Chapter 18: Hei Tan, Keeping Watch at Home

Zheng Tan squatted at his own doorstep waiting, but seeing no one, he grew impatient and scratched at the door. Of course he wasn't scratching the Jiao Family's door, but rather the door of Qu Xiangyang opposite, scratching that wooden door through the metal grille.

However, Qu Xiangyang, that deadbeat otaku, kept his headphones on while gaming and didn't hear it; by the time he reacted, his own door was already covered in scratches.

Zheng Tan waited nearly an hour before seeing Yi Xin come over, drenched in sweat.

When Yi Xin received the call from Jiao Ba, he was in the middle of an experiment; Jiao Ba told him to finish up before coming to pick up the cat. Yi Xin had already helped Jiao Ba with the cat once, so he knew the Jiao family cat's temperament wasn't great. As soon as he finished his work, he didn't even have time to drink water, tossed aside his lab coat, grabbed his water bottle, and rode his newly bought second-hand bicycle speeding over to the East Staff Residential Compound.

Upon reaching the fifth floor where the Jiao family lived, Yi Xin unsurprisingly saw that fierce black cat, along with the squeaking sound of its claws scratching the wooden door.

Looking at the wooden door, then at the fierce gaze of the black cat before him, Yi Xin hurriedly explained his lateness, especially emphasizing that Jiao Ba had approved his delay.

Zheng Tan didn't listen to his extra talk, ran back to the living room, and threw out the bag that Jiao Ba had been holding when he took Zheng Tan to the Life Science Building.

Yi Xin wasn't too surprised by Zheng Tan's behavior either; he had already been surprised the first time he brought the cat. Following Jiao Ba's instructions, Yi Xin opened the bag.

Zheng Tan then leapt in on his own, stared at Yi Xin, and used his gaze to signal Yi Xin to hurry up and leave.

Not being able to speak is really inconvenient; Zheng Tan used to think mute people had it easy, but now he feels the same. After all, in life not everyone can communicate with you through a tacit understanding.

Yi Xin didn't understand Zheng Tan's gaze; he simply followed Jiao Ba's orders, carrying the bag downstairs. Only when he reached the ground floor did he suddenly realize he could have let the cat go down on its own.

Yi Xin brought Zheng Tan and rode his bike to Chu Hua University Affiliated Hospital.

Unfortunately, even riding a bike can go wrong.

Not far from leaving the East Staff Residential Compound, Zheng Tan heard a "click", and then the bicycle slowed down.

Hearing Yi Xin's cursing, Zheng Tan, crouched on the bag in the bike basket, lowered his head to look; he seemed to see nothing unusual, but looking further back, a broken chain lay on the road.

Zheng Tan: "……" What a piece of junk bike—its chain actually snapped clean off!

The campus shuttle still required a wait, and with its stop‑and‑go nature Zheng Tan couldn't wait. A taxi? Who knows when one would drive onto campus? Borrow a car? From whom? If Yi Xin borrowed another bike that would break its chain midway, Zheng Tan figured he'd be depressed to death.

Zheng Tan remembered seeing Jiao Ba's small electric scooter in the shed when he went downstairs; lately, when the weather cooled, Jiao Ba would occasionally run to the Life Science Building if he had time.

Yi Xin was scratching his head, unsure what to do, when he saw the black cat crouched in the bike basket jump down and run back.

"Hey, what are you running for? Wait!" Yi Xin grew even more panicked. He could buy another bike, but if the cat went missing he'd have no face to see his boss.

So Yi Xin dumped the bike by the roadside and chased after the cat—after all, it was a used bike worth little, and a bike with a broken chain in broad daylight would likely be touched only by sanitation workers.

Zheng Tan rushed back to the staff compound, returned to the Jiao household, and found the spare key for the small electric scooter in a corner of Jiao Ba's desk drawer; holding the key in his mouth as he went downstairs, he happened to see the out‑of‑breath Yi Xin.

Zheng Tan glanced at Yi Xin, then ran to the seat of Jiao Ba's electric scooter, patted the seat, and set the key down.

Yi Xin: "……" All right, the boss's cat really is one of a kind.

The electric scooter is far more reliable than a bicycle; riding it is easy for Yi Xin, since he doesn't have to pedal, and he really doesn't have much strength left to pedal a bike.

What annoyed Zheng Tan was that the electric scooter always felt leisurely, nowhere near as quick as a motorcycle. So at this moment he especially wished the Jiao family owned their own car.

On the way to the hospital, Zheng Tan kept his eyes on the road, remembering that thereafter he shouldn't rely on others for anything—saving time and effort.

Chu Hua University Affiliated Hospital is not inside the university proper; it's about two stops away from the campus. The hospital integrates medical care, teaching, and research, and is a tertiary Grade‑A hospital.

There are always many people at this hospital; Yi Xin parked his bike, then, following the detailed address Jiao Ba gave him, carried the bag inside. After all, the hospital is no place for a cat to roam freely, so Zheng Tan couldn't just swagger in.

While riding the elevator, he happened to run into Jiao Ba coming down to buy a boxed meal; Zheng Tan saw that Jiao Ba's complexion looked fine, and when he spoke with Yi Xin he didn't hear the earlier hoarse, strained tone from the phone call. It seemed Jiao Ma shouldn't have any serious problems.

Jiao Ba bought a five‑portion boxed meal and gave one share to Yi Xin.

Yi Xin still intended to buy some fruit or the like, but when he felt his pockets he found no money. He had been in such a rush that he wasn't wearing his outer jacket, where he kept his wallet; now his pockets held only a meal card.

"Um, can the fruit stand accept the meal card?" Yi Xin said, feeling embarrassed.

Jiao Ba, Zheng Tan: "……"

"Let's do it another day—anyway she can't eat today, and she's still unconscious." Jiao Ba said.

As they walked toward the elevator, Jiao Ba explained what had happened today.

Although Jiao Ma taught at junior high, she sometimes went over to Chu Hua Affiliated High School, planning to transfer there to teach high school later; she knew many people on both sides, and with her ability she could certainly teach high school. For now she only stayed at junior high because she couldn't bear to leave her two kids at home, but if she had no classes she would still go to the high school to help out with after‑school activities, serving as a student teacher.

Chu Hua Affiliated High School is a key school in the province, though it lies somewhat far from the city center, near the Third Ring Road. Every day Chu Hua University runs a shuttle from the campus that passes the junior high school before heading to the affiliated high school. Who would have thought that, shortly after leaving the junior high that morning, while turning a corner, a small truck hauling a glass door would slam straight into them? The truck driver was still hung over and not fully sober when he drove; as of now he remains in the operating room, not yet out of mortal danger.

Many people on the school bus were injured—six seriously, two still under resuscitation.

Jiao Ma was relatively lucky; when she was first brought to the hospital she was covered in blood, and the sight that greeted Jiao Ba when he rushed over was exactly that. She had multiple glass‑shard punctures, three of them fairly deep, and the wound on her leg was deep enough to expose the bone—though the bone itself wasn't broken. Though it looked horrifying at first glance, compared with those six severe injuries she was actually quite fortunate.

After the surgery the glass fragments were all removed; there was no fracture, but she still needed to stay in the hospital for observation for a few days.

When Jiao Ba received Zheng Tan's phone call, Jiao Ma's surgery had just ended not long before; Jiao Ba himself hadn't yet calmed down, still immersed in the scene he had witnessed upon arriving at the hospital, which accounted for his tone of speech, but by now he had returned to his usual calm demeanor.

As for Jiao Yuan and the others, Jiao Ba had asked Aunt Ling to bring them over, so that if things took a turn for the worse they could at least get one last look at the children.

Compared to others, Jiao Ma's condition wasn't serious, so after surgery she was sent straight to an ordinary ward, while the intensive care unit was already full. In fact, the so‑called "ordinary ward" isn't really ordinary at all; the hospital provides extra benefits for school faculty and staff, with a whole floor reserved for Chu Hua University employees, and that's the kind of ward Jiao Ma is staying in.

Compared with other wards, the difference here is that a four‑bed ward is partitioned into small rooms; although you can still hear loud talk next door, it's better than being crammed together. The neighboring rooms also have ones without partitions, which are up to the family's choice; generally someone like Jiao Ma, who has just undergone surgery, would stay in the partitioned side.

Each partition is tiny—under ten square meters—and gets cramped with just a few more people inside.

Although Jiao Ma lying inside had not yet awakened, once they knew her life was out of danger, the whole Jiao family finally relaxed their worried hearts.

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi sat on a bench outside the main ward's corridor; Gu Youzi's eyes were still red, both had cried until swollen, and Jiao Yuan wasn't doing much better either.

After Yi Xin had been there a while, Jiao Ba sent him off, since Yi Xin still had plenty of his own matters to attend to.

"We're short‑handed!" Jiao Ba sighed, paused, then added, "Next year we'll recruit a few more graduate students."

Who knows what Yi Xin would think if he heard that while he was here?

Zheng Tan stayed in the small partitioned ward where Jiao Ma was, eating his boxed meal; being seen outside would look bad, so when a nurse came by to change dressings and check the patient, Zheng Tan hid in Jiao Yuan's backpack, and as for the books inside Jiao Yuan's backpack, he dumped them all into a plastic bag.

They didn't tell the elderly folks back home about Jiao Ma's condition; the older people on both sides are already advanced in age, and traveling back and forth would be tiring.

Zheng Tan and the two kids stayed there first; Jiao Ba went home once, brought some clothing and supplies, and also moved over the small wooden table decorated with a Chinese chess pattern, so it could later be used for storing things, eating meals, and the kids doing homework.

These past few days Jiao Ba has been sleeping directly here at night; the small partitioned ward contains a folding recliner for the caregiver to rest on—it looks a bit small, but it'll do.

That day the Jiao couple's two children also didn't go to class, staying with Jiao Ba. Jiao Ma woke up in the afternoon, said a few words, then fell asleep again. Although her complexion remained as pale as ever, at least the three of them plus the cat felt much more at ease.

Around five in the afternoon, Jiao Ba went to buy another boxed meal; after eating, he had the two kids take the public bus home while it was still light.

Originally Jiao Ba had planned to let the two kids stay at Aunt Ling's place or at the homes of a few teachers they were close to, but the kids firmly objected, saying they could take care of themselves, they didn't sleep well away from home, and preferred to return.

Jiao Ba glanced at Zheng Tan's head poking out of Jiao Yuan's backpack and said, "Hei Tan, keep an eye on things when you're home."

"Ow." Zheng Tan replied. Even if he didn't say it, he would look after the two kids anyway, after all he counts as an older brother.

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Today a few friends had activities, he came back late, it was very cold tonight~

Thanks to Ningjing de Dunhe, Oufemosi, Gongzi Yanxiao, Lei Xiang, lx Beiyue, Naouagu, Chenmo van, lazyorange, Qihuang Liuxuan, isummer for the tips! Thanks to Qihuang Liuxuan for the recommendation votes! Thanks to everyone for all kinds of support~

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