Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Rare to Have Such a Cat Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Rare to Have Such a Cat Long Qi had been keeping an eye on the situation there with his peripheral vision, pondering what Mr. Kun’s purpose was in bringing this visitor. The next moment, he noticed the situation at the table, and his heart swayed uncertainly like the vase on the table until it steadied, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Hao had also noticed the situation there, he just didn’t show it on his face.

In Ye Hao’s mind, a cat is not a human, not a well-trained soldier, it does not obey and restrain its actions according to one’s words. Perhaps they might scream when they should not, do foolish things at the wrong time, and cause a well-planned arrangement to fall apart altogether.

If it were any other cat, it might have been a minor issue, but Ye Hao had known the extent of this Black Cat’s capabilities since the day they met.

Taking a deep breath inconspicuously, Ye Hao composed himself and continued discussing the collaboration with Mr. Kun. They say success comes in the first effort, wanes in the second, and fails in the third. Having prepared thoroughly to face Huang Kun, a once influential figure, he couldn’t appear weak now! His team had several projects, such as the small commercial plaza under construction near Chuhua University, which would definitely involve people here. It was better to negotiate in advance before any issues and conflicts arose, making them easier to resolve when they did. Interest conflicts are always the primary source of disputes. However, how to distribute these interests was exactly why Ye Hao was sitting here under pressure.

Just as Ye Hao was discussing the distribution of interests, preparing to start a psychological warfare, a harsh “snap” of shattering sound fiercely impacted the already tense atmosphere.

A vein throbbed on Ye Hao’s forehead. He managed to keep his face calm, but he was already cursing internally. Couldn’t this piece just stay out of trouble?!

Zheng Tan glanced at the vase that had fallen from the table and shattered, then looked at the expressions of the people there. Aside from Mr. Kun, everyone else, including Ye Hao and those by Mr. Kun’s side, though not showing it, couldn’t help but have other emotions in their eyes. He pulled at his ear, jumped down from the table, and decided to lie down somewhere else; the atmosphere here wasn’t suitable.

Zheng Tan hadn’t intended to do that; he had been lying by the side, drowsy, when out of nowhere, a green bean fly buzzed annoyingly by his ear. When Zheng Tan lifted his paw to drive it away, his movement was a bit too forceful. Plus, his strength was greater than that of an average cat, and he had knocked down the vase without restraining himself.

Zheng Tan tentatively walked around a bit, saw no one stopping him, and Mr. Kun showed no reaction, so he walked toward the exit. Just then, a person standing behind Mr. Kun also walked out, following behind Zheng Tan.

Long Qi and Baozi exchanged a quick glance, understandably worried, although they disliked the cat causing trouble here, they didn’t want it to get into any trouble. Not to mention that the cat was acquainted with Wei Leng, Ermao, and Fang San, and had helped them out several times before; this incident too was initiated by them involving this cat…

“Mr. Kun…”

Ye Hao was clearly worried that Mr. Kun might quietly have someone take the cat out and get rid of it straight away. He was about to speak up for the cat, but Mr. Kun raised his hand to stop him. He picked up a teacup, took a sip of water, and started discussing his views on the distribution of interests proposed by Ye Hao, completely ignoring what Ye Hao was about to mention about the earlier incident. The shattered vase and the lucky bamboo lay as they were on the floor, and Mr. Kun did not instruct anyone to clean them up.

As Zheng Tan walked out of the living room, he also heard someone following behind him. He looked back and saw that it was the person who had opened the door; this person had been behind Mr. Kun since entering the house. Was he following now to keep an eye on him?

When passing by a room, Zheng Tan stopped. The door of the room was ajar, appearing to be a study.

Testing the situation, he walked a couple of steps inside. Seeing that the person behind him made no move to stop him, Zheng Tan walked in.

The study was only slightly smaller than the living room, with several paintings hanging on the walls. There was a long table on one side, displaying some plaster sculptures, with more in the corners.

These plaster sculptures varied in size, with the tallest being about 1 meter, like those in the corners, while the shortest ones were about 20 centimeters high. The sculptures depicted both people and animals. Undoubtedly, they were inferior to those made by masters, but if these were carved by a blind old man, that would be impressive. Besides, nobody mentioned that Mr. Kun was a sculptor. Even a person with perfect eyesight might not be able to sculpt to Mr. Kun’s level.

After examining each of the plaster statues, Zheng Tan’s gaze returned to the paintings on the wall.

Zheng Tanhad seen some ink wash paintings at Professor Lan’s home. Besides fiddling with plants, Professor Lan also painted ink washes quite masterfully. Even without a deep understanding of art, Zheng Tan could tell that Mr. Kun’s paintings were far inferior to Professor Lan’s, but considering they were the works of a blind man, one shouldn’t be too critical. Overall, they were quite decent, and Zheng Tan genuinely respected them.

Next to the paintings was a piece of calligraphy, which, comparatively, was much stronger than the paintings and very imposing. Zheng Tan remembered a time at Professor Lan’s home when the old man was writing with a brush pen and started imparting knowledge about calligraphy after seeing Zheng Tan. Professor Lan had said that a work lacking momentum is dull and spiritless, those who capture it can reveal a scene of winds unfolding and clouds rolling with a splash of ink, and those who grasp the energy can make the brush flow with a lively charm.

Zheng Tan didn’t know much about art, but he felt that this piece of calligraphy definitely met the standard described by Professor Lan.

However…

Zheng Tan looked at the four large characters “Thirteen Grand Protectors” written above and pondered what Mr. Kun meant by writing these words. Don’t people usually write mottos or idioms that carry a positive message? Or maybe to show off a bit, write single words like “endure” or “kill”?

Zheng Tan looked at the other calligraphies and paintings in the study, connecting them with Mr. Kun. Although he did not fully understand what kind of person this old man really was, he remembered what Mr. Jiao had once said: significant figures are not arrogant because of their broad horizons, knowing there are mountains beyond mountains, and skyscrapers beyond skyscrapers, and owing to their rich experience, they knew transient pride could not control a person’s ups and downs. A true significant figure does not lack enemies; they confront them head-on, showing no mercy to their adversaries but behind them, they could be open-minded, recognizing the good even in the evil.

No matter how glorious or notorious Mr. Kun had been in the past, based on what Zheng Tan now saw and the things around him, this old man was truly not simple.

People often commend blind artists, saying that they have broken free from the shackles of not being able to see with their eyes and can “see” objects in extraordinary and unique ways. Besides having a solid foundation and the ability to envision, they might possess supernatural abilities for such astonishing accomplishments.

Zheng Tan did not know whether the old man had any supernatural abilities, but he now seemed to understand why that old man walked so steadily, unlike some other blind people he had seen who walked very carefully and often bumped into things.

The person following behind Zheng Tan had been silent the whole time; had he not heard this person respectfully call out “Mr. Kun” when they entered, Zheng Tan would have assumed this guy was a mute.

When they returned to the living room, Ye Hao and Mr. Kun had nearly finished their discussion, and the atmosphere had eased a lot.

Seeing Zheng Tan, who was of no concern, relieved Ye Hao and the others a bit.

When bidding farewell, Ye Hao offered to drop Zheng Tan off at Chuhua University, to which Mr. Kun agreed.

After Ye Hao and Zheng Tan had left, the person who had followed Zheng Tan out of the living room approached Mr. Kun.

“After that cat went in today…”

He detailed everything that Zheng Tan had done in the study to Mr. Kun.

“I don’t think that cat is with Ye Hao and his group,” the man said.

“Hmm.”

Mr. Kun hummed and then fell silent, but those close to him knew that Mr. Kun had anticipated this outcome. As to why Mr. Kun would take notice of that cat… it seemed that ever since knowing Nie Shijiu had a cat, Mr. Kun had been paying attention to the cats around him. Although blind, he could detect certain things with his keen hearing and perception, such as how those cats would run far away upon seeing Mr. Kun, or if they didn’t run, they never showed any affection, even trained cats displayed a strong sense of alertness. Despite the old man now being quite restrained.

That afternoon when Mr. Kun returned, there was someone feeding a cat in front of a barbecue restaurant. The cat was meowing for food, but when Mr. Kun passed by, it stopped meowing and ran away immediately. Including Nie Shijiu’s cat as well, which also crouched and growled at Mr. Kun as if facing a big threat.

So, the first time on the overpass when Mr. Kun sensed a cat approaching, he thought to himself: this cat is either very bold or very brave. But later events made Mr. Kun realize that was not the case.

Such a unique cat!

When Zheng Tan was riding back with Ye Hao’s group, he thought Ye Hao would scold him for the incident with the vase in the living room, but instead, Ye Hao only mentioned the promise of a single room for Zheng Tan at Night Building.

Having resolved a concern that had weighed on his mind for a long time, Ye Hao was in a good mood. Moreover, after leaving Mr. Kun’s place, Ye Hao thought a lot and analyzed every single detail of the incident. Perhaps, it was the cat’s mischievous participation that had enabled him to proceed so smoothly? It might be so…

Although the place wasn’t too far from Chuhua University, Ye Hao still had the driver take them to the nearest side gate of the East District courtyard and told Zheng Tan to follow Wei Leng to the Night Building, where he might see his small single room.

When Zheng Tan entered the courtyard, he saw from the gatekeeper uncle’s clock that it was already past five, very close to Little Youzi’s school dismissal time, so he directly headed towards the Affiliated Primary School.

The children at the Affiliated Primary School were in particularly good spirits recently, probably because of the upcoming Children’s Day and the approaching holiday, which they could enjoy at their age. Jiao Yuan and his friends, however, could not; they had already moved from the Young Pioneers to the Youth League. Did they still expect to enjoy “Children’s Day”?

When Little Youzi came out, she was accompanied by Yue Lisha and Xie Xin from West District, who were also on good terms with her class. As the two girls saw Zheng Tan perched on the wall, they said to Little Youzi, “Please take care of this cat at your home!”

Zheng Tan was puzzled. What did they mean by that? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it at Qidian (qidian.com) and donate monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep