Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 337 - Chapter 337 Chapter 330 Giving Advice

Chapter 337: Chapter 330 Giving Advice Chapter 337: Chapter 330 Giving Advice Today, it was Su Qu’s turn to be on duty at the lab. The garbage bin was full, so he pulled it out, not expecting to see the boss’s cat as soon as he stepped out the back door.

Graduate students under Professor Jiao knew all too well that the boss’s cat held a high status–don’t underestimate or belittle it, otherwise, you’re asking for trouble. And Su Qu, who had benefited from the cat before even setting foot in the lab, was genuinely grateful to it. Over the years, they had grown quite familiar with each other.

However, Su Qu had never seen the child standing next to the cat before. The child didn’t seem like a relative of the boss, and that snake-skin bag…Su Qu was tall, so a few steps forward allowed him to see the empty bottles inside the bag, instantly realizing what the child was doing.

Seeing the child about to leave, Su Qu hurriedly said, “Hey, don’t go. I have a lot of bottles over there. Do you want them?”

Wang Xing, who had just taken a step forward, stopped but was too embarrassed to ask.

Without waiting for him to speak, Su Qu placed the garbage bin aside, said “wait a moment,” and ran back into the building.

Wang Xing stood there, glanced at the person who had run into the building, then looked at the black cat beside him and whispered, “Hey, Black Cat, is that person your acquaintance?”

Zheng Tan just waited on the side. He had once watched from a window as students in a study room left drink bottles and mineral water bottles piled up in a corner. It wasn’t necessarily because they wanted to sell them to make money, as those who often consumed such beverages probably weren’t in need of that small sum of money. They were just too lazy to dispose of them until there were too many to ignore.

Su Qu came out quickly, followed by a man and a woman. They were not wearing white lab coats, probably having emerged from other study rooms after hearing what Su Qu said. They carried bunches of bottles, some plastic, some aluminum cans. Some students were not accustomed to the water boiled on campus, finding it tasted off, and often drank purified or vitamin-enriched water instead. Hence, such bottles were abundant.

The three of them dumped the bottles they were carrying into the snake-skin bag, not leaving Wang Xing to sort them out by himself. He stood awkwardly at the side, not knowing what to say, only managing to blush and stammer out a few “thank you”s.

A student Zheng Tan didn’t recognize was organizing bottles for Wang Xing while giving him practical advice, “Little brother, let me tell you, you probably won’t find aluminum cans in the Chemistry Department. Someone there is working on recycling valuable metals, so you won’t find electronic waste, aluminum cans, iron cans there. So, don’t bother going over. There are a few places where you might find a lot, but don’t go to the old student dormitory district. The turf there has long been cordoned off by a few janitors and janitresses, and as a kid, you’ll probably be at a disadvantage there… Also, there are several places on campus that buy recyclables, but one of those places has an owner who is nicer and pays a bit more… You might want to buy a pair of those plain cotton yarn work gloves for one yuan at the hardware store near the school gate; it’s safer that way…”

Upon hearing “let me tell you,” Zheng Tan knew a verbose speech was coming, but the person was thorough, and Wang Xing was listening intently. Knowing more could save a lot of time and improve efficiency.

The person mentioned that during their undergraduate days, they had done similar things. Despite the stigma of “picking up trash,” it could actually bring in a decent amount of money. They had once collected recyclables out of curiosity with a classmate, and the money from a week’s work had paid for meals in their dormitory. They only stopped because of their studies. “People like those from the Environmental Protection Association openly collect stuff in the name of environmental protection, riding their tricycles all over campus. I heard that someone even bought a small electric scooter with the money they earned from selling recyclables, that show-off…”

In addition to giving tips, they also warned Wang Xing about certain garbage bins that should not be tampered with, like those in their department, which might contain harmful substances. Though highly toxic and dangerous items wouldn’t be discarded there, even what looked like ordinary empty bottles could be hazardous. One might not know what had been inside, whether anyone had disposed of something improperly, or if there were drug residues on the bottle that could cause harm.

Garbage bins here wouldn’t be left for long; someone would soon come to take them away. Just now, a cleaning lady had dragged one away, and now she was back, setting down an empty bin and hauling away a full one.

“Thank you, big brothers and sisters,” Wang Xing said, looking at the bag full of bottles.

“Aiyo, what’s there to thank? Little brother, whenever you come by again, we’ll save them for you. Hey, if you come during the summer, you’ll find even more. We don’t have summer break here, so if you need them during the summer, feel free to come over,” said the woman. It was rare in the campus to be called brother or sister by the children – they were more accustomed to being called uncle or aunty, so the mood was instantly lifted.

After Su Qu and the others went back into the building, Wang Xing dragged his bag full of bottles to the recyclables buying place that the student had told him about, picking up more along the way. The place he and his classmates had been to before not only offered lower prices but also nitpicked down to the penny, so Wang Xing decided to try a different location.

True to what the graduate student said, although the recycling place was a bit farther, it was only a little bit further, and this time Wang Xing earned more. The price was slightly better, and he got more money. The owner even rounded up the amount; instead of five yuan and six, he was given six yuan outright.

Wang Xing carefully placed the money into his inner pocket, wondering if he should get a larger bag for tomorrow? The empty bottles weren’t heavy, and he had the strength to drag them.

Once experienced, things become easier. The first time is the hardest, but familiarity grows with time. With the advice others had given him, his efficiency had also improved. Wang Xing made three trips that afternoon and, including the morning’s earnings, had accumulated twenty-three yuan.

