Chapter 310: Raising the Middle Finger

The car ahead was going very fast; although Zheng Tan's physique was somewhat special compared to other cats, he wasn't a supercat, wasn't a god; even if he took a shortcut, it only shaved off a bit of distance, and as soon as he went straight, Zheng Tan kept getting left behind.

After chasing this far, his stamina was near its limit, his whole body felt like it was on fire, extremely uncomfortable.

Zheng Tan saw that the traffic light ahead at the intersection was about to turn red; calculating, when that car reached there it should hit the red light.

Forcing himself to ignore his physical discomfort, Zheng Tan kept running while staring fixedly at the intersection; several times he nearly bumped into people, and a few pedestrians on the sidewalk pointed at his back, whispering something he didn't bother to hear—surely nothing nice.

On this side of the sidewalk someone was walking a pet dog; the big dog didn't know what it had sniffed, perhaps feeling the urge to urinate, sniffing around the trash can, its body happened to be sideways right in front of Zheng Tan.

As Zheng Tan ran up, he leapt and jumped directly over the big dog's back.

The big dog had been about to turn its head to look at its owner, but it saw Zheng Tan swoop past like the wind from its back, blinked, then tugged on its leash and howled in the direction Zheng Tan was running, seemingly venting its dissatisfaction.

Zheng Tan couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the dog; his gaze stayed fixed on the display at the intersection ahead, watching the countdown, praying in his heart for the light to turn red quickly, he had to catch that car.

That car had overtaken several others in succession, heading toward the intersection, clearly intending to rush through before the light turned red, not caring about the yellow light at all; the countdown numbers there were decreasing, and Zheng Tan desperately hoped it would finish counting down and turn red soon.

Probably Zheng Tan's prayer took effect; as the familiar car was about to reach the intersection, the red light came on.

Zheng Tan felt a flicker of joy, but the next moment he saw that familiar car not slowing down at all, with no intention to stop, it just barreled through. If there hadn't been relatively few vehicles at the intersection then, and pedestrians hadn't just taken a few steps on the sides, it might have caused a tragedy.

At this moment Zheng Tan's mood felt like he'd suddenly been hit by a heavy hammer, a heavy hammer.

He almost forgot what kind of temperament he used to have—bad temper, conceited, foolish as could be, underage driving while speeding and running red lights… Looking back now, Zheng Tan wished he could give himself a few hard slaps.

After letting out that breath, fatigue and a burning pain all over swept over him; Zheng Tan had no choice but to slow down, breaking into a jog, then walking slowly, step by step, moving his feet to reach that intersection.

The changing traffic lights. Streams of people of all kinds, various mass-produced and luxurious cars driving on the road, skyscrapers lining the intersection, a vast army of buildings blocking the distant scenery.

Standing at the intersection, Zheng Tan watched the familiar car speed away and disappear.

Zheng Tan felt that heaven was like an old immortal with a cruel sense of humor; every time he was about to reach his goal, it would reach out a finger to flick him away, then continue watching the fun from the sidelines. It was like that three years ago, and it's the same now.

It's maddening.

Zheng Tan suddenly felt like howling like a madman here; in fact he did just that, raising a cat paw to thrust a non-standard middle finger toward the sky and letting out a howl.

Some idiot driver almost at the same moment held down the horn, and the long line of vehicles slowly moving off as the green light came on completely drowned out Zheng Tan's howl.

Passersby coming and going, people rushing to cross the road in all sorts of ways, someone kicked Zheng Tan; he had no mind to retaliate, the other party seemed also in a hurry, probably hadn't noticed Zheng Tan, and even if they had, a kick's a kick—it's just a cat, why bother caring about this freak?

There were too many pedestrians here; after his howl, Zheng Tan had no energy left for a second one, he walked to the side of the road to a restaurant, where there was a relatively empty spot and some shade; he now felt only exhaustion, his mood quite dejected, listlessly trudging over, intending to rest awhile in the shade.

Splash-splash!

Water droplets scattered around Zheng Tan, drenching his head and body.

Zheng Tan, expressionless, slowly lifted his gaze upward—someone on the second floor of the shop was watering several potted plants on the railing.

"Oh, there's still a cat down there, go on." The person set the spray bottle upright, waved a hand, and told Zheng Tan to move aside quickly.

Zheng Tan cursed inwardly: "Damn this lousy luck." He got up, walked over to a nearby tree, jumped onto the wooden bench placed under it, lay down, looking at the world tilted ninety degrees, motionless. He really couldn't be bothered to move.

A sparrow that had flown from somewhere landed on the tree above; Zheng Tan glanced at it askance as it hopped twice on the branch then flew off, disappearing around the corner.

Lying sideways on the wooden bench, Zheng Tan felt increasingly fatigued, his head a little dizzy; he didn't know whether it was from not being used to viewing the world at this angle or from over-exerting himself, he wanted to rest more, sleep a while, and deal with worries after waking; besides that, he didn't want to do anything else right now.

With his eyes closed, Zheng Tan listened to the sounds of vehicles and pedestrians coming and going around him.

Just as Zheng Tan was about to fall asleep, he heard footsteps approaching from this direction, not sounding like an adult's, and the person likely meant no harm; since that was the case, Zheng Tan also couldn't be bothered to open his eyes, continuing to nurture sleepiness.

Those footsteps stopped right beside him, carrying a strawberry-sweet scent, and then Zheng Tan felt someone sit on the wooden bench.

A pair of hands, scented with strawberry sweetness, were placed on Zheng Tan's head and gently rubbed.

Zheng Tan opened his eyes and looked over.

A little girl about four years old sat on the same wooden bench, her head half a palm's distance from Zheng Tan's; at that moment, the girl held a strawberry cone ice cream in one hand, the other hand rested on Zheng Tan's head, she bit into the ice cream, and her eyes curiously regarded Zheng Tan.

The little hand resting on Zheng Tan's head had some melted pink ice cream stuck to it, and as the hand moved, it smeared onto Zheng Tan's body.

Zheng Tan twitched his whiskers. Taking a deep breath, he thought, forget it, looking at the child's pure, non-teasing gaze—it wasn't intentional—so he let it go.

Just as Zheng Tan was about to ignore the child, close his eyes, and continue sleeping, his nose got tapped.

He opened his eyes; a half-melted ice cream was placed in front of Zheng Tan.

"Want to eat?" the little girl said.

She spoke in the familiar Nan Cheng dialect, a native Nan Cheng child.

It felt friendly, yet at the same time a bit strange. Probably because he'd grown accustomed to Mandarin and the Chu Hua Shi dialect in Chu Hua Shi, after coming to Nanhua and Nan Cheng this time, many of the people he encountered also spoke Mandarin.

Seeing Zheng Tan staring at the ice cream, the little girl pushed it forward toward him again; the melted ice cream liquid nearly touched his nose, making Zheng Tan lean back a bit.

Seeing Zheng Tan dodge, the little girl was puzzled, "This is really delicious."

Zheng Tan looked at the little girl, then at the ice cream whose top had been bitten several times, now half-melted and viscous; after thinking, he bit the pointed tip of the cone beneath the ice cream.

When freshly made, the cone's bottom doesn't touch the ice cream, but now the ice cream had half-melted, its liquid flowing to the cone's base; when Zheng Tan bit, he also got some of that.

It was cold, with a strawberry sweet fragrance.

They say cats can't taste sweetness, and that cats' eyes aren't that rich in color; Zheng Tan didn't know why he could taste sweetness and see vivid colors, but he figured this was heaven's compensation for him—turning into a cat out of the blue, he deserved some recompense.

The little girl laughed ha-ha-ha a few times, took a bite of the ice cream from the top, then handed the ice cream to Zheng Tan, who gnawed at the bottom of the cone.

The two of them, one person and one cat, ate back and forth here, and Zheng Tan's earlier gloomy mood eased a little.

Ice cream smeared all around the little girl's mouth; Zheng Tan wasn't much better off—several times when he bit, the melted liquid dripped onto his nose bridge or the side of his mouth where his tongue couldn't reach, causing the surrounding fur to stick together.

While they were eating, the little girl's parents came out of the shop, called her over, and said they were getting ready to leave.

The little girl got off the bench, reluctantly glanced at the remaining piece of ice cream in her hand, and handed it to Zheng Tan, "Here, you eat it."

Zheng Tan pushed her hand away, stood up, and jumped onto the tree.

The girl's parents urged her again; she lifted her head to glance at Zheng Tan, waved her hand, and said, "Bye-bye."

Zheng Tan also raised his hand in a farewell gesture, but he was in the tree with leaves blocking the view, so only the child below could see him; nobody else could.

After the little girl left, Zheng Tan picked up a leaf, casually wiped his mouth with it; although it couldn't remove the ice cream stuck to him that was quickly drying, wiping it was better than nothing, making him look less of a mess.

Having eaten some ice cream, Zheng Tan's spirits improved a bit and his throat wasn't as sore; he glanced at the not‑far intersection, jumped down from the tree, and headed back.

On the way back, Zheng Tan saw police cars driving by.

Because of the red light, there was some congestion ahead, so several vehicles weren't moving very fast.

Zheng Tan walked back along the sidewalk, not far from the police car on the road.

After seeing the police car, Zheng Tan glanced over and happened to see a familiar-looking person sitting in the back seat of a police car not far away; this person had just been kicked from behind by him not long ago.

These police cars indeed came from the direction of Guqin She, and the knife-wielding assailant was also being taken away in custody, and Zheng Tan happened to run into them.

The expressionless occupant of the car was actually still mulling over the blow he'd taken from behind while at Guqin She—that blow had directly led to his capture. He hadn't seen it, only heard people say the kicker was actually a black cat; he had been on guard and prepared against people, but if it were a cat that makes almost no sound when walking or running, he would have been helpless. Still, how could a cat have that much strength? Others aren't clear, but as the person involved, he feels it most acutely.

While thinking that, he turned his head to look out the window, his pupils constricted.

It's said that encountering a black cat brings bad luck. How did I run into a black cat again?!

That person was looking at the black cat on the sidewalk outside the car window, cursing all black cats in his heart, when he saw the cat lift one paw, spread it, then curl in the four more obvious toes, leaving only the middle toe.

"Is that… a middle finger?" the person thought. Can a cat's paw bend into a middle finger? No, why would it flip him off?

The person stared, wanting to confirm again, but the car had already driven off; he intended to turn his head to look back, but was stopped by the officer beside him.

Zheng Tan glanced at the departing police car, turned back, stretched, then broke into a light run. (To be continued...)