Chapter 131

we already did: "Zheng Tan squatted on the toy car; although it was moving, its speed was far too slow compared to when it was unloaded, and Zheng Tan wasn't afraid of being thrown off."

Translation: Zheng Tan squatted on the toy car; although it was moving, its speed was far too slow compared to when it was unloaded, and Zheng Tan wasn't afraid of being thrown off.

meta -> translate per guidance.

Chinese.

Translation: According to Zheng Tan's thoughts, he naturally hoped the toy car could go faster, which would be fun and exciting. But for now, he couldn't ask too much; just being able to play was already good.

Chinese.

Translation: Just as Zheng Tan thought, Liu Yao didn't really intend to hit him with the toy car; he was probably just curious. Moreover, this child was absolutely not naive; at least psychologically he was a bit more mature than kids his age, which likely stemmed from his prior experiences.

Chinese.

meta.

Translation: Zheng Tan sat steadily on the toy car, tucking his tail beside him to avoid being run over by the car or snagged by branches sticking out from the flowerbed. The backyard was fairly clean, with only some blown leaves and such; the branches were either pulled over by Liu Yao or snatched from the nearby flowerbed by Mantou. Overall, there weren't many obstacles, the toy car ran fairly smoothly, and Liu Yao's control was skilled; after two laps he hadn't brushed against the flowerpots placed on the ground as decorations, nor had any accidental collisions occurred.

meta.

Chinese.

Translation: Mantou, who had just been gnawing on a branch, picked up the branch and looked at it for a moment, then spat it out and ran over to Zheng Tan gleefully, running and jumping, following the toy car. After a few steps, he stopped, lowered his front half, stuck his butt up, and barked twice at the toy car; even if he didn't make a sound, he would stretch out his paws and scratch the air a few times, grinning, playing with a hehe sound.

meta.

Chinese.

Translation: Tong Qing carefully observed Liu Yao; compared to before, the gloom in the child's eyes had lessened considerably, like a suddenly overcast sky beginning to clear.

Chinese.

Translation: "What a good development. No wonder the boss wanted this cat to come over." Tong Qing couldn't help but sigh.

Chinese.

Translation: Between people, it's easy to develop psychological wariness, especially for a child like Liu Yao who went through some things with his mother; his vigilance toward people is strong, he shuns strangers, and even acquaintances are hard to get close to—this is one reason why Liu Yao doesn't go play with the other kids on the front lawn or by the buffet table.

Chinese.

Translation: Not only Liu Yao; if Fang Shaokang sent a peer to interact with Liu Yao, Old Liu's people would more or less suspect and be on guard, since everyone knows Old Liu treasures Liu Yao like a jewel, making it hard to approach from his side. So they look for a younger one.

Chinese.

Translation: But animals are different. Even Old Liu and his subordinates probably wouldn't think this cat came over with some ulterior motive. What can a cat do? Even if it could fight, its strength is limited; after all, it's just a cat.

Chinese.

Translation: The toy car carried Zheng Tan around the yard. Someone had set up a section of plastic track in the yard. The toy car could run on it. With Zheng Tan aboard, it could barely manage, though climbing a slope was a bit strenuous. But adding Mantou to the mix… (ellipsis indicates continuation).

meta.

Chinese.

Translation: Mantou watched the toy car carrying Zheng Tan head toward that plastic track, wagging its tail. It followed behind, tentatively stepping onto the track for two steps; given its size, the track was a bit tight, but after two steps nothing seemed abnormal, so its courage surged, it sped up, and chased after the toy car and the black cat.

meta.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan sat on the toy car; as it drove onto the plastic track, he turned his head backward and saw Mantou also catching up, and he briefly worried whether the track would be overloaded. Seeing the track didn't wobble or collapse, he relaxed a bit. But just as Zheng Tan let his guard down, he saw Mantou come running; not only was it running, it was also bouncing as it ran.

Chinese (onomatopoeia).

Translation: "Crack!" (sound effect). We'll output "Crack!" as English sound word.

Chinese.

Translation: A section of the "track" collapsed, and Mantou fell along with it; the plastic track was only about ten centimeters high, so it wouldn't get hurt. As it fell, Mantou's chin bumped against the uncollapsed section ahead; after hitting the ground, it shook its head, lifted its paw to wipe its mouth, then seemed fine and continued running after the toy car—except this time it didn't jump onto the track, but ran alongside on the ground, or ran ahead and rested its chin on the edge of the track to watch the toy car.

Chinese.

Translation: Because a section of the plastic track had collapsed in the middle, Old Liu's subordinates looked at it and couldn't fix it on the spot; this time they hadn't brought spare parts, so the track couldn't be rebuilt. Fortunately, Liu Yao didn't intend to keep having the toy car run on the track anyway; he just controlled the toy car, carrying the black cat around the yard.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan squatted on the toy car, his mind wandering again.

Chinese.

Translation: A car is indeed a handy tool; back when he was human, whenever he felt down he liked to drive around, just as many people run to vent their feelings, and Zheng Tan always enjoyed driving. But now that he's turned into a cat, can he still have a car of his own?

Chinese.

Translation: "It's hard…"

Chinese.

Translation: Even if he had his own toy car as a mount, even if the vehicle were a bit larger, as long as the controls were in someone else's hands, Zheng Tan would still feel unsatisfied, as if his fate were in another's grasp. Moreover, even if they gave Zheng Tan a controller, he might not be able to manipulate it deftly—a cat's paw is only this big, and its claws and pads are nowhere near as nimble as human fingers.

Chinese.

Translation: "Sigh!"

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan tilted his head up at a forty-five degree angle, looking mournful.

Chinese.

Translation: "Too bad, Mantou beside him couldn't sense Zheng Tan's mood at all; this guy was having a blast."

Chinese.

meta.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan saw Mantou making a ruckus beside him, swung his paw and slapped it; of course, this force definitely wouldn't be as strong as when he had swatted that cat before—he had reined it in a lot, just like the usual rough‑and‑tumble play strength with the cats and dogs in the compound.

Chinese.

Translation: This swipe pulled out a few strands of dog fur. However, Mantou's coat is thick and plentiful; losing a few hairs didn't bother him at all, and he hardly felt any pain—instead, he played even more enthusiastically.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan figured that since he didn't know how to deal with this brat anyway, he'd just sit on the toy car to kill time, occasionally thinking things over; when he was annoyed he'd slap Mantou a few times, and as the toy car drove past the flowerbed and the ornamental flowerpots he'd hook a few claws at the plants to cause some damage. Sometimes he'd also fish out a thin twig from the flowerbed, hook it with his bent paw, and tap Mantou with it.

Chinese.

Translation: Dogs like Mantou, through their usual rough‑and‑tumble, biting, and fighting activities, can strengthen their neck muscles and become physically robust. Old Liu should also implement corresponding training later. But Mantou was already this energetic and a bit silly; what will he become in the future?

Chinese.

Translation: He'll probably end up like A Huang—looking stern and serious on the outside, but actually having a goofy heart.

Chinese.

Translation: When Old Liu took a break to come see his son, he noticed the boy's expression and felt pleased—it was rare to see the son in a good mood. Old Liu had figured out the whole story from his subordinates; earlier he had hesitated about whether to send Mantou away. Now he decided to keep him. Looking at this scene, even if Mantou isn't very bright and isn't as agile as other pups, at least he can keep Old Liu's precious son company. That's enough to prove his worth. As for other people's opinions or ridicule, Old Liu snorted inwardly. Compared to his son, that's nothing.

Chinese.

Translation: The Mantou happily frolicking after the toy car in the yard had no idea that its behavior would cause Old Liu to change his mind. The city's Dog Management Regulations don't mean much to people like Old Liu. Following Old Liu, at least Mantou can have a somewhat better life in the steel‑and‑concrete metropolis.

Chinese.

Translation: After finally waiting for lunchtime, the pets' "dining tables" were arranged separately, with each household sending dedicated people to look after them, and cats and dogs were kept apart.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan didn't join those cats; he didn't want to join the crowd. He stayed outside, found a place to eat with Tong Qing, and Fang Shaokang had someone bring food over—Zheng Tan just needed to wait to eat. Earlier, when he came over, he'd seen the serval‑descendant cat he had slapped before; that guy spotted Zheng Tan from afar and detoured, and Zheng Tan couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind—live and let live with cats.

Chinese.

Translation: One person and one cat were eating slowly outside; when Zheng Tan had almost finished his meal, he saw two people walk out of that villa. One was Zhao Le, and the other was a young man he'd seen before on the second floor, seemingly named Wang Bin. Observing how Zhao Le and Wang Bin interacted, they seemed quite familiar with each other.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan wondered whether to go over and eavesdrop on the gossip, but Zhao Le had already spotted him and was coming this way.

Chinese.

Translation: They found a wooden bench and sat down; Zhao Le asked Tong Qing about some of Zheng Tan's dietary issues, and the food sent by Fang Shaokang had mostly been eaten, making it hard to tell exactly what had been consumed.

Chinese.

Translation: Tong Qing gave a brief reply, seeing that these two probably had something to say, he didn't want to linger, so he got up and walked a short distance away, but he couldn't leave entirely because Zheng Tan was still where he was.

Chinese.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan thought he might catch some gossip, but it turned out the two weren't quite as he imagined; they were acquainted, yet neither had any romantic interest in the other. Their conversation ranged from Zheng Tan this cat, to Wang Bin being sent to the grassroots for training, then to Wang Bin's younger brother "Er Mao". However, when they spoke of that "Er Mao", their tones were full of resignation.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan wondered just what kind of person this "Er Mao" was, capable of making both Wang Bin and Zhao Le act that way.

Chinese.

meta.

Thus translation: After lunch, many people left—they were all busy, who had time to linger here leisurely? Usually when people host banquets they like to set up evening feasts, but Fang Shaokang is rather unconventional; when Zhao Le asked why they arranged lunch but not dinner, Third Master Fang yawned: "Early to bed, early to rise makes the body healthy!"

Chinese.

Translation: Zhao Le wanted to bang his head against the wall.

Chinese.

Translation: Of course, not everyone left; some who happened to have time stayed a bit longer, like Old Liu. They would continue chatting with Fang Shaokang.

Chinese.

Translation: Zheng Tan stayed there to play with Liu Yao and Mantou for a while before heading home.

Chinese.

Translation: I don't know what Fang Shaokang said to Old Liu, but one day Zheng Tan was lounging on the sofa at home watching TV when he overheard Jiao Ba and Yuan Zhiyi on the phone discussing this suddenly arrived big client, Boss Liu, and only then did Zheng Tan realize the matter had actually been settled.

Chinese.

Translation: Jiao Ba and Yuan Zhiyi also learned some of the reasons from Fang Shaokang's side; Yuan Zhiyi specially bought a bunch of food for this occasion, part for the two children, part for Zheng Tan. Before coming, Yuan Zhiyi had lit three incense sticks in front of a black lucky‑cat figurine in the office, not knowing who had taught him to do that.

Chinese.

Translation: In the past, Zheng Tan might have been somewhat interested in that food, but now his mind isn't on it. Not touching the toy car would be fine, but after coming into contact with it, he kept thinking about it, dreaming for several days that he was driving a little car out for a joyride—not sitting in someone else's sedan, nor perched on the basket of a small electric scooter or a Xiao Youzi bicycle, but actually driving the car himself.

Chinese.

Translation: So these past few days Zheng Tan has been racking his brains trying to figure out how to get a vehicle suited to his current feline form.

Chinese.

Translation: Who should he look for?

Chinese.

Translation: Does he have to go find Third Master Fang again?

Chinese.

Translation: Even if he found him, he couldn't speak up; how could he convey his meaning? Would he have to email or message Fang San, saying, "Fang San, I'm Hei Tan, hurry up and get me a car"?

Chinese.

Translation: Just thinking about it feels unreliable.

This matter still needs to be discussed at length. (To be continued...)