Chapter 206: A Rare Cat

Long Qi kept his peripheral eyes on that side, wondering what Uncle Kun meant by bringing this thing over, and the next moment he noticed the situation at the table, his mind wobbling like the vase on the table until the vase steadied, then he breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Hao of course also noticed that side, but showed no expression.

In Ye Hao and the others' minds, a cat is still not a human, not a trained warrior, won't obey your commands or be restrained in word and deed; it might howl wildly when it shouldn't, mess around when it shouldn't, and cause a carefully planned matter to collapse outright.

If it were another cat, perhaps it would be a minor issue, but Ye Hao has known since the day he met this black cat how capable it is.

Taking a seamless deep breath, Ye Hao steadied his thoughts and continued discussing cooperation with Uncle Kun. As the saying goes, "Strike while the iron is hot; the second time wanes, the third exhausts." After painstakingly preparing to face Huang Kun, a once‑great figure, he could not appear weak! Several projects under his command—such as the small commercial plaza under construction near Chu Hua Da Xue—would inevitably involve contact with the locals, so he wanted to negotiate in advance before any trouble or conflict arose, making any later issues easier to resolve. Conflict of interest is always the primary contradiction, but how that interest is divided is why Ye Hao sits here under pressure.

However, as Ye Hao spoke of the profit‑sharing issue and was about to start a psychological battle, a "crack" sounded, shattering the tense atmosphere.

The blue veins on Ye Hao's forehead bulged, yet he forced himself to keep a calm face. Inside he was already cursing. "Damned thing, why can't this thing behave!" he thought.

Zheng Tan glanced at the shattered vase and the mess on the floor, then at the expressions of the people nearby. Apart from Uncle Kun, the others—including Ye Hao and the few beside Uncle Kun—though not showing it outwardly, had other emotions in their eyes. He tugged his ear, jumped down from the table, and thought he'd find somewhere else to lie down; the atmosphere here was unsuitable.

Zheng Tan truly didn't intend to do that. He had been lying calmly beside it, half‑asleep, when a tiny greenfly buzzed around his ear. When Zheng Tan raised his paw to swat it, his swing was a bit too big. Moreover, he's stronger than an average cat, and without restraining himself he knocked the vase over.

Zheng Tan tentatively moved around, saw no one blocking him, and Uncle Kun gave no response. He lifted his foot to head toward the hall's exit. At that moment, a person standing behind Uncle Kun also walked out, following Zheng Tan.

Long Qi and Baizi exchanged a rapid glance, uneasy. Though they disliked the cat stirring trouble here, they didn't want anything to happen to it. Besides, the cat was familiar with Wei Leng, Er Mao, Fang San and others, having helped them many times, and it was they who had dragged the cat in this time…

"Uncle Kun…"

Ye Hao clearly feared that Uncle Kun might silently snap the cat, so he was about to plead, but Uncle Kun raised his hand and stopped him, lifted a teacup to sip, then began stating his opinion on Ye Hao's profit‑sharing proposal, having no intention of hearing Ye Hao's earlier point. The broken vase and the lucky bamboo remained on the floor, and Uncle Kun didn't order anyone to clean them up.

As Zheng Tan left the living room, he heard someone following behind. He turned, saw it was the person who had opened the door; that person had been trailing Uncle Kun since entering, now perhaps following to watch him?

Passing a room, Zheng Tan halted. The door was ajar, looking like a study.

He tentatively took two steps inside; seeing the person behind him had no intention to stop him, Zheng Tan went in.

The study wasn't much smaller than the living room; some calligraphy and paintings hung on the walls, a long table stood beside them with several plaster sculptures, and there were some in the corner as well.

The plaster pieces varied in size—some about a meter tall, like those in the corner, others only about twenty centimeters. They depicted both figures and animals. Compared with the masters, there was undeniably a gap, but if these were carved by a blind old man, that would be remarkable. Moreover, no one had ever said Uncle Kun was a sculptor; even a fully sighted person might not reach Uncle Kun's level.

He examined each plaster statue, then Zheng Tan's gaze shifted to the calligraphy and paintings on the wall.

Zheng Tan had seen some ink paintings at Professor Lan's house; besides arranging flowers and plants, Lan, an old man, also painted ink works with a respectable air. Even without deep knowledge of art appraisal, Zheng Tan could tell that Uncle Kun's painting was hardly any worse than Lan's, though one shouldn't be too harsh on a blind artist's work. Overall it looked fine, and Zheng Tan felt genuine admiration.

Next to the painting was a piece of calligraphy, which, comparatively, was far more powerful and imposing. Once, when Zheng Tan visited Professor Lan's home, the old man was writing with a brush; seeing Zheng Tan, he got into a teaching mood and talked about calligraphy. Lan had said that works lacking vigor are dull and spiritless; those with momentum splash ink with the force of wind and rolling clouds; those with spirit make each stroke flow like wind.

Zheng Tan didn't know much about appraisal, but felt this piece of calligraphy absolutely met the standard Lan described.

But…

Zheng Tan stared at the four bold characters "Thirteen Great Guardians" and wondered what Uncle Kun meant by writing them. Don't people usually inscribe maxims or idioms with positive meaning? Or, to show off, write a single word like "Endure" or "Kill"?

He also looked at the other calligraphy and paintings in the study, linking them to Uncle Kun's character. Though Zheng Tan didn't fully grasp what kind of person the old man was, he recalled Jiao Ba saying: "A great person's lack of arrogance stems from a broad perspective—knowing there are mountains beyond mountains, buildings beyond buildings—and from rich experience, understanding that fleeting success cannot dictate a person's rise and fall. True great figures do have enemies; when confronting them head‑on they may push the opponent to death, yet behind the scenes they remain modest, recognizing beauty even in evil."

Regardless of how glorious or villainous Uncle Kun once was, based solely on what Zheng Tan sees now, this old man is indeed not easy.

The world judges blind artists as having shed the limits of sight, able to "see" objects through other extraordinary, unique means; besides solid fundamentals and imaginative ability, they likely possess special powers to achieve such astonishing results.

Zheng Tan doesn't know whether the old man has such abilities, but now he somewhat understands why the old man walks so steadily, unlike some blind people Zheng Tan has seen who tiptoe cautiously and often stumble.

The person trailing Zheng Tan remained silent; if Zheng Tan hadn't heard him respectfully call "Uncle Kun" upon entering, he would have thought the guy was mute.

When they returned to the living room, Ye Hao and Uncle Kun had finished their talk, and the atmosphere had eased considerably.

Seeing that Zheng Tan was no longer in trouble, Ye Hao and the others also breathed a sigh of relief.

When saying goodbye, Ye Hao offered to escort Zheng Tan back to Chu Hua Da Xue, and Uncle Kun agreed.

After Ye Hao and Zheng Tan left, the person who had been following Zheng Tan out of the living room walked up to Uncle Kun.

"After that cat went in today…"

He detailed to Uncle Kun every move Zheng Tan made in the study today.

"I don't think that cat is with Ye Hao's group," the man said.

"Hmm."

After a brief hum, Uncle Kun fell silent, but those beside him knew he had long anticipated this outcome. As for why Uncle Kun was paying attention to that cat… it seemed that after learning Nie Shijiu owned a cat, Uncle Kun had been monitoring the surrounding cats. Though he couldn't see them, his extremely sharp hearing and perception let him notice things: the cats would run far away the moment they saw Uncle Kun, and even if they didn't run, they never showed affection; even trained cats displayed strong wariness. Clearly, the old man has become very restrained now.

This afternoon when Uncle Kun returned, someone at a barbecue shop's entrance was feeding a cat; the cat was meowing for food, but when Uncle Kun passed by, it stopped meowing and fled. Even Nie Shijiu's cat, upon seeing Uncle Kun, arched its back and let out a low growl, as if facing a great enemy.

So, the first time on Tianqiao he sensed a cat nearby, Uncle Kun thought: "This cat must be either clumsy‑nerved or overly bold." Later events made him realize that wasn't the case.

What a rare cat!

As Zheng Tan rode back in Ye Hao's car, he expected Ye Hao to scold him about the broken vase in the living room, but Ye Hao only mentioned the promise of giving Zheng Tan a private room at Ye Lou.

Having resolved a long‑standing worry, Ye Hao was in good spirits, and after leaving Uncle Kun's place, he reflected on many details, thinking perhaps it was the cat's comic interference that made everything go smoothly? Maybe…

Originally this spot wasn't far from Chu Hua Da Xue, but Ye Hao still had the driver take the car to the side gate nearest Dongqu Dayuan, and told Zheng Tan to later follow Wei Leng to Ye Lou; perhaps he could see his small private room then.

When Zheng Tan entered the compound, he saw the guard's clock read past five o'clock, close to Xiao Youzi's school‑dismissal time, so he turned toward the elementary school.

Recently the kids at the elementary school were especially cheerful, probably because Children's Day was approaching and the holiday was coming, letting them enjoy the perks of their age. Jiao Yuan and his peers, however, had already moved from the Young Pioneers to the Communist Youth League, still hoping to enjoy "Children's Day"?

When Xiao Youzi came out, two kids from the western district who were also good friends of his classmate—Yue Lisha and Xie Xin—came out together. They glanced at Zheng Tan crouching by the wall, then said to Xiao Youzi, "Please take care of the cat at your home!"

Zheng Tan was puzzled, "What do those two girls mean by that?" (To be continued…)

PS: (3.27) The next update will be later; everyone, go to sleep.