Chapter 180

Every exhibition area has a donation box; beside each donation box stand two female staff members wearing cat ears, with sweet appearances and friendly smiles.

After Liu Yao arrived at the "Ming Ming Ru Ci" Pet Center exhibition area, he directly greeted Zheng Tan, who was lying on the topmost cat perch, waving his hand. Zheng Tan also gave face by lifting his paw a little, as a gesture.

Today Liu Yao obviously came prepared; after greeting Zheng Tan, he took from Old Liu's hand a toy-car-shaped storage container.

"This is my pocket money!"

Liu Yao handed the car-shaped money box to the female staff member beside the donation box. The main reason is that the donation box's opening is too small; Liu Yao's car-shaped money box cannot be stuffed in.

The female staff member smiled thankfully, took the money box with both hands from Liu Yao; they had a very good impression of this little friend, and one staff member thought of taking a photo of the scene, which is a positive example that could be used for publicity later—no matter how much money is in the money box, after all, it's the child's intention.

However, Old Liu refused, so that staff member didn't dare to say more and could only secretly call the boss to have him come talk.

After the donation, the staff member who received the money box took out cat-shaped sticky notes; people who donate here can write their blessings and anything else they want to say on the notes and then stick them on the wooden board wall beside.

"Eh? Director Fang, you aren't busy today?" Old Liu noticed Fang Shaokang coming over here and laughed.

Zheng Tan looked over; Fang Shaokang had indeed said he had no time today and even needed to go to the capital, yet he unexpectedly came over now. Not only did he come, Fang Shaokang also led a little girl.

The little girl had her hair in twin buns, big eyes, looking lively and cute; she was curiously paying attention to one of the cycles. She looks slightly younger than Xiao Youzi, though Xiao Youzi is quieter, while this girl is very lively.

"Things changed, I didn't leave. This is my daughter, Fang Mengmeng."

Fang Shaokang didn't explain further. Old Liu also had no intention of probing deeper.

At this time, some reporters were at the main venue, interviewing several heavyweight figures who came to the event, such as Ye Hao.

Ye Hao's coming to donate isn't because he loves cats a lot or is kind-hearted; mainly he wants to use this event to establish a positive image in the public eye.

So, basically there are hardly any reporters in this exhibition area. Consequently, there are hardly any people who know Fang San Ye and Old Liu.

Fang Shaokang picked up Fang Mengmeng and perched her on his neck. "Come on. Let's say hello to bc."

On the way here, Fang Shaokang had already told his daughter that she was fairly familiar with the name "Hei Tan"; every time she talked on the phone with Fang Shaokang, she could hear some things about Zheng Tan. Fang Shaokang also showed her some photos he had taken with his phone.

To avoid being disturbed by people coming to participate in the event, Zheng Tan deliberately chose this high ground; therefore, to make contact with Zheng Tan, shorter people really have a hard time. Fang Shaokang is not short, but even if Fang Mengmeng rides on his neck, the cat perch is still a bit higher than her; however, as long as she raises her arms a little, she can easily touch the cat scratching board.

Fang Mengmeng, perched on Fang Shaokang's neck, looked at Zheng Tan; she doesn't know much about cats, her family doesn't keep cats, and relatives who keep dogs are more common, so seeing Zheng Tan in person, Fang Mengmeng still feels a bit wary, having heard that cats like to scratch people and having seen classmates scratched by cats.

"Let's say hello, let's give a high-five." Fang Shaokang patted his daughter's calf, then looked toward Zheng Tan.

Fang Mengmeng looked at Zheng Tan, hesitating a bit. There's no way around it: cats that are good-looking and gentle always attract people's attention more easily and seem easier to get close to, whereas black cats like Zheng Tan always give off an aura of aloofness and danger.

Seeing that Fang Mengmeng seemed a little afraid, Zheng Tan gave face by proactively raising his paw and stretching it toward her, keeping his claws neatly retracted.

Encouraged by Fang Shaokang, Fang Mengmeng also stretched out her little palm and touched Zheng Tan's cat paw.

Fang Shaokang was still preparing to put his daughter down, but unexpectedly Fang Mengmeng grabbed his hair with one hand and kicked with her hind foot, saying, "One more!"

I'd estimate that in the whole Fang family, only his daughter would dare to sit on Fang Shaokang's neck and pull his hair; yet Fang Shaokang, having his hair pulled, still laughs happily. Nowadays many families have only one child, treating them like treasures.

After Zheng Tan and Fang Mengmeng gave another high-five, Fang Mengmeng was completely unafraid; after the third high-five with Zheng Tan, she didn't pull back but instead reached straight toward him and then… pulled his whiskers!

Zheng Tan: "……"

Although she didn't pull hard, Zheng Tan didn't feel pain, but it was quite depressing; why do kids always like to pull cats' tails and whiskers?

Nearby Liu Yao looked on with envy; then Old Liu grinned, lifted Liu Yao up onto his shoulder, and now father and son are getting ever closer, Old Liu's face always wearing a smile.

Zheng Tan watched Liu Yao and Fang Mengmeng, both generous spenders, rich second generations; he didn't notice that the smiles on the faces of the cat-ear staff standing nearby had grown much larger.

Over there, Liu Yao and Fang Mengmeng were sticking their blessing notes onto the wooden board wall; Old Liu and Fang Shaokang were only attending to their own children, while Zheng Tan, standing on high ground, noticed someone sneaking away.

Er Mao brought Hei Mi here to participate in the event, and he had planned to come over and say a few sharp words to Zheng Tan, but unexpectedly seeing Fang Shaokang, Er Mao immediately turned around and left.

But before Er Mao could even relax his breath, his face froze again.

