Chapter 324

Zheng Tan arrived in the capital in mid‑November, and by the time his portion finished shooting it was already mid‑December. His part was considered complete, so no reshoots were needed; as for the ongoing filming, Zheng Tan didn't have to keep trailing the crew around. If he really had to stay, he'd likely have to stay until next year, since the crew's schedule wasn't finished, while Zheng Tan planned to head back to Chu Hua Shi early to spend the New Year.

Cha Li and the people sent over were summoned back by Xiao Guo, as the place was busy at year‑end, while Zheng Tan was earnestly urged by Fang Mengmeng to stay longer in the capital. Over the past month, aside from when he first arrived, Fang Mengmeng had little time to see Zheng Tan, and she even wanted him to stay at her home for a few days. Fang Shaokang stepped in, talking with Xiao Guo and Jiao Ba, and arranged for Zheng Tan to return after a while.

Zheng Tan couldn't make it in time for the pet center's Christmas special, but he had to rush back to film the New Year's Day special. According to Xiao Guo, Zheng Tan used to be the show's draw; he's quite famous in the online cat community, and many viewers tune in for the specials because Xiao Guo always comes up with little tricks to amuse the audience. Without Zheng Tan, someone would surely be dissatisfied. Moreover, during this period Zheng Tan missed some ad and video shoots, and online rumors started flying—like "bc went missing", "bc is seriously ill", "bc was sold", even claims that Xiao Guo hid Zheng Tan's gender, saying "bc actually went to give birth". The crew also longed for Zheng Tan's return, deeply feeling how grueling their overtime‑heavy life had been without him.

So Zheng Tan couldn't stay long in the capital, and the Jiao family missed him. They called two to three times a week; now that Cha Li had left, Jiao Ba called the person Fang Shaokang had introduced directly, and that person truthfully told the Jiao family about Zheng Tan's situation here.

At Fang Mengmeng's home, Zheng Tan didn't go to the cat climbing frame; he simply took over a guest room of the Fang family, which Fang Shaokang had tacitly allowed.

He jumped onto the edge of the table, Zheng Tan wiped the foggy moisture from the window and looked outside. At this time, the capital was a bit colder than Chu Hua Shi. It had been snowing a few days earlier, but staying indoors was still warm.

Zheng Tan felt a bit bored at the Fang family's place, even though their house was large and nicely decorated, after all it was someone else's home. He couldn't sneak online, couldn't run around everywhere, couldn't act however he pleased, couldn't burrow under the covers… After only two days, Zheng Tan already wanted to go back to the Jiao family.

On the weekend, a guest came to the Fang family's home.

The visitor was Fang Mengmeng's cousin, Fang Wenjie, who was in his third year of high school. When he arrived, Fang Mengmeng was playing "Guess which cup the pistachio is under" with Damai, and Zheng Tan watched from the side.

"Mengmeng, you're playing with Damai again… Huh, whose cat is this? Is it a new member of your family? You didn't get it just to keep Damai company… Oh my goodness!"

While that person was talking nonsense, Zheng Tan tossed the tennis ball at his feet, hitting the visitor's face. He didn't use much force; he only meant to give a light warning, not to injure anyone.

Fang Wenjie had come over for a free meal because nobody was home, a rare bit of downtime, but he hadn't expected to be hit shortly after walking in; although it didn't hurt much, it still surprised him.

"Heh, this cat's got quite a temper, Mengmeng—whose cat is this?" Fang Wenjie didn't move closer to Zheng Tan; instead he sat beside Fang Mengmeng, but his eyes stayed fixed on Zheng Tan to prevent another projectile.

"Who told you to spout nonsense?" Fang Mengmeng said gleefully, "This is Hei Tan, a friend of my dad's; he came last month to film a documentary, and I let him stay a few more days at home."

"You're still filming a movie? That's pretty high‑end?" Fang Wenjie exclaimed in surprise.

"It's not a movie, it's a documentary." Fang Mengmeng corrected him.

"Same thing."

Fang Wenjie was no longer afraid of being hit by Zheng Tan's throws; he got up, moved closer, and circled Zheng Tan, saying, "Based on my experience, this cat is what's called a 'little black panther' Bombay cat!"

"Wrong, this cat is just an ordinary domestic cat." Fang Mengmeng said disdainfully, "The face of a 'little black panther' looks completely different."

"How is it different? I think it is—otherwise who would go looking for a plain cat that costs only a dozen or so yuan?"

"It's just a domestic cat—if you don't believe me, go ask my dad!"

After hearing Fang Mengmeng's words, Fang Wenjie thought of his third uncle, his expression tightening, and then said, "All right, I'll assume you're correct."

Having said that, Fang Wenjie ran off to rummage through snacks; he hadn't eaten much all afternoon, dinner wasn't ready yet, and he couldn't wait.

"Hey Mengmeng, tomorrow my mom and your mom have to go to a banquet, so let's skip the fuss—how about I take you out for a meal?" Fang Wenjie said while chewing chips with a crack‑crack sound. He hated hanging out with those uncles and aunts, because every time they'd compare their kids' grades, and afterward he'd always get scolded by his parents, which annoyed him; therefore he didn't want to go to that whatever banquet at all—going would just make him feel out of place.

"Sure." Fang Mengmeng didn't want to go either. Although she was young, she knew many things in her heart—for example, those relatives who weren't actually close to her family, because of her father's status, would swarm over as soon as they saw her at a banquet, feigning friendliness, some even playing mind games, which left Fang Mengmeng utterly annoyed.

While Fang Wenjie was talking to Fang Mengmeng, Zheng Tan listened nearby. This guy, despite being in his third year of high school and seemingly still in his rebellious phase, had poor grades; his family had hired several tutors, but they were useless, and every high‑paid tutor they brought in was driven away by Fang Wenjie. Rumor had it that many of those tutors were students from the top universities in the capital, even including graduate and doctoral candidates, yet they were of no use—his performance remained at the very bottom.

Even though the Fang family was wealthy and capable, even if they could manage things when he went to university, his grades simply couldn't be too embarrassing—they couldn't afford to lose face over him.

From the tone Fang Wenjie used just now, it seemed he and those tutors mutually disliked each other; he thought they were arrogant and conceited, while in their eyes Fang Wenjie was just a spoiled rich kid, and trying to teach him was like playing music to an ox—even a pig would understand, yet he still looked clueless.

Now the winter break was approaching again, the final half‑year of high school. Fang Wenjie's parents were once again looking for people to prepare his winter‑break tutoring, and Fang Wenjie seemed to already see this year's dark winter break ahead; moreover, his family had already bound him: he wasn't allowed to go out often to play with friends, his pocket money was limited, and they even cut off the internet! Imagining this lifestyle lasting another half‑year, Fang Wenjie felt as if he were staring into utter darkness.

"Just the last half‑year—once it's over, things will be easy." Fang Mengmeng said.

"It's easy to say when you're standing there—wait until you're in my shoes and you'll know how awful it is. The pressure is huge!" Fang Wenjie sighed.

Zheng Tan and Fang Mengmeng both glanced at Fang Wenjie, but they saw no sign of "huge pressure" on his face.

The next day. After lunch, Fang Wenjie came over to Fang Mengmeng's house; he was still under eighteen and had no driver's license, and his family kept him under strict supervision—he certainly couldn't drive himself. However, they did have a driver.

When going out to eat, Zheng Tan would definitely be coming along—otherwise, would he stay home and eat cat food like Damai? No way.

So Zheng Tan decisively decided to join them for a big meal out.

As soon as he stepped outside, Zheng Tan felt a shiver; he hurriedly jumped into the car. It was truly freezing out there—no wonder Fang Mengmeng was bundled up.

Zheng Tan's fur was short, unlike Damai's, but Damai apparently didn't like going out with Fang Wenjie; upon seeing him, Damai would leap onto the sofa to sleep, and Fang Mengmeng stopped calling her, having long grown accustomed to this.

When Fang Mengmeng got into the car, she was holding a large backpack and a white pet outfit.

This was bought when Damai was still small, but after purchasing it Damai hardly ever wore it—she dislikes clothes, and Fang Mengmeng never threw it away because she especially liked the polar‑bear‑style outfit, so she'd kept it all this time, never expecting it to come in handy today.

Zheng Tan didn't like being restrained by those clothes either, but considering the outdoor temperature and not knowing how long they'd have to stay outside, he decided not to be too hard on himself and let Fang Mengmeng put the obviously warm white outfit on him, complete with a hood. After putting it on, Zheng Tan checked himself in the rear‑view mirror and thought the outfit made him look a bit silly.

Fang Mengmeng also took a few photos on purpose, while Fang Wenjie sat in the passenger seat smiling.

The time was still early; not long after lunch, they weren't going straight to eat—first they had to make a trip to the bookstore.

Fang Wenjie needed to buy several reference books—the list his mother had given him, which were essential. Fang Mengmeng had no objection to browsing the bookstore; in fact, she looked forward to it. Kids who don't have to buy reference books, workbooks, or mock exams are the fortunate ones.

The driver was directly dismissed by Fang Wenjie; the place where they'd eat that afternoon was nearby, so there was no need to keep the driver waiting. After they finished eating, Fang Wenjie would call the driver to come pick them up.

Fang Wenjie and Fang Mengmeng entered the bookstore to look at books, and Zheng Tan certainly followed them inside. There were many people coming and going, and it was unclear whether pets were allowed, so Zheng Tan had to stay in the backpack.

"Hei Tan, stay in the backpack and don't run around or make noise, or someone might whack you out with a mop." Fang Wenjie said as he hoisted the backpack.

The bookstore was heated and fairly warm. It had a section for the college entrance exam, filled with practice papers and mock tests, and there were still quite a few people, but most of them only flipped through the reference books in hand or searched the shelves for books, failing to notice the cat's head poking out of Fang Wenjie's backpack behind him; a few people did spot it, but they merely gave it a curious second glance before looking away.

Fang Wenjie quickly found two of them; while looking for the third he had to squeeze in further, and he wasn't polite about it—upon seeing the books on the shelf, he shoved the person in front of him hard to the side. The motion was too big, causing the book that person was holding to fall to the floor because of Fang Wenjie's shove.

After uttering a half‑hearted "sorry" with no sincerity, Fang Wenjie didn't even glance at the person and went straight to look for that reference book.

The person whose book had just been knocked out furrowed his brow, squatted to pick it up, intending to put it back, but when he lifted his head he saw the cat's head sticking out of the backpack.

The hood of the white polar‑bear pet costume was on Zheng Tan's head—a white cap with a black cat face.

The person's motion of picking up the book paused, his eyes filled with doubtful uncertainty.

Zheng Tan had originally been curiously scanning his surroundings; at Chu Hua Da Xue he'd been to small bookstores a few times, but he'd never been in a large one like this, so he felt a bit curious—especially at the few pretty girls not far away, whom he glanced at a few extra times—until just now, when Fang Wenjie's relatively big shoving motion made him withdraw his gaze and turn toward the unfortunate person.

Upon seeing that, Zheng Tan was dumbfounded.

"Yo ho, I never expected it to be an old acquaintance." (To be continued…)