Chapter 56: Zheng Tan, you're just a pig!

Leaving the residential area, Zheng Tan prepared to hitch a ride.

When he decided to come to this city, Zheng Tan already had a plan.

Zheng Tan rarely took buses before; when he was too young to drive, he would take a taxi when going out, avoiding crowded buses, and that's why he left many people with the impression of being a rich young master; of course, after "rich young master" there is also the suffix "sucker".

Walking forward along the sidewalk, Zheng Tan came to a bus stop.

A few young women waiting for the bus saw Zheng Tan, squatted down to tease him, and the people around just smiled, saying nothing else.

This is the advantage of wearing a cat tag; to many people, a clean-furred cat with a cat tag means it's been vaccinated, well cared for as a house cat, not a stray that might carry germs, so even if they don't particularly like cats they won't be too dismissive. If it's a cat without a tag that looks ordinary, even if it acts friendly toward people, they will still be repulsive.

Facing those young women, Zheng Tan didn't immediately walk away with a frown; he cooperatively went up to rub against them, was happy to be petted twice by the girls, and if they produced some small trinkets from their keychains, Zheng Tan would pretend to be very interested, lifting his paw to flick them twice, gaining their favor.

While pretending to cooperate, Zheng Tan also paid attention to the bus routes and stops on the sign; many stops were unfamiliar, but he still knew some landmark building names and place names.

During the day he couldn't move well, so he could only wait until night to hitch a ride.

After figuring out the general route, Zheng Tan found a place to idle, waiting for night to fall.

It's impossible to always find a pickup truck to hitch a ride, and not every pickup or small freight truck follows Zheng Tan's planned route, so he decided the vehicle to hitch would be a bus.

Forget double-decker buses, forget trams; to avoid accidents, Zheng Tan chose the currently common single-layer bus.

After finally waiting for darkness, Zheng Tan felt suffocated looking at those crowded buses, but fortunately he didn't have to board and squeeze in.

When the bus he wanted approached the stop, without waiting for it to open its doors, Zheng Tan sped over and leapt onto the bus roof. The interior was noisy, and no one heard the sound from above.

"What just happened?!" a passenger by the window felt a black shadow flash past in his peripheral vision.

"What's going on?"

"Forget it, I must be seeing things; I'll nap a bit. Wake me when we reach the station." After saying that, the person leaned against the window and began to doze.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan, who had just jumped onto the roof, was still a bit surprised. He originally thought he would need to step on the window or something else to assist his jump, but unexpectedly, as he accelerated toward the bus, he suddenly felt a strong confidence that he could leap directly up, and then—he was already on the roof.

He moved his legs, and felt no discomfort.

Sss—

Passengers had finished getting off and on, the bus doors closed, and it started moving.

Zheng Tan hurried over and hooked onto the protrusion of the bus's skylight. The roof is relatively smooth; once the bus gets moving, a sudden turn or stop could fling him off, so he must firmly grip the fixture to steady himself.

No one would expect that an ordinary bus would have a cat lying on its roof.

Zheng Tan couldn't tell where the bus was, and could only pay attention to the stop announcements after each station.

Only a segment of this bus's route is what Zheng Tan hopes for, so after reaching a certain stop he must get off and transfer to another bus line to continue hitching rides.

Some buses stop running after nine p. m., while others run all night; each time he changes buses, Zheng Tan also checks when the bus he's about to board ceases service, preferably choosing one that runs all night so he doesn't have to worry about missing a bus.

Taking the bus is troublesome, but to reach his goal Zheng Tan must repeat this hassle over and over; thus, by transferring again and again, he gets ever closer to his destination in mind.

While the bus stopped at an intermediate stop, Zheng Tan suddenly heard someone calling him.

"Hey, Zheng Tan, wait a moment!"

It was a child's voice; Zheng Tan couldn't recall who it was.

Zheng Tan looked toward the source of the voice and saw only a few children walking into the silhouette of a taxi; the night's light and shadow intertwined, making it unclear.

Around this stop there is an arcade; Zheng Tan recalled that as a child he often came here, and when he felt like it he would skip school to come play, spending whole days. Although many places prohibit minors from entering, that's just lip service; as long as you spend money, there's naturally a place to play.

The taxi drove off, its route matching the direction Zheng Tan had planned. However, he couldn't make out the passengers inside, only vaguely seeing that a few children were seated inside.

For some reason he felt a bit nervous, so when the bus suddenly started he almost lost his grip and would have slid off.

Arriving at the stop and getting off, Zheng Tan crouched not far from the platform, looking at the bus line display on the sign. This is the last transfer bus; after that bus comes, riding another seven or eight stops will bring him very close. The final stop's name is the same as the residential complex where Zheng Tan used to live, which is easy to recognize.

Just then, Zheng Tan suddenly became alert, sidestepped to dodge, and a rubber pellet struck the spot where he had been crouching, then bounced away and disappeared.

Having experienced being caught before, Zheng Tan's alertness increased greatly, and his sensitivity to surrounding danger sharpened, enabling him to swiftly dodge the incoming rubber pellets.

Zheng Tan had played with this kind of rubber pellet before; it's a toy children like, and Jiao Yuan also has one.

Turning his head, Zheng Tan saw several young people sitting on the rail, looking as if they'd drunk too much; apparently on a whim they saw a cat by the roadside and raised their toy gun to shoot at it.

