Chapter 54

roomendexc

Cat-eyed kid

Jiao Ba stood at the doorway, raised his hand to rub his face, hiding the tired look, then fished out his keys and opened the door.

The sofa in the living room remained empty, no longer with a black cat sprawled there, happily watching TV.

Hearing the door open, the two children's rooms almost simultaneously opened, but upon seeing Jiao Ba's expression, their gazes dimmed again.

It's been a week, and still there's no news.

The several illegal cat‑dog trafficking dens busted in Chu Hua Shi also yielded no information they wanted.

Cold Nine-Head

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When they first learned their cat was missing, both children's eyes were swollen from crying; even after a week, their eyes remained red and their spirits stayed low.

「Still no news? 」 Jiao Ma asked in a low voice. Her mood was also bad.

Jiao Ba shook his head, said nothing. After a moment he said: "Wei Leng and Chief He are helping to look for it, and Director Zhao has also asked friends to watch for any news; there should be something soon."

Just as he finished speaking, the bedroom phone rang.

Jiao Ba hurriedly got up to answer, while the two children in the room pressed their ears to the door, hoping to hear some good news.

But after Jiao Ba answered the phone, he didn't say much; the only two sentences he spoke were low‑toned, not sounding happy at all.

After hanging up, Jiao Ba took out a cigarette, stood on the balcony and smoked.

Normally Jiao Ba doesn't smoke, unless he's in a bad mood.

The caller just now was Wei Leng, who told Jiao Ba the results of his inquiry: there was no news of their Hei Tan, but the person who sold the tranquilizer gun had been traced; following that lead they dug deeper, yet the buyer was not local and was rather cunning, so they couldn't uncover much.

Although there wasn't much useful information, Jiao Ba had long harbored a suspect, and thinking back to his recent encounter with Professor Ren in the courtyard, Professor Ren had seemed rather pleased lately…

While the people of Chu Hua Shi were busy searching for news of Zheng Tan, Zheng Tan was sprawled asleep in the attic of a villa.

That day he followed the big white bear and that girl to a nearby upscale residential complex with elevator apartments and villa buildings, and the big white bear's home was one of those villas.

Since the girl rode slowly, seemingly just out for a leisurely ride, occasionally stopping and even getting off to buy things, Zheng Tan could sneakily follow her, though he was so fatigued it was an effort. His condition that day was really poor.

The girl and the big white bear entered the complex through the main gate, while Zheng Tan slipped in through a gap in the perimeter fence nearby, following the direction of that person and dog to a villa, where he found a decent spot—the attic.

For a cat, climbing the attic of this Western‑style villa is not difficult.

The attic was stacked with miscellaneous items, rarely visited, with cobwebs and dust everywhere. There used to be a few mice, but after Zheng Tan arrived they likely fled, and he hasn't seen them since.

After finally finding a makeshift place to rest, Zheng Tan's constantly tense nerves eased a little. He rummaged through the attic's belongings, pulled out a cushion from a cardboard box, didn't mind if it was moldy, lay down on it, and began to rest.

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Raindrops struck the attic window, making a pattering sound, especially clear in the attic's quiet environment.

Outside, the sky had already darkened; another day had passed.

Here, Zheng Tan could see the streetlights of the residential area through the attic window, as well as the lights inside neighboring homes, with shadows moving about.

At this time it should be dinner; Zheng Tan twitched his nose, but only a musty smell lingered in the attic.

Zheng Tan knew which area this was, and also knew how far it was from Chu Hua Shi.

A central city, a southern coastal region.

It is precisely because it is clear that he feels at a loss.

Xiahe City, actually not far from Nan Cheng where he had lived for twenty years.

Zheng Tan stared at the raindrops on the window, not knowing what he was thinking; to be precise, he was dazed.

However, he hadn't been dazed for very long.

Ah, I'm hungry.

Zheng Tan pondered, waiting until later when the family slept, then go downstairs to look for something to eat.

Zheng Tan also had no intention of exposing himself; the family kept dogs, possibly they didn't eat dog meat, but who knew if they'd eat cats? What kind of people were they?

He didn't want to take risks.

He stretched, Zheng Tan moved his limbs a bit, thinking about what to do next.

If he were human, that would be great; unfortunately, he's just a cat now.

Just waiting around was boring; Zheng Tan rummaged through the miscellaneous items and pulled out a small rubber ball, the kind of children's toy. It looked like it had been lying here untouched for a long time.

Lying on his back on that cushion, Zheng Tan played with the ball using his four paws, pushing it gently backward with his paw, then kicking it back.

Watching the ball bounce in the air, Zheng Tan felt he really resembled those circus animals.

Speaking of which, if he weren't around, the Jiao Family wouldn't know what to do, and there's Xiao Guo's advertisement over there…

Zheng Tan just kept playing with the ball while thinking about things.

From downstairs came the family's chatter, the TV advertisements, and a familiar dialect he hadn't heard in a long time.

Finally, after waiting until midnight, the rain outside seemed to have stopped.

On a sloping side of the attic there was a window that could be pushed open; probably the family didn't even know their attic had a broken window here, but even if they did, they wouldn't care, because the window is too small for a seven- or eight-year-old to crawl through, and they don't fear thieves entering the attic that way.

Coming out of the sloping window, Zheng Tan looked around. Since it had just rained, the surroundings were all damp.

Looking at the water stains stuck on his paw pads, Zheng Tan from the houseendexc, Cat-eyed kid, Misty Dawn·Cat, Su Ziying, Peaceful Origin, Snow Wonder, Nine-ridged corner's pupils, Cold Nine-Head, Reader 130326173223729, Yanshan Clear Water, Liu Yan, Mermaid Secret Realm, Ethereal Melancholy, Loving Moon Cold Clear, lazyorange, Ming Tian Xi Di, a blocked jade wrapped in lost wistfulness, Nine Lives Hey Meow, Heavenly Dragon War, Misty Dawn·Cat, the reward for a stick that roams the world! Thanks for the questioning attitude, ct80642470, God's favored clan, ffashwl, Enjoying flowers in the dark night (2) and also the rating votes of the readers who couldn't see the record! Thanks to every reader who voted and liked!