Chapter 305

Zheng Tan walked with Qin Tao's father toward Dongqu Dayuan, knowing there were still other people following, together with Qin Tao's father; when turning a corner, Zheng Tan's peripheral vision caught Qin Tao's father making a hand signal to those people, meaning they didn't need to follow.

Bringing the person into the compound, the gatekeeper uncle still stopped Qin Tao's father and asked.

"I'm here to find someone; a friend asked that cat to help lead the way." Qin Tao's father pointed at the black cat ahead.

The gatekeeper uncle looked enlightened, "Oh, a guest of Hei Tan's family." Then he said nothing more.

Qin Tao's father watched the black cat ahead, its steps never stopping, continuing forward at its original speed, and thought, "Can a cat really have this much persuasive power? This is the first time I've seen such a thing."

Glancing at the old buildings in the compound, Qin Tao's father didn't quite understand; hearing that Wang family's second son rented a room here, the house so old and small, could one live comfortably? If it were his own good-for-nothing son, he definitely wouldn't live there.

Although he had been doubting Fang Shaokang's words, doubting whether that black cat could cooperate in leading the way and show the correct route, but all along the way, it turned out to be correct.

When they arrived at the foot of Building B, Qin's father hadn't even had time to think what to do when he saw the leading cat jump up, rub against the access card reader, and the door went "click" and opened.

Qin Tao's father: "……"

Before the door closed, Qin's father hurried into the building, went upstairs, and stopped in front of Er Mao's door on the third floor.

Zheng Tan glanced at Qin Tao's father; he wasn't stupid, he knew this person must know the place, otherwise why would he stop so definitely here after going up to the third floor? But the person stood at the door without knocking or making a sound, his face still looking rather troubled. Zheng Tan truly didn't know what was on his mind.

Er Mao's door here is usually left open, but recently after Qin Tao came over, the two needed to have a private talk, so they kept it closed.

Waiting left and right, he still saw no movement from Qin Tao's father; Zheng Tan couldn't hold back—just knock on the door, why be so hesitant? Really dragging his feet.

Thus, while Qin Tao's father was thinking about what tone and words to use when they met later to avoid starting a fight at first sight, he saw the black cat jump up and slap the anti-theft door with a paw, making a "bang" sound.

Qin's father's heart immediately rose, but his face no longer showed hesitation; instead he pulled a stern look, like someone coming to collect a debt. Zheng Tan found it quite speechless.

Actually, Qin's father wasn't deliberately putting on a debt-collecting look; it was just a reflex, perhaps he himself didn't even know what expression was on his face.

Er Mao was in the room discussing with Qin Tao the further investigation results and follow-up countermeasures when he heard the door sound. Wearing slippers, with a messy bedhead hairstyle and wrapped in a particularly childish cartoon cotton pajama, he went to open the door. Usually, this kind of knocking meant it was definitely the black cat from upstairs. So Er Mao didn't think much of it.

As soon as the door opened, seeing the person at the doorway, Er Mao was about to blurt out an insult at Zheng Tan but forcibly swallowed it, his face twitching, thinking to himself: It's over.

"That stupid…" Originally Qin Tao, hearing the sound, wanted to ask Er Mao what the stupid cat had come for, but when he lifted his head he saw his own father standing at the door; the unfinished word "cat" was directly replaced with "goods", and he spoke to Qin's father in a bad tone: "What are you doing here? So idle, the company went bankrupt, shut down?"

Er Mao stood at the doorway covering his face.

Although he had intended to have a good talk with Qin Tao before coming, upon hearing those words Qin's father's face instantly darkened, and he sternly said: "Have you caused enough trouble?! If you have, get lost back home!"

Zheng Tan stood behind Er Mao, seeing the father and son exchanging blows back and forth; just as Er Mao and Zheng Tan thought they were about to start fighting—one thinking how to intervene later, the other thinking to flee immediately—Qin's father fell silent, then in a low voice called Qin Tao out to talk.

At first Qin Tao didn't want to go out, suspecting that once he stepped out he'd be seized by his father's few personal guards and dragged back; although he already had the intention to return, he absolutely didn't want to return in such a face‑losing way of being bound. After confronting Qin's father for three minutes, Qin Tao still went out with him, because many things can't be avoided by hiding; if they really wanted to seize him, hiding here would still get him dragged back.

After the two father and son went downstairs, Er Mao said to Zheng Tan: "Black coal, please go along and have a look; if you see things going wrong, hurry over and find me."

Er Mao didn't dare to follow lightly; just now, when Qin Tao's father left, he gave Er Mao a warning glance, telling Er Mao not to go over and interfere. Given Er Mao's understanding of Qin Tao's father, there's an eighty percent chance he'd start beating him up. Speaking of fighting, Qin Tao truly doesn't have his father's ability; although Qin Tao looks sturdy, that's just from gym training aimed at picking up girls—mere showmanship—while Qin's father had undergone real combat training, so Qin Tao, from childhood to adulthood, could not overcome his father even if he resisted.

Thinking that Qin Tao would likely meet another tragedy, Er Mao shook his head, went back inside to look for any relevant medicine.

Zheng Tan was already somewhat curious inside; hearing Er Mao say that, he directly followed along.

The two father and son walked along the same path where Zheng Tan had previously encountered Qin's father; neither spoke, and the following bodyguards were stopped by Qin's father, not allowed to continue, leaving space for them to talk privately. After realizing this, Qin Tao felt relieved in his heart; it seemed he wouldn't be forcibly bound for the time being.

The two remained silent, one in front of the other walking forward; Zheng Tan followed behind, doubting whether these two had forgotten where they were going, wondering just where they were headed.

They kept walking until they reached the edge of a grove; at this time of day there was no one else around, and one could see from the field of view whether anyone was approaching; Qin Tao didn't want to walk further, so he stopped by leaning against a tree.

"Just say what you want to say while walking." In order to minimize the effects of those medications, Qin Tao cooperated with the people Er Mao found for treatment over several days; he got tired easily, but his mood had improved greatly, no longer as irritable as before.

Qin's father didn't know the reason for this; he was simply dissatisfied with Qin Tao's poor stamina, regarding this performance as the result of excessive indulgence, and his words turned out not so good.

Thus, Zheng Tan saw the two talking and talking, then they started arguing again; with no outsiders present, they argued if they wanted to argue, fought if they wanted to fight, without having to worry about anything.

Zheng Tan crouched on a tree not far away, watching them say a few sentences before they started to fight.

Qin Tao, while defending himself, accused his father of tailing and investigating him; otherwise how would he have found Er Mao's place?

Meanwhile, Qin's father, while punching, denied it, saying he hadn't tailed or investigated; he had merely been led there by a cat.

Just as Er Mao had expected, Qin Tao was basically being beaten by his father, with no way around it—his martial prowess was one level lower. However, Zheng Tan observed that although Qin's father appeared to be beating him hard, each strike only caused pain; he wouldn't truly break Qin Tao's bones or cause internal injury, and it wasn't clear whether Qin's father had a principle of not hitting the face when disciplining a child. Qin Tao's face truly showed no sign of having been struck.

Zheng Tan looked at the father and son over there, thinking, this should also count as domestic violence, right? Qin Tao must have been subjected to this kind of domestic violence since childhood; truly pitiful.

While Qin's father was beating him, because Qin Tao said he had already found out who the perpetrator was, his motion hesitated for a moment. Qin Tao shoved him hard; as he stepped back, his foot happened to land on a protruding lawn brick, twisted his ankle, and he fell straight to sitting on the ground.

Qin Tao panted, his face full of anger, while Qin's father seated on the ground didn't get up, just sitting there with a dark face.

The scene fell quiet again, only Qin Tao's heavy breathing audible; Qin's father also knew that Qin Tao's claim of having identified the true culprit behind the covert attack was true—although Qin Tao was now angry, he wasn't in the previous state of frenzy; it was just that he couldn't let go of his pride, his foot was twisted again, he couldn't rise, so he simply sat on the ground with a grim face, motionless.

When Zheng Tan thought the situation would likely remain deadlocked like this, Qin Tao moved, walked to the front of the seated Qin Tao's father, turned his back to him, and squatted down.

"Come up."

Qin's father obviously hadn't expected Qin Tao to do that, and he froze for a moment.

"Hurry up, the end‑of‑class bell rang; later students will come by, and you're just sitting there waiting to be laughed at?" Qin Tao said impatiently.

Qin's father wore a doubtful expression; his first reaction was that this kid was hatching some scheme, but after looking at Qin Tao in front of him, he still rose, supporting himself with the uninjured foot, and then lay on Qin Tao's back.

"Holy shit! What did you eat? You're heavy as hell!" Qin Tao cursed as he got up, bearing the person on his back and began to walk, his steps unsteady.

"Can you manage?" Qin's father asked.

"Cut the nonsense!"

"Don't walk two steps and then collapse together under the weight, making a laughingstock of ourselves."

"Are you still worried about losing face? Didn't you say your old face had already been lost by me?" Qin Tao sneered, "Anyway, let's make a deal: I'll carry you out today, and you won't send people to tail me."

"You're so stupid, how can I rest easy without assigning you some people? Look, that time you reassigned those folks and something went wrong, and you still blame me?! I sent people to protect you, yet you publicly said Dad interfered with your private life and violated your **! After being set up by others, you didn't look for the cause but instead insulted your father, showing no gratitude! Without that intellect, don't talk about self‑esteem. The marketplace is a battlefield, profits are like blades—don't think it's just talk. Learn a lesson, you! How can you be so stupid! If you had even half the shrewdness of Wang Er Xiao, I wouldn't bother with your mess!" While saying this, Qin's father still wasn't appeased, he slapped Qin Tao's head with a palm, "You're stupid to death!"

Zheng Tan saw clearly that although Qin's father's arm‑swinging motion looked vigorous, when he slapped Qin Tao's head he didn't actually use much force. As for the "Wang Er Xiao" Qin's father mentioned, it apparently referred to Er Mao.

Qin Tao's steps were unsteady, his speech panting.

"I warn you, if you hit my head again I'll just throw you here—really, the older you get, the more annoying you become!"

"You're even more annoying when you're old."

"That won't happen; when I'm old I'll definitely not be as annoying as you."

"You won't understand until you reach my age; if you don't live to old age, you won't know what it's like to be old."

"You should say that to your grandfather; I don't know if the old man would just whip you with a belt. Hey, I just thought of it—you could call someone to come carry you."

"I didn't bring the phone."

……Bullshit! I just saw it!

In the winter forest, the leaves on some deciduous trees had already withered and turned yellow, becoming sparse, and the forest also mixed in some evergreen tree species.

A narrow path winds through the forest where withered yellow and verdant green interlace.

Zheng Tan lay on a tree, watching Qin Tao carrying his father, staggering forward along the green grass tiles.

Suddenly feeling that Qin Tao was pitiable, Zheng Tan instead felt a twinge of envy.

Beep beep beep—

The familiar horn sound diverted Zheng Tan's attention, and he looked over.

Professor Jia, who had just gone to the Accounting Office to finish reporting and was preparing to take the shortcut home on his small electric vehicle, rode by; glancing around, he spotted the black cat on the tree.

"Hei Tan, what are you looking at?"

Zheng Tan's mouth split into a grin, he jumped down from the tree and ran toward the electric vehicle. (To be continued...)