Chapter 210: Peanut Rice?

After Zheng Tan was called over by Er Mao for questioning, Zheng Tan didn't run over there anymore, and in order to let the people in the compound quickly forget about the "divine beast," Zheng Tan hardly went out for the next few days.

Jiao Ma sent the recorded video to Jiao Ba, letting him watch and have a laugh; later, during an overseas video call, Jiao Ba mentioned it again, saying our cat is naturally a divine beast, and the lucky cat is a kind of divine beast.

During the overseas video call, Jiao Ma also mentioned another matter, saying they were preparing to take the two kids and a cat to the countryside for fun during summer vacation; Jiao Ma's father, Gu Lao Yezi, had already brought it up several times, missing the kids.

Going to play sounds good.

Zheng Tan was lying on the balcony, thinking about what to play when they went to Gu Lao Yezi's place, when suddenly he heard a cat's meow coming from downstairs.

"Meow—meow—"

Upon hearing that sound, Zheng Tan immediately knew who it was, though this kid hadn't come over in a while. Today he's apparently preparing to go challenge someone's turf again?

Peanut Candy is now an adult, noticeably a size larger than Zheng Tan; usually at the pet center he reigns supreme, afraid of nothing except his mother. But facing Zheng Tan, Peanut Candy still retains some habits from kittenhood; from a human perspective, he treats Zheng Tan as an elder, while giving no face to other cats at all.

Zheng Tan was about to go downstairs to see what turf this guy was preparing to challenge, when he heard a cat's call coming from the third-floor balcony.

The two cats upstairs and downstairs were calling at each other; Zheng Tan found it odd, poked his head out from the balcony to look down, and saw the lazy Hei Mi stretching his head out of the balcony, calling downward.

Zheng Tan glanced at the cat head showing from the third floor, then looked at Peanut Candy downstairs opening its mouth and calling loudly.

Holy shit!

No way!

Not only Zheng Tan figured it out, Er Mao also pondered it.

A month ago, the pet center held a salon; Er Mao took Hei Mi there for a bath and happened to join the salon, successfully hitting on a pretty girl; since Hei Mi usually doesn't run around, whenever Er Mao called he'd come over, and besides, the pet center had safeguards to keep cats from getting out, so Er Mao wasn't too worried. Perhaps that's when they got together?

A month ago, there was a salon at the pet center over there; Er Mao took Hei Mi to the pet center to take a bath and incidentally participated in that salon, and even successfully hit on a pretty girl. Since Hei Mi usually doesn't run around, as soon as Er Mao calls it, it comes over; moreover, the pet center has precautions, so cats won't run out. At that time, Er Mao didn't worry too much. Perhaps that's when they hooked up?

When Er Mao went to visit that great-aunt, he also left Hei Mi at the pet center; who knows, they might have met then.

Although animal heat is mainly hormone-driven, sometimes they also need to meet eye to eye; some people raise a male and female cat for years and still can't get them to mate.

Er Mao stared down at the cat downstairs with a grim face; he recognized it as the pet center's cat named Peanut Candy, said to have succeeded its mother as the local boss.

We can't let the cat keep calling downstairs; it's noisy for the neighbors. Er Mao went downstairs to open the access gate.

Zheng Tan watched Peanut Candy go into the building downstairs. He hesitated about going up to the third floor to see the commotion; but thinking that this matter almost got him into trouble, he got angry. Having finally caught Peanut Candy, he figured he ought to give him a beating one way or another.

On the third floor, as Peanut Candy climbed up, Hei Mi was already pacing back and forth in front of their door; when the two met, they showed great affection, rubbing against each other. Seeing this, Er Mao felt even more gloomy, and thus looked at Peanut Candy with even more displeasure, waving the usual cat-teasing plastic stick like a threat.

Seeing that, Peanut Candy bared his teeth at Er Mao, his fur bristling all over, emitting an aggressive low growl.

"I'm telling you, after you watch, get lost quick, and don't ever come back, or I'll whip you to death!" Er Mao shook the plastic stick in his hand, making a motion to strike.

"I'm telling you, after you finish reading, get lost immediately, and don't ever come back, otherwise I'll beat you to death!" Er Mao shook the plastic stick in his hand, making a motion to strike.

