Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 365 - Chapter 365 358

Chapter 365: 358 Chapter 365: 358 Compared to a while ago, Zhuo Xiaomao seemed to be in a particularly good mood today, and the words “Let me tell you” foreshadowed a long tale to come.

Although it was always Zhuo Xiaomao who did the talking whenever Zheng Tan visited, today the little guy seemed like he had more to say.

Indeed, Zhuo Xiaomao went on to share his visit to “Buddha” and proudly recounted how he had used his clever brain to act pitiful in front of Buddha, how he rolled around, and how he negotiated terms with Buddha.

Zheng Tan suddenly remembered overhearing a conversation at a tofu stand in the old streets about how the kid who bought tofu had “a brain fit for medical school but was using it to sell tofu,” and now Zheng Tan thought Zhuo Xiaomao was using the intelligence of a physicist to throw tantrums–and successfully at that.

After a lot of preamble and buildup, Zhuo Xiaomao’s eyes shone as he stared at Zheng Tan, his mouth unable to resist grinning widely.

“Black, Grandma Ye agreed to let me attend primary school this year!”

The “Grandma Ye” Zhuo Xiaomao referred to was Buddha, whose real name was Ye He. Normally, Zhuo Xiaomao just directly called Buddha “Grandma Ye.” Besides her, there were “Grandma Li,” “Grandpa Zhang,” “Granny Liu,” and a whole bunch of other influential elders who made Zhuo Xiaomao’s early admission to primary school no problem at all.

Moreover, Zhuo Xiaomao had already passed the tests at the Affiliated Primary School; there wasn’t a single issue with him starting first grade, and he didn’t need any back door favors. If it weren’t for Zhuo Xiaomao’s young age, the teacher in charge of the tests might have even suggested skipping first grade altogether.

Zheng Tan knew that the little guy was smarter than other kids. While other children were still struggling to recognize numbers, he had already encountered pi, and when they were vying to show off how many decimals of pi they could recite, this smart aleck had already moved on to three-dimensional geometry. One time Zheng Tan found him measuring the diameter of a small rubber ball, and on the penultimate page of his drawing book was a formula for calculating the volume of a sphere.

As for how far Zhuo Xiaomao’s knowledge actually extended now at the age of five, Zheng Tan had no clue. The kindergarten teachers often said that Zhuo Xiaomao was a very smart kid but seldom mentioned the word “genius,” a testament to Zhuo Xiaomao’s modesty, at most teasing teachers and classmates intentionally.

“Black, Black, do you think my mom will come back once I start primary school?” Zhuo Xiaomao asked, looking at Zheng Tan with hopeful eyes.

How would I know! Zheng Tan grumbled inwardly. Probably only Buddha and the woman who usually took care of Zhuo Xiaomao knew, right?

“Right, I asked Mom during Mother’s Day, and she said she’ll come back when I start primary school,” Zhuo Xiaomao said in a soft voice, lightly kicking the wall with his foot.

Mother’s Day had just passed, and according to Zhuo Xiaomao, although Xiao Zhuo hadn’t come back, she would video call him occasionally, Mother’s Day being one of those occasions. Since Xiao Zhuo had said so, could it really be that she would come back this year?

That would be wonderful. Even though Zhuo Xiaomao usually lived a good life, he lacked the presence of his parents since his earliest memories, a gap that set him apart from other children.

Even if his intelligence surpassed that of other kids, after all, he was just a child. Zhuo Xiaomao was convinced his mom would return this year, so he was especially happy, and when he was happy, he was exceptionally kind to his classmates, very patient with others who came to ask him questions, and wasn’t as mischievous.

Zheng Tan didn’t know whether Xiao Zhuo could really come back or not. How devastated would Zhuo Xiaomao be if she couldn’t return this year?

Despite being just a child, sometimes, kids can be incredibly stubborn and hard to console.

Over by the climbing frames, a child was crying with a face full of snot, and the more the teacher consoled, the harder the child cried. Zheng Tan glanced over and thought it might be better to consider what to get Zhuo Xiaomao for a Children’s Day gift, which could serve as a consolation then.

Since middle school, Children’s Day had been just another date without any special significance. But for every primary school kid, it was a day worth commemoration. On that day, they would perform, sing, and dance; schools would distribute snacks, they would have holidays, and it was particularly easy to persuade parents to give them gifts on that day.

When the New Year came, Zheng Tan gave Zhuo Xiaomao a big red envelope. It wouldn’t be appropriate to do that again for Children’s Day, so what should he give instead?

Over the next few days, Zheng Tan pondered what to gift. Conveniently, Xiao Guo’s shop had recently launched a campaign, customizing some gifts as presents for VIP customers.

Among these gifts, many were plush toys in the shape of cats and dogs, ranging from mobile phone accessories to throw pillows, even life-sized plushies. Of course, the choice of gift would depend on the VIP’s membership points.

The biggest plush toys were specially intended to please certain special customers; whenever those customers visited, Xiao Guo always made a killing. Zheng Tan couldn’t touch those, so he set his sights on the throw pillows. He purely chose based on size as a measure of value. Since he couldn’t pick the largest, he chose the next biggest one.

After a routine photo shoot at the Pet Center, Zheng Tan didn’t accept Xiao Guo’s offer of overtime pay, instead taking a throw pillow with him.

The design of the gifts was based on the cats and dogs from the studio, including toys and phone charms of “Gou Zai,” the cat who had been rescued by a dog from an earthquake. Despite having no front legs and only two bumps where the limbs should be, maintaining balance on its hind legs, this cat was quite popular, and people often requested its likeness in toys and charms.