Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Just Relying on This Thing? Chapter 176: Chapter 176: Just Relying on This Thing? Upon hearing Ms. Sha’s words, Ermao frowned inside, cursed at Qin Tao for his incompetence, but still smiled and thanked Ms. Sha; after all, she was doing them a favor.

As they walked towards the room Qin Tao had booked, Ermao said to Zheng Tan, “Black Coal, don’t wander off later. If things don’t look right, we’ll just leave. Let’s not get involved.”

In Ermao’s eyes, although Zheng Tan was slightly more intelligent, he was still just a normal cat. The “bigger cat” and “troublesome” that Ms. Sha mentioned made Ermao suspicious since such big cats usually weren’t easy to get along with and were quite wild.

The waiter led Ermao toward the private room booked by Qin Tao. Zheng Tan stood in the bag, observing the surroundings. The club’s floor seemed to be populated mostly by young people. The lighting in the hallway was set to a somewhat ambiguous mood. Zheng Tan noticed a few couples indulging in public displays of affection unabashedly. Passersby either whistled or ignored them completely, calmly walking past. Clearly, they were accustomed to the club’s style.

Perhaps due to the lighting, many people didn’t notice Zheng Tan. Moreover, hidden in the bag with only his head peeping out didn’t attract much attention. The young couples were “busy”; a hot girl might have drawn some eyes, but nobody would bother noting a cat.

“We’re here,” the waiter indicated.

Ermao opened the door and entered with Zheng Tan behind him, unable to see inside, but he could guess the situation from the sounds he heard.

Young people gathered together tend to enjoy singing and dancing more liberally.

When Ermao entered, a person sitting near the door glanced at him, probably didn’t recognize him, and paid no mind.

The first thing Ermao did upon entering wasn’t to look for Qin Tao or check out the various girls but to search for the big cat Ms. Sha mentioned. However, whether due to too many people blocking the view or the room’s dim lighting, Ermao couldn’t spot the cat.

Qin Tao noticed someone at the door and, seeing it was Ermao, immediately walked over, clapping him on the shoulder, “Come on, let me introduce you to some talented female college students!”

Before Qin Tao could step further, Ermao pulled him aside, “You brought a big cat here, too?!”

“Ah? Oh, that? I just found out myself. It’s a friend’s. I didn’t know she would bring her cat,” Qin Tao replied.

As Qin Tao and Ermao talked, the others in the room, due to Qin Tao, started to notice Ermao, and from their interaction, it was clear they were no mere acquaintances. Immediately, a few people started making their calculations.

Meanwhile, due to the shift in Ermao’s position, Zheng Tan now faced the crowd in the room.

“Hey, there’s another cat!” someone exclaimed.

“Where?”

“In the backpack.”

“Really?”

Thud!

The door burst open as a girl with multicolored hair walked in, wearing ripped jeans and a biker jacket, sporting thick makeup that starkly contrasted with the other girls’ styles. However, everyone seemed to know her and kept some distance without saying much.

“Tang Cai, wanna sing?” a girl who had just finished singing asked the newcomer.

Qin Tao’s new girlfriend was a music academy student, and some of her classmates were also there today. Mostly they were the ones singing. The girl who just spoke was Qin Tao’s girlfriend. Undeniably, those trained professionally sounded much better, Zheng Tan thought, understanding why the song earlier was quite pleasant.

Qin Tao’s girlfriend asked partly out of kindness. Without her interjection, Tang Cai would truly feel sidelined. But clearly, she didn’t know Tang Cai well enough.

Unappreciative, Tang Cai brushed off the microphone extended to her, “Whether I sing or not is none of your damn business!”

She sounded instantly explosive as soon as she spoke.

“That’s my cousin, Tang Cai,” Qin Tao whispered to Ermao, then signaled him to quickly hand over the cat, “Hurry, can’t you see my girlfriend’s face stiffening up?!”

Tang Cai was in a particularly bad mood today, sitting on the side, lighting a cigarette for herself. Glancing at a scratch mark on her sleeve, she grew even more irritable. Had it not been for the sleeve, she would have likely had scratches on her arm.

Not many girls smoked, especially one with a fierce temperament like hers. No wonder the seats around her were vacant; no one was foolish enough to seek trouble by approaching her.

“Hey, Tang Cai, I need a favor,” Qin Tao said, pulling Ermao toward her.

“Not available!” Tang Cai didn’t even look at Qin Tao, just continued smoking, lost in thought.

“I don’t care, you have to help out; I’m taking my brother to meet some people.” With that, Qin Tao grabbed Ermao’s bag and tossed it toward Tang Cai.

“Are you deaf?! I said I’m not…” Tang Cai cut herself off mid-sentence. Catching the backpack thrown at her, she was about to toss it back when she locked eyes with a pair of cat eyes, which was why she stopped talking.

A cat?

Tang Cai froze immediately.

Thrown over just like that, Zheng Tan mentally greeted Qin Tao’s ancestors for a moment, then started to carefully observe the girl in front of him. Her makeup was too heavy, obscuring her natural features, her lips painted a deep purple, and her cigarette-holding fingers were coated in black nail polish…

She definitely didn’t look like a good girl.

