to Zheng Tan, but he surmised a conclusion—theft of wallets was likely a routine training task, so the Cat Tamer might not have been very close to the cats during the theft. However, when the sheriff and the cat from the West District were beaten, the Cat Tamer should have been nearby, watching. Perhaps not too close, since cats would dash back and forth during a fight, but likely within a hundred meters?

If he indeed encountered that Cat Tamer, Zheng Tan decided he would give him a “proper” greeting.

That day, Zheng Tan swaggered to the university square where, even during daylight, many students were active around the square. Next to the square was a cultural corridor where students and some strolling people liked to sit and rest or read. What stopped Zheng Tan in his tracks was a long-haired cat there.

The cat was slightly bigger than the average domestic cat, with a coffee-striped color, and looked like it might have some forest cat in its lineage—not that such a cat was particularly rare; Xiao Guo’s shop had a coffee-striped Norwegian Forest Cat that looked not very different from this one at first glance.

At that moment, the cat was staying in the cultural corridor. Most students were quite kind to the campus cats; one student offered bread to the cat, but the cat waited for the students to put down torn pieces of bread before extending its paw to hook them, leisurely biting into the pieces.

It appeared indifferent to the people around, neither fearful nor friendly. Perhaps the students didn’t notice this, so they continued to stay beside the cat, changing up the types of food they offered, completely unaware that the cat hardly regarded their kindness, eating the handed food when in a good mood or ignoring it when not.

Zheng Tan had not seen this cat in the school before. Seeing that it was an adult, there was a high possibility it was not from the campus, as people there usually raised cats from a younger age.

Perhaps sensing Zheng Tan’s gaze, the cat eating the bread paused to look towards him, its gaze cold. After a few seconds, it resumed nibbling on the bread stuck to its paw. But Zheng Tan knew that creature was definitely alert to his presence.

That look conveyed an unfriendly message to Zheng Tan. If it weren’t for that look, Zheng Tan would only have been slightly suspicious, but after that gaze, he was eighty percent sure there was something off about this cat. The look in its eyes was not typical for a pet cat, yet didn’t quite match that of a stray or wild cat; although the staring duration was short, it gave Zheng Tan the sensation of being considered prey.

However, it remained to be seen who the actual prey was.

After watching for a while, Zheng Tan lifted his foot and started to leave in another direction. As he rounded a corner, he suddenly turned his head back to find the cat still staring at him. Its indifferent look was more intense, distinctly different from that of the one in Xiao Guo’s shop.

Zheng Tan defiantly lifted his chin at it, hooked his tail, and then proudly strutted away, walking deliberately.

Shortly after Zheng Tan left, the cat shook off the piece of ham stuck on its paw, ignored the “over-zealously affectionate” students, and turned to leave. A male student tried to stop it, but received a scratch that left a long blood mark on his hand, immediately dripping blood. Before the student could kick out in anger, the cat quickly ran off, out of the students’ sight.

At the Jiao family’s home during dinner, Jiao Ma noticed that their cat had eaten more than usual. Was it tired from its wandering outside, burning more energy?

Although Jiao Ma often complained about her family’s excessive pampering of the cat, when it came to her turn, she was no different. After adding more rice to Zheng Tan’s bowl, she also ladled two large pieces of meat into it from the soup bowl.

“It’s good to eat more, get full and then stay home to sleep. Put on some weight and stop always running around outside.”

Jiao Ma thought everything was fine, but when it came to watching the news in the evening, Zheng Tan once again dashed out of the door by himself, which almost made Jiao Ma throw the remote control in her hand.

Coming out of the building, Zheng Tan placed the object he wore around his neck on Big Fatty’s balcony to hide it well.