Strange Life of a Cat

"The end of the world" is exactly what Zheng Tan thought, and it just passed away. Zheng Tan didn't go online to bet with those people, and he was not in the mood to join in the fun and denounce those guys who had vigorously spread the doomsday theory before.

After the apocalyptic year, which was full of hype on the Internet, the atmosphere in the Jiao family became more and more tense.

One is Xiaoyouzi's college entrance examination, and the other is Zheng Tan's status.

Xiaoyouzi didn't choose Chuhua University's recommendation because of the limited number of places, so she gave up the spot to Xie Xin, an old classmate from the West District Compound. After talking with Dad Jiao, Xiao Youzi made a decision.

For senior high school students, time flies faster than anyone else, as if it is not enough, but fortunately, Xiaoyouzi's psychological quality is not bad, which reassures Jiao's father and Jiao's mother a lot.

As for Zheng Tan's problem, it's still the same as last year. He always dreams, and he feels that even if he just squints for a while, he will dream a lot. His thinking is so confused that Zheng Tan dare not sleep now. If you don't get enough sleep, your mental state will definitely not be good.

Jiao Ma even took Zheng Tan to the pet center for a check-up. They didn't find any major problems, except lack of sleep.

Jiao Yuan has called home a lot in the past six months, asking about Xiaoyuzi's situation, and also Zheng Tan, and said that if the veterinarian here can't solve it, he can take him to the capital to see, and there are many authoritative veterinarians over there.

Zheng Tan didn't want to go, and Jiao's mother couldn't help it. She thought that after Xiaoyouzi's college entrance examination, the family would go to the capital to see Jiao Yuan together, and took Zheng Tan there for a checkup.

When Zheng Tan was at home, he looked at the calendar on Xiaoyouzi's desk. He recalled the time when he became a cat. It was probably June, but he couldn't remember the exact time. Ten years had passed. , who still remembers, besides, Zheng Tan had always lived a chaotic life back then, he didn't remember the date very much, and sometimes he would miss the school exams.

Stretching out his claws, Zheng Tan drew an inconspicuous mark on the dates from June 1st to June 15th, and added a few more claws on the 7th and 8th, which was the time for Xiaoyouzi's college entrance examination.

Every time Yuzu comes back, Zheng Tan pretends to be in good spirits, but when Xiaoyouzi leaves, Zheng Tan returns to his usual muddle-headed state. Father Jiao asks Zheng Tan to stay in his office, what's the matter? It's easy to take care of him, but Zheng Tan doesn't want to go, he feels more comfortable staying at home.

On the morning of June 8th, Jiao's father, Jiao's mother and Xiaoyouzi went out, Zheng Tan went out with them, Jiao's father sent Xiaoyouzi to the examination room, Jiao's mother was going to the attached high school, Zheng Tan sent them out of the compound, originally I wanted to take another turn, but I kept yawning and my eyelids were heavy, so I finally decided to go home and sleep.

Jumping onto the sofa in the living room, Zheng Tan was too lazy to shake off the cat ring. He raised his foot and kicked the remote control that was in the way in the middle of the sofa far away. on the eyes.

After Jiao Ma went out by bicycle, she suddenly realized that she didn't bring the USB flash drive. She forgot to take it out after copying the data in the morning, so she rode the bicycle back again.

The old lady from Big Fatty's house on the first floor was combing Big Fatty's hair. Seeing Mother Jiao, she said, "Just now I saw that your family Heitan came back, so I should go home again to catch up on sleep."

Mother Jiao didn't care about what the old lady said, she probably put on too much energy when she sent Xiaoyouzi out in the morning, and now she's going home to rest. Mother Jiao thought, after today was over, she would take her cat to the capital to have a look at it, otherwise no one in the family would feel at ease.

When she went upstairs, Mother Jiao's eyelids kept twitching, she took out the key to open the door, and glanced inside.

The room was eerily quiet, there was only a cat card on the sofa, there was no other movement, no black cat, as if no other creature existed.

Swish——

The curtains of the half-opened windows were blown, and the warm June wind blew in from the windows.

Outside the window, the sun is shining brightly.

—————

south city.

A high-rise residence in an elevator room near Nancheng University.

In the bedroom, sunlight shines through the window and through the gap of the curtains that are not fully drawn.

The harsh light made the person on the bed frown.

Eyelids moved, Zheng Tan opened his eyes a crack.

The sun was shining on his face, he suddenly woke up and saw the sun, he closed his newly opened eyes immediately, raised his hand reflexively to block it, and then covered his eyes.

Snapped.

The sound of the slap on the face was quite clear in the quiet room, and the slight pain was clearly transmitted to the brain.

Three seconds later, Zheng Tan opened his eyes.

Looking through the fingers, there are unfamiliar but somewhat familiar decorations. The curtains on the floor-to-ceiling windows are half-covered, and the light is coming in from there.

Blinking, Zheng Tan's mind was still a little confused, the palm covering his face was raised, and the focus of his eyes fell on the palm.

The palm prints are clear, with five long fingers, not black furry cat paws.

"Damn, dreaming again!"

After cursing in a low voice, Zheng Tan closed his eyes and planned to continue to sleep. After a few seconds of silence, Zheng Tan suddenly sat up, looked at the two palms raised in front of his eyes, Zheng Tan rubbed his face vigorously, and tried to make a sound again.

"Cough! Uh-huh-ah-huh-oh-"

Pronunciation is very clear.

When dreaming, it seems that you haven't really spoken, right?

It seems that there has been no such feeling of speaking for a long time.

Still not right.

Did you dream of a human when you were a cat, or a cat when you were a human?

Zheng Tan threw off the thin quilt on his body, got up and got out of bed, without wearing shoes, stepped directly on the dusty wooden floor, walked towards the French windows, and kicked aside the clothes and pants that were in the way on the ground.

This feeling of walking on two legs is slightly unfamiliar, but it feels natural.

Draw the curtains and open the floor-to-ceiling windows.

A gust of wind blows head-on, carrying the temperature of the sun.

Zheng Tan walked to the balcony, looked at the buildings in the distance, and took a deep breath.

"ah--"

Shouting loudly, it seems like I haven't felt the pleasure for a long time. Although my thinking is not very clear now, Zheng Tan just feels that if he shouts like this, his mood will be much better.

After shouting, Zheng Tan habitually looked down.

On the balcony diagonally below, there is no barbed wire fence, no blue-purple parrot with yellow eye circles jumping around there, there is a six or seven-year-old child standing there, holding an ice cream in his hand, probably because of Zheng Tan's sudden roar , a little frightened, staring up at Zheng Tan in a daze, not even noticing that the ice cream melted and dripped onto the ground.

Withdrawing his gaze and looking into the distance, Zheng Tan roared again.

"ah------"

It roared longer than the previous one, hysterical.

In the downstairs house, the child standing there was carried into the house by the parent who came out, and the parent looked at Zheng Tan as if he was looking at a psychopath.

Not caring about other people's gaze, ignoring the scolding of other residents, Zheng Tan yelled a few times, went into the room and took a cold shower, and came out much clearer.

I checked the date on the phone on the bedside table, June 12, 2013.

Zheng Tan scratched his head, number 12?

There was a series of missed calls on the mobile phone, the name of the caller was a little familiar, Zheng Tan ignored it, checked the time of the call, the earliest call was from the 8th.

Ignoring those missed calls, Zheng Tan is still confused, is the cat real or the human? If it's a dream, it's too real. Don't they say that after the dream, you forget it when you wake up?

Open the Weibo software on the mobile phone and log in automatically, but it is not the "Zheng Tan" account in memory, log out, log in again, and enter a new account password.

After reacting for a while... boarded!

The head portrait of the black cat is the same as I remember, and those microblogs, including the school bus game cat incident and the quarrels about the end of the world, are all matched.

If the dream is real...

Zheng Tan searched for a few more keywords, such as a certain movie about black cats, such as a certain documentary, such as a certain pet center, and a certain professor named Jiao, all of which were exactly the same as in memory.

On the screen of the mobile phone, which is not too big, there are familiar pictures one after another, and the pictures overlapped with the memory one by one, which makes Zheng Tan's brain ache.

What the hell is going on here? !

Throwing the phone aside casually, Zheng Tan tried hard to figure out why, but in the end he couldn't bear it anymore, so he went downstairs to find the nearest restaurant to eat.

The meal tasted like wax, and he didn't pay attention to the food at all. He mechanically took the rice spoon to deliver the food to his mouth, but looked out of the window, thinking about other things.

In the end, before the food on the plate was finished, Zheng Tan made a decision. He couldn’t book the air ticket or train, so he booked an express ticket. The train at 6:00 pm will arrive at Chuhua at 6:00 tomorrow morning. city.

Since you can't figure it out, go and look for the answer.

When walking back out of the restaurant, he passed by a small barber shop, Zheng Tan pulled the yellow hair on his head and walked in.

When he came out again, the yellow hair on one head had turned black and had been cut shorter.

I went back and changed into a simpler set of sportswear, and took my mobile phone, bank card, and ID card...

Looking at the profile picture and name on the ID card, Zheng Tan lightly flicked the person on the ID card, put the ID card in his wallet, took some change, packed it up and went to the station lightly.

At six o'clock the next morning, Zheng Tan walked out of the station, instead of hailing a taxi, he walked to the bus station, looked at the stop signs outside the station and the routes of various buses, there were many familiar station names. After waiting for the bus, I found a seat by the window and sat down, watching the streets and buildings outside as the bus drove.

The Dragon Boat Festival has just passed, and the billboards about the Dragon Boat Festival have not been removed in many stores. There are many people going to work at this time, and there are long lines of private cars and buses at intersections where traffic jams are easy to occur. The temperature outside is a bit high, and the horns of cars and the shouts of people fill the street.

This kind of weather and the things encountered make people easily irritable, but Zheng Tan's mind is not on this, it can't be said to be irritable, but a little complicated.

The mobile phone of a middle-aged passenger in the car rang, and the song carried the feeling of the golden years of the 1980s and 1990s. Zheng Tan has heard this song before, not from the Internet or other electronic devices, but from a bird. Zheng Tan seemed to see that little bird with yellow eye circles shaking its head and singing again.

Some songs that were once dismissed are like treasures when recalled many years later. The time point of this song, the people, things, and things involved, and the emotions aroused can always be remembered for a long time.

On another bus that stopped at the intersection with this bus, by the window, sat a young man with a bag on his back, gnawing on a bag of steamed buns. Sensing that Zheng Tan was looking at him, he also looked this way. Through the two layers of car windows, the light was still reflected, and the other party's expression was not really seen.

The right turn indicator lighted up ahead, and the car that Zheng Tan was in went ahead. As the vehicle drove, for a moment, Zheng Tan could clearly see the other person's expression and the doubt in his eyes, but soon, the two cars drifted away.

When the street scene became familiar, Zheng Tan's mood became more and more complicated, a little apprehensive and a little happy.

There was a young policeman on the side of the street who had just caught a thief, leaning against him in handcuffs, talking on the walkie-talkie.

There is a movie trailer on the big screen in the commercial square, directed by Kong Han, and the actors include Wei Wen, Xue Ding, Tao Qi...

When there were still two stops away from the original destination, Zheng Tan got off the bus.

Walking along the familiar road in memory, when passing outside the lakeside villa area, a three-legged tortoiseshell cat ran across the street with a mouse in its mouth, glanced at Zheng Tan, and then quickly Turn over into the villa area from the fence. Along the road along the lake, a dark gray cat with black markings, which was significantly larger than the other cats, was grinding its paws on the willow tree.

Without making a sound, Zheng Tan continued to walk forward. Passing by the affiliated hospital, when passing a small grocery store, Zheng Tan looked over. The store manager with a mean face sat behind the counter, biting a cigarette, instructing the clerk to move the goods. A white cat squatted on the shelf, looking sharply at the passers-by.

Entering from the side door on the edge of the Chuhua University campus, Zheng Tan walked in along the side wall. Next to a tall tree, on the inconspicuous wall, the lines of crooked handwriting written in pencil came into view.

"Zheng Heitan came here for a visit, December 12, 2009."

"September 9, 2010."

"February 28, 2011." There is also an abstract sun in the back.

...

Zheng Tan raised his finger and touched the word, some black color from the pencil was stained on it.

Twirling his fingers, Zheng Tan walked forward along the side path, walked through the small forest area, passed the old tile-roofed houses, familiar houses, familiar lawns, the path that he could know with his eyes closed, and that Compound...

The uncle doorman of the East District courtyard had poisonous eyes, and he saw Zheng Tan's strange face among the people entering and leaving the courtyard at a glance.

"Hey, who is that, who are you looking for?" The guard uncle leaned out of the window of the guard's room, pointed at Zheng Tan and shouted.

"I'm looking for Professor Jiao who lives on the fifth floor of Building B." Zheng Tan walked over and said.

"Oh, Mr. Jiao's home, he's not here, he should be in the School of Biological Sciences now, but their cat was lost a few days ago, and the whole family is going crazy looking for it, boy, do you know the name of his cat? A clue? A pure black cat, so big, it’s called Heitan, have you ever seen it?” the uncle guard asked eagerly.

"I've seen it before." After a pause, Zheng Tan added, "A very handsome cat."

Hearing Zheng Tan's answer, the light of hope in the guard's eyes dimmed again. Without further words, he waved his hand to signal Zheng Tan to go in.

Taking a deep breath, Zheng Tan raised his foot to go in.

The aunt who came in and out with the vegetable basket glanced at Zheng Tan, probably guessing Zheng Tan's origin in her heart.

On the benches under the shade of trees near the gate of the courtyard, Old Man Li and Old Man Yan were holding Xiao Hua and Niu Zhuangzhuang and sitting there chatting. The two old men just glanced at Zheng Tan and didn't look any more, but Xiao Hua and Niu Zhuangzhuang followed Zheng Tan's eyes. In Niu Zhuangzhuang's small triangular eyes, it was rare that he was not as fierce as usual.

Ruan Ying led Sahara out, and when she passed by Zheng Tan, Sahara smacked Zheng Tan's feet with lightning speed. The speed was completely different from her usual weak appearance. The force is not too strong, it won't bite the feet, but the bite is not light, because it left a few deep tooth marks and a shoe of saliva on Zheng Tan's sneakers.

Ruan Ying didn't expect that Sahara, who usually doesn't bite, would come here suddenly, so she quickly apologized to Zheng Tan and offered compensation. Zheng Tan smiled and refused.

When Ruan Ying reprimanded Sahara to leave, Sahara looked back at Zheng Tan with a slightly provocative look in her eyes, and flicked her tail in a fright.

Zheng Tan stared, Sahara you wait, I promise not to kill you!

When he came downstairs to Building B, Zheng Tan's heart beat a little fast, thinking whether to press the house number on the door or call for someone. At this time, the old lady on the first floor took the raccoon cat to the balcony and saw Zheng Tan. The old lady asked Zheng Tan who he was looking for suspiciously, and asked Zheng Tan if he had seen a black cat.

After Zheng Tan answered, the old lady also had a look of regret, "His family is not at home, you can go to the School of Biological Sciences to find Teacher Jiao, grapefruit should be there too... It's a pity, Heitan, Jiao's family is all I'm crying, that kid Jiao Yuan came back and left last night, Xiao Gu's eyes were still red when he went to work today, oh, what's the matter?"

The old lady felt sorry and chattered about it, but the fat man next to her was staring at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan stretched out his hand towards it, Big Fatty glanced at the old lady, and walked over.

"Huh?" The old lady was very surprised, "Young man, have you been here before? My fat man doesn't get close to strangers." There is another sentence that the old lady didn't say, not only does he not get close to strangers, even people he knows are fat give face. But the old lady didn't expect Fatty to act so familiar.

Zheng Tan said "Yes", he didn't know how to answer, he scratched his chin for the fat man, then got up and said to the old lady: "Then I'll go to see Mr. Jiao, you go first."

Although puzzled, the old lady didn't ask any further questions. However, after Zheng Tan left, Fatty also followed.

In the big yard, under the trees that are not too dense or tall, a black and white cat is playing with bugs in the grass, and a yellow cat is hugging the tree and rubbing its buttocks to grind its paws.

Zheng Tan walked over and lifted Ah Huang who was sharpening his claws, "You bastard!" After holding back these words for ten years, he finally uttered them.

Hearing the movement, the sheriff stopped playing with bugs and came over.

Zheng Tan sat down on a long wooden bench nearby, and the fat man who followed jumped onto the bench and squatted beside it. Seeing this, Ah Huang and the police chief also jumped up and squatted there one by one. as before.

On summer mornings, the temperature rises as the sun rises. There was a gust of wind, which made the leaves rustle.

People who go to work, go to school, or buy vegetables in the compound will take a few glances at the bench when they pass by. Before, they always saw four cats squatting there side by side. It's so strange to see one person and three cats sitting there. When did these three cats get so familiar with the same person?

After sitting on the bench for a while and calming down a bit, Zheng Tan patted the three cats, "Let's go first, I'll come back to play with you guys later."

Getting up and leaving the compound, when walking along the road to the intersection, a school bus passed by, and Zheng Tan hurriedly waved.

The driver is the one with the bald head, wearing a hat for the sake of image.

It was already class time, and there was no one in the car, so the bald driver talked to Zheng Tan who was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Young man, are you from our school?" the bald driver asked.

"No, but I used to come here often, and I know you very well, and I have ridden in your car several times." Zheng Tan replied.

The bald driver took advantage of the gap when someone got off the car, looked at Zheng Tan, shook his head, and said affirmatively: "Impossible, if you come here often and still take my car, I will definitely be impressed."

"Oh, maybe I misremembered, I was in another master's car." Zheng Tan didn't bother with this issue any further.

The bald driver gave Zheng Tan a sympathetic look: "Your memory is not as good as mine at such a young age. Go back and ask your mother to get you more fish heads, walnuts, etc. to nourish your brain."

Zheng Tan: "...hehe."

"Don't take it seriously, I tell you..."

"Master, I'm getting off!"

After being urged all the way by the bald driver, and finally arrived at the place, Zheng Tan couldn't wait to get out of the car, looked at the familiar gate of the academy, and walked in.

The uncle guard sitting on the side of the courtyard gate saw Zheng Tan walking so confidently, after thinking about it, he still didn't stop this strange face.

Zheng Tan knows where Papa Jiao's office is. When he came to the door of the office, Yi Xin happened to come out, and the voices of Xiaoyuzi and Jiao's father came from inside. It was not loud, and as Yi Xin closed the door, the voice was also cut off.

Yi Xin looked at the person in front of him strangely, thinking it was some undergraduate student in the courtyard, he casually asked who he was looking for and left.

Zheng Tan stood at the door, knocking on the door.

"Come in." A voice came from inside.

Zheng Tan twisted the lock and pushed the door open.

==============

(End of this article)

It's finally over!

By the way, ask for a ticket at the end of the chapter, and it is estimated that there will be no more tickets this year.

Postscript will be posted later.