Strange Life of a Ca Chapter 15: What Did You Do Now, Charcoal?

Chapter 15: What Did You Do Now, Charcoal?

In front of Zheng Tan were two puppies.

One nestled against Tiger. The other one, that just ca running over, began to bite Tiger's ear after a few barks. From the look of it, he was just play biting or else Tiger wouldn't be taking it so calmly.

The three of them seem familiar enough that they must have t before. These two puppies must have arrived in those two days he was gone.

Zheng Tan jumped on a nearby tree. The owner of the two pups should be in the vicinity; he was prepared to find out who they were.

Half an hour later, several old n slowly walked over; two of them had dog leashes in their hands.

Listening to their conversation, Zheng Tan figured out the reason behind the appearance of the puppies.

The first of the two n, Mr. Li, was also a retired biology professor. He specialized in botany and often went on walks to Professor Lan's garden. He lived on the first floor of Tiger's building. Tiger often went in through his place when he couldn't open the front door. Zheng Tan was familiar with him.

The second man, Mr. Yan, did not belong to the departnt of health sciences. Zheng Tan had seen him around the Eastern quarters a few tis but didn't know much about him.

According to them, several cases of theft had happened last week in the quarters, so the two n decided to raise dogs to guards their hos.

Mr. Li's building hadn't been robbed so far, but he lived on the first floor and decided to take precautions. He called his son to get him a large dog. He said he didn't have any requirents except that the dog had to be large. He wanted sothing that looked imposing. He didn't want anything like a Chihuahua. They didn't look they were capable of much.

His son thought about it then contacted so friends. City bylaws had restrictions on large dogs, which made pet registrations extrely difficult. It wasn't like he could get his father an aggressive dog anyways. What if it hard soone living in the faculty residence? But it wasn't like he could refuse his father's request.

Eventually, he bought a St. Bernard from a friend. It was big enough and relatively gentle. Though the drooling could beco a problem.

Mr. Li studied plants, so dogs weren't his specialty. He decided that as long as it was a large dog, he would be happy. So when he saw the dog, he imdiately decided he was going to take it.

"This is a nice pup. I'll call him Daisy."

Zheng Tan pictured a full grown St. Bernard, with its droopy face, being called Daisy. It was awful.

Mr. Yan lived in the building where the theft happened. His ho was untouched but he too was worried. So he rang up his daughter, who was abroad, for so advice. His standards for a dog were different from Mr. Li. He didn't care about its size, as long as it bit.

Of course the dog wasn't supposed to bite anyone living in the quarter, but it needed to be able to protect its owner if soone dangerous ca near. So dogs only looked scary, but wouldn't even bark when thieves break in.

So his daughter had a friend bring him this bull terrier. It was the sowhat deford looking puppy that just ran over. It was white with black circles around its eyes, like it was punched in the face. The puppy looked sowhat funny with its small beady eyes.

Mr. Yan had nad the bull terrier Mighty. After learning that the breed was aggressive to other animals, he decided to let it familiarize itself with the animals in the quarter. Even if it was going to grow up into a an little thing, it shouldn't be an to its neighbors

It appeared that this bull terrier, like the noisy parrot, liked to bite on cat ears. It was also a tad too energetic. It had been jerking around this whole ti. It was probably not going to calm down after it grew up. In contrast, Daisy, who was larger than both Tiger and Mighty, was much quieter. After whining a bit, she was falling asleep after being licked by Tiger.

The three were getting along well, but who knew what would happen after the puppies grew up?

In any case, Zheng Tan could foresee peace forever leaving the Eastern quarters.

Zheng Tan went back ho to have lunch. Yi Xin had brought back so food. It was cold by the ti he got ho, but he had to live with it.

Yi Xin had fallen asleep on the couch after lunch. He still had to work on his thesis later.

Zheng Tan grew bored, so he went out again. Basking in the warm afternoon sun, he was growing sleepy. He didn't see the other cats around, so he decided to go to the lake. At this hour, the area was usually deserted. Zheng Tan jumped on a willow tree.

Since he beca a cat, Zheng Tan developed a habit of lying on high places. it was strange that he was not afraid of the height, nor was he afraid of falling off in his dreams. He always slept peacefully on trees.

He heard soone approaching, Zheng Tan opened his eyes. A young woman holding a stack of books sat down on a bench near his tree.

The won looked familiar. He searched his mory. It was the "actress" from the "soap opera" that parrot was watching the other day.

Zheng Tan looked at her belly. Perhaps it was because she was wearing loose fitting clothes, she didn't look three months pregnant. Zheng Tan had left early that day and missed the rest of the "show". He didn't know much about her, but from the looks of things, she was close to her due date.

He twitched his ears. Zheng Tan didn't try to figure out the plot of that day's events. It had nothing to do with him. Besides, "soap operas" like that one happened every day in this country.

He closed his eyes, ready to fall back asleep, when he heard approaching footsteps again. This ti, it seed like a man.

But it wasn't a man. Zheng Tan saw a woman, around 50, walking towards them. She had a stern look that was comparable only to that of Professor Lan's. She had the aura of soone in high places, who was used to commandeering those around her.

The woman deliberately looked around to check that they were alone, before walking up to the younger woman.

"Zhuo."

The lady's expression softened, and her voice was gentle. Zheng Tan felt she was using hushed tones so as to avoid being overheard.

Was sothing shady going on?

Zheng Tan stuck up his ears.

"Professor Ye."

"Sit. Sit. Don't get up."

She sat down next to the young woman, but for a while, the two did not speak.

The atmosphere felt heavy.

Finally, the older woman sighed and asked: "You really decided?

"Yes. Yes, I did."

"We're talking about project A!"

She lowered her voice even more when she said "project A". Zheng Tan could barely hear them with his hearing.

"I know Professor Ye. I have decided."

They talked for a while. Zheng Tan attempted to figure out what this "project A" was, but the rest of their conversation was all about physics and so technical that he barely understood a word. This project A was never ntioned again.

The willow branches hid Zheng Tan. The lady only checked for people but not animals. So she never caught Zheng Tan eavesdropping.

The woman, Zhuo, didn't leave until last period.

Zheng Tan, too, went back ho. All night long, he couldn't take his mind off that project A. It was so very mysterious.

The next day, Zheng Tan finished his daily run with Wei Ling, went ho for lunch, then strolled over to the lake again. Sure enough, Zhuo was at the exact sa spot reading a book with a pen in her hand, jotting down sothing in her notebook.

Zheng Tan considered it, then walked over and hopped on the sa bench.

Zhuo looked up and saw a black cat with round eyes staring at her. She smiled at it, then resud what she was doing.

Zheng Tan saw she didn't mind, so he inched closer to look at what she was writing.

He saw a series of abstruse formulae made up of symbols he never seen before and etc. In short, it was stuff he didn't understand.

As for the book, it was in English and consisted entirely of professional vocabulary and terms. Zheng Tan thought he knew so English, but this was way beyond his level.

How frustrating!

Zheng Tan didn't understand the book or her notes, but he did not leave imdiately. He was really curious about the so-called "project A". He figured if that he stuck around long enough, he should be able to find a chance to figure out what it was.

So, Zheng Tan spent the afternoon on the bench. The other woman ca by. She checked his pet ID after seeing him, then left without saying anything.

The next few days, Zheng Tan settled into a routine. He would train in the morning, then sleep on the bench by the lake in the afternoon. The older woman would co by every day. She would stay for a few minutes, sotis saying a few words before she left again. If Zhuo was doing calculations, she would stand and watch quietly.

One day, Zheng Tan went ho straight after his run. He had nothing planned for the rest of the day and waited on the sofa. It was Wednesday again. A week had gone by and the Jiao family was coming ho.

Yi Xin had to spend his day in the lab so he wouldn't be bringing lunch. Zheng Tan ate snacks instead.

Checking the clock on the wall every few minutes, Zheng Tan felt that ti had never passed slower.

Finally, at three in the afternoon, Zheng Tan heard Jiao Yuan's voice downstairs. He rushed onto the balcony.

Mama Jiao, Gu Youzi and Jiao Yu were downstairs each holding a bag. They saw Zheng Tan's head poke out from the balcony railing and all smiled. After they entered the building, Zheng Tan opened the front door and waited.

Back at ho, the three look tired and sowhat sad. But being ho, the kids were much more relaxed. After a bath, Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi went back into their rooms to take a nap. Kids got tired easily and they had not been able to get a good night's sleep since they left. They weren't used to sleeping elsewhere.

Mama Jiao was preparing to make dumplings. She would wake the kids after dinner was ready.

Zheng Tan laid on the couch watching TV. He was in a good mood, and for the mont, he couldn't care less about project A or Daisy and Mighty or whatever.

The Jiao family returning ant he wouldn't have to eat cafeteria food and snacks anymore. Life was beautiful.

Papa Jiao ca ho at five. He had to take care of so business. Yi Xin needed to borrow lab equipnt from the physics departnt, so of which required his ntor to be present to vouch for him.

Papa Jiao looked confused when he ca through the door. He saw Zheng Tan on the couch and asked: "Did you do sothing, Charcoal?"

Mama Jiao, who was testing her cooking, was displeased at what he said. "Charcoal is a good boy. What on earth can he do to anger you? You are a scientist. You need to present proof before you make accusations."

"I just went to the physics departnt to borrow equipnts and ran into 'the Buddha'. She actually smiled at !" Papa Jiao frowned in confusion.

"Do you an sneered?" Mama Jiao asked.

It was a fair assumption. Every ti Papa Jiao went to borrow equipnt, 'the Buddha' always treated him like he owed her a billion dollars.

"No, she actually smiled."

Smiling like a normal human was not normal for 'the Buddha'.

Mama Jiao frowned. She ca out the kitchen, still holding a spoon in hand, and looked at Zheng Tan, who was lying innocently on the couch.

"Charcoal, what did you do now?"

Zheng Tan: "..."