Truth be told, even in daylight Zheng Tan disapproved Youzi to go into the forest. He had seen too many shady things happening in this patch of woods. Perhaps when the construction on surrounding building blocks had finished and the area began to populate, it would give a sense of belonging for the staffs and students.

The forest was filled with fallen leaves and dead branches, but there were numerous trees of evergreen as well. Nevertheless, secluded areas always gave off a mood of gloom. The views of lush vegetation did not extinguish the sense of rising darkness behind it.

Youzi clenched the rolling pin tight in her hands. Clearly, she was nervous about the idea of entering the “danger zone”. They used to come here with Jiao Yuan and his friends, a number of children, plus Jiao Yuan, Xiong Xiong and the boys who were brave, so they didn’t feel uneasy.

However, maybe it was because Zheng Tan was leading the way. Despite being alone, she wasn’t as frightened as other children.

Zheng Tan listened to the sounds from there. It was the cries of two children. The voices of the girls had an intense fear and worry in it, and intermingled in their screams were the barks of the black-backed. Initially, Zheng Tan felt that it displayed no signs of offense, but gradually, the howls of the black-backed changed as it became more impatient.

The girls had no understanding or experience in keeping a dog, so they were not able to determine their mood based on different types of yelp. Compared to cats, a dog’s psychology was much easier decipher. Zheng Tan had no idea before, but now that he was a cat and always with these cats and dogs, he had gained some experience from daily life.

To reconfirm that there were no other threats, Zheng Tan sniffed around. There wasn’t any scent from any stranger; because of the recent holiday, it had been a long time since any student had trodden steps into here. The workers from the construction site wouldn’t come here either. They would find a place to smoke after they were tired, definitely not in the forest area which had signs hung around stating that smoking was prohibited. They would be in grave trouble if the school officials were to catch them, their New Year’s pay would probably shrink by a sizable amount.

Zheng Tan was much more assured after he had confirmed there were only two kids and a dog, a familiar dog. There was nothing to be afraid of.

When he finally saw the two little figures, Zheng Tan completely set his mind at ease. There were no visible injuries on the two children, at most a sprained ankle or something. They were able to move in the meantime. Otherwise, the first reaction made by children when they hear dogs barking at them like this would be to turn and run away.

They didn’t look older than Youzi. One of the girls sat on the ground. She had a blunt bang and was dressed like a cotton ball. When she saw Youzi, it was as if she had seen her mother. With tears in her eyes, she extended her hands and asked for comfort.

The other girl wearing a pink quilted jacket clung close to the “cotton ball”. She didn’t appear to be hurt, waving a stick at the black-backed that was nearby, trying to drive it away.

When the girl in pink saw Youzi, she said, “Are the adults from your family around? Hurry up and call for the adults to get this dog away!”

Youzi shook her head. There weren’t any adults close by.

Seeing Youzi shaking her head, the two girls quickly became discouraged. There wasn’t any adult, how were they going to expel this dog?

The “cotton ball” girl clutched her injured fingers, trembling as she looked towards that dog a few steps away. Although this dog was definitely not matured yet, not really a large dog, it was bigger than the Chihuahua and Corgi in their courtyard. Judging by the looks of the fangs in its mouth, a bite must be really painful!

The black-backed sensed Youzi and Zheng Tan approaching, only throwing them a look and then continued to bark at the two kids. The barks became more and more urgent, yet none of the children understood what it was trying to express.

Zheng Tan looked at his surroundings, then at the black-backed. He detected that it was glancing at the “cotton ball” girl now and then, not placing much of its concentration on the girl in pink who was waving the stick. However, this kind of threatening action did make it rather pissed, so as it became more and more impatient, it too became more irritable. If it was Mighty, would you dare try to wave a stick at him? It would have immediately run up and wrapped its mouth around you.

Zheng Tan slowly walked over and came by the “cotton ball” girl’s side. Youzi had wanted to block him. In her perception, most cats and dogs didn’t go along well. Those in the courtyard was an exception; because they had grown up together, there wasn’t much hostility between the cats and the dogs, but those outside were a different story. Observing that the actions of her own black cat did not cause the dog to charge at him, Youzi became assured. At the same time, she inched towards her, armed with the rolling pin.

Zheng Tan walked in a circle around the “cotton ball” girl while still paying attention to the vantage point of the black-backed. Finally, Zheng Tan leaned on his side and pushed the “cotton ball” kid.

