Chapter 96

When Zheng Tan came down from the tree, Jiao Wei looked at him with a strange expression, probably not understanding why he suddenly climbed up the tree and then peered into someone else's dormitory.

Flicking his tail, Zheng Tan also didn't care what Jiao Wei thought; after a glance, he lay down nearby and yawned.

Going further ahead, there aren't many shady spots; many student dorms were later expansions, the surrounding greenery isn't as good as the old dorm area, the trees are mostly small camphor trees, the plane trees aren't very tall either, and even if tall they aren't lush enough to block the sun.

Zheng Tan, Jiao Ba, Jiao Wei. Also maybe "Jiao Ba" is Jiao Ba.

Seeing the guide cat not moving, Jiao Wei wiped the sweat from his forehead; taking a break was fine.

In front of that dorm building there was a small on-campus convenience store; after walking so long he was a bit thirsty. Jiao Wei folded the campus map in his hand and headed toward the store, took two steps then stopped, looked back, hesitating whether to say something to that cat to have it stay put and not run around, but before he could speak he saw the cat already running toward the store.

As soon as Zheng Tan saw Jiao Wei heading that way, he knew what he was up to, so he hurried over; he was also a bit thirsty, and besides, guiding wasn't free—he ought to get something out of it.

The cat ran that way, and Jiao Wei had no choice but to follow.

At that time there were hardly any students in the supermarket; only a few staff members were chatting there, and several student couples were sitting at the milk tea area, enjoying the air conditioning.

There was no sign at the supermarket entrance prohibiting pets, so Jiao Wei didn't know whether bringing the cat inside would get him scolded, but the matter was essentially out of his control because the cat had already gone in.

A female staff member cutting watermelon at the entrance saw this human-and-cat pair. She prepared to say something but ultimately remained silent. Sometimes students also bring their pet dogs in; as long as they don't cause a bad influence, nobody usually says anything, but as for cats, they had never seen anyone bring one in before.

Seeing the cat still wearing its collar, looking quite proper, the supermarket staff glanced at it and then went back to their work; a few idle ones kept staring, which put a lot of pressure on Jiao Wei.

After going inside and taking a bottle of mineral water from the fridge, Jiao Wei didn't have anything else he wanted to buy; he was always thrifty. Looking at the cat beside him, the cat indeed seemed well-behaved—no leash needed, not running around, not scrambling on the shelves, not snatching things.

After seeing Jiao Wei take the mineral water, Zheng Tan looked toward the nearby freezer, jumped up, and looked at Jiao Wei.

"Does it want to eat ice cream?" a staff member approached. She didn't open the freezer, still wary of the cat; if the cat jumped into the freezer and was seen, those ice creams would be unsellable.

Zheng Tan looked inside through the transparent sliding door, then patted the spot where the ice cream was placed.

The staff member glanced at Jiao Wei, saw him nod, then pulled open the drawer and took out a box of two‑color ice cream.

Zheng Tan had a sense of the ice cream prices; Jiao Yuan and the others often bought them with their pocket money and would discuss the prices of various ice creams and frozen treats, so Zheng Tan had heard which brands were more expensive and which kinds of ice cream cost more.

Having gotten what he wanted, Zheng Tan jumped down from the freezer and walked toward the exit.

"Your cat is really smart," said the staff member who helped get the ice cream.

Jiao Wei twitched the corner of his mouth, only then realizing something was off: he had bought himself a one‑yuan bottle of mineral water but gave the cat a two‑yuan ice cream! He never expected himself to do such a foolish thing.

After leaving the small supermarket, they found a shaded spot with a stone bench to sit down. Jiao Wei placed the ice cream on the stone table without helping to open the lid, just wanting to see what the cat would do.

Zheng Tan didn't mind; he held the ice cream box, then bit the sealed lid and pulled it back to open it. Without using a spoon, he licked it directly with his tongue. A cat's tongue has tiny barbs, so a lick could scrape off some.

Jiao Wei choked a little, thinking, "No wonder it's the associate professor's cat—its intelligence is indeed exceptional." But… would eating ice cream give the cat diarrhea? He should mention it to Uncle Ming Sheng when they get back.

Spreading out the campus map, Jiao Wei could locate the undergraduate dormitory area, which wasn't far from here; each dorm building was marked with its number, making it easy to find—when the time comes for enrollment, he just needs to see which building he's assigned to.

Chu Hua Da Xue was indeed vast, far beyond what Jiao Wei had initially imagined. He had only heard others talk about university life before, but only after personally experiencing it did the feeling become real and stronger.

After a brief rest, Jiao Wei tentatively said a couple of things to Zheng Tan, speaking with a slightly awkward accent. Zheng Tan then followed his lead and took him to look at the buildings and teaching areas he wanted to see.

On the way back, Zheng Tan led Jiao Wei along some small paths, passing Lan Lao Tou's little flower garden. Seeing the big iron gate of the garden open, Zheng Tan poked his head inside to look, and saw Lan Lao Tou wearing a straw hat, busy at work.

Lan Lao Tou had been about to get up for a drink of water, but when he lifted his head he saw Zheng Tan peering in at the doorway; that all‑black fur was too conspicuous.

"What are you looking at, you little bastard!"

