Chapter 386: Either Buy It or Scram

After freeloading lunch at Feng Bai Jin's place, Zheng Tan originally planned to stay a while longer, to watch Hu Zi take on multiple cats in the residential area's battle zone, but after seeing Feng Bai Jin's chat logs with his classmate, Zheng Tan still decided to leave quickly and go home.

Feng Bai Jin has a classmate whose home is in the neighboring city; just now, while the two were chatting via a messaging app, Zheng Tan saw Feng Bai Jin's classmate say that it was hailing there and blowing a strong wind.

The wind outside Chu Hua Shi seemed to have picked up as well, though it wasn't raining or hailing. Zheng Tan, having lived in Chu Hua Shi for several years, had never seen hail here; he'd heard it happened in the outskirts, but never in the urban area, where it usually only rains.

After checking the sky, Zheng Tan decided to leave quickly, as the weather was getting worse and worse.

Leaving the lakeside villa area, Zheng Tan ran back home.

A gust of fierce wind blew over, knocking a row of bikes parked at the curb over, and the landscaping trees along the road were bent, their leaves rustling.

Something unknown was blown up by the wind and struck some parked electric cars and sedans, emitting sharp alarm sounds.

Zheng Tan didn't linger; he just wanted to hurry back, after which he wouldn't fear any wind or rain outside.

Passing the affiliated hospital, Zheng Tan remembered the little dog tied up there.

He jumped onto the wall to look inside; Xiao Hua was still lying there, eyes squinted from the wind blowing in, its fur blown into a mess.

The guard was busy helping a patient inside, not paying attention to Xiao Hua's side; just then, another strong gust blew.

Crack—!

A tree near the guardhouse was blown over; its trunk snapped, and the broken part fell toward the guardhouse.

Seeing this, Xiao Hua stood up trying to dodge, but because the rope was tied, it couldn't break free at once. Fortunately, Zheng Tan saw the tree fall slightly off-center, so it wouldn't crush Xiao Hua.

But Xiao Hua didn't know; it only saw the tree falling toward it, gave a futile struggle, then strained harder a few times, and with the stimulus of the falling tree, its pulling force grew greater—it was struggling as if fighting for its life. This was a real effort, not the usual playful tussle with Old Li.

Even so, a big dog putting real effort into it still has considerable strength.

Xiao Hua's dog leash was tied to a steel post, the post firmly fixed, so Xiao Hua couldn't pull it. The break occurred at the hook where the leash meets the collar; the hook detached from the leash.

Zheng Tan still thought about going down to help Xiao Hua undo the rope, but Xiao Hua had already broken free.

After breaking free, Xiao Hua's first reaction was to run toward where Old Li and the old lady had left, but that area was crowded and people were wary of the big dog; they wouldn't let it pass, and after being driven off, Xiao Hua ran toward the hospital exterior, since it couldn't get inside, it headed home.

Upon reaching the hospital main gate and seeing Zheng Tan, Xiao Hua immediately sped up and ran toward him.

Zheng Tan jumped onto Xiao Hua's back, hooked his hand around the dog's collar to steady it, then tugged the collar to signal that Xiao Hua could return.

With Zheng Tan present, Xiao Hua didn't run around wildly as before; besides, the old lady had been leading it these past few days, so it remembered the way.

While running, Zheng Tan noticed that it had started to drizzle.

That's not a good sign; while Zheng Tan doesn't mind the rain, Xiao Hua still has wounds that aren't fully healed, and getting wet would certainly be bad.

Now there's also a strong wind, and it looks like a downpour will start soon; ahead, the T-intersection is jammed with traffic, many vehicles and people, blocking the road so Xiao Hua can't squeeze through, and an old lady, upon seeing Xiao Hua, waved her umbrella to drive it away.

Continuing to delay like this won't do; summer rain gives little reaction time—maybe the next moment it will pour down.

Thinking about the distance from here to the big courtyard, though it's not far, at Xiao Hua's earlier speed it would still take about five minutes; I don't know if the weather can hold for five minutes. If a downpour starts right away, even staying outside for two seconds could leave one soaked like a drowned chicken.

"Hey, over there!"

Someone shouted toward this side; Zheng Tan initially didn't think it was aimed at him. The voice called a few more times, then added a "meow—" at the end.

That's the common way people here call cats.

Zheng Tan looked over.

Not far away, at the entrance of a small grocery store, a middle-aged person stood there looking in Zheng Tan's direction; seeing Zheng Tan look over, they also waved.

Zheng Tan hesitated for two seconds, but still decided to go over to shelter from the rain, since the rain was trending heavier and couldn't be delayed any longer; he needed to act decisively.

He tugged the collar, signaling Xiao Hua to go that way.

Xiao Hua was a bit doubtful, glanced at the grocery store, then turned back to look at Zheng Tan, and still followed his indication to walk that way, but wary, it stopped two meters from the store entrance, eyeing the person standing beside the small grocery store's cash register.

"Come in." The person waved again.

Xiao Hua didn't move.

Zheng Tan jumped down from the dog's back, first entered the store, sniffed, and looked in a direction.

On a high shelf, a very clean white cat sat, looking down from above at Zheng Tan entering the door, pupils narrowed, its gaze appearing somewhat sharp.

Zheng Tan ran out and pushed Xiao Hua toward the store.

Xiao Hua moved slowly along with Zheng Tan's push into the store, still wary; after entering, it sniffed around, then crouched near the entrance, not going further inside.

As long as it stays dry, Xiao Hua's wound should be fine for now; if it gets infected, even a minor injury could worsen into a serious one.

After Xiao Hua entered the shop, Zheng Tan then turned his gaze to the person leaning against the cash register.

The boss appeared to be nearly forty, with somewhat dark skin, whether natural or from tanning unknown; he had a face that looked quite harsh, chewing on a cigarette, and was looking toward Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua.

Generally, grandmas and old ladies seeing someone like this would warn their little grandchildren to stay away; there's no helping it—face creates a first impression, a kindly appearance feels approachable at first glance, but a fierce look or a face like this person's, appearing hard to speak to, sharp and harsh, receives a different treatment.

However, for animals, facial expression has no bearing on impression; if you treat them kindly, you'll also gain closeness from many animals.

Having just seen the cat on the shelf, Zheng Tan felt this person probably wasn't too bad; he and Xiao Hua were merely taking temporary shelter from the rain, not infringing on the person's interests, so it should be fine.

He twitched his ears, heard a sound, and looked toward the back of the store.

A young person came out carrying a box of umbrellas.

"Boss, these are all of them. I tore up the old price tags. They're all fifteen each……damn!"

As he was speaking, upon seeing the big dog crouched at the shop entrance, he almost flung the whole box of umbrellas to the ground.

"Boss… boss, where did this dog come from?" The young man looked frightened and didn't dare approach, holding the box of umbrellas and gazing at the person beside the cash register.

"I told them to come in to avoid the rain. What are you scared of?"

"I'm not just scared of dogs; I was bitten by one as a kid, and ever since I've thought dogs are truly terrifying creatures—I don't understand why so many people like them."

"Alright. Put the umbrellas there, go to the back and take a nap." The boss said, biting his cigarette, his speech not very clear and with a strong dialect; if Zheng Tan weren't somewhat familiar with the dialect, he wouldn't have understood.

The young man had understood; he was used to this way of speaking. He quickly set down a box of folding umbrellas and slipped away, not forgetting to lock the door to the back room, lest the big dog outside get in.

The shop owner took out a pen, wrote something on a white sheet of paper, then took the paper over to move that box of umbrellas to the shop entrance; the paper was hung on a rack above, black characters on white, bold font—"Umbrellas and raincoats for sale, umbrellas special price 20 yuan each."

If Zheng Tan hadn't misheard, the young man, while moving the box over, had said these umbrellas sold for fifteen yuan each.

Twenty and still called a "special offer"—indeed it's specially pricey, a total swindler.

Outside, after Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua entered the shop, less than two minutes later the rain turned into a downpour, pattering on the ground; the splashing water droplets made Xiao Hua involuntarily step back.

The wind outside got stronger again; basically, as soon as you go out, you get soaked.

The wind was too strong, and rain would still blow into the house, so the shop owner shut the door halfway, leaving only the section for umbrellas. A cloth was laid over the boxes, waterproof, so he didn't worry about rain getting into the boxes.

Besides, quite a few people came to buy umbrellas and raincoats; many just hastily paid, grabbed an umbrella, and left, though some tried to haggle, but they were always turned down. Even when buying other small items, they wouldn't concede a cent; in short, no haggling.

The shop owner walked into the cashier area and started tinkering with an electric fan. That kind of desk fan used by students—normally, when the fans at school stop working, students take them to be repaired, or sometimes sell them cheaply; this fan the shop owner has was likely bought cheaply from students, repaired, and then resold for a little profit.

Bang!

Zheng Tan looked toward the sound.

Two young people with dyed hair wearing short-sleeved T-shirts printed with skull motifs walked in; the earlier sound was them kicking the metal rack at the doorway.

Both were soaked to the skin; they rubbed their flip-flops on the dry cardboard box nearby, cursing about something, but when they saw Little Flower they paused, becoming a bit more restrained. Ordinary people are usually wary of such a big dog.

Those two took two umbrellas and some other items from the shop, then came to the cashier.

"That comes to seventy-two yuan and three mao, thank you." the shop owner said.

"That's expensive, give me a discount." the young man said while stuffing the items into a bag.

"No haggling, seventy-two yuan and three mao, thank you." the shop owner said again, not commenting on the young man's having bagged the goods without paying.

"Hey you old thing, quit wasting time with your nagging—if I say make it cheaper, make it cheaper, you don't understand plain speech, right?" the young man said, slapping a fifty-yuan bill on the counter, intending to grab the stuff and leave.

But the shop owner reacted faster; before the man could lift the bag, he was twisted around and pressed onto the counter.

"Ow ow ow!" the young man's face twisted; he didn't know what was happening, but even a slight move caused intense pain, as if he were about to be wrenched apart.

"What are you doing?" the other young man shouted, glancing around, planning to grab the mop—having a stick in hand would make things easier to say.

"Woof!"

Little Flower sensed something, barked once, and at the person who wanted to grab the mop, a low growl came from its throat.

That person's hand had already reached the mop, but a dog's bark startled him into pulling back.

The shop owner glanced at the person who wanted to grab the mop, then turned back to look at the person he was firmly pressing down, cigarette clenched between his teeth as he leaned in and said slowly, "Either buy it or get out." (To be continued...)

ps: An elderly family member is unwell, so I took advantage of the Mid-Autumn short holiday to hurry back to my hometown to check on them. I arrived rather late, so this update is also late; please understand.

Thanks for everyone's mooncakes and osmanthus wine! Also thanks to those who voted; I checked and found we'd actually risen to first place in the urban category recommendations—cat fans, v5!