Chapter 186: Reliance

Zheng Tan stood on a fence post in the courtyard, boredly yawned, then lowered his head to watch an earthworm crawling on the ground.

Inside the thatched hut, the old lady and Er Mao were talking about their experiences over the years and some past events; Zheng Tan had no interest in listening to their stories there, so he came out to get some fresh air.

Actually, without Er Mao speaking, the old lady had already guessed the blood relation between her and Er Mao; Er Mao couldn't deny it. By seniority, Er Mao should call her "great-aunt". Zheng Tan had heard villagers say that the old lady came to this village forty-something years ago, when she was already forty; counting up, she'll be ninety in two years.

After Zheng Tan yawned ten or so times, the wooden door creaked open. Er Mao walked out from inside.

From the look on Er Mao's face, the two were getting along quite well, completely lacking the shitty expression they had when previously messed with by the old lady.

"Let's go." Er Mao waved at Zheng Tan, indicating readiness to leave.

Zheng Tan glanced at the thatched hut, then at Er Mao, after recognizing kin, is that it?

No.

Er Mao thought it would also be inconvenient to take the old lady away; he hadn't driven over, and even if he had, the roads would be tough. He planned to go back first, discuss with his family, then come later to pick up this great-aunt, after all this isn't a small matter.

Because Er Mao had set his phone to silent when he came earlier, while riding in a small passenger vehicle toward Fuyang Chengqu he noticed nineteen missed calls, all from the same number, which was Wang Bin's. But Er Mao just glanced and didn't call back.

Zheng Tan then heard Er Mao sighing all the way. He knew this time Er Mao couldn't avoid talking with his family.

After staying one night at a hotel in Fuyang Chengqu, they drove back to Chu Hua Shi early the next morning. The return trip went fairly smoothly; the first thing Er Mao did upon reaching Chu Hua Shi wasn't to go find his mother to discuss the great-aunt, but to go to the pet center to pick up Hei Mi back.

It was likely that being dumped at the pet center made Hei Mi angry; as Zheng Tan knew, for the next three days Hei Mi ignored Er Mao, and even if Er Mao took out the plush toy it usually liked to play with, it merely moved its paws perfunctorily. At first Er Mao thought it was sick, but after sending it to the pet center and checking everything was normal, the veterinarian said jokingly, "This cat is probably just throwing a tantrum." Er Mao attended to it for three days before it returned to normal.

After returning from Fuyang to Chu Hua Shi, for a period of time Er Mao was often not at home, and no one came to see him. Wei Leng did come once, taking Zheng Tan to play at Ye Lou. He also mentioned Er Mao's family situation.

As the saying goes, "A family with an elder is like possessing a treasure." For Er Mao, the newly found great-aunt is such a "treasure". Previously, several elders in the family clashed with Er Mao's aura, but the great-aunt turned around and became Er Mao's biggest reliance in Chu Hua Shi. The great-aunt has no children, and she gets along well with Er Mao; the family elders, seeing this, have nothing to say about Er Mao always running to the great-aunt, and even Er Mao's maternal grandfather encourages this behavior.

Word has it that whenever Er Mao argues with his father, he runs to the great-aunt for refuge; with the great-aunt present, even if his father is angry he must hold it in, so Er Mao no longer needs to hide. Recently he even bought a house by a scenic lake for the great-aunt, hired a dedicated caretaker, and the old lady graciously chose Er Mao's house, rejecting his parents' arrangement.

"You really can stir up trouble." Wei Leng said to Zheng Tan.

With backing, Er Mao became much more arrogant, yet he didn't move out of Dongqu Dayuan. And if it weren't for Wei Leng telling Zheng Tan, even if Zheng Tan were beaten to death he wouldn't know that Er Mao's father is a top official of the provincial government; likely none of the residents of Dongqu Dayuan would know that a provincial official's son lives there either.

