Chapter 191

No matter what A Wu said, even if directly pointed out, Zheng Tan decided to pretend to the end. Anyway he's just a cat now. Moreover, A Wu's impression on Zheng Tan wasn't good; here Zheng Tan always felt ill at ease.

So, just as A Wu was feeling pleased with himself, Zheng Tan turned his head, walked away without looking back.

Ignoring A Wu's shouts behind him, Zheng Tan quickened his pace and ran toward Dongqu Dayuan; even if he saw those three cats again, he would still ignore them. Zheng Tan wasn't afraid of A Wu talking nonsense, because even if A Wu spread it, others wouldn't really believe it, and even if they did, they wouldn't fully believe it—after all, many clever animals that have lived long with humans can indeed understand some simple phrases, and Zheng Tan still keeps a low profile in front of most people; those who know a bit about Zheng Tan's background wouldn't betray him, so what's there to fear?

Friday night, Wei Leng drove over to pick up Zheng Tan and Er Mao to go have fun at Ye Lou; Hetaoshixiong, whom they hadn't seen in a while, happened to be free, so the three fellow disciples got together, and Zheng Tan hitched a ride.

The three fellow disciples were very casual, unlike those people at the previous birthday banquet whom Zheng Tan had seen wearing masks and playing games with hidden motives. While shelling peanuts, they naturally tossed some onto the plate in front of Zheng Tan, so Zheng Tan just needed to sit and wait to eat, listening to the little tune being performed live outside; once full, he'd sprawl on the sofa and nap.

However, Zheng Tan's sleepiness vanished instantly when he heard Wei Leng and the other two fellow disciples discussing the 'cat trainer' beside him.

The topic began with Hetaoshixiong mentioning the case under investigation; actually, some theft cases had occurred the previous year, but everyone thought it was probably just the approaching year-end, with all sorts of demons and monsters coming out to extort New Year's money. Many people heard about it but didn't really take it to heart; such things had been seen often in previous years, and Hetaoshixiong and the others also blamed those with criminal records, who, if caught, would just be fined a bit or thrown in jail for a short while—not a big deal.

But later, the people filing reports after the New Year continued, and the number was higher than the same period in previous years; if it weren't for a chance occurrence, Hetaoshixiong would have thought it was just those with criminal records getting restless.

"Cat?!" Er Mao was so startled that the peanuts he was shelling dropped from his hand.

"Well, opposite the victim's house there's a bookstore. It's not big, but the bookstore owner has some money; because he's been feeling unwell lately and doesn't want to keep watching the shop, he installed some cameras, including one at the store entrance. It's just not very noticeable. They were only installed a few days ago, and most people around don't know about it. A subordinate of mine happened to be lucky, saw it, and got the recent surveillance footage from the shop owner."

Chu Hua Shi (line17)

Zheng Tan stepped forward to have a look. The surveillance footage wasn't great—nothing like bank or large company cameras—but one could indeed see a blurry figure in the photo, with an object at its front; that should be the stolen item.

Given that build and agile movement, it could only be a cat.

"I've kept this under wraps, not leaked it outside, and the bookstore owner doesn't know either. That footage is very brief and also rather dark; if you don't look closely, no one would notice a cat." Hetaoshixiong continued, expressing his suspicion as well: he felt that some of the reported cases were committed by cats, and even if cats are smart, they wouldn't be like Zheng Tan unless someone had specially trained them.

Upon seeing that photo, Zheng Tan immediately thought of A Wu—could it be him? However, the cat in the photo doesn't resemble any of the three cats Longan, Lotus seed, or Eight Treasures.

Just as Zheng Tan was wondering, Hetaoshixiong also brought up A Wu's name.

It turned out that A Wu had taken a job and come to Chu Hua Shi; originally A Wu only planned to stay in Chu Hua Shi for a while to finish the job and then leave, but he didn't expect the police to come knocking. The job he took was probably to train that leopard‑pattern cat.

"He is indeed one of the suspects, but although A Wu hasn't cleared his suspicion, he seems very interested in this matter, voluntarily offering to assist the investigation. Of course, he hasn't been cleared, and we haven't really told him the progress of the case. Up to now he's still staying in Chu Hua Shi; often he's hard to find, and the people we send to tail him get shaken off by him. However, he always has those three cats with him, his features are obvious, and he only goes out to wander at night, plus……" He paused, Hetaoshixiong sighed, "I don't think the person directing the cats to steal is A Wu. He's a bit arrogant and not short of money; I had people look into his income, and it made me want to learn how to train cats myself."

The latter sentence is obviously meant as a joke—many people tame dogs, but taming cats is extremely rare; cats have such foul tempers, otherwise how could one say that cats are the only domesticated animal humans have not yet fully conquered? Since cats entered human society, how many years has it been?

Zheng Tan was thinking, and his ears were also tuned to Hetaoshixiong and their conversation.

"I once asked A Wu, and he said, indeed some cats have a 'theft' tendency, and they naturally prefer to find cats with 'specialties' and talent to train, to bring out their strengths, and that thieving cat is likely trained by someone interested in cat training."

"The cat trainer called A Wu, surely he knows the cat trainers of this province? That should also count as someone in their circle." Er Mao asked.

Hetaoshixiong shook his head, then with an unnatural expression said: "I even called my master to ask."

Wei Leng and Er Mao, upon hearing that, looked at Hetaoshixiong with a "you're courting death" expression.

"My master seems not to have much fondness for cat trainers, and he also said that he at most can be considered a guide and instructor for Dashan, rather than forcibly correcting Dashan's awkward traits." Hetaoshixiong said.

"That's for sure, with Dashan's awful temperament, it definitely wasn't trained!" Er Mao scoffed. Dashan's awful temperament is definitely learned in daily life from the people around him, especially his master.

Wei Leng stayed silent beside them, and when he heard Hetaoshixiong ask his master those few words about cat trainers, he also curled his lips, probably muttering bad things in his heart.

Er Mao peeled two peanuts and popped them into his mouth, "When the time comes I'll pay attention to the surroundings, see which cat looks suspicious, but I don't want to run into that A Wu." Er Mao often takes Hei Mi out for walks lately, but he doesn't want the cat trainer to see his own cat. He feels his Hei Mi is exactly the talented, smart kind that Hetaoshixiong mentioned, so he needs to protect him well. Cat trainer? Who knows what they might do.

"Then you can rest assured, A Wu won't go to Chu Hua Da Xue area, at least not in the near future." Hetaoshixiong said.

"Why?" Even Wei Leng became curious now.

Hetaoshixiong chuckled, "That fat cat called Da Pang, its 'dad' went to see A Wu a couple of days ago, warning him not to approach Chu Hua Da Xue. Moreover, over a year ago, when A Wu left Chu Hua Shi, it seems Da Pang's dad was also involved."

"Da Pang's cat dad?" Er Mao wondered, then suddenly understood. He then began to sigh. These days, cats are more impressive than people.

Because his own father had an important position, Er Mao had also looked into some prominent figures in the province; when renting a place in Dongqu Dayuan, he investigated the residents, especially those in Building B, that fat tabby cat family. Wei Leng had specifically mentioned it. At the time, Er Mao also lamented that this seemingly ordinary staff housing complex hid hidden talents, so he often helped the elderly lady of Da Pang's family move things, earning goodwill.

Zheng Tan was thinking, no wonder after seeing each other that day. Up to now he hasn't seen A Wu appear at Chu Hua Da Xue; Zheng Tan even thought A Wu had given up coming to bother him, but now it seems it's thanks to Da Pang's cat dad.

Thinking of this, Zheng Tan couldn't help but feel again in his heart—this is an era of relying on one's father; people are like that, and even cats have joined in.

In fact, when Hetaoshixiong learned this reason from A Wu, he himself also couldn't help but sigh—these days, many cats are indeed more impressive than people, like Da Pang, and also, the black cat in front of him, with its head drooping, not knowing what it's thinking.

After learning from Hetaoshixiong the reason A Wu stayed in Chu Hua Shi, Zheng Tan also paid attention to whether any strange, suspicious cats were showing up around.

After a leisurely weekend, early Monday morning Zheng Tan was picked up by Xiao Guo from the Jiao family.

Today there is a mission; Xiao Guo, as vice president of the Green Wings Association, is taking the pet center's advertising team out to shoot a public service announcement, to boost the Green Intent Association's visibility and increase his own influence within the association.

Zheng Tan is undoubtedly Xiao Guo's absolute trump card.

Today they chose a place with nice scenery, a thirty-minute drive from Chu Hua Da Xue, near a lake; after greeting the person in charge here, they had already cordoned off an area in advance, and when Zheng Tan arrived, he saw that much was already prepared.

In the public service announcement to be shot today, they need to tell people about the dangers of chocolate and some highly stimulating foods to pets. This includes some "high-difficulty" acts such as feigning fainting, feigning vomiting, etc.; among the cats, only Zheng Tan can carry the heavy load, while the other few pets at Xiao Guo's pet center are on the side responsible for being cute.

In Zheng Tan's view, these ads are shot rather childishly, and the production is relatively rough, but after all it's just a pet public service announcement; people's tolerance for pets on screen is generally much higher than for humans. Nevertheless, upholding the principle of professionalism, during filming Zheng Tan even added some improvisation, twitching a few times, which scared the crew so much their faces turned white, they broke out in a cold sweat, fearing that the fake act might become real, otherwise Xiao Guo would fire them outright.

Everyone knows that Boss Xiao Guo regards this black cat as the lucky cat of the entire pet center, not to be provoked or harmed.

Overall, just like usual when shooting ads at the pet center, it went very smoothly, so Zheng Tan's part ended quickly, while the person in charge of the pet dogs only completed a third, and the work team still has to continue here.

Vice President Xiao Guo is very busy; after arriving here he hasn't been seen, unknown which big figure he's gone to negotiate with. Entrusted by Xiao Guo with an important task to look after Zheng Tan is a twenty-something young man named Cha Li, and Zheng Tan regrets that he isn't a girl.

Cha Li is absolutely a local, but because of his name, the surname "Cha" is often mispronounced; he was recruited by Xiao Guo this year from the Agricultural University, majoring in animal medicine, a senior about to graduate, recently interning at the pet center, and today was called over to help.

Cha Li is responsible for looking after Zheng Tan; Xiao Guo has told him the things to pay attention to here—for example, the disposable paper cups for water must be clean and unused, and the food must not contain cat biscuits or dry cat food and the like. At first, when Cha Li saw the food given to Zheng Tan, he mentioned its hazards, but later he realized this cat is indeed quite unique, so he stopped mentioning it; today he won't bring it up either, and he must also keep things discreet, which contradicts today's public service announcement; Cha Li lacks experience and feels somewhat guilty.

Zheng Tan doesn't want to stay here all the time, he's preparing to go out for a stroll. Cha Li was just called over to help elsewhere, and no one in the rest area is watching Zheng Tan; having finally come here, it's nice to take a look at the scenery.

After slipping out from under the cordoned-off cloth barrier, Zheng Tan saw a small pine grove and prepared to walk through it.

Just as he entered the pine forest and heard a sound, when he looked over Zheng Tan saw a yellowish figure flash by; however, after noticing Zheng Tan's presence, the figure paused briefly, glanced at Zheng Tan, then quickly left.

It was a cat that looked very much like A Huang, except A Huang didn't have such sharp eyes.

That cat had just been holding in its mouth a short men's wallet. (To be continued...)

ps: (3.13)