As Zheng Tan entered through the half-open door, he saw the person and cat staring at each other like class enemies, while Hei Mi sat calmly nearby, seemingly puzzled as to why the two were like that.

Glancing at the standoff between the person and cat, Zheng Tan walked over. Can't you two calmly discuss this?

Peanut Candy's intelligence among cats isn't low; he fully inherited his parents' strengths, and with frequent human contact he understands some of what people say, but being still young he can't be as seasoned as his parents; otherwise he wouldn't have directly confronted Er Mao here.

Peanut Candy's intelligence isn't low among cats; it fully inherited its parents' strengths, and because it interacts with people often, it can understand some of what people say. However, being still young, it can't be as seasoned as its parents; otherwise, it wouldn't have directly confronted Er Mao here.

Peanut Candy walked up beside Zheng Tan and let out a "meow."

Zheng Tan narrowed his eyes and gave Peanut Candy a slap. This kid's "good deed" almost got me blamed!

Peanut Candy, slapped by that paw, looked a bit dazed, full of innocent "meow~"

"Meow my ass! You're still pretending to be innocent?!"

Another slap.

Peanut Candy drooped his ears, shrank his head and closed his eyes, obediently crouching there to take the hits.

Actually, when Zheng Tan slaps, he pulls back a lot—at most just a bit harder than when Officer Jingzhang and his crew play around slapping; given Peanut Candy's tolerance, this amount of force means nothing to him. Perhaps he also knows that the black cat who's watched him grow up won't really hurt him.

Seeing this scene before him, Er Mao felt even more gloomy. He had just left the door open, intending to threaten and scare this cat that had done "bad things," testing its courage; ideally it would back off, and after being scared off not come back. But he didn't expect this guy to be so fierce, not afraid of him at all, still putting up a posture ready to fight. Originally Er Mao had thought to himself, no wonder the family's "daughter" took a liking to him—bold and manly. But in the blink of an eye, this lass turned out like that, being slapped several times by the upstairs black coal and not daring to let out a single fart! Even his claws shrank back.

Seeing this situation before him, Er Mao felt even more gloomy. Just now, without closing the door, he had intended to threaten and scare this cat that was up to no good, to test its courage; ideally it would back down, and after being scared off, not come back. He didn't expect this guy to be quite fierce, not afraid of him at all, and even appearing ready to fight. Originally, Er Mao had been thinking to himself, 'No wonder it's the one my daughter took a liking to—bold and manly.' But in the blink of an eye, this lass changed her demeanor, as if after being slapped several times by the black coal from upstairs, she didn't dare to fart at all! Even her claws retracted.

"Hey Hei Meitan, is this guy your offspring?" Er Mao sat on the living-room sofa, twiddling the plastic stick in his hand, and said.

Zheng Tan glanced at Er Mao, angry. Bullshit! Don't keep pinning everything on me!

Before Zheng Tan could protest, Er Mao muttered to himself: "Looking at it, it doesn't seem like it; you couldn't produce something like this; this cat is much bigger than you, and besides, it's long-haired—its father must surely be a big long-haired cat."

Zheng Tan withdrew the foot he'd been readying to kick Er Mao in the face, thinking Er Mao probably hadn't yet connected Peanut Candy with Ye Hao's family's "Jueye." Besides, Jueye often follows Tang Qiye; has Er Mao ever seen it?

Many female cats ignore males during pregnancy, even possibly attacking, but Hei Mi's attitude toward Peanut Candy is still not bad. Peanut Candy lingered, nuzzling Hei Mi for a while before leaving; as he departed, Er Mao waved that plastic stick, threatening: "You damn well better not come back! Otherwise I'll hit you every time I see you."

Peanut Candy bared his teeth, looking like he couldn't be bothered. Er Mao was so angry he almost lashed out right away.

I don't know if Peanut Candy understood Er Mao's words; anyway, over the next week Zheng Tan didn't see him come to the compound. And Er Mao didn't even let Xiao Guo and the others know about this, probably fearing Xiao Guo would come over to steal the cat.

