Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 374 - Chapter 374 Chapter 366 The Ungrateful One

Chapter 374: Chapter 366: The Ungrateful One Chapter 374: Chapter 366: The Ungrateful One Affiliated Hospital, the old lady panicked after receiving a call from the security guard.

Old Man Li had just fallen asleep after getting an injection and taking his medicine, and the old lady had dozed off next to him in her chair. The other awake patients in the room were discussing the changing weather outside in hushed voices, but when they saw a tree being brought down by the wind, someone couldn’t help but let out a loud sound of surprise. The old lady woke up because of their startled sounds, and so did Old Man Li.

After seeing the weather outside, both elders became visibly unsettled, especially Old Man Li. The first thing he thought of was that Xiao Hua was still tied up near the guard room. With the wind howling and rain pouring, what would happen to Xiao Hua!

Before the old lady could make a call, the security guard called them first. The old lady had left her number with the security guard, so as soon as he saw Xiao Hua run away, he quickly called to inform her of the situation.

Xiao Hua running away made the elders very anxious, but thinking that Xiao Hua had run off following the cat from Teacher Xiao Jiao’s household provided some relief. A few days ago, when Xiao Hua was injured, it was Teacher Xiao Jiao’s cat that had taken Xiao Hua to the Pet Center for treatment. Xiao Guo had told the elderly couple about this, and Old Man Li had even called Professor Jiao to express his thanks. Privately, Old Man Li had told the old lady: The person is good, and the cat he raises is also good.

However, given the bad weather outside, Old Man Li couldn’t rest easy. He asked the old lady to hand him the phone, and he directly called Mr. Jiao.

Mr. Jiao, who was in his office organizing a lecture, saw the incoming call and picked up immediately. Although Old Man Li, a retired professor from the Life Science Institute who specialized in plants, didn’t have much overlap with Mr. Jiao’s area of expertise, the professors at the institute still respected Old Man Li a lot, which is why Mr. Jiao didn’t think twice before answering.

“Hello, Teacher Xiao Jiao, has your cat returned home?”

Old Man Li briefly explained the situation at the hospital, and after thinking for a moment, Mr. Jiao said, “I’m currently at the office, let me make a call and ask.”

“Thank you, Teacher Xiao Jiao. If you have any news, please call me back.”

After hanging up, Mr. Jiao called home.

Normally, Zheng Tan would pick up the phone if he were at home and saw the familiar number on the caller ID, but the call went unanswered for quite some time. Mr. Jiao glanced at the weather outside, frowned, and then called Jiao Wei’s parents and Feng Baikin to ask about it, but Feng Baikin told him that Zheng Tan had left early.

While Mr. Jiao and Old Man Li were searching for Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua, these two were actually taking shelter from the rain in a convenience store.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the convenience store was somewhat eerie.

The previously arrogant young men had become subdued, one being held by the wrist and pinned against the counter, daring not to move even a bit, his face contorted with pain. What began with fierce threats, now not even a fart dared to escape him, just hoping that the stern-faced store owner would let them go soon.

Like the store owner said, they could be let go, sure, but only if they paid up or scrammed quickly.

The fifty yuan that one of the young men had taken out lay on the counter, but after a glance, the store owner hadn’t looked at it again, just watching these two oddly dressed young men.

The bystander swallowed hard, feeling the wind that blew inside was a bit chilly, carrying moisture with it, making him feel even colder.

“I’m warning you, don’t go too far!” the young man standing by shouted loudly while pointing at the store owner. His voice was menacing but his inner fear was obvious as his hand trembled.

Xiao Hua sneezed when the rain splashed on its nose, causing the man to shiver more.

Selling cuteness may work for a Samoyed and looking pitiful may suit a Pug, but Xiao Hua’s confused face didn’t change much in expression. For those unfamiliar with this kind of dog, its most intimidating feature was always its size.

These two young men were now even more frightened, thinking whether the big dog at the back was showing its impatience. With that thought, their fear intensified.

The store owner remained silent, maintaining the same expression and just watching them, and then the young man standing next to them gritted his teeth, reached into his pocket, and took out twenty-two yuan to place on the counter, “How about now? Let my brother go!”

The store owner remained silent, did not lose his grip, but twisted it instead, causing the man to scream out loud.

“Seventy-two yuan and thirty cents, did a PE teacher teach your elementary math?”

The face of the young man standing by stiffened; he hadn’t expected the store owner to be so exacting, even caring about ten cents.

“I don’t have ten cents more, see for yourself!” Saying so, the man rummaged through his pockets, taking out everything inside. There was a ten-cent coin in his left pocket and two old-version ten-cent coins in his right pocket.

“…”

The young man standing by was choked up, not expecting to actually have thirty cents. He put three coins on the counter, looked at the store owner and said, “Is it okay now?”

The store owner shook his head, looked at the young man and said, “Last chance.”

“It hurts, dammit, give him the money!” the man whose wrist was held yelled at his friend.

The friend, looking distressed, placed another fifty on the counter, then quickly moved away with his companion.

The man tried to take the previous fifty he had placed on the counter, but found a finger already pressing on the corner of the fifty.

Reluctantly looking at the fifty on the counter, the man “hmmphed” and, pulled by his companion, grabbed their stuff and headed towards the door. He even looked for something handy to throw back in retaliation, to hit either the people or the store, but as he turned, his foot kicked a shelf. His toes, clad in flip-flops, throb painfully, and he almost cursed out loud; he was just about to swear to vent his anger and frustration when he heard two barks from behind.

“Woof woof!”

Xiao Hua stood up and watched the two men. It sensed something unpleasant from them, so it just barked twice as if testing and also to remind them not to come this way.

Xiao Hua lying there already seemed very large, but standing up it appeared even larger, every movement eye-catching. However, Zheng Tan didn’t stop Xiao Hua; he felt that these two young men didn’t have the guts to confront Xiao Hua, especially since the store owner was also not an easy mark. Able to subdue a man with just a move, he’d surely not be weak in a real fight, far tougher than these two internally frail bullies.

Two young men, choked by Xiao Hua’s barking, exchanged a glance and decided not to curse. Instead, they hurried away.

“What’s going on?” A person who had originally gone to nap in the back room was woken by the barking and, gathering courage, opened the door to check.

After seeing the two at the door, he raised an eyebrow. Were they looking for trouble?

Seeing that the store owner was not alone but had help, the two at the door were even less inclined to stay, and they quickly left, running into the rain curtain without even opening the umbrella they had just bought.

The person who came from the back bypassed Xiao Hua and quickly walked to the cashier counter, sticking close to the other side of the shelf.

“What’s going on, boss, were those two causing trouble?”

“It’s nothing, just two kids, no need to bother too much about them.” The store owner put the money in the cash box, leaving only the 50 yuan note that was first brought out still in its place.

“Hey, they even dared to use counterfeit money, must be on purpose, and they were looking for trouble. Boss, why didn’t you beat them up before letting them go?”

“Why fuss over kids.” The store owner moved the counterfeit 50 to one side of the counter and pressed it down with an object, then picked up a screwdriver and, with a cigarette in his mouth, continued fixing the electric fan.

The employee, having just woken up, decided not to go back to the back room. He dragged a chair over and sat next to the store owner, watching him fix the fan and talking about how he felt the store owner should have taught those two a lesson, believing that those who always indulged outside without doing any real work deserved a good thrashing.

“Boss, they are about my age, not even twenty but easily eighteen, right? Still kids?” He paused before adding, “Boss, what do you think is the difference between a child and an adult? Isn’t it age?”

The store owner, without taking his eyes off the fan, responded with a cigarette between his lips, “The difference? Kids care about who can take them out to eat and have fun, while adults care about who can lead them to success.”

The employee twisted his mouth, neither agreeing nor objecting, glanced at a box by the door, and then said, “Boss, does nobody comment on your price-gouging when it rains?”

“What’s there to say, even the stations hike up the fare during holidays, so what’s wrong with me raising umbrella prices when it rains?”

“…I’ve learned from you what it means to profit from disaster.”

“No,” the store owner, with a screwdriver in hand, shook his head, “I’m just making you understand more vividly what ‘no business without mischief’ means.” For many people, ‘no business without mischief’ might have a derogatory connotation, but not for many businessmen, like the store owner himself.

Zheng Tan squatted beside Xiao Hua, listening to the conversation between the store owner and the employee, feeling that this store owner was quite interesting.

“Hey, boss, aren’t you afraid of this cat and dog sticking around here?” The employee said, unafraid of being heard by Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua. In his opinion, even cats and dogs that had been around humans for years couldn’t understand complex speech.

The owner kept silent.

Zheng Tan also pretended not to hear.

On the shelf, the white cat changed its spot and continued to look down at Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua from a high position, not budging even when the store owner called it over.

Having stayed in the grocery store for about an hour, the rain gradually lessened, and after another ten minutes or so, it finally stopped, though some drops still occasionally fell.

The sky brightened considerably, but the wind continued to blow. Looking at the distant sky, another heavy rain seemed to be brewing.

It was a good moment to head back.

As soon as Zheng Tan left the grocery store, Xiao Hua stood up and eagerly followed him out.

Walking along, Zheng Tan turned back to look at the grocery store.

Now that the rain had stopped, the store doors were fully open again, and everything at the cashier counter could be clearly seen from outside.

The store owner was testing the electric fan he had just repaired, and the white cat came down from the shelf, jumping onto the cash register counter.

The white cat, with its sharply focused eyes, looked at the approaching store owner and quickly swiped a paw, knocking the cigarette from his mouth.

The owner, who had not been without a cigarette for more than an hour, liked to have a cigarette while working, feeling uneasy and lacking in energy without it.

After the cigarette was knocked away, the owner wasn’t annoyed but instead laughed so hard he choked.

“Cough, cough, Meow, we can’t waste this cigarette, it costs over 10 yuan a pack!” Saying this, the store owner hurried to pick up the cigarette that had fallen on the counter and put it back in his mouth.

Another quick swipe of a paw knocked it out again.

“Hey, you ungrateful little thing!”

The store owner took a puff of the cigarette and then blew a smoke ring at the white cat.

The squatting white cat tilted its head back, probably realizing it couldn’t dodge the smoke ring while squatting, but not wanting to move, so it raised its two paws and swatted the smoke ring apart.

Seeing this, the store owner’s eyes crinkled with laughter, and his usually stern face softened. Zheng Tan, however, inexplicably thought of a weasel he had seen at Mr. Jiao’s hometown–a creature commonly known as a weasel.

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (NovelFire.net) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.NovelFire.net.)

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