Zheng Tan sat in the front yard, on top of one of the fence pickets. He yawned out of boredom then transferred his attention to a slow-moving worm on the ground.
In the small tiled-house, the old granny was describing to Er Mao her experiences through the years as well as some of the more recent events in her life. Zheng Tan wasn't in the mood to listen to her tell stories and simply came out to get some air.
In reality, Er Mao didn't even need to speak, the old granny had already guessed that they were blood relatives. Er Mao couldn't even deny it at this point. Based on their generations, Er Mao had to refer to the old granny as grand aunt. Zheng Tan had overhead people in the village saying that the old granny had come to the village well over 40 years ago. At that time, she was already 40. Now, after another 2 years, she'd hit 90.
Right after Zheng Tan's tenth yawn, the wooden door squeaked open. Er Mao walked out.
Based on the look on Er Mao's face, the two had been immersed in a speculative conversation, nothing like that face he'd had on when the old granny had been screwing around.
"Let's go." Er Mao made a hand gesture at Zheng Tan, indicating that they'd take their leave.
Zheng Tan took another look at the tiled house then turned back to Er Mao. After meeting a long lost relative, that's it?
Not quite.
Er Mao wanted to bring away the old granny, but it wasn't going to be easy without a car here. Even if he did bring the car back, it wouldn't be easy to transport her. He planned to go back first and discuss this with the rest of his family then come back. This was a pretty big issue.
Because of the earlier incidence where Er Mao had put his phone on silence, he found he had a total of nine missed called while on the bus ride back to Yi Yang. It was all from the same number too. It was Wang Bin. Er Mao only glanced at the numbers and showed little determination to return the call.
Er Mao sighed numerous times on their way back. Zheng Tan knew that this time, it was unavoidable for Er Mao to sit down and have a long talk with his family members.
After staying a night at the hotel in Yi Yang, they drove back to Chu Hua early the next morning. The trip back went pretty smoothly. The first thing that Er Mao did when arriving back in the city, wasn't to find his mother and explain the situation with his grand aunt, but to pick up Barley from the pet center.
Looked like being left at the pet center had angered Barley. Zheng Tan noticed that for the following three days, she completely ignored Er Mao. Even when Er Mao pulled out her favorite toys, she would only claw it a few times with dissatisfaction. At first, Er Mao guessed that she might've been sick. He took her to the pet center again to get a check up. After finding her in perfect condition, the vet joked that she probably was throwing a tantrum. After Er Mao pampered her for three days, she was completely back to normal.
The period after getting back to Chu Hua, Er Mao was often not at home. No one had come knocking on his door recently either. Wei Ling came over once and ended up bringing Zheng Tan with him to the night building to chill and brought him up to date with Er Mao's situation.
As the saying goes, having an elder at home is like having an invaluable treasure at hand. To Er Mao, the newly found grand aunt was such a 'treasure'. The other elders within the house were often discontent with Er Mao, but with the sudden introduction of this grand aunt, she became Er Mao's greatest support in Chu Hua. Grand aunt had no children of her own and she seemed to be able to easily converse with Er Mao. The elders seeing that Er Mao was constantly visiting his grand aunt didn't say much. His grandfather, upon seeing such conduct by Er Mao even praised and encouraged such actions.
Rumours were that after each fight Er Mao had with his father, he would hide away at his grand aunt's. With the appearance of this grand aunt, even if his father was about to blow up, he still needed to hold in his anger. And so, Er Mao no longer needed to hide. Recently, the family had bought grand aunt a house by the side of Jing Guan Lake. They also hired a personal care worker for her. But grand aunt respectfully chose an apartment in Er Mao's building and refused his parent's arrangements.
"You're such a trouble maker." Wei Ling said to Zheng Tan.
With someone to rely on, Er Mao inflated his arrogance, but he didn't end up moving out of the East District Courtyard either. If Wei Ling didn't tell Zheng Tan, he would never had found out that Er Mao's dad was a top leader of the provincial government. Probably no one in the Eastern Courtyard would have expected a resident to be a young master of the governor's family.
To say that Er Mao had become more arrogant, really was only in comparison to his previous sneaking around to avoid people and situations. But if Er Mao never revealed this, no one would have guessed Er Mao's background. In this area, everyone knew Wang Bin was the governor's son, but no one was familiar with the name Wang Ming.
In the courtyard, Zheng Tan stretched himself out on a branch of the tall Sycamore tree. He stared down at Er Mao who laid on the grass playing with a cat. Recently, when this guy went out to play with cats, all the surrounding cats acted like they were defending themselves against a wolf. Other than Little Yellow, since he was the only male cat who got neutered.
"Er Mao!" Someone casually approached him from the direction of the courtyard gates.
Zheng Tan looked over and recognized the guy he had lead to the shit road trap and got shat on by birds. Qin Tao wore something very similar to the last time he was here, a causal suit and dress shoes, a decent look.
"You're off early again." Er Mao shot a glance in his direction.
It was only three in the afternoon, Qin Tao being here now must mean that he escaped work early.
"Sitting there is way too boring. I played two rounds on a game and lost both. That's no fun. I'm thinking of going back to take a nap. Till I wake up in the evening, then I'll go to a bar, maybe pick up a pretty girl." Qin Tao spoke nonchalantly. Well, him coming over to this area had become routine. In the case of bad weather, he would go home directly and nap. The company had made no losses without him and all the other employees knew, he was just there as a piece of décor for the company.
Er Mao declined to comment on Qin Tao's spiel.
"I came over just to let you know, it's my birthday this Saturday. I booked a room at Chu Hua Sha for 7pm. I'll introduce you to some friends and after we get to know each other a bit, we can all chill together. Don't stay with cats all day, aren't you sick of that yet?" Qin Tao scorned him.
"Wang Bin going?" Er Mao asked.
"That guy's dead busy, he'd never come out to this kind of event. You barely get to see him in Chu Hua. We're not like him, we're the bad kids who thrive in the moment." Qin Tao shot him a look that spoke "you know what I mean".
"Fine, Saturday at 7pm. I'll be there on time." Hearing that Wang Bin wasn't going to be there, Er Mao felt relieved.
"That's right," Qin Tao sweeped his gaze around the area, "Where's that black cat?"
Er Mao raised his hand and pointed to the tree that Zheng Tan was stretched out upon.
The leaves on the tree weren't quite dense yet, so from the ground where they were at, it was quite easy to spot Zheng Tan's tail hanging between the branches.
Qin Tao followed the direction of Er Mao's finger. Zheng Tan also looked towards Qin Tao with intrigue. What did this guy want from him? Revenge?
"Er Mao, bring this cat with you on Saturday alright." Qin Tao said.
"Why? You going to invite a cat to a birthday party? You a cat? Then again, you aren't that familiar with him...wait a sec, why are you asking him instead of my daughter? This discrimination!" Er Mao stared back.
"Wow. I really don't get what you cat slaves are all thinking about all day, how do your thoughts even get there?" Qin Tao shook his head, "It's my cousin sister. This person, she has a bit of a tempter. Coincidentally, she happens to be really good to cats. Problem is, she can never take care of one properly. If it's not them running off, then it's some accident. In conclusion, she can't raise cats. But when a cat is around, she's always in a better mood. I have no idea what's gotten into her recently, but it's like she's a ticking bomb. You know I'm being looked after by my uncle, so I have to be responsible and look after her. It' s not like I can forget to invite her to my birthday party. With a cat there, I'd be much more at ease. At least she won't go and rage at everyone.
Listening to what Qin Tao had to say, Zheng Tan went over it in his head. So, for Qin Tao's birthday to go down without mishap, to have more fun, and to prevent this cousin sister from spoiling it, he would have to accompany this cousin sister. In the eyes of Qin Tao, Barley wasn't as reliable as Zheng Tan. Though this guy was a rich playboy, at least he had some good insight.
Accompaniment...
Zheng Tan wriggled his tail. Without any incentives, why would he go?
As he was thinking, Zheng Tan heard Er Mao say: "Ten Thousand."
