Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 362 - Chapter 362 Chapter 355 Bald Donkey

Chapter 362: Chapter 355 Bald Donkey Chapter 362: Chapter 355 Bald Donkey Like the past few years, this year they returned to Mr. Jiao’s hometown for the New Year’s celebration.

Compared to last year, Zheng Tan finally gave out the highest red packet. Jiao Yuan received the red packet but still felt awkward about it. Little Youzi didn’t say anything, but after returning home, Zheng Tan saw Little Youzi putting the money-filled red packet into her piggy bank, where last year’s red packet still sat.

The only members of the Jiao family who knew about the red packets from Zheng Tan were Jiao Yuan, Little Youzi, and Mr. Jiao. They kept it from Jiao Ma, otherwise, there would be a lengthy rebuke.

Once the New Year was over, everyone got busy, with workers heading off to work and students to school.

Zheng Tan was busy too because someone had come knocking.

Yang Yi acted as an intermediary, but the person who really came looking for Zheng Tan was Li Wei.

Li Wei wanted to shoot a series of photos with animals, apparently for some kind of animal protection campaign. Before coming to Zheng Tan, Li Wei had also taken pictures with several other animals.

Although several animals were involved in the cooperative shoot, in the end, only one photograph would be selected, a photograph that very likely could grace the cover of a fashion magazine.

Xiao Guo was thrilled, even though it had nothing to do with him. After all, Zheng Tan had signed a contract with his studio, and he had a certain responsibility. Therefore, he paid considerable attention to this matter.

A professional photography team accompanied Li Wei, traveling with her to various locations to take pictures of animals like Zheng Tan that couldn’t easily travel long distances. Zheng Tan was brought by Xiao Guo to Li Wei’s studio in Chuhua City, where several foreigners were part of the photography team. Before taking the photographs, there were a few days of “training”.

Zheng Tan didn’t know if the other animals who had been photographed with Li Wei also went through this kind of training, but he knew that the fee offered by Li Wei’s company was quite substantial, accompanied by free training. Zheng Tan was indifferent; after all, it was only a bit boring to him. When he took on this task, Zheng Tan had wondered if he would have to walk the runway but discovered instead that he only needed to strike a few poses according to their requirements, coordinating with Li Wei.

It must be said, a supermodel is a supermodel; their presence alone commands attention. To not be outshined by Li Wei’s aura, Zheng Tan put aside his initial indifference. Since he had accepted the task, he had to take it seriously. After all, it was tied to a bonus.

After the photo shoot, Li Wei gave Zheng Tan a red packet, which contained enough money not only to make up for the New Year’s red packets he had given out but also with some to spare. This delighted Zheng Tan.

Li Wei and her company people did not stay in Chuhua City for long; they were on a tight schedule, with a show for Li Wei following soon after.

Xiao Guo said that if the photo of Zheng Tan’s collaboration with Li Wei was selected, Zheng Tan would be set for life, and there would be other unimaginable opportunities.

Zheng Tan didn’t really care. As for the “opportunities” Xiao Guo mentioned, if it was another movie shooting, Zheng Tan didn’t want to go through that again. Once was enough; he wasn’t planning to pursue a career in this field, unlike Qi Da.

The appearance of Li Wei and her team didn’t make much of a difference to Zheng Tan’s life; he was still Zheng Tan, a cat in the courtyard that looked no different from an ordinary house cat.

When spring brought warmth and flowers bloomed, the campus was always lively, whether with people or animals.

After taking a stroll outside, Zheng Tan returned and, reaching Big Fatty’s house balcony downstairs, took out the access card and key intending to enter the building, when he heard noise coming from the fourth floor.

“A monk takes his pail and cheerfully fetches water to drink– hehe, merrily fetches water to drink–

From the third-floor balcony, a bald man emerged and yelled at the fourth floor, “Sing that song again, and I’ll come up and pluck your feathers!”

The cheeky bird from the fourth floor strained to look out from its cage, then retorted, “Bald Donkey!”

Zheng Tan, Ermao: “…”

“I….” Wanting to swear but mindful of the presence of his daughter at home, Ermao managed to suppress the curse that almost slipped out, and called to the fourth floor, “Just you wait!”

Damn, why hasn’t my hair grown back yet! Ermao thought bitterly.

Ermao had moved into the courtyard with his wife and children in March, when the weather became warmer, taking up his previous third-floor rental. The original owner had cleared out many of their belongings and opened up an additional room. The study was transformed into a baby room, the second bedroom was given to the nanny, and Heimi was also brought over.

Because he had lived here before, the scents were somewhat familiar, and upon arrival, Heimi quickly adapted, not becoming agitated by the change of location and calling restlessly.

With a nanny helping with the cleaning, the place wasn’t as messy as before. After all, Ermao was now a married man with children; compared to his once irresponsible behavior, he now exhibited considerable maturity. Of course, if it weren’t for that bald head, more people might have believed in Ermao’s maturity, but his shaved head changed the impression.

Speaking of Ermao’s bald head, it happened this year on his daughter Er Yuan’s birthday. Ermao was so excited that, while helping his daughter blow out the candles, he swaggered too close and let the birthday candles singe a tuft of hair at the front. Luckily, he wasn’t burned or anything, and after that, Ermao simply went all out and shaved his head clean. The one-year-old Er Yuan would pat her dad’s bald head every now and then, the smacks resonating with a crisp sound. Ermao didn’t mind; he let her pat. When the hair grew back and the girl found it prickly? Shave it again!

