Chapter 352: Settling the Scene

Because of this disaster, a heavy atmosphere permeated the whole country.

Jiao Ba also had a student from that area among his subordinates; although the student wasn't in the hardest-hit zone, Jiao Ba still gave him leave to go home and check things out, to put his mind at ease.

Many departments at the school organized fundraisers, and each department had some students whose families were from that area.

Zheng Tan hardly goes out these days; wherever he goes he hears people talking about the earthquake—headlines in the newspapers, daily news, the school's morning broadcast, fundraising campaigns on campus….

Back then Zheng Tan hadn't paid attention to such things; only after experiencing this did he realize reality was far worse than he had imagined.

Scrolling through the webpage, there was a post recording photos taken by volunteers there. A child with a bandaged forehead stared blankly at a stretch of broken walls and ruins; an iron-willed man older than Jiao Ba knelt on the ground, wailing helplessly….

During this period, Zheng Tan occasionally ran into A Jin, who was out for a walk wearing sunglasses. A Jin said they had originally planned to rush straight to the disaster zone, but their agents talked them out of it—danger was one factor, and besides, the first 72 hours should be left to professional rescue teams and experienced volunteers; celebrities like them would not only be of no help, they might even cause trouble.

As some volunteers online have said, after rushing to the disaster zone with enthusiasm, they found they lacked experience and sometimes were of no use; anyone who has witnessed a major disaster relief scene feels their own insignificance. But they can learn, and help as much as they can.

One week later, many entertainment websites turned black and white to mourn the victims of this disaster.

The pet center's official website also went black and white; at the same time, Xiao Guo posted a notice on the homepage. It said their studio would halt work for a month—meaning no new ads or videos would appear during that period—and Xiao Guo himself would lead part of his staff to the disaster area.

This wasn't Xiao Guo's own decision, but since he held a senior position in the Green Wing Association, and the association was sending personnel to help with earthquake relief—and would also bring some relief supplies—other associations were pitching in, so there was no reason for theirs to do nothing. As for this, the person originally assigned wasn't Xiao Guo, after all he was indeed very busy. But that person made an excuse to back out. He had heard from some channels that the number of relief workers who had sacrificed was far greater than reported. With aftershocks still occurring and the situation still dangerous, he canceled his original plan to gain extra prestige from this event. Prestige wasn't worth a life.

Everyone kept passing the buck and wasting time; when Xiao Guo found out, he didn't say much, chatted with a few senior members, then went back to take care of the pet center's affairs, and the day after the meeting he led his team to the disaster area.

Zheng Tan checked the pet center's official website every day; there were many comments left there. Beside the homepage was a donation log that, although it didn't show real names, recorded every contribution, which would all be given to the disaster victims later.

Many of the pet center's customers were wealthy tycoons; some had already donated through other channels, but here they gave again, and among them Zheng Tan could match a few familiar IDs to actual people—several he had previously disliked, thinking they were bad-tempered and pretentious—but now it seemed otherwise; from their messages one could see that some had even become volunteers and posted photos, and even Armani had turned into "Ni Ma a", making it impossible to tell they were worth hundreds of millions.

Zheng Tan also donated; he gave his card to Jiao Ba, who had a reliable channel for giving, and after the donation Zheng Tan's savings were cut in half. The New Year donations had been a small fraction of his savings before, but this time it was different.

After putting Jiao Ba's returned card back in the drawer and locking it, Zheng Tan thought that once this was over he would need to work hard.

While keeping an eye on the relief efforts, Zheng Tan also looked up some information online. Now many people post claiming there were various omens before the earthquake, others say they had made predictions long ago, while still others insist it's all nonsense; the two sides argue endlessly until someone finally snaps, saying both are ridiculous—after all this has happened, isn't it chaotic enough? With so much time spent arguing, they'd be better off doing something useful and helping people, instead of staying online pointing fingers and acting like they're some big shot.

There are many such posts; Zheng Tan can't tell which are true and which are made up, or which he might have influenced, but in the end they all get smoothed over by some people.

If Liuba really told many people, and even one-fifth of what those posts claim is due to him, that's not bad—he would have saved quite a few.

One just doesn't know whether afterward someone will pursue the matter and dig deeper.

To avoid unforeseen trouble, Zheng Tan decided not to use his phone lately and took out the SIM card to hide it.

Since the pet center had had no assignments for nearly a month, Xiao Guo and his crew weren't there, and Zheng Tan hadn't gone over either—but then a call came in. Cha Li placed it, ringing straight through to Jiao Ba's phone, so after finishing dinner that evening Jiao Ba didn't go back to the dorm but instead brought Zheng Tan to the pet center.

The studio's cats and those sheltered at the pet center are kept separate; for example, the nest of the frequently advertised British Shorthair "Prince" and others is in the studio, and Xiao Guo does this so they grow accustomed to the studio's atmosphere, since cats generally don't adapt well to unfamiliar places.

