Chapter 68

Get out!

Along with that "Get out," a pen holder on the desk by the window was also thrown out, to smash the cat.

But the four cats dodged so quickly that the pen holder, together with the pens inside, fell to the ground.

The window over there was pulled with a "snap" sound, the curtain was drawn to the top, and no view inside could be seen any longer.

Zheng Tan watched the drawn curtain there, feeling a bit disappointed; he had been looking just fine and didn't expect to be discovered.

Shaking his head, Zheng Tan turned to leave, but saw A Huang walk over, look at a marker that had fallen from the pen holder onto the floor, lift a paw and flick it, then suddenly hop around the marker like a kangaroo a few times, roll onto the ground, and fiddle with it as if he'd found a new toy. The Jingzhang, watching from nearby, joined after a moment and played with the pen together with the goofy A Huang.

Zheng Tan sighed, saying that these cats had no idea what they'd just seen; to them, a live‑action "action movie" was less appealing than a broken marker.

Lying on the grass soaking up the sun, Zheng Tan jumped onto a tree, perched on a branch waiting for Jiao Ma and the others to return at noon. Although he now had his access card again, no one was home, and Zheng Tan didn't want to stay alone. After being out in the wild for over a month, it still affected him; he couldn't sit still at home.

In the afternoon he still had to go to Xiao Guo's place; Xiao Guo had only learned yesterday that Zheng Tan was back and said he was preparing to come over today to take Zheng Tan somewhere.

Since Zheng Tan had been away for over a month, the pet commercial at Xiao Guo's side reportedly wasn't going smoothly. Xiao Guo was used to Zheng Tan's high efficiency; when other cats filled in, Xiao Guo's mouth foamed with frustration. The other staff also seemed ready to smash the equipment. This time they truly understood the helplessness of those who shoot animal movies.

Sometimes, smashing food isn't enough to make animals obey; a tiny other factor during filming can ruin all effort. As Xiao Guo's standards for the commercial rose, the cats in the shop could no longer meet the new benchmark. The bar being so high meant that whenever Zheng Tan was absent, Xiao Guo had to spend more time, more energy, and more money to produce an equally good ad.

The good news is that most of the time it's now picture‑based; the video version can't be shown, and there's no need to spend a fortune on it. Many who know Xiao Guo ask why there's no video version. Xiao Guo's answer: the "star cat" was taken back by its owner, and he can't say when there will be another.

When he learned Zheng Tan was back, Xiao Guo almost rushed straight to Dongqu Dayuan, but he had too many things on his hands, so it was delayed a day.

Jiao Ma had no class in the afternoon. She took a leave, came back, and personally escorted Zheng Tan over. Xiao Guo said Zheng Tan should get used to it first, and also have a thorough health check.

When the cat first returned, Jiao Ma saw that it looked much the same as when it left over a month ago, ate a lot, and apart from some excitement showed no abnormality; it was energetic, had no external injuries, its temperature was normal, and after being outside with Fang Shaokang and the others for so long, Jiao Ma hadn't heard Fang Shaokang mention any illness, so she didn't send her cat to Xiao Guo. After all, once sent over, the cat would likely be busy again; having heard a bit about Xiao Guo's situation, Jiao Ma didn't want to be reluctant to let her cat go, so she thought of delaying a few more days, not expecting news to arrive there so quickly.

It had been a long time since he'd been to the pet center; Zheng Tan hadn't seen "Li Yuanba" or "Peanut Candy", and heard they had just gone out for a walk not long ago.

After a checkup confirmed Zheng Tan was healthy, Jiao Ma felt relieved, and they went together to the advertising studio, sitting on the side to watch Xiao Guo and the others film.

The people in the studio treated Zheng Tan as if he were a savior; over the past month each shoot had been a torment, and without comparison they couldn't see the difference. Previously they thought this ordinary black cat was only slightly smarter than other cats and had no special traits, but a month's experience taught them that notion was wildly wrong.

Jiao Ma sat beside them, watching the staff's expressions upon seeing her cat and their unabashed praise, smiling proudly.

Today they only did a simple activity to let Zheng Tan adjust a bit; from now on they'll come once every two weeks, and Xiao Guo will call the Jiao family in special cases.

Logically, advertising doesn't require such frequent shoots—one or two would suffice—but Xiao Guo has his own plans. Zheng Tan doesn't mind; idle time is idle time, and he can earn some pocket money.

After leaving the pet center, Jiao Ma didn't go straight home; she took Zheng Tan to the affiliated hospital.

Next to the affiliated hospital is a residential area housing nearby teachers, hospital doctors, and some renting students; however, rent here is a bit high, so there aren't many students—those who are present either come from well‑off families or are graduate students at Chu Hua Da Xue.

At this moment, it's room 302 on the third floor of the affiliated hospital's residential complex.

Bai Yang, a third‑year graduate student in the Management School of Chu Hua Da Xue, was writing a thesis on his computer; after internships and market research he had a lot of data to process, and he hoped to quickly compile several reports. After graduation, those reports and papers published in foreign journals would become his personal "business cards" in society, so he and his peers were working feverishly.

While Bai Yang was typing his thesis, a cat jumped onto the desk.

The cat had a yellow back and tail with tiger‑striped markings, a white belly, and was about eight months old.

The cat meowed twice, but Bai Yang kept staring at the computer and ignored it.

Seeing Bai Yang ignore it, it crouched at the edge of the desk, looked at him, then glanced at some items on the desktop.

There was a pen.

It lifted a paw and flicked.

Clack!

The 2B pencil fell to the floor, and its sharpened tip broke.

The cat tilted its head, glanced at the fallen pencil, then withdrew its attention and kept looking at the desk.

There was an eraser.

It lifted a paw and flicked.

The eraser performed a flat toss, flying off the desk edge.

Watching the eraser bounce twice on the floor, the cat again turned its gaze to other items on the desk.

Next to it sat a cup of coffee, still warm, half‑drunk.

The cat approached, sniffed the rim of the cup, showed no interest, then shifted attention to the computer, watching the cursor move; it lifted a paw toward the screen, pawing at the cursor.

Bai Yang pushed it aside, saying, "Stop messing around, go play by yourself," and then continued organizing his thesis.

But the cat didn't give up so easily. It kept pressing the keyboard and blocking the screen. Bai Yang had no choice; he scooped it off the desk and said, "Go to your nest and sleep!"

Meow—

The cat crouched on the floor; seeing Bai Yang still ignore it, it meowed twice without response, circled to the other side of the desk, jumped up. There was a piggy bank there, and next to it a wooden pen holder, with only a mouse‑width gap between them. The cat, instead of going around, squeezed through the gap, toppling the pen holder, then sauntered over to Bai Yang.

On the opened notebook lay a ball‑point pen. The cat stared at the pen for two seconds, lifted a paw, and flicked.

Clack!

The pen fell to the floor.

Bai Yang finished processing the data in Excel and was about to record it in the notebook, but found the pen missing; looking at the floor he saw the pen, the eraser, and some plush ornaments that had been tossed there at an unknown time.

He sighed, bent down from his computer chair, and picked up the pen.

Seeing this, the cat perched on the desk edge, stretched an arm, and with a bent paw scratched the hair on the back of Bai Yang's head.

"Have you had enough of your antics!" Bai Yang shouted as he stood up.

"Meow~"

"Meow what the heck!" Bai Yang rubbed his forehead, already regretting agreeing to help Li Xiaoqian with the cat.

The cat is named Dioudiou, a name given by Li Xiaoqian.

Dioudiou was probably a cat abandoned by students on campus; when Li Xiaoqian found Dioudiou, it was splashed with soy milk, covered in dust, skinny, hunchbacked, pitifully crouching on the lawn, trembling a couple of times when the wind blew, and would bolt away like startled if anyone approached. After Li Xiaoqian fed it a few times, she gradually became familiar with it and eventually took it home.

Because Jiao Ma was hospitalized, Li Xiaoqian often helped care for her; during the subsequent follow‑up visits Jiao Ma made to the hospital, Li Xiaoqian also assisted, and since Jiao Ba and Li Xiaoqian's mentor were fairly familiar, Jiao Ma had a good impression of the medical school girl, would chat when they met, learned that she had rescued a cat, and had seen Dioudiou a few times.

Two weeks ago Li Xiaoqian went abroad to study with her mentor, leaving Bai Yang to look after the cat. Then Bai Yang's miserable life began.

During the first two days after arriving, Dioudiou behaved very obediently and didn't run around, but after getting familiar, it completely changed.

It would smash cups, scratch sheets, and cause chaos everywhere. The good thing is the cat hardly meows, probably because it's neutered. It also doesn't run out; even if the door is opened it stays inside, likely scared of the outside.

After Dioudiou got familiar with the environment, it was curious about everything in the house; when Bai Yang poured a cup of coffee, it would come over to sniff. Though it didn't lick, its whiskers touched the inside, and two short cat hairs floated on the coffee surface, making Bai Yang unable to drink. Moreover, it would paw at the coffee cup; if Bai Yang weren't quick, the cup would suffer a free‑fall sacrifice.

Even if Bai Yang himself breaks a cup lid, Li Xiaoxian will complain—yet this cat has already knocked over three cups in just two weeks, and although Li Xiaoxian never mentions it when they chat online, now that they finally have time for an overseas video call, the cat still hijacks the call.

As for sharpening its claws, heh, besides the scratching post it doesn't touch, it claws everything—curtains, bed sheets, duvet covers, sofas, clothes, and even the jeans Bai Yang is wearing now, leaving threads and holes from its claws.

At night, when he tries to sleep, he's woken up in the middle of the night by pressure. Pressure on the chest easily causes nightmares, and when Bai Yang wakes, he sees a lump on his chest. Sometimes the cat will dive straight under the covers—though just getting under the covers would be bad enough—it keeps fussing, burrowing from the head of the bed to the foot, from left to right, only settling down to sleep after a long while.

What annoys Bai Yang the most is, damn it, even when he tries to watch a movie at night, the cat lies on his leg—how is anyone supposed to masturbate?!

Even if you could, go ahead and try—given the cat's temperament, it will definitely come over and swipe a paw at you…

They say when a cat feels lonely it will come over on its own to snuggle up to you, which sounds lovely, but the problem is, when the cat is lonely Bai Yang himself is busy to the point of distraction, watching the cat create all kinds of trouble right in front of him, and he wishes he could smack it with two slaps. But he can't, because he promised Li Xiaoxian he'd take good care of the cat.

Li Xiaoxian said, Associate Professor Jiao's cat is well-behaved and obedient, sensible and considerate; even when Teacher Gu is sick, it knows to go visit, and every day it helps pick up and drop off the children.

But there is a kind of cat in the world called 'someone else's cat.' (To be continued…)

PS: I went out to a meeting on Saturday, so the update time is off—sorry, everyone, I'll make it up today.