Every day, when you do the same things, you feel like time flies by.
Zheng Tan went for a run every morning, climbed stairs, climbed trees, practiced jumping...
The calendar on the Jiao family's wall had already been flipped to November. It was only when Zheng Tan saw the calendar on the wall that he realized so much time had passed. Since he had arrived here, five months had gone by.
Zheng Tan bent his palm, and sharp claws peeked through his fingers. To the untrained eye, these pointed claws looked no different from those of any other cat, but Zheng Tan knew that his claws were gradually changing, at least different from they were two months ago. He hadn't deliberately sharpened his claws nor trimmed them. As they grew a bit, they would wear down during training, and then grow and wear down again.
Cat claws really are a miraculous thing, sharp, tough, and retractable. Some say that a cat's claws are like a multi-purpose Swiss Army knife that a person carries around. And Zheng Tan, who trained continuously, aimed to make his own "knife" even sharper and tougher.
Zheng Tan knew he was different from other cats. He had heard Mr. Jiao mention that cats are not sensitive to sweet tastes, but Zheng Tan could clearly sense them, and he could eat many things that other cats couldn't, and they tasted quite good to him; then there's the ongoing debate about whether cats are color blind—Zheng Tan didn't know about others, but at least he could distinguish various colors clearly.
Then there were the claws. Even with constant training, other cats' strength did not increase dramatically, nor did their claws undergo a substantial transformation. However, aside from that, Zheng Tan hadn't undergone any other unusual changes. Even though his strength now nearly matched his adult human state, he wasn't becoming more human-like; even though he was trained like a monkey to climb trees and leap through the branches, he wasn't turning into a monkey.
Was he to live this way forever?
While running, Zheng Tan pondered these things in his mind. His running speed had already elevated to a new level, and he could even afford to think about other things while running without feeling breathless, only perhaps a bit mentally exhausted. After running, a little rest would suffice.
After completing two laps, he arrived at a forested area on the edge of the school, larger than the one near the East Family Courtyard and less trafficked since it was a bit further from the teaching area. Near the forest, the school had demolished a section of "historically old" red-brick houses to build a new dormitory area as student numbers had grown due to expanded enrollment policies, and the existing dorm buildings were no longer enough.
Thus, apart from some construction workers and engineering vehicles in this area, no one else would use this remote side gate of the campus, and the roads were covered with dust and soil, discouraging students and school staff who drove personal cars from passing through.
So, Zheng Tan often came here to practice tree climbing after his runs during this period. The forest was quiet, and even if he did anything unusual, he wouldn't be discovered.
Wei Leng had recently been helping his senior brother with a matter, and since that case wasn't resolved yet, Zheng Tan often found himself running and climbing trees solo. As for the cats from the East Family Courtyard, Zheng Tan had given up on the idea of calling them to train together after the first day.
After resting a bit following his run, Zheng Tan started his daily tree-climbing training. Another benefit of training here was that the trees in this forest were generally thicker, which made them good for climbing.
Zheng Tan agilely jumped onto a locust tree, scratching his claws on the trunk to limber them up. Then he chose a branch thick enough to support his weight, tilted his body, and slid to the back side of the branch, his front and back claws tightly clinging to the trunk to keep from falling.
He took a deep breath, released his hind legs, and held onto the trunk with just his front paws, his claws firmly embedded in it, then he slowly moved toward the treetop. When he was almost at the end, he swung his body and gripped the branch with all four limbs to flip back to the front of the branch.
He looked around, chose a branch with a suitable distance and thickness, Zheng Tan prepared to jump, leapt onto that branch, then began to repeat the process.
When Wei Leng first mentioned this training method, Zheng Tan was puzzled. He was now a cat, not a monkey. Why was he training for this?
At that time, Wei Leng saw the doubt in Zheng Tan's eyes. He didn't explain directly but asked, "Do you think you can't do it, or do you think no cat can do it? I can tell you for sure that I've seen a cat that, when running through the forest, could move more nimbly than a monkey, leaping from one branch to another, from one tree to another, and, ever since it learned to climb, it spent most of its time in the trees. Sometimes, for cats, trees are like life-saving straws."
And so, Zheng Tan began his monkey-like tree climbing training. Perhaps eventually, he too could grab branches with a single paw, shuttle through the forest like a monkey.
After climbing five branches, Zheng Tan jumped onto an old Liriodendron. What initially drew his attention to this tree were its peculiar leaves. Once, while Zheng Tan was resting on a branch, a leaf fell in front of him, looking like a coat.
Wei Leng told him this tree was called Liriodendron, also known as Buccaneer Tree, a national second-level rare endangered protected species. In big cities, aside from the botanical garden, it was rare to see such a large Liriodendron, probably thanks to the long history of Chuhua University.
The flowers of the Liriodendron looked a bit like tulips, and its English name translated to "Huaxia's Tulip." Unfortunately, its flowering period was in May and June, so Zheng Tan would not see them this year, but next year he planned to bring the Jiao family to see them together.
Zheng Tan felt the breeze, listened to the rustling sound of the falling leaves around him, and observed his surroundings. Now, the leaves of many trees had already turned yellow; a drop in temperature, a bout of rain, and a strong wind would soon leave the school's deciduous trees bare.
Winter was coming to Chuhua City.
