Chapter 406

Zheng Tan opened his eyes and found himself in a small room of about ten square meters, with some medical equipment inside and a faint unpleasant medicinal smell lingering around.

The only people in the room were Wei Xiao Pangzi, Er Yuan, and Er Yuan's mother; when the two children spoke, Er Yuan's mother Gong Qin kept sitting beside them reading a book on how to care for sick pets. As for Er Yuan's mention of "black mantou," it was actually a mishearing and misremembering—Er Mao had always called Zheng Tan "black coal," so Er Yuan recalled it as three characters, then after thinking a while decided it was probably "black mantou," the three characters, because he had eaten mantou that morning, which is why he directly thought of the word "mantou."

Wei Xiao Pangzi and Er Yuan were arguing whether Hei Ge's name was two or three characters; seeing Zheng Tan open his eyes, the two kids froze for a moment, then shouted loudly.

"Mom, Mom! Hei Ge woke up!"

"Dad, hurry in! Hei Ge opened his eyes!"

Wei Leng and Er Mao were talking outside; hearing the sound from inside, they opened the door and entered, looking at the cat-exclusive sickbed, where the cat on the bed was stretching its limbs and yawning.

"Yo, Hei Tan woke up." Er Mao said with a smile. After speaking, he called Xiao Guo and also notified the Jiao family.

"It's good that you woke up; once you're awake, everything's fine." Wei Leng said.

During Zheng Tan's coma, Xiao Guo had someone examine him, suspecting a cold, but strangely, after injections and medicine, his temperature returned to normal, his breathing eased, and he recovered faster than other cats; looking at him, there seemed to be no serious problem, yet Zheng Tan just wouldn't wake, as if he were deeply asleep. This state lasted a whole week of sleep, which really worried the Jiao family.

Xiao Guo also invited several experts in this field and consulted some famous veterinarians, but none could solve it. They could only wait.

Now, after learning Zheng Tan had woken, Xiao Guo brought people to give him a full checkup; the result was—everything normal, and his condition was much better than that of peers his age, whether bones or muscles, far surpassing same-aged cats. There was no sign of the "aging" they had thought.

Upon receiving the diagnosis, the Jiao family breathed a sigh of relief, but when they asked whether similar situations might recur, the pet center's doctor could not give a definite answer. Compared to humans, pet disease treatment technology and means are inherently less perfect; all kinds of situations could happen. All they could do was record this case, then discuss and study it; if they truly found no answer, they could do nothing else.

"So the best method is to pay more attention in daily life, don't let the cat get sick, so it can maintain good condition longer." Xiao Guo said to Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma.

Since everything was normal, Zheng Tan would no longer stay in the pet center "hospitalized," but directly went home with Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma.

Zheng Tan's illness lasted a week; during this week, he stayed in the pet center, and Xiao Guo had specially prepared a single ward for him, which was indeed special treatment among special treatments.

After learning Zheng Tan was ill, the Jiao family became anxious as if facing something, all self-blaming, each busy with their own matters and neglecting Zheng Tan, which led to his cold. Human colds are nothing, but animals differ—if a minor ailment isn't handled well, it becomes more dangerous, especially since Zheng Tan, in everyone's eyes, was gradually entering the "old" category.

During the "hospitalization," the Jiao family came over several times each day, keeping their phones on 24 hours to avoid missing notifications in case of sudden situations. Xiao Youzi and Jiao Yuan, one a third-year junior high student, the other a third-year senior high student, both had monthly exams at the end of November; because of Zheng Tan's matter, their exams were affected, especially Xiao Youzi—if not for Jiao Ba's urging, he would likely have missed the exam. As for Jiao Yuan, Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma originally didn't plan to tell him, but Jiao Yuan noticed something off from Jiao Ma's state, called several "ears and eyes" at the big courtyard to inquire, learned Zheng Tan was "hospitalized," and that same day took leave and rushed back.

Knowing that because of his illness "hospitalized" the Jiao family were not in good shape, Zheng Tan felt complicated inside; he roughly hadn't expected himself to have such great influence, feeling a bit guilty, yet also somewhat cheaply pleased—being valued is good. However, afterward, Zheng Tan thought he needed to be careful; there were still half a year before Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi had important exams, and during this half year he should avoid getting sick; if he must get sick, he should hold it off until after those two exams.

The Jiao family hadn't spread Zheng Tan's condition outside, but Er Mao, living in the same building, soon found out; after he knew, Wei Leng's side also learned quickly, and when they had free time they came to visit Zheng Tan several times, though Zheng Tan hadn't woken yet. Today Wei Leng got off work early, so he brought Wei Xiao Pangzi over, and Er Mao also brought Er Yuan; these two little rascals hadn't even started kindergarten, so they had plenty of time. Thus, the conversation between those two little rascals that Zheng Tan heard when he woke up occurred.

Speaking of little rascals, Zhuo Xiao Mao also somehow learned of Zheng Tan's illness through some channel, and had Xiao Zhuo take him to visit Zheng Tan at the pet center, which Zheng Tan only learned afterward.

For Zhuo Xiao Mao, who already attended elementary school, Zheng Tan couldn't just run over to chat anytime as he did when the kid was still in kindergarten; their outdoor activity time wasn't that many either, with PE class and tasks. However, Zhuo Xiao Mao told Zheng Tan his PE class schedule shortly after school started; when there was PE class, half the time was spent with the PE teacher doing gymnastics or other sports activities, the other half was free time, and Zhuo Xiao Mao would run to the wall corner to chat with Zheng Tan.

