Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 370 - Chapter 370 Chapter 362 Xiao Hua

Chapter 370: Chapter 362 Xiao Hua Chapter 370: Chapter 362 Xiao Hua Xiao Hua hadn’t felt wronged for long, having just left the courtyard when Ah Huang jumped off the dog’s back and ran back into the courtyard. It didn’t often leave the courtyard or wander around; climbing onto the dog’s back was merely imitating Zheng Tan’s behavior.

The sheriff didn’t stay much longer either. Seeing a little Pekingese, it chased after the Pekingese. Zheng Tan always felt that the sheriff was born into the wrong body; it should have been a dog. As for Da Pang, it didn’t jump off until they reached the intersection of the walkway to the courtyard and the main campus thoroughfare, then it found a tree to climb up and squat on, waiting for its old lady owner to return from her visit.

Therefore, by the time Old Man Li leisurely led Xiao Hua to the West District courtyard, only Zheng Tan was left on the dog’s back.

The West District courtyard also had quite a few pet dogs, which started barking upon seeing Xiao Hua. All of them were small breeds like Chihuahuas and little Pekingeses. No matter how fiercely they barked now, they wouldn’t dare approach once let off their leashes. Dogs rely on their owners’ power, acting arrogantly at their doorsteps–it’s all part of a dog’s life philosophy.

One or two cats perched on trees, undisturbed by the barking dogs around them, lazily watching in the direction of Xiao Hua and Zheng Tan. Those who recognized Zheng Tan wouldn’t come over to provoke, and those who didn’t recognize it also didn’t dare approach with such a large dog nearby; they were too lazy to climb down from the tree.

Zhuo Xiaomao was reading at home. Hearing the noise, she grabbed her binoculars, ran to the balcony to take a look, and then said to Xiao Zhuo, “Mom, Black and Xiao Hua are here. I’m going down to play.”

Since Old Man Li often brought his dog here, some people in the West District courtyard had a deep impression of Xiao Hua, the large dog whose size completely mismatched its name. Everyone knew this dog had a gentle nature, didn’t fight with other dogs, and was kind to children. Zhuo Xiaomao had even ridden on it. So sometimes, when Xiao Hua came around, Zhuo Xiaomao would go down to play, and now that Zheng Tan was also there, Zhuo Xiaomao was even keener to go.

Xiao Zhuo was not comfortable with her going down alone, so after telling the nanny, she went downstairs too.

The children in the courtyard loved to play ball with Xiao Hua because it wouldn’t puncture their ball. Someone also owned a German Shepherd that liked to play with the ball, but the children in the courtyard wouldn’t play with it because many kids in the West District knew once their ball was thrown to that dog, it wouldn’t come back. It wasn’t that the Shepherd wanted to hoard the ball; it tended to bite the ball with its teeth, and with one bite, ‘pop,’ the ball would deflate. Zheng Tan had once witnessed a high school student in the West District playing basketball who threw the ball to the Shepherd, and then that basketball was deflated between its jaws.

Standing in the shade, children from the West District came out to play with Xiao Hua; some even climbed on top of Xiao Hua, treating it like a large plush toy.

Zhuo Xiaomao came down and didn’t join them. Instead, she sat beside Zheng Tan, talking about the movie she’d seen a few days earlier. The little rascal still couldn’t help giggling when she mentioned Ronald drinking the water Zheng Tan used to wash its paws.

Xiao Zhuo stood under a tree not far away, smiling as she watched them, not coming over to interrupt Zhuo Xiaomao.

No matter what other people thought, Zhuo Xiaomao was convinced that Zheng Tan was the one in the movies. However, others merely considered it a child’s talk and didn’t take it seriously.

After Zhuo Xiaomao finished talking about Zheng Tan’s movie, she brought up Xiao Hua.

“Black, what’s inside the barrel around Xiao Hua’s neck?” Zhuo Xiaomao whispered into Zheng Tan’s ear. “Mom said it’s filled with alcohol, but I don’t believe it,” she said. “I touched it once but got pushed away by Xiao Hua before I could open it. There’s definitely no alcohol inside, considering the weight; it’s not empty and isn’t filled with liquid.”

Many people know that in some paintings, a Saint Bernard dog is always depicted with a small, oval-shaped wooden barrel hanging from its neck, which has become their classic image. Some say the barrel contains alcohol, which is used to rub on the bodies of those in danger on snowy mountains to warm them up, legend has it that Saint Bernards were used to rescue travelers trapped in the snow, and the alcohol in the barrel helped to warm the trapped people and inspire their courage to survive. Of course, there are also people who say that the small barrel is just a distinctive decoration.

On a whim, Old Man Li once put a small barrel on Xiao Hua as well, usually other than Old Man Li and a few others who are familiar with Xiao Hua, she doesn’t like others touching the barrel, which carries Old Man Li’s medicines.

As people age, they tend to have various problems, and sometimes they forget to bring their own medicine or some things for emergencies, so Old Man Li started using this small barrel.

For such a big dog, carrying a small barrel filled with medicine was not tiring, and after wearing it for these years, Xiao Hua had gotten used to it. The children who loved to play with Xiao Hua were all told not to touch the barrel, or Xiao Hua would get angry. Even though she wouldn’t bite, she would push them away with her mouth.

Because of this, when in the East District, Old Man Li always felt particularly proud while boasting to others about his dog.

Seeing that Zhuo Xiaomao was very curious about the barrel Xiao Hua wore, Zheng Tan thought about opening the barrel on Xiao Hua’s neck for Zhuo Xiaomao to see one day.

While Zhuo Xiaomao was chatting with Zheng Tan about Xiao Hua, Old Man Li had already left with Xiao Hua, along with two other elderly men, heading towards the exit of the courtyard, probably going to do something outside the school.

Some children, not yet having had their fill of play, negotiated with their parents while being pulled home, expressing their wish to have a Xiao Hua of their own.

Although there is a place in the school to take a stroll, and dogs wouldn’t be a problem if one could get a permit, and people from the community wouldn’t complain, as Saint Bernards are not a breed that likes to bark. However, the problem is that with such a large size, Xiao Hua clearly looks like a big eater. Without some financial capability, it would be quite difficult to afford such a large creature, not to mention their propensity to drool and shed hair, which could be a hassle. Old Man Li and his peers are retired and have nothing else to do, but what about those who work? They can barely take care of their children, let alone a dog. And even more so, a large one at that?!

Raising a dog, there’s no way!

That’s what people think, but when facing their children, they always come up with other excuses to dispel the children’s ideas.

Zheng Tan has good hearing and listens to the parents making excuses with amusement.

While secretly amused, he hears a loud ‘bang’ from the direction of the West Courtyard gate leading outside the school. Then, many people start making a commotion over there, as if an accident has happened.

Seeing that something was wrong, some parents hurriedly took their children home and locked them in before going over to see what was happening.

Xiao Zhuo also told Zhuo Xiaomao to go upstairs, originally telling Zheng Tan to go home as well, but Zheng Tan wanted to see what had happened, as he had heard Xiao Hua’s barking.

Seeing that he couldn’t persuade Zheng Tan, Xiao Zhuo had no choice but to take Zhuo Xiaomao upstairs first.

“Mom, what happened over there?” Zhuo Xiaomao, holding Xiao Zhuo’s hand, was curious but obediently followed her back.

“I don’t know, children shouldn’t worry about those things.”

Zhuo Xiaomao turned around and saw Zheng Tan running towards that direction. After going upstairs and returning home, Zhuo Xiaomao stood on the balcony to look over there. From the balcony, some scenes outside the courtyard’s gate were visible, but due to the angle, even with binoculars, it was impossible to discern what exactly was happening, only that many people were gathering in one direction.

Since she couldn’t see, Zhuo Xiaomao glanced at Xiao Zhuo, who had gone into the kitchen, then picked up the phone and dialed a number. The phone hardly rang before someone answered.

“Hello, this is Zhu Yong’s house.” A very childish voice came from the other end, not enunciating clearly, as if they were eating something, accompanied by some crunching sounds.

“Xiao Zhu, I’m Xiaomao. Do you know what happened outside the courtyard gate?” Zhuo Xiaomao asked.

“I don’t know, I’m watching TV.”

“Xiao Zhu, put down your popsicle and pick up your binoculars, then walk to the balcony and look in the 2 o’clock direction.”

“…Which way is 2 o’clock? My alarm clock is on the bed, I can’t see~~”

Xiao Zhuo stood in the doorway, looking at Zhuo Xiaomao with a helpless face as she instructed the person on the phone to check out what was happening outside.

Meanwhile, Zheng Tan reached the gate outside the courtyard and found that many people had already gathered there. Xiao Hua was still barking, but the crowd was too dense for Zheng Tan to see clearly what was happening, though he could guess it wasn’t anything good.

This gate led to the area outside the campus, and the entrance faced a wide road. Vehicles from the West Courtyard often passed through this gate, so there were usually more security guards here, and the checks were more thorough.

Now, as Zheng Tan arrived, there was no one in the security office, and he didn’t see the security guard responsible for this area either — everyone had run to the scene of the incident.

Just as Zheng Tan was thinking about climbing higher to get a better view, three security officers came out dragging Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua let out a low growl, clearly unhappy with the people pulling her and struggled while occasionally looking towards the crowd.

Xiao Hua had bloodstains on her. It wasn’t clear if the blood was hers or someone else’s.

The three guards tethered Xiao Hua’s leash to an iron hook on the fence next to the security office, then one of them immediately returned to the crowd, while the other two stood by to rest and also dispersed the onlookers who had come to gawk.

From their conversation, Zheng Tan learned that a person, not entirely sober, had driven a car over and hit a motorcycle. Both the motorcycle and its rider were thrown away by the impact, heading in Old Man Li’s direction. Xiao Hua blocked the motorcycle, but not the person, who then crashed into Old Man Li and the others, causing several old men to fall down.

“There shouldn’t be any risk to their lives, right?” one said.

“Should be fine, the driver of the car braked, so the force of hitting the motorcycle wasn’t that strong. The motorcyclist probably isn’t in lethal danger; the injuries just look a bit scary. But those old men, I don’t know. People have been killed by falling bodies before, and those hit by someone thrown in an accident could be injured too. If it were young people, they’d probably be fine, but at that age, even a fall can cause serious problems, let alone being hit…”

Some said Old Man Li and the others had been sent to the hospital, in the school’s own ambulance.

Xiao Hua was tied up on the side, squatting there, looking in the direction of the crowd, letting out whines through her nose. Her usually well-groomed fur was now disheveled, stained with quite a bit of blood and dirt.

Hmm?

Bleeding?!

Zheng Tan went over to take a closer look, and Xiao Hua had injuries, several cuts, but they didn’t seem deep. Still, it was hard to tell if there were other issues, as some injuries aren’t easy to detect.

Everyone was busy with rescue efforts and clearing the scene, and police cars had arrived, but no one was looking after Xiao Hua.

Zheng Tan couldn’t help with the rescues, as the school’s ambulance had already taken the people to the Affiliated Hospital.

As for Xiao Hua…

The Pet Center wasn’t far from here.

Zheng Tan unhooked Xiao Hua’s leash from the iron hook, Xiao Hua made a round towards where she had seen people last, but couldn’t find Old Man Li. After being shooed by several policemen, she turned back and ran towards Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan climbed onto the dog’s back, tugged at the leash, and directed Xiao Hua toward the Pet Center.

Riding a dog was something Zheng Tan had become proficient at. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (NovelFire.net) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)

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