Saying Er Mao is arrogant is only relative to his previous evasive hiding from certain people and matters; but as long as Er Mao doesn't speak, no one can guess his background. Moreover, within a certain scope, everyone only knows Wang Bin as the provincial official's son, while the name Wang Ming is very unfamiliar to them.

In the compound, Zheng Tan lay on a high phoenix tree branch, looking down at the grass where Er Mao was walking his cat; this guy, when recently walking cats outdoors, guarded against surrounding cats as if against wolves, except A Huang, because A Huang is the sole neutered male cat.

"Er Mao!" a person swayed over slowly from the compound gate.

Zheng Tan looked over and recognized the person as Qin Tao, who had previously been led by him to the Tian Shi Road where he was hit by two lumps of bird droppings. His attire was still about the same as last time: casual suit, leather shoes, looking respectable.

"You left early again." Er Mao glanced at him.

It was only just past three in the afternoon; Qin Tao coming over like this was definitely him leaving early.

"Sitting there bored, I played two rounds of games, lost both, lost interest, prepared to go back and sleep, then sleep until night to go bar-hopping and find a pretty girl." Qin Tao said indifferently. Anyway he comes like this every day; sometimes in bad windy or rainy weather he just sleeps at home, and anyway the company doesn't miss him one bit; everyone knows he's just a decorative placeholder.

Er Mao gave no comment on Qin Tao's answer.

"I came over just to tell you, this Saturday is my birthday, seven p. m., I've booked a private room at Meng Hua Sha; by the way I'll introduce you to some friends, get acquainted and we can all play together, don't just hang out with cats all day, aren't you bored?" Qin Tao said contemptuously.

"Is Wang Bin going?" Er Mao asked.

"That guy is now a respectable busy person, never attends such events, and even after coming to Chu Hua Shi I've hardly seen him a few times. But we're different; we're bad students who enjoy life promptly." Qin Tao gave a "you know" look.

"Okay, Saturday at seven p. m., I'll definitely be on time." Hearing that Wang Bin wouldn't go, Er Mao also felt relieved.

"By the way," Qin Tao glanced around, "what about that black cat?"

Er Mao raised his hand and pointed toward the tree where Zheng Tan was perched.

The leaves aren't very dense yet; from below it's easy to see Zheng Tan's tail hanging beside the branch.

Qin Tao followed the direction Er Mao pointed and looked; Zheng Tan also looked curiously at Qin Tao, wondering what this guy wanted from him—revenge?

"Er Mao, bring this black cat along on Saturday." Qin Tao said.

"Why? Invite a cat to a birthday? Are you a cat person? Besides, you're not that close to it…… Wait, why invite it and not my 'daughter'? Are you discriminating?!" Er Mao glared.

"Tch, I really don't know what you cat slaves think all day, why your minds always veer off?" Qin Tao shook his head. "It's my cousin; she's short-tempered, but oddly she's good with cats. The problem is she's never been able to keep a cat—either the cat runs away on its own or something goes wrong. In short she can't keep cats, but when there's a cat around her mood is decent. Recently that girl doesn't know what's gotten her upset, like she took explosives. You also know that in Chu Hua Shi I'm under my uncle's care. I also need to look after this girl. I can't possibly not invite her to my birthday. Having a cat to keep me at ease, at least she won't lose her temper."

Listening to Qin Tao's words, Zheng Tan summed it up. Basically, Qin Tao meant to make his birthday banquet go smoother, have more fun, avoid being disrupted by his cousin, and bring himself along to accompany the cousin. And in Qin Tao's eyes, Hei Mi isn't as reliable as Zheng Tan; this guy may be a playboy, but he still has discernment.

Accompanying guests...

Zheng Tan flicked the tip of his tail. What's in it for me to go over?

Just then, Zheng Tan heard Er Mao say from under the tree: "Ten thousand."

"What?" Qin Tao blinked, momentarily not grasping Er Mao's meaning.

"I mean," Er Mao raised his index finger, pointed at the black cat on the tree, then reached toward Qin Tao, "that cat, appearance fee ten thousand."

"Holy shit, you think I'm paying for a golden cat?! Ten thousand! Ten thousand bucks could buy a hundred of these cats! Oh, cat dealers have them cheaper, a few dozen bucks gets you a plump sturdy one."

Er Mao wasn't rushed either, he started counting on his fingers: "You think, if your cousin flies into a rage, the spilled liquor alone would exceed that price? Plus, there are the tables, chairs, stools, and various compensation fees..."

Hearing Er Mao's words, Zheng Tan nodded inwardly. Even a child can be taught; sometimes Er Mao is quite useful.

"Alright alright, it's just ten thousand bucks, that's what we said—Saturday at seven p. m., you and that black cat, be on time."

Ten thousand bucks really isn't much for Qin Tao; after achieving his goal, he took a phone call and hurried off—his assistant's call, an urgent document needing his signature and approval. Although his posted position at the company is basically just a decoration, the necessary procedures still have to be followed.

After driving out of the gate of Chu Hua Da Xue, Qin Tao suddenly realized, "Damn, that black cat isn't even Er Mao's—what right does that thing have to discuss someone else's cat's appearance fee!" Really, one slip and he got played.

Qin Tao really wronged Er Mao; Er Mao's reason for discussing Zheng Tan's appearance fee was still what Wei Leng said. Wei Leng told Er Mao, "If you ever need Zheng Tan to do something in the future, it's better to give him some benefit, otherwise that cat will just go through the motions."

If Zheng Tan knew the truth he'd surely sigh; indeed Wei Leng is more familiar with his modus operandi.

After hearing Wei Leng's words, just now Er Mao was thinking that cat food and plush toys etc. wouldn't come in handy; it'd be better to directly ask for money, which is more substantial—then give it to the Jiao family people, saying it's a red packet from someone else as thanks.

Er Mao is now quite familiar with the Jiao family folks, often volunteering to help move things, which has tripled their goodwill toward him; thus, after Er Mao proposed taking Zheng Tan out to play, Jiao Ma hesitated a moment but still agreed.

With Wei Leng ahead, Er Mao and Wei Leng are also sworn brothers; plus their own cat naturally likes to go out and play, so Jiao Ma could only sigh inwardly: their cat has been spoiled rotten, but if they didn't let it out to play they couldn't bear to see it droop-eared and listless on the sofa; in short, they've indulged its bad habits.

On Saturday, Zheng Tan was still eating dinner at home; as for Qin Tao's birthday banquet, Zheng Tan didn't think he'd get anything to eat there, so he'd rather fill his stomach first—then, even if something happened, he'd have the energy to make a quick getaway.

Meng Hua Sha is a private club; the boss is a woman in her forties, roughly the same age as Qin Tao's mother, but Qin Tao still calls her Sha Jie rather than an "aunt" generation term; after all, women of that age often prefer younger-sounding titles.

Sha Jie happened to be in the shop today; seeing Er Mao, she had a momentary blank stare, then laughed and actively said a few words to him—she had seen Wang Bin, and seeing Er Mao she was merely surprised.

Zheng Tan was in the backpack, but his head stuck out to look around.

There were quite a few people coming and going in the shop; if Zheng Tan walked on the floor he'd likely get kicked or stepped on—this is the sorrow of being small.

"Oh, you brought a cat too?" Sha Jie saw the black cat head on Er Mao's backpack and chuckled lightly.

Also?

Could Qin Tao have made a few preparations just in case Zheng Tan couldn't come over?

Seeing Er Mao puzzled, Sha Jie explained: "Just now a pretty girl brought a leopard‑spotted cat a bit larger than an ordinary cat—quite impressive—and she was also heading to Qin Tao's place, so…"

After glancing at Zheng Tan, Sha Jie sincerely warned, "Pay more attention—that cat doesn't look easy to provoke." (To be continued…)

ps: (3.9)