"What?" Qin Tao was stunned, not sure if he understood Er Mao.
"I said," Er Mao raised his finger and pointed it at the black cat and said to Qin Tao. "That cat's appearance fee is ten thousand."
"F*** me, you think I'm asking for a gold cat?! And ten thousand! Ten thousand can buy me hundred of cats! Oi, cat dealers are cheaper, I can get a decent one for less than 20."
Er Mao casually started to crack his knuckles and weighed the cost and benefits, "Let just put the scenario into perspective. If your cousin sister decides to flip out, the broken bottles of liquor won't even be worth this much right? And also, think of the fees you'd have to pay for all the broken chairs and tables...."
Listening to what Er Mao was saying, Zheng Tan nodded in agreement. This guy is worth being taught. Er Mao was still pretty useful at times.
"Alright, alright, isn't it just ten thousand. We'll just leave it at that. Saturday at 7pm, you and that black one, be there on time."
To Qin Tao, ten thousand really didn't mean much. After accomplishing his motive, he answered a call and hurried on his way. It was his assistant, looks like there was some urgent document that he needed to sign. Even though his position at the company was no more than a decorative role, the necessary processes still had to be followed.
After driving out of Chu Hua University, Qin Tao suddenly remembered. Mother f***er, that cat wasn't even Er Mao's. That guy had no right to negotiate someone else's cat's appearance fees! Seriously, he got screwed over when he wasn't paying attention.
But Qin Tao had wronged Er Mao. The reason he even mentioned an appearance fee was because of what Wei Ling said. Wei Ling told Er Mao, if anyone wanted Zheng Tan to do something, it was better to prepare some incentives, or else that cat would only do it halfheartedly.
If Zheng Tan knew this, he would be moved. Of course, Wei Ling was familiar with how he liked to get things done.
After receiving Wei Ling's advice, Er Mao had started to think. Cat nip and toys weren't going to be of any use, why not just get hard cash instead. He'll give it to the Jiao family afterwards and gift it as a red pocket in thanks for borrowing their cat.
Er Mao got to know the Jiao family much more after volunteering quite a few times to help them move things. This gave the family a much better impression of him. When he asked Mama Jiao to let him take out Zheng Tan for a play date, she hesitated for a moment, but agreed in the end.
Wei Ling had already borrowed Zheng Tan numerous times before. Along with the brother-relationship that he had with Er Mao and the fact that Zheng Tan liked to go out on play dates, Mama Jiao could only let out a sigh. They must not have raised their own cat properly, but if they didn't allow him to go out on play dates, he would often be found laid out on the sofa sadly tugging on his ears with no enthusiasm. She just could bear to see him like that. Whatever they had done, they'd spoiled him too much.
On Saturday, Zheng Tan ate at home. He didn't think he'd really get to eat anything at Qin Tao's birthday bash. He'd eat now and think later. If something did end up happening then, at least he'd have the energy to sneak out.
Meng Hua Sha was a private establishment. The boss was a 40-year-old woman. Even though she was about the same age as Qin Tao's mother Qin Tao still called her sister Sha, not using 'aunt' to refer to her. Women at this age all gravitated to being addressed like their younger counterparts.
Sister Sha was in the store today. She momentarily froze when she saw Er Mao, but quickly approached him with a smile on her face. She had seen Wang Bin before and was quite surprised to see the striking similarities.
Zheng Tan stayed in the backpack but poked his head out to take in his surroundings.
There was a constant flow of people within the store. If he'd been on the group, he'd likely be stepped on. Such was the sad life of one who was small.
"Aw, you brought at cat as well." Sister Sha laughed as she caught sight of the black head poking out of the bag.
Huh?
Could Qin Tao have made extra preparations in case Zheng Tan didn't arrive?
Seeing Er Mao's confusion, Sister Sha explained: "A pretty girl came in with a cat with tiger stripes, it was rather impressive. They also went in Qin Tao's direction, so..."
She took another look at Zheng Tan and cautioned, "Be alert, that other cat doesn't look like it can be trifled with.