Chapter 184

As for this pendant, Er Mao had been wearing it since he was little, but he actually didn't know much about it—just this one piece, given by his mother, which Wang Bin didn't have. Er Mao only remembered his mother saying, 'Wearing it, the ancestors will bless you.'

The problem is, Er Mao's maternal and paternal grandparents are all still alive, and even if he isn't close to his parents' generation, he knows something about them; next comes his own generation. This era doesn't emphasize clan ties that much—at least Er Mao doesn't care about that—but not caring doesn't mean he isn't now puzzled and curious.

When a person is bored to death or full of worries trying to think of something to distract themselves, even a small twist can make them excited—like Er Mao right now.

Speaking of the Jiao family, Er Mao has learned a bit about them, and there shouldn't be any blood relation. What puzzles Er Mao most is how such a valuable item could be casually hung on a cat's neck. Given his knowledge of the Jiao family's schedule, at this time no one would be home, so it's extremely likely the cat put the pendant on itself.

"Hey, Black Coal, where did you get this?" Er Mao held two nearly identical Jade Pendants, poked Zheng Tan with his finger, and said, "Tell me who gave it to you—maybe it's a relative, like in those books: a lovely distant female cousin lost out there, lonely and helpless, just waiting for me to rescue!"

Zheng Tan: "……"

Zheng Tan recalled the elderly woman on the village lounge chair, her face full of wrinkles, unkempt, holding a cat; then he looked at Er Mao's eager expression. If he could speak, Er Mao would surely be devastated—of course, even if he could speak he couldn't tell Er Mao the truth; if this guy discovered there was no distant cousin to find, only a poor old woman, and lost interest in making a long trip just to recognize kin, what then? Would he have to keep the pendant for a year or two? Better to settle things early and put his mind at ease.

Er Mao asked a string of questions, some perhaps directed at Zheng Tan, some at himself; it was rare to encounter something so meaningful, yet now he didn't want to contact his family. His doubts remained unanswered for the time being.

Zheng Tan also didn't know how to respond. He glanced around the room and saw a map tucked under a large backpack in the corner. He jumped down from the desk, walked over, lifted his paw to flip the edge of the map that wasn't pressed down. One side was a provincial map; the other side was a city map of Chu Hua Shi. Perfect.

Er Mao stopped talking to himself and looked toward where Zheng Tan was.

That map was bought by Er Mao when he first arrived in Chu Hua Shi and was wandering outside; he bought it mainly to visit scenic spots in Chu Hua Shi, and also because it marked bus stops for convenient travel. It had been a while since he'd used it, and it had been sitting there as a cushion for his bag.

After looking at Zheng Tan, Er Mao rubbed the two Jade Pendants with his fingers, walked over, picked up the large backpack, pulled out the map, and laid it on the ground in front of him.

The side facing up happened to be the provincial map; Zheng Tan examined the county and city markings, then pressed his paw on Ranyang.

Er Mao fell silent for a moment, then asked, 'Ranyang?'

Seeing the black cat had no reaction, Er Mao added, 'If it's yes, wag the tail up; if it's no, wag the tail sideways.'

Zheng Tan wagged his tail up.

'Ranyang.'

Er Mao sat cross-legged on the floor, picked up the map and looked at it, then took paper and pen from the nightstand drawer and wrote it down.

Actually, Zheng Tan wondered why Er Mao would use tail-wagging to confirm what he wanted to express, and Er Mao seemed to grasp this method fairly well. Looking at Hei Mi curled up asleep on the bed's edge, Zheng Tan didn't think Hei Mi could understand this method either—plus, this wasn't the first time.

Due to the communication barrier, Zheng Tan couldn't simply write the answer on paper or type it on a computer—that would be too conspicuous, and he didn't want to be seen as a monster.

When Zheng Tan left, Er Mao put the pendant back around his neck. Seeing Er Mao's demeanor, Zheng Tan knew he would definitely look into it, so he just had to wait. Although Er Mao sometimes acted foolish, Zheng Tan knew he wasn't stupid, so he wasn't worried Er Mao would find no clues.

At dinner, Er Mao wore the pendant outside, went to the Jiao family's place for a quick visit, borrowed a roll of toilet paper, chatted with Jiao Ma for a while, then went downstairs.

Sitting in front of the computer, Er Mao stared at the boot screen without touching the mouse. Ranyang—he now knew it was Associate Professor Jiao's hometown; while upstairs borrowing toilet paper as an excuse to chat, he had already learned from Jiao Ma the exact location of the professor's hometown. Yet Jiao Ma showed no special reaction to the Jade Pendant, and the two kids were similarly indifferent, so the pendant very likely came from Associate Professor Jiao himself.

The next day, Er Mao summoned Zheng Tan to the third floor to continue the yes/no tail-wagging communication.

"Is the item Associate Professor Jiao's?"

Zheng Tan wagged his tail sideways.

"Did Associate Professor Jiao give it to you?"

Wagged tail up.

……

When Zheng Tan grew tired of wagging his tail, they finally got to the crucial point.

"After we go to Associate Professor Jiao's hometown, can you take me to find someone?"

Wagged tail up.

Er Mao had originally planned to just email Associate Professor Jiao if that didn't work, but now that there was progress, he decided to go in person.

"Things with suspense are fun! Only when the answer is revealed do you feel a sense of accomplishment!" Er Mao felt exhilarated, jumped in place twice, his excitement making him lose control of his volume; spontaneously he sang, 'A Lin Daiyu falls from the sky~ like a light cloud just emerging from the mountain~~'

After singing those two lines, Er Mao forgot the rest of the lyrics.

Two seconds later, another sound drifted in through the window.

"Who would have thought he~ was frivolous and rough inside~ but actually~ his frame is extraordinary~ not of the vulgar sort~"

The window and the door to the balcony were both open, and the surroundings were quiet, so the sound was heard clearly.

Er Mao rushed out onto the balcony to look toward the fourth floor.

By the iron net, General was shaking his head and swaying; seeing Er Mao not continue, he went on singing himself.

Er Mao: '……Holy shit!' Damn, this girl can actually sing Yue opera!

Zheng Tan silently shook his head. Those two really work well together. However, imagining Er Mao's scene meeting the old lady, I hope Er Mao doesn't feel the world is full of malice.

Over the next few days, Er Mao kept thinking about how to get Zheng Tan to show him the way. First, he needed to obtain Jiao Ma's permission to take Zheng Tan out; a round trip would definitely take a day, but since he needed to find someone, he felt the time was too tight—maybe at least two days?

So Er Mao turned his idea to Wei Leng. In the end, Wei Leng stepped forward, using his name to fabricate an excuse; taking Zheng Tan out to play for a couple of days had happened before, and Jiao Ma didn't think much of it. Moreover, after Jiao Ba went abroad, Wei Leng and the others had been helping look after the Jiao family members, and Jiao Ma had only given a few reminders before saying nothing more.

How to take a cat out—Er Mao needed to seek advice from Wei Leng. After all, Zheng Tan is no ordinary cat; if you tried to use a regular pet carrier, Zheng Tan wouldn't even glance at it.

The day they decided to leave happened to be a Sunday; Er Mao reluctantly sent Hei Mi to the pet center, and for these days he could only rely on the pet center staff.

The sky was somewhat overcast, the weather forecast said it would rain these days; Er Mao borrowed Wei Leng's car and set off for Ranyang. Zheng Tan slept in the back seat. Beside him was a travel pack; when they went on foot, Zheng Tan would have to crouch inside the pack.

Not long after Er Mao left, Wang Bin, who wanted to have a good talk with him, arrived at the Dongqu Dayuan of Chu Hua Da Xue and discovered that Er Mao's rented place was empty. Professor Lan, who lived opposite and looked just like Wang Bin, kindly told him that Er Mao had gone out, probably on a long trip, but he didn't know exactly where.

Zheng Tan had been dozing off in a daze when the sudden ring of a phone woke him; he glanced at Er Mao, who was driving, and this guy freed a hand to pick up the phone and set it to silent.

Awake but unable to sleep, Zheng Tan looked out the car window; the rain was falling fairly hard.

After arriving in Ranyang, Er Mao went to a hotel and booked a room; the car was left in the hotel's parking lot, then he shouldered his pack and went out to hail a taxi at the station.

The reason he didn't just drive straight to the village was mainly that Er Mao didn't know the roads—he only knew which township and village. If he drove himself, not only would Wei Leng's car suffer, but Er Mao would also have trouble finding the place. After thinking it over, he decided it was better to just take public transport.

Zheng Tan also didn't know the way to the village; during New Year, it was Jiao Ba who drove, and Zheng Tan's only job was to enjoy the scenery and sleep—nothing else.

At the station there were vehicles that went directly from the urban area to the lower townships; although theoretically pets aren't allowed in the station or on the vehicles, the management of this small station is lax and doesn't check luggage or such, so Er Mao's little tricks came to nothing.

When they reached Ranyang, the sky had just begun to clear; the bus Er Mao needed to catch was in high demand, and passengers board first then buy tickets—there was no advance ticketing. Around the station there were many people soliciting passengers, noisy and bustling; Zheng Tan, stuck in his pack, felt stifled, but outside wasn't much better either. Through a gap in the covering he heard locals shouting in dialect, running to and fro, and he felt a bit dizzy.

Zheng Tan had never experienced this before, either in the past or now, but Er Mao seemed quite used to it, laughing and chatting with those who solicited passengers outside the station.

The seats on that bus were already full, yet the touts kept pulling people aboard, and those passengers were used to it. Looking at the minibus, smaller than Chu Hua Shi's city bus but packed with people, Zheng Tan felt uneasy—was this really okay? Wasn't it severely overloaded?

Er Mao decided to wait for the next bus—not because he didn't want to squeeze aboard, but because Zheng Tan couldn't endure the crush; if he went up, he'd likely be squashed into a cat patty.

After waiting two hours for the next bus, Er Mao managed to snag a seat, and Zheng Tan immediately felt much relieved—having a seat felt really good.

This ride left Zheng Tan feeling pretty awful—various smells mingled, noises clamored, and a small child kept crying, hurting his ears, so he regretted this trip quite a bit.

Along the way there were ups and downs, but generally speaking, the further back we went, the emptier the car became; when we finally arrived at the station, as soon as he got off, Zheng Tan unzipped his backpack and breathed in the fresh outside air.

Er Mao, on the other hand, had no complaints; it was clear this guy had plenty of similar experiences.

When he came to the village for the New Year, the weather was fine and he didn't notice anything; now, after a recent rain, everywhere is damp and much more desolate, with only an occasional passerby visible.

On the muddy road, Er Mao could clearly feel his feet growing heavier with just a few steps, a thick layer of mud clinging to his soles; he ran to a small grocery at the village entrance, inquired, and bought a pair of rain boots, otherwise his sports shoes would be ruined.

Fully equipped, Er Mao stood at the village entrance, looking at the road leading into the village, "All right, Little Sister Lin is just ahead!"

Zheng Tan sighed. (To be continued...)

ps: (3.7)