Zheng Tan flicked his ears, "And you're still a professor, opening and closing with 'little punk' and 'little bastard'!" He turned his head to look at Jiao Wei behind him, who indeed looked quite embarrassed.

Actually, Lan Lao Tou behaves this way only with people he knows well; with students and those he isn't close to, he remains relatively formal.

Zheng Tan walked two steps inside, saw Jiao Wei still standing outside, looked at him, wagged his tail, signaling him to follow.

Having thought Zheng Tan had just run out for a stroll, seeing this scene Lan Lao Tou said, "Who else is outside?"

Jiao Wei steeled himself and walked inside, looking toward the direction the voice came from, saying, "Hello, sorry to disturb you."

Lan Lao Tou frowned and asked, "Who are you?"

Jiao Wei walked over, explained his background and his relationship with Jiao Ba. Over the past few days, when they went to the Jiao family's place, he hadn't run into Lan Lao Tou, who lives on the third floor, so this was also their first meeting.

"Oh, you're a guest of Professor Ming Sheng Jiao's family—you came pretty early; registration hasn't started yet." Lan Lao Tou said, pulling out a woven fruit platter, "Just‑washed horse**."

"No thanks, I brought water…"

"Just eat it if I tell you to!" Lan Lao Tou glared, then picked a few and handed them to Zheng Tan.

Jiao Wei: "…" Why does the cat get better treatment than a person?

Sitting on the small stool beside them, Jiao Wei ate two and then stopped, feeling a bit restrained. But as Lan Lao Tou asked him one question after another, he gradually loosened up.

He hadn't interacted much with people before. One reason was the nervousness of being in a completely unfamiliar environment; another was his dialect.

No matter how grand his ambitions were when leaving that small county town, it was his first time going far from home, his first time in such a big city, and the first time everyone around him spoke something other than his hometown dialect. He felt no sense of familiarity; even when stepping off the train he still carried a hint of inferiority, and when asking for directions, those who heard his out‑of‑town accent gave him looks that meant something else.

However, the old man in front of him was also spouting sentence after sentence in his dialect. Although their dialects differed, this greatly eased Jiao Wei's tension.

Having taught for many years and seen countless students, Lan Lao Tou understood the psychology of these newcomers. "Talk more, speak up and you'll get used to it; there are plenty of students like you, so who can look down on whom?"

Middle‑school teachers must pass a Putonghua proficiency test, but university professors are not subject to such a rule, so many elderly professors have strong accents. Yet nobody dares laugh at them; they are still respected. Speaking dialect, an ordinary student and an old professor receive completely different treatment.

Zheng Tan lay beside them, half‑listening as Lan Lao Tou gave Jiao Wei a mix of sincere and teasing advice, while nibbling at the fruit platter. Only when Lan Lao Tou finished speaking did he notice that the horse** in the platter had already been reduced by half.

"Glutton!" Lan Lao Tou rolled up the newspaper in his hand and tapped Zheng Tan on the head, then said to Jiao Wei, "Young man, you're strong enough—come, give me a hand, move that flower pot down. Hey, be careful; you can hurt yourself, just don't break my flowers…"

Around five o'clock, Lan Lao Tou walked together with Zheng Tan and Jiao Wei toward the Dongqu Dayuan.

The old man swayed his small shovel in one hand while chatting with Jiao Wei beside him. Jiao Wei held a flowerpot; it wasn't heavy, easy to carry, and talking with the old man no longer felt as dull as before.

Zheng Tan had no interest in their conversation; he originally wanted to hurry back, but that didn't feel right, so he could only walk and stop intermittently, also disliking how slow the two of them were.

Along the way they also ran into some acquaintances coming out of the estate heading for the campus swimming pool; they greeted Zheng Tan, greeted Lan Lao Tou, and casually asked about Jiao Wei, to which Lan Lao Tou replied that he was just a temporarily conscripted laborer.

Jiao Wei was quite surprised at this moment; initially he thought the old man was just a gardener, seeing his plain attire similar to the white undershirts he usually wore at home, only now realizing that the old man beside him was actually a notable figure. What puzzled him most, though, was about that cat: people would greet Professor Lan when they passed by, but why did they also feel the need to call out to the cat?

"Does everyone know Hei Tan?" Jiao Wei still voiced the doubt in his mind.

"It?" Old Man Lan chuckled, "He's the tyrant of the eastern district—who in our courtyard doesn't know him? I heard that not long ago he even led our courtyard's cats to fight with the western district's cats, and now the western district's cats dare not come to our eastern district courtyard..."

This actually wronged Zheng Tan; at that time it was the western district's cats that started it. That evening he was playing with Da Pang and A Huang in the courtyard when several cats from the western district came over, still quite fierce, and one even climbed over the balcony to steal Da Pang's food— isn't that courting death?

Although we already knew the cats from both sides would fight, I didn't expect them to be so bold as to come right to our door; even the neutered A Huang was angry. That day they directly gave the few western cats that had come over a beating, and then chased them all the way back to the western district's lair.

Actually, those few cats from the western district should consider themselves lucky; that day the several dogs in the courtyard were all taken out for a walk, and the 'General' wasn't home either— otherwise their fate would have been much worse.

However, matters between cats are best settled by the cats themselves.

"Whether cat or human, being accepted by everyone still depends on one's own ability," Old Man Lan said.

PS:

Thanks to Taiyi Qingxuan for the grand award!

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