Chapter 145

() "Of course, after all, more than twenty years have passed; I don't know if that previous one is still around, but this cat now looks only two or three years old." Jiao Ba said.

Who knew the old lady shook her head, "This cat is male; the previous one was female."

Jiao Ba: "……" How could I not know back then that it was female?! And, Grandma, you never said anything back then!

Not noticing Jiao Ba's face, Zheng Tan simply didn't understand what this person lying on the recliner was saying.

Holy shit! How does this old lady know the gender?!

Zheng Tan remembers that when he came over, he was always facing this side; moreover, from a human's perspective, shouldn't one check the "rear" to determine gender? Besides, Zheng Tan has never had the habit of exposing his anus like other cats.

Instantly, Zheng Tan's thoughts galloped like a horse. I didn't expect this old lady to be quite lewd.

"Is it scolding me?" the old lady lying on the recliner looked at Zheng Tan and said to Jiao Ba.

Zheng Tan: "……"

Jiao Ba's face twitched; he didn't quite know how to answer.

The old lady seemed not intending to wait for Jiao Ba's answer, and instead asked, "Have you bought a car?"

Jiao Ba nodded, "Yeah, I bought it not long ago."

"That's perfect." The old lady turned sideways, opened a cabinet beside the recliner, pulled out an ornament from a drawer, and handed it to Jiao Ba, "Here, it's for you."

Zheng Tan glanced at the ornament, which looked quite ordinary; similar trinkets sold at stalls around Chu Hua Da Xue by students cost only a few yuan, and wholesale prices are even cheaper. Although the old lady said it was a "gift", Zheng Tan thought that if Jiao Ba hadn't brought a gift, she wouldn't even produce something worth a few cents.

After Jiao Ba took the item and thanked her, the old lady smiled, revealing her dentures, and pursed her lips at Zheng Tan, "Take good care of this cat. Meeting it is also fate, and it can bring good fortune."

Zheng Tan liked hearing that latter part, about bringing good fortune and such; Yuan Zhiyi had said it too, and recalling it made Zheng Tan feel a little smug.

Although Jiao Ba didn't really believe in those illusory things, he couldn't deny that, up to now, his family's cat had indeed brought a lot of good luck to the household.

"Grandma, please continue resting; I won't disturb you." Jiao Ba prepared to take his leave. He knew this old person's words were always few; after saying a bit, they needed to rest. So he didn't intend to stay longer.

"Before you leave the village, bring this cat back for another visit." the old lady lying on the recliner said.

Although he didn't really understand what the old lady wanted to do, Jiao Ba still nodded and agreed.

Zheng Tan glanced at the old lady and the cat on the recliner, then turned and followed Jiao Ba away.

After Jiao Ba and Zheng Tan left, the old lady sitting on the recliner with her eyes half‑closed sat up, stroked the cat on her leg, and continued to look for fleas on it, saying, "Oh dear, another big one; next time catch a mouse with fewer fleas."

The three-legged tortoiseshell cat twitched its ears, not knowing whether it had understood.

Over there, after Zheng Tan followed Jiao Ba out of the old lady's courtyard, he took a different path from the one they had come on.

Watching the village recede farther and farther, Zheng Tan wondered what Jiao Ba was up to; he could tell Jiao Ba had something on his mind.

Near the village there is a mountain, not large, after all this area is not considered wilderness. Nowadays many parts of the mountain are being developed and utilized, and it is not as wild as it was decades ago.

Zheng Tan followed Jiao Ba to the edge of an orchard; Jiao Ba stood there, looked around, then walked over to a big tree and sat down, lit a cigarette, and when it had burned about halfway, he said to Zheng Tan, who was squatting nearby and spacing out, "Hei Tan, I'll tell you a secret." After saying that, Jiao Ba paused, smiled, and added, "Actually it's not really a secret—I've told some people, but they didn't believe me."

This is what we've been waiting for!

Zheng Tan snapped to attention, pricking up his ears to hear what Jiao Ba would say next.

"When I was still a kid—well, younger than Xiao Youzi—I was mischievous, and there was a rumor among the children that there was treasure in the mountains. So a few of us from the village went up to hunt for it, but after several days we found nothing, and some gave up, though I did not. One day I slipped away while my parents weren't looking and went up the mountain alone. After half a day with no luck, tired and hungry, I ate the flatbread I had brought and lay down on the grass to sleep, lacking much sense of danger; looking back now, that was practically asking for death."

When I woke up, I found the sky had gradually darkened; it was past dinnertime. I panicked and hurried home, but I slipped down a steep slope, sprained my ankle, and then, misfortune piling on, I hobbled a few steps on my injured foot before falling into a pit.

The pit was quite deep; at the time I could hardly climb out of it. Perhaps someone had buried something there and then dug it up again, leaving the pit unfilled. I also lacked strength then, couldn't climb out right away, and shouted for a long time with no one coming to help. I dug at the stones and dirt on the pit wall looking for a handhold as I climbed; when my fingers bled, I heard a cat's meow from above the pit. Soon I saw a cat's head. It glanced at me and then left. Not long after, a thick rope used for tying firewood was thrown down from above. I grabbed the rope and struggled upward, while I also felt someone up above pulling on the rope—not strongly, but it helped. When I reached the top of the pit, I saw that the one pulling the rope was a cat. The other end of the rope was snagged in a crack in a large stone near the pit—a very clever cat. After I climbed out, it ran off. Not long afterward, the old lady appeared and told me she had noticed a black cat stealing her firewood‑tying rope and had followed it here.

