Chapter 366

The day before Zheng Tan and the others returned to Chu Hua Shi, Yang Yi called, saying there were still a few shots that needed to be reshot, and he asked Cha Li to delay his departure by two days.

Since Yang Yi had already called directly, Cha Li and the others couldn't really refuse; Yang Yi had indeed provided them with many conveniences, and their food and drink expenses over these days were all reimbursed by Yang Yi, so they had nothing to worry about.

It's just a two‑day delay, not a big deal—just give your family and your boss a call and it's fine.

The Jiao family were a little disappointed; according to the original plan, Cha Li and the others would leave on Friday and arrive on Saturday, and even if something came up along the way they could still return to Chu Hua Shi on Sunday, so the Jiao family could rest on the weekend and have a reunion—but now that the plan has changed, the ones most unhappy are Zheng Tan and the Jiao family.

Zheng Tan felt that whenever Jiao Ma called she seemed to be holding something back, just telling him to come back once he was done with his work, but now they still had to delay another two days. Since Yang Yi and Kong Han had already spoken, the Jiao family couldn't really object; after all, they'd been busy for so long, only the final stage remained, and even the smallest details had to be attended to—a more perfect conclusion would leave no regrets.

Zheng Tan still tended to trust his gut feeling about this, but what was going on with the Jiao family?

This time only Cha Li and Zheng Tan came to Kong Han's place; the others didn't follow, because Yang Yi said Cha Li alone was sufficient.

They said it was just reshooting a few simple shots, but once they got to Kong Han's place Zheng Tan felt he'd been taken for a ride: they didn't see any of the other crew members, Teacher Jiang wasn't there either, and the so-called reshoot was merely walking a few steps as Kong Han demanded—do they really need to reshoot that? And what does this have to do with the movie's plot at all?!

Cha Li also had his doubts, but since Yang Yi and Kong Han had already decided, he didn't dare say more.

At noon, while Cha Li was sleeping in the arranged guest room, Zheng Tan saw another person in the room; this person hadn't shown up all morning, but Zheng Tan could sense her presence—there was a smell that gave it away, and he also felt like he was being watched. Now Zheng Tan finally confirmed it.

"How is it, Li Wei? This effect is all right, isn't it?" Kong Han pointed at the morning clips playing on the screen and said to Li Wei.

Li Wei stopped staring at the screen and looked at Zheng Tan, who also took in this tall, striking woman. He hadn't paid much attention to her at the seaside, but now he could see she was certainly no ordinary person.

Her name is Li Wei?

I feel like I've heard her name somewhere before.

The memory is too vague; I probably heard of her before I became a cat, but I can't recall who exactly. I can't place her, but she's certainly not just a 'little model' as she claims. Besides, she knows Yang Yi and Kong Han well, so she's hardly a nobody.

"A little more training would make it better," Li Wei said.

"Of course, after all he hasn't had professional training." Yang Yi chuckled, "Although it's not a fancy breed, it can hold its own on stage—just like you models, you don't necessarily need a stunning face, but presence is a must. Plus, it has stage experience, so it won't get stage fright. Compared to the other few candidates you've gathered, it's far stronger."

Zheng Tan felt completely baffled—what on earth were these two talking about? Did they even ask him, the person directly involved, what he thought before deciding anything?

Seeing that Li Wei was quite satisfied with Zheng Tan, Yang Yi said to him, "Hei Tan, do you want to join the fashion show?"

Yang Yi didn't really expect Zheng Tan to understand much; he just threw it out casually, feeling that whether this cat could take part was up to the Jiao family.

"A fashion show?"

"Forget about people—he's just a cat now; what kind of show would he walk? Is he supposed to do a Beauty and the Beast thing?"

Amid Zheng Tan's confusion, the afternoon work went on, but Li Wei had to leave for something, and Kong Han stopped making Zheng Tan walk back and forth, instead seriously taking some photos.

Although he's a director, Kong Han also dabbles in photography, just as Yang Yi enjoys photography as a hobby.

On Sunday Yang Yi treated Cha Li and the others to a meal, and on Monday everyone went their separate ways.

After leaving that coastal city, Zheng Tan still harbored his doubts.

By the time he returned to Chu Hua Shi, it was Tuesday afternoon.

At that time the Jiao household was empty—Jiao Ba was busy in the courtyard, hearing that there was some evaluation coming up, and since he was one of the candidates he was swamped; Xiao Youzi was at school, now in her second year of junior high, so her studies were busier than in her first year; Jiao Yuan remained as usual, coming home once a week; Jiao Ma, on the other hand, came back every day, as the school ran a shuttle bus between Chu Hua Da Xue and Chu Hua Fu Zhong.

Originally Cha Li planned to take Zheng Tan to the pet center first, then pick him up when the Jiao family had time, but Zheng Tan couldn't wait—he didn't feel it while out, but after returning to Chu Hua Shi he felt a strong urge to hurry back.

So, as the car was driving around Chu Hua Da Xue, Zheng Tan couldn't wait to bolt out; when the car stopped at an intersection, he started scratching at the window.

Cha Li had no choice—he knew this was already Zheng Tan's familiar turf, so he texted Jiao Ba; Jiao Ba replied quickly, he was in a meeting but because he knew Zheng Tan was coming back today he kept an eye on his phone; after seeing Cha Li's text, Jiao Ba texted back telling him to let Zheng Tan go home first, and left the key at Da Pang's usual spot.

Zheng Tan had once gone to Da Pang's balcony to fetch the hidden key and been spotted by Jiao Ba; later Jiao Ba also helped him leave the key there a few times. Da Pang often lounged on the balcony sunbathing, and his personality wasn't as simple and cute as he looked—strangers couldn't get close—so leaving the key there was very safe.

