Chapter 50: The Cat‑Catching Cage, the Courtyard Becomes Lively Again

Zheng Tan feels that these past two days there's a sense of being watched.

He's not sure who is watching, but the feeling is strong.

Because of Jiao Ba's instruction, to avoid that person surnamed Ren, Zheng Tan has lately stopped going to the Biology Building; moreover, he rarely leaves the courtyard at night, only venturing out during the day when he can't hold it in.

Usually he goes to the side school gate around five past five in the afternoon to wait for the two kids, then they go home together. Even if he goes out at night, he only strolls within the courtyard, never leaving it, let alone heading to the old building district alleys.

During the day it's crowded; the campus is full of people, after all it's not a closed school, so checks at the gate aren't that strict. Yet, without uncovering the cause of the surveillance feeling, Zheng Tan can't settle his mind.

That day, Zheng Tan found a large phoenix tree not far from the east family courtyard, climbed it, and dozed on a branch. Indeed, being up high felt safer and the view was broader.

He yawned; Zheng Tan had been deep in thought last night and didn't sleep well, so he needed to catch up on sleep during the day.

Jiao Ma has recently been collaborating with several colleagues on a teaching project. In a few months Jiao Yuan will enter middle school, and Jiao Ma wants to increase her presence among middle school teachers, so that Jiao Yuan can benefit more at school.

Other families have elders or children not yet in kindergarten, making visits inconvenient, so they finally settled on the Jiao Family. Thus, Zheng Tan spends his days wandering outside; when tired he finds a tree to climb and sleep. If it rains he goes to Da Pang's house, since Zheng Tan won't stay at home to face those middle school teachers.

Zheng Tan was half-asleep when the surveillance feeling returned. He twitched his ears but heard no strange sounds; around him students came and went, a sanitation worker nearby was sweeping, vehicles passed from time to time, and not far away a sports field occasionally echoed with cheering shouts.

These are ordinary sounds, and Zheng Tan is used to them, but the surveillance feeling makes him restless. So he opened his eyes and scanned the area below the tree.

He still didn't spot anyone suspicious, but this time Zheng Tan was more vigilant, trying to remember anyone strolling slowly, sitting on benches or grass, or anyone not moving quickly. If the other party is continuously watching, they certainly won't move fast.

He climbed down, went to a cafeteria near the teaching area, glanced around, then found a large tree at the north corner of the cafeteria, leapt onto it, turned his back to the road, and continued lying down to sleep.

After a while, when the surveillance feeling rose again, Zheng Tan narrowed his eyes to a slit and looked toward the opposite cafeteria.

The reason he chose this cafeteria and the north‑corner tree is that he had his eye on the one‑way glass in the north second‑floor corner. That corner houses an office; during renovation they used one‑way glass that can be seen from inside but appears as a mirror from the cafeteria side.

Zheng Tan watched the reflections on the glass, observed the people inside, compared them with those he had noted earlier, and finally his gaze settled on a seemingly ordinary student.

The student wore a backpack, held a book in his hand, and slowly walked toward the cafeteria; during this, every two steps he glanced toward Zheng Tan's location. Eventually he sat on the grass in front of the cafeteria and spread the book.

Earlier, when Zheng Tan hadn't approached, this person was reading on the grass not far from the phoenix tree where Zheng Tan was perched. Many students read on the grass like that, and when Zheng Tan opened his eyes to scan, the boy was also looking down, so Zheng Tan didn't notice him.

After thinking, Zheng Tan stood, stretched lazily, then pretended to scan the surroundings. The boy indeed lowered his head again.

Zheng Tan lay down, continued sleeping facing the cafeteria, but his eyes watched the one‑way glass. As he had guessed, the boy lifted his head, glanced toward Zheng Tan's direction, and every few seconds looked this way again.

Zheng Tan was puzzled: who is this person? Why are they watching him?

Moreover, even if it's surveillance, the target is just a cat; is such caution necessary?

Zheng Tan couldn't understand.

Could it be that his ad work made him famous, and someone took interest, wanting to kidnap him? That's how TV shows it. Otherwise, why would a worthless cat be worth such surveillance?

Since he identified a suspect, Zheng Tan decided to confront him.

Zheng Tan follows a strict routine: in the morning he goes out with the kids, circles around, then sleeps on the tree north of the cafeteria, simultaneously counter‑surveilling that person. At noon he returns home for a meal and a nap; in the afternoon he again goes out with the two kids, climbs the same tree, and continues counter‑surveillance.

Sometimes fearing detection, Zheng Tan changes locations; some school supermarkets and snack stalls also have such one‑way glass. It's not that Zheng Tan is overly cautious; the opponent's meticulous monitoring of a cat makes him uneasy.

In any case, it's better to stay careful.

A week later, Zheng Tan noticed the person was gone, and the surveillance feeling vanished.

No longer watching?

Or perhaps there's a next move?

Zheng Tan's doubts lasted only a day.

The next night, after dinner, Zheng Tan went out with Jiao Ma; she went to meet friends for dancing exercise, while Zheng Tan took a stroll around the courtyard, occasionally teasing the few dogs there out of boredom.

A Huang and Jingzhang are both confined at home; A Huang has been neutered, so may be quieter, but Jingzhang is restless—when first locked up it kept barking, though someone at home played with it, and it gradually stopped. During the day it's occasionally let out to play, but at night it is absolutely forbidden to go out.

So if Zheng Tan wants a cat companion for his walk, he can only find Da Pang, but that newly plump fellow only perches on his own balcony and rarely comes out.

After teasing the bull‑dog Zhuang Zhuang, Zheng Tan boredly paced around the courtyard.

It's almost 8:30 p. m.; Jiao Ma's dance group won't return until nine. Jiao Ba is home today; Jiao Yuan has dictation homework, and after submitting it Jiao Ba still needs to sign, so Jiao Ba won't go out tonight either. Therefore, Zheng Tan plans to wait for Jiao Ma to return and then follow her upstairs.

As he walked, Zheng Tan suddenly heard the flutter of wings.

He twitched his ears and looked toward the source; it was near the courtyard wall, a relatively secluded spot. There were osmanthus and wax‑plum trees planted there to beautify the courtyard.

However, Zheng Tan and they don't often play here; the trees are few and the trunks thin, making claw‑scratching and climbing unsatisfying. Compared with the small grove beside the family courtyard, this place is much duller, so Zheng Tan and A Huang prefer to walk a few extra steps to the little forest outside the courtyard to play.

However…

Zheng Tan looked at the spot where the wing flutter came from, feeling odd—could it be a bird?

If it were another cat, it would definitely go there. Cats don't hunt for food alone; hunting is instinct, so hearing a bird's movement would make them go.

But Zheng Tan is different; he has no interest in catching birds.

He turned to leave, took two steps back, then heard a faint rustle, like a sigh of exasperated breath; though deliberately hushed, Zheng Tan still caught it.

While moving, Zheng Tan pretended to play with a branch, glancing sideways at the courtyard wall.

The streetlamp was over ten meters away, lighting only the road; the tree side remained dark, yet Zheng Tan, using his cat advantage, still noticed a head protruding from the courtyard wall.

Something's wrong!

Zheng Tan pretended to scratch the branch twice, then heard the cage there flutter a few more times, and he took the chance to go see what it was.

Curiosity aside, Zheng Tan still stays very watchful of the surroundings; he certainly doesn't want to be randomly bashed with a blunt stick.

The trees here are about three to four meters tall; though not many, they're fairly dense, making it impossible from the outside to see what's happening beneath them. The fluttering sound came from beneath those osmanthus trees.

As he approached those osmanthus trees, Zheng Tan smelled a bird's scent and other odors.

The wing flutter was accompanied by a faint metallic clank, much like the sound Zheng Tan heard at the small Qu family's place when the mouse‑catching cage was being patted.

Cage?

For catching cats?

To catch cats, or specifically to catch me?

Zheng Tan's mind is full of questions.

Logically, there shouldn't be many cat‑catchers now, especially since this is a family courtyard inside a university; are these people really that bold?

Zheng Tan had already stepped under the osmanthus trees, slowly edging closer, and saw the cage. Some leaves were used to conceal it, and one side was open—that was the cage's entrance.

The cage is about sixty centimeters long, nearly twenty centimeters wide, and inside a sparrow occasionally flutters twice; perhaps sensing Zheng Tan's approach, the sparrow flutters more violently, but being tied inside it can't get out, only beating its wings inside the cage; when its struggle is too intense and the shaking too harsh, its wings...

When Zheng Tan approached the cage, over at Building B's family dormitory, on the first floor Da Pang, who was dozing on the balcony, twitched his ears, suddenly opened his eyes, looked at the old lady inside who was buttoning her clothes while wearing reading glasses, and let out a low "meow," like the warning cry other cats make when facing danger, but somewhat different.

Upon hearing it, the old lady paused her buttoning and immediately put down what she was holding.

"What's wrong?" the old lady looked at Da Pang.

"Meow—"

The old lady frowned, then picked up the phone to call the guard; when she looked up again, Da Pang was already gone.

"What on earth is happening?" the old lady muttered, quickly putting on her coat, grabbing her electric baton, preparing to see what was going on. If it were just like last time when they encountered a thief, Da Pang wouldn't run out on his own, but this time…

Zheng Tan stood one meter away from the cage, not moving closer, just standing there watching the cage while also keeping an eye on the person leaning on the perimeter wall looking this way. However, because the trees here were too dense, with many branches and lush foliage, and a row of azaleas planted near the road, the view from above and the side was effectively blocked.

However, Zheng Tan couldn't see that person, and that person certainly couldn't see Zheng Tan either.

So Zheng Tan prepared to wait, to see when that person could no longer resist climbing over the wall.

