Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 375 - Chapter 375 Chapter 367 Cast a Wide Net Catch More Fish

Chapter 375: Chapter 367 Cast a Wide Net, Catch More Fish Chapter 375: Chapter 367 Cast a Wide Net, Catch More Fish Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua returned to the courtyard, Da Pang, who was squatting on the first floor, shouted loudly when he saw them.

Zheng Tan was puzzled by why Da Pang was shouting at that time, but soon, Big Fatty’s grandmother came out.

“Oh, you’re back! Heitan, Xiao Hua, come in!”

Big Fatty’s grandmother, with her small steps, opened the door and called for Xiao Hua to come in. Since Xiao Hua was familiar with many people in the courtyard, she didn’t resist when the old lady pulled her collar, and followed the old lady’s pull inside. Zheng Tan also followed them in.

After they entered the house, the grandmother took out her phone and called Mr. Jiao and Old Man Li to let them know they were safe.

It turned out that Mr. Jiao, knowing both Zheng Tan and Xiao Hua hadn’t returned to the courtyard and not knowing where they had gone, especially with the bad weather outside, had asked Big Fatty’s grandmother, who stayed at home, to keep an eye out.

After receiving the messages, both Mr. Jiao and Old Man Li were relieved. Although Mr. Jiao felt that with his cat son’s intelligence, he wouldn’t get lost or soaked in the rain, the lack of his sight and no news had still worried him, primarily due to the weather outside. But now, knowing that both the cat and the dog had not only safely returned home but also were dry, he knew they must have found a shelter to hide from the rain.

If someone had helped them, Mr. Jiao planned to go and thank them later. After all, in that kind of weather, temporarily sheltering a cat and a dog was not something everyone would do, and while the cat may have been easier to accommodate, Xiao Hua, being a large dog, was a different story. The fact that they were sheltered and no ill intentions arose truly warranted a thank you.

In the past, there had been many incidents of dogs being stolen for their meat, and Saint Bernards like Xiao Hua were often viewed by many simply as meat dogs.

A meat dog is a dog raised for consumption.

Mr. Jiao had seen people in the newspapers who breed or buy these large breeds at low prices. It’s no wonder Old Man Li was so anxious at the hospital; Xiao Hua was too gentle and easily taken advantage of. If someone really sold her for meat, where could Old Man Li go to cry about it?

Two days later, on a sunny day and over the weekend, Zheng Tan went with Mr. Jiao to that grocery store.

When they saw Zheng Tan, the store owner was quite surprised; he hadn’t expected that just by casually helping this cat, the cat would bring its owner to his doorstep.

Mr. Jiao brought some fruits as a thank you gift, chatted for a bit, and then left. A student called, saying there was an issue in the lab, so Mr. Jiao had to leave in a hurry.

After Mr. Jiao left, a store employee walked over and plucked a big red grape from the fruit bag and popped it into his mouth.

“Boss, didn’t expect that just by helping a cat we’d get a bag of fruits. These fruits aren’t cheap; they must be worth quite a bit. This was a good deal.”

Sometimes, even when you go out of your way to help people, you might not necessarily get genuine gratitude; some just say thank you, and these days, thanks aren’t worth much. But this time, just by letting a cat and a dog shelter from the rain, they came knocking with gifts to express thanks. This family really values that cat.

The boss tasted a few big red grapes and said, “So I say, if you feel you can help, just help, whether it’s a person or a cat. Cast a wide net; if you snag one big fish, you’ve made it big.”

Listening to the first part, the employee thought his boss had experienced a moral uplift, but the latter half revealed his true nature.

Still, the employee nodded; the boss’s words might not sound nice, but they made sense, representing an unconventional interpretation of “what goes around comes around.” A straightforward value system.

However, neither the employee nor the boss anticipated that they would gain much more than just that.

After Mr. Jiao came to express his thanks, he told Old Man Li about it, and clearly, Old Man Li shared Mr. Jiao’s sentiment. Knowing that the grocery store owner had helped, he brought gifts to express his thanks as soon as he was discharged from the hospital. To others, it might seem excessive–was it really necessary to personally thank him just for a small help to a dog?

But just as Zheng Tan was important in the Jiao family, Xiao Hua held significant weight in Old Man Li’s heart. At that time, Xiao Hua had injuries, and getting wet would have worsened them. Thus, Old Man Li came to the store with Xiao Hua and gifts in tow, holding the shop owner’s hand, and earnestly thanked him: “Comrade, thank you for taking care of my Xiao Hua!”

The employee shivered a bit, feeling this old man was even more exaggerated than the university professor who had come before. Besides the fruits, there was even a box of ginseng! It looked very high-end.

The employee didn’t know that many people had visited Old Man Li during his hospital stay, and each visitor had brought many gifts, such as ginseng, which were now in surplus. Old Man Li and his wife couldn’t possibly use them all up, so he brought a box with him this time due to the circumstances.

After Old Man Li left, the employee again discussed with the boss how casually casting the net had netted them two fish.

“Boss, do you think there will be any more big fish popping up?”

The store owner snorted, “Be content with what you have.”

The employee didn’t truly expect any further developments; he just said it offhand and then joyfully went to wash the fruits, generously picking a grape to offer to the white cat squatting on the shelf, but the cat swatted it away.

Two days later, someone else came to the grocery store.

Xiao Guo, having learned about this from Mr. Jiao, decided to use the story to make a short film to promote the idea that people should help distressed cats and dogs more often.

With the store owner’s permission, Xiao Guo brought his crew over.

