Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 257 - Chapter 257 Chapter 250 Tenant

Chapter 257: Chapter 250: Tenant Chapter 257: Chapter 250: Tenant The person holding the MP4 realized the device was almost out of power, so he turned it off, planning to stroll around some more. To his surprise, when he looked up at his surroundings, he noticed something interesting and his gaze settled on a nearby Chinese parasol tree.

Zheng Tan had been squatting there watching the freshmen when he suddenly got annoyed by a noisy magpie that kept chattering and hopping around. Lately, there had been more birds around the courtyard, and every time Zheng Tan lay on a tree there, he was often bothered by these birds. It seemed they knew Zheng Tan wouldn’t do anything to them and wouldn’t catch them like the other cats.

The General was under house arrest, because his owner didn’t feel safe letting him out during the busy back-to-school period, so he was kept at home. With the General gone, the nearby birds became more arrogant.

This place wasn’t far from the courtyard, and the birds probably recognized Zheng Tan. They saw him squatting there and took turns teasing him, swooping past him while calling out. One round was fine, but they kept coming back multiple times, annoying even the most patient person to death.

The area was very noisy, and the people resting around the flower beds wouldn’t pay attention to the distant chirping of the birds amidst the noise. If they hadn’t been bored and looking around, they wouldn’t have seen what was happening there.

After enduring for a while, Zheng Tan seized an opportunity and gave the bird a slap as it flew past him. Although he didn’t hit it squarely, his claw still hooked some feathers on the edge of the bird’s wing. The bird, probably scared, flew to another tree and didn’t come back.

With that bird no longer causing trouble, Zheng Tan yawned and continued to watch the people going by. A fair-skinned girl in a short skirt had just caught his interest when she was interrupted by the bird. Now the girl was nowhere to be seen, and he had to look around for someone else of even better quality. Noticing someone was looking in his direction, Zheng Tan looked back and saw the fool who had just been quietly blacklisted by the graduate reception area.

Zheng Tan didn’t care though, there wasn’t much to see in a grown man anyway, so he continued his search for cute girls.

While searching, Zheng Tan heard some murmuring nearby and turned toward them. At the school gate, a stretch limousine was slowly driving towards them. The murmurs were because of this.

Most people around were carrying big and small bags, pulling suitcases, bearing heavy things; even a few private cars dropping off children could make many people envious, let alone the suddenly arriving blinding limousine.

Of course, in addition to envy, there was also a lot of jealousy. Normally, they rarely saw such a luxury car, and they didn’t expect to see one here now.

“Man, these days, spoiling kids this way, driving a car to drop off your child is one thing, but a stretch limousine?”

“What do you know, this is called flaunting wealth!”

“I heard that many rich people can get their children into any school if they’re willing to spend the money.”

This was clearly implying that this family’s child got into the school through money rather than a legitimate examination.

“Rich people, I tell you, but really, is it necessary to make such a show when dropping off a child? As if they’re afraid others won’t know they’re wealthy!”

People around the flower bed were also discussing this, mocking, when suddenly a ringtone sounded. At the same time, the person who had been sitting on a suitcase stood up, pulling the suitcase towards the now-stopped limousine.

As the person approached the car, the door immediately opened, someone got out, took the suitcase from their hands, and carried it inside. Then, the crowd saw that person get into the limousine.

Until the limousine drove away, the people around were somewhat embarrassed–turns out, all their mocking comments had been heard by the person involved.

Zheng Tan, however, didn’t think much of it. Don’t assume the students in the school are any different from other people on ordinary days; there are plenty who hide their riches. For example, Zhao Le, who would have guessed that she would be the heiress of the Changwei Group’s chairman?

It’s just that some people are more low-key. Even sharing a dorm for years, one might not know that their beer-drinking, mahjong-playing, street-food-eating roommate was actually a rich second generation or an official’s child. Perhaps one would find out in a reunion a few years after graduation or through casual gossip–just how close they once were to the so-called privileged ones.

Watching the car disappear down the main road, Zheng Tan didn’t dwell on it and continued his search for girls.

There were many new students these days, with parents and students bustling all around the school. After observing for a few days, Zheng Tan got restless from the crowd. He decided to go to the villa by the lake, thinking of sneaking in to take a nap.

The house had not been rented out yet, although there had been people interested in renting it in the last few days. After meeting with potential renters, both Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma had denied them, not favoring their character, so it remained vacant. Whenever Zheng Tan had a chance to visit, he would sneak in and find a room to sleep in.

When the old lady moved out, she left many things aside from some precious paintings, so the house didn’t look much different from when the old lady lived there, and it didn’t seem too empty, though it lacked liveliness because it was uninhabited.

Zheng Tan knew the structure of the house very well. To others, the doors and windows seemed tightly shut, but Zheng Tan knew of at least two gaps he could slip through. These gaps were hard for humans to enter but just right for the current Zheng Tan, specially left by Mr. Jiao for Zheng Tan to have a place to rest when out walking, like today when it suddenly rained despite the bright sunshine. People outside were surprised by the sun showers, which locals were accustomed to and only complained a little about.

Caught in the rain, Zheng Tan slipped into the house and climbed to a sofa by a second-floor window to take a nap. It seemed the rain wouldn’t last long, and when he woke up, it was sunny again outside.

When Zheng Tan woke up, he looked at the wall clock–it was four in the afternoon. He would stay for another half-hour before heading back.

Zheng Tan climbed through the window to the second-floor balcony and perched on a column by the railing. At this moment, sunlight did not reach here. Zheng Tan stood there, enjoying the breeze and gazing at a nearby lake.

Not far from the house where Zheng Tan was staying, a person who looked like a student walked out of another house. It was the same person Zheng Tan had seen two days ago, wearing beach shorts and flip-flops but riding in a stretch luxury car.

Behind that person, two middle-aged individuals emerged. One of them was a real estate agent who was talking to the other middle-aged person.

“No worries, if this one isn’t right, we have a few more options. There are two better ones coming up, I’ll take you to see them,” the agent led the way forward.

“Baikin, what do you think of these houses?” the other middle-aged man flipped through the property information in his hand and turned around to ask. Unbeknownst to him, as he turned his head, he realized that the people behind him hadn’t caught up and were heading in the opposite direction.

“Baikin, where are you going?” The middle-aged man stopped following the agent and quickly turned around to follow him.

Today, Feng Baikin was out house-hunting with his father’s assistant. The nearby area was nice; his mother had taken a liking to it, instructing him to rent a place around here. An assistant was also sent to help with the house viewing. However, after viewing several properties, they hadn’t finalized anything; either the house wasn’t satisfactory or they decided to wait and see the rest before making a decision.

When Feng Baikin had walked out, he glanced around and saw on the second-floor railing of a nearby house a black cat squatting, which piqued his curiosity. He walked towards it just as he noticed a “for rent” sign in front of the house.

“Is this house for rent too?” The middle-aged man asked the agent.

“Oh, this one, the landlord is a bit demanding,” the agent explained briefly. He felt that with the landlord’s many requirements, it would be difficult to rent out, so he hadn’t considered this house initially. Moreover, the price hadn’t been set yet, which is why he always listed this house last when recommending rentals.

“And the black cat?” Feng Baikin pointed to the cat looking down at them from the second floor and asked the agent.

“Oh, that is the landlord’s cat,” the agent said. He had been warned by the landlord named Jiao during a previous visit, that this cat, regardless of it climbing walls and scratching doors, should not be bothered. He found the landlords quite interesting for being so indulgent with their cat, and even discussed it with colleagues during a meal, which is why he remembered it clearly.

“The landlord is a teacher at Chuhua University…” Despite not being optimistic about renting out the house, the agent was still very proactive in promoting it.

Seeing Feng Baikin’s curiosity about the house, the middle-aged man wanted to view it, but unfortunately, the agent didn’t have the keys, so he called Mr. Jiao.

Mr. Jiao had just finished a meeting and was free at the moment. Upon receiving the call, he drove over. Seeing Zheng Tan yawning on the second-floor balcony, Mr. Jiao’s eyelids twitched. Why was this guy involved again?

Mr. Jiao showed Feng Baikin around the house and also mentioned some of his requirements. Feng Baikin had no objections; he wasn’t a wild person, his private life was decently clean, he didn’t mess around, and if he wanted to have fun, he did it outside, never bringing people home.

After work, Jiao Ma hurriedly made dinner for her two children and then rode her electric scooter to the villa. She needed to oversee things.

When Jiao Ma arrived, Feng Baikin’s parents also drove over in their stretch luxury car. They weren’t primarily based in Chuhua City but in the neighboring province. Having brought their child to college with countless belongings, they found the student dorms to be very small. Dissatisfied after a tour, and with this being their child’s first time living away from home and on campus, they wondered if such a small place was really suitable. Hence, Feng Baikin’s mother set her sights on this residential area by the lake.

Hearing that both the child and the assistant were quite satisfied with the house, the parents took time out of their schedules to come over.

The house’s furnishings and decorations were all high-class, and Feng Baikin’s mother grew more pleased.

“Not bad, this house is pretty good,” she noted that the house’s previous owner must have been someone of status, “How much is the rent? This place must be at least thirty thousand per month?” as she admired a few ornaments in the display cabinet, she remarked.

Jiao Ma: “…”

Actually, Jiao Ma had been preparing to quote seven or eight thousand, which she still thought was high. She considered lowering it if the tenants were truly agreeable. This price was suggested after indirectly consulting a colleague. Unexpectedly, she now heard the person in front of her quoting thirty thousand. This place wasn’t Beijing, and Jiao Ma had never dealt with renting at these rates, and she was momentarily stunned.

Mr. Jiao also kept silent, smiling without responding, while Feng Baikin’s mother took it as an agreement.

“Oh, one more thing, the attic on the slope roof is not for rent,” Mr. Jiao mentioned.

“Why?” asked Feng Baikin’s mother, puzzled.

Mr. Jiao pointed at Zheng Tan, “It’s reserved for him.”

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote and recommend at Qidian (NovelFire.net). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net.)