"Er Mao?! You're actually in Chu Hua Shi!" Zhao Le exclaimed in surprise. To prevent Er Mao from fleeing, Zhao Le tightly grabbed Er Mao's clothing.

"Damn! What luck!" Er Mao felt tremendous regret; his luck lately seemed especially bad—earlier he was caught by Fang Shaokang, and today he was caught by Zhao Le, grabbed outright, so he couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.

Er Mao was still thinking about how to escape when Zhao Le dragged him to the resting area beside the exhibition zone, where many people who had brought cats were sitting and chatting; just then someone got up, freeing an empty table.

Er Mao was still thinking about how to slip away when Zhao Le dragged him to the rest area beside the exhibition zone, where many people who had brought cats were sitting and chatting; fortunately someone got up, freeing an empty table.

"How come, after not seeing each other for just two years, you don't recognize your brother?!" Even though he was caught, Er Mao's tone remained aggressive; Zhao Le is his peer, not Fang Shaokang, so there's no need to restrain himself.

"You've changed a lot… at least in appearance." Zhao Le still remembered how Er Mao's former slippery, oily demeanor had made Er Mao's father so angry he wanted to grab a club and beat him several times.

"Like a law-abiding citizen." Zhao Le nodded affirmatively.

Er Mao remained silent; however, the Hei Mi confined in the pet bag was not so quiet, scratching at the bag and meowing. Er Mao hurriedly opened the bag and held Hei Mi out; fortunately Hei Mi also had no intention of running around, sitting on the table quite obediently, curiously looking around, as well as at those fellow cats walking around with their owners.

A Chinchilla jumped onto the table; the next instant Hei Mi slapped it down with a paw. However, such situations are common among cats, so the Chinchilla's owner also had no complaints, smiled at Er Mao, and took the Chinchilla away.

"Well done!" Er Mao complacently patted Hei Mi's head, then took out a bag of cat food from his pocket; under the table there was a disposable paper cat bowl, into which Er Mao poured some as a reward for Hei Mi's earlier performance.

"When did you start liking cats?" Zhao Le couldn't help but ask.

Er Mao didn't answer, but instead countered: "How did you end up here?"

"Someone from the company came forward to donate; I'm just here to have a look."

Saying this, Zhao Le looked toward the exhibition area where Zheng Tan was; she had originally been preparing to go over and take a look, but she hadn't expected to run into Er Mao.

Er Mao followed Zhao Le's gaze and looked over; many people blocked the line of sight, so he couldn't see the situation in that exhibition area, nor could he see Fang Shaokang and his group; he could only see the black cat lying on the highest spot.

And Zheng Tan had also been watching them all along; he took in what had just happened, thinking that Er Mao and Zhao Le really knew each other, and were quite close.

Er Mao glanced at the black cat perched on high ground, then glanced at Zhao Le.

"Do you know that black cat?"

Er Mao just asked casually, intending to shift the topic, but didn't expect Zhao Le to nod.

"Yeah, I know him. We're pretty close… How about you, do you know him too?" Zhao Le noticed Er Mao's expression suddenly constipated; although Er Mao had restrained himself broadly, Zhao Le still noticed it. Now Zhao Le is much more perceptive in reading people's expressions.

"I don't know him." Er Mao kept a straight face, but in his heart he cursed that black cat a thousand times. Damn, no wonder his luck has been lousy lately; now thinking about it, everything is related to that black cat! It's all its fault!

Er Mao didn't want to stay here any longer, ignored Zhao Le's question, and left. He didn't want to be caught by Fang Shaokang again later, and he also didn't know whether he'd run into acquaintances later; he hadn't expected that what he thought was just an ordinary charity event would actually let him meet so many familiar faces.

In the end Zhao Le still didn't get Er Mao's current address from him, but obtaining his phone number also counts as a major gain today.

Zheng Tan couldn't hear the conversation between Er Mao and Zhao Le; he could only infer from their attitudes. This Er Mao fellow really has quite a background.

After Er Mao left, Zhao Le didn't send anyone to follow him, as that would be futile; such tactics don't work on Er Mao. After thinking, Zhao Le edited a text message and sent it to Wang Bin. This Er Mao fellow still needs Wang Bin to step in and resolve things.

Zhao Le also didn't send anyone to tail Er Mao after he left—that would be pointless, this approach doesn't work on him. After some thought, Zhao Le composed a text and sent it to Wang Bin. This Er Mao fellow still needs Wang Bin to step in and settle things.

Today is the weekend, Wang Bin rarely has free time to return to Chu Hua Shi to visit his parents, but his father is busy with work and hasn't come home yet.

Wang Bin's mother was complaining to Wang Bin about some recent life matters; hearing his phone ring, she paused her words and gestured for him to check the call.

Wang Bin had two phones; hearing the sound, it was his personal phone ringing. He originally didn't think it was anything important, but after reading the text message, his expression changed, then quickly returned to normal, and he calmly put the phone back in his pocket.

"What's wrong?" Wang Bin's mother asked.

"Nothing, please continue."

After his mother finished nagging and went to rest, Wang Bin returned to his room, closed the door, and with a complex expression dialed the phone number Zhao Le had given him.

Listening to the dial tone, Wang Bin pondered what he should say to this twin brother once the call connected.

After a few rings, the call finally connected; Wang Bin was about to speak when he heard a loud shout from the other end: "My daughter! That phone must not be dropped!"

Wang Bin: "……"

A daughter? Where did she come from?! An illegitimate child?! Is the family about to be thrown into another turmoil?!

Wang Bin, whose thoughts began to run wild, instantly became confused. (To be continued...)

ps: (3.4)