The cat felt Zheng Tan’s gaze and looked over.

It appeared to be a stray cat. Its fur was dirty and it had wounds below its eye. The wounds looked new.

Zheng Tan didn’t know how it got the wounds, but if the wound were any longer, it would be blind now. The cat was lucky it still had its left eye.

The cat saw Zheng Tan and Er Mao as nonthreatening and went back to looking at the window.

Er Mao finished his eggs and asked, “What’s that cat looking at? What’s going on in the building? Something saucy?”

Zheng Tan twitched his ears and ignored Er Mao. He went over to the tree on which the cat was sitting.

The cat eyed him suspiciously. It was very vigilant.

Zheng Tan didn’t climb onto the tree. He just wanted to know what the cat was looking at. However, he looked up and saw the curtains were drawn on the second floor. He couldn’t see anything and felt disappointed.

He looked at the cat again and shook his head. How weird.

He left the alleyway and continued on his path.

Er Mao was having a great time. He never been here before and was attracted by the food stands on either side of the road that sold local delicacies. It was past breakfast time, but many stands sold other stuff as well. He kept buying food and eating as he walked. He liked a mung bean cake he tasted and bought a pack to take home.

People living on this street were used to seeing Zheng Tan. Some even said hello to him. They didn’t know his name but were talking to him the way they would their pets. They tried to guess his owners.

The old district of the city was full of small alleyways. The alleyways were full of stories. He had seen so many things during his strolls. He had seen people fighting, people bullying others, people doing drugs. He had seen people of all ages and all genders.

Maybe this was part of the culture?

He heard a noise and looked inside a small alleyway. There was an area for trash in the alleyway. Two men in their twenties were talking to a boy near the trash bins.

Zheng Tan listened to them talk but decided to mind his own business and leave. However, he saw Er Mao enter the alleyway. He took a few steps and ate his mung bean cake while leaning against a wall.

Zheng Tan jumped onto a fence. He wanted to know what Er Mao was going to do. Was he about to help out?

The two young men had gotten the money they wanted and were leaving when they saw someone standing there near the entrance of the alley. They pocketed their money then exchanged a look. Immediately they reached into their jacket for their weapons.

Er Mao wiped his mouth and walked straight towards them.

One of the men was debating how to scare Er Mao with words when he looked up and saw Er Mao was already in front of him. The next moment, he was on the ground. He didn’t even see how Er Mao attacked him.

The other man was still taking out his knife when Zheng Tan heard the sound of bones breaking. The man’s scream was stifled.

Er Mao had them both moaning in pain on the ground using only one hand.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears. He was impressed. Er Mao was indeed Wei Ling’s master’s student.

The boy standing by the trash bins looked over timidly. His eyes met with Er Mao’s, and he shuddered. He didn’t dare come over. He was praying Er Mao didn’t come for him next. He didn’t want to end up like those two men.

Er Mao looked away after a glance. He searched the pocket of the two men on the ground and found nearly a grand. He pocketed all the money, not even leaving a quarter. He showed no guilt and even looked proud of himself.

Zheng Tan was speechless.

F*ck!

So he was stealing from the thieves?!

He had thought Er Mao was going to get the money back for the boy. It appeared now he had grossly over-estimated Er Mao.

Er Mao dusted off his jacket then turned to leave. The student standing near the trash bins was almost about to cry.

Er Mao looked up at Zheng Tan, who was still sitting on the fence and saw the cat was looking at him with disdain.

“What? You think I should give the boy his money back?” Er Mao tutted. “Trust me. The boy’s no saint. He probably got the money from children weaker than him.”

Er Mao had no morals at all, but Zheng Tan had to admit he was a good judge of character. Though it might have been an excuse, he was right. Zheng Tan recognized the boy. He and a friend of his had tried to bully Fu Lei. The boy was out of luck now. It was karma at its best.

The incident in the alley was only a blip in their day, and the cat and man went back to what they were doing. Zheng Tan walked, and Er Mao followed him. He kept buying everything he saw that he liked.

Zheng Tan passed by Jiao Yuan’s school. He sat on the window sill and watched Jiao Yuan for a while. He was seen by a few students sitting in the back and left before the teacher saw him. He didn’t know if the teacher knew Mama Jiao but decided to avoid possible trouble.

Zheng Tan went to the constuction site.

Er Mao followed him. His expression didn’t change, but he was surprised at how many people greeted Zheng tan on the site. He couldn’t help but think this cat was very popular.

Er Mao had a great tour of the area thanks to Zheng Tan. He saw the cat was leaving and decided to go home as well.

They passed by the alley with the cat and looked inside again. The cat was gone and the window on the second floor was open. Zheng Tan got curious. So he jumped onto the tree.

There was a man in this thirties inside the apartment. He wore a suit and gold-rimmed glasses. He had a cup of coffee in his hand and was sitting in front of the window thinking about something.

He saw a black cat jump onto the tree in front of his window and was slightly surprised. Then he smiled.

Zheng Tan felt the man had a weird look in his eyes. His smile might be normal, but Zheng Tan was creeped out by him. There was something off about this man.

Indeed, the man suddenly poured his cup of hot coffee towards Zheng Tan. He was still smiling when he did this.

The tree was very close to that building. Some branches were almost touching the windows. Zheng Tan was able to dodge but he still got a little on his back. It was only a few drops so he wasn’t burnt, but he could smell coffee and was very upset.

The man, on the other hand, was absolutely gleeful.

Zheng Tan jumped off the tree and ran away. When he looked back up at the window on the second floor, the man was gone. He probably went to get more coffee.

Zheng Tan looked around. He saw a rock.

The man wasn’t back yet. Zheng Tan carefully inched closer to the tree he had just left, in case the man came back and poured something else.

He moved the rock. There was a wall between the tree and the building that was blocking Zheng Tan.

He found a right spot then picked up the rock with his front paws. He threw it at the window on the second floor.

F*ck you!

The rock hit the window, and he heard glass breaking.

Zheng Tan ran away immediately, but the sound pleased him greatly.

In his fit of rage, he had remembered Er Mao was watching him. He didn’t throw the rock with one paw but picked it up using both paws. It was slightly less alarming.

Er Mao was shocked, but he still gave Zheng Tan the thumbs up. Wei Ling had warned him about things like this, and he had met a strange cat before, so he wasn’t too surprised. His master had once told him that revenge was a natural instinct. It was true for humans and true for cats as well.

On their way home, they saw the black and white cat again. He was sitting between two restaurants. Someone had placed a paper bowl in front of it and inside was some old leftovers and two fresh buns.

Zheng Tan had thought the cat had a smudge on its nose, but up close he could see it was a coloring of his skin.

The cat didn’t seem hostile towards them. Its guard was still up though. It even warned Zheng Tan with a hiss when he got close to the paper bowl.

Zheng Tan backed away. Er Mao went over with his boxed lunch. The cat eyed him with alarm but didn’t hiss.

The boxed lunch was cold, but the smell of meat made the cat raised the cat’s spirit. It didn’t eat immediately but kept staring at Er Mao.

Er Mao looked around and saw a crayon on the ground. He picked it up and wrote on a piece of cardboard ‘can catch mice, can guard the house, please take me home’.

He sketched a cartoon cat behind the words.