Chapter 245: Invitation

After letting out a loud cry, he guessed his earlier words had upset people, and before the folks on the plastic basketball court could start jeering, the bird hurriedly flew off.

Zheng Tan followed its flight path and saw, not far away on a road, a family sedan parked there. He recognized the car—it belonged to the owner of the bird, the General. No wonder the bird flew over; its owner must have come looking for someone and brought it out for a stroll.

Recently the bird has been kept under tighter restraint—used to be let out to play two days a week, now it's rare for it to come out even once a week. The reason is that this fellow has been bullying several of the school's magpies to the point of provoking the magpie lovers' public outrage, and on a few occasions it's even gotten into arguments with people.

Though the bird called the magpie an "ugly monster," to everyone else magpies are auspicious symbols—and magpies aren't actually ugly; among the campus birds they're considered quite attractive. To avoid further resentment, the bird's owner simply put the General under confinement.

In fact, even before it started picking on the magpies, it had a record. Compared to magpies, the General despises cuckoo birds, constantly calling them "parasites" because cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests and remove the original eggs. Once, while out playing, it happened to catch a cuckoo in the act, and thus began chasing it away. During that period, not a single cuckoo was seen in the compound—a feat credited to the General. After the magpie incident, some people finally couldn't take it anymore and started filing group complaints.

However, with the General confined, the other birds around are having a great time, while the ones suffering are the few households nearby—like Zheng Tan, whose hearing is particularly sharp. It's hard to ignore that fellow's noise.

That fellow, the General, every day stands on the balcony facing the wire mesh, head lowered, singing "The Moon Bent, Shining Over the Nine Provinces," its claws scraping the mesh in a steady rhythm.

Can you imagine stepping out each morning to greet the sunrise, ready to begin a day of study, work, life, or even just preparing to take the dog for a walk, when you hear that trembling tune singing something like "Hee‑yah‑yah, endless complaints, when will my resentment fade?"—the kind of bitter song that makes you want to shout "Holy shit"? Even more sentimental folks might recall unfair treatment at work, and their mood for the day would likely sink.

Now, having finally managed to come out, this fellow immediately starts lashing out at society—just listen to what it shouted earlier. I'd bet the folks in the Computer Science Institute will be teased about it for a long time, especially during matches. Zheng Tan can picture, even with his eyes closed, the opposing team yelling "Come out and serve customers!" and the entire Computer Science Institute squad slipping on their feet.

Watching the bird fly past the sedan parked by the roadside, Liuba turned his head and looked at the black cat crouched behind a tree.

"You know that bird, right? Are you good friends?" Liuba thought. Surely communicative exchanges between spiritual animals are frequent. Look at how this cat previously got along with that bull terrier; I'd guess its relationship with that bird earlier was also decent.

Zheng Tan's eyes flashed with contempt at the words. Does he really have a good relationship with that bird that's constantly trying to get back at society?

Liuba didn't press further about the General; he had no intention of kidnapping a rare parrot, nor did he ever engage in such things. He stared at the black cat not far away for a moment, then smiled and said, "How did your dad raise you?"

Setting aside parrots—they live relatively long lives, and the longer they stay with humans the more skills they learn, so numerically speaking, smart parrots are fairly common. Cats, however, don't live that long, have quirky personalities, and are hard to train; although numerous, the proportion that are truly intelligent is absolutely low, making a cat of this caliber before us even rarer. That's why Liuba is curious.

Zheng Tan looked at him, figuring that since the man had sought him out, he probably had some idea of who he was; "Xiao Gao"'s reference to "your dad" likely meant Jiao Ba, though the development of this disposition basically had nothing to do with Jiao Ba.

Liuba also hadn't expected to get an answer from a cat; he just sighed. He stretched, pulled out a simple business card from his pocket—a plain white card with basic information printed on it, no fancy decorations, looking rather cheap.

Liuba placed the card where he had been sitting, looked at the black cat not far off, and said: "Marriage and divorce, catching mistresses, finding lovers, locating people, beating people, issuing fake IDs, keeping false accounts, business espionage, private consulting, and so on—aside from murder and arson and certain limits of ability, as long as you can pay, everything's negotiable; my credit is secure, and I guarantee absolute confidentiality for clients' **. Of course, we only take high‑end jobs; don't bother me with small fry, it's a waste of time."

After saying that, Liuba set the card down, turned and left. He didn't expect the cat to understand much; uttering those words and leaving the card here was purely a whim, a sudden impulse. Around campus, trash cans are full of tossed flyers and business cards—this sort of unremarkable card would likely be thrown away by most people, and Liuba didn't hold high hopes that it would be used.

Having confirmed Liuba's departure, Zheng Tan walked over and looked at the card lying there. From a professional standpoint, the card is woefully inadequate—any teacher with OCD would surely criticize it. It contains hardly any other information, just two items: the number "68" in the center, presumably a code, and a line of email beneath it. That's all there is.

Just looking at the card, Zheng Tan really couldn't reconstruct the spiel about services that the man had delivered before walking away.

After staring at the card for a while, Zheng Tan hesitated, then stretched his neck to sniff it—no odd smell, and the card wasn't dirty. After a moment's thought, he opened his mouth, grabbed a corner of the card between his teeth, and ran home.

Back home, Zheng Tan slipped the card into the hidden drawer of his cat tree, a compartment meant for storing cards. He didn't know whether he'd ever need it, but keeping it as a backup costs nothing, so he left it there for now.

After Liuba left, over the next few days Zheng Tan wandered around campus without seeing him again. In his free time he also walked over to the affiliated hospital and visited the elderly lady in the lakeside residential area; she's been doing well lately, has company, isn't lonely, and smiles more often. The elderly man said to have been her lover fifty‑plus years ago doesn't seem like a major villain, but Zheng Tan feels he's no harmless nice guy either—someone capable of building such a vast enterprise surely isn't simple‑minded. Still, he treats the old lady genuinely well, and that's enough.

Perhaps it's the "love the house and its crow" effect—the old man may be cold to others, but he's decent to Zheng Tan. After all, the old lady's attitude speaks for itself. Today when he saw Zheng Tan, the old man chuckled and brought out some food. Listening to their conversation, Zheng Tan learned that the old man intends to take the old lady down south together; it's warmer there, with a broader social network and medical facilities no worse than here, making treatment easier and even allowing a wedding to be arranged on the side. However, the old lady has yet to nod her approval.

As Zheng Tan looped around outside and headed home, he spotted Xiao Guo arriving. Though it was Saturday and not a workday, Xiao Guo's side should have been busy, yet he actually found time to come over.

Looking at the living‑room scene, Xiao Guo and Jiao Ma had already been chatting for a while, though it was unclear what they were discussing; Jiao Ma's brows were furrowed.

Lounging on the sofa and listening a bit longer, Zheng Tan learned that the Green Wing Association had been invited to an event; reportedly several similar domestic and international organizations would be participating. As a newly formed association, Green Wing needed this opportunity to expand its influence and gain recognition from larger, comparable groups.

No wonder Xiao Guo places such importance on it—if it succeeds, the benefits would undoubtedly be enormous.

As the flagship pet of the "Obviously So" Pet Center, Zheng Tan was certainly the first name Xiao Guo put on the list.

The event doesn't demand many pedigreed breeds; of course, appearances must be kept up, so attractive pedigreed animals—like the few in Xiao Guo's shop tasked with looking cute—will definitely be brought along.

Since pedigree and papers aren't required, having Zheng Tan as a trump card in hand, Xiao Guo would be foolish not to use him—about half of the shop's advertisements rely on this non‑pedigreed black cat to prop them up. When the time comes, there will likely be some segments where each participant must showcase their own star; aside from Zheng Tan, Xiao Guo stayed up all night last night and simply couldn't think of anything more suitable than this black cat.

Knowing it wouldn't be easy to convince the Jiao family, Xiao Guo still decided to come over and negotiate with them, which is how the scene of Zheng Tan entering the door came to be.

Upon hearing Xiao Guo's explanation, Jiao Ma's first reaction was opposition—she couldn't leave the house, she'd have to stay home to watch the kids; with two children, how could she feel comfortable going out? And if their cat went far away, no one would be watching it, so she wouldn't be at ease either; they'd had the cat for nearly three years, and she naturally knows its temperament.

She dislikes cages, hates being leashed, has a fairly carefree personality, does whatever she wants, has a bad temper, lots of little schemes—fine at home, but impossible to manage once outside… Listing these shortcomings, Jiao Ma couldn't stop, the more she thought the less reliable it seemed and the more she worried. Despite Xiao Guo's hour‑long persuasion and assurances beside her, she still wouldn't relent.

Jiao Ma sent Jiao Ba an email venting her grievances, laying out the whole situation. The next day, after seeing Jiao Ba's reply, she let out a heavy sigh.

"All spoiled rotten!"

Jiao Ba's meaning was, let Zheng Tan decide for himself.

Zheng Tan had also weighed the pros and cons the previous night; he wasn't particularly keen on seeking the spotlight, but if the newly formed Green Wing, still a "weak chick" compared to the big organizations, got crushed, he wouldn't gain much either. After all, his main source of income is Xiao Guo's shop; this cat still has to support a household, and that's the goal he set for himself.

Xiao Guo is the person in charge of this event; if Green Wing loses face, it's Xiao Guo's shop that loses face, and Zheng Tan won't benefit either. Moreover, Xiao Guo said the trip would last only a week, which isn't long.

Thinking it over, going wouldn't be bad. (To be continued…)

PS: (5.3) Today I'll release just one chapter; I'll add more over the weekend when I have time. I'm not planning to stay up late anymore—I can't pull all‑nighters.