That day, Zheng Tan calculated the time and ran to a corner of the wall on the attached primary school playground, squatting there to watch those little beans being led by the PE teacher to run laps around the playground. After all, the kids were still young, not too strict; after a slow jog for a while, they rested a few minutes.

Zhuo Xiao Mao came running over, mysteriously telling Zheng Tan, to celebrate Zheng Tan's recovery and discharge, he had prepared a small handmade gift.

Upon hearing it was this kid's handmade gift, Zheng Tan's heart gave a jolt. It wasn't that he overthought; last year he received two gifts from this kid, two greeting cards, one sent during the Dragon Boat Festival, and when sending the card he even brought a bottle of grape juice. Zheng Tan thought it was for him to drink, but unexpectedly, that bottle of grape juice was used to moisten the greeting card.

Zheng Tan returned home holding a belly full of worry, poured the grape juice onto the opened greeting card, and not long after saw the large abstract-style zongzi pattern emerge in the card.

As for the second greeting card, it was sent by Zhuo Xiao Mao during the Mid-Autumn Festival; this time there was no grape juice, which was fine, but……

Zheng Tan seized a moment when no one was home, opened the greeting card in the room, then followed Zhuo Xiao Mao's instructions: holding Xiao Youzi's hair dryer on hot setting, he blew hot air onto the card for a while. After the card heated up, something appeared on it—an abstract-style mooncake painting.

Zheng Tan's mood at that time……

So now Zhuo Xiao Mao again says he wants to give Zheng Tan a self-made small gift to celebrate his recovery; Zheng Tan's moustache twitched again and again. He feared this kid would pull out another especially silly gift.

Over there the PE teacher blew his whistle to signal assembly. Zhuo Xiao Mao quickly told Zheng Tan, "The gift isn't done yet. I'll give it at Christmas," then ran off.

Zheng Tan shook his head, forget it, I won't argue with the little rascals.

Seeing the time was about right, Zheng Tan took a little stroll around the surroundings, then ran to Jiao Ba's office at the School of Life Sciences. Since this illness, Zheng Tan hasn't been as free as before; the Jiao family thinks they previously trusted Zheng Tan too much, causing this incident, and they only realized after half a day of illness; if discovered later, would something unexpected happen? The Jiao family worries.

Thus, after recovering and being confined at home for a week, plus eating a week of specially prepared nutritional meals, Zheng Tan really couldn't bear it anymore—it was too hard to eat; enduring a week was already his limit. After protesting several times, Zheng Tan ended the nutritional meal life.

However, the Jiao family feels Zheng Tan is gradually entering the "old" stage, so his diet shouldn't be the same as before; those strong-flavored, unhealthy foods for cats have been reduced, which makes Zheng Tan unaccustomed, but this is already a concession from the Jiao family; Jiao Ba even told Ye Hao, Cai Lao Ban, and Feng Bai Jin that even if Zheng Tan went back there, he shouldn't expect to eat the anticipated big meal.

Er Mao also joked that Zheng Tan just isn't hungry; if he were truly hungry, he could eat anything. Zheng Tan didn't refute, but now he isn't starving, he thought cheekily.

Actually Zheng Tan really wants to say he's quite healthy, his body strong enough to easily lift the dining table at home, but—he can't speak, and besides, the Jiao family have been frightened this time, no longer indulging Zheng Tan as before; if possible, they'd even hope Zheng Tan stays home, behaves well, only unfortunately, that's impossible.

Jiao Ba had already prepared meals; after heating them in the microwave, they became Zheng Tan's lunch.

After eating, Zheng Tan took a nap in Jiao Ba's office, then climbed out the window, intending to stretch.

It's been a long time since he went to the small woods beside the community; Zheng Tan decided to go there for a run.

He swiftly jumped, weaved through the trees, still as fast and familiar as before.

Not rusty.

Not old; Zheng Tan thought, Grandpa is still young.

After running a while, he felt his originally gloomy mood ease considerably. Zheng Tan squatted on a tree branch to rest, watching the leaves on those broadleaf trees in the woods turn yellow and swirl down with gusts of wind.

Zheng Tan recalled the scene he dreamed of during his illness and sleep; it was strange—he remembered the dream clearly after waking, and moreover, Zheng Tan gradually recalled where that scene actually was.

That place of chaotic demons dancing was a spot he used to love going to for leisure; sometimes when his mood was bad, he'd skip class, call a few good friends, and head there.

But was that really a dream?

Zheng Tan lowered his head, looked at his cat paws, and took a long breath.

Jumping down from the tree, Zheng Tan originally planned to go home and forget it, but after walking two steps he stepped on something. He pushed aside the leaves and saw a short pencil stub, still bearing the "5b" marking. Probably a student from the Fine Arts College came here to sketch and dropped it.

The higher the h value of a pencil, the harder and lighter it is; the higher the b value, the softer and darker it is. A 5b pencil suits some dark-tone drawing, and some students like to use high b-value pencils from start to finish to train their pencil control proficiency.

Zheng Tan looked at the pencil stub under his foot for half a minute, not minding the dirt on it, he held it in his mouth and ran toward the nearby school's outer wall, then in a secluded spot stepped on a tree branch, at a height of about 1.7 to 1.8 meters above the ground, grabbed the pencil, and wrote a line on the wall:

"Zheng Hei Tan was here, December 12, 2009." (To be continued…)