Chapter 167: 167 Chapter 167: 167 The Calico Cat had settled in the East District courtyard.

Early in the morning, Zheng Tan had seen that fellow squatting by the flower bed facing Building B while dropping off Little Youzi at school.

Yesterday, the cat had followed Ermao to handle some matters and probably had been forcefully rejected by Ermao when trying to follow him back. Hence, changing strategies, it began guarding the entrance to the building.

Just like Li Yuanba had sought out an owner for himself, this one seemed to have similar plans, eyeing someone, and then simply showing up at their door.

Upon seeing Zheng Tan and Little Youzi, the cat just half-opened its eyes for a look, then continued to doze off. Its ears perked up, ready to spring open at the sound of the entry system’s “click.”

Although Zheng Tan didn’t know why the cat had become attached to Ermao, he felt that persuading someone like Ermao to adopt a cat would not be easy. His words when he first saw them squatted up in trees, “All cats are pure idiots,” already hinted at his deep-seated aversion to cats.

Today was devoid of sunshine, gloomy. Zheng Tan couldn’t nestle somewhere to bathe in the sun, so he walked around outside for a while. He had planned to play outside a bit longer, but when the skies suddenly began to drizzle, he hurried back. Upon returning to the courtyard, he saw that the cat was still squatting in the same spot, its ears quivering as raindrops fell on them.

The weather forecast yesterday predicted overcast skies today with light rain tomorrow, but the rain had started now, proving once again that only real-time weather reports were reliable. Looking at the sky, this rain was unavoidable.

With the rain, Zheng Tan wouldn’t have to pick up Little Youzi at noon. He could just wait at home for the meal, which was what he usually did on rainy days.

As he climbed to the third floor, Zheng Tan listened at Ermao’s door. Inside, there was the sound of talking, probably a phone call. If Ermao had already gotten up, he should have gone out to buy breakfast and would inevitably know about the Calico Cat squatting outside.

But ultimately, whether to adopt the cat or not was Ermao’s decision, and Zheng Tan couldn’t help him decide. There was no way Zheng Tan could help that Calico Cat since it had set its sights on Ermao.

After getting home, Zheng Tan unusually chose not to browse the internet on his computer. Instead, he lay at the bedroom door, watching the rain that fell increasingly heavily outside.

Noises swooshed from below. Zheng Tan looked over, and that cheeky bird was sticking its beak through the iron mesh to catch rainwater for drinking. It wasn’t because it was thirsty; from what Zheng Tan knew about it, the bird did this for fun. After a winter, Zheng Tan felt its character had worsened because it not only sang old songs but occasionally recited poems dramatically—allegedly something it had learned from kids during a visit to a hopeful primary school with its owner. What irritated Zheng Tan even more, however, was that the bird seemed to have learned to curse, though who had taught it that was anybody’s guess. One could only say the bird had a strong aptitude.

Zheng Tan lay at the door, looking at the drenched balcony outside. Just earlier, while the parrot wasn’t looking, Zheng Tan had peeped out, and couldn’t see the cat by the flower bed below; it had probably sought shelter from the rain,
In Chuhua City, this season usually saw a rise in temperature with every rainfall, so they could expect a warm up once this rain stopped.

Unlike Zheng Tan’s indifferent demeanor, Ermao was noticeably more agitated.

No longer in the mood for music, Ermao unplugged his earphones and watched the rain-soaked scene outside, lost in thought. With the door to the balcony open, the breeze that blew in carried the damp air, imparting a slight chill.

Ermao lit a cigarette and slowly drew from it. He had just made a phone call and was not in a great mood, and the thought of the Calico Cat only added to his irritation.

And just then, from outside, there came a voice, rough yet melodic in its rise and fall.

“Spring rain is as precious as oil, flowing throughout the streets—”
Ermao: “…”

Damn, which lunatic is reciting poetry!

But Ermao was too lazy to go out and see who it was. After smoking half a cigarette, he tossed it into the ashtray and left the house with a folding umbrella.

Zheng Tan lay there watching the rain when he suddenly heard the gate buzz downstairs. He went to the balcony and craned his neck. Although he couldn’t see the head, he recognized those pants.

What was Ermao up to?

An hour later, the rain had almost stopped, only a few sparse drops lingered, and many people stopped using their umbrellas. Zheng Tan watched the cement path in front of the building. The Affiliated Primary School had just let out, and Zheng Tan was waiting for Little Youzi and Jiao Wei to bring back food but saw Ermao first— and behind him was that Black Cat!

The cat was somewhat wet and had black mud stains on its legs, but it seemed spirited nonetheless. Most importantly, when Ermao entered the building, the cat followed him in.

Was he planning on keeping it?

Zheng Tan was curious. Ermao actually brought the cat back. Didn’t he dislike cats? What a contradiction.

After Ermao brought the cat home, he watched the cat eating take-out on the floor and scratched his head in annoyance. Why did he bring it back? How would he care for it? He could barely take care of himself, let alone a cat! Probably after a few days, the cat would be worn out.

Alas, harming both humans and cats.

It was all caused by impulse.

Rain-soaked cardboard boxes, disposable boxes filled with leftover food soaked in water, several sun-bleached fish bones on the floor were slowly washed away by the flowing water… Reflecting on the situation then, Ermao didn’t even know what he was thinking. When he saw that look from the cat hiding in the drenched cardboard box, he just asked the cat to follow him, merely testing it, without any plan. He thought if the cat ignored him, he would leave it be. Unexpectedly, the cat actually followed him all the way home.