Cha Li read Jiao Ba's text, then opened the car window—before he could say anything, a black shadow shot out.

Their car was parked by the walkway—stepping out put you on the sidewalk, with no traffic, so it was fairly safe; moreover this was within Zheng Tan's usual strolling range, so Cha Li wasn't worried about that. What he actually wanted to say was that the car still held several of Zheng Tan's big bags containing daily necessities and local specialties.

Seeing Zheng Tan disappear in a flash, Cha Li could only give up, taking the things first to the pet center so that when the time came the Jiao family could come pick them up or he could find a time to deliver them,

Zheng Tan ran toward the compound, not taking the main road but climbing over the wall from outside the school into the school, almost in a straight line. He knew this area too well—even after being away for three months, as soon as he set foot on this ground his mind could fully picture the routes.

The sky wasn't as clear as the city where they'd filmed, the air wasn't great either, but Zheng Tan didn't mind those details; he felt refreshed all over and even felt like startling a hoopoe that was foraging on the grass.

On campus, compared with gray magpies and sparrows, hoopoes are far fewer—but not too hard to spot. In winter, when the dry yellow grass is basking in the sun, you can occasionally see a hoopoe walking and pecking on the grass.

Sparrows are still noisy—so small, so numerous.

A gray magpie perched high on a cedar tree; when it saw students passing, it suddenly swooped over, flapped its wings and cried out to scare them, and several female students ended up screaming.

The birds on campus are still as crafty and as lowly as ever.

Everything was still the same, yet somehow different.

When he left, it was still early autumn, the summer heat hadn't faded and the surroundings were all green; but now, returning, it's already winter—the wutong trees have turned yellow, their leaves are sparse, and whenever a cold front brings a strong wind and rain, the leaves will blanket the ground at night, a sight that makes people's hearts race, and the next morning many students will pull out their phones and cameras to photograph it.

In the kindergarten, it happened to be an outdoor class; the little kids, round as balls, were running around outside—hard to tell if they were bundled up or just naturally chubby.

Zhuo Xiao Mao was saying something to the two kids; seeing them stare wide-eyed with their mouths open in disbelief, Zheng Tan knew Zhuo Xiao Mao was bluffing again.

Probably sensing Zheng Tan's gaze, Zhuo Xiao Mao looked over, then grinned and ran to the fence, stuck his hand through it, and gave Zheng Tan, who came running, a high‑five.

He didn't linger long; Zheng Tan quickly ran off to the compound.

A Huang and Jingzhang were chasing a little Jingba around the compound's lawn, playing around; Zheng Tan hadn't seen that puppy before—probably someone had newly adopted it while he was away—and the two were so absorbed in the chase that they didn't notice him.

Arriving downstairs at home, on the first‑floor balcony Da Pang was lying on the old lady's prepared wool mat, squinting his eyes and twitching his paws as he dozed, all curled up into a ball.

Noticing Zheng Tan's approach, Da Pang twitched his ears, opened his eyes and let out a 'meow', then went back to squinting, cultivating sleepiness.

Zheng Tan hooked out the cat tag and key from a half‑open box and opened the door to go home.

Nobody was home.

Zheng Tan checked each room in turn, then jumped onto the living‑room sofa and rolled from one end to the other.

As the saying goes, golden nests, silver nests—nothing beats your own cat's nest.

During the shoot, the lodging Yang Yi arranged was excellent and the treatment was good—you didn't have to worry about anything—but it lacked the feeling of being at ease even when tired that he has now.

After rolling around, Zheng Tan lay on the sofa, his gaze sweeping the living room, and finally came to rest on a magazine propped up under a cabinet leg.

It was a fashion magazine; Jiao Ma wasn't particularly interested in such magazines, after all teachers like her can't dress too fashionably—they need to maintain a dignified image as educators. Now Xiao Youzi had moved up to second year of junior high, she was already used to it, so Jiao Ma had finally been transferred to teach high school at Chu Hua Fu Zhong, where teachers are subject to dress‑code requirements, and given her age she no longer paid attention to these fashion items.

Although Jiao Ma doesn't usually buy such magazines, a few of her friends like them; sometimes when they come over to visit they bring a magazine, and after reading they just leave it here—this copy is probably one of those.

What caught Zheng Tan's interest was the person on the cover of this magazine—Li Wei.

Zheng Tan pulled out the magazine and looked; inside there was an introduction to Li Wei, and he hadn't expected her to be a world‑top supermodel.

No wonder it felt familiar; back when Zheng Tan was chatting with some friends about models, someone had mentioned her. Just looking at Li Wei's face, I didn't think she was particularly good-looking, so I didn't pay attention. However, Zheng Tan remembers that back then this model's status in the industry was already quite high, even higher than the ranking listed in the magazine now.

Is this the little model?

You're kidding!

After flipping through it, Zheng Tan stuffed the magazine back under the cabinet's padding; regardless of whether she was a world-class supermodel, it had nothing to do with him for now.

In the afternoon, Jiao Ba came home early, sent a text each to Jiao Ma and Xiao Youzi to let them know, then drove Zheng Tan to the pet center to pick up his luggage, so they wouldn't have to deliver it again.

Just as he entered Xiao Guo's side of the door, Zheng Tan heard Xiao Guo's roar.

"Zhima, you damn it, open the door for me! If you don't open it, you won't have anything to eat tonight! Not just tonight, but tomorrow, the day after, and even the day after that—nothing! Did you hear me? Open the door for me!"

Zheng Tan, Jiao Ba: "……" (To be continued…)

PS: There's still one more chapter, but it'll be a bit later; everyone go to sleep first.