For Wang Xing, twenty yuan was a lot. He had saved up thirty over two months, but today he had earned over twenty. He could pay off his debts. He would continue the next day, Sunday. If he could come every weekend, he wouldn’t need to rely on his family for living expenses and might even be able to buy something for them, as long as he could swallow his pride.

Seeing that it was almost time, Wang Xing went to the internet cafe at the agreed time to find his classmate, and then they went back together.

After that, as long as there was no torrential rain, Zheng Tan would see Wang Xing around campus virtually every weekend.

Zheng Tan had visited Wang Xing’s community several times, and every time he went there, that Old Cat would be squatting on the second-floor windowsill of that building. Whether it could bask in the sun or not, it always squatted there with a red string around its neck, slightly squinting its eyes.

When it saw Zheng Tan, the cat merely opened its squinted eyes a fraction and looked down at Zheng Tan standing below.

Cats always enjoy squatting on high places, looking down, whether they are kittens or have grown old.

Wang Xing told him that, when this Old Cat was young, it was also a notable figure in this area. However, at that time, Wang Xing’s memories were scarce, some learned from his parents, others he remembered himself. When Wang Xing was very young, he got into a fight with a kid from the community who was a year older than him, and his family’s cat even helped him out, scratching the other child. As a result, Wang Xing’s parents went to apologize with gifts, and they also paid for the injections. Because of that incident, Wang Xing’s parents almost gave the cat away, declaring that it scratched people. If Wang Xing hadn’t thrown a tantrum on the floor, crying and refusing to let them take the cat away, perhaps, that Old Cat would not be seen anymore.

For many children, coming home from school is a joyful thing, not only because they no longer have to sit obediently in the classroom, but also because of cartoons and TV shows they look forward to. The happiest moment for Wang Xing when he got home every day was to pluck a blade of grass and squat in front of his house to play with the cat on the other side of the door. In summer, he would also catch small insects like grasshoppers for his family’s cat to play with.

Those who have never owned a cat cannot comprehend the affection felt by those who have lived with a cat for several years or even ten to twenty years, just like Wang Xing, who would rather spend what for him was a considerable sum of money to buy a dubious hope for a cat.

After looking at the Old Cat on the windowsill for a while, Zheng Tan turned and left.

The Old Cat on the windowsill opened its eyes to slits, the sunlight was too strong, making it hard for the cat to keep its eyes open. Half squinting, it watched the Black Cat walking farther and farther away, yawned, lifted its paw, and began licking it. Regardless of whether its claws were still sharp or if it could still fight, it licked them seriously, a habit ingrained by instinct, a natural behavior, or perhaps, there were other emotions involved. Then, it calmly observed the community it knew too well.

The azaleas bloomed, the sunlight was as bright as ever.

After hesitating for a while, Zheng Tan found a spare moment, put on a vest, and took money to find that old lady. He didn’t buy a bracelet; the old lady introduced him to a waist chain adorned with small stones, the material of which Zheng Tan didn’t recognize. He had never studied such things, but it looked pretty. However, when the old lady quoted 1,000 yuan, Zheng Tan couldn’t help but twitch his whiskers fiercely.

The money Zheng Tan had saved up in his drawer just happened to be exactly 1,000 yuan. How well that old lady had sized him up!

In the end, Zheng Tan gritted his teeth and made the purchase, emptying his savings. This would have been nothing for the Zheng Tan of the past, who spent lavishly and could drop more than this amount of money in a single day of courting girls. But Zheng Tan’s situation had changed; he couldn’t easily access the money in his card and could only earn overtime pay.

Hopefully, next month I can work some extra shifts, Zheng Tan thought.

The waist chain was made on the spot by the old lady. Zheng Tan squatted by her side, watching closely as she used her trembling hands to tie a series of knots that looked very complicated.

Not all the knots were the same, and Zheng Tan had no idea what pattern she was following. Anyway, as he watched, he couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but a third of the chain was completed. As he continued to watch, before long, it was finished.

The old lady took the money from inside Zheng Tan’s vest without even counting it, put it in her money box, then packed the waist chain in a small cloth bag and tucked it into Zheng Tan’s vest pocket, her wrinkled face beaming with a smile.

As soon as he saw Little Youzi wearing the waist chain happily, Zheng Tan suddenly felt less heartache over the money. Hopefully, Little Youzi wouldn’t be as unlucky as Boss Cai.

Speaking of Boss Cai, who seemed to “get shot” even while lying down, he had been in a much better mood recently, introducing two new dishes and maintaining the popularity of his restaurant. He even found time to take his wife and child, who had come from South City, out for sightseeing.

Zheng Tan had visited “Shiwei” for several days in a row and hadn’t seen Boss Cai, but although Boss Cai wasn’t there, he had instructed the manager to have Zheng Tan wait in Boss Cai’s rest room, and food would be served shortly.

Zheng Tan suddenly felt a twinge of guilt for being served hand and foot but dismissed it in an instant. The pleasures that were to be enjoyed should not be missed; being miserably turned into a cat, why not indulge in some special treatment?

That day, when Zheng Tan went to “Shiwei,” he ran into some familiar faces.

Liu Ba and Jing Gui.

Seeing Liu Ba, Zheng Tan then remembered that he hadn’t turned on his phone in a long time. He had left it in the Old Tile House District the last time he was there, returning the Diamond, and that had been a while ago. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets on Qidian (NovelFire.net). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)