Chapter 284

Wei Leng's family lives in a residential community not far from Chu Hua Da Xue, an elevator building.

When Zheng Tan and Er Mao arrived, Wei Leng was busy in the kitchen, the table was already full of dishes, and the house was filled with the aroma of food.

"Yo, Wei senior brother, your cooking skills have improved!" Er Mao said, looking at the table full of dishes.

Since his wife got pregnant, Wei Leng has been having a nanny do the cooking; sometimes when the nanny isn't around, he cooks himself. Today the brothers gathered, and Wei Leng didn't have the nanny come over.

Wei Leng brought out several steaming hot dishes and placed them, then tapped Er Mao's head, saying, "Stop talking nonsense; you can tell at a glance these were ordered from a hotel."

Er Mao hehe laughed; he had seen through it, just teasing Wei Leng a bit.

"Hei Tan, long time no see, go find something to play with." Wei Leng said to Zheng Tan sitting on the sofa, then ran back to the kitchen to fetch more dishes.

Zheng Tan hearing this, felt as if he were being spoken to like a child.

Hetaoshixiong arrived half an hour later; upon seeing Zheng Tan he was a bit surprised, knowing many pregnant women are taboo about cats, reacting strongly to Toxoplasma and such; he had also heard Wei Leng complain before that his wife and mother-in-law opposed bringing that black cat over, but he didn't expect to see this cat here today.

"Long time no see, Hei Tan."

Everyone is familiar with Zheng Tan, and Zheng Tan has helped them several times; Er Mao and the others have fewer scruples than others, and when Ye Hao was shelling peanuts himself, he also shelled a few for Zheng Tan and set them aside.

Wei Leng's wife came out to entertain the guests for a while, then the three urged her to go rest; heard she went to the hospital for a series of checkups. Now she's tired, should rest more; anyway they're all familiar, no need to be formal.

Beside the table there were four stools, one of which had been raised; that was for Zheng Tan.

Sitting at the table with a cat, the three didn't think it odd; such situations are common when going to Ye Lou, nothing surprising, just the few of them here. Also no need for many formalities.

"Recently a few decent newcomers joined. When I came over just now I ran into them having a meal, I stayed there and had two drinks before coming over—I didn't dare drive, took a taxi." Ye Hao explained his reason for arriving so late.

"Has that matter been settled?" Er Mao asked. When he initially left Chu Hua Shi to look for Ye Hao, he had also participated in that matter. Now hearing again about a leak, he asked further.

"It's settled. Not too much leaked; that group hid it well, only daring to bring it out after half a year. I didn't expect that shortly after they brought it out, someone reported it. Ah, speaking of which, there's an interesting thing about the person who reported it—very mysterious and intriguing." Since they're insiders, no need to worry about leaks; after a few drinks, Ye Hao's tongue loosened and he talked about that mysterious 4-6 phone number.

Zheng Tan tried to act clueless on the side, ears perked listening to them, but it seemed Hetaoshixiong rather admired that "mysterious person".

"A chivalrous thief? Really such a person exists." Er Mao said, "But hearing it, this person also has some skill; yet I've been around Chu Hua Shi for so long and never heard of such a person."

"That's keeping a low profile." Wei Leng also curious, "If we ever find out who this person is and tell us, I'd like to see what kind of figure this new-era Chu Liuxiang plus domestically-made Spider-Man is."

Zheng Tan silently ate shrimp on the side, not raising his eyes to meet theirs; he felt guilty, while the three seated were all sharp, afraid he'd give himself away. Looks like he'll need to be more careful using that handle from now on.

It was rare for the table topic to shift; only then did Zheng Tan lift his head. He didn't need to serve himself—the three placed a bit of whatever they picked onto his plate, except for the chicken butt Er Mao gave him, which Zheng Tan flicked back.

"Er Mao, you're doing well in the young people's circle in Chu Hua Shi; I often hear people mention you. Not long ago when I ran into you, didn't I hear someone call you 'Second Brother'? You're practically a 'big brother' now." Ye Hao laughed.

"If not 'Second Brother,' then 'Second Senior Brother'?" Er Mao pouted. Nowadays, after meeting many people over time, some know Er Mao's background and don't judge him just by his clothes; who would have thought that a guy who looks like a **silk goods loser at first glance actually has such a strong background? When they meet, everyone still bursts out laughing and greets Er Mao with a shout of 'Second Brother'.

At first Er Mao wasn't used to it, but after hearing it often he let them have their way.

"By the way, Er Mao, I heard you had an argument with a blind date recently?" Wei Leng asked.

Zheng Tan looked toward Er Mao; he liked hearing this gossip.

"Yeah," Er Mao said indifferently, "At first I thought this person was okay—appearance, figure, education, personality all pretty good; she also liked cats and even served as a judge at some famous cat shows. But when chatting with her, I kept hearing her talk about famous cats, saying that domestically the only ones worth looking at are the Li Hua cat and the Linqing Lion cat; according to her, it seemed other cats couldn't get on the table. I got annoyed then—hey, what's lacking in my Hei Mi compared to that Li Hua fat cat downstairs?!"

Zheng Tan: "……" The fat cat Da Pang living downstairs in the compound took the hit.

"It's like she likes wearing international brands, while I just love wearing whatever catches my eye, branded or not, regardless of label. You can't just forcefully strip off my outfit and dress me in stuff that doesn't match my style, can you?" Er Mao spoke with conviction.

"So you just blew up at her?" Ye Hao thought Er Mao was making a mountain out of a molehill.

"You wouldn't really lash out at her, would you? If you keep doing that, when will you ever succeed in matchmaking?" Wei Leng also admonished.

Zheng Tan, meanwhile, thought that estimating the cost of making cat clothes would be just Er Mao this guy.

"So what are you going to do now? Keep dating after this failed blind date?" Ye Hao asked.

Er Mao grinned, all dreamy-eyed, "Who said it failed? I'm doing great with Gong Qin right now."

Ye Hao and Wei Leng: "……" What pot matches what lid. One has long‑year cat‑scratch marks on his arm from being scratched by a cat; one person and one cat can happily while away an afternoon in a seventy‑square‑meter apartment, enjoying it immensely; the other, after being yelled at by Er Mao, didn't smash a pack or slap his ear in anger but instead forgave, apologized, and continued getting along. Both are masochists.

Ye Hao looked at Wei Leng: "Aren't all cat owners like this?"

"Probably…."

Zheng Tan, on the side, wasn't thinking about cat owners' personalities; he was mulling over how the name "Gong Qin" sounded familiar, and after a moment he recalled that a female judge at the cat exhibition was named Gong Qin—could it be her?

"Right, I almost forgot—Ye Hao's Triumph is about to open; I also have a private room there, and Er Mao's and Hei Tan's private rooms have long been prepared. Our three exclusive rooms will be side by side, and Ye Hao will have someone send the cards over to you. As for senior brother, given your special status, it's better not to go to such places."

"Hey, this way I won't have to run too far either—although Triumph isn't as classy as Ye Lou in some respects, we can still treat people to food, drinks, and fun. Black Coal, let's go check it out together before it opens; if anything's unsuitable we can mention it early so they can make adjustments." Er Mao rubbed his hands and kicked Zheng Tan's stool with his foot as he spoke.

The Triumph that Wei Leng spoke of is actually a club‑type venue set up by Ye Hao and company in the newly built Hengwu Guangchang near Chu Hua Da Xue. Once Triumph is completed, Zheng Tan will have a place to play; even without a driver, he can wander over on his own.

So, hearing this news, Zheng Tan was still quite happy.

Triumph opened in early October; by then Hengwu Guangchang was basically finished, all roads were open, and pedestrian and vehicle traffic surged straight up. During the National Day long holiday, Hengwu Guangchang also held an event; besides locals, students from several nearby colleges flocked there, and for a while its popularity overwhelmed Zhong Xin Guang Chang. The latter had more middle‑aged and elderly folks, while Hengwu Guangchang attracted mostly young people and students, and the two sides' styles began to diverge—clearly both had development plans.

Before this, Er Mao and Zheng Tan had already gone to look at their own exclusive single rooms; Ye Hao had no time, and Long Qi was wary of Zheng Tan, so Baizi personally took them to view them.

Its layout is similar to Ye Lou's, except it doesn't have the four directional halls, and it doesn't often host internationally famous bands; however, for the opening publicity, Triumph still invited a few inland bands with some reputation, among them A Jin's band.

As for A Jin, his group is no longer the small band it was two years ago; they've entered a few elective competitions, undergone packaging and hype, and been run by an experienced team, gradually gaining a following among young people. This time, some college students came specifically to see A Jin's band; the members of the Chu Hua Da Xue Guitar Association received ten free tickets from A Jin, with decent seating. Those students never imagined that the outside helper they'd casually hired would reach such heights—now the campus Guitar Association doesn't even need to advertise to recruit, as various volunteers willingly show up to devote themselves to the band.

Triumph's opening ceremony didn't start until after seven in the evening; Zheng Tan had finished dinner after five and was dragged over by Er Mao. After arriving, Er Mao carried the pet bag containing Hei Mi, took Gong Qin to his private room to enjoy their two‑person‑plus‑cat world, while Zheng Tan, bored alone here, rolled around on the sofa and then decided to go out for a walk, feeling terribly lonely by himself.

The people in the passageway had all been briefed, and moreover, the individuals Ye Hao and company had selected were not clueless nuisances; as Zheng Tan walked past them, they didn't put on any extra unpleasant expressions.

Upon leaving Triumph, Zheng Tan hadn't gone far when he saw a few familiar figures—it was Jiao Yuan and his five guys.

During this National Day long holiday, the Jiao Family didn't go far; Jiao Ba remained busy and couldn't leave, while the other three family members stayed home. The other few probably had no plans either tonight; they gathered to stroll around Hengwu Guangchang and watch the liveliness—kids their age are naturally energetic and curious.

However, at this moment there were other people around Jiao Yuan and his five, making it look like the two sides weren't on good terms.

Zheng Tan dodged the passersby and headed that way. (To be continued…)

PS: The supplementary update is finished; future updates will try to be posted before midnight. Well, that's it.