After the studio was expanded and remodeled, it now resembles a cat's playground, with climbing ladders and walkways from the walls to the ceiling; as Xiao Guo said, cats also have moods and emotions, and when they're happy their eyes shine brighter during filming.

Now Xiao Guo has taken his team to the disaster area; according to the notice he posted on the website's homepage, it will be at least half a month, and only one week has passed, so he won't be back so soon.

Xiao Guo indeed hasn't returned; when Zheng Tan entered the studio there were hardly any people around—just Cha Li and another staff member.

That staff member had previously gone to the disaster zone with Xiao Guo; he was injured in an aftershock there, his condition not great, so Xiao Guo sent him back, along with a few Green Wing Association members who had accompanied him—but after they arrived in Chu Hua Shi they split up, and he returned to the pet center, the person Cha Li had gone to fetch.

Along with that staff member returning to the pet center came a cat.

It looked about two months old, with the same fur color as A Huang, an ordinary farm cat. But this little yellow cat had lost its forelimbs; the worker said it was injured in the earthquake. After rescue it underwent amputation. Originally they thought the kitten's weak immunity plus the trauma and surgery would make survival unlikely, but it pulled through. Although the leg stump had caused inflammation and swelling, and though it had been treated for several days and the kitten had improved, it still looked listless, and Cha Li and the worker took turns nursing it.

Speaking of rescuing cats, many of the people Xiao Guo brought were pulled into helping with human relief instead; although most were veterinarians, compared to the young, inexperienced volunteers they were more reliable—able to change dressings, give simple treatment and care, and aside from major surgery they could actually help with the rest.

And this little cat was brought to the place where Xiao Guo's crew were resting by a volunteer. It was rescued by a search-and-rescue dog named "Little One", which carried the cat out in its mouth; the cat was then immediately handed over to the volunteers, since the dog still had plenty of work to do and nobody paid much attention to what to do with the cat—human lives came first.

The volunteers also didn't know what to do; the cat's two forelimbs were so badly injured they seemed useless, and they had no idea how it had survived. They brought the cat back, only to be scolded by the team leader: "People can't even be saved, who's going to waste time on a cat?" Moreover, although some of them had studied medicine, they weren't vets and had no experience, so they'd only done basic first aid—but once they learned about Xiao Guo's team they immediately sent the cat over.

One of Xiao Guo's veterinarians performed the amputation; fortunately they still had some veterinary medicine and tools, although conditions were far worse than at the pet center and infection was easy, but there was no alternative. Its survival was just luck.

Speaking of this, Zheng Tan's help isn't really needed, but after the little cat arrived here it also caused trouble—it kept yowling, which set off a chain reaction; there was another cat here that also liked to meow, but normally the other cats stayed quiet, so it would stop. It had even yowled during a commercial shoot, and only after Zheng Tan gave it a light scolding did it calm down.

Now this cat's noise, provoked by the little cat's cries, has made all the cats here edgy and impossible to soothe; Cha Li wondered whether cats also sense fear, with fear spreading from the little cat to the others, causing this situation. He called Xiao Guo to report it; Xiao Guo didn't say much, just told Cha Li to find Zheng Tan. Once they settled things, the cats would calm down.

Actually, the pet center isn't only calmed by Zheng Tan; Li Yuanba and Peanut Candy can also keep things under control.

Li Yuanba?

He had indeed calmed things down before, with decent results, which is why Xiao Guo lets him loaf around here. But now Li Yuanba won't listen to anyone, doesn't give Xiao Guo face, spends all day holed up in Xiao Guo's rest room, and even skips his weekly checkup—when Xiao Guo once tried to force him to go to the examination room he almost came to blows, until Xiao Guo's wife and Li Yuanba's regular caretaker Yanzi came to soothe him.

They had originally worried that Li Yuanba was aging and declining, but later observation showed it wasn't so—he still scratches people just as fiercely as before. So the matter was shelved for now; plus, Yanzi still has to look after the kids and can't come here every day, and since Xiao Guo is off to the disaster zone, the studio staff hardly dare mess with Li Yuanba anymore.

Peanut Candy?

That's even less feasible; Xiao Guo tried it before, and Peanut Candy was anything but gentle with them—after being hit, one cat stayed jumpy for a month and lost a lot of weight, so Xiao Guo gave up on hoping Peanut Candy could keep the peace.

Thus came the scene of Cha Li calling Jiao Ba to have him bring Zheng Tan over.

Settling the scene is easy; after hearing that, Zheng Tan thought of Li Yuanba's situation, and he even went specially to Xiao Guo's rest room to have a look. Li Yuanba was lying sideways on the sofa, seeming normal at first glance, but Zheng Tan inexplicably recalled the first time he had seen Li Yuanba. (To be continued…)