It was the same way Mr. Fang doted on his daughter, letting them yank his hair and slap him as they pleased. As long as his daughter was happy, nothing else was an issue.

Ermao’s wife and daughter didn’t mind his bald head either, but sometimes it gave people the wrong first impression. For example, a few days ago, Ermao took his daughter to see a flower show. When they were leaving, they were stopped by security, and even the police, who happened to be patrolling the area, came over to question them. They asked Ermao for his identification and scrutinized him suspiciously–

wearing sunglasses and sporting a bald head, he didn’t look particularly respectable–a sketchy-looking man holding a clean and pretty little girl. It looked suspicious no matter how you looked at it, especially with a few cases of child trafficking before the new year. Ermao was directly stopped because of this.

This incident gave Qin Tao and others plenty of material to tease him, saying that Ermao was not suited for a bald head, which convinced him that unless his hair fell out naturally, he should stop trying to imitate others by shaving it off.

Since his wife was abroad attending some cat show with her friend, Ermao decided to bring his daughter and stay at the courtyard by Chuhua University. Compared to the environment back home, he preferred it here. There were more children, and the people around were nice. Ermao didn’t expect his daughter to grow up scholarly and multitalented. Being healthy was enough for him–this place was simply there to help.

Ermao’s parents completely approved of this. These days, many neighborhood relations in residential areas are very indifferent, and you don’t know who your neighbors are, plus Ermao’s parents didn’t trust his character. Growing up in a good environment, at least his granddaughter wouldn’t turn out crooked like her dad, right?

But what Ermao didn’t know was that as soon as he moved in, that bird on the fourth floor taunted him.

Why would it sing “monk” if not to mock him? Now even “Bald Donkey” has come into play.

It’s just… downright outrageous!

Apart from this despicable bird, Ermao felt life here was quite harmonious.

With a nanny around, there were no worries about food or drink. All he had to do each day was look after his daughter. Despite seeming idle without a job and not doing much, his wallet filled steadily; every so often he’d check his bank account and–voila–another few hundred thousand richer. Even his parents didn’t know how many investments he had made. They used to urge Ermao to get a proper job, save money, and find a wife. Now Ermao had a wife and child.

With his wallet full, his parents didn’t meddle in Ermao’s affairs anymore. Instead of getting a headache every time they talked about Ermao, they preferred to speak about their granddaughter.

Every afternoon, Ermao took his daughter downstairs to exchange parenting tips with other caregivers in the courtyard. The elderly men and women were very kind to these children. Ermao had even let Er Yuan ride on the back of the Saint Bernard, Xiao Hua, a few times. A lot of kids in the courtyard loved Xiao Hua. Compared to the Bull Terrier, Zhuangzhuang, who seemed distorted and fierce in many people’s eyes despite its small size, Xiao Hua’s gentle nature made her very popular amongst the kids. Of course, not many parents were confident letting their children near Zhuangzhuang, who was known to be hard to get along with and had bitten people more than once.

One morning, Zheng Tan went out intending to go for a stroll and saw Ermao from the third floor moving a princess-style child’s car with four wheels downstairs. After placing it there, Ermao went back upstairs to fetch his daughter.

Was he taking his child out for another walk?

Zheng Tan had once tried to lift that car–it weighed about 30 kilograms. It didn’t look particularly heavy at first, seeming like it would weigh maybe around ten kilograms like the other plastic children’s cars in the courtyard, but it turned out to be quite heavy. Yet, Ermao moved it up and down several times a day without complaint.

Upon closer inspection, you’d realize that there was something special about this child’s car. It had excellent safety features and was definitely sturdier and safer than it looked.

After carrying Er Yuan downstairs, Ermao let her walk over, open the car door, and climb in by herself.

At just over a year old, not quite a year and a half, Er Yuan could walk but not run, and she struggled a bit to get into the car. However, the girl seemed to have played with it before and performed a series of familiar movements. If she couldn’t climb up, Ermao would lend her a hand.

Once Er Yuan was seated, Ermao had her fasten her seatbelt, and Zheng Tan noticed there really was a seatbelt. It was fully equipped.

Ermao, dressed in a tracksuit, prepared everything and then pulled out a small remote control. He started to walk, and at the same time, the princess car with Er Yuan inside began to move.

Seeing kids being walked with a car was fairly common now, no longer as novel as when Zhuo Xiaomao first did it. This method had gained popularity among many young parents.

When Ermao ran ahead of the car, he slowed down to a walk until the car caught up before starting to jog again. In any case, Ermao wouldn’t let the child’s car get too far from him.

Er Yuan seemed thrilled, not scared at all, laughing all the while. Sometimes, she would even playfully tap the steering wheel inside the car, which didn’t really serve any actual purpose.

Zheng Tan watched the pair go for a walk with the child in the early morning, marveling at their leisurely lifestyle.

Since he had nothing else to do, Zheng Tan ran over to join them. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian [NovelFire.net], cast your monthly vote, and continue reading on m.NovelFire.net. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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