Strange Life of a Cat
Chapter 380 - Chapter 380 Chapter 370 Absolute Immunity

Chapter 380: Chapter 370 Absolute Immunity Chapter 380: Chapter 370 Absolute Immunity Zheng Tan kicked Huang after which he stood on the counter watching the man who almost tumbled off his chair.

Even though Ermao had told Huang not to use such petty tricks on Zheng Tan, Zheng Tan had always been wary of Huang, a man with some special abilities. He was not familiar with Huang, the first encounter being due to weather, Huang had let them in to take shelter from the rain, for which Zheng Tan had expressed his gratitude, but ever since he learned that this man was acquainted with Ermao, he knew he was not truly honest. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to associate with Ermao. There is a saying, isn’t there? “Birds of a feather flock together.” It speaks exactly to this point.

Thus, even though he knew this man had no real malice, Zheng Tan remained vigilant to guard against any pranks. He hadn’t expected one to happen right now.

When Huang took out the coin earlier, Zheng Tan had a sense of strangeness, similar to the one he felt the night when Huang was playing tricks on “Yu.” Therefore, Zheng Tan was on his guard.

Huang thought Zheng Tan’s head hung motionless because he was observing the coin, trying to spot any differences from a normal coin. As for Zheng Tan’s still tail, after all, he was not a real cat. Except when he occasionally had some small schemes in mind or was quite excited, his tail would move a bit, but he still had some habits different from other cats.

Since Huang treated Zheng Tan as any other cat and didn’t have much caution, and also misjudged the strength of Zheng Tan’s kick, trying to catch the cat’s tail like a mischievous child, wasn’t that just courting death? That’s exactly why he was directly kicked.

Zheng Tan looked at Huang with a face full of shock, raised his paw, and stepped on the coin that now lay flat on the counter, flicking it hard. The coin was propelled out, hitting the wall behind the cashier with a crisp ‘ding,’ then rebounded and fell onto Huang’s head, sliding down his hair.

Huang caught the coin. Being an experienced person, he quickly calmed down. Besides his initial shock, now he was more curious.

Why didn’t it work?

He was so familiar with playing these tricks on small animals like cats and dogs. He had never experienced anything like the current situation.

Huang’s face had just received a kick, but luckily, his swift avoidance and placing his hand in the way had spared his nose from being hit; otherwise, he would be bleeding by now. It seems this cat’s strength is quite something. No wonder Ermao said not to mess with it.

Huang got up and walked to a shelf lined with mirrors of various sizes. He picked up one to inspect his face, checking for any serious damage. Seeing none, he didn’t fuss over the small injury on his face, which would heal quickly.

Zheng Tan kept an eye on Huang’s movements, as he walked to the shelf, picked up a mirror, moved aside to grab a cup, added tea leaves, poured water, and other actions. Zheng Tan sensed that strangeness at least three times. The first time, Huang even turned back and looked at Zheng Tan for a few seconds, the second time he merely glanced at him, and the third time he did not look over at all, but his peripheral vision stayed alert to Zheng Tan’s side.

After that, Zheng Tan felt no more odd sensations and seeing that the time was right, he left the grocery store to go home.

In the evening, after dinner, Ermao went to the grocery store to chatter with Huang, who told him about Zheng Tan’s visit that day.

“Didn’t I tell you not to bother with that cat unnecessarily?” Ermao frowned.

“It was just on a whim, I didn’t intend to harm it. I just wanted to see whether it was male or female, but I ended up getting kicked instead,” Huang sighed. “Speaking of which, that cat is really odd.”

Ermao knew what Huang was thinking now because of Huang’s inherited “folk skills,” which had always been effective, but today they had met with failure against Zheng Tan.

Huang had keen senses; he would strike from where the target’s attention lay, making it impossible to defend against, whether it was humans, cats, or other animals, they had all fallen prey before, and Zheng Tan’s actions today undoubtedly served Huang a glaring slap in the face.

Of course, Huang was not a petty person who held grudges, he thought if he couldn’t get the better of someone, it was either because his skills were not yet sufficient, or his tricks were utterly useless against them. If it’s the first case, advancing his skills further would not happen overnight, success wouldn’t come in the short term. As for the latter, that was not for Huang to decide. No matter how hard he tried, it would be in vain if there was absolute immunity.

Huang was relieved that it was just a cat and not someone who had a grudge against him. Since he had made his peace with it, Huang stopped trying to test Zheng Tan after a few attempts, and Zheng Tan no longer felt that peculiar sensation.

“Sometimes I truly feel that the cat isn’t actually a cat, it just looks like one… well, let’s not be superstitious. Using those old fogies from Spirit Science’s academic explanation, it could probably be described as a supernatural phenomenon.”

“What are your thoughts?” Ermao asked.

Huang spread his hands, picked up a cigarette and lit it, taking a few puffs, “No thoughts really, seen enough supernatural phenomena, don’t feel like researching it. I still have to go stock up on goods.”

Ermao laughed, reminisced for a moment, then said, “Back in the day, when I first met that guy, I even put a talisman on its head.”

“Cough, cough!” Huang choked on Ermao’s comment, “Then what happened?”

“Almost ruined this handsome face of mine.” Every time Ermao thought back to that time, he found himself ridiculously foolish. Thankfully, he had his jacket over his head then, and didn’t get tricked.

Huang just laughed. Suddenly, he felt a sense of equilibrium in his heart.

For the following days, Zheng Tan didn’t go there, but only met with Ermao while wandering around the school, hearing a few words from him.

Ermao said that Huang’s tricks wouldn’t work on Zheng Tan, and although Zheng Tan believed that, he couldn’t help but wonder why Huang’s tricks were effective on other people and animals but had no effect on him at all. If Ermao and the others didn’t fall for it, one could say it was because they had their own abilities, but as for Zheng Tan himself, he knew his own capabilities. The most likely explanation he could think of was probably his biggest secret.

After all, he wasn’t really a cat, nor was he really a human now. Whether it was methods used on humans or on animals, none worked on Zheng Tan.

After hearing what Ermao said, Zheng Tan paid attention to Ermao’s expression, which was no different than usual. The next day, he went to the grocery store to check on things, and Old Huang didn’t react overly. His response was quite normal. This put Zheng Tan at ease.

After the summer break comes the new school season.

Each year, the back-to-school season was a time to make a good profit, and for Huang, ensuring a sufficient stock was his top priority since there wouldn’t be much time to restock when the rush hit. Drawing from last year’s experience, Huang had a good idea of how much and what kind of merchandise to stock. As for other matters, Huang was too lazy to bother. In his words, “Only a fool would pass up the chance to make money.” Didn’t he see all the nearby shops bustling to get ready for the school season?

Huang had a second-hand pickup truck. As a cross between a sedan and a truck, this multi-purpose vehicle model was very practical for someone like Huang.

Since Ermao was free, with his wife taking care of the children at home and a nanny present, and he usually had plenty of leisure time, he wanted to accompany Huang on his shopping trip once he heard that Huang was going to resupply.

Zheng Tan was also listening when Ermao talked about going shopping with Huang. Ermao’s intention to go along was just for the novelty. He was also interested in meeting a few of the ‘folk artists’ that Huang knew.

‘Folk artists,’ are there many of those? Zheng Tan normally didn’t leave his area much, and even if he did, it was only through the windows of a car to glance at the buildings and scenery outside, not to look in detail. His understanding of many places was limited to what he knew from the internet and maps. Even though he had lived in Chuhua City for six years, the places he had visited were quite limited.

Zheng Tan remembered roaming farther when he first came to the courtyard with the East Garden Supermarket delivery truck. But after the delivery driver changed, he stopped joining them. He found the new driver too cunning and didn’t trust him much.

When Ermao talked about going shopping with Huang, he glanced at Zheng Tan and asked if Zheng Tan would join. Of course, Zheng Tan wanted to go, but he had to let Mr. Jiao know first. He left that task to Ermao.

Mr. Jiao didn’t object. This wasn’t the first time Zheng Tan did something like this. His only request for Zheng Tan was one sentence–don’t get into trouble.

It seemed to many people, Zheng Tan was always a magnet for trouble, encountering incidents wherever he went. It was unclear whether these events happened because of Zheng Tan or just happened to occur coincidentally around him. Either way, what the Jiao family was concerned about was exactly that.

Having met the grocery store’s boss, Mr. Jiao, once, and knowing that Zheng Tan was going with him on another trip, he specially made another visit to the grocery store. With his understanding of Zheng Tan, Mr. Jiao knew that once was never just once; there would be a second time, a third time–perhaps Zheng Tan would accompany Huang on every restocking trip from now on.

It had to be said, Mr. Jiao understood Zheng Tan very well indeed.

On the day agreed for restocking, Ermao went to the fifth floor to find Zheng Tan, and together they headed to the grocery store.

When they arrived, Huang was busy checking the list, which he and his assistant had compiled with types and quantities of goods to be purchased. They had checked it the day before, and were giving it a final review before setting out.

“Mattresses, bamboo mats, electric fans, flashlights, cloth wardrobes, shoe racks, hooks, overbed tables…” Huang went through the list one by one. It was quite long, and Ermao didn’t disturb him.

“Alright, that’s it.” Huang folded the list and tucked it into his pocket, then called Ermao and Zheng Tan to get into the truck.

The pickup had a double row of seats: Ermao sat in the passenger seat and Zheng Tan stayed in the back row. There was plenty of space now, but once they loaded up with goods, the back row would likely be filled to the brim.

“Life is like a book of mysteries, ai hei yo, from which page should I start reading, ah? The soul knows not where to go, where is the road home~”

Huang liked to sing whenever he drove, though Zheng Tan had never heard this song before and always found it odd and off-tune. However, compared to General, it was bearable.

“Old Huang, switch to something more upbeat, I feel all lethargic listening to this,” Ermao said.

After a moment’s thought, Huang continued singing, “The river flows eastward, wa, the stars in the sky… that shake wa~”

Zheng Tan, Ermao: “…”

The white cat in the shop sat on the shelf without any intention of following, as it rarely left the store. It just watched Huang get into the vehicle, tracking it with its gaze until the truck was out of sight, then turned around. Glancing at the employee who eagerly took Huang’s place at the cash register upon his departure, the white cat flicked an object from beside its paw toward the employee.

The employee, who was reclining in a chair at the cashier counter with his legs up and just about to read the newspaper, felt something dark land on the paper.

“Holy shit!”

The employee was so startled he almost jumped up, but upon seeing the object, he looked at the white cat sitting soberly on the shelf and scolded, “Mimi! Are you throwing mice around again!” (To be continued. If you like this piece, welcome to Qidian (NovelFire.net) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.NovelFire.net to read.)

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.