Chapter 94

In mid-August, a rain fell, lowering the temperature considerably; however, as soon as the weather cleared, the temperature would rise rapidly. So many people took advantage of the still-cool weather to go out and have fun.

After dinner, Zheng Tan was again picked up by Wei Leng to go to Ye Lou. Basically, unless they were going to discuss matters, if it was just for fun, Wei Leng would drive over to pick Zheng Tan up; otherwise, he would be bored alone, and Ye Lou is a somewhat sensitive place, not suitable to call comrades over.

This time Wei Leng came over, and Zheng Tan actually learned a few things from him.

According to Wei Leng, the big cat was named 'Jueye' by Ye Hao's son; although Ye Hao opposed the name, his son liked it and his father-in-law also liked it, so the name stuck, and whenever they called 'Jueye,' the cat responded enthusiastically.

Zheng Tan felt considerable envy, jealousy, and hatred about that.

Why is it that everyone around has titles like 'General,' 'Prince,' 'Li Yuanba,' and now even 'Jueye,' yet I have to be called 'Hei Tan'?

It's utterly fucked up!

On the way to Ye Lou, Wei Leng briefly talked about the big cat; I heard that after staying at the villa for a while, 'Jueye' was taken over by Tang Qiye for use, because the next day 'Nineteenth Uncle' would bring his own super cat to visit.

The big cat earned the name 'Jueye' from that battle the next day; Wei Leng wasn't clear on the details, as he was at the company then, so he only knew that in the end 'Jueye' emerged victorious, and the whole process took less than a minute—a truly overwhelming victory.

During that period, Tang Qiye laughed so hard he couldn't close his mouth; the two gray parrots he raised stopped plucking their feathers, and after getting along with 'Jueye' for a while, their relationship was pretty good—sometimes Tang Qiye would let the two gray parrots out, and they'd just hop around beside 'Jueye,' which didn't bite them, allowing them to play nearby.

When Tang Qiye called Ye Hao, he said, 'This cat is good! Keep it!'

Ye Hao felt helpless; everyone around was addressed as 'Ye'.

Ye Hao didn't need to bother; Tang Qiye had already taken care of all the paperwork. If anyone asked, he could produce a certificate for an imported 'super cat,' detailing its birth clearly.

No matter what, that big cat has now found a place to stay, and it truly lives under the sun. It can bask in the sunlight without restraint, without needing to hide from people or worry about being caught—it's no waste that it saved Ye Hao, and perhaps from that time on, it started scheming.

Li Yuanba, after wandering, managed to find a suitable place to stay, and he is smart too. Sometimes Ye Hao's son even brings the big cat to visit its mate—no need to sneak around anymore.

When going to Ye Lou, Zheng Tan still first went to see A Jin and the others; today A Jin and the others were off, so Wei Leng took Zheng Tan to their rented place, where Zheng Tan again saw the lame dog. Compared to last time, it was much healthier, its fur had gained some shine; hearing someone approach, it barked 'woof woof' twice, then after seeing Zheng Tan and Wei Leng, it wagged its tail and lay down beside A Jin.

Now A Jin and the others have also learned many things they hadn't been exposed to before, understanding how to live better here; any place has its survival rules, and if you grasp them, things go more smoothly.

After gaining experience serving dishes and watching the resident singers' bands, they will be scheduled for a northern district slot in September—not long, but it's a good start; all five cherish it and rehearse whenever they have time.

A Jin named their band 'newboy,' which Zheng Tan thought was incredibly cool, with the abbreviation 'nb'.

Furthermore, A Jin designed a team emblem—a black cat pattern—believing that their perseverance to today, getting through that hurdle, relied entirely on that cat, so the emblem received unanimous approval from all five members.

After seeing A Jin and the others, they went to Wei Leng's private room at Ye Lou; Wei Leng also invited A Jin and the five of them to come over. This time Zheng Tan didn't howl, but just watched the live performance.

Today, a famous foreign band performed at Ye Lou's East Palace; indeed, one can often find truly good music in such nightclubs, and even though Zheng Tan doesn't know much about this, the playing technique was indeed astonishing.

Only when Wei Leng brought Zheng Tan over could A Jin and the others possibly be invited along to listen to the performance. And each time Wei Leng brought Zheng Tan over, Long Qi basically never showed a trace of himself. That guy now has an aversion to cats; after meeting Zheng Tan and Jueye, he feels that all cats in the world are somewhat abnormal, so Long Qi is often teased by Baizi and the others for being neurotic.

The East Palace nightclub runs past midnight, with the exact time depending on the situation. Zheng Tan didn't go back tonight either; he sprawled on the sofa and slept through the night. Wei Leng wanted to sleep on the sofa, but Zheng Tan kicked him off, and Zheng Tan always monopolizes the whole sofa for himself.

The next day, after breakfast, Wei Leng sent Zheng Tan back to Dongqu Dayuan, just as before—Wei Leng didn't go upstairs, knowing he'd get the cold shoulder from those two kids, so it was better not to; he simply drove to the estate, opened the window to let Zheng Tan jump out, then drove away.

After returning home, Zheng Tan found the door open and there were guests.

He glanced toward the living room and saw two strangers sitting on the sofa: a middle-aged man and a relatively younger one, both dressed plainly. The middle-aged man was talking with Jiao Ba, while the younger man sitting beside him was more silent, head down, only occasionally answering Jiao Ba's questions. When Jiao Ba spoke to them, he carried a slight accent—this was also to accommodate them, speaking in dialect to be more cordial.

Jiao Ma put the washed grapes on the coffee table, then went to Jiao Yuan's room to urge him to write English words. Many primary-to-middle-school kids attend English cram classes during this summer vacation, but the Jiao family has Jiao Ma and Xiao Youzi, so Jiao Yuan doesn't need to attend any cram class; he had played hard earlier in the vacation. Now he is kept at home to study English every day, and sometimes he practices simple dialogues with Xiao Youzi.

Jiao Wei had been staring at his fingernails, thinking, but after the grapes were placed in front of him, he prepared to take two to eat; then, upon looking up, he saw the black cat stretching its neck to look this way from the entryway, and his hand reaching for the grapes froze.

Jiao Ba noticed Jiao Wei's oddity and followed his gaze toward the doorway.

"Hei Tan is back." Jiao Ba said.

Zheng Tan lazily flicked his tail, then headed straight for Xiao Youzi's room. Since grapes were placed here, they must also be placed in Xiao Youzi's room.

"Our cat is named Hei Tan; someone took him out to play last night, and he just came back." Jiao Ba introduced them.

Zheng Tan was in Xiao Youzi's room, nibbling on grapes while listening to the conversation in the living room outside; although the dialect made it somewhat hard to follow, he could still grasp the general gist.

Those two are Jiao Ba's fellow townspeople; although they share the surname Jiao, they have no direct blood relation with Jiao Ba, and most people in their hometown share that surname. The middle-aged man got along well with Jiao Ba in childhood, being only a few years older; after finishing junior high he stopped studying, married earlier than Jiao Ba, so his children are five or six years older than Jiao Yuan.

If he hadn't heard them speak, Zheng Tan would never have guessed that the middle-aged man was only a few years different in age from Jiao Ba; he looked like he was in his late forties to nearly fifty, with plenty of white hair, yet he had just turned forty.

That young man, named Jiao Wei, is the one Jiao Ba and Jiao Ma mentioned earlier who, from an ordinary high school in the town, got admitted to Chu Hua Da Xue; it is said the town's schools even awarded him twenty thousand yuan to cover his tuition, so he doesn't need a student loan.

However, listening to the outside discussion now, it doesn't seem to be merely about the children.

The middle-aged man plans to open a small home-style restaurant near Chu Hua Da Xue; back in his hometown, ever since their child entered high school, they stopped farming, and the couple opened a restaurant in town while also looking after the child. Now the child is away at university, the couple only has this one son, they are reluctant to let him go, so they consider bringing all their savings here to rent a shopfront. However, when they arrived they saw that businesses around the school seem to be doing decently, not easy to break into, so for now they are just asking Jiao Ba for advice, since Jiao Ba is more familiar with the area.

Jiao Ba agreed to this matter as well; he will first inquire about the surrounding situation, then tell them.

After eating lunch, the father and son left; they had rented a place near the side gate, which Zheng Tan knew was an area with poor security, but as long as they didn't go out at night it was okay, given the low rent. The father and son rented a small single room and paid one month's rent.

At this point not many people have come to rent rooms yet; but in another week the numbers will increase, and when school is about to start, it will be parents accompanying their children to university—various guesthouses, hotels, and private rentals will be fully booked, and rents will uniformly rise.

After the father and son departed, Jiao Ba sighed for a long time, "Time waits for no one, it makes us old!"

"I see that Jiao Wei already has white hair; although his senior year studies are stressful, it shouldn't be this bad, right?" Jiao Ma sighed.

"He says it's hereditary; I don't know the facts. Before, that child didn't understand things; only in his second year of high school did he start to apply himself. I don't know what he went through, but he became somewhat silent, yet he also became sensible, studying diligently, and sometimes he still helps stir-fry dishes at the shop. His mother says not to let him into the kitchen, and older folks still think a gentleman should stay away from the stove, so his father had no choice. But that child is stubborn; sometimes after evening study he still goes to the shop to help set up a stall selling fried noodles, and whenever he gets a rare holiday he also helps his father buy vegetables, saying it can relax his mind." Jiao Ba said.

"Kids are like that; when they can't turn the corner they can drive you mad, but once they do, they make you feel sorry for them. However, this young man needs to be tempered."

While Jiao Yuan was sitting in his room writing vocabulary, a chill ran down his back and he wrote a word incorrectly.

"Are you willing to let go?" Jiao Ba laughed.

"Nothing to be reluctant about."

They say that, but the couple both know they themselves probably couldn't be harsh. In fact, who among Jiao Wei's parents could really be hard-hearted? Yet facing Jiao Wei's stubborn temperament, they can't muster any force.

"If we can help, we should help." (To be continued...)

ps: 【The following is not counted toward v chapters】

Made up the second update for the 15th. Both updates have been completed.

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