Chapter 13: Kids These Days... How the Hell Do They Grow Up Like That

Yi Xin explained his purpose with trepidation, and Professor Lan snorted, "Serves him right!" when he heard that Zheng Tan had fleas on him.

However, despite his comments, Professor Lan still went to get medicine for Zheng Tan, who followed him into the room.

As for Yi Xin, he was mopping the living room with a mop.

Professor Lan was a retired employee of Chuhua University Life Sciences College. Although he had retired and was no longer teaching, his influence at the Life Science Institute was still substantial. Moreover, even though he no longer taught, some companies offered high salaries for Mr. Lan to serve as a consultant, and he had cooperative relationships with many companies. Therefore, despite the simple and modest decorations in Mr. Lan's home, his net worth was quite considerable.

Professor Lan always had a stern expression on his face, which gave others the impression that he had a bad temper and was too serious. Professor Lan would occasionally stroll around the Life Science Institute, and during the practical guidance sessions of the botany courses, Mr. Lan would supervise on the side. Some of the younger teachers seemed somewhat lacking in confidence when speaking, and as for the students, they hardly dared to breathe.

No wonder Yi Xin stammered when he saw Mr. Lan; he had been promoted from this school, and his experience in the botany course had left a deep impression on him. Therefore, Yi Xin was curious. Mr. Lan was not the type to read people's faces; even if the current dean of the Life Science Institute was here, Mr. Lan might not give him face. That meant it definitely wasn't because of Boss Jiao. But why could Mr. Lan tolerate the boss's cat so much?

What had earned Mr. Lan's tolerance was, in fact, something Zheng Tan had done by chance. More than a month ago, while Zheng Tan was downstairs for a walk, he encountered Mr. Lan's wife, Old Mrs. Zhai. Mrs. Zhai's heart condition was not good. That day, after helping another elderly lady in a different building carry some heavy items, Mrs. Zhai was climbing the stairs when she suddenly showed signs of an attack. At the moment, it was the busy time of school and work, Mr. Lan was on a business trip, and as Mrs. Zhai tried to take out a medicine bottle from her bag, her hand trembled, and the bottle rolled down the stairs. Mrs. Zhai, in her condition, found it hard to move even a step. Eventually, it was Zheng Tan who ran down the stairs to retrieve the medicine bottle for Mrs. Zhai.

Mrs. Zhai took her medicine in time and quickly recovered. Since then, every time Old Mrs. Zhai saw Zheng Tan, she was all smiles. If Mrs. Zhai were at home today, Mr. Lan would certainly dare not scold Zheng Tan. Although Mr. Lan had a huge temper outwardly, at home, he was only scolded by Mrs. Zhai. Of course, Mrs. Zhai still gave Mr. Lan face when there were others around.

So, with Mrs. Zhai's backing, Zheng Tan was not afraid of Mr. Lan's tense old face at all.

Mr. Lan took out two bottles, one with a liquid and the other containing a powdery medication.

The liquid medicine was for Zheng Tan to bathe in, to prevent him from attracting fleas when going out. Zheng Tan had used it before but had not bothered to ask for more from Mr. Lan after it ran out. The powdery medication was for sprinkling on his body. These items were not available outside; they were all mixed by Mr. Lan himself, safe and guaranteed to be all-natural. Even if a cat licked it into its mouth, it would be fine, but Zheng Tan never licked his fur anyway, so there was even less to worry about.

Mr. Lan poured some powder into his palm, then rubbed it onto Zheng Tan's fur.

Zheng Tan turned his head to look at the messy fur sticking up on his back, drooping his eyelids towards Mr. Lan. Mr. Lan said nothing, only after applying the powder did he leisurely cap the bottle, leisurely put it back, and leisurely smoothed Zheng Tan's fur back down. After smoothing it, he even slapped him twice, almost flattening Zheng Tan.

"This bit of medicine could sell for a whole house full of cats, you know. You're taking such a big advantage; when will you go and help me with my little flower bed?"

Mr. Lan didn't expect the cat in front of him to understand; he was just grumbling and using the opportunity to spitefully pat Zheng Tan a few more times.

Zheng Tan flicked his ear and shook his fur but ignored Mr. Lan, who was muttering to himself, and walked out of the room, preparing to go back.

Outside, Yi Xin had finished mopping and was sitting stiffly beside the sofa. It was obvious to anyone how nervous he was.

Mr. Lan handed the two bottles of medicine to Yi Xin and went back to the room to fetch a small brown glass bottle, "Those two are for the cat. You don't need me to tell you how to use them; just ask your supervisor. The stuff in this brown bottle is insecticide, 10X concentrate, dilute it yourself when using it."

After finishing, Mr. Lan directly opened the main door and motioned for both the man and the cat to leave.

"Um... Thank you, I'm sorry for the trouble!"

Yi Xin steeled himself to say thanks, holding the bottles, and followed Zheng Tan out the door.

It was only when Yi Xin returned to the Jiao family's home on the fifth floor that he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Zheng Tan now felt much more at ease since the flea problem was resolved; he felt so relaxed that he opened a bag of roasted fish fillets and began eating.

However, before he and the cat could enjoy their peace for long, there was a knock on the door.

Hearing the frequency of the knocking and the noise at the door, Zheng Tan had already guessed the identity of the visitor. He looked up at the ceiling, exasperated, "Can't a man get some peace around here?"

Yi Xin had no idea who was outside until he opened the door.

At the door were three little boys, about the same age as Jiao Yuan, all in the sixth grade at Chuhua University Affiliated Primary School, all living in the courtyard, and often playing together. Zheng Tan knew them, but Yi Xin did not.

Before Yi Xin could ask, one of the kids blurted out, "Who are you?!"

His question carried a tone of righteous indignation. One of the more robust kids even pulled a small rolling pin with mouse teeth marks on it from his backpack, fully on guard.

Looking at the three kids, who clearly wore wary and suspicious looks, Yi Xin's smile, which was meant to be friendly, stiffened. It took him five minutes to explain who he was, even pulling out his graduate student ID to prove his identity.

The three little brats crowded together to look at the photo on the graduate student ID, then at Yi Xin.

"The person in the photo must be your brother, right? He looks way more weathered than you," said the kid with the rolling pin, pausing before suddenly exclaiming excitedly, "I actually used the word 'weathered'!"

"Hope you remember to use it in your next composition, might get you over ninety points," another kid said as he handed back Yi Xin's graduate student ID.

The trio walked into the living room, glanced at Zheng Tan lying peacefully on the sofa, and finally relaxed, knowing that since the cat was fine, this Yi Xin must really be an acquaintance. Then they each took a seat on the sofa.

Seeing that there were no seats left on the sofa, Yi Xin moved a stool over from the dining table.

The three boys sitting on the sofa all turned to look at Yi Xin as he prepared to sit down, making Yi Xin bewildered, as if he had done something terribly wrong.

Zheng Tan watched this scene, sighed deeply, jumped off the sofa, and hopped up to open the refrigerator.

"Oh.~~"

"Heitan knows best!"

"The way to treat guests, Mr. Yi, even a cat understands that principle."

The criticized Yi Xin: "…" Damn, I'd know too if this were my place, but this is Boss Jiao's house, where I eat snacks like I'm walking on eggshells! I'm a guest too!

The most robust kid was the quickest, darting to the refrigerator and rummaging through it familiarly.

"Xiong Xiong, I want the mango flavor, last time I saw Jiao Yuan hiding it in the very back, check there!"

"I want apple flavor!"

Yi Xin's face twitched. Is this some sort of invasion?

Xiong Xiong used his chubby little hand to dig inside and pulled out three popsicles.

Looking at the three kids sitting on the sofa eating popsicles, Yi Xin asked, "What brings you three little friends here...?"

"My grandpa said there were people here. We noticed Jiao Yuan hasn't been to school for days, so we came to check." the kid who criticized Yi Xin for not knowing how to be a good host said.

"Uh, your grandpa is?"

"My grandpa is Lan Tiesu."

Yi Xin, "..." His smile was somewhat difficult to maintain.

Lan Tiesu is the name of Old Man Lan.

These three kids, one was Old Man Lan's grandson Lan Tianzhu, another was a child of a teacher from the chemistry department named Su An, and the sturdy one was Xiong Xiong. Zheng Tan didn't know his exact details, only that his family had some background, and he was quite familiar with the principal.

Yi Xin knew that his boss had to travel out of town for some matter, but he didn't know exactly what, so he simply explained that the Jiao family had something come up and would be away for a week.

"I see," Xiong Xiong wasn't fully satisfied with Yi Xin's explanation, but since it was not easy to come here and given that his mother had recently forbidden him from eating anything too cold, getting caught would definitely entail a scolding. Staying for the popsicles wasn't a bad idea.

After some thought, Xiong Xiong asked Yi Xin, "You're from the Life Science Institute, right? I have a question."

Yi Xin straightened up and said confidently, "Please, go ahead."

"I heard that if you don't eat breakfast, your body will eat poo. Is that true?"

Zheng Tan, who was lounging on the sofa but listening with his ears perked, "..."

Su An and Lan Tianzhu also curiously turned towards Yi Xin, waiting for the answer.

The smile on Yi Xin's face somewhat faltered, but he nevertheless academically addressed the question. After pondering, he said, "Strictly speaking, that's not correct. After food enters the small intestine, nutrients are digested and absorbed. The remaining waste goes to the large intestine and is eventually expelled from the body in the form of waste. However, the large intestine is not like the small intestine; it doesn't have much absorption capability, only absorbing a small amount of water and mineral salts. Therefore, even if you don't eat breakfast, the 'residual dregs' in your large intestine will not be reabsorbed, so, this proves what you said isn't correct."

"I knew my mom was bluffing me!" Xiong Xiong said indignantly.

"You could argue that with your mom," Lan Tianzhu chimed in.

"No way, I'd get punished, forced to kneel on a washboard," Xiong Xiong deflated.

"Kneeling on a washboard isn't a big deal. I had to kneel on a keyboard the other day; I wasn't allowed up until that space bar fell off," Su An, nibbling on his popsicle, added.

"Why?"

"To confirm if aqua regia really could dissolve gold, I threw my mom's gold leaf earring into it and melted it."

Zheng Tan, Yi Xin, "..." These kids are such troublemakers!

"For that, my dad won't let me into his lab anymore, and my mom docked my allowance for a month," Su An grumbled.

"Actually..." Lan Tianzhu wiped his mouth, "Physically punishing kids is illegal, right? You can call 110."

"Useless, I've tried it," Xiong Xiong grumbled, "After I called, my mom brought an even bigger washboard for me to kneel on."

Zheng Tan, Yi Xin, "..."

"Damn it, don't kids have rights?!" Xiong Xiong exclaimed.

Lan Tianzhu glanced at him, "Mind your language."

"Damn it, don't kids have rights?!" Xiong Xiong reiterated.

Zheng Tan, Yi Xin, "..."

As they talked, Xiong Xiong rolled up his trouser leg to show the red marks on his leg to everyone.

Zheng Tan, Yi Xin, "!!"

"Your mom is harsh!" Lan Tianzhu and Su An gulped.

"No," Xiong Xiong said proudly, "I pinched myself to make my crying look more believable! It worked, my mom eventually softened and reduced the original one hour to just fifteen minutes.~"

Zheng Tan, Yi Xin, "..." So smug for what! What's there to be smug about!

Listening to the trio's conversation, Zheng Tan felt he really was naive back in the day.

And Yi Xin was inwardly roaring, "What's up with kids these days? How the hell do they grow up?"

The three little troublemakers finished their popsicles and reluctantly gathered their backpacks to leave. Before leaving, they reminded Yi Xin and Zheng Tan, "There's been a thief in the courtyard recently, several households have been robbed. Don't lend out your access cards or let strangers into the building."

After the three kids left, Zheng Tan and Yi Xin felt the world finally quiet down.

Boiling water for the cat, combing its fur, applying medicine, and entertaining kids... It had been an exhausting day. Yi Xin decided that when Boss Jiao returned, he must ask for a raise! Definitely!

Zheng Tan didn't worry about what Yi Xin was thinking at the moment, he was tired too. Given the past few hectic days, recalling Wei Leng's words, Zheng Tan decided to go for a run tomorrow. Rarely, Zheng Tan fell asleep by eight o'clock at night.

After Yi Xin finished editing the paper on Boss Jiao's computer, he stretched lazily, noting it was past two in the morning, then shut down the computer and headed to sleep on the living room sofa. Passing by Gu Youzi's room, Yi Xin peeked inside. With the light from the living room, he could see on the child's bed a large Garfield doll placed in the middle, and the black cat lying on it, one leg curled up, the other pressing down on Garfield's cheeky pancake face, sleeping soundly.

Yi Xin smirked, "No sleeping manners at all!"

In his dream, Zheng Tan dreamt he had grown stronger and had caught the thief.