Strange Life of a Cat-Chapter 178 - You Dare to Pretend with Me
Chapter 178: Chapter 178: You Dare to Pretend with Me!
Chapter 178 -178: You Dare to Pretend with Me!
Zheng Tan looked in the direction of the voice. The streetlight didn’t cause much disturbance to his vision, and after a careful look, he was sure he had never seen this person before. The three cats blocking the way were obviously with this person, but the big question was, what did this person mean by coming here late at night with three cats, specifically waiting here? It wasn’t a group fight; there was no murderous intent. Moreover, how did this person find out his name?
Although Zheng Tan didn’t feel any hostility from this person or the three cats, he still remained highly vigilant. The person looked a bit odd, and so did the three cats; they were different from the cats Zheng Tan usually encountered in the neighborhood.
Zheng Tan and the man sized each other up while Zheng Tan pondered whether he should just ignore them and run home.
“Long time no see,” the man said again.
Zheng Tan looked up. Long time no see, my ass!
“Or should I call you BlackC?” The man’s tone was very casual, as if just making small talk.
The man said a few more sentences, but Zheng Tan didn’t want to deal with him, nor did he want to meet the man’s gaze. He always felt as if the man could see something through his eyes. Zheng Tan was uncomfortable.
Just as he was about to step away and run, he heard the man say, “Let’s start with some introductions. Come on, Gui Yuan, you first.”
With that, the man snapped his fingers.
The cat in the middle, white with a black tail and looking very prim and proper, let out a “meow.”
“Lianzi,” the man said next.
“Meow~” The tabby cat squatting on the right side closest to the curb called out. This tabby’s fur was the same as Da Pang’s, but unlike Da Pang, this tabby seemed to be slimmer and appeared well-behaved, not the dazed look of someone suffering from chronic sleep deprivation and uninterested in everything like Da Pang.
“Babao,” said the man.
The cat squatting on the far left, whose tail kept swishing as if it were holding back some energy, opened its mouth.
“Meow-wow-wow-wow-wow—”
Zheng Tan: “…”
“Alright, Babao, pipe down.”
The man snapped his fingers again, and the cat named Babao immediately stopped its noise, looked at the man, and flicked its tail.
“Lastly, let me introduce myself. My name is Ah Wu.” The man raised his hand to tip the brim of his cap and looked at Zheng Tan, about to speak when he suddenly turned his gaze towards the end of the road.
The three cats squatting in place twitched their ears and prepared to turn around and look back when a shadow dashed forward, leaped over the three cats blocking the path, and pounced towards the man named Ah Wu.
Ah Wu dodged nimbly, looking at the cat in front of him that bared its teeth and growled as if ready to pounce again and launch a fierce attack. Not only was he not angry, but he also chuckled and said, “Yo, Fatty, you live here, eh?”
Zheng Tan watched Da Pang, his fur almost exploding in ferocity as he growled fiercely at Ah Wu, and felt astonished. He rarely saw Da Pang in such a state, except for a few times with thieves and cat traders, and even then it wasn’t as intense as this moment, as if facing an arch-enemy.
Looking at Ah Wu and the three cats, then at Da Pang, Zheng Tan became even more confused. Did all these cats know each other? Ah Wu clearly knew Da Pang, and after his initial attack upon arrival, Da Pang remained highly vigilant, growling on the side.
“Click, click, it’s been over a year, and you’ve gotten fatter,” Ah Wu said, eyeing Da Pang. He seemed utterly unbothered by Da Pang’s threatening growl and said leisurely, “Haven’t you had enough of squatting on instant noodles?”
Zheng Tan was surprised again. Not many people knew about Da Pang being punished by squatting on instant noodles, and Da Pang’s grandma never spoke of it to outsiders. Since this person knew, he must indeed be an old acquaintance of Da Pang’s.
“Anyway, I’ve achieved my goal for today. Heitan, we’re now acquainted, I’ll come find you some other time when I’m free.” After a pause, Ah Wu said regretfully, “Who trained you to be like this? I’d really like to meet them.”
With that, the man snapped his fingers again, “Gui Yuan, Lianzi, Babao, let’s go!”
The three cats blocking the road quickly followed. Babao seemed ready to go over and greet Da Pang, but with Da Pang still in a state of high alert, his gaze fixed firmly on the departing Ah Wu, he paid no attention to Babao.
Zheng Tan glanced around, climbed up a sycamore tree, and watched Ah Wu and the three cats leave into the distance. Gui Yuan stood beside the sidewalk closely following Ah Wu, Lianzi jumped onto Ah Wu’s shoulder and laid there, occasionally stretching a paw to hook Ah Wu’s felt hat, and as for Babao, that guy was full of energy, treating the falling leaves as imaginary enemies and pouncing all over the place.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.
What a strange combination.
Big Fatty had stopped shouting, but his ears were still slightly pressed back, his body slightly hunched, staring in the direction Ah Wu had gone. Was he really frightened?
After Ah Wu had left and was no longer in sight, Zheng Tan jumped down from the tree, gave Big Fatty a pat, and beckoned him to return to the courtyard. It was probably the cry of the cat called Babao that had prompted Big Fatty to run out from his home’s balcony. If Big Fatty recognized them and had come following the sound, it made sense. Besides, Babao’s cries were so distinctive, not as haunting as Zheng Tan’s wails, but dramatic enough.
Because of the encounter with Ah Wu, Zheng Tan spent the whole night guessing who Ah Wu could be. He knew Big Fatty and had made a special trip to find Zheng Tan, but for what purpose?
The next day, Ermao was probably still asleep at home after playing out late last night; Zheng Tan didn’t see his house door open. Big Fatty was still lying on his balcony but seemed a bit jumpy. Zheng Tan grew even more curious about what could have frightened him so much that he was still in that state after seeing Ah Wu the night before.
After dinner that evening, Zheng Tan habitually went for a walk outside. The daylight hours were getting longer, and temperatures were rising, so many people went out at night, and Zheng Tan liked to stroll around as well.
The sun hid behind tall buildings, and the sky still retained a glow from the sunset, while people from the courtyard began to emerge for their post-dinner walks.
Zheng Tan twitched his ears—the sheriff was outside fighting with cats from the West District again. He was about to go over and check on the fight when he sensed something and turned his head to look at a cluster of greenery to the side. There stood a cat named Gui Yuan, looking at Zheng Tan.
Zheng Tan looked around but didn’t see that person called Ah Wu, nor the other two cats.
Gui Yuan walked towards Zheng Tan, stopping half a meter away, then looked at Zheng Tan before heading in a certain direction. After a few steps, Gui Yuan looked back at Zheng Tan, indicating for Zheng Tan to follow.
After weighing the decision in his mind, Zheng Tan still followed. Although he was unsure what Gui Yuan would lead him to, he wasn’t too worried as long as he was still within the premises of Chuhua University. In his mind, Zheng Tan had already regarded the university’s area as his own territory.
Gui Yuan took a path Zheng Tan was familiar with; he often traveled this way himself. Fewer people walked here—it was a somewhat secluded path, with trees on both sides. There was a small bamboo grove ahead, the bamboo on either side of the path arching overhead at three meters to form a gateway. Under this archway was one of the university’s common long wooden benches. During summer days, people often rested here in the shade, and students practiced guitar or recited English vocabulary. But at night, it felt rather eerie, as the street lights only lit up a small area beneath the arch, not enough to illuminate someone sitting on the bench. Even with the afterglow of the sunset, it was difficult to see under the arch, and very few people walked this way at that time.
This is where Gui Yuan led Zheng Tan.
An object flew out from under the arch, and simultaneously, a figure burst out from there, brushing past Zheng Tan and Gui Yuan without stopping, focused solely on the object that had been thrown.
Zheng Tan recognized Babao from the day before, leaping to catch a small flying disc.
Babao ran with the frisbee toward the arched doorway, giving Zheng Tan only a glance as he passed by before continuing to run back.
Sitting under the archway on a bench was Ah Wu, with the tabby cat Lianzi lying beside him. Gui Yuan came over and jumped next to Lianzi, squatting down with an air of seriousness.
“We meet again.”
Ah Wu greeted Zheng Tan, then took the frisbee Babao had retrieved, patted Babao’s head with a few compliments, and then threw the frisbee out again. Babao quickly turned and ran out to catch it. This frisbee was smaller and softer, which made it easier for Babao to catch and didn’t hurt his teeth.
After throwing the frisbee, Ah Wu looked down at Zheng Tan squatting a couple of steps away, patted the empty space on the bench, and said, “Come on over, let’s chat.”
Zheng Tan stayed put. He wouldn’t foolishly get that close when he hadn’t figured out the situation thoroughly.
Ah Wu then took out some food, but Zheng Tan paid it no attention.
After dividing the food among his three cats, Ah Wu brushed off the crumbs from his hands and looked toward the Black Cat still standing alert. He had known from the first meeting yesterday that he couldn’t approach it in the usual way, so he hadn’t brought out many cat-teasing items. With Big Fatty stirring things up, he decided to leave it alone for now.
“You can understand what I’m saying, right?” Ah Wu suddenly spoke up.
Zheng Tan averted his gaze, avoiding direct eye contact with Ah Wu.
“It seems you really can understand,” Ah Wu remarked, somewhat moved. Although he kept a composed face, Ah Wu was far more excited on the inside. The Leopard Cat owned by Anna had been trained by him, and when he heard that the Leopard Cat had been soundly defeated by a Black Cat yesterday, his curiosity was piqued. After some investigation, his interest only grew. He had even bought the cat food advertised by BlackC, and his visit was actually just to see how well this cat had been trained. Ah Wu didn’t believe the Black Cat was naturally gifted; he considered it to be the achievement of a skilled Cat Tamer. As a Cat Tamer who prided himself on his abilities, Ah Wu seldom encountered a worthy opponent.
Ah Wu spoke some more, asked a few questions, but Zheng Tan just stood there, showing no reaction to Ah Wu’s words. And that statement by Ah Wu, “It seems you really can understand”, had scared Zheng Tan. But Zheng Tan decided to play dumb all the way; no matter what you say, I’ll pretend not to understand anything.
After talking to himself for a while, Ah Wu fell silent for two minutes. He threw the frisbee brought back by Babao once more and then tranquilly said, “When I was a kid, I saw my Master scolding his cat, and yet his cat would look innocent and confused. I told my Master, ‘They don’t understand anyway, and all this talking is a waste of breath.’ My Master scoffed and said, ‘It understands, it may even comprehend every word I just said, and has it recorded in its mind, it’s just pretending not to know anything’.”
With that, Ah Wu looked toward Zheng Tan, thinking: Kid, you think you can fool me!
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian.com with your recommendation and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
