Zheng Tan Is A Cat

It seemed that all the grass had turned green overnight. Winter was truly over, and spring was here.

Papa Jiao was scheduled to leave in the middle of April, but he got a call and left early for the capital city. He was going to visit a well-known professor. With the help of that professor, things should go well for him overseas.

He had managed to delegate all his work two days before he left. All his grad students got assignments, along with a junior student. He had recently decided to take on the new student after she graduated. Like Zeng Jing, she was not the skinny and quiet type. His colleagues joked he preferred sturdy students.

He had individual talks with all his family members including Zheng Tan.

Right now, Zheng Tan was perched on his cat tree and listening to Papa Jiao talk.

"Try to stay out of trouble while I am away. Don't think I don't know what's going on at home when I'm abroad. Don't play dumb with me. I know you know what I'm talking about. To sum it up, don't go out looking for trouble. Of course, that doesn't mean you run away from issues."

It was his first time leaving home for so long. Papa Jiao had a hard time staying calm whenever he remembered he would be leaving his family and his pet behind for a year. Papa Jiao was worried about Zheng Tan.

"I talked with that Ye Hao," Papa Jiao said.

Zheng Tan turned immediately. He wanted to know what Papa Jiao was going to say next.

However, Papa Jiao didn't say any more. He took out a bank card. He had set up the bank account using his name, but it was for Zheng Tan. He had saved up all the money Zheng Tan had earned over the years. It included the money he earned by doing ads and the money Zhao Le's father gave after he saved Zhao Le. It also included the unbelievably large red-pocket he got from Fang and Zhao Le, and the money he got from Ye Hao. Papa Jiao had never spent any of it.

"This is your bank card; Mama Jiao doesn't even know about it. I'm giving it to you now. Keep it in this drawer."

Not even Mama Jiao could imagine Papa Jiao had saved the money all for the cat, let alone Wei Ling, Ye Hao and Fang. The amount of money on this card could be considered large for some people, yet Papa Jiao was the only one who knew where the money was.

Papa Jiao opened a drawer on the cat tree and placed the card inside. Fang had designed this drawer. It was quite well hidden and had a lock. Zheng Tan kept the key.

Zheng Tan was surprised by the bank card. He didn't think Papa Jiao would give him a bank account.

Papa Jiao patted the cat tree. "Do you think if a thief got in, he would know there was a bank card hidden in the cat tree?"

Zheng Tan wagged his tail. He couldn't imagine any thief that would look inside a cat tree for valuables. It was too bizarre to most people. Zheng Tan believed no normal person would think of it.

Papa Jiao was quiet for a while, then he got up and entered his bedroom. He came back out with a box in his had. Zheng Tan knew inside was the jade pendant he had gotten from the old lady back in his village. Zheng Tan never wore the pendant. It was too uncomfortable and too eye-catching. People would try to steal it from him when he went on walks, so Papa Jiao kept the pendant safe for him.

"Let's keep this in the drawer too. Come over here - I want to show you something." He opened another box.

Inside was a piece of amber that contained a cat tooth. Papa Jiao had told Zheng Tan it was the tooth of the cat that once saved him.

Zheng Tan checked the tooth then compared it to his fangs. He had to admit the tooth in the box was larger than his own. The cat must have been large, but it was still probably smaller than Duke.

Papa Jiao was only showing Zheng Tan the tooth. He didn't want to keep it in Zheng Tan's drawer.

He talked about a few other things, then finally got up and left.

Papa Jiao left on a Saturday. Mama Jiao drove Papa Jiao to the airport along with a colleague of his. The man was surprised to see the Jiaos bring their cat on the trip. He even joked to Papa Jiao on the plane that he had a second son in the form of a cat. Papa Jiao didn't dispute this.

The house seemed quieter now Papa Jiao wasn't around anymore. Jiao Yuan and Youzi were very well-behaved. They did their homework and went to bed on time and even helped out with housework.

Zheng Tan still behaved like he used to, but he was never late for dinner again and he didn't go over to the Biology building anymore. Yi Xin and Su Qu were often in Papa Jiao's office. They didn't have laptops, so they often used the computer in the office to surf the net.

Speaking of computers, Zheng Tan was waiting for a chance to use the one at home.

On Monday morning, he dropped Youzi off at school and immediately went home. His mind was occupied by the computer, so much so that he didn't care about anything else.

He went home and headed straight for the computer.

He sat on the desk and turned the machine on. It was 2003 and the computer was an old model, so it took a while to turn on. Zheng Tan wasn't in a hurry. He had plenty of time.

He couldn't use the mouse with one paw, so he held it with both paws like he was hugging it.

Since he turned into a cat, this was the first time he used the computer on his own. He was very excited and almost sent the mouse flying. He tried to use his tail and hind legs to type, but it was hard. He messed up a word several times. He never thought he would one day be saying 'practice makes perfect' to himself.

He managed to create an account on a social media platform. He didn't have any 'friends' yet. He had wanted to use his old account from when he was human, but couldn't remember the account name. He stared blankly at the web page.

He shook his head. Oh well. He wondered if he'd have friends on this account in the future. Even if his real identity had to be kept a secret in this life, everything was allowed in virtual reality.

He didn't dare download games. It might leave traces. He had wanted to use the computer for a very long time, but now he couldn't think of anything to do on it.

Oh yes!

Zheng Tan searched up the pet forum Mr. Guo often mentioned. The two most active pages were the cat sub-forum and the dog sub-forum. This was a given since these were the two most common pets.

He went into the cat sub-forum. He found a post with pictures from his last photo shoot.

He read the post. The animals collaborating with him in the photo shoot were better looking than him, but he was happy to find he had a loyal group of fans on the site. Many of them were long-time users of the forum. Someone even said 'black C is an icon'. He was so happy that his tail was high in the air.

He decided to create an account but was having a hard time thinking of a nickname. He looked at other people's nicknames for inspiration. They were all somewhat related to the word 'cat' or 'kitty.' It was very clear what pet they owned.

He thought for a bit longer, then started typing.

ID: ZhengTanIsACat

After he created his account, he posted unabashedly, "That black cat is so cool!" Then he added, "So very, very handsome!"

He surfed the internet, then cleared his search history and turned off the computer. He was in a great mood when he went downstairs for a stroll. He loved the computer but still liked spending time outside.

His mood would be even better if he weren't followed by Er Mao.

Er Mao just woke up. The cafeteria was out of breakfast by this time, so he left campus and bought some eggs and a boxed meal. He would have the boxed meal for lunch. He wasn't picky and was alright with eating cold food. He saw Zheng Tan when he got back to the Eastern Quarters and followed him from a distance.

Zheng Tan tried to get away but failed. Eventually, he gave up and allowed Er Mao to follow him.

He jumped onto a fence.

This was his first time leaving campus since Papa Jiao left. The street outside the side gate was the same as always.

He passed an alleyway and took a glance inside. He saw a black and white cat sitting on a tree.

He didn't stop because there was anything special about this cat. It was a house cat like him. He was just curious what the cat was looking at.

It was staring at a window on the second floor of a building in front of the tree where it was sitting.

Zheng Tan had thought it was napping, but then he saw its eyes were wide open and its ears were perked up. It seemed alarmed.