Chapter 275

Zheng Tan went to the old residential community again, found Zhang Dong had moved away, feeling a bit bored; he still planned to mess with him again, but after causing a disturbance once, the guy got scared and ran.

However, now that the person's gone, did he change his phone number?

Zheng Tan dialed that number directly and found the original number was no longer reachable.

Really thorough.

Just like that, he could get away?

Zheng Tan would go to the kindergarten once each day, looking for a chance to sneak a look at Bai Lao Shi's phone and note down Zhang Dong's new number.

This time Zheng Tan didn't immediately send a threatening text; he figured the person would have changed his number again, so he just noted the number, planning to deal with him if he ever caught him doing something bad again.

Zheng Tan now can only find amusement for himself; he doesn't expect to do any earth-shattering big deeds as a cat—he'd lose several lives doing that. Besides, people's hearts are treacherous and his own intelligence isn't high; even the law won't provide a protective umbrella, and relying solely on moral constraints is useless. Zheng Tan is unwilling to entrust his little life to morality.

The tree hole where he hides his phone is much drier now, perhaps due to the season; the climate is naturally drier at this time, saving Zheng Tan some trouble.

That day, Zheng Tan went to Tianqiao and walked around. Recently, the blind old man Kunye hasn't been playing erhu there. At first Zheng Tan thought the old man was sick; given his age, not doing proper work and always going to Tianqiao to play erhu, getting sick is also possible. But when he ran into Xiao Jiu, she said Kunye had just gone to meet an old friend to catch up and would return in a few days. Kunye's absence meant fewer street vendors on Tianqiao. As Zheng Tan passed through, he heard some regular vendors complain: they've been nervous setting up stalls there lately, fearing the urban management might show up; some vendors have already moved elsewhere, and will come back when the blind man returns.

Zheng Tan also went to look at the construction site, which shouldn't be called a construction site anymore; it should now be called Hengwu Guangchang. Although not fully open yet, some shops have already started business. There aren't many people for now, but that may change after a while.

Watching Hengwu Guangchang change day by day, Zheng Tan marveled at how fast time passes. He heard that Ye Hao and company would also set up a club similar to Ye Lou there, so he could often go hang out. That would save him from having to bum rides to Ye Lou each time. However, building a club there would definitely be of lower class than Ye Lou, after all the main consumers there are students, not the already-working white-collar workers and social elites.

Doesn't matter, as long as there's a place to kill time.

Zheng Tan jumped onto a residential building to look at Hengwu Guangchang, thinking about bringing his phone over at night to take a commemorative photo.

That evening, after dinner, Zheng Tan shouldered his new backpack and stepped out lightly.

In the living room, Jiao Ma looked at Zheng Tan's back and said to Jiao Ba, who was reading the news on the sofa: "You say Hei Tan now goes out every night with a backpack—does he really like that backpack? Ah, if I had known, I would have bought him several. When I first bought him clothes, he wouldn't wear them; I thought he disliked having things put on his body, feeling awkward. Turns out he likes the backpack, not the clothes." The last time she saw their cat wearing a small backpack, a few days later he swapped it for a bigger one—clearly he really likes backpacks. The new backpack looks good; well, when I have free time I'll make another one for him, to alternate.

"Ah, speaking of which, letting him go out like this—won't it make his temperament even wilder?" Jiao Ma worried.

Jiao Ba didn't lift his head at the words, still watching TV, and said: "Give it ** space."

Jiao Ma opened her mouth but still said nothing, picking up the bowls and plates from the table to go wash dishes in the kitchen.

Zheng Tan's new backpack is all black; putting it on, it's hard to tell at first glance, like a vest, with a zipper on each side, and it just happens to fit that flip phone. Zheng Tan saw it at the pet center and immediately put it on; Xiao Guo saw it and said nothing, tacitly approving.

With the new backpack, Zheng Tan can take his phone when he goes out; the backpack is more convenient than a small change pouch, wearing it is like putting on a vest, making movement easier. Tonight Zheng Tan plans to go to Hengwu Guangchang to take photos.

At night, few people notice Zheng Tan; even if they do, they don't think much of it, seeing his backpack they just assume it's pet clothing someone bought for their animal, not worth looking into, since many people around keep pets.

Arriving near Hengwu Guangchang, Zheng Tan found a good spot for photos. There, buildings of varying heights had their edges flickering with lights; two years ago this place was still a deserted construction site no one dared approach.

But he overestimated the phone's photo quality at this time; although this flip phone is relatively pricey on the market, it's not exactly a high-end badass model. After aiming the lens, the photos came out awful to Zheng Tan, so he deleted them directly.

Geez, he still planned to take an artsy photo for a memory; looks like playing the artsy card isn't always possible.

Walking out from the other side of Hengwu Guangchang, Zheng Tan glanced at the opened roads; he'd gotten familiar with this area lately, wondering whether to go elsewhere for a round—even if he couldn't take photos, soaking in the night city scenery wouldn't be bad.

From this side of Hengwu Guangchang to the bustling commercial street isn't far; after the construction site's roads are completed and opened, several roads here will gradually become prosperous.

Leaving Hengwu Guangchang, Zheng Tan hadn't planned to keep going toward the commercial street; he was about to turn and go elsewhere when he saw a familiar person.

That person was none other than Zhang Dong, whom Zheng Tan had scared into moving; Zhang Dong was accompanied by a fairly pure-looking girl, not knowing what Zhang Dong said again that made her cover her mouth and laugh, and some of their actions also showed intimacy.

As far as Zheng Tan knows, Zhang Dong and Bai Lao Shi haven't yet had news of a breakup; Bai Lao Shi remains as usual, her emotions steady, sometimes she still texts Zhang Dong, her eyes full of the sweetness of being in love.

So saying, Zhang Dong this guy is juggling two lovers?!

Damn, he hit my hand again?!

Zheng Tan followed the two along the nearby green belt toward the commercial street; besides some shops, supermarkets and entertainment venues, there are also residential compounds there.

Zhang Dong and the girl entered a residential compound. Zheng Tan followed, but instead of going through the main gate, he climbed over the wall. Although the compound's guards at the entrance might not pay much attention to a cat, Zheng Tan still felt it was better to stay covert when tailing someone.

After the two arrived at a building, Zhang Dong didn't follow her inside; they stood downstairs talking, seeming reluctant to part. From their conversation Zheng Tan learned the girl lives with her parents. Zhang Dong's newly rented apartment is also in this compound, but they're not in the same building; they've only known each other a few days, yet their relationship has developed quickly.

Zheng Tan hid behind the flowerbed, took out his phone from his backpack and turned off the flash and camera sound. He adjusted the focus and aimed it over there to take photos.

The photos were a bit blurry. He needed to examine them carefully; after taking several shots Zheng Tan was still dissatisfied—phone camera quality really sucks these days.

He waited until the two of them got bored of each other. The girl went into the building, and only then did Zhang Dong reluctantly head toward another building.

Zheng Tan took a few more pictures of the surroundings, captured the name of the residential complex, then selected several photos and sent them to Bai Lao Shi.

Zheng Tan learned Bai Lao Shi's phone number from a kindergarten child. Once he went to spy on Zhuo Xiao Mao, that brat tricked the older kids into memorizing bank card numbers, but they couldn't, so they substituted phone numbers instead. The kid who got duped proudly recited his family's and some relatives' landline and mobile numbers—among them was Bai Lao Shi's—and after finishing he earnestly declared he would memorize bank card numbers when he got home. Zhuo Yang from the junior class can do it, so why can't these senior‑class kids?!

But was that brat actually memorizing bank card numbers? Obviously it was pi!

Those numbers with decimal points that are obviously wrong—kids this age don't understand them at all; they barely grasp what a bank card is, they're just competing with each other, and nothing else matters to them.

At that time, besides the kids duped by Zhuo Xiao Mao, other children were also vying to memorize phone numbers; Zheng Tan had heard Bai Lao Shi's number several times and even seen it when he looked through her phone. After recalling it, he entered the number and sent the pictures over.

That evening, Bai Lao Shi was at home preparing for tomorrow's class when her phone notified her of a new message. She thought it was from her boyfriend Zhang Dong, but it turned out to be from an unknown number—and it included pictures.

She had received similar messages before—usually ads or other junk SMS—so she intended to delete it, but as her finger hovered over the delete key she paused, thought it over, and moved her finger to open it. Since previous picture messages and scam MMS had never come from this number, she decided to give it a try; at worst she'd incur a few extra charges.

What shocked her was the content of this message,

Nighttime photos are inherently not very clear, and after appropriate compression they become even blurrier. However, although the photos are blurry, Bai Lao Shi still knows the people she has been close to for a long time; she can recognize from this photo that the man is her boyfriend, who daily texts her calling her "dear." The woman in the photo, she does not know at all.

There were several photos, including ones of the two holding hands and embracing; even without further actions, this pattern of interaction is absolutely not what ordinary relatives or friends would have.

Zheng Tan also thoughtfully added a few lines of text explaining which residential complex, roughly what time, what Zhang Dong was doing with the girl from which building, when they went out shopping, and so on.

The pictures and words were like a basin of icy water poured over Bai Lao Shi from head to toe, chilling her to the core.

Zheng Tan didn't know how Bai Lao Shi would react after seeing the message, and he wondered whether she might not even look at it and just delete it. The next day when he went to the kindergarten and saw her condition, Zheng Tan realized she had seen it, and her mood was off—her complexion was pallid, and even when she smiled at the children it was clearly forced.

Seeing Bai Lao Shi's state, Zheng Tan somewhat doubted whether his approach was improper. Thinking that after this he would let them develop on their own, Zheng Tan went to the tree hole, opened his phone to play a game to exercise his cat claws by pressing buttons, but unexpectedly upon opening he received a message sent around midnight yesterday from Bai Lao Shi—

"Who are you?"

2 a. m. —

"Can you help me?"

Besides that, there was also an incoming call indication; the number had this service, and the display showed it was placed around three o'clock. (To be continued…)

ps: (6.2) To the students taking the college entrance exam who are grinding monsters, adjust your mindset and wish you all smooth sailing!