They usually enjoy shooting games, rubber pellets, paintball skirmishes, etc.; the toy gun in their hands now is the one they won from playing a shooting game at the club just earlier. Although they look down on such children's toys, they can use it to kill time when bored, and even after drinking they're confident in their shooting skills. They expected to hear the cat's miserable cry, but didn't expect the cat to dodge.

Thus, they got fired up; several people stood up and came toward Zheng Tan.

Damn!

Zheng Tan silently cursed, his luck really sucks!

Those few young people over there, wielding toy guns, shouted like madmen as they chased Zheng Tan, firing rubber pellets one after another.

Zheng Tan didn't want to run too far, as he still wanted to wait for the last bus, but the several madmen behind kept close pursuit. He ran while scanning the surroundings for a good hiding place.

At the corner there was a van; its rear cargo door was open, so Zheng Tan rushed straight in and found a place to hide.

The van's driver had a cigarette tucked in one hand, resting on the window sill, talking to someone standing outside. He didn't notice at all that a cat had gotten onto his vehicle.

Inside the van besides the driver there was no one else; the seats were loaded with cargo, such as televisions and other appliances, while the cargo hold also had piles of items, and further back were daily necessities—toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, etc. Zheng Tan hid behind these goods, peering through gaps at the outside youths who were running like madmen.

"Where did that cat go?" one of the young men said, messing with his hair.

Around here are only malls; after turning the corner, aside from the trees lining the road, there are no other shrubs or flower beds.

"Maybe it climbed up a tree?" another young man said, also glancing at the nearby trees.

The person who had first shot at Zheng Tan earlier scanned the surroundings, then walked toward this van.

Zheng Tan shrank back, lowered his body, and tried to conceal himself as much as possible.

Meanwhile, as that young man drew nearer, another person came to the rear of the van—the same individual who had just been speaking with the van's driver—he raised his hand and yanked the cargo hold door hard downward.

Bang!

The van's cargo hold door shut.

Zheng Tan: ……

Turning his head, he saw the driver had finished his cigarette and closed the window, so Zheng Tan's plan to escape through the window also came to nothing.

Damn it!

Unfortunate luck, a tortuous destiny!

No matter how many beautiful girls there are, they can't calm the alpaca-like frenzy of Zheng Tan's heart right now.

Zheng Tan suddenly wanted to shout: "Damn it, let me out!"

But the only response Zheng Tan got was the engine's noise.

It's as if an invisible pair of hands pulls you apart the moment you approach your goal.

Unable to resist.

Both times they were clearly so close, yet the result remained the same.

Is this fate?

Zheng Tan didn't know.

The driver played some oldies in the car; several tunes Zheng Tan used to hear the bird 'General' sing, and together with his tangled mood, it made him feel like smashing into a wall.

There was no wall, so Zheng Tan hit the back seat.

The car's music was too loud; the driver didn't hear the odd sound from the back, still lost in self‑indulgence, humming along.

After a moment, the driver's phone rang; he lowered the volume and answered.

Zheng Tan wanted to say that phoning while driving is dangerous, but he himself used to do it all the time—even drunk driving was routine—and he sincerely felt it was sheer luck he'd grown up safe and sound.

……Okay……I'll call him later……uh, I know how to dial a landline……right, what's the area code for the Beijing side……010……okay……got it……

The driver chatted happily on the phone, while Zheng Tan felt as if he'd sunk into mud and then been struck by lightning.

Area code?

Damn it, I forgot to add the area code last time!

As for mobile phones, you probably still need to add a 0 when dialing long‑distance to another province, right?

Zheng Tan, you're nothing but a pig!

It's been too long since I last used a phone—I can't even remember this basic common sense!

Zheng Tan wished he could slap himself silly; at the crucial moment his brain went haywire—and then it acted up badly, something he truly hadn't expected. An opportunity within reach just slipped away, he suffered all that for nothing, and now his situation is even more unpredictable.

If Jiao Ba knew, he'd surely blame himself deeply for not teaching his own cat how to make long‑distance calls.

Zheng Tan lay on a cardboard box, recalling himself when he made that call—his mind really wasn't clear or rational, surely a side effect of the medicine; even the telecom company is at fault! Even if it can't recognize out‑of‑area numbers, it should at least give some hint.

No matter what, a missed opportunity is a missed opportunity.

What now?

Zheng Tan felt regret.

Why not knock the driver out and jump out of the car?

Zheng Tan watched the streetlights flash by outside the window, gauged the speed, then looked at the traffic outside—dangerous enough that one mistake could cause an accident.

Forget it; we'll wait until we reach the driver's house to look for another chance to call—since we've already found the key, we're not afraid we can't solve it.

Zheng Tan still held an optimistic attitude, planning his next moves.

But when the car stopped, Zheng Tan seized the moment while the driver was unloading and slipped out of the minivan, only to be stunned by the endless woods and fields filling his view.

Damn it, where the hell is this?! (To be continued…)

PS: Thanks everyone for your subscriptions and ticket support! Celebrating the birth of this book's first Alliance Leader, thanks to the wealthy patron 'Prosperity Wealth Local Tyrant'! Also thanks to the two Hall Masters, Joyful Elegant and cecelay, for their generous gifts!