Now Xiao Guo and Li Yuanba's mother Li Yan have feelings growing deeper each day, already discussing marriage, becoming one family. Peanut Candy and Li Yuanba have long been residing at the pet center, treating it as their own home, so Peanut Candy also counts as part of Xiao Guo's household. Er Mao fears that even if Xiao Guo doesn't steal the big cat, he'll come for the kitten. Moreover, Er Mao harbors resentment toward both Peanut Candy and Xiao Guo's lot, keeping things under wraps; during this period he took Hei Mi to another pet hospital for a check-up, confirmed everything was normal, and even took an X-ray to count the kitten fetuses—just two.

I've heard that when a cat is pregnant, you should avoid taking her elsewhere as much as possible; even at an animal hospital, any viruses there could be very dangerous for her. Er Mao decided not to take Hei Mi out during this period. The vet, seeing Er Mao's dilemma, comforted him: it's just cats giving birth, not humans, no need to make it so complicated; most mother cats can handle delivery on their own, at most just helping a little on the side.

After consulting further on what to watch out for, Er Mao decided to stay low-key before the kittens are born, not running around often.

Er Mao also called Wei Leng, Qin Tao, and his older brother Wang Bin and similar acquaintances one by one to notify them: "Don't come running to my place for nothing; if there's something, just call me!"

Following the booklet's advice, Er Mao bought another nest with a top; this kind that blocks light, a dark environment can give the cat a sense of security. But Hei Mi didn't like it, still preferring to stay in his original nest, so Er Mao simply moved Hei Mi's nest to the study—anyway this house's study isn't used much, the secondary bedroom is piled with the landlord's stuff, completely full, and its door basically hasn't been opened again. Er Mao usually uses the study to store food; now he simply tidied it up. Pull the curtains, and it's just as dark. Hei Mi didn't object either.

One day Zheng Tan was out strolling when he ran into Er Mao coming back from delivering food to Jiao Wei's restaurant, and heard Er Mao mention this.

"Hey Hei Meitan, you say, just two kitten, I thought there'd be more; I once knew someone whose cat gave birth to six." Er Mao sighed, also relieved—fewer is better, more would be too troublesome.

Hearing that, Zheng Tan couldn't help but recall that Li Yuanba originally only gave birth to Peanut Candy alone. Could it be because of that special gene in Jueye's lineage, making large litters impossible?

Still, it's quality over quantity; Zheng Tan believes that with Jueye's special gene, even after two generations of dilution it wouldn't be bad at all; besides, Li Yuanba is so formidable, Hei Mi is no simpleton—this three-generation cat family, are they destined to dominate Chu Hua Shi?

"Hey Hei Meitan, you say, what would be a good name for those two kittens?" Er Mao plucked a leaf of some unknown grass in the flowerbed and said.

"A name?" Zheng Tan thought. Hei Mi, Peanut Candy… why not just call them Peanut Rice?

Er Mao also thought of Peanut Rice, but he felt that mentioning Peanut Rice would make him think of the kittens' father, Peanut Candy, and he wasn't too happy about that.

"Can't call them Peanut Rice; let's just call them big rice and small rice. I don't know what those kittens will look like or what color their fur will be—I hope they resemble Hei Mi more." Er Mao wore an expression of anticipation.

During this time Hei Mi has been staying at home, quite quiet—eating when he should, sleeping when he should; occasionally spotting a cockroach he'd play with it for a bit. Seeing that, Er Mao jumped in shock—about to give birth and still playing with cockroaches?! Watching Hei Mi lumbering around with his big belly, Er Mao's heart trembled; he hurriedly cleaned the whole house, and also asked some elderly folks in the compound for safe ways to exterminate cockroaches. (To be continued…)

Hei Mi has been staying at home this period, also quite quiet, eating when he should eat, sleeping when he should sleep, occasionally seeing a cockroach and playing with it, Er Mao seeing that got a fright, about to give birth yet still playing with cockroaches?! Seeing Hei Mi running around with a big belly, Er Mao's heart also trembled, hurriedly cleaned the whole house, and also consulted some old men and women in the big courtyard for some safe methods to exterminate cockroaches. (To be continued..)

ps: (3.31)