“Does my outfit look okay? It’s my first time being interviewed, and I’m a bit nervous.” The employee had specifically worn a shirt that showcased his good nature and stood before the store owner.

“Make do,” the store owner said. Compared to the nervousness and excitement of the store employee, the store owner looked no different from usual.

The employee was mainly involved in the filming while the store owner did not plan to appear much. The owner had said he needed to convey an honest and robust vibe, and his face just wasn’t convincing enough nor did he want to show up, so he let the employee take over.

However, there were some things that the store owner had to explain.

The store owner briefly told Xiao Guo about the day’s event. When Xiao Guo asked about the white cat on the shelf, the store owner also told the truth. Of course, he completely omitted the part about raising umbrella prices on a rainy day and the involvement of two hooligans.

“That white cat came here by itself; I don’t know who it previously belonged to. It was skinny when it arrived, but now it has grown a lot healthier. However, ever since it arrived, there have been no rats in the store.”

The store owner didn’t confine it. In his words, “It came here on its own. Whenever it feels like leaving, thinking it’s no longer good here, I’ll let it be. Cats, aren’t they all like this, ungrateful little creatures?”

Xiao Guo thought this story of the white cat could be utilized to create a good image of the store owner. As for the latter part, “ungrateful little creature,” he filtered it out.

When the filming was almost over, Xiao Guo felt that since it was a rare visit, even if the store owner did not want to be filmed much, he should at least feature a bit, right?

So, Xiao Guo calmly asked the store owner sitting beside him, “Boss Huang, do you have any thoughts about this event?”

Boss Huang looked towards the camera and said earnestly, “Cast a wide net, catch more fish.”

Xiao Guo: “…” Maybe I should cut this part out when I get back.

Xiao Guo originally thought he would hear some words about being kind to people and caring for animals, but instead, he got these two sentences. He wanted to promote a positive image and spread positive energy, not advertise a schemer.

Two weeks later.

Ermao was home alone, as his wife had taken the kids to a friend’s house to play and didn’t allow him to accompany her – a gathering of women, Ermao truly wouldn’t fit in. So, he stayed at home alone, giving the maid a day off. It was rare for Ermao to have the opportunity to be alone at home and surf the internet. He drank beer and ate takeout, making sure Heimi’s cat food was in good supply.

With nothing better to do, Ermao opened the Pet Center’s website and went to the section he often visited. According to the schedule, a new video had been released. Like many customers of the Pet Center and many online cat friends, Ermao found the videos shot by Xiao Guo’s studio very appealing. Sometimes, the videos were advertisements featuring cats and dogs; even though they were amateurish, they always made one laugh and relaxed their mood. Apart from advertisements, there were also some life story-type short films that always brought a knowing smile, especially seeing those with “stubborn pets,” one couldn’t help but feel slightly schadenfreude.

The last episode was about Xiao Hua bravely rescuing her owner and getting honorably injured. What about this one?

Ermao clicked on the latest video. It wasn’t an advertisement but a story about the recent stormy weather events, with Xiao Hua still the protagonist.

Since Xiao Hua was a dog from the courtyard, Ermao had paid attention to her and even visited Old Man Li in the hospital. Here was Xiao Hua again. What did this big dog do now? She had been getting quite a bit of screen time lately.

In the latest video, Ermao paused after seeing a particular shot. He put down his beer, moved the progress bar forward slightly, and then paused on a certain frame.

Staring at the face on the screen that seemed somewhat mean, Ermao picked up his phone and called Xiao Guo.

“Hey, Boss Guo, do you have a moment? There’s something I want to ask you.”

Xiao Guo was initially distributing tasks with his team, but he stepped into the break room upon receiving Ermao’s call. “Sure, what do you want to ask?”

Ever since Xiao Guo learned about Ermao’s background, he had decided to hitch his wagon to a star. It was rare for Ermao to call unless it was about Heimi, so Xiao Guo certainly wouldn’t refuse, not wanting to miss such a good opportunity to foster relations.

Ermao asked Xiao Guo about the just-filmed video and the owner of that grocery store.

“That owner? His last name is Huang. I don’t know his full name; he didn’t say. He also didn’t want to appear much during the filming; it was mostly the employee.”

Although Xiao Guo did not know why Ermao was asking about the store owner, he still shared what he knew with Ermao.

“Last name Huang… Alright, I got it. I won’t disturb you any further, Boss Guo. You carry on with your work.”

After hanging up, Ermao shut down the computer and headed out.

At the grocery store, the employee had been in high spirits due to the interview, and after the video was released, he immediately checked the comments online. His performance had been great that day, and some netizens even commented on how young and handsome he looked, which lifted his spirits for several days, and he hadn’t fully come down from that high yet.

Thinking about this, a young man walked in, and the employee approached enthusiastically: “What would you like? Let me help you.”

Since the store owner had mentioned “Cast a wide net, catch more fish,” the employee had been thinking of being nicer to customers unless they were clearly troublemakers, to let them feel that even if it’s just a small grocery store, the employee still maintains professional quality.

Ermao walked into the grocery store, glanced around, and seeing the person sitting at the cash register reading the newspaper without even lifting his head, said to the employee, “I need a piece of weasel skin.”

The man behind the cash register, who was smoking and reading the newspaper, twitched, dropping his cigarette to the floor, too startled to pick it up, and looked up in surprise at Ermao. (To be continued. If you enjoy this series, you are welcome to vote on Qidian (NovelFire.net) or cast a monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.NovelFire.net.)