Chapter 266: That Familiar Cat

The attic's furnishings were more like a simple living space, the kind you could move into right away, decorated nicely. Evidently, the old lady hadn't originally intended this place for storing junk; it had a bed, a table, a bookshelf, and a small bathroom. I heard it was renovated with the plan to let her grandson live there, but after he went abroad, no one has lived here since.

Staying here at night, you can see the night sky through the window at the slope's top.

So, regarding what Jiao Ba said, Feng Bai Jin and his mother first thought the landlord was making an excuse. However, Feng Bai Jin's mother was genuinely satisfied with the house; what she valued most wasn't its size or how luxurious the renovation was, but its taste. She had looked at several rental listings the agent gave before, but couldn't muster much interest—this type of house they already had plenty of in the neighboring province, and after seeing so many she grew weary. This was the only one that satisfied her.

Feng Bai Jin also clearly thought the place was nice—it lacked the cold, aloof atmosphere that often comes with luxurious decoration, giving a warm, homey feeling.

It's just an attic on the slope; having two floors here is already enough. Besides, few people would live here, and his parents were soon returning to the neighboring province—they wouldn't stay long, at most leaving a few people to look after his daily life.

After further discussion, they prepared to sign the contract, setting the price at 20,000. Feng Bai Jin's mother said the rent here should be 30,000; the 20,000 figure was proposed by Jiao Ba, and the reduction of 10,000 was mainly so that when Zheng Tan came to rest here, someone could help look after him. Feng Bai Jin didn't see it as a hassle—just a cat, after all. He thought it would only need occasional food and drink.

One must admit, Feng Bai Jin had thought this through too simply; by the time he realized, it was already too late. He didn't know there existed a kind of trouble called 'the landlord's cat'.

When discussing the price, there was no need for Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma to say anything more; Feng Bai Jin's mother even felt the 20,000 price was too cheap, and she deliberately pointed out the few ornaments inside the house, telling Jiao Ba not to remove them—they definitely had to stay put.

When returning home in the evening, Jiao Ma was still saying, 'If the rent were 20,000 every month, the money to buy a house would be recouped in just a few years.' Only now did Jiao Ma truly understand why, when they bought this house at such a low price, Yuan Zhiyi would say it was like 'a windfall from heaven'.

After the new semester began, Zheng Tan had visited the villa several times, and Feng Bai Jin had already been living there for a few days. Besides him, a couple in their fifties also resided there. Responsible for looking after Feng Bai Jin, Zheng Tan heard the uncle similar to a housekeeper address Feng Bai Jin as 'Young Master Bai Jin,' a title Feng Bai Jin found annoying. Helplessly, the housekeeper uncle said that's how it's portrayed on TV, and wealthy families do it these days; no matter how many times Feng Bai Jin objected, he wouldn't change his way of speaking. That auntie appeared quite capable, keeping the villa's interior in good order—sweeping, cooking, doing laundry, even tending to the plants in the backyard.

Feng Bai Jin didn't much care for the term 'young master.' When his family rose to prominence, he was only in elementary school; after primary school, his life underwent tremendous changes as they struck it rich and pursued wealth. While his classmates treasured their bulky cassette players, he already carried a slim imported portable music player, and when others were still showing off their cassette players, he already owned an MP3 costing several thousand yuan. Still, Feng Bai Jin isn't that particular—just look at him now: wearing beach shorts and flip-flops, with his demeanor, a pair of flip-flops costing a few hundred yuan can look like something from a cheap street stall. His mother, on the other hand, is devoted to refining his taste and temperament, but try as she might, she can't change him; she can only influence him through small details in his life. A typical example is this rental incident: his tolerance for the attic being occupied by a cat is largely out of regard for the house itself.

Despite Feng Bai Jin's parents very much hoping to correct his rustic, unsophisticated side as seen by outsiders, they never succeeded; Feng Bai Jin is their only child, and they couldn't bear to be harsh—before they'd occasionally say a few words, but now they hardly say anything at all.

Many people have said Feng Bai Jin is vulgar, from his tastes to his pursuits, with his aspirations set too low—what's the point of hitting on schoolgirls? You should be going after celebrities.

However, Feng Bai Jin doesn't care at all about his own 'vulgarity'; he always says, 'This isn't vulgar, it's down-to-earth.' As for people, however you live is how you live—if you accumulated virtue in a past life and are reborn as a human now, you're here to enjoy blessings, not to suffer; whatever way it should be, it remains that way.

What pleased Zheng Tan was that, when he went to the attic, he found it had been tidied up. Even though the attic was prepared just for this cat, that aunt still regularly went over to clean, without moving the furnishings much, and nothing was missing or out of place.

However, Zheng Tan doesn't often go there; lately he sometimes goes out for an evening stroll. Today he suddenly felt like it and decided to check out the old building area. Now Zheng Tan sometimes strolls toward the lakeside villa, and sometimes toward the old street to see the old man playing the erhu on Tianqiao. Upon reflection, though, he realizes it's been a long time since he last went to the old building area.

Part of the old building area has already been demolished, with another part slated for demolition; however, far fewer people remain, estimated to be only the last batch holding out, and they won't be able to stay much longer.

Zheng Tan arrived at the area not yet demolished, a place he had never been before; he jumped onto the already somewhat incomplete wall, then climbed up onto an empty building.

Zheng Tan looked at the demolished section; once there, he had used a beer bottle to chastise the person who abused cats. Previously, Li Yuanba had even walked there with peanut candy. In the blink of an eye, two years have passed, and this area is now almost completely torn down. After demolition, within another two years, modern high-rises will rise here; the former old building area will exist only in old photographs, and only those who once lived here and had deep feelings for this old district will remember it.

Sometimes, urban construction proceeds too fast for memory to keep up; one needs to pause and reflect to recall what this place used to look like.

Where Zheng Tan now stands, there is a streetlight—apparently a wire strung up by someone who hasn't moved away yet. This road really needs extra attention, or else one would trip over it.

As Zheng Tan fondly recalled the old building area, he suddenly heard a rustling sound coming down from above. Following the direction of the sound, he walked from the incomplete wall toward it.

Not far from the lamppost, a kitten was there pouncing at tiny insects, looking less than a month old, thin and tiny; when it walked quickly it would stagger a few steps, unable to run steadily, pouncing once and rolling twice, yet it played enthusiastically, oblivious to any other movement around.

After the kitten pounced for a while, its paw snagged on a snakeskin sack. The sack was weighed down by several heavy bricks, so the kitten's paw was hooked onto the dangling part of the sack's surface. The kitten's paw control wasn't very agile; once hooked, it couldn't break free, wriggling left and right while hanging there. Struggling to pull its paw out did no good.

I don't know whether to blame the sack's quality for being too good or the kitten for being too weak; either way, watching that clumsy sight made Zheng Tan feel anxious for it.

After squatting on the wall and watching for a while, Zheng Tan jumped down from the wall and walked over to the kitten.

At that moment the kitten noticed an unfamiliar cat approaching. It looked warily at Zheng Tan, and the paw hooked on the snakeskin sack struggled even harder, though it still couldn't free itself. The kitten cried out anxiously in a few sounds; to Zheng Tan, the voice sounded strange—different from the cries of the kittens at the pet center, and also not quite like those of Daxiaomi.

He guessed the difference in vocalization was due to breed differences, and didn't think much more about it.

However, after Zheng Tan drew near and sniffed, he noticed the kitten carried a somewhat familiar scent. While wondering whose scent it was, he helped the kitten's paw detach from the snakeskin sack.

Having regained freedom, the kitten ran a few steps away from Zheng Tan, then stopped, turned to look at him, let out a cry, and slowly walked back toward him.

Zheng Tan didn't rush to leave either; he simply squatted there, pondering whose scent it was, while the kitten, taking advantage of his contemplation, came up beside him and tentatively lifted its paw to tap his forearm a few times, apparently feeling Zheng Tan posed no threat, growing bolder and pouncing around him left and right.

Just as Zheng Tan realized whose scent the kitten carried, his ear twitched, he stood up, and looked ahead.

Not far ahead, around the corner, a cat one size larger than Zheng Tan emerged, ears flattened, eyes fixed on him, emitting a warning sound from its throat. Although it was wary of Zheng Tan, it still approached him step by step, baring its teeth and growling low.

And once that cat appeared, the kitten that had been frolicking beside Zheng Tan ran over to it, crying as it went, as if seeking affection.

Zheng Tan looked at the cat not far from him and sighed, thinking this cat's fortunes were getting worse each time.

The cat baring its teeth at Zheng Tan right now was exactly the leopard‑patterned big cat that had encountered him twice before and suffered defeat both times.

Among feline species, many females are quite formidable—let alone solitary predators like tigers and leopards; in a lion pride, most of the hunting is done by lionesses. Likewise, ordinary cats such as Li Yuanba and Hei Mi are each incredibly fierce; Zheng Tan often won't treat them gently just because they're female, since they could beat him into helplessness in an instant. For a leopard‑patterned cat like this one, if Zheng Tan were to yield, he'd already be dead.

The animal world is simple and brutal—survival of the fittest, with no room for gentlemanly conduct. That's why, when Zheng Tan encounters cats or dogs, he usually overlooks their sex; for this leopard‑patterned big cat, if he hadn't seen the kitten, he wouldn't recall that this creature is actually female—anyone who saw its former ferocious appearance would find it hard to provoke.

Speaking of that fierce appearance, Zheng Tan examined the leopard‑patterned cat closely. That's why he feels his impression of it has worsened each encounter—it no longer bears the former arrogant, overbearing demeanor, nor the look that once made people want to buy it at a high price. Its body bears several scars that mar its overall appearance; one ear has a noticeable notch, and its leg seems to have some issue—not obvious when walking slowly, but Zheng Tan can still tell.

While Zheng Tan observed the leopard‑patterned cat, the cat itself was also staying alert to him; meanwhile, the kitten that had run to the cat's side turned its head and ran happily toward Zheng Tan, showing no sign of noticing the strange standoff atmosphere.

Thus, when the leopard‑patterned cat growled and saw the kitten's movement, it hesitated slightly, as if mentally greeting an alpaca. 'You slow‑witted, fat‑couraged little brat!' (To be continued…).

ps: (5.24)