Chapter 57

When Zheng Tan got off the vehicle, the sky was already faintly light.

Because he was too absorbed in his thoughts, Zheng Tan didn't notice how long that little minibus had been running; he didn't even expect things to turn out this badly.

He just happened to get on a vehicle, and it left the city. He wasn't even sure whether this place was still in Nan Cheng, but judging by the time, it was probably far beyond Nan Cheng already.

All he could see were patches of forest and fields stretching to the horizon.

Although it was a rural area, it wasn't poor; residents' houses were mostly modern, with only a few retaining the old-style tile houses.

Zheng Tan didn't know exactly where on the map this place was, but seeing that many residents lived in two- or three-story flat-roofed houses, he knew their living conditions were decent, making it easier to find a phone; if it were too poor, a phone would be hard to come by.

Zheng Tan first noted the minibus driver's home address; if the driver went out again, he could still hitch a ride. Afterwards, Zheng Tan planned to walk around the area to get familiar with the terrain and this unfamiliar environment; to wait for an opportunity, he had to spend the waiting period safely.

He needed to see which households were easy to target for food, which villagers had phones, and whether it would be easy to find a chance to call. Also important was finding a relatively safe place for himself.

If safety was the concern, Zheng Tan preferred higher branches. Perhaps because the temperature here was slightly higher than in the central region at this season, it was warmer. Many deciduous big trees were lush with foliage, which helped Zheng Tan hide.

While wandering around the village, Zheng Tan encountered a few native dogs and a cat playing outside catching insects; they were all free-roaming. Seeing them leisurely wandering about, Zheng Tan felt somewhat reassured—being able to see cats and dogs outside strolling meant there was no one here setting dog traps or snaring cats.

He found a large pagoda tree with dense foliage providing shade like a canopy, to use as a temporary resting spot on sunny days. Zheng Tan jumped up to try it; overall it was satisfactory. He chose a branch to lie on and looked around.

From here he could see the village's situation, yet it wasn't too close, so the villagers wouldn't bother him.

Near this pagoda tree there was a citrus orchard with two native dogs tethered. Zheng Tan had just seen a cat enter the orchard and walk past those two dogs. The dogs merely glanced at it, then had no further reaction; presumably they were already familiar with each other and couldn't be bothered to bark.

A black butterfly flew past the pagoda tree and into the citrus orchard, fluttering among the citrus trees.

Zheng Tan recalled that this seemed to be a swallowtail butterfly; he had seen similar ones before in Old Man Lan's small flowerbed, and the last one that flew into that flowerbed was made into a specimen by Old Man Lan. At the time a few students were present, and Zheng Tan heard them saying that in some places this swallowtail is considered the legendary Liang Zhu butterfly.

The Liang Zhu butterfly also has requirements: to be considered a Liang Zhu butterfly, this species must be sexually dimorphic. Sexual dimorphism means that female and male individuals have inherent, obvious differences that allow people to determine their sex from those differences.

Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai are one male and one female; linking to the legend, people feel that when they turn into butterflies they should also be distinguishable. Conversely, for butterfly types such as the Bodhidharma swallowtail, since the colors of male and female swallowtails are similar and hard to tell apart, they are not advocated as Liang Zhu butterflies.

Zheng Tan looked at the pattern on this butterfly's wings; it resembled a female, that is, "Zhu Yingtai"?

While Zheng Tan was admiring "Zhu Yingtai," the cat that had earlier entered the citrus orchard leapt from a citrus tree, slapped the butterfly down with a paw, batted it a few times, played with it, and then ate it.

Zheng Tan: "……"

I wonder what feeling those who vividly recount the legend would have upon seeing this scene.

After Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai turned into butterflies and flew together, being eaten by a cat? I imagine anyone hearing this cruel version would have a constipated expression.

Yawning, Zheng Tan narrowed his eyes and began to sleep. There was no way; if he wanted to take action, he had to wait until night.

While sleeping, Zheng Tan dreamed of the days during the New Year at the Jiao family's house. He remembered that day he and the two kids sat on the sofa watching TV, which was showing "Watch the Dog Talk," and at that time Jiao Yuan said, "Hei Tan, you must remember the way home; if you get lost and we can't find you, can you find your way back yourself?"

Whether to stay in Nan Cheng or find a way back to Chu Hua Shi, Zheng Tan felt conflicted, but in the end he decided to return to Chu Hua Shi, because a cat's life differs from a human's, finding a decent family is truly not easy, and moreover, Zheng Tan had begun to miss Dongqu Dayuan.

He waited until night fell, then Zheng Tan jumped down from the pagoda tree and headed toward the villagers' houses.

The people here ate dinner early and went to bed early, which saved Zheng Tan from waiting too long.

First he tried a few households, scrounging some food to eat; it wasn't tasty, but he could make do. After eating he went to look for a phone, which proved somewhat difficult.

People here also liked to put the phone in the bedroom, on the bedside table—meaning the phone was always attended at night. Zheng Tan tried several houses and found the same situation. Even if the villagers were asleep, Zheng Tan didn't dare go straight over to make a call, because the phone sat right by their pillow and would easily wake them.

Zheng Tan didn't want to be seen as a monster, so he could only keep searching, looking for a household that would be easy to target.

He wouldn't choose households that kept dogs, because those dogs didn't know Zheng Tan and would bark at him on sight. He couldn't help it, but since most villagers kept dogs, his options became even narrower.

Fortunately, Zheng Tan eventually found a decent household, and even more coincidentally, it was the home of the minibus driver.

Hiding in the dark and listening to the villagers chat, Zheng Tan learned that the minibus driver's brother was preparing to marry; a few days earlier he had gone to Nan Cheng on business, and incidentally bought some related supplies and also helped bring some home appliances.

The wedding is the day after tomorrow; this family has a large courtyard. Since they're setting up an outdoor banquet but the kitchen isn't big enough, they're cooking in the courtyard. Now everyone in the household is basically busy in the courtyard, and when night falls they turn on the lights and keep working.

Thus the rooms were empty, and even better, this family didn't keep a dog. Zheng Tan was quite pleased.

The first floor is where the elderly live. There's no phone here, and the hall doesn't have much else, so Zheng Tan didn't pay it much attention.

Beside this family's two-story small building there is a makeshift shed for parking vehicles; Zheng Tan entered the second floor by climbing over that shed.

The second-floor bedroom had a phone, just like other households; the landline was on the bedside cabinet. Zheng Tan observed that at that moment there were indeed no adults on the second floor—they had all gone to help in the courtyard. In the adjacent small room there was a little girl, not big, who looked to be kindergarten age, lying on a foam mat on the floor reading a book.

As long as there were no adults, even if this child who can't count saw him, Zheng Tan would feel it didn't matter; adults don't take children's words seriously.

Zheng Tan jumped in through the window, ran excitedly to the phone, leapt onto the bedside cabinet, picked up the receiver, and dialed the number he had memorized. Of course he didn't forget to add the 0 before the mobile number; as for the landline number, he couldn't recall Chu Hua Shi's area code, so he dialed Jiao Ba's mobile.

At this time, the Jiao family members should all be home? Associate Professor Jiao should also be home.

After dialing, Zheng Tan waited eagerly, but hearing the prompt tone from the phone, his mood sank instantly.

Damn! This landline doesn't have long-distance lock enabled!

To unlock it you need to find the key!

Where am I supposed to find the key?!

Zheng Tan rummaged through the drawer, but saw no such small key for unlocking the phone's long-distance lock. He wondered, as for locking this phone's long-distance lock—should he? In a place like this, shouldn't long-distance calls be used often?

Dejectedly he put the receiver back, then squatted there thinking: these villagers' phones probably aren't all locked for long-distance; one could try each? But it would be better to steal that driver's mobile, or anyone's mobile—at least mobiles aren't as troublesome as landlines.

He glanced at the bedroom; because the family was preparing a celebration, the table had lots of candy and other snacks, presumably meant to entertain guests.

Zheng Tan pulled out a bag of beef jerky from a big pack, plus some shredded squid; after taking them out he re-zipped the big pack, then jumped onto the window, holding the two bags of snacks as he prepared to leave.

While standing by the window, Zheng Tan held the snacks with his hands, his two legs planted on the windowsill, ready to jump down. Before jumping, he sensed someone looking this way and turned his head.

The little girl who had been looking at picture books next door was now hiding outside this bedroom door, watching him silently, eyes full of curiosity.

Zheng Tan paused, then ignored her and jumped straight off the windowsill. Jumping with two legs wasn't very convenient, but he had done it a few times while looking for the phone and it was still okay. Being able to free his hands to carry things, he was willing to do it this way; anyway, besides that little girl, no one else saw him at the moment, so what was there to fear? Moreover, he wouldn't stay here long—if discovered he could just run away.

Zheng Tan left with flair, but he gave that child quite an impact.

That night, the child's mother came over with the picture book to teach the little girl to count, from one to ten. To aid memory, she especially combined real‑world objects in her instruction.

"How many legs does a bird use to walk?" she asked.

"Two." The little girl extended two fingers.

"How many legs does a big yellow dog use to walk?"

"Four!" The little girl counted the legs of the big yellow dog drawn in the picture book and said so.

"Yes, very smart. How many legs does a kitten use to walk?" she asked with a smile.

The little girl thought about the cat she had seen today, counted on her fingers, then extended two fingers: "Two!"

Her mother: "……"

Zheng Tan had no idea what effect he had caused; at this moment he was carrying two bags of snacks toward Dahuai shu. At this time there was no one in the fields, and over in the orchard only a few dogs were on guard, so nobody would see that there was a cat walking on two legs and doing so quite naturally.

Zheng Tan walked while pondering how to 'borrow' a phone, when he suddenly heard a faint whimpering sound. He prick up his ears to listen and discern it, and Zheng Tan felt it sounded somewhat like a dog's noise.

Putting down the snacks in his hands, Zheng Tan walked toward where the sound came from; if there were any danger, this posture would still be faster on four legs.

Over there was a depression, probably where someone once stored water and raised something; now the depression is full of weeds. And at this moment, inside this depression there is an iron cage, inside which are three puppies, two lying there motionless, while only one, with a slightly larger head, is crawling about inside, constantly emitting whimpering sounds. (To be continued...)

PS: I'll release one chapter first; the second update will probably be this afternoon.