Just then, Zheng Tan heard a "meow" from Da Pang, and from the sound he could tell the guy was running this way.

Whoosh!

Da Pang had already leapt over the row of azaleas and arrived under the osmanthus tree; seeing Zheng Tan standing in front of the cage, he charged over and swung two slaps at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan reacted quickly, stepping back two paces to avoid Da Pang's claws.

Da Pang arched his back, fur standing on end, ears flattened, let out two low growls at Zheng Tan, then growled at the cage.

Zheng Tan knew Da Pang was warning him to stay away from the cage,

Zheng Tan flicked his tail, walked over, ignoring Da Pang's look of impending doom, lifted his paw and lightly patted its head, then went to the back of the cage, not facing the opening.

Da Pang kept meowing, preparing to come over, but Zheng Tan flicked his tail, extended his paw, grabbed the cage, lifted it up and slammed it down twice with a bang.

Da Pang flicked his ears, obviously not expecting Zheng Tan to react like that. After all, Da Pang isn't human; even though he's relatively smart, his thinking still can't match a human's—if he were human, he'd surely be stunned by Zheng Tan's reaction. Directly lifting and slamming the cage isn't something a cat could do.

After the two slams, Zheng Tan glanced at the cage; the door was still open, suggesting the internal mechanism hadn't been triggered—the design is quite rigorous.

Looking around, Zheng Tan hooked a thin twig with his paw, then inserted it inside, triggering a spot inside the cage.

Snap!

The cage door snapped shut, leaving hardly any time for a cat to react; if a cat were inside playing with a sparrow, it definitely wouldn't have time to react before the door closed.

Da Pang flicked his ears again, flicked his tail, looking a bit puzzled, though no longer wearing that look of impending doom.

After the cage closed, Zheng Tan's attention turned to the person on the perimeter wall. However, that person seemed cautious and did not immediately climb over.

Zheng Tan understood, connecting the events of the past few days; these people had been watching for so long and had specially placed the cage here, likely having figured out his movement patterns, with the probable target being himself!

"Ooh—" Zheng Tan roared at the top of his lungs. "I don't believe you can stay still until I roar the people out of the courtyard!"

Hearing Zheng Tan's roar, Da Pang also let out a loud "meow."

In the family dormitory, many people might not hear it clearly, but the pets could hear it distinctly.

A Huang and Jingzhang both recognized the companions' calls and joined in.

Several other dogs barked "woof woof woof" excitedly, especially the bulldog Niu Zhuangzhuang, who barked while scratching hard at the iron gate.

For a moment, meows and barks filled the courtyard nonstop.

The last time this happened was during the thief‑catching incident; evidently, having that experience, the first thought of the courtyard residents upon hearing the commotion was: "Someone's coming to steal again!"

Yan Laotou tossed aside his newspaper, hurried downstairs to open the gate for Niu Zhuangzhuang, shouting, "Quick, catch the thief!"

Before the gate was fully open, Niu Zhuangzhuang couldn't wait, squeezed out, kicked up his heels, and ran toward Zheng Tan and the others.

Li Laotou's side also had his big dog unleashed; seeing Yan Laotou's Zhuangzhuang run out, Li Laotou unfastened the leash from his little Hua's neck, watching his dog follow Niu Zhuangzhuang off into the distance. A Saint Bernard may have a big head, but at crucial moments he still needs to perform—can't just have a big head and do nothing!

Besides these two, Sahala was also let loose by his owner, this guy acting like he'd been injected with chicken blood, ignoring what his owner shouted behind him, and just kept running toward the direction where Zheng Tan and Da Pang were calling.

As for other households' Chihuahuas, Pekinese, and Corgis etc., those small dogs weren't let out. Regardless of whether they could catch thieves, even if they could, with those two big dogs present and Niu Zhuangzhuang this "ferocious" vanguard, a few small dogs going out would likely be mistakenly injured.

Meanwhile, over here, the person who had been watching the cat‑trap's movements on the perimeter wall, upon hearing the two cats shout at the top of their lungs, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Damn, why is this cat suddenly yelling so loudly!

This has never happened before in cat‑catching!

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On the first day of the new week, while I had a moment to browse on my phone, I discovered I'd actually made it onto the front‑page recommendation list! This is the first time since I started writing that I've stayed on the front‑page recommendation list all day—thanks to every friend who voted for me!! Thank you! A kiss for each of you~~

Thanks to Lezi Xiao, Wucheng·Cat, Yinpu, Oufimosi, Yiluohua Ci, Chanmo‖van, Jiu Lengjiao's Pupil, Haoxiao Ling, 0773, Heiye°Mask, Baozao Yixia, Wujie Zi Huang, & Kaka Luo Bo, Ruoye Xi, Mutian Dixi, lazyorange, Liuyan, Dear·Mo Yuan, Piaomiao's Worry, Nackersun's reward! Thanks to Yiluohua Ci, Wucheng·Cat, Fengliu Langxingzhe (2), ct80642470, Nackersun's evaluation ticket!