Zheng Tan decided this was just not his day.

He ignored the yelling behind him and hoped to god…

“Wah!”

Just as he had expected, the child burst out crying while sitting on the ground.

The child was a one-trick pony, but his one trick worked. It was the only thing Zheng Tan was afraid of. He felt guilty whenever the kid cried. After all, he called him brother Blackie.

He stood still for a few seconds and sighed. Then he turned, exasperated. He looked at the kid crying on the ground and the woman in her thirties who was standing behind him. She was his nanny and standing closer to him right now, yet she showed no signs of wanting to pick him up from the ground. What kind of a nanny was she?

The woman saw Zheng Tan and smiled, but still didn’t move.

What the hell was she smiling about?

Zheng Tan tugged his ears. His pulled a blade of grass from the ground, swayed his tail, and went to the child.

Kitty Zhuo was now almost one year old. Time passed quickly. Zheng Tan had seen the boy several times this month.

Zhuo was away and Kitty’s caretaker was the women by his side now. The ‘Buddha’ had found her. She was busy so she couldn’t take care of the boy herself. She had found him a nanny instead. She called her ‘Wan’ while Kitty called her ‘auntie’.

Auntie, in the Chinese language, was reserved for the sisters of one’s father. Zheng Tan knew Kitty’s father was not around and might never show up again. However, on Kitty’s files, his father was shown to have died for his country. Because of Zhuo’s participation in the top secret government project, Kitty was allowed certain privileges, which was why the files said what it said. This could protect Kitty from the social sigma attached to kids whose parents weren’t together.

Zheng Tan didn’t know if Wan was hired by the ‘Buddha’ or by people from up top, but at least Kitty seemed to be well.

Before he was born, people had worried he would be deformed or have some sort of congenial disorder. After he was born, people started worrying about his intelligence. However, Zheng Tan was sure there was nothing wrong with the boy’s IQ. He was not yet one, but knew how to deal with each individual in his life. If this was a sign of low IQ, the rest of the people he knew must only have the intelligence of a Labrador.

Zheng Tan knew he was faking tears but he still went to the boy. Sure enough, the crying stopped immediately.

The baby was a great actor, Zheng Tan had to give him this. He managed to squeeze out tears whenever he fake cried. His tears disappeared, however, the moment he got what he wanted. Throwing a fit was a measure reserved for children and it worked.

Kitty loved to use his tears to force Zheng Tan into playing with him. It also worked and Zheng Tan hated it.

“Brother Blackie!” Kitty called out again.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears and pushed Kitty’s head with his paw.

Kitty got up by holding on to the railing beside them.

Wan watched on with a smile. She was all too familiar with this routine. She was mindful of the cat at first, but Zhuo had called her and told her not to worry. She eventually realized this cat was of no danger to the child and she let them be.

Wan remembered when Kitty was just learning to walk. He would take steps while holding the railing. Whenever he saw the cat, he would sit on the ground and start crying. He wouldn’t stop unless the cat came over. She used to try to pick him up, but then one time she decided to observe. Kitty had thick clothes on and wouldn’t get hurt from falling. She realized he was doing all this on purpose, so she never intervened again.

She always wanted to laugh when Kitty called the cat ‘brother Blackie’. She had heard about the cat from Zhuo, yet the seeing the cat pat the boy with his paw always cracked her up. The cat looked like he was going to smash the kid’s head, but his paw was always gentle when it came in contact with Kitty. His claws were never out.

Seeing that Kitty had gotten up from the ground, Zheng Tan immediately turned to leave. He wanted to find a nice warm spot and take a nap.

He turned a corner and saw someone coming his way. His mood took a turn for the worse.

“Black Charcoal, fancy seeing you here. Do you want a piece of this bread I bought?” Er Mao shoved his half-eaten bread towards Zheng Tan, then immediately took it back and started eating again.

He was hungry after laboring for Professor Lan and had bought the bread at the convenience store near the campus gate. He had bought a food for Professor Lan as well. He hadn’t expected to run into the black cat.

Zheng Tan stopped walking when he ran into Er Mao. During this time, Kitty managed to catch up with him. He was still calling out ‘brother Blackie’.

Er Mao heard the child too. He looked around, they were the only ones there. Who was the child calling?

When Kitty called out again, Er Mao almost choked on his bread. He saw the boy was staring at Zheng Tan.

This cat was brother Blackie?

This was the first time he had seen a child call a cat ‘brother’.

Er Mao walked towards the boy. However, Wan stepped forward and stood in front of Kitty. She was smiling, but it was clear she didn’t trust Er Mao yet.

Er Mao shook his hand to indicate he understood and kept at arm’s length from the child. He took out a lollipop from his pocket, it was the kind shaped like cartoon characters.

“Do you want this?” Er Mao showed Kitty the lollipop.

Zheng Tan wanted to roll his eyes.

Kitty pushed past Wan and reached out his hand.

Er Mao retreated. He pointed at Zheng Tan and said, “If you say ‘Charcoal is an idiot’ I’ll give it to you. You can have it if you just call him ‘idiot’ too.”

Zhuo inched forward wanting to take the lollipop from Er Mao.

Er Mao repeated his words several times to no effect. Oh well, he gave up. The boy was too young and probably couldn’t say too many words yet.

He stood up straight and handed the candy to the child. He was about to say something, when… liquid shot through the air aimed at his shoes.

He reacted very quickly but still got some piss on his shoes.

F*ck! This child knew how to distract him.

This was a planned attack.

Er Mao’s face was contorted.

Wan stifled a snicker and pulled Kitty behind her. Er Mao didn’t show signs of malice, but he was a stranger and it was best to stay cautious. Wan had a feeling this twenty something man was not easy to deal with.

Kitty didn’t seem scared at all. He didn’t even look guilty. He giggled with the lollipop in his hand.

Zheng Tan’s spirit lifted.

Good job, Kitty!

Er Mao shook piss off his shoes and wiped them with his napkin. He looked at this baby with a pained expression. Did the boy really not understand what he had said? He must really be brothers with the cat to have attacked him because of what he said!

To had insult to injury, Kitty waddled over to Zheng Tan. The lawn was somewhat uneven and he almost fell.

He laid the lollipop in front of Zheng Tan.

Er Mao was speechless. It was confirmed. They were indeed brothers.

Zheng Tan was moved. The boy obviously wanted the candy, yet he still gave it to him.

What a good a child.

Zheng Tan pushed the candy back to Kitty and patted his head. The child was still so young. Soon, Zheng Tan wouldn’t be able to pat him on the head anymore.

Kitty had helped him win one over Er Mao and this greatly pleased Zheng Tan. He recalled the scene of Kitty peeing on Er Mao’s shoes whenever he needed a pick-me-up.

However, his good mood lasted only for a week.

A week later, Zheng Tan was going out for a stroll when he noticed noises on the third floor.

The door across from Professor Lan’s house was open. The owner of that unit was seldom there. He heard Professor Lan’s booming voice from inside the unit.

“Put it there, yes, that’s fine. You can use the master bedroom, we’ll put their stuff in the guest room.”

Zheng Tan was curious. He had only seen the owners of this apartment a few times.

He came to the door and peeked inside. Madame Di was wiping a table.

She saw him and smiled. “Come inside Charcoal. I saw a rat earlier.”

In that case, Zheng Tan thought, it was best he didn’t go inside.

Just when he was about to leave, someone walked out of the bedroom.

F*ck! Why was he here?

Er Mao was wearing blue working clothes. He heard Madame Di talking and came out to say hi. He was practically gloating.

“Hello, neighbor.”