Chapter 392: Flower Bud

Huang Laoban has his own supply channel; driving takes some time, but Zheng Tan and Er Mao's focus is not on the goods to be purchased, but on some hidden people they might encounter on this trip.

For example, the fish‑selling auntie at a vegetable market, the stall‑setting uncle near a middle school, etc.; Zheng Tan feels this is very like the "sweeping monk" type of characters in stories.

Is it showing off to the extreme?

Of course, it's not only these; there are also inevitably some "life winners" who drive luxury cars everywhere with bodyguards.

If Huang Laoban hadn't said so, Zheng Tan really wouldn't have noticed any difference between these people and others.

Art is hidden in life, whether lowly or exalted.

These people basically keep to themselves, like water from different wells not interfering; sometimes Zheng Tan wonders how those with hidden talents living among the common folk could resign themselves to mediocrity. Zheng Tan believes that if they wished, they could also ride luxury cars, live in high‑rise villas, and enjoy a comfortable life. So‑called all‑round development—truly being able to excel in all aspects of all‑round development is absolutely the realm of top‑level geniuses; such people are after all extremely few. Yet among the masses, having just one skill makes life better than being competent in everything but mediocre in all. Therefore, these people can absolutely rely on that one skill to stand out.

However, the living standards of these people really appear to differ too much.

"You, not being a fish, how can you know the joy of fish?" Huang Laoban actually understands those people's choices.

Zheng Tan also thinks, how do you know others are living badly? Besides, you can't be sure they don't have another kind of life behind the scenes.

Zheng Tan doesn't need to sigh over others' lives; he himself is now also an oddball.

People have their own lives; cats have their own ways. Even though Zheng Tan is a fake cat, he must follow some cat‑like ways; if he acted exactly like a human everywhere, that would be suicidal. But after becoming a cat, he feels some cats truly have a better, more leisurely life than humans.

Is being a cat good?

Zheng Tan feels it's not really good, but fortunately he now has a good home and has met some good people.

Looking at Er Mao outside the car window, he doesn't know that the cat crouched behind them is, in his heart, giving them a good‑person card.

Because there's a tendency for traffic to jam at the intersection; it's estimated to take a few more minutes to get through.

"Hey, Lao Huang, that." Er Mao pointed his chin in a direction.

Zheng Tan stood up, leaned on the car window, and looked in the direction Er Mao pointed.

Over there is a patrol officer who looks like a young man in his twenties.

Oh, him. He seems to be surnamed Liao; I don't know his exact name—I'm not familiar with him, only spoke a few words when I ran into a fraud incident during a supply run. He's quite capable, a young guy. Huang Laoban said.

Zheng Tan looked. He didn't think the person was anything special, but soon he saw the young patrol officer who had been walking slowly speed up, heading straight for the fork ahead; just then someone ran out from the other side of the fork, and the officer lunged at him at that moment.

He tackled the running person to the ground; the person still wanted to resist, but then discovered that handcuffs had somehow appeared on his wrists.

Zheng Tan didn't see when the handcuffs were slapped on; he only felt that in the blink of an eye, the person's hands now bore handcuffs gleaming with cold metal.

If it weren't for the earlier remarks by Er Mao and Huang Laoban, Zheng Tan wouldn't have paid attention to that person at all; even if he had noticed, he still wouldn't have seen it clearly.

When the young patrol officer lifted the person up, two people came running up the other lane, panting, also police. Seeing the situation, they laughed and chatted with the officer; their expressions suggested they were together with him.

A police car pulled up to the curb; the three pressed the suspect into the vehicle, with the young patrol officer bringing up the rear, glancing at Zheng Tan and his group before getting in.

After the police left, there were still bystanders discussing what had just happened, but only temporarily; by the time Zheng Tan and his group could finally drive through the intersection, everything had returned to normal, and passersby had no idea that a brief cops‑and‑robbers showdown had just taken place at the fork.

If you run into something here later, you can go look for him; although he's not overly enthusiastic, his heart is still in the right place. Huang Laoban said.

Zheng Tan knows that capable people aren't necessarily well‑intentioned, and even those in police uniforms aren't always upright; but since Huang Laoban said so, Zheng Tan believes that young officer should still be all right.

What did Huang Laoban just say? Surname Liao?

Zheng Tan silently committed it to memory. He doesn't know whether he'll have use for this person, but he thinks that since the fellow is quite capable and caught the eye of Huang Laoban and Er Mao, he must be out of the ordinary, so he noted it down, and also carefully surveyed the surrounding buildings and street signs, forming a rough mental map of where they are.

Huang Laoban has only been in Chu Hua Shi for a year or two; he isn't very familiar with many places and people, so the individuals he can come up with aren't many. If it were his former hometown, he could rattle off a string of names—friends and foes alike.

Even so, Zheng Tan felt a jolt inside; in his view, the people Huang Laoban mentioned were already plenty, and he had never realized that such individuals existed in the city where he'd lived five or six years. Still, even if there were more, it wouldn't matter—his usual range of activity is limited, and he doesn't expect to have much interaction with them.

Procurement is split among several locations; Er Mao and Huang Laoban have been busy with it all along, while Zheng Tan just watches from the side—he can't really help, can't move stuff, can't check, and even if he had the ability he couldn't show it.

By the time they returned to the grocery store again, it was already around four in the afternoon; Er Mao helped them unload, the three of them in the shop all pitched in, and the clerk, while checking, complained to Huang Laoban: "Today Bai Mi threw mice and bugs everywhere again, even aiming at me—this habit needs to change."

Zheng Tan glanced at the white cat still wearing a stern face, its gaze sharp, and secretly curled his lip.

Every cat, more or less, has a bit of mischievous taste.

Huang Laoban had originally planned to unload the goods, tidy up, and then find a restaurant for a meal together, including Zheng Tan. But Zheng Tan didn't want to stay; he had been sitting in the car for a long time today, didn't move while unloading, so his daily activity was limited—even if it were raining at home he'd still walk around inside and out, or dart around doorways indoors. Besides, after unloading, the back seat of the pickup was piled with stuff on the return trip, shrinking Zheng Tan's range of motion to the point that even stretching felt tight, his obsessive‑compulsive acting up. Zheng Tan felt that without a certain amount of exercise he'd feel listless all over. So now Zheng Tan just wants to move around more and headed straight home.

The time is still early, and there's no one at home; Zheng Tan just wanders around the campus.

The start of term is approaching. The campus is full of many fresh, youthful faces—you can tell they're newcomers, and only newcomers have that much fresh energy, wanting to snap a photo of everything they see.

Zheng Tan was pondering whether to tease the freshmen again during their military training when he saw Old Man Lan walking along with his hands behind his back, humming a little opera tune, apparently in a good mood; today this old fellow walked with a spring in his step.

He probably just went to find an old friend to brag with.

Zheng Tan hadn't intended to go over, but when Old Man Lan spotted him, he instantly broke into a grin that made his face look like blooming chrysanthemums, causing Zheng Tan to shake his whiskers hard twice.

Hey, Hei Tan, out for a stroll again? Old Man Lan said, waving at Zheng Tan to signal him to come over.

How enthusiastic!

Zheng Tan really hadn't seen Old Man Lan for several days; sometimes when Zheng Tan went out in the morning, Old Man Lan had already left; at noon Zheng Tan rarely went home, and by the time he returned in the afternoon, Old Man Lan was already back home.

Zheng Tan hesitated, then slowly made his way over to Old Man Lan, glanced at his outfit, and guessed he'd been to the small flower garden—there was still dirt on his shoes, from that garden. The soil of the small flower garden differs from that of the school's flower beds, and Zheng Tan can tell the difference.

Hey, Hei Tan, the treasure you gave me is about to bloom!

Zheng Tan had just approached when Old Man Lan spoke quite excitedly.

Treasure?

Zheng Tan racked his brains trying to recall when he had ever given anything precious, but seeing that the speaker was Old Man Lan, to him "treasure" naturally meant orchids.

After a few seconds of thought, Zheng Tan remembered that three years ago he had given Old Man Lan two orchid plants.

It's only early September, and it's already going to bloom?

Zheng Tan recalls that when he originally went to Qi Dada's place in the mountains to find those orchids, it was after the eleventh month.

Of course, this flowering period isn't necessarily exactly then; Zheng Tan doesn't know about that, but seeing how happy Old Man Lan is—that the orchid can survive and bloom—makes it worthwhile that he brought those flowers back from afar.

If Old Man Lan hadn't spoken today, Zheng Tan would have forgotten the flowers he brought back three years ago.

Old Man Lan was still talking about the pot of orchids he's grown; Zheng Tan actually hadn't cared about it for a while, but since Old Man Lan brought it up, Zheng Tan recalled how he first discovered those orchids in the mountains and grew curious—wondering whether the orchids Old Man Lan cultivated are the same as the ones he himself found back then.

If the orchids that bloom are no different from ordinary "iron‑bone" orchids, then it would be meaningless; however, the fact that Old Man Lan is so excited suggests they differ from the usual iron‑bone variety.

Back then Zheng Tan could stare at orchids until he was dazed; now he doesn't know if he'll still do that.

Zheng Tan followed Old Man Lan to the small flower garden, took a look, and saw five buds; according to Old Man Lan, they'll open in another two or three days.

Zheng Tan leaned in and smelled the scent; it was somewhat familiar, like when he first encountered this orchid in the mountains, so it must be correct.

The orchid old man still worried Zheng Tan would nibble the flower like Jingzhang; he had intended to speak, but seeing Zheng Tan retreat again, he didn't say the words he was about to say. After all, Zheng Tan didn't have Jingzhang's record of damaging flowers, and this flower was brought back by Zheng Tan, so the orchid old man's attitude toward Zheng Tan was much better; if Jingzhang appeared here, the orchid old man would have already chased him away.

The orchid old man guarded this pot of flower well; there is a flower shed and wire mesh here, so keeping Jingzhang out would be no problem.

Now the pot no longer holds just two pitiful seedlings; Zheng Tan hasn't counted exactly how many, but there are at least a dozen or twenty.

"Hei Tan, is this flower okay?" the orchid old man saw this pot of orchid and became excited again, "These buds look somewhat jade-like; when they bloom they'll definitely be extraordinary, let me tell you..."

Upon hearing those four words, Zheng Tan turned and ran straight away; after the orchid old man finished speaking and looked around, he discovered Zheng Tan's shadow was already gone.

Zheng Tan thought the buds would open soon, but two days later, when he went downstairs and ran into the orchid old man, he saw the old man wasn't as happy; if the orchids had bloomed, the old man wouldn't look like this.

On the other side of the nursery, without the orchid old man there, Zheng Tan couldn't see the flowers even when he went over, so he waited another two days and discovered the orchid old man was getting anxious. (To be continued..)

PS: Last night there was a power outage; it was mentioned in the group and on Weibo, but I still want to apologize to those readers who didn't know.

I'm posting this now when I have time. This is last night's update.