Chapter 230: Don't Cause Trouble

After that, Zheng Tan didn't see Qin Tao for a while; normally Qin Tao would occasionally come to the courtyard to look for Er Mao, but he likely avoided it to save face, intending to come after his injuries improved.

One day, as Zheng Tan went out and passed the third floor, the door was still not shut tightly, and he could hear Er Mao's phone conversation inside.

Er Mao was angry; he recently couldn't find Qin Tao, so he just inquired a bit of news. After figuring it out, Er Mao didn't intervene, because Qin Tao said he wanted to handle it himself, it was a face issue, so Er Mao let him be; given Qin Tao's ability, with preparation he wouldn't suffer a loss.

During this period, Zheng Tan again followed Tan Fang to the Normal University a few times, heard some gossip; from those students' mouths, Zheng Tan learned that Qin Tao had taken revenge, beating the other side pretty badly—basically everyone who participated in that incident ended up hospitalized, needing at least a month or two of recovery.

When the students buying things on the small street discussed this matter, they didn't know the other side was Qin Tao, but that didn't stop them from gloating; apparently, quite a few students who disliked those guys or had suffered at their hands were not few.

Just as those students analyzed when discussing, neither side were any saints.

Qin Tao had taken revenge, but the discussion on this matter in the Normal University forum continued; even Tan Fang and those two old men brought it up once while playing chess, merely as a conversation starter, leading to that sigh-inducing line many have felt: "These students nowadays!"

When Zheng Tan saw Qin Tao again, it was almost New Year's; Qin Tao came to look for Er Mao, and the injuries on his face were no longer visible. He even specially called Zheng Tan down from upstairs and bought a large amount of so-called imported premium cat food to express his thanks.

Zheng Tan stared at the pile of cat food, really wanting to kick it straight into Qin Tao's face. Cat food, you eat it yourself!

Er Mao looked at those cat foods, holding back laughter, "You beast, you don't know this cat actually doesn't eat cat food, do you?"

"Huh?" Qin Tao looked at Zheng Tan's displeased face, "I even asked friends over there; they said no matter what breed of cat, they'll definitely love this cat food, and I don't know what flavor it likes. So I bought some of each. There's dry food and wet food, and even cat cans."

Saying that, Qin Tao pulled out a disposable cup from Er Mao, casually tore open a bag of dry food, poured some in, and placed the cup in front of Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan tugged at his ears, glanced at Qin Tao, then slapped the paper cup full of cat food in front of him over.

You damn well eat it yourself!

Lying on the sofa watching this side, Hei Mi saw the scattered cat food on the floor, jumped down, sniffed it, then sneezed.

"Look, my Hei Mi won't eat it. You know, my Hei Mi has always eaten cat food." Er Mao said.

Qin Tao's expression changed. He resentfully threw the bag of cat food onto the ground: "Damn it, those bastards lied to me!"

"Maybe not; cats are still picky about flavor. No matter what, this black coal won't eat cat food; throwing these away would be wasteful, leave them here—I'll later send them to the relief station for the cats there to eat."

"Suit yourself." Qin Tao waved his hand, not wanting to bring it up further, then turned to the black cat beside him: "Cat brother, I don't know how to thank you; when you go to Ming Zhu Shi, I'll cover your food and drink."

Back then, Qin Tao would absolutely never speak to a cat like this.

"Getting ready to leave?" Er Mao asked.

"Yeah, my mom's urging me over there; no matter how unwilling I am, I have to go, otherwise I'd be dragged back to the Capital City; Ming Zhu Shi is definitely more carefree than the Capital City—if I were in the Capital City, I'd probably be nagged to death by my old man."

"That's right; if you return to the Capital City, you'll first get a beating and can't fight back, and after taking it you'll still be watched." Er Mao nodded in agreement, just as he himself wouldn't dare return to the Capital City.

"I've fixed and modified your car; it's much better than your old broken one." Qin Tao tossed the car keys to Er Mao.

"You'd better pay more attention from now on, don't get schemed against again." Er Mao said.

"I know, I was careless this time, got overconfident, lacked vigilance."

Before Qin Tao left Chu Hua Shi, Er Mao and a few others close to him gave him a send-off, they partied all night; Qin Tao also planned to let Zheng Tan go, but Zheng Tan didn't go, as he still needed to "earn money to support the family."

At year's end each year, especially during Christmas and New Year's, Xiao Guo gets especially busy, arranging various activities at the pet center to make extra money. The store's staff are also highly motivated; at year's end everyone wants to perform well, possibly earning extra year-end bonuses.

As the year draws to a close on the calendar, Xiao Guo prepares to hold an event, filming a year-end summary video to celebrate the New Year and meanwhile promote the store's new products.

Now Xiao Guo's pet center has expanded further; the variety of pet clothing there has increased. These days many young people like to dress their pets up in cosplay, and the store selling pet clothing also takes orders for custom pet outfits—not shoddy goods, but real quality material; nowadays many customers aren't short of money, and I've heard that store's merchandise sells well.

Zheng Tan also heard that during the National Day holiday period, at the large anime expo, a few dogs from Xiao Guo's shop were borrowed to serve as models. Especially that Pug, wearing a forehead guard and dressed as a ninja dog, was said to have extremely high popularity on site, with countless people taking photos together, and even that club's popularity skyrocketed.

So, don't overlook the role of an animal.

That day, Zheng Tan went out with Xiao Guo's work team; now Xiao Guo pays ever more attention to filming effects, each time booking a venue with someone and taking the team out to shoot.

After filming a segment, Zheng Tan rested aside; the one responsible for "attending" to Zheng Tan was still Cha Li.

They've worked together many times; Cha Li has come to understand this cat's personality somewhat, feeling that this cat is probably the only one in the pet center that acts like a diva without anyone complaining. Never mind tardiness and early departures; after each shoot, if he's in a bad mood he still wants to wander around, otherwise he'll show a sour face and refuse to cooperate—his food must be specially prepared, his water must be fresh and untouched by others, he never wears a leash… and all of this is still permitted by the boss. Other long-term coworkers see this but don't say much—after all, who let this cat shoulder the load?

Cha Li could only say, thank goodness this is just a cat; if it were a person, who would like such a terrible temper?

Zheng Tan didn't care what Cha Li was thinking; he lay there eating something, boredly watching the staff dress a few of the shop's good-looking pedigree cats in costume props and pose. Now the number of registered users on the pet center's official website has multiplied several times compared to last year; each time a new video is posted, the site's online user count peaks, and the comments under the video are numerous. Most are loyal customers of the pet center. No wonder Xiao Guo now demands so much from filming.

After a yawn, Zheng Tan boredly rolled on the recliner; suddenly his ear twitched, and he heard a familiar dog bark. It was just a bit far off; he couldn't see anything from here.

Zheng Tan glanced at the filming progress over there; estimating it would still take several hours, he got up, jumped off the recliner, and prepared to go out for a stroll.

Cha Li saw this. Knowing the cat was about to go out for a walk again, the first time he had been scared half to death, but gradually he realized there was no need to worry at all.

"Go out for a stroll and come back quickly, don't wander too far; although your scenes are done, we never know when we might need to do pick-up or reshoots, and the boss of this shoot takes it very seriously."

Zheng Tan glanced at him, then continued jogging over that way.

Cha Li watched the cat run off, feeling annoyed; although not certain, he felt his words were probably understood by the cat, based on his veterinary intuition. A cat being too smart isn't good either; it's better to be a bit dull for easier care—for example, those few in the field obediently posed by the staff.

Zheng Tan exited the filming site; to a cat, fences and such are just set dressing.

After hopping over the fence, Zheng Tan twitched his ears; the dog had stopped barking, he recalled the direction the sound had come from, walked a few steps that way, jumped up a tall tree, and immediately located the target spot.

It wasn't that Zheng Tan had fiery eyes; it's just that over there was too conspicuous. Several police cars were parked there—you couldn't miss them.

Getting closer, he jumped up a tree; Zheng Tan decided to observe the situation from the side, anyway returning to the filming site would also be idle.

Around here are mostly villas; the people living in this area all have some status. Each villa is spaced apart, and one villa has its perimeter cordoned off with police tape, outside a few uniformed officers are chatting, while others are questioning nearby residents and taking notes.

Zheng Tan also saw Hetaoshixiong among them, he was talking with several people; but after Hetaoshixiong got promoted, shouldn't such matters be handled by his subordinates? Why did he come himself?

As for the dog that had just barked, Zheng Tan looked over; the dog was being led around by someone, seemingly sniffing something, unable to be stopped by shouting, and the officer holding its leash was being dragged along, making it look as if the dog was leading the person.

The greening in this area is well done; there are many trees around, the grass is no longer green, but the evergreen species planted around keep the place from looking bleak in autumn and winter.

The grass has been dug up in several spots, all the work of Heijin; nearby residents already look at them unfavorably, putting immense pressure on the officer walking Heijin. He's merely assisting his superior in watching the dog; the superior said to walk the dog around, maybe they'd find some clues, but now it seems there are none—this dog is purely causing trouble, almost digging up the neighbor's lawn.

"Heijin! Don't cause trouble!" the officer shouted, pulling hard on the leash.

Heijin turned his head to look at the officer, bared his teeth, seeming dissatisfied with the officer's reprimand. Looking around, he spotted Zheng Tan on a not‑far‑away tree.

"Woof woof woof!" Heijin barked a few times at Zheng Tan and headed his way.

Zheng Tan ignored it, acting as if he didn't know it.

The officer walking Heijin really didn't know Zheng Tan; seeing Heijin's reaction, he wore a look of helplessness: "You're just having fun, don't scare people's cats."

Zheng Tan watched Heijin approach from under the tree; he felt Heijin seemed to be seriously searching for something, still sniffing around on the ground, suddenly he caught a scent, dug a bit, uncovered some leaves above, bared his teeth and growled low, then lifted his head and howled loudly a few times.

"You're here again." The officer rubbed his forehead. "Can't dig holes in the grass, so you're digging here instead?"

Zheng Tan looked down, but without close inspection he couldn't make it out; there was a dead insect down there, but what is the dog barking at that insect for? Is it going to dig up all the hibernating bugs? (To be continued…)

ps: (4.19)