Chapter 316

During the three days after his cat tag was confiscated, Zheng Tan didn't have to worry about breakfast or dinner; lunch was always brought by Jiao Wei. Whenever Jiao Wei came over, he looked at Zheng Tan with sympathy. Having known each other for so long, Jiao Wei had come to understand Zheng Tan a bit, knowing that the cat felt uneasy if he didn't roam outside, so he needed to go out for a stroll every day, no matter how far or near.

Over these three days, Zheng Tan indeed behaved well, showing no signs of rebellious mood or behavior, forming a stark contrast with the cat kept by a teacher next door that spent all day on the balcony yowling at the top of its lungs.

When he saw the neighbor's cat again, it was wearing an Elizabethan collar and had stopped howling; Zheng Tan guessed something had happened to it, details comparable to what happened to A Huang back then.

So, compared to Zheng Tan, Jingzhang and Da Pang could also be counted among the few cats in the compound that were neither neutered nor prone to yowling indoors. Indeed, it's better to be sensible.

Zheng Tan lay on the balcony, bored, and yawned. The previous night he had paced back and forth a few times in front of Jiao Ba to show his presence and, incidentally, sound him out about getting his cat tag back early. Unfortunately, Jiao Ba merely glanced at Zheng Tan and didn't say a word.

Looking back on his performance over these three days, Zheng Tan didn't feel he had done anything wrong.

Having expected to be confined for a fourth day, Zheng Tan, upon returning to Xiao Youzi's room, found his cat tag hanging on the cat tree; his listless spirits instantly perked up.

He hadn't noticed it when he woke up last night or this morning, so it seemed Jiao Ba had placed it there when he left the house, doing so silently and without a word.

He jumped up, slipped the cat tag back onto his neck after three days apart, then unlocked the door and went out.

Sure enough, after not moving much for three days, now running around outside made him feel much more relaxed.

Zheng Tan didn't go elsewhere either; he headed straight for the Old Tile House Area.

At the start of this year, another batch of tile houses in the Old Tile House Area was marked with a 'high danger' sign, warning students active there to avoid those buildings. Actually, to Zheng Tan, those buildings were still fine; it was as if a tile house that had borne the 'high danger' label for years had become a gathering spot for cats—so long as it wasn't demolished or otherwise damaged by humans, the cats could frolic inside for a long time.

Zheng Tan hadn't heard that the area was slated for immediate demolition. Therefore, at least for the rest of this year, this place could serve as a good spot for him to stash things. He just needed to guard against mice and certain cats that were overly curious and prone to meddling.

At this time, few students were active in the relatively sturdy tile houses; Zheng Tan arrived at a tile house daubed with a big cross and bearing a 'high danger' sign, then clambered in through a broken window.

It hadn't been used in a long time. Inside hung a musty odor. Corners showed traces of spider activity. The room was piled with discarded wooden tables, their surfaces stained with mouse droppings of unknown age.

Zheng Tan went over and stopped in front of a table on the inner side. He opened one of its drawers; this drawer was among the better-preserved ones of the set.

The drawer held Zheng Tan's phone, as well as the pouch he had brought that night containing the yet‑unidentified diamonds.

Nothing was missing, and there was no scent of any other person, cat, or dog having entered.

Thinking of the appraisal method he had seen in the newspaper that day, Zheng Tan grabbed the bag and jumped onto a table, carefully scooping out a few larger pieces.

Having no other tools, he could only use the few simple methods mentioned in the newspaper for a preliminary appraisal—considering weight, hardness, color, cut, and so on. Zheng Tan took a rough look and found them similar to the genuine diamonds described in the newspaper, but he still doubted. A more precise identification was beyond him for now, though he had heard that many gem‑level synthetic diamonds did not necessarily cost less than natural ones. From a remark by a certain professor cited in the newspaper, he guessed that a new cost‑lowering method might exist. With so many research institutes and companies studying the field, it was not impossible that a new way to produce gem‑level synthetic diamonds indistinguishable from real ones had been created; people just kept it secret, lest others find out.

After putting the few colorless diamonds he had scooped out back into the bag, Zheng Tan also stuffed the bag and his phone into a drawer, closed it, then left the tile‑roofed building. After thinking, he decided to go to the small woods at the edge of the residential area to check the situation.

Three days passed, and he did not know whether the two people who had hidden the stuff had come back to look.

During this period there were not many people in the small woods, but the road from the new student dormitory building to the side gate saw occasional passersby. Although Zheng Tan could not see what was happening on that road from here, he could judge the situation by the sounds and the noise of passing vehicles.

Zheng Tan did not run straight there; he walked leisurely, while also paying attention to whether anyone was approaching and carefully discerning how many unfamiliar scents were in the air. Since he often came here to stroll, he was already very familiar with the local smells, so any unfamiliar odor would definitely be noticeable to him.

During these three days someone came to the woods, and Zheng Tan detected some odors he had never smelled before, but this did not necessarily mean they were related to the bag; they could have been from students coming here to fool around. The security guard's black‑backed dog had come to the woods to urinate and defecate again, and there was also vomit from some student who had drunk too much.

When he reached the thicket, the unfamiliar smells had mostly disappeared. Zheng Tan first observed the surrounding grass and saw no obvious trampling marks; compared to that night, it seemed unchanged. He moved closer to the thicket and sniffed, but detected no abnormal odor.

So it seemed those two people had not come back to check. Was he really at ease? Or… could it be that they were no longer able to come?

Shaking his head, Zheng Tan stopped thinking about those things and ran to the tree hole where he used to hide his phone. It had not been taken over by birds, there were no other traces, and aside from the phone being missing, everything was as usual.

Everything remained the same.

This left Zheng Tan, who had been somewhat hopeful, quite disappointed.

On his way back, Zheng Tan had originally intended to go to the Life Science Institute and report to Jiao Ba's office, since he had not been there in a while, to show his presence and tell Jiao Ba he had not been running around randomly. But as he walked, he turned off toward the Chemistry Institute instead.

He saw a person whom he had seen in the newspaper. In the article about gem‑level synthetic diamonds, another picture showed exactly that person. Although he thought the bag he held might not be related to that person from the Chemistry Institute, Zheng Tan had nothing else to do, so he went over to observe whether the person showed any other emotions. If he had lost something valuable, he would probably betray some anxiety no matter how he tried to hide it.

The professor, who was about fifty years old, had just come out of the institute; he appeared to be in a good mood, his smile genuine, not looking like someone who had lost something valuable.

Walking with that professor were two people: a man around thirty who looked rather refined and somewhat gentlemanly, and a woman about twenty‑five or twenty‑six with a somewhat mixed‑race appearance, wearing glasses, tall and beautiful. However, the woman merely walked silently beside them, without interjecting. Throughout, it was the professor and the other man who were talking; observing the professor's demeanor, there was a certain courtesy, indicating that someone who could earn such polite treatment from professors with some standing and reputation was certainly no ordinary figure.

Only at the fork in the road did the three separate. The professor drove off, while the man and woman continued along the forward path, seemingly just taking in the scenery and architecture of the area.

Zheng Tan stopped following them, ran to the Life Science Institute, wandered around Jiao Ba's office and then came out; he had originally planned to sleep there. Since people kept coming to look for Jiao Ba, staying there was pointless, so he went out, strolled a couple more laps, and then headed to Jiao Wei's restaurant to mooch a meal.

After walking a loop, Zheng Tan turned into a narrow lane where vehicles could not go; there was only a stone path cutting through the woods and lawn, and this was also a shortcut Jiao Wei often took after class. Seeing that the time was about right, Zheng Tan decided to wait for Jiao Wei there.

There was a one‑meter‑long wooden bench there; Zheng Tan jumped onto it and lay down to sleep. Even if he fell asleep, Jiao Wei would surely wake him when passing by, so there was no need to worry about missing him.

Lying on the bench, Zheng Tan smelled the seasonal blossoms, ignored the noisy birds fluttering about and squawking, closed his eyes and prepared to nap. Not long after he had half‑closed his eyes, he heard someone approaching the bench.

He opened his eyes a slit and looked over; it was the man and woman he had just seen. They had wandered the campus and ended up here, and from their conversation he learned they were looking for a place to rest, only they had not expected Zheng Tan to be lying there.

The man and woman had just noticed the wooden bench not far away and intended to come over to sit and rest awhile, but upon drawing near and changing their angle, they saw a black cat lying sideways on the bench, stretching from tail to head and occupying most of the seat; the remaining space was clearly insufficient for the two of them to sit.

Initially, seeing the bench occupied by the cat, the two thought nothing of it, assuming the cat would surely run off if they approached. But to their surprise, as they drew near, the cat remained calmly lying on the bench, slightly lifting its head, half‑opening its eyes to look at them, as if saying, "I'm too lazy to move."

Zheng Tan ignored the gazes of the two people falling on him; he was hungry, the food he had eaten after his morning run was mostly digested, and he simply did not want to go elsewhere or sleep on the ground.

The two people and the cat stared at each other for about half a minute. Just as the mixed‑race woman was wondering whether to shoo the cat away, Zheng Tan yawned, then lay down again intending to keep sleeping. He sensed no malice from the two; since there was no threat, he decided to brazenly continue sleeping.

As the mixed‑race woman was about to raise her hand, she caught sight of Zheng Tan's sharp teeth when he yawned, paused, then turned to adjust the glasses on her nose, and looked at the man beside her, waiting for him to decide.

The man looked at Zheng Tan, noted the cat's collar, obviously a pet, and thought, "With such good care, how could it be a stray?" Looking at the cat, he inferred the owner's living conditions were probably decent. Seeing that the cat on the bench showed no intention of giving up its spot, he also did not try to shoo it away; he reached into his pocket, fished around, and pulled out his phone, which had a charm attached.

Cats, after all, aren't they all interested in such dangling, swaying things?

Although Zheng Tan's eyes were closed, his ears picked up the couple's movements; sensing someone approach, he opened his eyes and saw a very pretty pendant, its other end hooked to the man's phone, hanging down as a string composed of several transparent, pea‑sized spherical beads, with another … diamond? between each bead.

Fake, right?

Similar phone charms can be found at street stalls, and there are also things that look like diamonds, but the few stones on this pendant before him looked very much like the few he had examined that morning. (To be continued…)