His Life Was Depressing

There was a window beside the closet. Zheng Tan looked outside and saw Jiao Yuan running around with a few boys his age. He then looked again at the room. The contrast couldn't be starker.

Girls were so much quieter than boys, at least the girls in this room were.

As for the only boy inside the room, he was a baby so Zheng Tan ignored him.

Not after long, an old lady, probably his grandmother, came and took him outside. Zheng Tan stayed atop the closet even though his main tormentor was gone. Time couldn't pass by fast enough for him.

Youzi didn't have to worry about Zheng Tan anymore now that he was out of reach, so she started watching cartoons with the girls. Zheng Tan wasn't interested in the show so he napped on top of the closet.

As tradition dictated, tenth birthday parties were made up of a lunch and a dinner.

Though they said the kid was ten, he was really nine if you counted from the day he was born, but people here calculated age starting from the time a person was conceived. Zheng Tan didn't bother to understand why. He remembered Youzi was eight and was turning nine soon. Would she get to have a tenth birthday party? Her irresponsible mother was still abroad.

They could go to Fang Shaokang's hotel to celebrate.

By noon, Mama Jiao showed up to bring Youzi and Zheng Tan to the restaurant. It wasn't far so everyone went on foot.

Zheng Tan didn't go inside this time but stayed in the car instead. Youzi wanted to take him inside, but when Papa Jiao let him choose, Zheng Tan chose the car immediately. He saw how many children were present and didn't want to have lunch with them. It would be crowded inside and who knew what the kids would do. He would rather wait for Papa Jiao to bring him food after they finished eating.

It was boring in the car, but it was at least quiet.

When he woke up from his nap Papa Jiao brought him a bowl of food, but he had to go back inside immediately. Someone wanted a word with him.

He didn't like the food, but it was warm so he made do. He heard the kids were going to an amusement park afterward. He planned to stay in the car. There probably wasn't anything fun in a county amusement park. He had the soul of a grown-up man and didn't want to play with kids.

After lunch, he sat for a while but quickly became bored. He got up, put his paws on the window, and stretched his back.

He got up just in time to see hordes of kids exiting the restaurant. The youngest was no more than three, the older ones were about Jiao Yuan's age. The group of people came this way. Some of the kids had balloons in their hands. One was being carried by his father and was knocking him with his ballon. His father said nothing.

Zheng Tan felt his bones hurt. Whenever he saw kids like that, he felt depressed.

Too many kids were going to the amusement park, so each car had to carry several kids. The rest of the people taxied over.

Two other kids got in Papa Jiao's car with Jiao Yuan and Youzi. One sat in the passenger seat, the rest of them got into the back. Youzi was sitting on Mama Jiao's lap, Jiao Yuan and a boy around ten sat beside them.

That boy had a ballon too. When he saw Zheng Tan, he started banging him on the head with the ballon, despite constant protest from the Jiao kids. Mama Jiao tried to tell him off, but he ignored her.

Zheng Tan was so annoyed that he eventually scratched and popped the balloon.

The kid finally stopped after Papa Jiao berated him, but he was only quiet for a moment. He kept looking at Zheng Tan.

F*ck!

Zheng Tan was upset.

The amusement park was a twenty minute car ride away. Papa Jiao had to tell the kid to stop it every five minutes or else the kid would poke Zheng Tan or pull his tail. If he couldn't reach his tail, he would pull his ears or whiskers. Zheng Tan slapped his hand away.

He couldn't get away. The car had only so much space and he couldn't move to the front of the car.

Jiao Yuan wanted to beat up the kid but Mama Jiao stopped him. If the kid cried, a fight with his parents was unavoidable. The kid was truly annoying. Papa Jiao had to warn him every once in a while. He wouldn't listen to anyone else, probably because he knew they didn't dare do anything to him.

Zheng Tan suddenly missed Chuhua and found himself wishing time would go by faster.

The kid finally left Zheng Tan alone when they reached the amusement park. He darted out of the car.

"Charcoal, wanna go?" Papa Jiao asked.

Zheng Tan stayed put and ignored him.

"Alright, stay here. Here's a litter box. Use it if you need to." Papa Jiao took out a litter box made from a shoe box before leaving.

There was water and snacks in the car. Now he even had a washroom. Papa Jiao wasn't too worried about leaving him here.

He left the window open a crack and told Zheng Tan to watch for car thieves.

Zheng Tan looked out the window. The amusement park was just as he had imagined, small and poorly equipped. There wasn't even a rollercoaster, although there was something close to it. It was, however, enough for the kids.

Zheng Tan was growing bored. He couldn't fall asleep. He hadn't left the house much these two days because he was unfamiliar with the surroundings. He stayed indoors and ate, slept and ate again.

He stood on his hind legs to look outside.

There were scarcely any tall buildings around. The town was underdeveloped compared even to Chuhua, let alone the southern cities. They were at so-called downtown, Papa Jiao's home was in a village outside the city. They planned to visit during the holidays but Zheng Tan didn't know exactly when. As long as he didn't have to face the children, he would go anywhere.

As he was thinking, he caught sight of a woman in her forties passing by the car with a baby in her arms. She seemed in a hurry.

Zheng Tan noticed her not because she was eye-catching in any way, but because of the baby in her arms. The baby was covered up by a jacket, but the jacket slipped as the woman walked past the car, allowing Zheng Tan to catch a glimpse of the baby's face.

Wasn't this the baby that was crawling after him today?

His clothes had a bear on it, Zheng Tan could remember it clearly. It seemed the baby was sound asleep.

The woman looked behind her and covered the child up once more. She carried the baby to a motorcycle nearby, where a man wearing sunglasses was waiting. He said something to the woman, then lifted the jacket to check the sex of the baby.

Then they left.

Zheng Tan didn't know the child, nor any of Papa Jiao's relatives. He tried to forget about the issue. Though he was slightly suspicious, it wasn't like he could get out now.

However, five minutes later, people started running out of the amusement park.

The grown-ups who were with Papa Jiao were looking serious.

Zheng Tan suddenly realized things weren't right. He had never encountered anything like this. He had heard of people tricking kids with food and toys then abducting them. However, the baby was less than a year old, he couldn't even walk yet. How did those child traffickers get ahold of the baby?

Also, weren't there a lot of people around, including the baby's grandmother?

Papa and Mama Jiao showed up after ten minutes. It was clear they were upset. Jiao Yuan and Youzi kept quiet. Two kids needed a ride in their car back home. Both were much better companions than the kid from earlier. One of them appeared to have been crying earlier.

The atmosphere on the way home was very different. The mood was heavy and everyone was silent. Jiao Yuan opened his mouth several times to say something, but each time he decided against it.

Papa Jiao dropped the kids off at his sister's place then took Jiao Yuan and Youzi back to his parents' house. Grandpa and Grandma Jiao weren't home yet.

He made a few calls, then was off again.

Before he left, Zheng Tan heard his talk with Mama Jiao.

Normally child traffickers abducted children from one place, hid them in another, and then sold them off somewhere far away from their home. If they didn't find the child quick, who knew where the baby would end up. Their time was limited now.

The baby was Papa Jiao's cousin's second child. The first child was a girl, so when they finally had a boy, the family was ecstatic. Unfortunately, the baby's father was busy and his mother was in the hospital. The family had a nanny, but the grandmother helped take care of the kid. She had only wanted to take the child out for some fun, who knew this would happen? Everyone was worried sick and was trying to help. Papa Jiao was looking for ways to rescue the baby as well.

In a small town like this, this was a hard task due to the fact that CCTV cameras were not yet in place.

Zheng Tan suddenly remembered when he was caught by cat traffickers and felt deeply sorry for the baby. He couldn't even save himself like Zheng Tan had done when he was drugged.

Pet cats, no matter how precious the species, cost at most tens of yuans once made into a dish. He had heard babies were quite cheap on the market as well. They were sold for several thousands at most, but were priceless to their families.

Zheng Tan sincerely hoped Papa Jiao could find the baby.