However, as Qin Tao had mentioned, the moment Tang Cai saw the cat, her temper was suppressed, like a hedgehog that, upon seeing Zheng Tan, immediately withdrew its spikes.

Zheng Tan didn’t sense any malice from Tang Cai. Although the girl in front of him looked like a “demon” from the TV shows, his instinct was never wrong.

Unzipping the backpack, Zheng Tan walked out from it, and when he looked up, he was level with Tang Cai’s chest. Zheng Tan noted its size, fairly large, and thought if he stretched his paws out, Tang Cai probably wouldn’t mind, considering he was just a cat now, and who would fuss over so much with a cat.

However, he decided it was better to play it safe until he better understood the girl’s temperament. He walked from Tang Cai’s leg to the couch beside her and then crouched there, watching the other people in the room.

Qin Tao had good taste; there were quite a few beauties, both the innocent and the enchanting types. The interesting part was observing the subtle mind games they played with each other during exchanges, perhaps because as an outside observer, Zheng Tan found it quite amusing.

Tang Cai flicked her cigarette into an ashtray and then pulled out a wet wipe from her pocket to clean her fingers. Her every move was cautious, as if she was afraid of startling the cat next to her. Even though Tang Cai had almost been scratched by the leopard cat in the bathroom just five minutes ago and felt a moment of panic upon seeing this black cat, it didn’t affect her affection for cats.

Zheng Tan was watching the interactions inside the room when he suddenly felt an itch in his ear. He knew it was Tang Cai touching the hair there, so he flicked his ear and ignored it.

Seeing that Zheng Tan hadn’t reached out his claws, Tang Cai felt relieved and began to scratch under his chin, careful not to let her long nails hurt the black cat.

Zheng Tan gave Tang Cai a glance and then turned back to observe the people. Someone began to test Ermao, clearly unaware of Ermao’s identity background, as Qin Tao hadn’t told them.

While introducing his friends to Ermao, Qin Tao glanced over at Tang Cai and seeing her hedgehog-like demeanor soften, felt that the thousand yuan wasn’t spent in vain.

“Hey, what are you guys playing at?” a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl entered the room.

Zheng Tan looked over, scanned the room, and then his gaze settled on the leopard cat next to the girl.

Squinting his eyes, Zheng Tan stared intently at the leopard cat, remembering Ms. Sha’s words. This thing… wasn’t it the one that tried to attack him at Fang San’s treat but ended up getting slapped by him? Acting all high and mighty now?

Look at that pretentious little thing.

Pretentious my foot!

Could this thing pose a threat to him?

Not to brag, but if he had flipped it once, he could do it a second time, and a third…

As the girl talked about how her cat used the toilet, subtly encouraged by a few others, she looked towards Tang Cai. Meanwhile, the leopard cat, intending to snatch a piece of jerky from the coffee table and failing, became aware of Zheng Tan.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room turned strange as some people looked at the leopard cat and then at the calm black cat squatting next to Tang Cai. Their expressions showed concern, but they were actually excited, waiting for a good show.

Ermao and Qin Tao were both prepared to have the girl take the leopard cat away, something they had agreed upon as she entered.

Tang Cai was also nervous; she had firsthand experience with that leopard cat’s temper. If her reflexes hadn’t been quick, her arm would definitely have been bloodied.

But before they could speak, the leopard cat suddenly arched its back, flattened its ears back, hair bristling, opened its mouth and let out a low growl as if alert to some danger, but didn’t rush forward immediately as others had expected.

The onlookers were baffled; the reaction seemed… reversed?

Shouldn’t it be the black one that burst out in fur, and then the leopard-patterned big cat elegantly walking over to slap it?

Only Zheng Tan knew, this thing recognized him.

Some might think cats have a poor memory, but in fact, they often easily forget things they don’t care about. Zheng Tan had read about this in a magazine Mr. Jiao had subscribed to. It said that cats not only have long-term memory but also emotional image mapping. Like other mammals, cats learn through experience, and each memory, whether good or bad, is built from a variety of activities and interactions. A cat’s short-term memory might be fleeting, but their long-term memory is remarkably persistent.

Besides, this leopard cat was a carefully bred breed, possibly having what genetics call “hybrid vigor,” making a strong memory a possibility.

Or perhaps it was the deep impression left by that slap, as every time the leopard cat fought other cats, it remembered getting flipped by a slap and that seemingly not so large black cat.

Zheng Tan squinted his eyes, watching the leopard cat there bristle and growl while he himself remained calmly crouched on the soft cushion of the couch. Noticing Tang Cai’s tension beside him, Zheng Tan raised his chin and rubbed against her fingers, signaling her to continue scratching. He was enjoying himself and couldn’t care less about that thing.

Qin Tao elbowed Ermao beside him, “I say, bro, something’s off, why does the big one seem so wary?”

Ermao scratched at the corner of his twitching mouth, “Maybe it got beaten up before.” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), recommend monthly tickets, and support us. For mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep