Qu certainly saw those roaches at the door, and at the moment he spotted them, he was actually imagining the grand scene of a black cat pouncing on the cockroaches. Unfortunately, the Black Cat in front of him just calmly glanced over and then jumped onto a relatively clean chair to lie down and rest with its eyes half-closed, not even giving a second look to the still-warm taro pork ribs and sweet and sour loin on the nearby dinner table.
Mr. Qu immediately felt as if he had been choked. He glanced again at Zheng Tan, who was lying on the chair with no intention of moving, then at the food on the table without a table cover. After some thought, he decided not to bother, turned off the living room light, and shuffled into his room.
After sitting down, Qu opened a community forum and found a post he had made a few days ago, replying to a comment: "Nonsense, the old mouse in my house doesn't eat cockroaches, and the Cat I brought over doesn't even bother with them!"
Ever since he discovered there were mice in the house and his mousetrap didn't work, the first thing Qu thought of was to seek help online. Buying mouse traps and sticky mouse boards were all tips from netizens. Under the post, there was even a netizen's summary of why mice have become smarter—"Animals that have been through 'SARS' have greatly improved intelligence and vitality. Those without such smarts and survival skills were killed by humans during the 'SARS' epidemic."
So, after the sticky boards and traps failed to work, and with the premise of not buying rat poison, the most frequently mentioned solution was to find a cat. And then, there was Qu's action of borrowing a cat from the Jiao family.
Among the netizens who supported the idea of borrowing a cat, there was one who boasted about their Pet Cat and commented, "Cats are natural enemies of mice and also prey on cockroaches." Qu was now arguing with this theory.
"Otherwise, just watch. If it doesn't even care about cockroaches, that cat definitely won't catch mice, and even if it wants to, it might not be able to." the last netizen said.
"Let's wait and see!" Mr. Xiao Qu typed furiously on the keyboard, his finger strength as if he wished to poke the opponent directly.
On the other side, while Qu was arguing with someone on the forum, Zheng Tan opened his eyes and bent his paws, silently watching the sharp claws that peeked out between his fingers.
He wasn't a bit nervous about this first test of catching mice. On the contrary, Zheng Tan felt a bit of excitement, unable to explain why.
It was the same last night when he killed several lab mice in a row without feeling disgusted. Instead, a bizarre bloodthirsty excitement arose from the bottom of his heart, which he didn't usually experience. Perhaps it was because he hadn't paid much attention before, and last night's events served as a fuse that ignited the bloodthirsty factors within him.
However, this was probably due to the natural instincts of the animal body itself.
Cats are such animals that will hunt even if they're full; hunting is almost their nature, even in the seemingly mildest Pet Cats.
Just like the documentary that Jiao Yuan and the others watched a few days ago said, "In every well-fed cat lazily lying next to a stove, there lurks a tiger ready to pounce."
Taking a deep breath, Zheng Tan relaxed his paws and lay quietly with his eyes closed, but his ears were perked up, occasionally moving due to some noise, which was not caused by mice, so Zheng Tan remained still.
As time passed slowly and the night deepened, Zheng Tan didn't detect any movements from mice, but there were indeed traces of mice around, indicating that the mouse had been out recently. He wasn't in a hurry and quietly waited in the dark, cluttered living room.
With the light from the bedroom, Zheng Tan could see the entire living room clearly.
Most people in the East District Family Compound were asleep, and the surroundings were quiet. The Jiao family, over there, must have also settled down for the night. Other than the sounds of Qu typing and grumbling, there were no other movements.
Hm?
Zheng Tan's ears twitched, and his eyes shot open, his pupils dilating even more in the dark environment due to the emotion.
He silently jumped down from the chair, crouched low but moved swiftly under the cover of darkness, Zheng Tan stopped next to a stack of magazines. He had learned how to sneak and wait from the "sheriff."
In his bedroom, after finishing a game, Qu took off his headset to stretch his sore neck and just happened to see Zheng Tan silently get off the chair.
Is this it?!
Qu quickly got up from his computer chair, took out a digital camera from the drawer, paused for a moment, put down the camera, and rummaged for the DV in the cabinet. After turning on the DV, he tiptoed to the door. Unexpectedly, the sudden sound of his ringing phone startled Qu. He quickly freed one hand to answer, speaking in a hushed voice.
Zheng Tan waited in the darkness, while the mouse emerged from the study, not heading towards the kitchen. It was clear that it was familiar with the environment and the homeowner's habits. Qu seldom cooked himself, usually ordering takeout or eating at the cafeteria. Any food was kept in the bedroom or living room, and now the mouse was cautiously moving along the wall toward this spot, stopping frequently to check for danger.
This mouse was about the same size as the lab mice Zheng Tan had killed the night before, but in terms of vigilance, it was far more alert than the laboratory mice.
As it approached the bedroom door, the mouse's attention was mostly on the person inside the bedroom on the phone.
And when the mouse neared the door, Zheng Tan moved.
With a short burst of speed, like an arrow aimed straight at its prey!
The mouse only realized there was a lurking hunter when Zheng Tan rushed over! The distance back to the study was too far to seek a hiding spot. If it turned to run, it would surely be caught in a few steps, so the mouse's strategy was to dash straight into the bedroom. Qu's bedroom was slightly less messy than the living room but still chaotic, which for a mouse or a cockroach meant many possible shelters. If it made it into the bedroom, Zheng Tan wouldn't be able to catch it easily for a while.
But it didn't get the chance.
The black paw, armed with sharp claws, stepped on its tail, and before it could react, another furry paw was already pressing on its neck.
Crack!
The sound was so faint that people couldn't detect it at all.
And the mouse collapsed on the ground instantaneously without even twitching.
The entire process happened so quickly that the mouse didn't even have time to squeak.
Just as Qu was walking to the door, he felt a shadow flash by his feet, he looked down and saw a black cat, with a motionless mouse underneath its claw.
"I... crap!"
Qu almost threw the phone and DV camera he was holding straight out.
Looking at the cat, then at the mouse, and then at the DV in his hands which had been utterly useless.
"Crap!" Qu cursed again.
Is it over just like that?
Shouldn't there be a chase around the house first, playing with the prey until it's nearly dead before eating it?
Damn, I hadn't even talked for two minutes on the phone, and it's all finished here?
This kind of clean and swift paw work, what's the deal with that?!
This is... absolutely freaking awesome, is it not!
If anyone says that a cat that doesn't catch cockroaches can't catch mice, I'll get angry with them!
"Hey, Cricket, what's going on over there?" the person on the phone sensed something was off with Qu and asked.
"Screw you, big brother!" Qu hung up the phone directly and turned on the lights in the living room so he could see clearer.
Qu took down the two chopsticks that were stuck in the unfinished food container and poked the mouse with them.
It didn't move.
Is it really dead?
Feeling that the chopsticks weren't quite handy, Qu threw them away and ran to the kitchen to fetch the fire tongs that he hadn't used since he moved in. He used them to swing the mouse around to make sure it was completely dead. He then took photos with a digital camera from all angles, and quickly went back to the computer, not even playing games anymore, eagerly posting the photos on the forum and vividly describing the scene that had just happened. Many people in the replies said they didn't believe it.
A veteran cat owner posted several pictures, in which the mice were bitten into a mess, some with only incomplete limbs and tails left, and the torsos were gone.
Qu turned his head to look at the black cat in the living room, stretching lazily with no interest in looking at his prey again, and continued arguing with the people in the forum. His phone rang again, and Qu held the phone with his shoulder while typing furiously on the keyboard.
Zheng Tan made a round of the house and detected no scent of other mice, so he no longer waited around.
Just as he was about to go back to the chair for a nap, Zheng Tan moved his ears, hearing someone singing downstairs.
He stepped out of the room and came to the balcony. Filtering out the noise of Qu talking on the phone and typing, he listened carefully and finally heard it clearly.
"Last night's, ~ last night's stars, ~ have fallen~~, lost in the distant Milky Way.~~~"
Zheng Tan: "..."
That deliberately deep voice that couldn't hide its uniqueness, the vibrato sung to express the emotions of the song, when connected with this tune that was older than Zheng Tan himself...
Fuck, that cheap bird downstairs isn't sleeping in the middle of the night and is starting to sing nostalgic old songs again!