Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 309 - Chapter 309 Chapter 302 Undermining the Foundation

Chapter 309: Chapter 302 Undermining the Foundation? Chapter 309: Chapter 302 Undermining the Foundation? “Do you know this cat?” Yang Yi looked towards Tang Mo, although he also felt that the cat was a little unusual, he hadn’t thought too much of it. To his surprise, Tang Mo actually recognized it.

“Yeah, it’s quite an interesting cat.” Tang Mo didn’t mention the encounter at Uncle Kun’s place, only describing his own first meeting with the black cat.

“Now that you’ve mentioned it, I really want to go take another look at that cat. Take the opportunity to snap some more photos in the next couple of days,” Yang Yi said.

“You can only stay for two more days?”

“Can’t help it, there are other matters to attend to. I originally came here at the invitation of an old artist, and besides, there are plenty of troubles if I linger,” Yang Yi explained.

Tang Mo understood, the so-called invitation indicated that Yang Yi had come to the meeting on account of the old artist who invited him, and it wasn’t just for the meeting itself. During this period, others who attended the meeting with different intentions also tried to make an impression on Yang Yi. If Yang Yi took a liking to them, their fortunes could skyrocket overnight.

Yang Yi might look like a university student, particularly when he dressed inconspicuously on a university campus, making it hard to discern his background. Yet, Yang Yi was only a few years younger than Tang Mo, nearing thirty. Yang Yi owned an entertainment agency, and “Yixing Culture”, the company’s name, carried some prestige in the industry but might not be known to outsiders since the company had only been established for less than three years. However, its growth was promising, and more importantly, it had strong backers. Each circle has its rules, many wish to take shortcuts, and quite a few have set their sights on Yang Yi.

Yang Yi was someone Tang Mo met abroad, and the two had collaborated extensively overseas. Now, as Tang Mo was looking to enter the domestic market, Yang Yi’s company was planning to shoot a film to promote some newcomers. The film required an array of jewelry and diamonds, and Yang Yi, valuing props highly, perhaps due to a passion for photography, would not tolerate any defects on screen. Therefore, many fake jewelry props were dismissed, and this led to the potential collaboration with Tang Mo again. Tang Mo’s synthetic diamonds, created with new technologies, were almost indistinguishable from natural diamonds under the camera. Tang Mo also took this opportunity to advertise for himself.

After examining the diamond samples Tang Mo had provided, Yang Yi was very pleased, “If I don’t have the time, I’ll send someone to discuss things with you.”

Several scenes were scheduled to be filmed in Chuhua City, so Tang Mo also planned to stay here for a while longer, he could afford the wait. Carrying a large amount of diamonds–even if they weren’t natural diamonds–required enhanced security measures. In the following days, more jewelry would be transported, and Tang Mo would stay on the old man’s territory, ensuring a greater level of safety.

After discussing their business, Yang Yi, with his bag slung over his shoulder, left the restaurant, hailed a taxi, and returned to his hotel to rest.

The next day, Yang Yi had originally planned to check out the film set’s preparations, but having spent last night looking through photos, he decided to make a trip to Chuhua University instead. It was rare to come by, and he had encountered some evocative scenes of cats, so he chose to go back for another look.

Yang Yi himself didn’t have a particular affection for cats; it was his grandfather who loved cats. When he saw the old tile houses of Chuhua University and the cats there, he was reminded of his childhood at his grandfather’s home.

Yang Yi’s grandfather’s family was quite well-off. The old man enjoyed raising cats and taking photographs of them. Back then, cameras were not as convenient as today, so film had to be conserved and the skill requirement was higher. Because of this, his grandfather had a lot of experience in photographing cats. Whenever Yang Yi visited, his grandfather would show off his photography skills by sharing his latest shots.

Yang Yi remembered his grandfather saying that cats are very special animals with personalities and schemes. They are not as easy to tame as dogs, they don’t cooperate when being photographed, and have an unrestrained character, doing as they please, which makes it technically more challenging. Crafting the perfect moment for each photo required attention, and most of the time, the old man would adapt to the cats’ schedules. Of course, different cats’ schedules varied greatly with their owners, and the old man and his cats had a mutual influence on each other.

His grandfather was a firm believer in Mr. Jing’an’s statement that “every landscape has its emotion.” By using scenes to express feelings, a photographer’s mission is to capture images, each photo encapsulating the emotions of the photographer.

Looking through old photos from his childhood, Yang Yi realized that the people who took them were no longer around, and the cats in those photos had long since passed away. Although he hadn’t ventured into the ever-expanding pet circle driven by economic and social development, Yang Yi continuously took photos of cats as part of his life’s randomness and spontaneity–whenever the opportunity arose, he’d shoot.

So, now that he had been touched by something special, he wanted to take more pictures. There might not be another chance in the future, and even if he did return, who could say whether this place would remain unchanged? Many universities were undergoing renovations, tearing down old structures to build new ones. Would those cats still be there later?

Yang Yi got up early that day. When he arrived at Chuhua University, he saw many elders walking around. It was Saturday, and with most students not having classes, there were fewer students about than usual.

This time, Yang Yi entered through a different gate, not the route he took when he came for the meeting the day before. This section was closer to some staff residences, much quieter, and mainly populated by elders. Many were early to bed, early to rise, unlike young people who stayed up late and couldn’t handle it anymore.

