Chapter 212: Chapter 210: The Ambusher Chapter 212: Chapter 210: The Ambusher Wei Leng’s wedding was set for the second day of the National Day holiday. This year, during the National Day holiday, Jiao Ma had no plans to take the children on a long trip. The holiday crowds were overwhelming, and she alone couldn’t manage two kids and a cat that wasn’t particularly well-behaved.

Previously, Wei Leng had offered to send a car to pick them up, but Jiao Ma refused. Today, Wei Leng was the main character, certainly busy all morning, and still had to “kidnap” the bride. There were plenty of places where people and cars were needed, and since the Jiao family had their own car and Jiao Ma knew the wedding venue well, Shaoguang Hotel, there was no need for the hassle.

Ermao checked the cat food early in the morning and then disappeared. He had to help Wei Leng today. He had been busy until late the night before. If it hadn’t been for the cat at home, he probably would have just stayed out all night.

After going downstairs, Jiao Ma drove to the courtyard entrance and stopped. Zheng Tan looked out to see two people standing at the entrance. He recognized them and as he looked down, saw the cage held by the little girl, not much older than Little Youzi, and realized who they were.

The cage contained a guinea pig. Zheng Tan had seen it before and remembered that Wei Leng called the creature “Li Zi.” Two years ago, when Little Point had ventured out by itself, it was nearly eaten by the sheriff and Ah Huang, and that was when Zheng Tan had first met Wei Leng. These were Wei Leng’s comrade’s wife and child, who had tragically died on duty. Wei Leng and other comrades had always supported them, and he often visited the mother and daughter. Obviously, they had to attend his wedding.

Jiao Ma called the two of them to get into the car. They had coordinated everything the previous night. It was just a matter of taking them along to Wei Leng, and since Mr. Jiao was not around, squeezing in two more people was still manageable.

Zheng Tan and Little Youzi both stayed in the back seat. When the mother and daughter got in, they were a bit surprised to see the cat. The little girl was more cautious, understandably, since many cats are not friendly towards guinea pigs.

Seeing that Zheng Tan was quietly sitting next to Little Youzi, the mother and daughter relaxed.

“Don’t worry, my Heitan is very sensible and won’t bully other small animals,” said Jiao Ma.

“Exactly, Heitan never bullies the weak, unless it’s a thieving, bad rat,” said Jiao Yuan, turning his head back and eyeing the furry ball inside the cage.

However, the mother smiled but said nothing, though she didn’t quite believe it. Fortunately, her guinea pig was caged, so the cat couldn’t get in.

Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan mainly focused on “Li Zi” on the ride to the hotel. Jiao Yuan was quite talkative and took the initiative to ask about the guinea pig.

“We were supposed to leave ‘Li Zi’ at home, but my child didn’t want to part with it, saying that this was a chance to take ‘Li Zi’ out for some fun,” the mother explained.

“That’s true. It’s the same with ours; wherever we go, we have to take it along. However, ours is very sensible and never runs off,” said Jiao Ma with a smile. In front of others, it’s always best to speak well of one’s pets, so Jiao Ma didn’t expose Zheng Tan’s true behavior.

Nevertheless, Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi felt a bit guilty, knowing exactly what their Heitan was like. Whenever the weather was good, he was mostly out and about during the day.

Zheng Tan, hearing Jiao Ma’s somewhat exaggerated praises, didn’t seem embarrassed, although if he were, it wouldn’t show as he seriously lay next to Little Youzi’s legs. However, the guinea pig next to them wasn’t so settled and even chirped at Zheng Tan a few times, unsure if it recognized him.

Zheng Tan glanced at it and ignored it. The creature had grown a bit since their first encounter, now about twenty centimeters long, and indeed looked quite charming and harmless, no wonder children liked it.

“‘Li Zi’ seems not to be afraid of Heitan,” said the girl holding the cage. Having had “Li Zi” for so long, she could generally understand what the guinea pig was trying to express from its chirps and some behaviors.

“Maybe it knows this cat means no harm. Animals have a strong sixth sense,” her mother commented with a smile.

The drive from Chuhua University to the hotel took some time. During the trip, Yuan Zhiyi had called once. Jiao Ma was driving and couldn’t answer, so Jiao Yuan took it. Yuan Zhiyi mentioned he would be leaving soon. He had planned to help if there were too many people from the Jiao family, but since it wasn’t needed, he was not in a hurry. Some colleagues from the company who knew Wei Leng well had already left before dawn.

Today, Wei Leng looked quite decent and proper.

During the wedding ceremony, everyone’s attention was on the couple. Zheng Tan, squatting on the bench, couldn’t see anything. He leaned against the wall so he didn’t need to worry about anyone behind him, and both Little Youzi and Jiao Yuan shielded him well. To peek out, Zheng Tan could at most stick half his cat head out from under the table and had to press his ears down to avoid being noticed by others.

While the people at his table might not mind, those at other tables might have objections, and it was necessary to maintain Wei Leng’s dignity. As for “Li Zi”, it had already been tucked away in a special bag, even more so than Zheng Tan.

Everyone at the table knew each other: besides the Jiao family, Yuan Zhiyi, and the mother-daughter duo, the others were Wei Leng’s combat buddies. Several of them often helped the mother and daughter too, so there was enough chit-chat to keep things lively.

Ermao had mentioned that they hired someone to record the event, so later viewing the footage would be possible. Zheng Tan wasn’t particularly curious about it anyway. Although he couldn’t see what was happening outside, he could hear Ermao, Senior Hetao, and a few unfamiliar voices getting rowdy at certain points of the ceremony, shouting loudly.

Zheng Tan felt so hungry he wanted to sleep; the breakfast he had eaten had long been digested. He was both hungry and bored. Once the wedding banquet finally started, Zheng Tan just buried his head and ate ferociously. There was no shortage of people offering to help him with the dishes, especially Yuan Zhiyi, who enthusiastically served the dishes, puzzling several people at the table.

When Wei Leng came to toast, he wanted to gesture towards Zheng Tan, but Jiao Yuan and Little Youzi were blocking him too effectively, only allowing Wei Leng to catch a glimpse of a pair of black pointed ears.

After the banquet concluded, many people who were either busy with official duties or had other matters to attend to had to leave. Wei Leng had booked some rooms in the hotel, so people who had no other plans for the afternoon and wanted to play cards or rest could go up, and he had also arranged for dinner.

Yuan Zhiyi left, Jiao Ma took the children with another mother and daughter to one of the upstairs rooms to rest. The three kids prepared to play poker, and the two mothers chatted. Zheng Tan decided to sleep, but “Li Zi,” freed from its cage, kept scooting next to Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan lifted his foot and pushed it away, but it returned in a few seconds. Annoyed by the disturbance, Zheng Tan jumped on the back of the sofa and ignored “Li Zi,” who kept meowing below.

Zheng Tan hadn’t been asleep for long when Ermao came over.

“Black Coal, want to go play?” Ermao looked at the black cat lying on the back of the sofa. He knew that whether or not he could take the cat away depended mostly on the cat’s will. If it agreed, the Jiao family would at most make a few inconsequential remarks or give some advice but wouldn’t really object.

After thinking about it, since he was bored here anyway, Zheng Tan decided to accompany Ermao and take a look at this legendary master.

Ermao had been in that large suite reminiscing with a few fellow disciples he hadn’t seen in a long time, but as they talked, it turned into the master scolding each disciple one by one. Wei Leng was the main figure today; he had entered the room earlier, saw the situation was not good, excused himself to accompany the bride and attend to guests, and left the others behind to continue receiving the scolding. Especially a few like Ermao, who hadn’t been caught by the elder in a long while, were the main targets.

Thus, Ermao remembered the black cat still at the hotel and decided to bring Zheng Tan over to divert some attention; after all, the master also owned a cat. Although the master’s cat was quite special, if another cat came along, it should be enough to shift the master’s attention away from them.

“Black Coal, pay attention later, there’s… well, just be alert, okay?” Ermao couldn’t help but add another word before opening the door.

Ermao didn’t finish his sentence, and Zheng Tan didn’t know exactly what Ermao was trying to say. Was there some danger inside? Surely not.

When Ermao opened the door, Zheng Tan followed him in.

There was no smell of smoke inside, which was rare. A room full of mature men and none of them were smoking. Or perhaps, for the sake of the master, they all refrained?

While there was no smoke smell, there were other odors. Apart from strangers, there was something else…
Apart from Ermao and Senior Hetao, Zheng Tan didn’t recognize anyone in the room. Ermao was the youngest, and the others, apart from the one elderly man, were several middle-aged people about the same age as Senior Hetao. Wei Leng had spoken about earlier generations who held important positions and were too caught up in their duties to attend. They were so free, unable to come, but their big red envelopes must have already reached Wei Leng’s hands, who was probably counting the money now.

From the moment he entered the room, Zheng Tan felt an odd sensation, as if someone was lurking and spying on him. Several pairs of eyes were fixed on him, creating an undeniable pressure, but Zheng Tan sensed no malice from these men, which made him relax a bit. They seemed more curious than anything, especially the elderly man who seemed quite spry.

At first glance, this elderly man seemed tough, but the longer Zheng Tan looked, the more slippery he seemed. The man was fiddling with pai gow tiles in his hands while he watched Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan wondered if Ermao had picked up his card-playing habits from this man. As the saying goes, when the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be too.

After Zheng Tan and Ermao entered, the people inside stopped talking. Those playing cards continued playing cards, those drinking tea continued drinking tea, those picking their teeth continued picking their teeth, each keeping to himself but still diverting attention to Zheng Tan, seemingly waiting for something.

Zheng Tan’s strange feeling grew stronger. He always trusted his instincts.

Since the others didn’t act, Zheng Tan decided to make a move.

He stepped forward from the doorway towards the sofa, constantly listening for sounds around him, watching the people sitting near the sofa. Unfortunately, it was difficult to discern anything from these people’s eyes. These were Wei Leng and Ermao’s fellow disciples, each more capable of concealing their thoughts than the other.

As that feeling became stronger and he noticed movements behind him, Zheng Tan suddenly turned around and swiped his claws, not even taking a good look at the attacker. His claws caught the fabric of the attacker’s clothes, and with a turn, he flung the attacker away.

Then, a sharp scream, whether out of fear or anger, came from the attacker, making Zheng Tan want to go over and give a few more slaps. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation vote or monthly vote. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep