Chapter 139

After shouting, the woman splashed a cup of cold tea outward and forcefully shut the window.

Zheng Tan turned his gaze back to the student who had been criticized as having "an IQ almost as low as a cat's." Looking at him, he seemed immune to such remarks; upon hearing them, his expression didn't change at all, and there was hardly any fluctuation in his eyes—clearly this had happened more than once.

That person pulled a dry stalk from the wall corner, intending to tease the cat, but Zheng Tan had no intention of paying him any mind; he lifted his foot and continued forward, observing the surrounding terrain and buildings.

After turning a few corners and walking on, Zheng Tan twitched his ears, hearing some construction site noises. He looked in the direction the sound came from and could only see a crane arm peeking out between two buildings far away; the surrounding area was crowded with buildings and people, so he couldn't find a good vantage point for a moment.

How come that place feels somewhat familiar?

He couldn't recall exactly where it was for a moment; Zheng Tan strolled through a new area, his sense of direction grew hazy, and he didn't think too deeply about it, returning along the same route once his walk was nearly done.

On his way back, Zheng Tan passed the residential complex again, where the student wearing a certain high school uniform was talking to another person.

Before, he couldn't tell what they were saying because the surrounding car honks were too noisy. When the honking stopped and Zheng Tan approached, he heard that person utter a disdainful "hng" and, with a mocking tone, the phrase "How could sparrows know the ambition of swans?"

The uniformed student gave an indifferent smile, saying, "That's quite off the mark; how would a swan know the joy of a sparrow?"

Zheng Tan squatted on the wall, listening to the two debate the "sparrow vs. swan" issue—one spoke with a lofty, superior air of "You don't know how vast heaven and earth are," while the other adopted a defiant stance of "This is just how I am; what can you do about it?"

From their conversation, Zheng Tan also learned that the person facing the uniformed student was precisely the "brother" mentioned by that woman in "learn from your brother"; both were senior high students at the same school, not the provincial key Chu Hua Fu Zhong, but just a regular high school relatively close by.

Leaving aside who was right or wrong and who deserved a beating, after hearing their talk Zheng Tan could only sigh, "No wonder they're senior high students— they spout classical Chinese in a rush, sometimes squeezing three idioms into a single sentence, making it especially tough for this poor student like me to follow."

After a few minutes, the "brother" grew impatient and left; the uniformed student stood there a moment, turned his head toward the complex exterior, and spotted Zheng Tan squatting on the wall.

"Huh, you're here again?!"

The person who had just been expressionless instantly broke into a smile, picked up the dry stalk he'd tossed aside earlier, and prepared to come over again to tease the cat. Unfortunately, Zheng Tan had no intention of playing along. He lifted his foot and headed home.

Inside Chu Hua Da Xue, everything remained as before, appearing unchanged; however, on his way back, Zheng Tan overheard a middle-aged couple at a shop outside the campus discussing the redevelopment of an abandoned project into a commercial plaza.

Compared to large commercial plazas like Zhong Xin Guang Chang, this new plaza will surely be smaller, but the area has many schools—aside from Chu Hua Da Xue, there are several others—students' money is easier to make, so some vendors have already begun discussing strategies. Besides, it seems they also plan to build residential buildings; the couple didn't know much more, so Zheng Tan could only grasp a rough idea from their conversation.

No wonder I felt a sense of familiarity at the construction site earlier—it turns out to be that very spot; I heard Wei Leng mention it a while back, so it seems Ye Hao has achieved his goal.

Once built, it'll be an extra place to play; just don't know how many years it'll take to finish, hoping Ye Hao and his team work efficiently.

The next day, Zheng Tan continued along the same path he'd walked the previous day; upon reaching the complex, he saw the uniformed student again—this guy seemed to be getting ready to go out, and upon seeing Zheng Tan he muttered a few words, apparently in a hurry, and didn't say much.

The uniformed student wasn't wearing his uniform today; he'd changed into a cheap set of casual sportswear. As he walked out of the complex, the woman at the window shouted a few more times—nothing new, just her usual reproach that he "isn't serious about his studies and only knows how to play." Seeing Zheng Tan again, she added a fresh jab at the cat's intelligence.

Just after stepping out of the complex gate, the uniformed student ran into an acquaintance, likely a neighbor from the area.

"Zhong Yan, are you on monthly break? How did this month's exam go?" that person asked.

"Just so-so." Zhong Yan replied in a resigned tone.

"Hey, you really ought to learn from your brother—yesterday I heard he did practice problems until eleven at night before sleeping; this monthly exam will probably land him again in the top ten of the class..."

That person rattled on and on; Zhong Yan listened with an unchanged expression for half of it, then made an excuse and left.

As he left, Zheng Tan saw that person shake his head at Zhong Yan's back, wearing the sigh of "Truly, this young one cannot be taught."

Zheng Tan watched the boy named Zhong Yan gradually walk away, twitched the tip of his tail, thought for a moment, and followed him. He just wanted to see where that kid was actually heading to have fun.

Passing an alley, Zhong Yan bought a bottle of liquor at a shop at the alley's entrance, then walked into the alley.

The alley was rather old; Zheng Tan had passed through it yesterday and glanced over it without going in for a closer look. Now, following Zhong Yan through the alley, he discovered that the buildings at the far end had all been demolished. Standing at the exit on that side, Zheng Tan could see a construction site not far off. This wasn't an abandoned project; it was a recently demolished old building area. The scale of this work appears quite large—a major undertaking, no wonder Ye Hao had made so many preparations beforehand.

After exiting the alley, Zhong Yan looked around a bit, then headed off in a certain direction.

In this area, the construction site's barriers weren't erected; Zhong Yan's destination was a makeshift guardroom that had been thrown together, where a few people were gathered, smoke swirling about. Smoking is prohibited on the site, so this guardroom serves as one of the temporary designated smoking spots.

Several of the people smoking in the guardroom knew Zhong Yan; seeing him holding alcohol, their smiles widened. Although they couldn't drink now, having a couple of sips with dinner wouldn't be bad.

Zhong Yan had been in the guardroom only a short while when he and a middle-aged man wearing a hard hat headed out of the construction site.

Zheng Tan stood at the alley mouth watching that side; the hard‑hat wearer scanned the surroundings, pointed at Zheng Tan's location, and then approached together with Zhong Yan.

Zheng Tan leapt onto a nearby low building that hadn't been demolished, watching the two walk over to that spot.

"Is this cat following you?" the man said, taking off his hard hat and pointing at Zheng Tan as he spoke to Zhong Yan.

"Hey, Brother Ning, if you hadn't mentioned it I wouldn't have noticed. I also saw this cat for the first time yesterday; I don't know whose it is, but it's pretty bold—not afraid of people." Zhong Yan glanced at the black cat crouched on the low building and said.

Brother Ning merely laughed, shook his head, didn't dwell on the issue, and asked, "How did you do on this month's exam?"

"Not bad." Zhong Yan replied.

Compared to the residents of that complex earlier, Zhong Yan appeared much more sincere when he answered.

"What do you want to do this time?" Brother Ning asked.

"Really, I can't hide anything from you," Zhong Yan said, scratching his head. "There's still a month until winter break, and with nothing else going on, I thought I'd look for some work to earn a little pocket money. Brother Ning, will your site need extra hands when the time comes?"

Hearing Zhong Yan's words, Brother Ning furrowed his brows, "Why are you thinking of getting a part‑time job? Aren't you getting living expenses? Favoritism wouldn't go this far—your own son isn't welcomed, yet you're trying to curry favor with someone else's child."

Zhong Yan rubbed his palms together, saying nothing.

"Alright, kid, you should still focus your energy on studying; aim for a good university next year, don't end up like us. As for the site work, over the New Year period some people will definitely go home, but there are still a few tasks that can't stop—if you're not afraid of hardship, you can come give it a try; they're just simple manual labor, and I don't have the ability to arrange anything else."

"Thanks, Brother Ning!" Zhong Yan said happily.

"What for? Don't worry about the site—there'll definitely be work—but your top priority is still getting into college. People like us with only a junior‑high education envy you lot; we can't even keep up."

"Brother Ning, you guys are doing pretty well now, aren't you? Over the past two years you've bought a house and a car, and enjoy a warm hearth with wife and kids."

Although Brother Ning and his crew lack much formal education, skill in this line isn't necessarily learned from books; they've been in the trade for several years, progressing from novices to veterans, and have made some money.

"You don't understand—even if we had money, those people in society would still look down on us; don't be fooled by how polite they are to our faces—deep down they might be thinking of us as 'vulgar,' 'shallow,' 'country bumpkin,' 'nouveau riche,' and the like; I've heard those words plenty. Before I could tell myself they were just jealous, but there are too many of them, and we can't kid ourselves."

As Brother Ning spoke, he noticed Zhong Yan lowering his head, felt he might be putting too much pressure on the kid, shifted his tone, and added: "Still, our foreman once told us that some people's intelligence is only in books, while others' intelligence can permeate society—who will survive better in the future is hard to say now; everyone has their own standards of judgment, so we just live our own lives. With the times advancing, we uneducated folk live better than those intellectuals, and that's enough. Xiao Zhong, even if your studies aren't great, your head is fine—you'll surely outshine us lot."

Zhong Yan didn't rebut or explain anything; instead he asked, "Brother Ning, does your foreman have any taboos I should watch out for?"

"Taboos? Probably none, you know the kind of people we've mixed with on the streets… Oh, I just remembered—heard that the foreman doesn't like cats, especially black ones. But he rarely comes around, and you couldn't possibly bring a cat onto the site anyway, so it shouldn't be an issue; just keep it in mind."

After chatting a while, Brother Ning stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and walked toward the construction site.

Watching Brother Ning leave, Zhong Yan said to the black cat lounging there, "Ah, I really envy you cats—eat, sleep, eat, sleep; you have nothing to worry about."

As for Zhong Yan's remark, Zheng Tan doesn't quite agree; having been a cat for over a year now, boredom takes up most of his time—eating, drinking, urinating, defecating require no worry—and all day long he thinks mainly about how to find fun to kill time. (To be continued.)