Chapter 4

()Three months ago, when Zheng Tan first saw Da Pang, it was still small and thin; now it is developing toward what its name describes, so Zheng Tan greatly admires the old lady who named Da Pang. Truly miraculous.

It seemed to sense movement on the balcony; Da Pang, squatting on the instant noodles, turned sideways to look out the window, but because the motion was a bit larger, the instant noodles pressed under its buttocks let out a crisp 'crack'.

Hearing that sound, Da Pang's sideways motion froze instantly, then its ears drooped, it slowly turned back, no longer looking toward the balcony; its back view was utterly desolate.

Zheng Tan tugged at the corner of his mouth, feeling a bit guilty. Well, it looks like Da Pang's late-night snack will have to be reduced again tonight.

The old lady who feeds Da Pang has a son working at the provincial military district; each month he takes her to stay with him for a week or two, and Da Pang goes along. Sometimes her son comes over to stay a few days, and whenever that happens, it's a time of suffering for Da Pang.

Zheng Tan remembers that during his freshman year military training, mistakes were punished by standing at attention; but for a cat like Da Pang, which is practically soft-boned, standing at attention is impossible, so Da Pang is often made to squat while holding instant noodles, and after squatting, the degree to which the noodles are crushed determines how much of its rations are deducted.

Over there, Jiao Ba had already parked the car; Zheng Tan turned, jumped down from the balcony railing, and followed Jiao Ba into the building to go home.

When entering the house, Jiao Ma had already returned, but her gaze at Zheng Tan was somewhat strange, making him feel creeped out all over; he hurriedly ran into Gu Youzi's room, and once inside, Zheng Tan hid behind the door, pricking up his ears to listen.

"What's wrong?" Jiao Ba asked.

"Alas, A Huang has passed away!" Jiao Ma sighed.

Zheng Tan stared in shock; A Huang, that goofball, had been full of energy and bouncing around just a few days ago—how could it……

After listening further to Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma's conversation, Zheng Tan finally understood: it was 'neutering', not 'passing away'—so A Huang had become a eunuch?!

"Listening to Ling sister say, this can help A Huang kick some bad habits; coincidentally, A Huang is eight months old now, so it can undergo surgery…… Today Ling sister also asked me whether we should send our Hei Tan over to Xiao Guo's place for the procedure, but I refused." Jiao Ma said.

Behind the door, Zheng Tan felt cold sweat breaking out, but upon hearing the latter sentence, his anxious heart eased considerably.

"Our cat doesn't need it." Jiao Ba declared, "Every family's cat is different; hers may be suitable, but ours might not be, so from now on, when Ling sister advises you, just refuse directly."

"Mm, I think the same." Upon receiving support, Jiao Ma's face broke into a smile again.

And Zheng Tan, squatting behind the door, also let out a long sigh of relief; if he were really sent away for surgery, he'd rather run off far away than have a knife taken to his vitals.

Zheng Tan silently mourned for A Huang, that goofball. He'd heard that A Huang liked to piss everywhere; even when placed in a litter box at home, it could still spray all its urine outside without missing a drop, so A Huang's household used a double-layer litter box, with only the outer layer being effective. As for outdoors, A Huang was even more unrestrained—around the East Family's large courtyard, many places reeked of that fellow's smelly urine; for this Zheng Tan didn't know how many times he'd beaten it, but that fellow clearly belonged to the type that repeats mistakes despite repeated teaching.

Since A Huang's life is no longer a worry, Zheng Tan also doesn't need to fret anymore; cats have their own fate, and ever since he realized what he had become, Zheng Tan has been telling himself to adapt as much as possible.

The next day, the opposite-side otaku came over with dark circles under his eyes and knocked on the Jiao family's door.

That day was Saturday; Jiao Yuan and the others were at home, having breakfast.

"Yo, Xiao Qu, so early!" Jiao Ma exclaimed, somewhat surprised.

"So early? It's already past nine o'clock, right?"

Gu Youzi glanced at the bright sunshine outside, exchanged a look with Jiao Yuan, and the two continued silently struggling with the egg noodles in their bowls.

However, for the late-night Xiao Qu, this really counts as early; Jiao Ma knew that, which is why she was surprised that Xiao Qu comrade actually managed to get up before noon—a rare occurrence.

Xiao Qu pulled out a smile, scanned the living room, and asked: "Is Jiao Ge not here?"

"He has to teach a lab class today and left early this morning; do you have something to look for him? If it's urgent, I'll call him." Jiao Ma said.

"Well… hehe, it's not exactly an urgent matter." Xiao Qu's gaze shifted to a small stool beside the dining table; seeing the black cat eating noodles, he said to Jiao Ma: "Gu Youzi, um… could I… borrow your cat?"

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi both stopped their chopsticks mid-air, simultaneously looking toward the somewhat embarrassed Comrade Xiao Qu standing in the doorway, recalling the words someone once said while propping one hand against the wall and hands on hips, boasting, "My house doesn't even have half a mouse," which the two kids remembered crystal clear.

Seeing the two kids' expressions, Comrade Xiao Qu felt even more embarrassed, coughed, and said to Jiao Ma: "I mentioned this to Brother Jiao yesterday as well."

Jiao Ma didn't see anything wrong with it—having someone borrow her cat was a good thing, showing how capable her cat was, which gave Jiao Ma an inexplicable sense of pride.

Thus Jiao Ma waved her hand, saying, "There's nothing big about it; just come over whenever you want to borrow it."

Zheng Tan, Jiao Yuan, Gu Youzi: "..." When Jiao Ba isn't around, Jiao Ma always acts so overbearing.

"Thanks a lot, Sister Gu! I'll come over after dinner today to bring Hei Tan over, ah, Sister Gu, you don't know, that mouse in my house is almost driving me neurotic." Having obtained permission, Comrade Xiao Qu instantly swept away his listlessness, satisfiedly returning to his own room.

Jiao Ma's face broke into a grin as wide as a trumpet flower, "That's the good thing about keeping a cat!"

Jiao Yuan lowered his head, tapping his chopsticks against the small porcelain bowl in front of him, imitating Xiao Qu's earlier words in a suppressed voice: "My house doesn't even have half a mouse——"

Jiao Ma lightly tapped Jiao Yuan's head, "Eat your noodles!"

Gu Youzi pursed her lips, looking quite displeased.

In the evening, around eight o'clock, Xiao Qu came over to borrow the cat. Without Jiao Ma needing to say more, Zheng Tan headed over to the opposite place himself, figuring it had to be settled sooner or later, otherwise those few white mice wouldn't have been trained for nothing.

Jiao Yuan was still at the doorway cheering: "Hei Tan, go for it! Let them see how formidable you are!"

Jiao Ma turned, her face stern: "Go do your homework! For every mistake, your allowance is cut in half!"

Here, Zheng Tan followed Xiao Qu into the house.

After entering, at first glance, Zheng Tan felt a sense of familiarity—damn chaotic! Just like back when he was himself.

At second glance, he saw a familiar creature.

As soon as Zheng Tan entered, he saw three cockroaches: one had just crawled into the bathroom, another emerged from under the cabinet, sensed someone's presence and crawled back, and the third, which was also the closest to Zheng Tan, froze upon seeing him, twitched its long, filamentous antennae, then quickly scurried into a pile of magazines.

As one of the oldest insects on Earth, appearing even before dinosaurs and coexisting with them and trilobites, possessing the aberrant vitality to survive up to nine days even without a head, the nickname "Little Strong" truly fits the cockroach. It is said that its vitality continues to evolve, and no one knows what it will become in the future.

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【Mini Science Popularization】: Cockroaches have a reproductive mode combining sexual and asexual reproduction; some female cockroaches, after mating once, become hermaphroditic and will then lay eggs continuously. Therefore, for classmates who dislike cockroaches, if there are cockroaches at home, kill each one you see, otherwise a new brood of Little Strong may appear in one to two weeks.