Chapter 170: 170 Chapter 170: 170 Each exhibition area had a donation box, beside which stood two sweet-faced female staff members with cat ears headbands, smiling amiably.

After arriving at the “Mingming Pet Center” exhibition area, Liu Yao directly greeted Zheng Tan, who was perched on the topmost cat perch, with a wave. Zheng Tan raised a paw in response with good grace.

Liu Yao had clearly come prepared that day. After greeting Zheng Tan, he took a toy car-shaped piggy bank from Old Liu’s hands.

“This is my allowance!”

Liu Yao handed the car-shaped piggy bank to one of the female staff members next to the donation box. The main issue was that the slot of the donation box was too small to fit the piggy bank.

The female staff member smiled gratefully as she took the piggy bank with both hands. They were particularly impressed with this young donor, and one of the staff thought about taking a photo of the moment to use as a positive example for promotion later; regardless of how much money was inside, it was the child’s thought that counted.

However, Old Liu declined, and the staff member did not insist further but discreetly called the boss to discuss the matter.

After making the donation, the staff member who collected the piggy bank handed out a cat-shaped sticky note. People who made donations were invited to write their blessings or any other messages on these notes and then stick them on the wooden wall nearby.

“Eh? Mr. Fang, weren’t you busy with something today?” Old Liu noticed Fang Shaokang approaching and said with a smile.

Zheng Tan looked over and remembered Fang Shaokang had indeed said he wouldn’t have time today, and he even had to make a trip to Beijing. Yet here he was, and not only that, Fang Shaokang was leading a little girl by the hand.

The little girl had pigtail braids and big, lively eyes that curiously observed the people and things around her. She looked slightly younger than Little Youzi but, unlike the quiet Youzi, this child was very lively.

“Plans changed; I didn’t leave. This is my daughter, Fang Mengmeng.”

Fang Shaokang didn’t elaborate further, and Old Liu didn’t press for details.

At that moment, many journalists were at the main venue, interviewing some high-profile attendees like Ye Hao.

Ye Hao’s donation was not because he was particularly fond of cats or charitable but rather to establish a positive public image by leveraging the event.

As such, there were hardly any journalists in this exhibition area and not many people recognized Mr. Fang and Old Liu.

Fang Shaokang picked up Fang Mengmeng and placed her on his shoulders, “Come on, say hello to BC.”

On the way there, Fang Shaokang had already told his daughter about Heitan, whom Fang Mengmeng was more familiar with. She would hear about Zheng Tan whenever she talked on the phone with Fang Shaokang, who also showed her some photos he had taken with his phone.

In order to avoid being disturbed by attendees, Zheng Tan had deliberately chosen a high spot. Thus, it was difficult for shorter visitors to get close to him. Fang Shaokang was tall, but even with Fang Mengmeng perched on his shoulders, the cat perch remained just a bit too high for her. However, with a small reach of her arms, she could easily touch the scratch pad.

Fang Mengmeng, sitting on Fang Shaokang’s shoulders, looked at Zheng Tan. She wasn’t familiar with cats; there were none at her home, and more of her relatives had dogs. Hence, seeing Zheng Tan in person, Fang Mengmeng was somewhat wary, hearing that cats tend to scratch and having seen classmates been scratched by them.

“Say hello, go on, high-five!” Fang Shaokang patted his daughter’s leg, then looked at Zheng Tan.

Fang Mengmeng eyed Zheng Tan hesitantly. It was inevitable; cats with attractive and docile appearances tended to draw people’s attention more easily, and seemed friendlier, whereas black cats like Zheng Tan could come across as aloof and intimidating.

Seeing a trace of fear in Fang Mengmeng’s eyes, Zheng Tan courteously lifted his paw and stretched it towards her, carefully retracting his sharp claws.

Encouraged by Fang Shaokang, Fang Mengmeng also extended her small hand and tapped it against Zheng Tan’s paw.

Fang Shaokang was just about to set his daughter down when Fang Mengmeng, one hand grasping her father’s hair and heels kicking slightly, demanded, “Another one!”

In the Fang family, it seemed only his daughter could afford to ride on Fang Shaokang’s neck and tug at his hair, and yet Fang Shaokang laughed heartily despite the hair-pulling. Many families treated their only children like treasures.

After one more high-five with Fang Mengmeng, she became completely fearless. After the third high-five, she didn’t retract her hand but reached straight for Zheng Tan and then… pulled at his whiskers!

Zheng Tan: “…”

Although she didn’t pull hard, and Zheng Tan didn’t feel pain, it was enough to make him feel miffed. Why did children always like to tug on cat’s tails and whiskers?

Liu Yao, looking envious, was then lifted up by Old Liu to his shoulders, their smiles indicating that father and son were growing closer every day.

Zheng Tan patiently interacted with Liu Yao and Fang Mengmeng. Hearing that Liu Yao had donated his allowance, Fang Mengmeng, not having brought any money herself but having brought her father, watched as Fang Shaokang pulled out his wallet. He had around six or seven hundred in cash; the rest was in cards. People like them rarely carried much cash, and the money Fang Shaokang had was stuffed into the donation box by Fang Mengmeng.

Zheng Tan watched Liu Yao and Fang Mengmeng, both rich second-generation kids showing off their generosity, and even the smiles on the cat-eared staff members’ faces grew brighter.

Meanwhile, Liu Yao and Fang Mengmeng were posting blessings on the wooden wall. Old Liu and Fang Shaokang were only concerned with their own children, but Zheng Tan, from his elevated position, noticed someone sneaking away.

