Chapter 294: Chapter 287: Leading the Way Chapter 294: Chapter 287: Leading the Way Although Qin Tao’s cursing was filled with strong emotions, his voice was not loud, but when Zhuo Xiaomao shouted, although it lacked emotions, he shouted loudly. Because of this, other children and a few teachers heard it.

Qin Tao was contemplating why the phrase that the kid had shouted earlier sounded strange when he looked up and saw three young female teachers approaching. Under some circumstances, Qin Tao would have been pleased to meet them, as kindergarten teachers are always lovely and “worth getting to know deeply,” but the timing was bad. Seeing the three teachers with faces full of anger and thinking about what the little brat had said, a bad premonition arose in him.

Teacher Xiao Bai, seeing Zhuo Xiaomao talking to his “Black Cat” as usual, did not interfere, as they were used to such situations, and the child’s guardian had a tacit agreement with them. Qin Tao’s arrival made the teachers vigilant for a moment, and seeing that Zhuo Xiaomao and the Black Cat next to him were calm, they decided to watch for a while, but they didn’t expect to hear Zhuo Xiaomao shout out that phrase.

They believed that, given Zhuo Xiaomao’s normally well-behaved nature, he would not know such swear words and suspected that the strange man had taught him, so they ran over in a rage.

Teacher Xiao Bai didn’t accuse anyone without knowing the facts, as she still asked Zhuo Xiaomao what had just happened. Zhuo Xiaomao honestly and in detail repeated what Qin Tao had said earlier.

After listening, the three teachers got angry.

How could this be allowed?!

How could someone say such things in front of children?!

The three female teachers, responsible for watching over the children, looked like protective mother hens, ready to show Qin Tao a lesson.

Seeing that things were turning ugly, Qin Tao immediately fled. After Qin Tao had run away, the three teachers spoke to the gatekeeper and asked him to expel that man from the nursery if he was seen on the surveillance cameras. It was best to keep such a dangerous person away from the children to avoid them picking up bad habits, as children of that age are full of curiosity and have a strong ability to learn. Parents trust them with their children, so they had to be vigilant.

Watching Qin Tao’s retreating figure, Zheng Tan shook his whiskers. Regardless of whether Qin Tao was sneakily attacked, he was indeed a fool.

The three teachers pulled Zhuo Xiaomao aside and persuaded him to forget what he had just heard and to stay away from such dangerous people. Zheng Tan did not go over and did not stay at the nursery any longer, preparing to find a place to take a nap.

Zheng Tan’s favorite place was not far from the East District courtyard, located beside the path leading to the East District courtyard and not far from the main road. From a high vantage point, he could see the vehicles and pedestrians on the main campus road and the buildings of the East District courtyard.

He chose a suitable plane tree for sleeping and climbed up. Zheng Tan lay on a branch and dozed off for a while. When he woke up, he smelled a whiff of cigarette smoke. Looking down, he saw a person sitting by the flowerbeds at the edge, a middle-aged man who seemed somewhat significant, wearing an expensive business suit that made him look like a high-status individual.

While Zheng Tan was observing the person below, that person also felt something and looked up at Zheng Tan. Seeing the Black Cat watching him from a tree, he didn’t think much of it and continued smoking and frowning in thought. However, within two minutes, he looked up again to find the Black Cat yawning and still watching him.

The middle-aged man wiped his face, feeling nothing strange on it, wondering why the Black Cat kept staring at him. He wanted to ignore it, but the gaze was too intense, making him feel slightly uneasy. He was already troubled by some personal matters, and this only made it harder for him to concentrate.

Zheng Tan kept watching the man because he looked vaguely familiar, so he looked more closely. When the man looked up, Zheng Tan realized whom he resembled. His frowning face was quite similar to Qin Tao’s!

Could it be Qin Tao’s father? Or maybe a relative of Qin Tao?

Being wealthy, looking similar, and appearing at the time when Qin Tao was in trouble, Zheng Tan couldn’t help but suspect this man’s relationship to Qin Tao. This was why he kept watching him closely to be more certain.

As the middle-aged man felt inexplicably stared at, a car slowly passed by on the nearby path and stopped. The car window rolled down, revealing Fang Shaokang’s face.

“Hey, Qin, aren’t you supposed to be in Mingzhu City? What brings you to Chuhua?” Fang Shaokang asked. He had felt that the person resembled someone from a distance, and up close, it was indeed him.

The two were both the third oldest in their families, and their families knew each other, but since Fang Shaokang was younger, he always called this man Qin.

Qin? Could it really be him? Zheng Tan thought.

“Oh, Fang San.” The man looked at Fang Shaokang without much surprise, knowing that Fang Shaokang also had assets in Chuhua City.

“That little bastard has hidden in Chuhua. I came here to drag him back,” the man said.

Fang Shaokang understood, although he hadn’t actively investigated those matters, he had heard about the troubles of the Qin family’s kid. He didn’t ask for details but said, “Be gentler with the child, don’t just beat him up all the time.”

Qin Tao’s father had been a capable man in the military, and later, he had thrived in business thanks to family connections. Unfortunately, when it came to educating his child, he was earnest but ineffectual, and every time he thought about Qin Tao’s past misdemeanors, he felt a headache looming.

“Boys are different from girls; if you don’t spank them, they don’t listen,” Mr. Qin said.

“So you’ve been spanking him for so many years, has he started to listen?” Fang Shaokang asked.

Mr. Qin fell silent, continuously smoking.

After a while, not wanting to continue the topic of how to educate children, Mr. Qin asked Fang Shaokang, “What brings you here? Looking for someone? Need an expert?”

Fang Shaokang shook his head, “It’s about my kid’s stuff, just need to find someone to fix something.”

Fang Shaokang didn’t want to elaborate on that, the thought alone was enough to bring him to tears.

Initially at Fang Mengmeng’s request, Fang Shaokang had Cheng Zhong make a cat car for Da Mi. Although Da Mi was smarter than other cats, it obviously wasn’t a special case like Zheng Tan, so the intelligence gap was still there. Therefore, the cat car was later modified into a type similar to a child’s car—the cat sat in the car, while the human held the remote control, steering the car with the cat in it.

At first, Fang Shaokang was happy to see Fang Mengmeng and Da Mi having so much fun and even thought he had made a great toy for his daughter, quite pleased with himself. But later, when he saw Da Mi sitting in the car like a “master,” and his dear daughter panting while running behind the cat car, he immediately became unhappy, feeling pity for her. Regrettably, no matter how much he tried to persuade Fang Mengmeng, she wouldn’t agree; the little girl found it quite fun and saw it as an opportunity to exercise by running.

Mr. Fang regretted bringing the cat car home. Moreover, he had specifically instructed Cheng Zhong to ensure the cat car was well-made that even after running into puddles several times, it showed no sign of breaking.

So, Fang Shaokang loosened a crucial screw when Fang Mengmeng wasn’t looking. The next time Da Mi’s cat car started running, it broke down within minutes, and even screwing the bolt back in did not help. Although Fang Shaokang was initially pleased—his daughter wouldn’t have to keep running after the cat car—over the following days, Fang Mengmeng kept clinging to Mr. Fang to get it fixed. Mr. Fang said okay, he’d take it when he had time, obviously brushing it off.

But what Mr. Fang did not anticipate was not just pressure from his daughter, but also resentment from Da Mi.

Da Mi remained well-behaved, neither causing a fuss nor scratching people, yet it always appeared silently by Fang Shaokang’s side, then just quietly watched him.

During meals, the unpricky Da Mi, after finishing its food, would sit quietly by the side, staring at Fang Shaokang until he felt his appetite wane; in the dead of the night when Fang Shaokang got up to use the bathroom, he would see Da Mi sitting in front of the door, its eyes reflecting back like two bulbs in the dark, startling Fang Shaokang so much that his sleepiness dispersed by a great deal. After returning from the toilet, he found the cat silently guarding the door, still watching him; on weekends when Fang Shaokang hoped to sleep in, his wife having gone out early to buy groceries, he felt something amiss, barely opening his eyes to find Da Mi sitting by the bed, just quietly looking at him…

Life became unbearable!

Mr. Fang had finally taken some time off to be with his family, only to encounter this. The look in those eyes unnerved him. He had no idea where Da Mi had learned such tactics!

In the end, under the dual pressures of his daughter and Da Mi, Fang Shaokang brought the broken cat car to Chuhua City. While handling work here, he also planned to get the cat car repaired.

Now, Fang Shaokang was taking the broken cat car to find Cheng Zhong, hoping to get it fixed before returning to Beijing, otherwise, he wouldn’t even have peace while eating or sleeping.

Upon hearing Fang Shaokang’s answer, Mr. Qin hummed in response, showing no further interest, tossed his cigarette butt into a nearby trash can, then exhaled deeply, looking up at the black cat in the tree.

Fang Shaokang had only paid attention to Mr. Qin until now, and only just noticed Zheng Tan.

“Hey, Heitan, sleeping here? That’s perfect. Since you’re not home, I’ll just take it straight to the Life Science Institute for your dad.” Every time Fang Shaokang visited, he would bring small gifts or specialties from Beijing, directly delivering them to Zheng Tan’s home if he was there, or else to Mr. Jiao’s place.

“Mr. Fang, you know this cat?” Mr. Qin asked.

“I do, it’s owned by a professor at the Life Science Institute, we are somewhat acquainted,” Fang Shaokang replied.

Mr. Qin assumed Fang Shaokang’s mention of “acquaintance” referred to his relationship with Professor Jiao, never considering it might extend to the cat.

“By the way, Qin, since you’re here looking for Qin Tao, the kid is probably at Ermao’s place, right? You can ask this cat for help if you don’t know the way; it knows the area well.” Since Mr. Qin had managed to find this place, how could he not know the way? He was well-informed about Ermao’s residence, but due to issues of pride and his temperament, he hadn’t figured out how to approach the matter, and Fang Shaokang understood this. He only mentioned it to give Mr. Qin an idea, offering him a way to gracefully handle the situation.

“Heitan, would you mind leading this gentleman to Ermao’s place, help him out? I need to hurry and find someone, hopefully, to get the item fixed before their holiday.” After finishing his words, Fang Shaokang closed the car window and drove off.

Zheng Tan inwardly flipped Fang Shaokang’s departing car the bird, then jumped from the tree, glanced at Mr. Qin, and started walking towards the courtyard.

Mr. Qin didn’t take kindly to being called “this gentleman” by Fang Shaokang. Mr. Fang always had a sharp tongue. But could a cat really lead the way?

He stood still for a few seconds, but as the black cat ahead began to turn, Mr. Qin still lifted his foot and followed. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we invite you to vote and recommend it at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep