Why Is It So Expensive?

The black and white cat was determined to stay in the eastern quarters.

Zheng Tan saw the cat sitting on a flowerbed when he was taking Youzi to school. It was facing their building.

Yesterday the cat had tried to go home with Er Mao, but Er Mao had refused. Now it was waiting for him in front of his building.

Li Yuanba had picked her owner and now this cat seemed to like it was about to do the same.

The cat half opened its eyes when Zheng Tan and Youzi passed it, then quickly went back to napping. It opened its eyes whenever the front door opened.

Zheng Tan didn't know why this cat had chosen Er Mao, but it wasn't easy getting Er Mao to adopt a cat. He had said 'All cats are idiots' when he saw the four musketeers on a tree. He did not like cats at all.

The sky was cloudy today. Zheng Tan wanted to stay out longer, but it started to rain. He hurriedly went home only to find the cat was still there. Its ears were trembling in the rain.

The weather forecast said it wouldn't rain until tomorrow. However, it was raining already. Forecasts were never correct.

Zheng Tan didn't need to pick up Youzi on rainy days. Food would be delivered home.

He stopped in front of Er Mao's door when he passed the third floor. He heard talking inside. Er Mao was on the phone. He was up already and probably had gone out and got breakfast, so he must know the cat was waiting for him outside.

Oh well. Whether he adopted that cat or not was none of Zheng Tan's business. He couldn't help the cat since it had picked Er Mao as its owner.

He didn't turn on the computer today, but stayed on the balcony and watched the rain.

He heard banging noises downstairs. The stupid bird was poking his beak out of the wired fence and drinking rain. He wasn't doing this out of thirst but just for fun. Zheng Tan decided this bird had gotten more annoying after the winter. Besides singing, it now had the habit of reciting poetry. He had learned poems when his owner took him to an elementary school. He also learned to swear, which greatly annoyed Zheng Tan. He didn't know where the bird learned to swear - maybe it was self-taught.

Zheng Tan poked his head out of the balcony when the parrot wasn't looking and saw that the black and white cat had left.

The temperature always rose after it rained in Chuhua.

Unlike Zheng Tan who calmly accepted this change in weather, Er Mao was in a bad mood.

He couldn't even enjoy the music coming out of his headphones. He stared out at the rain. The door to the balcony was open and the wind brought coolness into the room.

Er Mao lit a cigarette. He had just finished an unpleasant phone call. The thought of the black and white cat did not raise his spirits.

Suddenly he heard a raspy voice recite poetry.

"Spring rain is the most precious..."

Er Mao rolled his eyes. F*ck, which idiot was this?!

He didn't bother to find out. However, he hesitated, then put out his cigarette. He took an umbrella and headed outside.

Zheng Tan heard the building door open and poked his head out to see who it was. The head was blocked by an umbrella but he recognized the pants. It was Er Mao.

What was he doing going out in this weather?

An hour later, the rain was down to a drizzle. Many people were walking outside without an umbrella. Zheng Tan was waiting for Youzi and Jiao Wei to bring home food when he saw Er Mao. The black and white cat followed behind him!

The black and white cat was damp and his legs had mud prints on them, but he seemed energetic and was able to enter the building after Er Mao.

So Er Mao was adopting this cat after all.

Zheng Tan had thought Er Mao hated cats. What an interesting man.

Er Mao watched as the cat ate his boxed lunch. He scratched his head. Why had he brought this thing home? How was he going to keep a pet? He could barely take care of himself.

It was a bad and impulsive decision.

When he saw the cat's wet box and wet bowl, his mind went blank for a moment. The cat was eyeing him timidly from his box. He looked at him and motioned for him to come with him. He had thought if the cat ignored him than he could ignore the cat from now on, but the cat did follow him.

His landlord allowed pets and there were many pets in the building. This cat wasn't as smart as the black cat upstairs which was good. Animals that were too smart were creepy. It wasn't dumb either which was also good. He didn't have to worry about it as much.

He decided to keep the cat for now. He had nothing to do all day anyway. If the cat decided to leave after a while he could let it go, but for now, he would keep it.

Now that he decided to keep the cat, he had more problems to face. For instance, the cat was filthy.

He decided to ask the Jiaos. It was lunchtime so the little girl and the student named Jiao Wei should be home.

Zheng Tan was eating when Er Mao came knocking on the door.

He asked about pet food. Youzi gave him a simple answer. She told him to visit Mr. Guo's pet center. They could help with selecting a type of pet food and they also provided pet grooming services.

So Er Mao immediately took the black and white cat to Mr. Guo's.

He found out upon his arrival that there were more things he had to do. The cat needed vaccines and deworming. He didn't even know what those were, so he let the vet do all the work. He would just pay the bill.

A worker took out a notebook and asked, "Name?"

"Wang Ming." Er Mao looked up from his phone.

The girl gave him an odd look. "Your cat has a last name?"

"Oh, you mean the cat's name."

"Of course. You just signed your name."

The cat's name..." Er Mao hesitated. He looked at the black dots on the cat's nose and said, "Barley. His name's barley."

"Age?" the girl asked.

"I don't know. I just adopted him today." Er Mao shrugged.

The girl looked up and smiled. "You are such a kind man."

Er Mao chuckled awkwardly. It felt weird being called kind.

The girl happily answered all his questions while trying to sell him products from the store.

Er Mao took a copy of the catalog and flipped through it. He was living in a rented house. He didn't need to buy too much stuff, but he did need to buy cat food. He didn't have the cooking skills to feed the cat.

His hand paused when he saw an ad. He couldn't be sure but he saw small writing on the bottom.

"Black C?"

The girl smiled. "This is our shop's star cat. This cat does all our cat food ads and has appeared in many pet magazines. You can find him on many pet forums as well. He has a lot of fans."

Cat model? Just because the cat had an English name didn't mean he couldn't recognize him. This was the cat from upstairs!

Er Mao always said he disliked cats but he was good at differentiating different cats. He was sure the cat in the ad was the black cat on the fifth floor.

He flipped a few pages and realized that the cat food using this black cat as a model were all more expensive than the other brands.

Er Mao pointed at the ad and asked the girl why this brand was especially expensive.

The girl was the model of professionalism when she answered. "These few types of food are quality assured. The brand is going international soon."

Going international? What a joke!

Er Mao doubted this.

He rubbed his chin. It appeared the black cat was worth a lot of money.

"Do you guys do delivery?"

"We deliver large items. We also deliver if you spend a certain amount."

Her use of words had become more polite.

He didn't lack money so he chose a few types of food that used Zheng Tan in the ad. He also chose a scratching post and a cat bed.

"Can I get delivery?"

"Yes." The girl's smile widened. She didn't receive a commission, but doing well meant she got a bonus at the end of the month.

"Don't you want to let your cat try the food first?" the girl asked.

"No. It's fine. If my cat doesn't like the food, I'll make Black C eat it all." Er Mao raised an eyebrow. How dare it not eat food it was presented?

The girl thought he was joking and smiled again. She took his address and passed it to the delivery man, then went on to the next customer.

Er Mao was growing bored. He saw a few pamphlets with the black cat on them. He pocketed the ads for evidence.