Chapter 431: Chapter 407 There is a Cat in this World Named Zheng Tan_2 Chapter 431: Chapter 407 There is a Cat in this World Named Zheng Tan_2 Dashan was clearly teasing the little red panda, toying with the apple a few times before snatching it up and leaping onto the wooden table in the courtyard. Then he placed the apple on the edge of the table where the little red panda could see it but couldn’t reach it. Dashan himself squatted nearby to watch.

The wooden table was just a tad too tall for the little red panda when it stood up. So, the little fellow stood up, raising its two front paws, and hopped trying to grab the apple on the edge of the table.

At that moment, Pei Jie called out in the tone of a eunuch from TV dramas, “Little~Fu~zi~”
The little red panda, which had been bouncing around the table, turned its head, but its standing motion was unstable and, distracted, it fell backward, landing on its bottom and toppling over.

Pei Jie shifted his gaze back and said to Pei Liang, “There you go, a real picture of clumsiness.”

Pei Liang didn’t respond.

Seeing that Pei Liang seemed to be getting annoyed, Pei Jie quickly changed the subject, “Hey, come to think of it, Dad, even if Qi Da were there at the time, he might not have done any better than Black Coal. That cat was amazing. How about we get one for our family too? Specifically, one that’s pure black.”

Pei Liang snorted, “You think every black cat is Black Coal?”

“That’s true. Just like there’s only one Qi Da, there’s only one Black Coal.”

“One is more than enough,” Pei Liang thought to himself. One was enough to handle such matters; if there were another, wouldn’t it turn the world upside down?

The time to return was gradually approaching, although the originally planned date of return had already passed. Because of the incident, they had stayed an extra week to settle everything here before they planned to journey back.

Ermao and the others didn’t inform the elderly of the actual events in the woods, but who was the elderly? If Ermao and the others so much as wagged their tails, the old man would know exactly what they were up to. Even if they covered it up well, he knew there was more to the story. However, it didn’t matter to him; now that the youngsters had families and could discern right from wrong, he trusted his apprentices and wouldn’t pry further, only offering assistance from behind the scenes when needed.

But the old man would never have imagined that it all started because of a black cat.

The investigation into using animals to transport illegal goods would continue for a while longer, and it seemed likely that this time they would have to strip some people of their positions from top to bottom, but that was no longer the concern of Zheng Tan and his group. The problematic zoo was sealed off, and the animals were distributed to several other zoos with more standardized management.

And because of this incident, new regulations were issued from above, putting forward higher demands on zoos and tightening surveillance in management.

When the three cars left the courtyard, Zheng Tan looked out of the rear window.

The morning sun had already risen, shining down upon the land.

On a large boulder near the courtyard, the little red panda that had just finished its breakfast was sitting on it washing its face. At the entrance of the courtyard, the old man, Uncle Lin, and Dashan stood there, watching as the three cars slowly faded into the distance. The rising sun cast a golden layer on their outlines.

When Zheng Tan returned to Chuhua City, it was already December.

The temperature in Chuhua City had dropped sharply during this period; when Zheng Tan left, some people were still wearing short sleeves, but now they were all in thick jackets.

Every time he returned from a long trip, Zheng Tan always felt his mood become very calm and at ease, as if all his restlessness had settled down.

Knowing that Zheng Tan was coming back today, Mr. Jiao specifically left the Life Science Institute to return to the courtyard in the East District. He first checked on Zheng Tan, hmm, not skinny, spirited as well, seems like he had a good time outside.

Ermao didn’t tell the Jiao family about that incident, but when handing over Zheng Tan’s treasure box, he asked a few more questions. Seeing that Mr. Jiao appeared unaware of the situation, Ermao couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Jiao, aren’t you curious about what’s inside the box?”

Mr. Jiao was carrying the box and bags upstairs, heard Ermao’s words, and said, “Curious, of course, but I respect their privacy.”

Whether it was Jiao Yuan, Little Youzi, or Zheng Tan, Mr. Jiao wouldn’t forcibly ask to see the things they kept to themselves.

Ermao secretly curled his mouth in disdain, even a cat has a right to privacy, huh.

However, after learning that the box’s origin was related to Mr. Fang’s house, Ermao started pondering, wondering if he should get a set of this kind of equipment for his own girl? Next time she encounters some vile boy who doesn’t know better, just shoot him down.

Upon returning home, Zheng Tan found everything the same as when he left the month before; the scent belonging to Jiao Yuan had faded considerably, and Little Youzi’s scent had also diminished slightly. Today was Thursday, the weekend was close at hand, Little Youzi would be coming back soon, and Jiao Yuan, it should be soon too.

After tidying up and putting back on Zheng Tan’s cat card, Mr. Jiao had to head back to the Life Science Institute. As he left he said to Zheng Tan, “I’m heading to the institute now. Ermao said you ate this morning, and it’s not quite lunchtime yet. If you get hungry, just find something to eat for yourself, everything’s still in the usual place.”

After Mr. Jiao left, Zheng Tan sprawled on the sofa and rolled over a few times stretching lazily. Although long-distance travel by car was tiring, the anticipation had kept him from feeling sleepy. He walked to the balcony and glanced at the neighboring balcony.

Qu Xiangyang had long since moved out, bought a big house, and was now a father, but apparently, he was still very much a homebody. The neighbor’s balcony was no longer adorned with T-shirts featuring StarCraft, Spiderman, Star Wars, SpongeBob, and the like, replaced now by some girls’ clothes.

The neighboring house was rented to three female graduate students by Qu Xiangyang’s parents. They took the initiative to clean up the room and… killed six cockroaches, along with several other insects.

It’s precisely because they saw Qu Xiangyang turn the house into such a state that his parents preferred to rent it to female students, who, at the least, might be tidier and wouldn’t make a perfectly good house look like a dog kennel.

Zheng Tan had seen those three girls, and they looked pretty decent. Once you got to know them and got used to them, you’d find they’re not too bad. They had a good temperament, good character, and sometimes they’d call Zheng Tan over to play and share some food. All of them were nice people.

Actually, what these three female students loved most was the General who lived on the fourth floor. Unfortunately, the General had been taken to the Southern region to spend the winter; otherwise, you could often hear the General singing love songs downstairs. The whole building would tease Professor Qin, which left him embarrassed on many occasions. Poor Professor Qin, those love songs, especially those rather explicit ones, were mostly not taught by him!

After basking on the balcony for a while in the sun, Zheng Tan still wasn’t sleepy, so he decided to just go downstairs for a walk.

Da Pang wasn’t at home as he had been taken by the old lady to visit relatives, Ah Huang was sitting in a row playing with Xiao Hua and Niu Zhuangzhuang on the grass, the sheriff…

Nowhere to be seen.

Zheng Tan walked around and came to Old Man Lan’s small flower bed. Ahead of Zheng Tan, a student rode a tricycle up to the door and knocked. Then, three kinds of dog barks could be heard inside.

Zheng Tan walked over and peeked inside.

The first to bark was the brindle dog “Shunfeng,” the second was the yellow dog “Qianli,” and the third was… the sheriff perched on top of the pergola. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian to cast your votes of recommendation, monthly tickets, and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile phone users please visit m..)