During that dark period, the old lady was shunned by the villagers; nobody wanted to have anything to do with her. Jiao Ba remembers that he and the other village children used to throw stones and mud at her little hut. Later, left with no choice, the old lady temporarily went up the mountain, set up a small shed, and lived there alone, waiting for the dark times to pass.

Even now, Jiao Ba still remembers the time he spent in that pit—the hunger, the fear, and the chill brought by the mountain wind.

"Later the old lady found a cat's tooth on the rope; it had broken when that cat bit down while pulling." Jiao Ba flicked ash from his cigarette, gazed into the distance, and continued his recollection.

The rough hemp rope woven by the villagers was very sturdy; biting it wouldn't break one's teeth, but if you bit the rope and pulled hard, who knows what could happen. The cat's tooth might have snapped when the rope was pulled from the firewood stack, or it might have broken later while being dragged. Either way, Jiao Ba was grateful for it. But after that, he never saw that black cat again.

"Granny melted pine resin, put that cat's tooth inside, and made an artificial amber for me…… I've kept it to this day; when I go back I'll show it to you." Jiao Ba told Zheng Tan.

Nearly thirty years had passed, and Jiao Ba knew the cat from his memory was likely long gone, but the moment he first saw the black cat his wife had brought home, he suddenly thought of that cat from years ago.

Walking out of the night, the black cat that moved through the darkness needed to look up to see people when standing on the ground, yet its gaze was fearless, even carrying an aloof, disdainful air toward everything else, like a little Baizi.

That's also why. Jiao Ba, who had always objected to keeping pets while living in the big city, relented after Jiao Ma brought Zheng Tan home. It had only been a short time since the pandemic panic subsided, and there were still two young children in the house; Jiao Ma never expected Jiao Ba to agree. The other members of the Jiao Family also didn't know the reason behind it.

"When Granny took me walking toward the village, she told me not to tell others; some things are fine to keep in mind, and speaking them out might not be believed and could instead bring trouble."

Jiao Ba didn't understand it back then. Only when he grew older and grasped things did he realize that in that era, anything could easily be linked to talk of demons and monsters, and if one wasn't careful, it would invite trouble. Later, after the dark period passed, people's thinking gradually opened up; regardless of whether a phenomenon could be explained by science, behavior never went to extremes. Even so, Jiao Ba still rarely spoke of those past events to others; he had once told them as a story, but sadly no one believed him. Moreover, that cat's‑tooth amber constantly reminded Jiao Ba that the incident back then was not a dream.

Jiao Ba also took Zheng Tan to see the spot where that pit had been; every time he returned to the old homestead, he would come by to look, even though the area had changed completely, the pit had been filled in, and the wild countryside had turned into orchards and vegetable fields.

Returning from the mountains to the old homestead, Jiao Ba went to help with the New Year provisions, while Zheng Tan, idle and with nothing to do, no longer went with the two children to catch rabbits; instead, he sneaked over to the vicinity where Granny lived to hear news about her. Recently many villagers who had gone out to work have come back, and each day some people come to visit. Young people's thinking is more open; they know that such matters are now less strictly regulated than before, and in the big city some folks can be outrageously bold, making a fortune with a few tall tales. Compared to them, this Granny is truly quite low‑key.

She isn't well known in Yin‑Yang, but she does have some influence in the local village. It's said she's nearly ninety now, and she wasn't originally from this village. The villagers now feel both awe and wariness toward her. These days, before anyone from the village goes out to work elsewhere, they stop by to ask her for peace and safety.

Of course, many people don't believe in this stuff nowadays, with science widespread and the distinction made between orthodox and unorthodox— the latter being dismissed as feudal superstition, illegal and criminal. But human psychology is such that one needs to seek an "just in case" reassurance to feel at ease.

So don't be fooled by the surface claim that nobody believes in those things, calling them money‑making scams and avoiding the old woman; in private, many still slip her money and gifts, and over time everyone just tacitly understands. As some say, "If you believe, it exists; if you don't, it doesn't."

Although Zheng Tan doesn't know much about that old woman, he can still learn a few things from what he's seen and heard. Regardless of whether the old lady is a swindler, no bad deeds have been heard of her; on the contrary, more and more people secretly praise her, showing she really does have some ability. Besides, she saved Jiao Ba, and just that alone has improved Zheng Tan's opinion of her—whether she's a cheat or not is secondary to him. Moreover, perhaps because of what happened back then, she may have given Jiao Ba a few pointers, which is why he could so quickly accept this unusually different cat of his.

Thinking of how the old lady had told Jiao Ba to bring Zheng Tan back for a visit after the New Year before leaving the village, Zheng Tan couldn't figure out the reason, but based on what Jiao Ba had said, that old lady… probably didn't mean any harm? Moreover, that three‑legged tortoiseshell cat had been picked up by the old lady after someone broke one of its legs in a collision, and she took it in to raise; seen this way, the woman seems decent enough.

PS:

(Supplement 1.29) The supplement update date is still placed in the afterword; putting it in the chapter title isn't appropriate. Writing this supplement's date carries no other meaning—it's just to remind myself not to forget to post the update, adding a sense of urgency, hoping that soon the updates will sync with the date, sigh.

Just returned, the internet here at my hometown is rather unstable; if there's no update and no separate chapter note, everyone can check the comments section to see if anyone has posted an explanation.

Thanks for everyone's votes, tips, and support! RT

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