After taking a few photos, Yang Yi saw an old man with a bag of buns from the cafeteria walking a Bull Terrier. Seemingly tired from walking, the man sat on a bench near the lawn to rest, with the Bull Terrier squatting beside him, its watchful triangle eyes gleaming with caution, but much gentler when looking at the old man.

Yang Yi raised his camera and snapped some photos. He heard the old man call out “Little Hua’er” and looked over to see another old man walking a large Saint Bernard. “Little Hua’er” must be the name of the Saint Bernard.

Seeing Yang Yi taking photos, the two old men greeted him, and upon hearing that he was a photographer, they quickly asked him to take a few more shots.

“These two get along pretty well,” Yang Yi said, looking at the two dogs that differed in size and temperament. A friend of his had a Bull Terrier which was aggressive and made all the neighborhood dogs and cats run away upon seeing it, so he found it quite novel to see these two together.

“Of course, they’ve grown up together, let me tell you, back in the day…”

Anyone familiar with the local teachers would know that after hearing “let me tell you,” a long story, summary, reflection, or educational remarks would follow. However, Yang Yi didn’t mind, standing by and listening to the two old men talk about past events in the neighborhood and the heroic deeds of Niu Zhuangzhuang.

As they were talking, the old men noticed that both dogs were looking in one direction, wagging their tails.

“Hey, Heitan, what are you up to now?!” one of the old men shouted.

Yang Yi looked over and saw at the end of the road, a black cat in a small vest sauntering over, appearing very lazy, yawning as it walked, and after hearing the old man’s shout, it glanced languidly in this direction and continued at its previous pace.

Mr. Jiao went to the institute in the morning and called home; he had left a USB drive and couldn’t leave the lab, so Jiao Ma directly told Zheng Tan to deliver it, similar to previous occasions. She put on a small vest for him, placed the USB in the vest pocket, zipped it up, and sent Zheng Tan to the Life Science Institute.

He ran there and walked back. Zheng Tan hadn’t slept well last night, all preoccupied with thoughts of those diamonds. He still had work today, and Zheng Tan planned to nap before that. The benches around were all occupied by old men and women who had come out for a walk or to buy groceries, and he didn’t feel like lying on a tree branch at the moment, as sleeping on a tree branch in a vest wasn’t very comfortable. After looking around, Zheng Tan directly went over and used Hua Jiongjiong as a blanket, a soft, warm blanket of fur.

Seeing the cat nonchalantly sleeping on the back of a large Saint Bernard, Yang Yi raised an eyebrow. He looked at the Bull Terrier next to him and then at the docile Saint Bernard, and curiously asked the two old men, “This cat isn’t afraid of dogs?”

“Afraid? Psh, it would be impressive if it didn’t bully these two; it has been bullying them since they were little,” one of the old men said.

“Ah, Heitan’s little vest isn’t bad,” commented another old man, touching Zheng Tan’s vest, “So tired, did you go catch thieves last night?”

While the three of them were chatting, by the time they were leaving, Zheng Tan also stood up, but he stopped at the junction of the path, waiting nearby for someone to come and take him to the Pet Center. Wearing the vest served two purposes today: one was to deliver something for Mr. Jiao, and the other was for the work at the Pet Center–if he had to work overtime today, he could conveniently charge for it.

Yang Yi did not leave but followed Zheng Tan, seeing that Zheng Tan was waiting there, he also watched from a not-too-distant place, curious why the cat just crouched there, seemingly doing nothing.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Zheng Tan finally saw the person he was waiting for.

Charlie was driving his “nanny car”–a custom two-wheeled electric vehicle specially designed to transport Zheng Tan–to take Zheng Tan to the Pet Center for filming a new promotional video. It turned out that a new environmental policy had been introduced recently, and various departments had been learning and implementing its key points. Even some social organizations had begun to follow the trend. Xiao Guo was planning to use this topic to shoot an advertisement video promoting green environmental protection.

The electric vehicle stopped in front of Zheng Tan, and Charlie checked the time, noting that today he wasn’t late, it was just that the cat had arrived early. With this thought, Charlie felt much less worried.

Over the past two years, not only had Charlie become acquainted with Zheng Tan’s temperament, but he also knew some of his preferences. For instance, he was aware that this cat, which could be worth just a few dozen yuan in some meat trading markets based on its breed, played a pivotal role in their team. It wasn’t interested in pet-related items, including toys, food, most pet clothes, etc., but was more intrigued by human items like computers, televisions, game consoles. Once, Charlie even saw Boss Guo providing headphones to the cat, letting it listen to an MP3 player. After seeing it often enough, he was no longer surprised. In fact, he was dutiful as a set nanny, earning the salary Boss Guo paid him.

Although the car and clothes didn’t bear the Pet Center’s logo, the water bottle in Charlie’s basket had “Mingming Pet Center” printed on it.

Pet Center? Wasn’t this cat said to be owned by a teacher? Yang Yi wondered.

“Excuse me, is this your cat?” Yang Yi approached and asked.

Immediately, Charlie looked at the stranger approaching with a guarded expression, and seeing the camera in his hand, he became even more alert. Was someone trying to steal his talent? Peers were indeed competitors; if the cat was taken away, Boss Guo would surely fight him to the death. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote for it with recommend tickets and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.NovelFire.net.)