“What is your cat doing? Get it away from me! My uncle bought these new clothes for me! They’re very expensive!” Cotton ball girl looked towards Youzi

“It’s asking you to move a bit.”

“Easy for you to say! Don’t you know I twisted my ankle? It hurts a lot!”

Youzi was about to say something when Zheng Tan found the source of all the troubles. Pushing aside a corner of the wooly coat, Zheng Tan saw a yellow plastic Frisbee. It had the tooth markings and the scent of that black-backed.

This is it!

Zheng Tan dragged the Frisbee outwards. The black-backed saw Zheng Tan’s movements and wanted to run over, but it was held back by the sticks wielded by the pink coat, so its barking became more intense.

“You’re sitting on something,” Youzi reminded.

The cotton ball girl looked around her in doubt, then tried to shift a little. Right on time, Zheng Tan had freed the Frisbee. With a lift and a pull of the claws, the Frisbee flew out.

With the Frisbee in sight, the black-backed no longer cared about the three here. Its tails shook frantically before Zheng Tan even threw the Frisbee. It rushed off in a scamper happily when the Frisbee was in the air and jumped up, catching it before it had landed, then running back to the direction of the construction site with the Frisbee dangling in its mouth.

The owner of the black-backed was probably talking a stroll around the construction site. Other areas by the site were quite chaotic, which explained why its owner didn’t hear the barking from here. Otherwise, he would have whistled.

The three children let out a long breath simultaneously seeing that the dog had run away. The pink coat didn’t even care about the dead leaves and the mud on the ground, and had sat straight down.

All clear, the origins of misfortune had been found. The two children became more talkative. The “cotton ball” girl even apologized to Youzi rather sincerely. A fault confessed is half redressed, this kid has a pretty good temperament.

Zheng Tan climbed up a nearby tree and didn’t stay with the three kids. This was because the pink coat kept trying to stroke him. Zheng Tan turned and ran away. Just won’t let you touch me! Missy, your hands still have mud on it!

Cotton ball girl was recounting what they had gone through. The adults went shopping today to prepare the New Year’s produces. The two of them were bored at home, so they came out to play. Being in the same class and living in the same staff courtyard, their relationship was naturally close.

They heard that there was a patch of plum-blossom forest around here, so they came here themselves. They didn’t expect to be tripped by the exposed tree roots and couldn’t stand up with a twisted ankle. She had worn many layers and was distracted by the pain from her body. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have not noticed the thing under her butt.

The pink coat took a packet of tissue from her pocket, cleaning her hands as well as letting the “cotton ball” girl clean her wounds.

The “cotton ball” girl had intended to look for some snow around her to clean up the wound, but she realized the snow had just about all melted with a thin spot of white contaminated with black dust and other pollutants. She was uncertain on using that to clean her wounds. Therefore, after wiping her fingers with the tissue, “cotton ball” girl looked at the bleeding fingers and licked it.

Zheng Tan and Youzi: “…”

Realizing that Youzi was looking at her with astonishment, “cotton ball” girl said with a grave earnest, “I have heard from my uncle and other adults that there is a protidiot called nerve growth factor receptor in the saliva of rats. By wiping these protidiots on wounds, it would heal twice as fast as normal wounds!”

She gave Youzi a perky look as she finished, hinting: Look at how impressive I am, I know so much!

Zheng Tan, Youzi: “…” I…Idiot?

Standing close by, the pink coat looked away, as if the surrounding sceneries was considerably attractive

“Human saliva have that too?” Youzi asked.

“Cotton ball” girl stuttered, then said righteously, “Even if it doesn’t, it would still have the same effect. Trust me, I’m right!”

The pink coat continued to take in the nearby views more attentively now.

Youzi sighed, taking a small box from the backpack, and handed it to the “cotton ball” girl.

Zheng Tan took a peek. It was the emergency medical kit. After Mama Jiao had left the hospital, she prepared one for everyone in the house, Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi’s backpack always carried a small medical kit. The content inside the kits was from the affiliating hospital. They could use it with their mind at rest.

“What’s this?” The girl took the kit into her hands, then gave out a knowing “oh”, “I have a medical kit in my room, though I never used it before.” Her medical kit was part of the decoration left in her room, never thought of ever using it.

Drawing out an antiseptic wipe, the girl cried “ah” and “woo” as her injured finger was cleaned. It was so noisy that Zheng Tan started considering plugging his ears.

The girl felt that if anyone else applying the bandage, it would be extremely painful, so she stuck the bandage on with her spare hand. The result was even more unsightly.

Since it wasn’t a big wound anyways, many people were not bothered to treat this kind of minor cuts. They would be home soon either way; someone from her family will treat it again, so the two didn’t comment.

“So, you’re the girl in year two who spoke English better than Chinese?” the “cotton ball” girl finally remembered, and said. She thought that the girl before her looked familiar before. Once, a classmate told her that there was a new student in year two who spoke better in English than Chinese. They even checked it out purpose, thinking that it was a foreign kid. They were disappointed and paid no more attention afterward. At first glance, she didn’t recognize Youzi, but now she was able to recall.

“Yeah, yeah. I remember your name is called something like Youzi*.” The pink coat finally stopped sightseeing.

Youzi pressed her lips and said, “My name is Gu Youzi.”

“I’m Yue Lisha, class three of the third grade. Her name is Xie Xin, she’s in the same class as me. We are a year older than you. Next time if somebody from your class bullies you, you come look for us and we’ll stand up for you!” The cotton ball girl waved her fist, and said.

“Yes, don’t hold back. You helped us this time. Next time if you’re in trouble, just go to class three-three to find us. Ask by the name and the others would know,” Xie Xin said with a nod.

Youzi fell silent. Actually, she really wanted to tell them that she would skip a grade next year, so technically she would be in the same year as they are. Anyhow, Aunty said to keep a low profile, so after a moment of thinking, Youzi didn’t say a word.

After a momentary rest, Youzi and Xie Xin supported Yue Lisha out. Stepping outside the forest, Youzi propped Yue Lisha in the backseat as they pushed the bike forward.

Zheng Tan followed aside. This time, he didn’t jump into the basket, saving them more from a heavier load.

Arriving at a supermarket on campus, Xie Xin went inside and called home. There was someone she knew, so they could borrow the phone without having money on them. After making the call, Yue Lisha and Xie Xin sat inside the store and waited for their family members to pick them up. Youzi rode home with Zheng Tan.

The next day, Yue Lisha’s parents visited to pay their gratitude, along with many gifts. Mama Jiao had no feelings about these gifts; what she cared about the most was that Youzi finally made some friends. The children from the eastern courtyard, unless led by Jiao Yuan, wouldn’t come and play with Youzi. Although Yue Lisha and Xie Xin was from the western courtyard, the two residential areas weren’t that far apart. At least they would stop by and have a chat, playing with a cat alone wasn’t a healthy option; people should learn to socialize.

Two days before the New Year’s Eve, Jiao Yuan would “close the door against visitors” and hide out in his rooms practicing brush calligraphy. This year they were staying home for the new year, Jiao Yuan planned to write a pair of distich. He felt a little out of practice, so he had decided to nest in his room writing.

Zheng Tan took the opportunity when Jiao Yuan napped in the afternoon to go through the window and take a look. This little brat is quite serious, that posture and attitude isn’t one to be taken lightly as a child’s play.

Jiao Yuan woke up to find Zheng Tan in his room. A sudden inspiration came to him as he dragged Zheng Tan to the finished distiches. Stamping three paw-prints, one on each distich and the title. For this, Zheng Tan ignored him for three days. Ink on fur wasn’t easy to clean; even though he was black and couldn’t see the difference, Zheng Tan smelled a strong odor of ink every time he lifted his paws. Youzi’s fruit hand-wash liquid was no help either.

The day before the new year, Zheng Tan wandered outside. Many shops around the school had closed. Compared to the central department stores and commercial streets, the campus to the alleyways around Mr. Guo’s pet shop was a lot more vacant. Even the cats reduced in numbers, Zheng Tan heard from some people that there were more illegal cat catchers out there during new year’s time. A lot of cats from the neighborhood had gone missing, definitely kidnapped by someone and sold.

Zheng Tan saw General parading the streets as he strutted around, with him was Peanut. Maybe it was because there was only one offspring with this carriage, Peanut was bigger than other kittens when it was born; it grew fast, surpassing in size the cats of the same age, and was ferocious when fighting.

Though, Zheng Tan felt strange; Peanut’s cries were abnormal, different to other cats including Zheng Tan himself. Once Zheng Tan saw Peanut bow his back, his hair spiked up as he gave off warning howls at an alleyway cat. Zheng Tan had never felt so creeped out. The other cat also lowered his ears and ran.

*A Chinese homophone for Pomelo