After finishing climbing, Zheng Tan saw it was still early. The third period at school had just ended, and he would not go back to the Jiao family for lunch until after the fourth period to avoid waiting without food.
As usual, if there was spare time after training, he would go for a stroll by the artificial lake.
Animals that appeared docile and obedient often made people lower their guard, so many domestic animals became confidants to people. "Xiao Zhuo" sometimes talked to Zheng Tan too, but she never mentioned anything about "Project A," just some trivial matters like "you've come again today" or "are you hungry?" and so forth.
Sometimes, Xiao Zhuo would talk about things related to her own profession, just like Mr. Jiao would. Once, inspired by something she saw, Xiao Zhuo suddenly tore a small corner from a blank sticky note clipped to her notebook, then tore that small corner into even smaller pieces. She closed the notebook, placed the shredded pieces of paper on it, and pulled out a signature pen wrapped in rubber from her pen case. She rubbed it back and forth over Zheng Tan's body and then brought it close to the paper pieces, which were lifted by static electricity.
Holding the pen that had picked up the paper pieces, Xiao Zhuo said to Zheng Tan with a smile, "Look, this is called generating electricity through friction! So, what's the reason for this? Let me tell you, materials are made up of atoms, and inside atoms, the nucleus is composed of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons..."
Zheng Tan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood when he heard the words, "Look, this is what you call static electricity," and felt an even stronger urge to do so when he heard "Let me tell you."
You can meet this kind of person anywhere!
By the time the fourth period was nearly over, Zheng Tan was at Affiliated Primary School waiting to pick up Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi.
However, after class, Zheng Tan did not see those two small figures.
When Lan Tianzhu and a few others came out, they saw the Black Cat squatting on the wall and said, "Heitan, Jiao Yuan already left; Aunt Ling picked him up right after the first period ended."
Aunt Ling, mentioned by Lan Tianzhu, was Ah Huang's owner, also a teacher at the same middle school as JIao Ma.
Not long after Lan Tianzhu spoke, another girl from Gu Youzi's class said the same thing; Aunt Ling had picked up Gu Youzi right after the first period.
Zheng Tan felt something was off, very off, definitely something had happened, otherwise, they wouldn't have been picked up so early without any reason. Zheng Tan, restless, sprinted back to the East Family Courtyard. After scanning the access card, he dashed straight to the fifth floor, shouting at the door for a long while with no response, and then ran out of the building to fetch the key from the hiding tree to open the door.
The house was very quiet, eerily so, almost like how Zheng Tan had left it in the morning. Usually, by this time, there would be the aroma of cooking, but today there was none. Zheng Tan went from room to room; even the kids' backpacks were gone, meaning that Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi hadn't returned home since they were picked up!
There were no notebooks spread on the desk, no small notes stuck in the hallway, no "reminders" or "memos" stuck at home...
Suddenly, Zheng Tan felt lost, frantically pacing in circles.
Although he had no blood relation to this family, if it weren't for this unbelievable cat transformation incident, Zheng Tan would never have had contact with them. However, Jiao Ma had picked him up from a pile of garbage at the vegetable market, and the Jiao family had been very kind to him. Over the past five months, Zheng Tan had developed an attachment to this place he didn't want to admit. Back when he was still human, he owned several houses, but none made him feel like this, an inexplicable sense of belonging, as if his bristling fur instantly smoothed the moment he stepped through this door.
As he was getting dizzy from all the circling, Zheng Tan suddenly thought of something, then rushed back to the bedroom, jumped onto the desk with the phone, hit the speaker button, and dialed Mr. Jiao's mobile.
It rang several times before picking up.
"Hello?"
Mr. Jiao's voice was a bit hoarse, and Zheng Tan could sense his suppressed emotions, which exacerbated Zheng Tan's anxiety, prompting him to bellow.
"Aowuu—"
On the phone, Mr. Jiao: "..." Only their cat would cry like this. However, he didn't expect a call from home at this time, and even less did he expect it to be their cat making the call. He knew his cat was unlike any other, but he never imagined receiving a call from his cat at such a moment.
Seeing no response from the other end, Zheng Tan yelled once more.
This time, Mr. Jiao responded.
"I'm at the hospital. I've picked up Jiao Yuan and the others; Rong Han had an accident. Stay put at home for now; there are snacks in the fridge..."
"Aowuu—Aowuu—" Zheng Tan continued to bellow. Rong Han was Jiao Ma's full name. Upon hearing that Jiao Ma had an accident, Zheng Tan couldn't calm down. He wanted to ask which hospital it was, but he couldn't speak, only able to roar desperately.
Driven by his agitation, Zheng Tan saw a stack of books next to him, raised a paw, and flipped!
Listening to the sound of books falling through the phone, Mr. Jiao paused for a moment, "Then shall I ask Yi Xin to bring you some food later?"
"Aowuu—"
Zheng Tan glanced at the desk, where there was a glass cup next to the keyboard, a promotional item from the supplier when he ordered milk for Jiao Yuan and the others.
With a flick of his tail, crash!
Hearing the sound of the glass cup shattering over the phone, Mr. Jiao fell silent for a bit longer this time, then said, "I'll have Yi Xin bring you over later, just wait at home, and don't break anything else."
Zheng Tan: "Aow."