Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 369 - Chapter 369 Chapter 361 Childhood Friend

Chapter 369: Chapter 361 Childhood Friend Chapter 369: Chapter 361 Childhood Friend The movie premiered in mid-July, and Zheng Tan went with the Jiao Family.

Pets usually aren’t allowed in cinemas, but there is something to be said for “connections.”

It wasn’t actually the Jiao family who initiated contact; it was Fang Shaokang who made the call himself.

Fang Shaokang had the connections, and Mr. Fang had long known about Zheng Tan’s role in the movie. Two days before the premiere, Mr. Fang, who was in Beijing, made a direct call to Mr. Jiao and arranged everything. Fang Shaokang even mentioned that he would bring Fang Mengmeng to watch the film to support it.

Ermao and Wei Leng had help from Ye Hao, and a group of them went together, with Ermao and Wei Leng bringing their kids and preparing eyepatches, earmuffs, and masks in case they needed to take the kids out if they were too disruptive.

The Jiao family, four people and one cat, took separate action and were not at the same cinema as Wei Leng and his crowd. As for Xiao Zhuo, he and some of Buddha’s students watched it in a cinema near their school.

What does it feel like to watch your own movie?

Zheng Tan said he was nervous and a bit embarrassed.

After all, this was a movie, watched by many people, quite unlike watching a documentary at home.

The atmosphere can greatly impact one’s mood.

Although they had Fang Shaokang’s call, necessary precautions were still needed.

Zheng Tan once again hid in a backpack and only came out when the movie started. Sitting next to him was Little Youzi, with Jiao Yuan on the right, and Mr. Jiao and Jiao Ma on either side. People on all sides kept him hidden, so he wasn’t worried about being seen. As for the people sitting in front, none of them looked back. Even if they spotted Zheng Tan, it wouldn’t matter–those were acquaintances of the cinema, and they had been cleared beforehand, ensuring no one would expose him.

Zheng Tan didn’t know how many people were in the cinema, whether it was full. If not many people came to see it, he would surely be disappointed. The movie was not only Zheng Tan’s achievement but also directly related to the size of his bonus. If the box office was poor, he probably wouldn’t receive much from Yang Yi.

However, by the sound of it, it seemed quite full.

Black Cat was a comedy, full of humor, and featured Zheng Tan the Cat, which brought bursts of laughter in the cinema. Jiao Ma and the others laughed too, but they were more focused on watching Zheng Tan’s performance.

Some audience members discussed in low voices behind.

“Is that a real cat being used?”

“Definitely a real cat, but those few shots just now were absolutely all CGI. Haven’t you heard? This movie had a ten million US dollar budget. That’s over a hundred million in RMB!”

Listening, Zheng Tan thought to himself: Damn right, I was in those scenes myself! And I even intentionally flubbed a few takes. But even with the multiple NGs, Kong Han was quite happy at the time.

The laughter around him helped ease Zheng Tan’s tension a bit, and he thought to himself that the movie’s results might be quite good, and at this rate, Yang Yi ought to give him a substantial bonus.

Cool, cute, great acting skills, and a team player–where else could Mr. Yang find such a fantastic cat actor?

While the Jiao family was watching the movie with Zheng Tan, elsewhere, Ermao and Wei Leng were also discussing, their perspective different.

“Brother, I have to say, Black Coal’s acting has really improved, much better than when he was doing advertisements a couple of years ago.”

“Yeah, after all, he’s gained experience over the years, and don’t forget about the documentaries. He made significant progress during those.”

“But, brother, do you think he’ll draw a lot of attention with all this fuss?”

Ermao and Wei Leng knew Zheng Tan well and, though not experts, understood something about computer graphics. If this movie becomes a hit and the real budget gets leaked, that jumping, prancing black cat on the big screen will attract how many media spotlights? By then, taking a walk outside would probably be impossible.

Wei Leng paused and said, “He has backers.”

Ermao thought about it too. Although they didn’t know how many people were backing him, from the discussions online before the premiere, few focused on “Z.” Clearly, some were deliberately steering the dialogue while also restraining insiders and limiting media exposure.

Ermao and Wei Leng thought the same as others–during the earlier debates about production costs, only insiders knew the true situation of the film, but no one spoke out, nor dared to. Yang Yi had warned them early on. Although a confidentiality agreement was signed, some couldn’t resist external temptations and leaked information. Indeed, someone leaked, but that person disappeared from the company the next day and was never seen again in the circles; rumored to have resigned and gone back home. Whatever the truth was, everyone knew to keep quiet, follow orders, and nothing would go wrong.

While Xiao Zhuo and their group enjoyed the comedic scenes in the movie, when Ronald drank the paw-washing water, Zhuo Xiaomao burst out laughing, and kept laughing.

“Mom, he drank Black’s foot-washing water! Ha ha!” Zhuo Xiaomao’s laughter carried a hint of schadenfreude.

Xiao Zhuo didn’t argue but simply laughed along.

Xiao Zhuo and the others didn’t believe that Ronald genuinely drank foot-washing water–no way a star would really drink a cat’s foot-washing water during filming, it must have been switched for another cup.

Zhuo Xiaomao firmly believed Ronald drank Zheng Tan’s paw-washing water and kept laughing endlessly, Xiao Zhuo’s junior brothers and sisters thought that kids really do take everything seriously.

In fact, everyone who knew the inside story laughed for a long while at that scene. Zhuo Xiaomao didn’t know the inside scoop, but he believed that scene was real.

After the release of Black Cat, various comments and reviews also appeared online. There were good and bad. Some said the film was great, worthy of the ten million US dollar investment, and the CGI cat looked just like a real one; it’s not like there aren’t comparable animal special effects movies domestically! Thumbs up.

Of course, some people said the plot was shallow and the acting of the newcomers was terrible, like a certain Ronald.

To talk about depth, there really aren’t many blockbusters nowadays with meaningful depth. Some people look down on fast-food culture, but its existence is justified. After a hard day’s work, seeking out something light and non-taxing as a form of relaxation is completely valid.

“We’re not cultural types, we watch movies for fun. If it was some arty film, I might not even go!”

“The kids at home had a great time watching it. As long as they’re happy, everything else is secondary.”

One netizen said so.

Yixing Culture also took this opportunity to continue promoting, making full use of the internet to attract a lot of viewers.

Zheng Tan didn’t pay much attention to those details. These past few days, there were people at home, and it wasn’t convenient for him to use the internet. However, from what Jiao Yuan and the others said, the movie did well at the box office in its first week, even surpassing another movie starring a Movie Emperor and Movie Empress.

While everyone mentioned how this movie had thrown millions of US dollars into production, Yang Yi remained silent, posing pretentiously. However, everyone took Yang Yi and Kong Han’s silence as acceptance, with various speculative reports emerging, speaking with certainty.

In private, Yang Yi and Kong Han had no idea how many times they had celebrated.

The professionals in movie special effects were still arguing–about which minute and scene used special effects, how a cat’s mouth couldn’t possibly shape that way, how cats couldn’t be that cooperative, and so on. As they argued, many people who hadn’t seen the film and weren’t originally interested in such movie plots went to the cinemas to see it for themselves, and then joined in the debates.

In the cat and dog lover circles, the movie was also heavily promoted and became a hot topic of recent times.

One critic jokingly said that “Black Cat” was essentially a cat’s movie, where all the actors were relegated to the background.

Apart from Ronald, none of the other significant actors really cared about being mere backdrops. Not even Wei Wen and Shi Xiaotian cared because for them, what mattered was the Boss’s attitude towards them; everything else was secondary. Unfortunately, during this time, Yang Yi was playing mysterious, and no one knew what this netizen-referred ‘Mr. Yang’ was thinking.

The box office had already surpassed one billion and was still in its screening period. Zheng Tan didn’t know how much it would eventually make, but knowing there would be a big bonus was enough for him, and he didn’t pay attention to the rest. As a cat, he didn’t wish to become a star constantly in the spotlight–it meant no freedom, and a hard cat life would definitely become harder. Cats, after all, have no human rights. Luckily, Yang Yi was handling the aftermath, and Mr. Fang seemed to have also contributed, so till now, not many people took the “Z” direction seriously.

This summer, the Jiao family didn’t travel far.

As a cat with no summer homework and mostly holidays throughout the year, apart from meal times when he could do whatever he wanted, Zheng Tan felt that the life of a cat was pretty boring.

What do feline animals mostly do?

Some might say playing with their tails, having a split personality and fighting themselves, or naughtily knocking things over?

None of those; it’s sleeping. Like Da Pang.

Sometimes Zheng Tan really wanted to tell this fatty, “Fatso, go exercise, or you’ll get old.”

Anyone who saw Da Pang would think he’s a lazy cat. Raised like that, how could he not be lazy? Probably even mice could outrun him, and besides, he was already six years old, probably unable to catch them anymore.

But Zheng Tan knew that wasn’t the case. Yesterday, the sheriff had a fight with another cat from the West District courtyard, and Da Pang even went over to help. Originally, the sheriff was losing, but as soon as Da Pang joined, he won instantly.

Zheng Tan looked at the cat that yelped and ran away without a trace, mentally lighting a candle for it. For a long while, that cat would probably run far away whenever it saw Da Pang.

Seeing the Saint Bernard Xiao Hua being taken out for a walk by Old Man Li, Zheng Tan thought for a moment, ran over, and jumped onto Xiao Hua’s back, riding the “dog carriage” for a stroll. Generally, Old Man Li would walk to the West Courtyard to chat with a few old friends and then return. Zheng Tan took this opportunity to check on Zhuo Xiaomao at the West Courtyard.

Xiao Hua was good-natured, often bullied by the sheriff and others, but never got mad.

After Zheng Tan jumped on, Xiao Hua didn’t refuse, as this weight was nothing for a hundred-kilogram Xiao Hua.

However, very soon, Ah Huang also jumped on.

Old Man Li found it amusing. His Xiao Hua was kind-hearted towards kids and other animals. Despite its size, it was always bullied by these little cats.

The sheriff, smirking, came out, saw this, and jumped on too.

Old Man Li was about to say something when he looked up and saw a certain fatty running over and then jumping on as well.

Xiao Hua looked at Old Man Li with a pleading gaze, “Woof–”

Old Man Li: “…”

Actually, the combined weight of the four cats wasn’t too heavy. Xiao Hua had even carried kids from the courtyard before, and the weight of Zheng Tan and his three friends was similar to that of those kids. After expressing its grievance, Xiao Hua still steadily carried the four cats.

Passersby seeing this scene couldn’t help commenting, “This dog and these cats really have a good relationship.”

Zheng Tan thought to himself: This dog has watched them grow up, how rare, childhood buddies. Just like when it first came, like Zhuangzhuang, a clueless little pup, and now, dammit, carrying four cats without breaking a sweat!

(To be continued. If you like this work, we invite you to vote for it at Qidian (NovelFire.net) or cast a monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)

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