Strange Life of a Cat-Chapter 197 - Peanuts

Chapter 197: Chapter 197: Peanuts?

Chapter 197 -197: Peanuts?

Since Zheng Tan was summoned by Ermao for questioning, he hadn’t run back there anymore, and in order to make the people of the courtyard forget about the “Divine Beast” incident as soon as possible, Zheng Tan scarcely went out over the next few days.

Jiao Ma sent the video she recorded to Mr. Jiao so he could also have a good laugh, and later, during a video call across the ocean, Mr. Jiao even mentioned it, saying that our cat is a Divine Beast in its own right, and the Lucky Cat is also a type of Divine Beast.

During the video call, Jiao Ma also mentioned that she plans to take the two kids and a cat to the countryside for fun during the summer vacation, as Mr. Gu, her father, had brought it up several times, missing the kids.

It would be nice to go for fun.

Zheng Tan was lying on the balcony thinking about what to play when he got to Mr. Gu’s place when he suddenly heard a cat’s meow coming from downstairs.

“Meow— Meow—”

From this sound alone, Zheng Tan knew who it was, but the kid hadn’t come over for a long time. Was he planning to pick a fight somewhere today?

Huasheng Tang was now fully grown and noticeably larger than Zheng Tan. He usually reigned supreme at the Pet Center, fearless of everyone except his cat mother. However, in front of Zheng Tan, Huasheng Tang still retained some of the habits from when he was younger. From a human’s perspective, Huasheng Tang regarded Zheng Tan as an elder. As for other cats, he didn’t give them the slightest shred of respect.

Just as Zheng Tan was about to go downstairs to see who Huasheng Tang was planning to challenge, he heard another cat’s meow from the third-floor balcony.

The calling from one cat up and the other down sounded off to Zheng Tan. He stretched his head out from the balcony to look down, and Black Coal, who had been lazily idling the past few days, was poking his head out from his balcony, meowing downwards.

Zheng Tan looked at the cat’s head peeking out from the third floor, and then at Huasheng Tang, who was meowing energetically downstairs.

Damn it!

No way?!

When did these two hook up?!

It wasn’t just Zheng Tan who understood, Ermao had also figured it out.

A month ago, there was a salon at the Pet Center, and Ermao took Black Coal there for a bath and casually participated in the salon, even successfully hitting on a pretty girl. Since Black Coal doesn’t wander off and comes over whenever Ermao calls him, plus the Pet Center having precautions to prevent cats from running out, Ermao wasn’t too worried at the time. Maybe it was then that they hooked up?

Or perhaps even earlier?

When Ermao went to visit a great aunt, he also left Black Coal at the Pet Center. It’s possible they knew each other from that time.

Although animals going into heat is mainly influenced by hormones, sometimes it also requires eye contact. Some people keep a male and a female cat for years and they don’t mate.

Ermao was staring at the cat downstairs with a grim face. He remembered this cat from the Pet Center—it was called Huasheng Tang, rumored to have replaced his mother as the new boss there.

One simply can’t let this cat keep meowing downstairs, disturbing the neighbors wasn’t good either. Ermao went downstairs to open the entrance for him.

Zheng Tan watched Huasheng Tang enter the building and hesitated whether to go to the third floor to enjoy the show or not. But when he thought about how this situation had almost fallen on his own head, Zheng Tan got angry. It was a rare opportunity to catch Huasheng Tang, so he figured he deserved a good beating.

On the third floor, Huasheng Tang climbed up and found Black Coal already pacing in front of his home. As soon as the two came face to face, they appeared very affectionate, rubbing against each other. Ermao watched and his heart sank even more. As a result, he looked at Huasheng Tang with even greater displeasure and waved the plastic rod he usually played with the cat with, as if to threaten him.

Seeing this, Huasheng Tang bared his teeth at Ermao, his fur bristling, and let out a low growl with an aggressive tone.

“I’m telling you, once you’re done looking, get lost, and don’t come back again, or I’ll whip you to death!” Ermao shook the plastic rod in his hand, pretending to whip.

Huasheng Tang’s growls grew fiercer.

When Zheng Tan entered through the slightly ajar door, he saw the man and the cat facing each other as if they were sworn enemies, while Black Coal sat calmly on the side, seemingly puzzled why these two were like this.

Zheng Tan glanced at the standoff between the man and the cat and walked over. Couldn’t these two talk things out calmly?

Huasheng Tang wasn’t stupid among cats, he fully inherited his parents’ strengths. He was used to interacting with humans, and understood some of what they said, but he was still young, lacking his parents’ sophistication, or else he wouldn’t have confronted Ermao directly here.

It was only when Zheng Tan came in that the tense atmosphere eased somewhat.

Huasheng Tang walked over to Zheng Tan and “meowed.”

Zheng Tan narrowed his eyes and slapped Huasheng Tang. This little rascal’s “good deeds” almost got him blamed!

Huasheng Tang was a bit stunned by the slap, with a look of complete innocence in his eyes. “Meow~”

Meow my ass! You’re still playing innocent?!

Another slap.

Huasheng Tang drooped his ears and closed his eyes, just squatting there and taking it.

Actually, when Zheng Tan dished out the slaps, he held back quite a bit. It was only slightly harder than the playful slaps the sheriff and the others usually exchanged. For Huasheng Tang, this level of force was nothing. Perhaps it knew that the black cat that had watched it grow up wouldn’t really harm it.

Upon seeing this scene, Ermao felt even more depressed. He had planned on threatening and scaring this “naughty” Cat without closing the door first, to test its courage. It would be best if it backed off in fear, and he hoped it wouldn’t come back after being scared away. Unexpectedly, this fellow was quite fierce and not afraid of him at all, even looking like it was ready to fight. Ermao had even admired it in his heart for a moment, thinking it was worthy of being the one his “daughter” fancied, with enough guts and manliness. But what now? In the blink of an eye, it changed its tune, getting slapped several times by the Black Coal upstairs without daring to let out a single fart! It even tucked in its claws!

Is this crap also a bastard child?!

“Hey Black Coal, is this guy your offspring?” Ermao sat on the sofa in the living room, fiddling with a plastic stick in his hand, he said.

Zheng Tan shot a glance at Ermao, with anger in his expression. Bullshit! Why is everything pinned on me?!

Before Zheng Tan could protest, Ermao mused to himself, “Doesn’t look like it, though. You couldn’t produce something like this. This cat’s bigger than you, with all that long fur. Its dad must be a big long-haired cat.”

Zheng Tan withdrew his foot that he was about to kick into Ermao’s face, thinking that Ermao probably hadn’t connected Huasheng Tang with “Lord,” Ye Hao’s cat. But “Lord” often followed Mr. Tang Qi, so had Ermao ever seen it?

Many mother cats ignore male cats during pregnancy and might even attack them, but Black Coal’s attitude towards Huasheng Tang was quite decent. Huasheng Tang cuddled with Black Coal for a while before leaving. As it was leaving, Ermao waved the plastic stick threateningly, “You better not come back here again! Otherwise, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”

Huasheng Tang bared its teeth, looking too lazy to care. It almost made Ermao angry enough to hit it right then and there.

Whether Huasheng Tang understood what Ermao said or not, Zheng Tan did not see him in the courtyard for the following week. And Ermao did not let Xiao Guo and the others know about this, probably because Ermao feared that Xiao Guo would come over to snatch the cat.

Now, Xiao Guo and the cat mother Li Yan, having grown increasingly close, had already discussed marriage, and were essentially family. Huasheng Tang and Li Yuanba had long since moved into the Pet Center, treating it as their own home, so Huasheng Tang could also be considered part of Xiao Guo’s family. Ermao was worried that if Xiao Guo did not come to steal the adult cat, he might come for the kittens. Also, Ermao harbored some grudges against both Huasheng Tang and Xiao Guo’s family and kept the whole affair very secretive. During this time, he took Heimi to another veterinary clinic for a checkup. Since Heimi was already over six weeks pregnant, they conducted abdominal palpation, an ultrasound, and X-ray examinations for better insight into Heimi’s condition and to see if there was any possibility of dystocia or need for a cesarean section. Everything was confirmed to be fine. They also checked the number of kittens—just two.

Visit freёnovelkiss.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.

Ermao had heard that when cats are pregnant, it’s best to avoid taking them anywhere, even to a veterinary clinic, as the viruses prevalent there could be very dangerous for them. Ermao decided not to take Heimi outside for the time being. The veterinarian, seeing Ermao’s worried look, comforted him by saying that it’s just a cat giving birth, not a human—the situation doesn’t need to be so complicated. Most mother cats can handle childbirth on their own, and at most, he would just need to lend a little help when the time comes.

After asking about some other precautions, Ermao decided he would stay put and not go out frequently before the kittens were born.

Ermao also made individual calls to people he was fairly close with like Wei Leng, Qin Tao, and his brother Wang Bin, telling them, “Don’t come over unless it’s necessary, just call me on my mobile if anything comes up!”

Following the suggestions from a pamphlet, Ermao bought a covered nest that could block out light, creating a dark environment that could give cats a sense of safety. But Heimi didn’t like it and still preferred her original nest, so Ermao simply moved Heimi’s nest to the study, since that room was hardly used. The second bedroom was full of the landlord’s things and the door to it was barely ever opened. Ermao usually used the study to store food and now he had cleared it out a bit. Even when the curtains were drawn, it was still quite dark. Heimi seemed to have no objections to it.

One day, while Zheng Tan was out for a walk, he ran into Ermao, who was on his way back from picking up food from Jiao Wei’s restaurant, and Ermao mentioned the situation.

“Black Coal, just two kittens, I thought there might be more. I once knew somebody whose cat gave birth to six,” Ermao remarked, feeling a mix of wonder and relief. Fewer kittens meant less hassle.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Tan couldn’t help but remember that Li Yuanba also gave birth to just one kitten, Huasheng Tang. Could it be because of the special gene in “Lord” that they didn’t have many? But then again, quality matters more than quantity. Zheng Tan believed that even diluting “Lord’s” special gene through two generations wouldn’t result in anything mediocre. Besides, Li Yuanba was so fierce, and Heimi wasn’t simple either; this family of three generations of cats—were they aiming to dominate Chuhua City later on?

“Hey, Black Coal, what do you think would be good names for the two kittens?” Ermao asked, plucking at the leaves of an unidentified plant in the flower bed.

Names? Zheng Tan thought for a moment. Heimi, Huasheng Tang…just call them Huasheng Mi.

Ermao also thought of Huasheng Mi, but he didn’t feel too pleased because it reminded him of the kittens’ father, Huasheng Tang.

“They can’t be called Huasheng Mi, let’s just name them Da Mi and Xiao Mi. It’s just that I don’t know what the kittens will look like, what color their fur will be. I hope they look more like Heimi,” Ermao said, full of expectation.

Heimi had been rather tranquil at home during this period, doing what cats do: eating and sleeping, occasionally playing with a cockroach she encountered. Ermao, startled by the sight, thought: She’s about to give birth and still playing with cockroaches?! Watching the pregnant Heimi run around, Ermao’s heart trembled with her, and he promptly cleaned the house from top to bottom. He also sought advice from some of the older men and women in the courtyard on safe methods to exterminate cockroaches. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to go to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)