Ermao came to the event with Heimi, intending to throw a few barbs at Zheng Tan, but upon seeing Fang Shaokang, he immediately turned to leave.

But before Ermao could sigh with relief, his face stiffened again.

“Ermao?! You’re actually in Chuhua City!” exclaimed Zhao Le in surprise. To prevent Ermao from escaping, Zhao Le tightly grabbed the back of his clothes.

“Fuck! What bad luck!” Ermao was quite regretful. His luck had seemed especially awful lately. He had been caught by Fang Shaokang before, and today he was caught by Zhao Le, caught red-handed too, which made denial impossible.

As Ermao was thinking of ways to slip away, he was dragged by Zhao Le to the rest area beside the exhibition zone. Many people who had brought cats were sitting there chatting. Just then, someone got up, leaving an empty table.

Zhao Le looked at Ermao as if he were an alien.

“What, you don’t recognize your brother after just two years?!” Even though he was nabbed, Ermao’s tone was still confrontational. Zhao Le was his peer, not Fang Shaokang, so there was no need to restrain himself.

“You’ve changed a lot… at least you seem to have.” Zhao Le remembered how Ermao used to look so shady that Ermao’s father wanted to beat him with a stick several times.

“Looking like a good citizen now,” Zhao Le said, nodding affirmatively.

Ermao kept silent. However, Heimi, confined in the pet bag, was not as quiet, scratching the bag and making noise. Ermao hurriedly opened the bag and took Heimi out. Fortunately, Heimi had no intention of running around, sitting on the table quite well-behaved, curiously observing the surroundings and the other cats walking around with their owners.

A Chinchilla jumped onto the table, and the next moment, Heimi slapped it down. However, such situations were common among cats, so the Chinchilla’s owner didn’t complain. They just smiled at Ermao and left with the Chinchilla.

“Good job!” Ermao bragged while patting Heimi’s head, then he took out a bag of cat food from his pocket. There were disposable paper cat bowls under the table. Ermao poured some food into one, rewarding Heimi for its behavior just now.

“When did you start liking cats?” Zhao Le couldn’t help but ask.

Ermao didn’t answer but asked back, “What are you doing here?”

“Someone from the company donated, and I just came to have a look.”

As Zhao Le spoke, she glanced towards the exhibition area where Zheng Tan was located. She had been planning to go check it out, but she hadn’t expected to bump into Ermao.

Following Zhao Le’s gaze, Ermao looked over. There were too many people blocking the view, so he couldn’t see the situation in that exhibition area, nor could he see Fang Shaokang and his men, only the Black Cat lying on the highest spot.

And Zheng Tan was also paying close attention to them. He had seen the whole scene and thought to himself that Ermao and Zhao Le indeed knew each other and seemed to be quite familiar.

Ermao looked at the Black Cat lying high up and then back at Zhao Le.

“Do you know that Black Cat?”

Ermao asked casually, intending to change the subject, but Zhao Le nodded.

“Yeah, I know it. Quite well… Why, do you know it too?” Zhao Le caught the constipated expression on Ermao’s face, which, despite Ermao’s effort to hide it, was still noticed by Zhao Le. Now Zhao Le was much more perceptive at reading people.

“Don’t know it.” Ermao kept a straight face, but inside, he cursed the Black Cat a thousand times over. Damn it, no wonder his luck had been so bad lately. When he thought about it, it all seemed to be related to that Black Cat! It was all its fault!

Ermao didn’t want to stay there any longer, ignoring Zhao Le’s questions and left. He didn’t want to be caught by Fang Shaokang again, and moreover, he didn’t know if he might run into someone else he knew later. He hadn’t expected an event he thought was just an ordinary charity activity to have so many acquaintances.

In the end, Zhao Le didn’t get Ermao’s current address from him. Still, getting his phone number was considered a major gain for the day.

Zheng Tan couldn’t hear the conversation between Ermao and Zhao Le but could only guess from their mannerisms. That Ermao really was someone with a background.

After Ermao left, Zhao Le didn’t send anyone to follow him—it would have been futile. Such measures were useless against Ermao. After thinking for a while, Zhao Le composed a text message to send to Wang Bin. This guy Ermao still needed Wang Bin to handle.

It was the weekend, and Wang Bin had a rare chance to return to Chuhua City to visit his parents, just that his father, busy with public duties, hadn’t returned home yet.

Wang Bin’s mother was complaining to him about some recent life matters. When Wang Bin’s cell phone rang, she paused her conversation, signaling her son to check the phone first.

Wang Bin had two cell phones, and judging by the sound, it was his private phone that rang. He hadn’t expected anything important, but his expression changed after reading the message, then he calmly put the phone back in his pocket.

“What’s wrong?” asked Wang Bin’s mother.

“It’s nothing, please continue.”

After his mother finished her chatter and went to rest, Wang Bin went back to his room, closed the door, and dialed Zhao Le’s number with a complex expression on his face.

Listening to the ringing tone, Wang Bin pondered what he should say to his twin brother once the call connected.

After several rings, the call was finally answered. Wang Bin was about to speak when he heard a loud yell from the other side, “Daughter, no! That’s a phone, you can’t throw it!”

Wang Bin: “…”

Daughter? Whose daughter?! A love child? Was there going to be another storm at home?!

As Wang Bin’s thoughts began to wildly diverge, he felt completely disarrayed. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to support it by casting recommendation votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep