Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 301 - Chapter 301 Chapter 294 Youre Welcome

Chapter 301: Chapter 294: You’re Welcome Chapter 301: Chapter 294: You’re Welcome The crowd around the Ancient Zither House had basically dispersed, and the establishment had no choice but to temporarily close for tidying up; the owner was still busy. After greeting Mr. Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi, Zheng Xuan went to help the owner of the Ancient Zither House. Although there were no severe casualties, the impact of the incident wasn’t good, and there were many issues that needed to be addressed.

Mr. Jiao and Yuan Zhiyi stayed in the car, which was parked in the parking lot of the Ancient Zither House, not far from the door. If Zheng Tan was to return, he could be spotted right away.

“Has it been almost two hours?” Yuan Zhiyi asked.

“Yes, ten minutes short of two hours,” Mr. Jiao looked at his phone and said.

Zheng Tan had vanished without a trace, and Mr. Jiao had not yet informed Jiao Ma and the others, fearing they would worry. Besides, Zheng Tan had a history of wandering off. Mr. Jiao believed Zheng Tan must have run off after discovering something and that it was unlikely due to the dog; with so many dogs in the courtyard, his cat usually got along with them quite well. Plus, Chairman Shu’s Great Dane was known to be friendly, so it shouldn’t have run away carelessly just because of one dog. He considered his cat to be quite rational. The scene at the time was indeed chaotic, so Mr. Jiao was not certain of the cause. Therefore, if the cat didn’t return after two hours, he was planning to ask for assistance in conducting a wide search.

Next to their car was another one, Chairman Shu’s SUV. Chairman Shu now felt somewhat guilty, thinking it was his dog that had scared the cat off, unable to catch up. But considering the cat had the guts to kick the perpetrator, why did it run off upon seeing his dog? Could the cat be afraid of dogs?

Regardless, Chairman Shu felt responsible for Professor Jiao’s missing cat and had offered to call for help, but Professor Jiao had asked to wait. So, Chairman Shu had made several calls to his assistant to postpone some matters, deciding to stay and wait with the two of them. Deep down, he pondered whether it was possible for the cat that had been scared off for so long to return on its own.

As Chairman Shu was thinking, he heard the surprised exclamations from Yuan Zhiyi in the car next door.

“Look quick, Lucky Cat has returned! Hey, Lucky Cat, over here, over here!”

Wow, it really did come back! Chairman Shu rolled down the car window and looked over, with Mars the co-pilot also poking his head out to glance over.

Zheng Tan was making his way towards the Ancient Zither House, exhausted and thirsty. As he walked with his mouth open panting, he felt a sense of relief when he saw the shop. Finally, he had arrived. He could see Yuan Zhiyi’s car parked there, with Yuan Zhiyi himself stretching an arm out of the window, waving as if afraid he wouldn’t be noticed.

The back-seat door was also open, with Mr. Jiao sitting there. Due to the lighting inside the car, Zheng Tan couldn’t quite make out Mr. Jiao’s expression, but knowing Mr. Jiao well, he was certain that Mr. Jiao was far from calm. The calmer it seemed, the more uneasy Zheng Tan felt inside, but he couldn’t provide an explanation for why he had suddenly taken off.

“Watch out, watch out for the car!” Yuan Zhiyi shouted over.

Mr. Jiao inside the car appeared much calmer, of course, only on the surface. Two hours earlier, he had been pale with fright when Zheng Tan had dashed across the road. Even now, thinking back on it gave him a lingering fear.

Zheng Tan couldn’t be bothered with Yuan Zhiyi. Without traffic lights here, he waited until there weren’t many cars before crossing.

“Woof, woof!”

Chairman Shu’s vehicle had also caught Mars’ attention as he spotted Zheng Tan. Likely out of joy and curiosity, the dog barked twice, causing Chairman Shu and Yuan Zhiyi to tense up, worried the cat that had just returned might get scared off again. However, when they turned to look, they realized the cat was not affected at all and crossed the road unperturbed.

“Huh?” Chairman Shu, covering Mars’ mouth, watched the black cat run across the street and jump into the car beside them. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe the cat was actually not scared of Mars?

With that in mind, Chairman Shu got out of his car and knocked on Yuan Zhiyi’s window.

Inside the car, Zheng Tan looked at Mr. Jiao’s seemingly calm face and thought: That’s it, that’s it, he’s going to blow up. Jiao Fox flipping out is terrifying. Could he end up grounded for a long time? Grounding seems light, though, just not sure for how long. Zheng Tan was relieved that Mr. Jiao rarely used physical punishment, so he wasn’t worried about getting beaten up… probably?

As he was pondering, Zheng Tan heard Chairman Shu talking with Yuan Zhiyi. Chairman Shu suggested that since it wasn’t often that they all got to know each other, and his dog seemed to have caused some trouble, he’d like to invite Yuan Zhiyi and Mr. Jiao for some afternoon tea to have a chat as a gesture of apology.

With Zheng Tan back, Yuan Zhiyi was no longer worried. He was unfazed, having put the harrowing near-stabbing incident at the Ancient Zither House out of his mind. Now seeing Chairman Shu come over, ideas began to swirl in his head again, after all, he was a businessman. When Zheng Xuan introduced Chairman Shu to them, Yuan Zhiyi had only listened somewhat — they were far from Chairman Shu’s league. With such a person extending an invitation, Yuan Zhiyi was, of course, all for it.

Mr. Jiao, who had been eager to “have a serious talk” with Zheng Tan, now had to keep his thoughts to himself a while longer. Since the invitation had been extended, it was only polite to accept. Mr. Jiao was not clueless about these things. But, as the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot; he wondered how much authority his words would carry when the time came to give a lecture.

Forget it, it’s good enough that he came back.

Mr. Jiao sighed and gestured to Yuan Zhiyi that they could leave.

Seeing that Mr. Jiao had no immediate intention to “have a serious talk,” Zheng Tan let out a sigh of relief. He was truly thankful for Chairman Shu’s timely appearance.

The restaurant Chairman Shu took them to had a lot of class and was a bit far from the city center, but it was quite spacious.

Yuan Zhiyi looked at the restaurant in front of him and wondered just how much money one would have to spend here. They had arrived just as some people were leaving. Yuan Zhiyi could clearly see that they were celebrities, one of whom he could recognize at a glance even with big sunglasses on — it was the woman who used to grace the posters on the wall above his bed during his college years.

It wasn’t that Yuan Zhiyi was overly astonished, for he had seen quite a bit in his time, both then and now. What he was thinking about was that if there were celebrities coming here to eat, the security measures must be top-notch. He had felt this when they entered from the outer gate, and now he was even more certain.

“Can you really bring cats into this place?” Mr. Jiao asked. Generally speaking, dogs are easier to manage; just put them on a leash, and you’re good to go. But cats are not so cooperative, especially in a place where there might be celebrities. Many celebrities seem to be friendly with cats in public, but not necessarily in private–after all, cats are prone to scratching, and a celebrity’s face is quite valuable. Mr. Jiao noticed one of the celebrities frowning upon seeing the cat poking its head out of the car, but they quickly covered it up, and it was just a fleeting moment that Mr. Jiao happened to catch.

Yuan Zhiyi paused for a moment and said, “Theoretically, they shouldn’t allow it.” He had been to a similar place before, where they didn’t explicitly say pets weren’t allowed, but everyone privately understood what was expected.

The use of “theoretically” was apt; often, this word directly tells you that the official story is nonsense. Usually, the ones who can bring pets inside are those who are not afraid to speak out; it’s called privilege, like President Shu who boldly emerged from his car with his beloved dog in tow.

“Who cares, let someone else worry about it–we have nothing to fear,” Yuan Zhiyi thought liberally.

“The food here may not necessarily be inferior to the Ancient Zither House, but the security here is much stronger. You don’t have to worry about running into that kind of trouble again,” Chairman Shu said, walking ahead.

The servers here were familiar with Chairman Shu. They greeted him but did not lead the way. Chairman Shu knew the place well; he would go wherever he wanted. Only when he needed some services would he call for attention. Otherwise, they didn’t have to bother coming over to cater to him.

Walking further in, Zheng Tan saw a courtyard. The arrangement of artificial mountains and ponds was quite meticulous and looked comforting. A few private rooms were close to the courtyard and were only frequented by a few friends familiar with the owner — this area was not open to the general public.

There was a pond in the courtyard that didn’t house any fish. A large dog lay with its head on the edge, snoring loudly. On hearing the sound from their direction, it immediately opened its eyes and looked over. When it saw Mars and Chairman Shu, it leapt out of the pond, its tail wagging exuberantly.

It was a black Great Dane just like Mars, of similar size, but this one had undergone a cropping surgery on its ears, giving it a sleek and spirited appearance. With deft precision, it was easy to distinguish it from Mars.

Chairman Shu informed Mr. Jiao and the others that this dog was named “Tofu,” brother to Mars, and also had a nice temperament — it just had a fierce-looking face. When naming it, the restaurant’s owner was contemplating a dish involving tofu. Chairman Shu pressed him for a name and the man simply said “Tofu.”

Zheng Tan sympathetically looked at the big dog. A tall and fierce black dog named Tofu — without seeing the dog, one might think it was soft and easily bullied just from the name.

A spray of water shot up from the pond, not high, about half a meter tall.

The moment the water sprayed, the two canine brothers immediately ran over and jumped into the pond.

“I wonder if dogs born in summer like to play in the water more. Mars and Tofu both love to dive into the water, especially in the heat of midsummer. While other dogs fight for the air-conditioned room, they look for ponds to play in. This pond in the courtyard was specifically built for Tofu to enjoy,” Chairman Shu remarked with a smile as he watched them.

The pond there had a circulating purification system and was regularly maintained, so even though dogs often scrambled about in it, the water appeared very clean.

Chairman Shu chose a private room close to the pond, from where they could see the situation over by the pond.

Zheng Tan lay on the window, watching Mars and Tofu chasing the jet of water in the pond, splashing around. He felt inclined to join in.

Because they didn’t have the means to clean up on the way over, Mr. Jiao had used only a napkin and some bottled water to wipe off the most noticeable clumps of ice cream stuck in Zheng Tan’s fur, so he wouldn’t look too shabby. However, Zheng Tan still felt the sticky, itchy sensation of the strawberry-flavored mess. After watching for a while, he hopped down from the window and headed over, leaping into the air.

Splash!

Suddenly, with an outsider’s arrival, the two dogs that were having fun retreated to the edge of the pond. Noticing it was Zheng Tan, Mars swam back toward the water jet, only to be kicked away by Zheng Tan, who then monopolized the spot. Why there? Because the water coming out here was from the pond’s purification system, and it was cleaner.

“Hey, that cat is really fun!”

While discussing the liquidity crisis in the financial market with Yuan Zhiyi, Chairman Shu’s attention completely shifted upon seeing the scene by the pond. This abrupt change left Yuan Zhiyi, who had been eagerly following the discussion and waiting for Chairman Shu to circle back to the previous topic, twitching in frustration.

Mr. Jiao, watching his cat push aside the two big dogs and then casually “wash” its head under the water jet with a swipe of its paws, covered his face.

Really, that was a bit too rude. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.NovelFire.net to read.)