Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 270 - Chapter 270 Chapter 263 The Wealthy Cat

Chapter 270: Chapter 263: The Wealthy Cat Chapter 270: Chapter 263: The Wealthy Cat Since there was no need to pay the bill, no worry about the phone getting cut off, and one could do things without exposing oneself or fear of being tracked, and still find amusement, what a great deal it was. No wonder private detectives were becoming so numerous; there was a high market demand, and making money seemed easy, especially with businesses like catching mistresses and gathering evidence seemingly having a lot of financial potential.

However, Zheng Tan had no intention of getting involved in that sort of work. Helping Teacher Xiao Bai was a favor due to her kindness to Zhuo Xiaomao, and at the same time, Zheng Tan wanted to deal with Zhang Dong, nothing more. Once this matter was over, Zheng Tan would have no interest in doing this kind of work for anyone else.

Having resolved the annoying issue of topping up the phone, Zheng Tan’s mood was exceptionally good, and even the speed of his paws playing mobile games was much faster that day. There were fewer mistakes than before, and he achieved a high score in one go.

Even though he no longer needed to pay for his phone bill, Zheng Tan was still proactive in earning and spending cash. Each time Xiao Guo took him to shoot promotional videos and advertisements, Zheng Tan did not hesitate to take overtime pay from Xiao Guo. He used to be impatient with the errors made by the other ‘cat bosses’ at the pet shop, but now he was hoping that those cats would be uncooperative so he could earn some extra cash.

Zheng Tan planned to save this cash instead of using it to pay for his phone. He was preparing to set it aside for emergencies. Sometimes, even if there was a large balance on the card, it was useless without cash in hand.

That day, because it was the weekend, both children were at home. Jiao Ma was dragged out shopping by a few colleagues, and Mr. Jiao was not around either.

Mr. Jiao didn’t have absolute days off. After lunch, he had run back to the courtyard again. Since being promoted to Professor, Mr. Jiao had applied for another good project. Now he had several projects on his hands. With many topics to work on, he was very busy. Now, several senior students who wanted to enter his research were also participating. There were also a few juniors and sophomores. Some wanted to familiarize themselves with the laboratory since the gap between undergraduates and postgraduates was significant, and the experiments they could conduct independently were limited. They needed to prepare early if they wanted to develop in this direction, while others were attracted by Professor Jiao’s current reputation and the projects he had at hand. After all, following a teacher with projects and topics that produce results did not only mean earning “wages” during the period, but it was also of great help for their future. They hoped to publish an SCI paper before graduating to boost their standing, which would help in competing for scholarships and aid in job hunting after graduation.

Mr. Jiao’s reputation in the Institute had indeed increased a lot, especially when someone from higher up was looking out for him. It couldn’t be helped; those big shots had taken Professor Jiao’s red genetically modified nest mice, and it would be unreasonable not to give him some support.

When Zheng Tan occasionally headed to the Life Science Institute, he had heard students discussing the situation of the teachers in the Institute a few times. Once, Zheng Tan even overheard a discussion about which of the young professors (referred to as ‘green peppers’) would most likely take over Dean Xie’s position. Among them, Mr. Jiao’s name was mentioned the most.

As Mr. Jiao’s fame increased, the status of his family members also elevated. One case Zheng Tan was quite aware of was Little Youzi. Now, some Affiliated Primary School teachers were much kinder to Little Youzi, which had not been the case before.

At the moment, with no adults at home and Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi no longer being seven or eight-year-old kids that needed constant supervision, Little Youzi finished her homework and was watching TV in the living room, while Jiao Yuan worked on test papers in his room. The academic workload was heavier in middle school. These children of university faculty members might sound prestigious outside, but the pressure on them was also high. Failing exams was a direct embarrassment to their parents. Even if Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma never mentioned it, Jiao Yuan did not want to hear people say things like, “Isn’t your father the respected Professor of Chuhua University? How can you still score so badly?” Offspring of government officials or wealthy families could get away with poor grades with others showing “understanding”, but if these teachers’ children performed poorly in exams, the criticism they faced could be suffocating.

Zheng Tan opened the drawer on the cat tree and rifled through the business cards, all with phone numbers on them. The only exception was the card with the number “68” on it. Instead of a phone number, it had only an email address. Zheng Tan had originally planned to seek some advice from this experienced individual but unfortunately, the person hadn’t left a phone number.

Whatever, there would be another time.

Zheng Tan was looking at those business cards when the home phone rang, and Little Youzi ran to answer it. She quickly came back and knocked on Jiao Yuan’s door.

“Bro, it’s for you, Xiong Xiong is calling.”

“If it’s about rounding up people for basketball, tell him the young master isn’t available! Damn, the stage test is next week. I’m waiting to slap those faces by ranking in the top three!” Jiao Yuan yelled from inside.

Little Youzi conveyed Jiao Yuan’s message to Xiong Xiong, and before long ran back to Jiao Yuan’s door, saying, “Xiong Xiong said it’s not about basketball, he said it’s about buying a gift.”

Inside, Jiao Yuan let out a miserable scream, “Damn, I forgot!”

Jiao Yuan quickly opened his door and dashed in his slippers to answer the phone. Seeing Little Youzi and Zheng Tan watching at the doorway and just as he was about to pick up the phone, he immediately turned back and closed the door to the master bedroom.

Zheng Tan and Little Youzi exchanged glances, wondering what secrets this kid could possibly have?!

After closing the door, Little Youzi couldn’t hear the conversation inside, but Zheng Tan could hear it clearly. It seemed like a girl from Jiao Yuan’s class was celebrating her birthday tomorrow, and she had invited them. Jiao Yuan, preoccupied with test problems, had forgotten to buy a gift, and now Xiong Xiong was calling him to go look at gifts together.

From the tone of Jiao Yuan’s voice, that female classmate must be pretty good-looking, maybe even the class belle. Tsk, what’s so embarrassing about pursuing a girl? He goes to such lengths to keep the door closed for fear someone hears him. But on second thought, parents these days seem to disapprove of early romance. Back in his day, Zheng Tan had no such concerns or restrictions.

Five minutes later, Jiao Yuan came out, looking somewhat embarrassed, and asked Little Youzi, “Youzi, do you have any money on you? I need to borrow some urgently, and I’ll pay you back in a couple of days.”

Without a second thought, Little Youzi ran to rummage through her things and managed to find twenty yuan. She didn’t have much money on hand. Although her irresponsible mother transferred a lump sum into her account every year, she never checked it. Usually, she would save up the pocket money given by Jiao Ma and Mr. Jiao, and once she accumulated a certain amount, she would help deposit it into the bank account. She also spent money on books and other necessities. A few days ago, her school organized a donation for a primary school in a mountainous area, and she donated fifty, which was a significant amount for primary school students who typically donated five or ten yuan each. Any amount above ten yuan was considered a large donation. The Jiao family heard about this through someone else’s mouth; Little Youzi never mentioned it at home. The money she donated was from her own savings, and she decided on her own how to use it. Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma did not interfere.

However, because of the donation, Little Youzi didn’t have much cash left, amounting to less than twenty yuan.

From the expression on Jiao Yuan’s face, it was evident that the money wasn’t enough. He had spent nearly all his pocket money on a new basketball and sportswear set a few days ago. The bank cards where he and Little Youzi saved money were with Mr. Jiao, and Jiao Yuan certainly understood his own dad. If he actually made the call to ask for the card, in just a couple of sentences, he’d definitely give himself away. He didn’t want his dad finding out about this.

“There are some coins in the piggy bank.”

Little Youzi talked about going to take the Black Cat piggy bank, which contained coins of 10 cents and 50 cents. There should be around 10 yuan in total, right?

However, as Little Youzi was about to take the piggy bank, a cat paw pressed down on her hand, stopping her from opening it.

Then, under the puzzled gazes of the two children, Zheng Tan ran to the cat climbing frame and pulled open an unlocked drawer, fetching a 50-yuan note and handing it to Jiao Yuan.

Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi: “!!”

With his mouth agape in surprise, Jiao Yuan took the note to check its authenticity and then looked on in disbelief, “Where did this come from?!”

No sooner had Jiao Yuan finished speaking than Zheng Tan fetched another 50-yuan note and handed it over.

After verifying its authenticity, Jiao Yuan curiously glanced at Zheng Tan’s drawer and found a bunch of notes inside, varying from 10 to 100 yuan. “Youzi, our Heitan is actually a little ‘rich cat’?! But where did Heitan get all this money from?”

At that moment, Little Youzi remembered something she had heard from Mr. Jiao, “It seems to be the overtime pay Heitan got from shooting advertisements.”

When Zheng Tan came back from overtime, Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were not around, so they didn’t see him hide the money. Little Youzi had only overheard Mr. Jiao talking about it with Xiao Guo, and she hadn’t expected there to be so much.

What Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan couldn’t imagine was that the amount of money on Zheng Tan’s card was much, much more.

Jiao Yuan just sighed a few times, then stuffed one of the 50-yuan notes back into the drawer, keeping only the other 50 yuan and helped Zheng Tan to close the drawer, “50 yuan is enough, Heitan, save the rest for when you get a wife!”

Zheng Tan: “…”

Jiao Yuan also reminded Little Youzi to make sure no outsiders got near the cat climbing frame. Little Youzi nodded solemnly in agreement.

Zheng Tan once again: “…”

Zheng Tan had originally intended to save money for emergencies, and he was not stingy about giving money to family members. He had also planned to give red envelopes for birthdays or during the New Year, oh, and he intended to give one to Zhuo Xiaomao as well. In Zheng Tan’s mind, he always saw himself more as an elder rather than a peer of Jiao Yuan’s age. At this moment, he selectively forgot that the human “Zheng Tan” in this world was actually about the same age as Jiao Yuan.

After Jiao Yuan went out to join Xiong Xiong and the others, he did not come back for dinner. Yue Lisha and Xie Xin from West District came to discuss the blackboard newspaper for the next week with Little Youzi. After dinner, Zheng Tan, with nothing better to do, took a walk.

There are many side streets in the old district, and one of them leads to a lively place at night.

Tonight, Zheng Tan mainly wanted to see if he could encounter Huasheng Tang in a showdown with the Pekingese dog; lately, that fellow had taken a liking to a scruffy Pekingese there and would pick a fight whenever they met.

Walking down a long alley, it immediately became lively upon exiting, with street stalls everywhere.

Every evening, this place was exceptionally bustling, filled with the everyday atmosphere of the common people. Mostly, it was populated by those lower on the social ladder. After all, those elite rarely frequented these street stalls, feeling it beneath them – their expensive suits would unavoidably end up reeking of cheap beer and the mixed smells of oily food.

People coming here did not maintain a pretentious, self-important attitude. They ordered big plates of barbecue skewers from the roadside, chose their favorite dishes, and drank beer while chatting and laughing freely and candidly.

Zheng Tan had absolutely no interest in the pervasive scent of food; what troubled him now was that to avoid a drunkard, he had stepped on bubble gum someone had disgustingly spat onto the ground. What was worse, the gum was very sticky, refusing to come off no matter how much he tried to shake or scrape it away.

Which godforsaken brand is this?!

Damn, it’s freaking disgusting!

Starting today, bubble gum was added to the list of things Zheng Tan hated the most and would be meticulously avoided!

As Zheng Tan struggled against the piece of bubble gum stuck to his paw, two people at a nearby table also looked in his direction.

One of them, an elder, said to the other, “Hey, Little Luo, do you see that? Is that cat having a seizure?”(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (NovelFire.net). Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.NovelFire.net to read.)