Chapter 6

() Comrade Xiao Xu lives downstairs in a rather special household, the specialness of which mainly lies in the pet kept by the head of the household—a blue-purple macaw belonging to a rare species.

This bird is named 'General', a tall, rich, and handsome specimen among parrots; its worth equals that of a hundred-square-meter finely decorated apartment in the center of Chu Hua Shi, and its value continues to rise.

It has quite high IQ, is proficient in multiple languages, has striking appearance, and with the principle that rarity increases value, it's no wonder this damn bird's worth isn't low.

Unlike the balconies of most households in this residential building, the fourth-floor household's balcony is completely enclosed with thick wire mesh, mainly to prevent the bird inside from flying out—not because they fear it will fly away, but because they fear it will bully people and animals. This guy looks well-behaved on the surface, but is actually full of bad ideas.

"General" has a nickname, 'Cat-Sees-Sorrow'; this guy especially likes to bully cats, especially biting cat ears. I heard that several cats at the school were bitten before. These were told to Zheng Tan by Jiao Ba when he first arrived here; Jiao Ba repeatedly warned Zheng Tan to stay alert, guard against fire, theft, and parrots. Just look at this guy's build, and think about the bite force of a macaw, and you'll know how destructive it becomes when it gets angry.

However, after becoming familiar with it, Zheng Tan knows that the bird's bullying of cats depends on the target. The cats in the eastern residential area are fine; as long as you don't provoke it, it basically won't attack on its own. But if it sees a cat from the western residential area, then sorry.

Perhaps due to its owner's influence, this bird especially likes to sing nostalgic old songs; some songs Zheng Tan has only heard in nostalgic special documentaries, some he has no impression of, but from the tune you can tell they're from a certain era—just like the song Zheng Tan just heard, which dates back to the 1980s, and that's still okay.

And what Zheng Tan finds most astonishing is the bird's abilities. If an average parrot's intelligence is comparable to that of a four- or five-year-old, then this downstairs one is estimated to be on par with an adult, and even a genius type.

Why say that?

The bird downstairs was still singing softly; Zheng Tan couldn't help it, helplessly looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh, then scanned the balcony, found a metal mosquito incense holder, moved it to the edge of the railing, and then extended his paw to tap it lightly.

"Clang clang, clang clang, clang clang clang..." 【Damn, it's noisy!】

The bird's singing stopped abruptly; the next moment Zheng Tan heard the flapping of wings and the "bang bang" of toes hitting the wire mesh—obviously the bird hadn't expected to hear such a sound at this time, so it became agitated and ran to the wire mesh.

Soon after, a pecking sound came from downstairs; it sounded like the bird was pecking at some food packaging.

"Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep beep beep, beep beep beep..." 【You're actually here!】

Who would have thought that in the middle of the night, a cat on the fifth floor of Building B, East Staff Residential Area of Chu Hua Da Xue, and a parrot on the fourth floor would be communicating in Morse code?

Actually, Zheng Tan's Morse code isn't proficient; he only learned it not long ago, and the one who can truly use it proficiently is actually that seemingly inconspicuous, good-for-nothing tabby cat, Da Pang.

Every time Da Pang goes to visit relatives at the military district, or when that person from the military district comes to see the elderly lady, he is examined on code usage, such as Morse code communication, simple fence cipher card games, etc. If Da Pang's assessment results are unsatisfactory, heh, he'd better obediently go squat and eat instant noodles.

This parrot is a loyal enthusiast of code games; when Da Pang is at home, it will carry a deck of cards to find Da Pang to play the fence cipher game; if it can't find Da Pang, it will look for Zheng Tan or its owner to play Morse code games, but its owner is usually busy and doesn't have much time to play with it, so Zheng Tan ends up suffering more often. Last week, 'General' was taken to a nature reserve outside the province to play, and Zheng Tan relaxed for a few days.

Now discovering that this guy has actually come back, Zheng Tan's mood instantly became much more depressed.

【Heard A Huang was neutered? I saw it today wearing an Elizabethan collar】 'General' was still in the excitement of having found a chat partner in the middle of the night, and had no sympathy for A Huang at all.

【I haven't seen it for several days】 Zheng Tan continued to tap the mosquito incense holder.

【Alas, this is the fate of your pet cats, how pitiful; from now on, the East District Four Swordsmen will probably become the East District Four Eunuchs】

【Not every pet cat will undergo that surgery】

【Don't deceive yourselves, cats】

【Get lost, I can't be bothered with you】

【Don't go, let's chat a bit more; you cats aren't nocturnal animals, are you?】

【None of your business, I'm going to sleep; by the way, can't you sing something more fashionable?】

Half a minute later, the bird downstairs again sang in a lowered voice.

"You are like that~ a fire! Blazing flames~ warmed me~~"

Zheng Tan: "..." Really wanted to pinch it to death!

No longer paying attention to that bird with excessive energy, Zheng Tan returned once again to that chair in the living room, bent his front paws to cover his ears, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Xiao Xu was awakened by Zheng Tan's loud meow; he struggled to get up, put on his SpongeBob pajamas, opened the door, and let Zheng Tan out.

Actually Zheng Tan could open the door himself, but since this isn't his own home, he ought to restrain himself; besides, Zheng Tan also wanted to cause some trouble for Xiao Xu so he wouldn't sleep so comfortably.

When Xiao Xu opened the door, yawning and straining his eyes, he discovered that the Jiao family's door was open, and upon hearing the commotion, the Jiao family members who were having breakfast all gathered at the doorway.

Rubbing his eyes, Xiao Xu smiled and said, "Morning!"

Zheng Tan headed straight for the dining table, while Jiao Ma had already gone into the kitchen to serve Zheng Tan breakfast.

Outside, Xiao Xu took the fire tongs and pulled out last night's mouse; Jiao Ba glanced at it and commented, "Your grip was a bit too strong, but overall it's okay."

Zheng Tan flicked his ears, pretended not to hear, and continued eating breakfast.

Jiao Ma also served Xiao Xu a bowl of vegetable porridge, inviting him to eat together; given Xiao Xu's habit, it's impossible for him to buy or make breakfast at this time. At the table, Xiao Xu ate porridge while recounting last night's mouse-catching; the Jiao family got excited, especially Jiao Ma, who went out and told everyone she met about it.

At noon, A Huang was brought over by its owner; the Elizabethan collar was no longer worn.

After not seeing it for several days, A Huang seemed to have lost a lot of vigor, looking listless; since Zheng Tan met it, he had never seen it act like this.

Meanwhile, Jiao Ma was chatting with A Huang's owner.

"Ling Sister, is A Huang like this because it hasn't recovered from the surgery?" Jiao Ma said, somewhat worried.

"Probably not; I've seen other people's cats undergo the same surgery and be lively the next day. However, after the surgery, it has indeed changed quite a bit—it no longer urinates everywhere as it used to."

Zheng Tan entered Jiao Yuan's room and flicked out a large glass marble.

Hearing the sound of the glass marble rolling, A Huang's ears twitched and it looked over here.

Any reaction is good; Zheng Tan had thought it might become dazed from the surgery's blow. He bent his paw and pushed the glass marble toward where A Huang was lying.

The listless A Huang lying there stretched out a paw and hooked the glass bead.

Five minutes later.

Watching the spirited A Huang playing with the glass ball in the living room, Zheng Tan felt deeply moved: "Damn, this isn't a blow at all—it's just being cooped up at home!"

Finally, following Jiao Ma's suggestion, A Huang was allowed to go out for a stroll.

After going out, A Huang returned to its previous spirited state; as soon as it stepped out of the building, it became excited and ran while howling.

"Meow-ow-ooo——meow-ow——meow-ow——"

On the fifth floor, the two women standing on the balcony were puzzled, thinking, "Isn't it said that cats who've had the surgery won't call like this anymore?"

Based on his understanding of A Huang, Zheng Tan knows that this guy is just venting the frustration from being forced to wear the Elizabethan collar and cooped up at home for several days, and at the same time calling out to other companions—nothing more.

When he reached the corner, he ran into Zhailaotaitai, who lives on the third floor of the same building; Zheng Tan and several other cats know her.

"A Huang?" Zhailaotaitai called out.

Hearing its own name, the A Huang that had been loudly howling with its tail raised suddenly fell silent, then narrowed its eyes and looked over, responding coyly with a "Meow~"

Zheng Tan: "..."

This feeling is like seeing a woman swinging her arms and scolding the street suddenly turn into a modest, lovely maiden—a huge contrast.

Continuing to jog along the familiar forest, arriving at the small woods beside the residential area, Da Pang and the Chief, who had been summoned by A Huang's cries, were already there.

Da Pang still had that half-asleep, droopy-eyed look; as for the Chief, nobody knew what he was chewing in his mouth, probably some kind of insect.

The four cats walked a bit deeper into the woods; Zheng Tan twitched his ears, and it seemed there was someone else in the forest.

Looking up, he happened to see a patch of blue on a tree ahead.

It was exactly the General. That yellow crescent-shaped mark by its mouth always made Zheng Tan feel it was grinning mischievously.

After A Huang looked up and saw the General, he opened his mouth: "Meow—"

The General on the tree, hearing the sound, glanced at the four cats below with its yellow-ringed eyes, then lifted its paw without the tracking anklet to its lips: "Shh—"

Zheng Tan: "……"

What the heck is it sneaking a look at again?

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Thanks to Gugumo Shuo, Changfeng Zhan Yueyuan, a123asdf, lazyorange for the rewards! Thanks to all readers for your ticket support~