Chapter 201: Chapter 201 Tacit Understanding Chapter 201: Chapter 201 Tacit Understanding Zheng Tan watched the few people with some apprehension until they were far away.

What were they doing here?

Zheng Tan still remembered the phone call that person made at Chuhua University. The conversation he overheard didn’t sound like anything good. Just now, those people were talking, and while others couldn’t hear clearly, Zheng Tan could, but they were only talking about some trivial matters. Zheng Tan couldn’t draw any meaningful conclusions from their conversation. Besides, if it were something important, they wouldn’t be discussing it here, surrounded by people.

Nevertheless, Zheng Tan’s nerves were on edge again. Even though those people had walked away, he couldn’t help but worry. He decided to follow Little Youzi and the others closely for the next few days. Even if those people weren’t targeting Little Youzi, Zheng Tan couldn’t let his guard down. The world is full of perverts, and it’s always better to be cautious. Who knows what kind of perverse ideas these people might suddenly have?

Thus, Zheng Tan suffered from insomnia that night, and even the fireflies Jiao Yuan caught couldn’t distract him. Seeing the children, who knew nothing, Zheng Tan felt oppressed by the knowledge he had, realizing that sometimes knowing too much isn’t good.

Early the next morning, Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were still sleeping in, and Jiao Ma didn’t disturb them. It’s not easy to get a good sleep in the summer.

Zheng Tan jumped onto the roof and looked into the distance. Most people in the village were early risers, doing more work while the temperature was still cool.

The Gu Family’s houses still had those pointed tile roofs, but the neighboring household had built a three-story building that looked quite decent.

On the balcony of the second floor next door, there was a kitten, probably about two months old, playing with a walnut, tossing it around joyfully.

Zheng Tan hopped onto the railing of the second-floor balcony next door. The kitten was startled, but quickly resumed amusing itself.

The window of the room next to the balcony on the second floor was open, and Zheng Tan could see inside from the railing. It seemed to be a boy’s room, with various toys like robots and toy guns scattered around, and a fifth-grade Chinese summer homework book laid on the desk.

“Big sister, what’s that thing you keep patting on your face every day?” A boy’s voice came from another room in the house, the same boy who was catching fireflies with Jiao Yuan the day before.

“You dolt, it’s called toner!” a female voice replied, accompanied by the sound of patting.

Soon after, the boy entered the room with a perplexed expression. Seeing the black cat on the railing, he didn’t react much and sat down at his desk, flipping open his summer homework book. He had homework tasks every day, and if he didn’t finish them, he wasn’t allowed to go out and play, so every morning after breakfast, he would immediately hole up in his room to do his homework.

After writing for less than five minutes, the boy farted, then clutched his stomach and ran out of the room, probably heading to the toilet.

Zheng Tan was quite curious about what these children wrote in their diaries and compositions on their homework. When he had nothing to do, he would flip through Little Youzi’s “Chinese Summer Homework” diaries and compositions in front of her. It wasn’t any secret; they were all about daily life.

Jumping in from the window, Zheng Tan noticed the place where the homework book was opened, where the boy had been writing his diary for the day, located at the end of the assignment. In a scrawling penmanship, today’s diary read, “Every morning I wake up, I can see my big sister slapping her face in front of the mirror…”

Zheng Tan couldn’t help but laugh. This kid was really funny. He raised his paw and flipped through the previous diary entries.

He hadn’t expected this discovery – the kid was quite dedicated to writing his diary and had recorded some of his past misdeeds. For instance, he wrote about where he dug a trap in the village on a specific date, and other traps he had set up, some of which people had already fallen into, and several which remained untouched.

Zheng Tan took note of the spots where the traps had not been triggered to prevent Little Youzi and the others from falling into them when they walked in that direction. Although they were children’s pranks and not very harmful, falling into a trap would certainly not feel good.

Hearing footsteps, Zheng Tan flipped the homework book back to its original place, leaped out the window, and returned to the roof of the Gu Family house. Hearing Jiao Ma call him, he hurried down to eat breakfast.

Since the two children hadn’t had enough fun yesterday, Mr. Gu took them to dig up some earthworms and they continued shrimp-fishing at Wild Pond in the afternoon.

Zheng Tan still stood by and watched for a while, then took a stroll elsewhere. Considering Zheng Tan’s good behavior from the day before, Little Youzi and the others didn’t mind.

Actually, Zheng Tan wasn’t just idly wandering today; he wanted to see if the little girl from yesterday was still around.

Arriving at the place where he had encountered the child the day before, Zheng Tan didn’t see anyone and was slightly disappointed. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a figure in the distance approaching; it was the little girl from yesterday. Carrying the same broken bucket and the sickle that was broken on one end over her shoulder, she walked in his direction.

However, as she approached, Zheng Tan noticed that the child had new marks on her body from being struck with a stick, which were too conspicuous to ignore. No wonder she seemed to have trouble walking today.

After seeing Zheng Tan, the little girl didn’t show the same murderous intent and hostility as the day before; she looked surprised and curious instead. She paused, then continued walking to the spot where they had been fishing for shrimp yesterday, took out a stick, tied on an earthworm, and set up in three places.

Zheng Tan found it quite strange that the little girl’s attitude towards him had changed. He didn’t approach but, noticing the movement at one of the rods not far away and glancing at the girl squatting there, lost in thought, he looked around, bent his claw, and flicked a small clump of earth in that direction.

The little girl, caught up in her thoughts, noticed the noise and looked over to see the peculiar black cat. She saw the black cat glancing toward where the rods were set up and started walking in that direction.

Zheng Tan backed off a few meters, watching the girl guard the rod for a few seconds, and then pulled up a shrimp, not very big.

After setting the rod back down, the little girl looked at Zheng Tan with a complex expression for a moment before walking over to another rod.

Seeing that the child harbored no aversion and had nothing else to do, Zheng Tan decided to help keep watch over the other two rods out of pity for her. Wasn’t she tired of moving around so much with those wounds on her legs?

Gradually, a silent pact formed between the man and the cat. The little girl guarded the rod at the far end, while Zheng Tan helped monitor the other two close by. It wasn’t difficult for Zheng Tan, given the short distance between the two rods. Whenever there was movement, Zheng Tan would throw a small stone or a clod of earth to signal that a shrimp was about to bite.

The little girl, whose mood had been soured by the beatings, now felt a bit better when she saw an old shrimp approaching the worms. A smile formed at the corner of her mouth – this shrimp looked meaty, even its claws had flesh, it was her lucky day.

Just as she thought this, a clod of earth came flying towards her, giving her a light tap before rolling down the slope and plopping into the water. The assertive shrimp that had just started to snap at the worms vanished in a flash, leaving only ripples on the surface.

The little girl: “…”

Muttering a sigh while rubbing her forehead, the girl resignedly looked towards the black cat poised to throw another clod of earth, and got up to walk over.

When she pulled up the shrimp from the other rod, the little girl examined the small shrimp that wouldn’t let go of the worm, roughly the size of a fingertip. She twisted off its head, and before Zheng Tan could get a clear look, she had a ball of white, tender, and somewhat translucent shrimp meat in her hand. The motion was fluid, clearly a task she was well-practiced at.

After peeling the shrimp, the little girl tossed it to Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan glanced at it with disdain and then walked over to continue watching the rods.

The little girl was puzzled, why didn’t the cat eat it? She remembered the big striped cat next door ate these, and the cat at the head of the village did too. But the look in this cat’s eyes just now… that was disdain, wasn’t it? Perhaps it found the shrimp too small? But that shouldn’t be the case; when she cooked shrimp for herself and cats came by, she’d always give them the smaller ones while keeping the larger ones for herself. Whether raw or cooked, the cats would eat them. Why was this black cat different?

Shaking her head, the little girl decided not to dwell on it. If it didn’t want to eat, then it was just saving her some rations.

“Heitan—”
A voice called out from Little Youzi, and Zheng Tan didn’t stay by the rods any longer, scrambling back instead. Little Youzi’s voice didn’t sound like she was in danger but simply calling for Zheng Tan’s return.

“Heitan? That’s a really lame name, even worse than the village’s Da Hei,” the little girl muttered as she watched the black cat disappear from sight. She glanced at the other two rods, sighed heavily, and got up to check them.

Running back to Little Youzi, Zheng Tan heard Jiao Yuan boasting to Mr. Gu, “See? I told you Heitan would come back immediately.”

Little Youzi unscrewed a water bottle, pouring water into the cap for Zheng Tan. With the heat of the day, she was worried Zheng Tan might be thirsty.

Zheng Tan felt proud inside, his own kid was indeed the best.

Mr. Gu pursed his lips beside them, thinking to himself that it was just a cat and how spoiled it was by them. But he only dared to say this in his heart and wouldn’t dare to speak it out loud. He didn’t want to upset Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan over such a matter.

After drinking water, Zheng Tan hung around for a while and then ran over to the little girl, who was also drinking water, except from a plastic bottle that seemed to have been used for a while.

In this way, for the coming days, whenever Little Youzi and the others came out to fish for shrimp, Zheng Tan would find time to help the little girl watch the rods. It seemed she went to Wild Pond to fish for shrimp every day. However, when Little Youzi and her group stayed home, so did Zheng Tan.

One day, Mr. Gu took Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan to see someone catching fish from a pond. On their way back, they passed a crossroads, where Zheng Tan saw the little girl. A few days apart, the child’s old wounds hadn’t healed and new ones had been added. Even if they didn’t reach the bone, such physical pain was too much for a child of about ten years old.

Observing the familiarity between Zheng Tan and the little girl, and noting her clothes and wounds, Little Youzi pulled out a few milk candies from her pocket and handed them over.

The Jiao family never ran out of snacks and such because of Zhao Le. Jiao Ma didn’t need to buy anything; Zhao Le would send things over regularly, more than they could eat. Before the summer vacation, Zhao Le sent over several large boxes of high-grade milk candies. Jiao Yuan carried a few out, but since the weather was too hot, they only took a few each when leaving the house. Little Youzi had eaten only one today, giving the rest to the little girl. She felt that anyone Zheng Tan knew must be good.

The little girl looked at Little Youzi and the black cat standing beside her with a complex gaze, said “Thank you,” and left. Zheng Tan, observing Mr. Gu’s expression, knew that the old man must know something. However, when Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan asked, Mr. Gu said nothing, afraid of causing a negative influence on the children.

Sitting outside in the cool evening breeze, Zheng Tan overheard Mr. Gu and his wife quietly discussing the little girl, confirming that the child was indeed from that notorious family, the ninth out of nine girls, and the youngest. With a father who not only held a strong preference for sons but also abused them when unruly from his drinking and gambling habits, it was indeed their misfortune.

Zheng Tan also heard Mr. Gu mention that the girl would eventually be sold by her father. Fortunately, she had two older sisters, and after they were sold, it would likely be her turn.

From his tone, it seemed Mr. Gu couldn’t help; things were not so simple, otherwise, someone would have intervened by now. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep