Chapter 117: That Strange Child

The boy was startled, his automatic pencil almost flew from his hand; if it weren't for still being in class, he would have jumped straight up from his seat.

The math teacher on the podium glanced over; the boy quickly sat up straight and pretended to write and doodle in his notebook.

After two minutes, the boy glanced at the person on the podium, saw that he wasn't looking at him, then cautiously turned his head to look out the window again.

The small corner without posted notices had a limited view; the boy could only see from here that outside was a furry creature. He carefully distinguished the silhouette on the window, combined with what he had just seen, and realized that the creature crouched outside the window was a cat, a black cat.

It had been a while since school started, and this was the first time he had seen a cat crouched outside the window; moreover, he was looking in from that corner without notices—truly a strange cat.

Zheng Tan had originally worried that the child might scream or jump up in fright, drawing others' attention, but he didn't expect the boy to react so quickly, be quite composed, and have a strong heart.

Zheng Tan peered again through that small corner, glanced at the child who occasionally looked his way, then turned his gaze to the front of the classroom.

Jiao Yuan and his friends were easy to spot; moreover, the few of them sat close together, and the homeroom teacher had given them decent seats—mid‑room, near the front—so they didn't inhale chalk dust, could see the blackboard clearly, and hear the teacher well.

Jiao Yuan, sitting in class listening to the lecture, never imagined that his family's cat was crouched at the back classroom window, looking inside.

After Zheng Tan looked for a while, he left, but before doing so he ran to the neighboring teacher's office to have a look. However, there was no English department there; Jiao Ma was probably on the second floor.

After thinking it over, Zheng Tan didn't actually go up to the second floor to look for Jiao Ma; he just wandered around the school grounds for a bit and then left.

Just as Zheng Tan was leaving, at the side of an open window in the second‑floor teacher's office, Jiao Ma walked over to look at the distant scenery to relieve eye strain, having just finished grading homework and feeling a bit tired. She didn't expect that, upon looking down, she would just see a black shadow dart onto the wall. Because it was somewhat far away, Jiao Ma couldn't see clearly. Moreover, there are many black stray cats in the world, and this place is some distance from Chu Hua Da Xue, so she didn't think it was her own cat; she merely felt inexplicably familiar. In the end, she still shook her head, dispelling that suspicion.

After class ended, the boy sitting by the window in the last row opened the window to look outside, even sticking his head out, but saw nothing—no trace of any cat.

"Hey, Fu Lei, why are you opening the window? The sun is blinding."

A student sprawled on the desk, taking the chance to nap, shouted.

"Oh." Fu Lei closed the window, thought for a moment, and tore open a bit more of the space where the notice had been, so that if the cat came to peek again, he wouldn't see only one eye—which would be too frightening.

Fu Lei sat back down, slumped over his desk, and looked at the small group in front. Everyone in the class knew that this small group was special, with teachers of all subjects looking after them. Other classmates felt envy and jealousy, but Fu Lei felt bored; anyway, he had no mind for studying and had no interaction with those specially treated students.

On the other side, Zheng Tan walked back along the wall he had come by; this time the route was familiar, so he picked up his speed a bit.

Actually, if you're bored, you can walk this way more often to get familiar with the surrounding roads. Not only Jiao Yuan, but Xiao Youzi will also attend junior high here in the future, and over the next few years she'll likely run this route frequently. Speaking of which, there are also quite a few cats around this area.

When Zheng Tan came, he encountered two cats; on his way back, he saw another two cats standing on the wall, facing a puffed‑up cat, and they were not the same two as before.

After seeing Zheng Tan, the two cats—one of them seemed startled, lost its footing, slipped, and at the same time was swiped by the other cat, falling straight off the wall. After landing, it glanced at the wall twice, then ran away.

As for the cat that remained on the wall, it kept its fur puffed at Zheng Tan, but Zheng Tan didn't stop, continuing forward; the cat merely gave a few symbolic "woo-woo" warning calls, then jumped down and ran off.

Zheng Tan looked ahead at the long "cat path" made of discontinuous walls, and had a premonition that he would encounter more cats on these walls in the future.

That evening after dinner, Jiao Yuan went out again, heading to the sports field with a few others to train; each of them had signed up for an event, except for the yet‑to‑be‑decided 800‑meter and 1500‑meter races, and Jiao Yuan had entered the 400‑meter and the relay.

Especially the relay, they need to train their coordination so they don't end up just throwing the baton away.

Zheng Tan and Xiao Youzi also watched them train from the side; sometimes some college students exercising nearby would come over to chat, talk about "the good old days," and pass on some experience.

"Hei Tan, let's go for a run." Xiao Youzi set down her small cloth bag and said to Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan didn't mind; it was rare for Xiao Youzi to have this idea, so he accompanied her in running.

The attached primary school also had a sports meet, but Xiao Youzi had never participated before, and Zheng Tan felt that elementary school sports meets were rather perfunctory, mainly for entertainment, which parents liked to watch. This year he hadn't heard of Xiao Youzi joining any event—oh, it seemed she had taken part in the opening ceremony, wearing a rather silly outfit, holding a garland and two small flowers; Jiao Ba had even taken a photo, the negative kept, but the printed photo Xiao Youzi shoved to the back of the cabinet, refusing to let anyone see it.

The attached primary school's sports meet was held on a sports field of Chu Hua Da Xue; the surroundings were filled with students and parents watching the excitement, and on that day Xiao Youzi only helped hand out water and keep records—she didn't go on the field to run or participate in anything.

Before running, Xiao Youzi did some warm‑up exercises, then waited until Jiao Yuan and the others were on their second lap, caught up with them, and Zheng Tan also ran alongside.

Someone nearby saw this scene and was quite surprised; running is usually done with dogs, and it's rare to see someone with a cat.

Upon seeing Xiao Youzi, Jiao Yuan and his companions, who had been feeling spent on their second lap, held their breath and sped up, lest they be left behind by an elementary‑school girl a few years younger than them.

After the run, as several people walked toward the courtyard, Jiao Yuan and Su An urged Xiong Xiong to go ask around the class for someone willing to take the 1500‑meter leg; if no one could be found, Xiong Xiong would have to sacrifice himself. Jiao Yuan knew his limits: he could manage 400 meters, but not 800, and certainly not 1500—better to go home and sleep.

The next day, after Zheng Tan saw Xiao Youzi off to the attached primary school, he headed again toward Jiao Yuan and his friends' school.

Today Zheng Tan felt a bit leisurely; he walked, stopped, and strolled, meanwhile observing the scenery along the way, noting the names of nearby buildings and residential areas, writing down the street signs, and also remembering the two bus routes that go this way.

The bus is always crowded; some old ladies with vegetable baskets squeeze onto the bus and might not lose to those college students. When Zheng Tan feels interested, he will also crouch near a stop to watch those old ladies squeezing onto the bus. Squeezing onto the bus is also a skill—just now a thin‑built old lady directly shoved a big‑built guy to the side, and the guy didn't dare say anything, because respecting the elderly and loving the young is the right thing, isn't it?

Today Zheng Tan didn't run into yesterday's big cat, nor any small cat; along the way there was an unfamiliar fat cat lounging on the wall, eyes half‑closed, basking in the sun. Seeing Zheng Tan approach, it showed no reaction, too lazy to even shift its hindquarters. Zheng Tan leapt over it again; from now on, using this method will probably become quite frequent.

Arriving at a small fork in the road, where a little lane leads inward, Zheng Tan jumped down from the wall, passed through the fork, was about to jump onto the opposite wall, when his ears twitched and he looked into the lane.

Although such a place is indeed quite suitable for fighting, it's broad daylight, still morning—who would be so bored as to fight at this time?

Listening carefully, Zheng Tan distinguished from the sounds that the fighters were probably still minors.

This place isn't far from Jiao Yuan and his friends' school either—could it be people from their school?

Around here it seems only Jiao Yuan and his friends' school exists; as for the nearest high school, you'd have to take the bus for several stops.

Anyway, being idle, Zheng Tan decided to go over and have a look.

Following the sound, Zheng Tan walked into the lane.

The lane is fairly narrow; it probably doesn't see much regular foot traffic, with piles of garbage giving off a strong sour stench, mixed with a urine‑like odor.

Bang!

A backpack flew out from a corner not far ahead of Zheng Tan and smashed into the opposite wall.

Besides that, the sound of fists hitting bodies and the groans were very clear.

Zheng Tan walked over slowly, reached the corner, and poked his head out to look.

Yo, this isn't the kid I saw yesterday, is it!

At the corner there were three people: one somewhat shorter, namely the boy Zheng Tan had seen yesterday sitting by the window in the back of Jiao Yuan's class; the other two looked like they were either ninth‑graders or high schoolers.

However, it's strange that among the three, only the shorter boy was standing, while the other two were lying on the ground, one of them even having been beaten to tears.

While Zheng Tan curiously watched that side, the boy standing there also noticed Zheng Tan.

After Fu Lei finished fighting, he shook out his hand; aside from some scrapes on his hand and a few sore spots on his body, he was fine. He was about to go pick up his backpack, but when he turned his head he saw a black cat peeking from the corner, staring at him.

Was that the same cat from yesterday?

Fu Lei sniffled, tidied his jacket, picked up the few pens that had fallen, brushed off the dust on his backpack, and slipped the pens inside. During this process, he also glanced over at Zheng Tan.

Shouldering his backpack, Fu Lei lifted his head to look at the sun, then walked toward the lane's exit; at the fork he hesitated a moment, then went to the crosswalk, preparing to cross the street.

Zheng Tan was quite curious—how could a child about the same age as Jiao Yuan, who looks unremarkable, be so good at fighting?

And what exactly does this kid intend to do? The way to school isn't that direction—could he be heading to the hospital? On his way here, Zheng Tan hadn't seen any hospital, though he had noticed a few small clinics.

Out of curiosity, Zheng Tan, having nothing to do, followed and crossed the road.

Fu Lei, carrying a bag ahead, after reaching the opposite side of the street, stopped, looked back, saw the black cat following him, said nothing, turned his head and continued walking. (To be continued..)