Chapter 321

The filming matter isn't just about agreeing and signing a contract then setting off; it still requires a series of preparations, so Zheng Tan won't be departing for now and will remain in Chu Hua Shi for a while.

In order for Zheng Tan to better adapt to filming, Xiao Guo decided to temporarily draw some people from the work team specifically to 'help out' Zheng Tan.

The so-called help to familiarize with filming and adapt to the site was, after Xiao Guo spent a few days with the movie crew, he thought Yang Yi's side would likely adopt similar filming methods; thus, Zheng Tan would be taken to the pet center every day to face the familiar people, cameras, props, and so on in the studio.

Being brought here is for 'special training'; the people around are all very energetic. These days there's no need to shoot advertisement videos or pictures, Zheng Tan staying in the studio is quite boring, but that's fine. If even eating, sleeping, even defecating had no **, Zheng Tan wouldn't mind letting Xiao Guo learn what a cat's claws are.

Thus, when Xiao Guo returned from the movie crew to the pet center and opened the door to his restroom, he discovered that the cushion of the sofa bought less than half a year ago was covered in 'scratches'.

These past two days Xiao Guo didn't lock the restroom, and the only cats able to open this room themselves were Li Yuanba, Peanut Candy, and Zheng Tan; Zheng Tan often slept here, Li Yuanba occasionally came over, and Peanut Candy basically never entered. Among them, Li Yuanba had his own dedicated nap spot—the bookshelf—while only Zheng Tan slept on the sofa.

Half a year ago Xiao Guo angered Zheng Tan over some things; in a fit of rage he destroyed one of Xiao Guo's sofas here. Now. He also destroyed the cushion of a new sofa as a warning.

Seeing the sofa's miserable state, Xiao Guo let out a wail, then rubbed his forehead and lay down in the computer chair. Looking up, he saw Li Yuanba on the bookshelf; Li Yuanba's gaze made Xiao Guo feel as if he had done something stupid again.

"You wouldn't stop him, would you?" Xiao Guo said to Li Yuanba.

Li Yuanba turned his head and continued sleeping.

Xiao Guo sighed. He knew Li Yuanba's fighting ability—he could beat cats, scratch dogs, and even fight thieves—but when Zheng Tan destroyed the sofa, Li Yuanba just stood by and never intervened.

They're all ancestors, really hard to serve. Each has a big temper. It would be nice if they were as obedient as the 'Prince' ones, but these few are rather special.

Exactly, that black cat is also different. So we can't treat it the way we treat other cats.

If it were a person, what should we do?

Reason with it. Do some work, give some guidance?

After deciding, Xiao Guo immediately contacted Cha Li.

Then Cha Li's nanny had a miserable time.

Over the next few days, when Zheng Tan came to the pet center, he no longer saw those eyesores. However, no matter how Cha Li worked, Zheng Tan's attitude could only be considered normal; Cha Li didn't know whether he had already instilled Boss Guo's will into this cat's feline brain. These days Boss Guo had been busy, so he entrusted this arduous task to Cha Li, hoping to mobilize the cat's positive enthusiasm. Cha Li also didn't know what constituted positive enthusiasm in a cat; he only knew that while working, he talked until his mouth was dry, only to find the lazy cat sprawled on the chair, eyes half-closed, yawning, and then ignoring him.

Cha Li's feelings at that time... just talking about it brings tears. Seeing the high salary, he accepted it.

That day Xiao Guo came back relatively early; when he arrived at the studio, Zheng Tan had not yet left, lying on the sofa asleep, while Cha Li beside him wore a troubled expression, unsure what he was thinking. Seeing Xiao Guo, Cha Li stood up and said a few words about today's situation.

"Still the same?" Xiao Guo frowned. This collaboration with Yang Yi is an excellent opportunity; if the cat didn't agree, it would be fine, but since it agreed to appear, Xiao Guo must put in more effort here—lack of enthusiasm won't be looked upon favorably. Here it's fine, but when we go to Yang Yi's turf in the capital, who knows if we'll be at a disadvantage.

He threw his jacket onto the sofa, Xiao Guo didn't even bother to change shoes, wiped his face, rolled up his sleeves, walked over to Zheng Tan, crouched down to look at Zheng Tan who had just woken up from sleeping on the sofa, and earnestly waved his fists in encouragement: "Hei Tan, once we finish this job we'll strike it rich!"

Zheng Tan, Cha Li: "..."

Simple, direct, effective.

Zheng Tan finally mustered a bit of fighting spirit.

Zheng Tan had looked over the contract; the money was indeed not little, but he felt Xiao Guo was over-nervous—he wasn't a newbie just starting to shoot ads, did he really need to worry so much?

He sighed inwardly; Zheng Tan felt that lately everyone seemed a bit overly tense and anxious, whether it was the people at the pet center or the Jiao Family.

While Zheng Tan sighed, Jiao Ba was pondering whether to contact acquaintances in the capital. Those people existed, but they surely had no time to take care of it, and it wouldn't be convenient to have them do so. After thinking, Jiao Ba contacted Fang Shaokang; Fang San ye's headquarters is in the capital, so asking him for help would be more reliable.

Fang San ye, who was busy working in another province, was very surprised when he received Jiao Ba's call.

"A documentary?!" Fang San ye waved his hand, signaling the assistant to leave, then put his foot on the desk, "Who is the other party?"

"Boss Yang of Yixing Culture." Jiao Ba said.

"That kid Yang Yi? Sure, I got it. Don't worry, even if I don't have time I'll have someone help take care of." Saying that, Fang San ye gave Jiao Ba a phone number; when needed, just have someone contact that number.

After receiving Fang San ye's assurance, Jiao Ba felt much more relieved, though not completely at ease, after all, that cat really could cause trouble.

After hanging up, Fang San ye flipped through his address book, dialed a number, and after a long wait the call finally connected.

"Hello?"

The other party seemed not fully awake.

"Hey, Yang Yi, this is Fang San ye speaking—I heard you're planning to film a documentary about cats?"

On the other end, Yang Yi was a bit dazed; he had spent the night organizing materials without sleep, went out again in the morning, only returned at noon to catch up on sleep, and hadn't expected to receive this call.

"Oh, Fang San ye," Yang Yi said. He is of the same generation as Er Mao and them, not very familiar with Fang Shaokang; they have collaborated in business a few times over the past two years, and previously he also called Fang Shaokang 'San ye' just like Er Mao and them. "There is such a matter; how about it, are you interested in investing?"

Fang Shaokang had invested in many films; Yang Yi was just speaking offhand, never expecting Fang Shaokang over there to give a hehe laugh.

"Yeah, but I want to ask, do you still need roles over there? My family also has a cat, very smart, not much inferior to that Hei Tan."

Yang Yi paused for a few seconds; Fang San ye's family still keeps a cat? He hadn't expected that. Unlike others who recommend celebrity actors or relatives and friends for cameos, Fang San ye actually just recommended his own cat!

Since Fang San ye spoke up, Yang Yi didn't immediately refuse but asked: "What breed is your family's cat?"

"Our cat is just a mixed-breed, not a famous breed. But it's very smart—much smarter than those purebred famous cats. Do you have internet there? I'll send you some photos." Fang Shaokang took out his laptop, selected a few photos taken at home and sent them over. He always felt that the smartest cat in the world, aside from that black one, is our family's Damai. If even our Damai doesn't catch your eye, what cat could be worthy?

"Mixed-breed" refers to cats with impure lineage; Yang Yi didn't plan to use many expensive purebred cats in the documentary, basically deciding on house cats and some mixed-breeds. Hearing Fang Shaokang's words, Yang Yi felt relieved in his heart, opened the received file, and checked the photos.

Ten seconds later.

"How about it, good enough?" Fang Shaokang asked.

"... The gaze is sharp enough." Yang Yi commented.

Fang Shaokang's demands are few; just a cameo will do, for fun and as a keepsake.

After Yang Yi agreed, Fang Shaokang immediately looked for an opportunity to claim credit before his daughter.

Fang Mengmeng, while happy, also thought of another: "Dad, since our Damai is participating, could we also bring over Xiaomi for a cameo? I haven't seen Xiaomi in a long time."

Thus, after Yang Yi fitfully slept another hour, he received Fang Shaokang's call again.

"Hey, Yang Yi, it's me, Fang San."

Yang Yi: "..."

"I just wanted to ask, do you still need roles over there? I'll recommend another one, also a mixed-breed, born in the same litter as our Damai, called Xiaomi—just a bit sillier than our Damai, appearance passable, just a mole on the corner of the mouth. I haven't sent the photos yet from the computer; I'll send them over."

Yang Yi: "..."

Xiaomi had been following Zhao Le, staying for a while in Chu Hua Shi; later Zhao Le got busy and no one could look after it, even after hiring a nanny they couldn't handle it, so Zhao Le's mother brought it to the capital to keep it company. Usually both husband and daughter are very busy, Zhao Le's mother quite likes Xiaomi; when returning to the capital she couldn't bear to leave it, so she brought it along. Although now both are in the capital, Damai and Xiaomi don't get to see each other much. And Zheng Tan, since Xiaomi was taken away, hasn't seen it; Damai still saw it last time when he went to a cat show.

Knowing these two will also appear, Zheng Tan felt a rare anticipation. He didn't know whether Xiaomi, after inheriting its father's mole, would also inherit its father's pugnacity.

In mid-November, Zheng Tan followed Xiao Guo's selected group as they set out for the capital, with Cha Li attending to him. This wasn't Zheng Tan's first long-distance trip, but the Jiao Family still couldn't help worrying; the nagging words he heard were enough to make his ears feel like they'd grow calluses.

Before leaving, Zheng Tan went to the old tile house, hid the phone and that bag of diamonds separately, then moved some broken tables and chairs to block the entrance; that way he didn't have to worry about other cats getting in, since they lacked Zheng Tan's strength.

Yang Yi had already arranged accommodation; there were also some other crew members from the filming team there. These people were very curious about Zheng Tan, having heard that the big boss Yang Yi had revived the plan for this film because of this cat.

Cha Li and the others whom Xiao Guo had entrusted with important responsibilities were still worried that Zheng Tan would not adapt after seeing so many strangers, but the result proved that they had been overthinking.

Zheng Tan wasn't nervous at all; although he didn't know these people, he could sense goodwill from them. Even the burly bearded man whose face was the most rugged and who looked somewhat fierce when he smiled actually exuded goodwill.

Since there's no threat, what's there to worry about?

After Cha Li called the Jiao family to report safety, without waiting for Zheng Tan to first get acquainted with the people on this filming crew, someone came over to pick him up.

It was people from Fang Shaokang's side; after going downstairs, Zheng Tan glanced around, and his gaze fell on that silver private car.

"Hei Tan, over here over here!" Fang Mengmeng opened the car window and waved at Zheng Tan.

After Fang Mengmeng finished calling out, Zheng Tan saw two cat heads poking out from her car window, looking toward him. (To be continued...)