The previous landlord never said pets weren’t allowed, and many in the courtyard kept pets, so that wasn’t a worry. Ermao thought to himself. This Black Cat wasn’t as smart as the one upstairs, too smart makes one uncomfortable, but this Black Cat wasn’t too dumb either, enough to be less of a worry.

In that case, it wasn’t too bad. Anyway, he was idle and bored; he might as well keep it for now. He figured the cat was just a whim and if it wanted to leave later, he would just open the door and let it go. For now… this would do.

Since he had decided to keep it, there were still many problems Ermao had to face. Looking at the stains on the cat’s body, Ermao frowned.

Unable to think of a good solution, Ermao decided to go upstairs and ask the people on the fifth floor how they usually kept cats. At this time, the young girl and the student named Jiao Wei should be there.

When Ermao arrived, Zheng Tan was having his meal.

When asked about cat food, Jiao Wei didn’t know much. It was Little Youzi who answered. She didn’t say much—just one sentence—but it was simple and clear and directly resolved Ermao’s question.

Little Youzi suggested that Ermao visit the “Mingming Pet Center,” where there are specialized guidance staff and various related items for sale, and they could even help bathe pets.

Having found a solution, Ermao immediately took the cat that had just been fed to Xiao Guo’s place.

It was only upon arriving that Ermao realized there was more to do than he had thought. Vaccines, deworming, and other issues all needed to be sorted. Ermao didn’t know anything and left everything to the veterinarians and staff there; he just needed to pay.

A staff member holding a registration book asked, “Name?”

“Wang Ming.” Ermao, bored, played with his phone, not looking up.

The young girl managing the registration looked at Ermao strangely, “Your cat has a surname?”

“Ah? You’re asking for the cat’s name?”

“Of course, sir. You just signed your own name.”

“The cat’s name…” Ermao was silent for two seconds, thought of the black pattern on the cat’s nose that looked like a rice grain, and said, “Heimi, its name is Heimi.”

“Age?” the young girl asked again.

“I don’t know, I just adopted it today.” Ermao shrugged.

The registration girl gave a dimpled smile, “Sir, you really have a big heart!”

Ermao: “… Heh.” It was the first time someone said he had a big heart, and why did it feel so awkward?

The young girl was very enthusiastic, and while answering Ermao’s questions, she also didn’t forget to promote their pet center’s products—cat trees, scratching posts, toys, cat food, and more.

Ermao took the product catalog she handed him, flipped through it, and decided to check the items out in person later. His rental was only so big; there was no need to buy anything too large—whatever was simplest would do. However, he would buy the cat food; that way, he wouldn’t have to think about it anymore since he definitely couldn’t prepare cat food in the kitchen.

While flipping through, Ermao suddenly paused on an advertisement page for cat food, pausing as if unsure; he leaned in closer to take a careful look and then read the small print beside it.

“Black C?”

The young girl started, with a smile, “This is one of our pet center’s star cats—a cat model hired by our boss with a high salary. It appears in many pet magazines, oh, and it’s also talked about on some online forums, and it even has many BC fans.”

BC fans? A cat model?! Spit it out, just because it has a fancy English name doesn’t mean I can’t recognize it! It’s obviously that guy from upstairs!

Although Ermao always said he hated cats, he was actually quite good at recognizing them. Even if he couldn’t be sure at first glance, after looking at a few more pictures, Ermao had already equated this cat in the pictures with that guy from upstairs.

Smirking, he flipped through a few more pages and noticed that the advertisements featuring this black cat were all more than double the price of other types of cat food—some were even several times more expensive.

This amount of money was really nothing to Ermao, but he still wondered, why were the few categories featuring this black cat so pricey?!

Ermao pointed to the solemn face of the black cat in the advertisement and expressed his confusion to the young girl.

The young girl answered professionally, “Because these categories are all assured of their quality, and they’ll soon be exported abroad.”

Export? Don’t make me laugh!

Ermao didn’t believe it at all.

However, flipping through the cat food prices in those BlackC advertisement pages, Ermao stroked his chin, it seemed that guy was quite valuable!

“Do you deliver here?”

“We can deliver home for large items or orders reaching a certain amount; our pet center’s service will definitely satisfy you.”

They even switched to the polite “you.”

Since he wasn’t short of money, Ermao selected a few types of cat food advertised by that guy upstairs, along with the cat nest and scratching post he liked earlier.

“Will these do?”

“Absolutely!” The girl’s smile grew even wider; while they didn’t receive commissions for successful sales, they did receive reward points that would convert into a bonus at the end of the month when salaries were calculated.

“Don’t you need to taste test them?” the young girl asked.

“No need, if my cat doesn’t like it, I’ll just give it to BlackC, let it eat them all in front of me!” Ermao huffed. Would that guy dare not eat something he advertised?!

The young girl thought Ermao was joking, asked a few more questions, filled out an order, and let Ermao check it before passing it on to the picker, then she continued to register the next customer.

Ermao, sitting bored, noticed several cat food advertisement leaflets on a nearby shelf, one of which featured the head of that black cat. He pulled out that advertisement, folded it neatly, and put it in his pocket as evidence. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep