Strange Life of a Cat

The tablecloth hid that large cat from Zheng Tan"s view. However, he could tell from sounds that that cat was not coming over anymore.
He hadn"t given the slap with his full force or else that cat would be dead by now.
When the caracal got up, it was dizzy from the impact and stumbled a little bit. It was unclear if his bones were broken, but it had given up on picking on Zheng Tan.
Zheng Tan surveyed the grounds and decided nothing caught his interest. He planned to find a spot and nap.
The fat middle-aged man"s face had turned to ash. Liu, on the other hand, was trying not to laugh. Fang"s earlier words had cut like a knife.

His caracal had lost to a house cat. What were people going to think?!
There"s something odd about that cat. Everyone agreed on this, though none of them thought it would be something supernatural. They regarded themselves as worldly people and believed they have seen plenty. Everyone was discussing if that black cat was some rare breed that just looked like a house cat.
"Could it be a Bombay cat? Or a Bombay cat mix?" someone proposed.
"The cat is larger than regular house cats, but the face doesn"t look right. It"s not panther-like," someone who knew a lot about cats answered.

"Even if it"s a Bombay cat, it"s still much smaller than the caracal. How can it have so much force? On the other hands, cats are weird. Unlike dogs, they might look the same but can differ a lot," Liu chuckled. He didn"t know what breed that black cat was, nor did he care why it could slap away a caracal. He was just glad the fat man didn"t get his way.
"Whose cat is that?" someone asked.
This was now the third strongest cat in Chuhua. People wanted it. Not that they were cat lovers, only because this gave them something to brag about.

"I remember the person standing next to the black cat drives for Fang San," a man standing on the side suddenly said.
"What?! That"s Fang Shaokang"s cat?" Everyone looked at Fang Shaokang. "No wonder."
What was left unsaid was Fang was weird, so it made sense he had an odd cat.
Fang smoked his cigarette calmly, neither confirming nor denying their conclusion.

Zhao Le understood why Fang Shaokang didn"t deny owning Zheng Tan. He wanted to protect the cat. If people knew Zheng Tan"s owner was only a university professor, they would try all kinds of methods to get their hands on the cat. However, if they believed the cat was Fang Shaokang"s, then they would give up. Even if it was a special cat, it isn"t worth risking the wrath of Fang for.
"Hey, what"s that?!"
Everyone looked at the direction of the commotion. Tang Qiye and his people were walking in this direction.
"I can"t believe Tang Qiye came. He rarely appears in public these days."
"That old fox."

Zhao Le was standing on the side. She didn"t understand what people around her were saying about the man. She knew only a little about the legend that is Tang Qiye, but his worlds were too far away from hers. Right now, her attention was not on Tang Qiye, but on the large cat next to him.
The caracal was nothing compared to Tang Qiye"s cat. It was larger and had long fur. It was so majestic that even Liu, who was not interested in cats, was gaping in awe.
"So Liu, that"s the number one you were talking about is it?" someone asked.

"Yes. I think this one is

it." This was his first time seeing it too, "I almost mistook it for a dog."
This cat was like the mastiff of cats. Compared to normal cats, it was larger with long glistening fur. The cat"s every move was cold and calculating. The cat"s eyes were completely devoid of curiosity. It didn"t even look at the food laying around or the people on the lawn. Its ears moved from time to time listening for sounds. It was vigilant like a panther surveying its territory.
The cat was dangerous.
Even Liu, who never cared for cats, admitted this one was beautiful. It made the caracal look like a p.u.s.s.ycat. No wonder Niu s.h.i.+jiu"s cat lost its fight with this cat.

Liu looked at the black cat walking next to the table. Liu looked at Duke then lit a cigarette. "Interesting."
The black cat had slapped away the caracal but Duke looked intimidating as well. This meeting of giants would be interesting.
People forgot all about Zheng Tan when Tang Qiye showed up. Duke was too eye-catching.
Most people were holding their breath to see if the black cat would get into a fight with Duke.
As for Tang Qiye, he was trying to look like he didn"t notice the reaction of others. However, the wrinkles near his eyes showed he was smiling. Duke was so awe-inspiring.

"Fang, who do you think will win in a fight, your cat or that one?" Liu asked Fang Shaokang.
"I don"t know." Fang Shaokang put out his cigarette. "I"m worried though."
"If you"re worried then take your cat away. I heard Tang Qiye"s cat is ferocious." Liu sounded worried for Fang"s cat but was not sincere at all.
Fang didn"t really seem worried either.
"Fang, it must have been hard finding a cat like that. Don"t let it get hurt," someone else said.
Fang nodded then said slowly, "I"m not worried about my cat. I"m worried for your Tibetan Spaniel." Fang pointed at the puppy, "It looks excited."

Liu hurriedly looked at his dog. He had been so focused on Tang Qiye"s cat that he wasn"t watching his dog. The pup was barking furiously at Duke.
The pup had the sense to keep some distance though. Duke looked so dangerous that even the stupidly brave puppy was slightly scared.
Liu kept his mouth shut. If he said or did anything, it would be a show of weakness. However, he was worried about his dog. A mature Tibetan Spaniel might be able to put up a fight against that cat. This pup, however, couldn"t even fight that caracal.
He eyed the dog"s caretaker to have him be ready.

Zheng Tan was leaving but decided to stay to see what Duke would do with the pup.
Duke was getting annoyed at the barking and bared his teeth, which were much larger than a normal cat"s teeth.
The puppy paused, then started barking even louder.
Duke took a step forward. If the dog kept barking, he wouldn"t mind giving it a scratch.
Everyone jumped when Duke moved. Liu"s employees were felt cold sweat down their spine. If a fight broke out, the dog was in great danger. They would probably have to take a few scratches to rescue the puppy. It was an order from the boss.

The puppy backed up when Duke moved and stopped when he stopped.
At that moment, a ping pong ball flew at Duke, who managed to dodge in time.
The ping pong ball hit a building and fell into a flower bed.
The puppy wasn"t the only one who was stupidly brave, the kids were just as idiotic.
Zheng Tan looked over to where the ping pong ball came from. The kid was about to throw a second one but was stopped by his mother. She knew better than to annoy Duke.
Zheng Tan felt Duke"s anger rising. The puppy was still barking. Now it was just asking for it.

Before Zheng Tan could finish the thought, Duke started moving. He walked straight over to the puppy. This meant he was not just warning the dog anymore. He wasn"t exactly doing anything except walking, but he was still very threatening.
Most of the people standing around were bodyguards. They could feel the danger approaching. They thought even more highly of Duke now.
The puppy started backing up as Duke closed in. Behind it, the two caretakers were getting ready to jump over to save it. They were familiar with the dog and the pup would most likely run to them.

Surprisingly, the pup didn"t run toward them. When Duke got close, the puppy turned and ran toward Zheng Tan. It stopped two steps away from Zheng Tan and looked at him.
Zheng Tan was speechless. Why the h.e.l.l was the dog looking at him?!
The pup wagged its tail then stood beside Zheng Tan and continued barking at Duke.
One man said to Liu, "Is the dog"s father a cat?"
"Yeah. Don"t people run to their daddies when they get into trouble? Why did your dog run directly to that black cat?"
A dog depending on a cat for support. That was a first.

People were surprised.
Fang Shaokang couldn"t help but smile. Zheng Tan was too popular. He was popular among cats and among dogs. He remembered when they first met in the South, Charcoal had three puppies with him.
People on the lawn were getting excited. They couldn"t wait for the two cats to start fighting.
Surprisingly, Duke wagged his tail and left. He went back to Tang Qiye"s side.
"Why didn"t they fight?"
"Fang, do those cats know each other?"

"Oh, yeah. They met before." Fang yawned.
Everyone was speechless.
Fang"s nonchalant att.i.tude was infuriating.
Why didn"t he say so earlier? F*ck!
Fang Sanye got his amus.e.m.e.nt at their expense.
Fang went downstairs to greet Tan Qiye. He was from an older generation and Fang needed to show his respect.

Everyone else went downstairs with Fang Shaokang. No one dared to cross Tang Qiye.
They greeted each other then went back in with Zheng Tan.
Zheng Tan didn"t want to go inside but it was looking increasingly bothersome outside. There was the pup following him and children with ping pong b.a.l.l.s around. After weighing his options, Zheng Tan followed Fang Shaokang inside.
It was going to be boring indoors but at least it was going to be quiet.