Chapter 222

Fang Shaokang today had rare free time to come over and look at the kittens; he had actually heard a month ago about Er Mao's side having cat births. Er Mao's older brother Wang Bin also mentioned it when chatting with Fang Shaokang, but back then Fang Shaokang didn't pay it any mind. Later, when Fang Shaokang received a call from his home in the capital, he learned that his daughter had always wanted a cat, but just hadn't found a suitable one.

What counts as suitable?

The family didn't really understand what exactly Fang Mengmeng wanted from a cat; after all, to many people a cat is just a cat, and when keeping a pet purely, those with means and status tend to prefer some precious breeds, but Fang Mengmeng always looked down on them. The family also thought this child was just on a whim wanting to keep a cat, but when it came time to actually choose, she hesitated.

After learning of this, Fang Shaokang, who was always busy with his career and had little time to spend with his wife and children, and inevitably felt some guilt toward his child, spontaneously decided to come over and take a look.

Zheng Tan watched as Fang Shaokang took out a device over ten centimeters tall from the bag he was carrying, its front a camera. After adjusting it a bit, Fang Shaokang first set the device aside, then took the cat-teasing toys Er Mao had handed over and teased the two kittens.

However, what interested Fang Shaokang was that when he teased the two kittens, they started out wary, then gradually walked out of their nest to approach him, after which they perfunctorily moved their paws twice and then sat still, crouched a step away from him.

But whenever Er Mao came over with the same cat-teasing toy, the two kittens would act like they were possessed by a nervous disorder, bouncing left and right, playing quite excitedly. They were still wary of Fang Shaokang, this stranger.

"Still judging people by the dish they serve?" Fang Shaokang wasn't annoyed. He dragged over a small stool and sat beside them, watching Er Mao tease the kittens while also carefully observing the two kittens.

Zheng Tan also crouched to the side and watched, not expecting these two kittens to have such distinct personalities. After all, they inherited those special genes from 'Jueye'; they wouldn't be the kind of cat that only grows a head but not a brain, so their IQ should be somewhat higher than that of ordinary cats.

At noon, Zheng Tan picked up Xiao Youzi and went to Jiao Wei's restaurant for a meal. Upon returning, he found Fang Shaokang still there. He didn't know which kitten Fang Shaokang had taken a liking to, or whether he planned to take both.

Out of curiosity, Zheng Tan pushed open the ajar door and walked in.

In the living room, Fang Shaokang was fiddling with that small device, then picked a spot and adjusted the angle. He aimed the camera at the two kittens, while also talking on the phone.

"Alright. Can you see this time? … Okay, then take a good look, pick whichever you like and Daddy will bring it back for you this weekend… Two won't do. These two will fight if they're together, haven't you heard 'one mountain cannot tolerate two tigers'? … Ah, that's other people's situation; your Er Mao ge's side is a special case, you see these two cats are different from other people's cats, right?"

Fang Shaokang was spouting nonsense over there; Zheng Tan didn't think Fang Shaokang knew what was different about these two kittens, guessing he was purely trying to dispel Fang Mengmeng's decision to keep both cats.

Er Mao was doing his best to tease the two kittens, and then Fang Mengmeng's classmate in Beijing, via the video feed sent from here, carefully observed the two kittens before deciding which to adopt.

Some people think raising a cat depends on fate; perhaps Fang Mengmeng is such a case, and she liked these two cats at first sight, although it was only a video image, the feeling was different. She has already seen several cats these past days; none compare to these two, otherwise she wouldn't have proposed keeping both.

Hearing his daughter liked them, Fang Shaokang felt pleased; this father finally found something to win his daughter over again, but he only wanted to take one—seeing their temperaments, one is enough to cause trouble; two would surely cause an uproar.

It's a joke for a child to look after a cat, but Fang Mengmeng couldn't manage it, so others helped. Pleasing his daughter was part of it, but Fang Shaokang mainly wanted to cultivate Fang Mengmeng's sense of responsibility. Fang Shaokang actually didn't have high hopes for Big Rice, after all, cats as smart as the black cat next door are extremely rare, and not many are that clever.

"How about it? Have you decided which one you want?" Fang Shaokang asked.

"Hmm..." Fang Mengmeng still couldn't decide; she thought both were good.

In order to let Fang Mengmeng better observe the two cats, Fang Shaokang also maneuvered the little machine toward the cat nest, while also checking the cats' reactions.

After waiting half an hour, Fang Mengmeng still hadn't made a decision; Fang Shaokang thought for a moment and asked, "Er Mao, these two cats are one male and one female, right?"

"Yes, Big Rice is female, Little Rice is male." Er Mao replied. No matter which one Uncle Fang takes, it's all the same to him.

"Oh? Is that so." Fang Mengmeng thought of something and said, "I want a female kitten!"

"A female kitten? Then choose Big Rice."

"Which one is Big Rice?" Fang Mengmeng asked.

"That calico one." Er Mao pointed to the Big Rice that was hugging and biting a plush toy.

"Calico, just like Dad, both have 'three' — perfect, then let's choose Big Rice." Fang Mengmeng still regretted that Little Rice was male; otherwise she would have liked to keep pestering her dad to get two.

After the decision was made, Fang Mengmeng was urged by her mother to go take a nap, and only then did she leave reluctantly.

Fang Shaokang took out a pet carrier and asked Er Mao, "If I just grab it and take it away like this, will it bite me? Even if it doesn't bite, it'll scratch, right?"

"It's fine, it's still a kitten, not very strong." Er Mao said indifferently.

Fang Shaokang looked at the sofa in the living room that had been scratched until it was fuzzy, and Er Mao remained silent. These two kittens really can't be compared to ordinary kittens; each one is harder to handle than the last.

Er Mao actually realized from the time these two kittens could crawl and walk that they hadn't inherited much of Hei Mi's personality; they probably take after their father, and when they grow up they'll likely be just as hard to handle.

Fang Shaokang stayed a bit longer at Er Mao's place, planning to spend more time with Big Rice to get acquainted.

"Will it make a fuss for a while after I take it away?" Fang Shaokang asked.

"Kittens are like that; they'll be fine in a few days."

Although he said that, Er Mao still felt reluctant when putting Big Rice into the pet bag. After all, he had been busy preparing since before the kitten was born, watching them grow this big, so it's impossible to say he felt nothing.

After Big Rice was taken away by Fang Shaokang, Little Rice looked around and called out for a while; Er Mao felt torn, wondering whether he should have kept Big Rice, and seeing Little Rice like that made him feel heavy-hearted.

But, after lunch in the afternoon.

When Er Mao went to the bathroom to urinate, he noticed that Big Rice's nest had somehow been dragged to the edge of the sofa, with scratching and bite marks on it—normally they don't chew their own nests that much. Looking at Little Rice, that little rascal was lying in the nest asleep; Er Mao called it twice, but it only made a little sound from its nose to appease him, then shifted position and kept sleeping.

Er Mao scratched his head; guess he was overthinking it after all.

Looking at Hei Mi sleeping in the bedroom, after Big Rice left, it also just wandered around, called for a bit then stopped, and kept sleeping; its dinner portion didn't change. Er Mao didn't know if other people's cats were like this, but at least in his place they were.

But… Big Rice has been sent away, what about Little Rice? Who should it go to? Qin Tao had said before that Tang Cai wanted to keep it, but everyone knows she couldn't have kept it for long, and now she doesn't dare take the risk, so it's better not to harm Little Rice.

The next day, Zheng Tan was secretly playing online at home when he heard a knock at the door. Zheng Tan's heart jumped; he hurriedly shut down the computer, pushed the mouse and such back to their original positions, and wiped away any suspicious traces.

While Zheng Tan was shutting down the computer, he heard a voice from outside.

"Hei Tan, are you home?"

It was Zhao Le.

Why is Zhao Le coming here now? Today isn't even a weekend. Besides, Zhao Le graduated long ago; whenever she came over before, it was always on a weekend or holiday, and many times she didn't have time, so she just had her assistant deliver things.

How does Zhao Le have time to come over today?

Zheng Tan felt puzzled, and his feet moved quickly; he went to the door, jumped up, and pulled open the lock.

Zhao Le at the doorway was wearing professional attire; this formal outfit looked like she'd come straight from the office. As usual, Zhao Le always brought lots of food when she visited, plus cosmetics for Jiao Ma— to her, this stuff really wasn't much.

After putting the things on the sofa, Zhao Le personally took a disposable paper cup, poured some water from the water dispenser, drank it, took a breather, then said to Zheng Tan, "I sent a message to your cat's mom earlier, so I'll just leave the stuff here for now. However, I have another purpose for coming today." Saying that, Zhao Le picked up her bag, stood up, and walked toward the door, "Hei Tan, let's go, let's check out Er Mao's kittens."

Was it also for the kittens' sake?

Zheng Tan followed Zhao Le up to the third floor.

Zhao Le should have already contacted Er Mao; when Er Mao opened the door, he didn't show surprise, still a bit dazed, not having slept well—probably stayed up late playing games last night.

"Here, Little Rice is sleeping in its nest; go take a look yourself, but be careful—don't let its small size fool you, its temper isn't good." Er Mao pointed to Little Rice's nest.

Just like Fang Shaokang's treatment yesterday, Little Rice initially ignored Zhao Le, but its eyes showed some curiosity; perhaps for it, the teaser wand wasn't as interesting as this person in front of it.

After a while, it yawned lazily, Little Rice headed back to its nest to continue sleeping, but Er Mao dragged it out.

After putting Little Rice into the pet carrier, Er Mao thought for a moment, then also put Little Rice's nest into a bag and handed it to Zhao Le, saying, "For now, let it keep sleeping in its own nest; in an unfamiliar environment it probably won't adapt right away. Uncle San said they made a racket all night at his place last night, and this afternoon they'll send someone over to take away some of Big Rice's belongings, saying that will reduce its anxiety a bit, so it won't keep crying tonight."

Zhao Le nodded, and besides Little Rice's cat nest, she also picked up a few plush toys; although Er Mao had already listed them as items to discard, since they had been played with, Zhao Le decided to bring a few back just in case.

After the rice and millet were taken away, Er Mao looked at the much quieter living room, full of feelings but not knowing how to vent. After looking for a while, he then went to the bedroom where Hei Mi was curled up into a ball sleeping on the bed and said: "Daughter, you can reclaim the territory now! Look, you've lost weight during this period; from now on, without those two, the little fish are all yours."(To be continued...)

ps: (4.11) The computer had a slight problem, only today I managed to send it out, sorry everyone.