Zheng Tan climbed up the tree to look for the source of the voices he heard.
It wasn’t long before he understood roughly that a real-life episode of those soap operas Mama Jiao loved so much was playing out in the open. The only difference was that the woman did not cry.
Zheng Tan lost interest. The bored parrot could watch it by himself, at least it would keep him busy so he couldn’t bother Zheng Tan. For that reason alone, Zheng Tan hoped whoever was putting on the “show” would have enough problems so they could air it here for the whole day. Maybe even turn it into a series.
It wasn’t a kind thought. But then again, Zheng Tan was not kind. He had turned his back on the idea of morals and shame for as long as he could remember. He left those useless things forgotten as long as his self-interests were not harmed.
Under the tree, Fatty was curled up in a comfortable position looking like he was falling asleep. Sheriff and Tiger were gone, but Zheng Tan assumed they wandered off somewhere to play.
There were only a few places around here that cats frequented. Zheng Tan wasn’t worried about losing the two.
He brushed Fatty with his tail to motion him to follow. The guy seemed to lack sleep 24/7. At first, Zheng Tan thought it was because he used his brain too much. Later, he realized Fatty was like this even when he did nothing. It was hard to imagine that a sleepy chubby cat was a specialist of Morse code.
‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ applied to cats as well.
There was a small supermarket called "Dongyuan supermarket" near the residential quarters. Recently, the place was undergoing some renovations. Heaps of gravel were left near the back door. Even better, the workers were taking a day off today.
Sure enough, Zheng Tan found Tiger squatting on a pile of gravel at the back door. He had a solemn look on his face while he took a dump. Afterwards, he covered up the evidence with some sand, jumped off the gravel, shook his fur and left as if nothing had happened.
Tiger did, in fact, stop peeing everywhere after his surgery, but he was still him. Now he was causing trouble in a different way.
Zheng Tan wondered how the workers would react when they found the cat poop tomorrow. Worse yet, if they didn’t find it and it ended up on the wall of the supermarket.
Zheng Tan decided he would strangle Tiger if he became the owner of the place.
There was a big patch of grass near the supermarket. Zheng Tan and co. did not go there normally. There were always hordes of people, both adults and kids, there. It was just a breeding ground for trouble. Young kids who didn’t yet know better were the arch enemies of cats. They couldn’t fight back when the children grabbed their tails or played too rough. Even when the children were at fault, the cats were punished.
So, for the most part, the four musketeers played in the woods.
Tiger was scratching trees. He would do his work on one and move on to the next. Sheriff was looking for insects to snack on. As for Fatty, his front paws were tucked under him, making him look like a meatloaf, and he was resting, completely uninterested in anything.
Zheng Tan looked around to check for people. When he saw no one, he found a spot under the sun and settled down.
The wind brought the sweet scent of may flowers. Apart from the occasional sound of cat claws, the hustle and bustle from the lawn did not affect the peace and quiet of the woods.
The warm afternoon sunshine was starting to make Zheng Tan drowsy.
Suddenly, there was a strange cry, similar to the cry of a bird but not quite it. It was the first time Zheng Tan had heard such a sound.
He opened his eyes. Tiger was standing at the source of the sound, holding up a front paw, turning his head left and right, as if deciding where to strike.
Sheriff heard the sound too and rushed towards that direction. The next minute, a fur ball appeared out of the bushes.
A guinea pig?
This one was a bit different from the usual guinea pigs. Its hair was relatively long and had a long strand of white fur dangling down from the top of its head like bangs. Compared to the guinea pigs locked in cages all day that Zheng Tan had seen before, this one moved a lot faster.
It was, however, no match for two energetic cats.
Sheriff and Tiger blocked the guinea pig from two sides to corner it between them. Whenever it tried to run away, they would force it back in place.
Zheng Tan considered it, then stopped the two just when they were about to feast. Most of the guinea pigs on campus were pets. They weren’t like rats and could not be treated as such. Not to mention this one seemed to be special.
Zheng Tan observed that its fur was very clean and carefully combed. It was obviously very dear to its owner. There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t leave a trace after eating it. If the owner found out, trouble, no, big trouble was ensured to take place.
The guinea pig did not take the chance to run away when Zheng Tan stopped Tiger. Instead, it looked cautiously around, then inched towards Zheng Tan.
Did it know he wouldn’t eat it?
Have to admit, animals sometimes have surprisingly accurate sixth senses.
Zheng Tan wagged his tail while walking away from the guinea pig, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone. A stranger.
If it was just a stranger, he wouldn’t be this shocked. But, this stranger managed to come this close without four cats noticing. They had no idea how long he was there for or if he was hiding close by.
Zheng Tan’ s eyes fell on the guy’s hand. His palm was faced inwards and his right hand was hidden partially by his body.
When their eyes crossed, Zheng Tan was suddenly reminded of the look Papa Jiao had when he was killing mice in the lab that night. Papa Jiao had that look only when dealing with lab rats. This man, though…This man sent chills down Zheng Tan’s spine. Something told him, this man killed more than lab rats.
Tiger jumped when spotting the intruder too. However, he cared more about the fur ball beside Zheng Tan. He raised his paw attempting to have another go at it.
Zheng Tan couldn’t help but give Tiger a hard slap. Couldn’t this idiot tell there was a dangerous person around?
Zheng Tan didn’t let the guy out of his sights even when dealing with Tiger. This guy felt too threatening. He and his buddies were like the lab rats from the other night. They were somehow pinned down, unable to move and helplessly waiting to have their necks broken.
Fatty was no longer lying in the grass. He jumped up, arched his back and pulled back his ears. All his fur were standing on end. He no longer had his usual sleepy look but was staring at the intruder fiercely while hissing out his warning. This was the first time Zheng Tan had ever seen him like this.
The other two realized something was wrong when they saw Zheng Tan and Fatty. They too now looked alert. Although they were a bit off-putting at times, Tiger and Sheriff did not run away when it mattered. That was loyalty right there.
In fact, Sheriff was prepared to run away, but when he found the others standing still, he immediately turned around and stiffened up like his buddies.
What should we do?
Zheng Tan was furiously racking his brain for solutions.
Immediately escaping would be one of the better ways. It was also the most common. But Zheng Tan was not sure they could escape in one piece. The guy was still looking at them; it was as if any move could set him off. His half hidden hand worried Zheng Tan greatly.
The two sides stood in confrontation for two minutes. Then, the man laughed. The atmosphere seemed to loosen with his laughter. The man shook his arm then raised both hands and said, "Here kitties. I mean you no harm. I just came to look for my pet.”
The man pointed guinea pig hiding behind Zheng Tan. The guinea pig did not play along. It scooched closer to Zheng Tan as if hiding from the guy.
Zheng Tan let out a sigh of relief, but he did not dare to completely relax. He felt that the stranger had something in his hand, perhaps a blade or something else, that he hid when he shook his hand.
Who was this man? Zheng Tan thought.
"Chestnuts, come. Hurry. Your owner would be worried." The man called out to the guinea pig huddled behind Zheng Tan.
The pig did not budge, or even let out a squeak.
"Oh Chestnut-" the man squatted down and summoned the stubborn fur ball again.
Zheng Tan cursed the thing. He moved over, exposing the guinea pig. He didn’t want to put his little group in danger because of this thing.
Seeing that it still wasn’t moving, Zheng Tan nudged it forward with his tail. ‘Just go away for god’s sake!’ he thought.
Finally, it reluctantly and begrudgingly went over to the guy. Thankfully, he did not stay after he snatched up his pet.
Zheng Tan held his breath until the guy was completely out of sight. He made a mental note to avoid this area from now on.
On the other hand, the guy, who was just treated to a stand-off by cats, ignored the protesting sound of the guinea pig in his arms. He looked back into the woods as he walked. He couldn’t help but feel that the two cats he saw in there were very special ... ... especially the black one.