Chapter 260

Seeing Zheng Tan, Jiao Ba's heart, which had been hanging for these days, finally let go. It's good that he could come back; he really worried that this cat had been snatched away by some wild beast.

However, when Jiao Ba approached, using the flashlight's light, and looked at the mouse that Zheng Tan was pressing to the ground, he frowned.

The night lighting was poor, which would affect people's color judgment, but even so, when the flashlight's light shone on that mouse, the reflected red gleam made Jiao Ba's heart jump. The heart he had just let down rose again, and his pulse quickened.

This is……

The several security personnel behind also rushed over.

Hey, this is Professor Jiao's cat, right?

Probably, the lost cat notice seemed to be about this one.

It's definitely this one, no mistake!

Yo, it even caught a mouse—is it coming back for a reward? The person who first saw Zheng Tan climbing over the wall said, looking at the squeaking mouse.

Several other security personnel also shifted their attention to the mouse.

I feel like this mouse's fur is red?

It really does seem red, maybe dyed? Let's see if it's someone's pet mouse.

Several people began discussing.

Just now, with poor lighting, the person who spotted Zheng Tan only saw him wobbling with something in his mouth, and before he could get a clear look, Zheng Tan jumped over the wall; now he naturally assumes Zheng Tan came in directly holding this mouse, without noticing the vines that had fallen on the grass.

Jiao Ba took a few deep breaths, then said to Zheng Tan, 'Don't loosen your grip.' After that, he looked at the several security personnel, his gaze sweeping over them, and said to the young one, 'Can I borrow your lunch box for a moment?'

... Oh, sure! The young man, who had been curiously looking at the red-furred mouse, hurriedly handed over his lunch box upon hearing Jiao Ba's words. Earlier that afternoon his girlfriend had sent him a lunch box of mung bean soup; after finishing it, he had planned to bring it along on his patrol for a little sweet moment. A lunch box isn't worth much, so lending it is fine—those teachers will surely compensate later.

Jiao Ba didn't even notice the mung bean smell inside the lunch box. He opened the lid, revealing a small opening.

Hey, Professor Jiao, you want to catch the mouse? I'll do it—I know how to catch mice; when I used to go out into the wild with people, I even caught field mice to eat. The young man handed his flashlight and such to a colleague, then squatted down and reached out to grab.

You— Jiao Ba hadn't finished speaking when the man reached out and snatched the red-furred mouse from under the cat's paw.

Jiao Ba hurriedly passed the plastic lunch box with a small opening over. 'Careful—don't…'

Jiao Ba wanted to tell the security guard, 'Don't crush it to death.' After all, during school experiments, students handling those white mice would sometimes accidentally snap their necks; looking at this mouse, which is much smaller than the ones students use in experiments. Then seeing the eager helper whose actions showed no caution, Jiao Ba felt anxious.

But before Jiao Ba could finish his sentence, the man quickly tossed the red-furred mouse into the lunch box; though his motion was a bit rough, he got the job done well—the only regret being that he got bitten on the hand.

Thanks, but you should hurry to the infirmary to get that wound checked; don't ignore it, I'll cover the bill." After Jiao Ba snapped the lunch box lid shut, he said to the young man. The lid had a small hole, so there was no worry about the mouse suffocating inside.

Upon hearing that, the young man thought, 'Hey, free treatment—why not go?' The infirmary has staff on duty 24/7, and lately a few medical school interns have come for training, rumored to be good-looking. His heart fluttered; after greeting his colleague, he headed straight to the infirmary, having an excuse to skip class midway and even get to see pretty girls—what a great thing.

After the security personnel left, Jiao Ba carefully held the lunch box, then looked at Zheng Tan, who was still lingering nearby, looking around: 'Where are you planning to wander off to now?'

His tone was calm, but Zheng Tan always felt a low pressure around him. He shivered, guessing it was due to the night temperature dropping in the mountains.

Zheng Tan followed Jiao Ba back to the dormitory building; he simply climbed in through the window, since he lived on the second floor, which was easy to do.

Xiao Youzi sat beside the desk, holding a pen shaft in a daze; the summer homework spread out on the desk held no appeal to write, and if he flipped forward a few pages he'd see that each page had a pencil-drawn cat.

Just then, the screen door was pulled open with a rustle. Xiao Youzi and Jiao Yuan, who was busy messing with crabs to vent his gloom, both looked toward the window.

Hei Tan!

Mom, Hei Tan is back!

Jiao Ma had just finished washing clothes; she had already received Jiao Ba's call earlier, and Jiao Ba still had some matters, so he would return later. Seeing the black cat on the table, her gloomy mood of the past few days finally lifted. She thought, this cat is just like a person—if left alone for a while, he'd want to tear off the roof; this time he even played at disappearing, leaving everyone worried.

Confinement is a must! From now on, this cat had better not think about going out again!

Jiao Ma scolded Zheng Tan for his misdeeds, issued the confinement order, and at the same time carefully checked whether Zheng Tan had any injuries, then found a plastic basin to fill with bath water for Zheng Tan to soak in.

Zheng Tan returned, dusty and weary; he even felt fleas active on his body—he really needed a good wash.

Huh?

Seems like something is missing.

Where's that amber?!!

Zheng Tan only now noticed that the amber on his collar was gone; it had been there when he went up the mountain, and he guessed it fell off while passing through the bushes around the base. He'll go look for it tomorrow.

After Zheng Tan finished his bath, wrapped in a towel and sitting on a stool waiting for his fur to dry so he could sleep, Jiao Ba returned, looking somewhat anxious, without the plastic lunch box that had held the red-furred mouse, not knowing where he had put it.

What's wrong with this? Jiao Ma asked.

Is Hei Tan uninjured? Jiao Ba asked.

No, he just ate a meal and took a bath; he looks in good spirits." Jiao Ma said.

Then that's good." Jiao Ba relaxed.

As it turned out, the incident involved the young security guard who had been bitten by the red-furred mouse; from the bite to now, less than an hour had passed, and his hand had swollen up like a steamed bun, and he felt dazed. Fortunately, the medical supplies here were fairly complete, so his treatment was timely; otherwise he might really have kicked the bucket. Upon learning this, Jiao Ba immediately came back to check the situation; seeing Zheng Tan was fine, he gave a few instructions and then left again.

Listening to Jiao Ba's earlier words, Zheng Tan broke out in a cold sweat; he now realized he had been holding onto a rather dangerous creature, and it was fortunate that in the jungle he hadn't been bitten by it, otherwise he would now have become dung for those mountain beasts or other insects.

Before leaving, Jiao Ba said he might not return until very late tonight, and possibly not come back to sleep at all.

Not only Jiao Ba, but the other few teachers leading the team—whether they had already gone to sleep or not—all rushed over to the same place, leaving the students who came out to make calls feeling uneasy and speculating about what had happened.

In a room at the base, many teachers were crowded together; originally this was just a temporary restroom. Everyone complained it was too close to the toilet. Staying here in midsummer was uncomfortable. Few people used to come, but now nobody minds.

Some male teachers, upon hearing the news, didn't even bother to change clothes; they came running in just wearing undershirts and big shorts, and though the other teachers teased them, they paid no mind, just staring at the fully red-furred mouse in the cage on the table.

Now the red-furred mouse is in the center of the cage, nibbling on a peanut, its eyes also looking at the people outside the cage, showing no fear at all. Perhaps in its mind, these unfamiliar-smelling creatures are far better than that cat. The cat almost killed it, whereas these unfamiliar beings seem to pose no threat.

Before Zheng Tan went missing, some teachers had often mocked Jiao Ba behind his back for bringing whatever was no good—bringing just a cat over—wasn't that asking for trouble? Bringing a dog would be more obedient than a cat; cats are just trouble-makers, when have they ever behaved?

But now these people are almost dying of envy, especially the teacher who brought a dog; although that dog helped catch quite a bit of game, it still falls far short of the value of this red-furred mouse.

Professor Jiao, your cat really deserves praise this time!" An old man in a white undershirt, wearing reading glasses, stepped forward to observe the red-furred mouse up close; the surrounding teachers didn't dare crowd near him, as many of them had been his students back in the day.

Jiao Ba smiled without speaking, thinking, 'We should praise him, but also confine him.' Still, speaking of it, that cat really can stir up trouble—who would have thought that after disappearing for a few days he'd return dragging a red-furred mouse? They had originally expected him to bring back a female cat.

Whether it's a red-furred variant mouse, Jiao Ba isn't certain yet; it needs identification, but the likelihood is high. As for which species this red-furred individual belongs to, he can't tell, and he hasn't studied this before. The reason he went public before fully figuring it out, rather than hiding it, is because he knows it can't be concealed—the security staff have already seen it, and sooner or later word will get out.

Before summoning these teachers, Jiao Ba had made several phone calls, just in case things took a turn for the worse; nobody else knew about this.

This little fellow definitely needs to be well cared for; if not, I'll make a call to have a specialist come take charge." The old man said.

This won't be a bother for Professor Wang; we've already arranged for someone to look after it." The speaker was a middle-aged man, a professor at Chu Hua Da Xue, who among the young teachers leading the team at Chu Hua Da Xue held the greatest authority. Although he often had to yield to that old man, in this matter he could not concede—the old man now works at the research institute, and this red-furred mouse must be placed in Chu Hua Da Xue's own facility, using its own people! This was also the instruction given by Dean Xie during their earlier phone call. When it's time to contend, we must contend; after all, the responsibility falls on Dean Xie himself, and Dean Xie will arrive early tomorrow morning.

Hey, it's not yours anyway, why are you in a rush? I'm saying, Xiao Jiao, rest assured, the person I found is absolutely professional—has been professionally raising mice for twenty years." The old man, ignoring that person's words, said to Jiao Ba.

Fine, this form of address went straight from "Teacher Jiao" to "Little Jiao".

Those leaders and seniors were arguing there, and Jiao Ba didn't dare to butt in, stuck between several leaders and seniors.

Jiao Ba went back to his room once in the evening, brought in a box of cat litter, and had Zheng Tan pee or poop directly inside it.

Is this for a urine and stool test?

Zheng Tan stared at the box like it was a class enemy. At home he never used anything like this.

Jiao Ba sighed and said to Zheng Tan, "They just want to see what you've eaten."

Put simply, those people just want to know if Zheng Tan has eaten any other red-furred rats, and if there happen to be some undigested fur, bones, or the like, all the better—they could find plenty worth studying.

Zheng Tan's face twitched, then twitched again, and again…

Studying poop… these scientists really have strong stomachs!

Damn it, if I'd known it would be this much trouble, I should have just tossed that red-furred rat outside—why bring it in?! Zheng Tan regrets it, but regretting now is useless; back then he only cared about rushing back, never even thinking about the red-furred rat, and by the time he realized, he had already climbed over the wall into the base.

"All right," Jiao Ba said after setting the box down, "If they let you lead the way tomorrow, you must remember to act like a rascal; even if you know the way, you have to play dumb—and you don't need me to teach you how to do that, do you?" (To be continued…)

ps: (5.18)