Come Say Hello

The campus was a forest in July.

People were hired to tend to the lawns and flowerbeds, but the trees were left free to grow. They seemed to change every few days.

For the citizens of Chuhua city, July and August were difficult months. It was ridiculously hot every day, to the extent that people avoided going outdoors during the daytime.

Zheng Tan lay on the balcony next to a pot of flowers, courtesy of Professor Lan. Zheng Tan liked sleeping here. At this hour, the balcony was shady. It might still be too hot for people, but it was manageable for cats. Their body temperature was naturally higher than that of humans.

Zheng Tan much preferred the balcony to air-conditioned rooms.

He had been in this world for over a year. He hadn't noticed it until Jiao Yuan and Youzi began their summer vacation. That was when he realized it was summer again.

At this time last year, he had just gotten here and was resorting to escapism. He was insecure, lost and helpless. He couldn't quite remember how he felt anymore, but he still remembered everything that had happened.

He felt an itch on his chin. He rubbed it on the edge of the flower pot, then yawned. He squinted, looking at the people coming and going downstairs.

It was such a hot day, yet Jiao Yuan was still going nuts outside. He went out every day with his friends. They would go to the pool or go play basketball. Somehow they were never home except during meal hours. They were all kids from the quarters and there was bound to be a parent around, so the other parents never worried.

Vacation mode Jiao Yuan was unnaturally excited. He always had a somewhat goofy grin on his face no matter how hot it was and managed to score a tan just a few days after school ended.

Zheng Tan thought about Youzi, who was doing homework in her room and decided he preferred girls. They were just quieter.

Zheng Tan was awakened from his nap by noises from below.

"Meow. Meow."

A cat was meowing downstairs, but it wasn't Tiger, nor Sheriff, nor Fatty.

He knew from the sound that it was Nougat.

Little Nougat roamed the streets with Li Yuanba and now knew the campus and its surroundings by heart.

Unlike dogs, cats roamed farther then people would expect when they went on walks. Of course, there were exceptions. Tiger, for example, never left campus even with the company of other cats. On his own, he rarely stepped foot out of the quarters.

Zheng Tan had once thought this was because Tiger was afraid of strangers or dogs. However, after accompanying this guy out a few times, he realized that Tiger was terrible with directions. After he was neutered, he stopped peeing everywhere and lost his personal street signs.

The reason why Nougat was roaming alone was Li Yuanba was sick with a tummy bug. Yanzi and Mr. Guo were both extremely worried. Li Yuanba always seemed the embodiment of health, but when she got sick, it was serious. She was kept indoors for the moment.

Nougat went out whenever he had time. During his last photo shoot, Mr.Guo mentioned Nougat brought mice back for his mother everytime he went out. The rats were huge and Nougat always seemed so eager to be praised. Maybe it was his way of telling his mother he had grown up and was not the kitten that needed to be accompanied everywhere.

No matter what his mentality was, he kept bringing back mice.

Sometime Nougat would go out with the cats from the quarters. A group of cats seemed less likely to be picked on.

Nougat was already seven or eight months old but he seemed larger than most kittens his age. With his long fur, he seemed the same size as Zheng Tan.

The mole next to Nougat's mouth had grown as he grown. It was now a comical size.

Zheng Tan had followed Nougat out a few times. During these experiences, Zheng Tan found that Nougat was an experienced mouse hunter. This was the result of Li Yuanba's training. Also, Nougat never caught mice in the same location twice. He would pick the neighboring street one day, then the warehouse the next, and another place the day after.

In other words, every day the mice came from a different place. This puzzled Zheng Tan.

Did location have an effect on how mice smelled?

Maybe this was Nougat's way of showing Li Yuanba he knew the area well.

Zheng Tan didn't quite understand but praised Nougat nonetheless.

Once Nougat started meowing, Sheriff, who was sleeping in some bush, appeared instantaneously. He seemed very excited. Whenever Nougat gathered the cats, it was likely he was looking to pick a fight with a group of cats somewhere.

Zheng Tan yawned and ran downstairs.

Tiger was grounded and Fatty never went too far away from where the old lady was, so only Zheng Tan and Sheriff accompanied Nougat out.

There was a narrow trail a few hundred meters away from the campus gate. Students sometimes rented housing there, but most of them that did so were male. The area was adjacent to an abandoned construction site. Fights often broke out over them. Some of the fights got really violent and after a while, many deserted the area. Those who still lived there were attracted by the cheap rent.

That was where Zheng Tan and Nougat were headed. Unfortunately, many families were celebrating. Apparently, it was because their children made it into university. There weren't any great restaurants around, so people had these feasts at home.

Somehow, all the families decided to celebrate on the same day. Cars were parked everywhere and hordes of people came and went.

Zheng Tan saw a cat sitting on the fence. It was a large cat with a similar coloring to Sheriff. He spotted another cat nearby. This one had long fur and was resting under a car.

Nougat surveyed the area and halted. He hadn't expected so many people. He swung his tail and turned to leave.

Sheriff was ready to pounce and pick a fight with the local cats but was slapped back by Zheng Tan. If was fine fighting other cats, but there were too many people around.

For cats, nighttime was the ideal time to have group fights. People were mostly at home and couldn't intervene. However, Yanzi was the one who determined if Nougat could come out at night. Judging by Nougat's decision to come here in the afternoon, he probably had to stay at home tonight.

Zheng Tan heard people chatting before he even reached the door.

The Buddha was there.

He wondered why she was visiting at this time of the day.

When he entered, he saw her talking to Mama Jiao with a baby in her arms.

Mama Jiao saw Zheng Tan and quickly said, "Here comes Charcoal. We didn't have to wait until supper time after all."

Zheng Tan twitched his ears, this made him sound like a foodie.

The Buddha sat on the sofa and said to Zheng Tan, "Come Charcoal, come meet Kitty."

Kitty? As in Kitty Zhuo?

No wonder the Buddha had such a tender look on her stern face.

Zheng Tan jumped on the sofa and peered down at the baby in her arms.

The baby should be around three months old. He wouldn't know how to talk, wouldn't even know how to crawl. He didn't have much hair at the moment. His eyes were small but so very bright.

Apparently, all babies had bright eyes.

Kitty Zhuo was wearing a pendant on his neck. It was the talisman Zhuo created with the herb Zheng Tan brought her. From now on, it would be Kitty's.

The Buddha adjusted the way she held the baby so that Kitty was facing Zheng Tan.

The cat and child stared at each other.

Then, just like that, Kitty started giggling and waving his tiny arms.

What was there to laugh about?! Zheng Tan looked at the infant. He was making incomprehensible noises but had a serious look in his eyes.

"He's saying hello," the Buddha said.

Was he?

Zheng Tan continued examining the baby. He was drooling from giggling too much. It was so silly.

"Charcoal, say hello to your younger brother."

Say hello?

How?

Zheng Tan was at a loss. The baby was so tiny, would he hurt him if he poked him?

Zheng Tan inched closer and rubbed his paws on the sofa to clean off the dirt. He shook his paws and checked that his claws were not sticking out, then he slowly reached out and touched Kitty's chubby cheeks.

The Buddha smiled.

Kitty started giggling uncontrollably again.

Zheng Tan rolled his eyes. Why did this kid like to laugh so much?

The Buddha didn't stay for long.

At the dinner table that night, Mama Jiao mentioned this afternoon's events. Papa Jiao acknowledged them with a nod but didn't say much. Zheng Tan had the feeling he knew more than he was letting them believe.