Chapter 277: This Line of Work Has Great Potential

Bai Lao Shi went home, her emotions unstable, she called the kindergarten to ask for leave, then stayed home until her agitation eased, only then recalling the number with four sixes; these past days, the pictures sent from that number had revealed she'd been deceived and kept in the dark, so she ought to thank them. She sent a few texts with no reply, so she called directly, but after dialing she heard the prompt that the line was suspended.

Suspended service?

Bai Lao Shi thought it over, suddenly realizing she had only been concerned about Zhang Dong's affairs, not noticing that sending those pictures these past days also cost money; the other party had sent so many pictures, it was possible they'd run out of credit and service was suspended. So she went straight to a phone‑credit top‑up shop downstairs and added 100 yuan to that four‑sixes number.

Chu Hua Da Xue.

Zheng Tan looked at the incoming call display, hesitated a moment, then pressed the answer key.

"Hello?"

"Hello?"

"Can you hear me?"

Bai Lao Shi listened to the phone; just as she wondered whether the other party wasn't even at the phone, a sound of something moving came through, accompanied by some strange static.

On that end, Zheng Tan scratched his ear; just then a gust of wind blew over, making his ear itch, a few leaves fell from the tree, blown onto the trunk and rustling; the wind blowing into the tree hole also caused some noise in the phone's microphone; all these sounds mixed together, forming the unrecognizable strange noise Bai Lao Shi now heard.

After a while, Bai Lao Shi still hadn't heard the other party speak; she thought and said, "Although I don't know what grudge you have with Zhang Dong that made you tell me this, from my standpoint I still want to thank you; even if it's inconvenient to meet, I hope you can accept my gratitude."

Zheng Tan listened to Bai Lao Shi's words on the phone; she seemed to be thinking of sending a thank‑you payment, so he hung up and then edited a text message to send over.

"No need to thank me; just teach those kindergarten kids well."

After a while, Bai Lao Shi replied: "Okay."

Although it was only one word, Zheng Tan believed it. Bai Lao Shi is a good teacher. Zhuo Xiao Mao likes this teacher because, unlike some teachers in the kindergarten who play favorites, this one doesn't. Some teachers favor the children of school administrators or renowned professors, while being cold toward the kids of junior lecturers; Zhuo Xiao Mao has experienced that cold treatment. Zheng Tan learned some of this when he heard him speak. Though many might see it as a small matter, it could still affect the children, whereas Bai Lao Shi treats every child well, is patient, and has a friendly appearance—this is also why Zhuo Xiao Mao likes her.

Compared to backstage, Zhuo Xiao Mao isn't weak, after all he has "Buddha Grandpa" behind him—though "Buddha Grandpa" didn't step forward to speak when Zhuo Xiao Mao entered the kindergarten, and some teachers there don't know his relation to Buddha Grandpa. But if anything happens that wrongs Zhuo Xiao Mao, as soon as he speaks up, Buddha Grandpa will definitely unleash his authority, making those teachers leave in a flash—just a sentence. Yet Zhuo Xiao Mao told no one but Zheng Tan about it, and then one day he placed a flattened cockroach in that teacher's pocket. The result: when the teacher reached into her coat pocket, she pulled out a cockroach and screamed, instantly causing a bunch of kids to burst into tears; for that she got a reprimand.

In Zhuo Xiao Mao's own words, under certain conditions one handles one's own affairs oneself. That means, if you can resolve your own grievance, do it yourself; if not, then call for reinforcements.

I don't know what Bai Lao Shi said to Zhang Dong; Zheng Tan hasn't seen Zhang Dong around campus since, and Bai Lao Shi, after her initial few days of absence, has gradually recovered.

"Hei Ge, Hei Ge!" Zhuo Xiao Mao grabbed his little notebook, ran to the window, and showed Zheng Tan his recent good marks—double stamps of a red flower and a red flag—his eyes sparkling as he looked at Zheng Tan seeking praise.

Bai Lao Shi walked into the classroom holding a box of props, waiting until free play ended, then she would teach the children a children's song. She glanced around, then her gaze settled on the window near the back of the classroom. Regarding that black cat, she had seen it several times already; Zhuo Xiao Mao calls it "Hei Ge." It is older than some of the children here, and this black cat won't harm the kids; some children also follow Zhuo Xiao Mao in calling it Hei Ge. Some teachers at Chu Hua Da Xue are quite familiar with the cat; after learning about it she felt reassured and let the cat come over to observe.

Sunlight slanted in, gilding the wall by the window; she watched the black cat raise its paw and gently pat Zhuo Xiao Mao's head, then saw Zhuo Xiao Mao grinning broadly, and she smiled too. As she smiled, she noticed the black cat perched on the windowsill looking her way; the expression in those cat eyes made her heart skip, and she involuntarily stopped fiddling with the props in her hand.

She felt the emotion conveyed by those cat eyes was… quite special. Just as she was about to observe it properly, the black cat shifted its gaze, raised its paw to high‑five Zhuo Xiao Mao, then leapt off the windowsill, agilely vaulted over the outer wall, and vanished from sight.

Zheng Tan was preparing to go to the lakeside villa to check on "Hu Zi"; lately that little guy had grown much stronger, full of energy, tearing around all day, and had chewed a frayed edge off Feng Bai Jin's sports shoes that cost over a thousand yuan.

Just as he reached the Xiao Yi Yuan, rain began to fall; Zheng Tan had to turn back, found a place to shelter from the rain, but no sooner had he found shelter than the weather that had been drizzling cleared up.

"What the hell, is this weather toying with people?!"

Zheng Tan squatted under a bicycle shed, cursing the lousy weather, looked around, and saw a cement pillar plastered with various small ads: ancestral secret remedies for difficult ailments, services for fake IDs, and professional phone‑retrieval specialists mainly targeting those who drop their phones into toilets while playing on them; among these common ads he spotted a freshly posted, clear‑color printed lost‑dog notice.

The missing dog is a short‑legged Corgi, half a year old, wearing a blue collar; it was lost last night, and the notice shows the owner is very anxious, offering a reward to anyone who provides a clue. Whoever helps find it will be thanked profusely. The phone number below is bolded. Zheng Tan glanced at it, memorized the number, thinking he'd lend a hand if he spotted the dog. The number was easy to remember; after reading it twice and silently repeating it once, he had it down.

He glanced at the sky; the sunshine was fine, no sign of the recent rain. However, Zheng Tan no longer felt like going to the villa, so he turned, scaled a wall near a side gate into Chu Hua Da Xue, and from there headed back to Dongqu Dayuan. Going straight would require passing the old tile house.

When Zheng Tan arrived at the old tile house, there were still a few cats on the roof, but they weren't lounging there sunbathing; instead they were gathered together looking down.

That tile house is a bit run‑down; it has only two stories, and when it was built each floor was lower than today's standard, so it doesn't look very tall. There's a hole in the roof, and those cats are gathered around it, peeking inside.

Zheng Tan listened. Some noises came from inside the house; curious, he jumped onto the roof, squeezed in, pushing aside the two cats blocking the way, then looked down. Although the roof has a hole, the rest is still solid, so standing on it he needn't worry about collapse.

Looking through the hole into the interior, on the second floor there was a low table with a large plastic bowl and a plate; the plate held water, and the bowl contained pet kibble.

Zheng Tan had heard that some association at Chu Hua Da Xue organized a love‑donation event, with someone feeding cats here; he guessed this was that house, and the plastic bowl likely held cat food, the smell confirming it.

Just this? It's hardly enough to make the cats gather here, is it?

He twitched his ear; noises came from downstairs, and something was climbing up.

Soon Zheng Tan saw the source of the commotion.

A cat, and a dog.

The two were probably happily playing, running up and down without tiring. As soon as they appeared, the cats gathered at the hole stretched their necks to peer inside; two wanted to go down and play but lacked the courage, while the others seemed merely onlookers, just watching without moving. These cats aren't necessarily strays; they're crowded here not because they're hungry, but mostly out of curiosity.

And that foolish dog inside—just moments ago Zheng Tan had seen the lost‑dog notice on the cement pole; could it be that this dumb mutt is here playing with the cats?!

Everyone says Corgis are smart, and there are Corgis kept in Xiqu Dayuan, but this one isn't that stupid; it seems the breed's average intelligence is just a bit higher, and this Corgi is dragging its heels.

Probably after running a lap and getting tired, the Corgi hopped onto the low table with its short legs, drank the water from the plate, nibbled a few kibbles, then lay there panting with its mouth open, never thinking about how anxious its owner would be if it went missing, nor feeling any urgency itself; seeing the lost‑dog notice that said it was lost yesterday, today it still shows no sense of crisis. As for why it's locked in here, nobody knows whether someone deliberately confined it or it wandered in unnoticed, and then the person who put out the kibble just locked the door.

In short, this guy is absolutely a thick‑skinned numbskull.

People say dogs don't mind poverty, and often humans don't mind a dog's stupidity; some dogs are just stupid beyond measure, yet their owners still treasure them.

After leaving the old tile house, Zheng Tan ran to use his phone to send a brief text to the Corgi's owner, informing them of the situation.

The other party immediately called; Zheng Tan declined, saying he was busy and couldn't take the call. The caller replied with two sentences, then went off to look for the dog. An hour later, while Zheng Tan was playing a game and grinding scores, a text arrived: "Found it! Buddy, thanks a lot—let me know when you're free and I'll treat you to a meal to properly thank you!"

Zheng Tan couldn't really go eat; seeing it was late, he ought to go to the affiliated elementary school, so he hastily replied, "No need for a meal; if you really want to thank me, just help top up my phone credit instead."

After sending the text, Zheng Tan turned off his phone and paid no further attention. The next day, when he turned it back on, he received several texts in a row; the first was a payment‑notice text, and upon looking closely he saw a "1" followed by three "0"s—indeed 1,000 yuan.

"Holy shit! It actually got topped up!"

Relatively speaking, this is indeed a substantial sum; Zheng Tan never expected that merely happening to run into the situation and sending a text would earn him a thousand‑yuan phone‑credit thank‑you, and added to the credit Bai Lao Shi had previously topped up for him, he won't have to worry about arrears for a long time.

It seems this line of work has great potential! (To be continued…)

PS: (6.4) Wishing all the examinees smooth sailing in the college entrance exam!