Strange Life of a Cat

Zheng Tan waited at the door. No one came. He scratched the door out of frustration. Of, course he didn’t scratch his own door, but Qu’s door across the hall. He stuck his paw through the metal bars and went crazy on the wooden door inside.

That otaku Qu Xiangyang was playing computer games with headphones on. He didn’t hear the noise outside. When he finally noticed, his door was severely ‘scarred’.

Zheng Tan waited for nearly an hour before Yi Xin showed up covered in sweat.

Yi Xin was busy with his experiment when he got the call from the boss. He was told that he should finish his work first. However, he knew from past experience, the boss’s cat was ill-tempered.

Yi Xin darted out the door the moment he was done, throwing off his lab coat on the way. He jumped onto his newly-bought second-hand bike and pedaled as fast as he could while trying to open the cap on his water bottle.

When he finally got to the fifth floor where the Jiao family lived, he was not surprised to find the murderous black cat waiting for him. The sound of claws on wood sent the a cold shiver down his spine.

He looked at the door, then at the look in the cat’s eyes and quickly explained his reasons for being late. He stressed that this was with the approval of his boss.

Zheng Tan didn’t want to listen to him babble. He ran back into the living room and fetched the bag Papa Jiao used to take him into the Health Department.

Yi Xin was not surprised by Zheng Tan’s actions. He was surprised enough the last time that he was now immune. Following Papa Jiao’s instructions, Yi Xin opened the bag.

Zheng Tan jumped in without being told, then stared at Yi Xin. Trying to urge him to get moving with his eyes.

Not being able to talk was a huge inconvenience. Before, he had little sympathy for the deaf and the mute. Now he knew exactly what it felt like. After all, most people couldn’t read your mind.

Yi Xin did not understand the look Zheng Tan gave him. He simply followed his orders and carried the bag with the cat downstairs. He was on flat ground when he remembered that he could have just let the cat walk down by itself.

Yi Xin proceeded to bike the two of them to the university hospital.

Unfortunately, things could go wrong even with a bike ride.

They didn’t make it too far out the Eastern quarters, when Zheng Tan heard a ‘clank’ followed by the bike slowing down.

Hearing Yi Xin swear, Zheng Tan looked out from the basket. Everything seemed normal. Then he looked behind them. There, in the middle of road, was a broken chain.

‘How bad is the bike, that the chain can just break off! F*ck!’

They had to wait quite a while for the school shuttle, and it stopped way too often anyways. Zheng Tan didn’t have the time to wait. Take a taxi? Who knew when a taxi would drive through campus? Go by bike? From whom could they borrow a bike? Zheng Tan didn’t know what he would do if Yi Xin borrowed another bike that broke down half-way to the hospital.

Zheng Tan suddenly remembered seeing Papa Jiao’s scooter in the shed when they came downstairs. The weather had cooled down recently. When time permitted, Papa Jiao jogged to work.

Yi Xin didn’t have a clue what to do. He was squatting next to his bike when he saw the black cat jump out the basket.

“Hey, why are you running! Wait!” Yi Xin more anxious. He could buy another bike, but how could he face the boss if he lost the cat.

So Yi Xin left his bike on the side of road and ran after the cat. The bike was second-hand anyways. Now with a broken chain, it was so worthless that only sanitation workers would touch it. No one was going to steal his bike.

Zheng Tan ran back to the quarters. Back home, he found the other key to the scooter in a corner of the desk drawer. He brought the key out, just when a panting Yi Xin caught up with him.

Zheng Tan glanced at Yi Xin then jumped onto Papa Jiao’s scooter. He patted the seat and laid down the keys.

Yi Xin: “… ”

Well, it was official. The boss’s cat was different.

The scooter was much more reliable compared to the bike. It required less physical work by Yi Xin as well. It was great that he didn’t need to pedal anymore; Yi Xin wasn’t sure he still had the strength to do so.

Zheng Tan was still dissatisfied. A scooter was slow compared to a motorcycle. It was during times like this that Zheng Tan really wished the Jiao family had a car of their own.

On the way to the hospital, Zheng Tan took special care to memorize the way. If something happened in the future, he would like to count on himself. Relying on others was both wasting time and looking for trouble.

The hospital affiliated to Chuhua university was not on campus, but rather two bus stops away. It served as medical, teaching and research facility and was a Level Three First grade hospital [1].

The medical side of the building was always full of people. Yi Xin parked the scooter, then followed the detailed address given by his boss and carried the cat in, hidden in a bag. After all, hospitals did not welcome pets. Zheng Tan couldn’t just swagger in.

In the elevator, they ran into Papa Jiao, who had come down to buy lunch. His expression was calm, and when he talked to Yi Xin, his voice was no longer hoarse and depressed like it was on the phone. It seemed that Mama Jiao would be ok.

Papa Jiao bought five bentos, the extra one was for Yi Xin.

Yi Xin wanted to buy Mama Jiao some fruit. When he looked in his pockets, he didn’t find anything except a school meal card. He left in a hurry and had left his wallet in his jacket

“So um… You reckon they take meal plan points at the fruit shop?” Yi Xin was very embarrassed.

Papa Jiao, Zheng Tan: “… ”

“Maybe some other day. She wouldn’t be able to eat it today anyways. She’s not awake yet.” Papa Jiao said.

Papa Jiao explained the situation.

Mama Jiao taught at the local junior high, but sometimes she went to the affiliated high school. She intended to transfer there in the future. She had lots of acquaintances at both schools, and she was capable enough to handle high school material.

Her only concern was that the two children at home were too young. When she didn’t have class at her junior high, she went over to the high school to help out. It was like interning as a high school teacher.

The high school affiliated to Chuhua university was one of the best in the province, but was close to the third ring road, far away from downtown. Chuhua University had a daily shuttle that went from the university to the high school, stopping at the junior high in the middle.

However, today, the shuttle had turned a corner after leaving the junior high, when it was hit by a lorry transporting glass doors. The lorry driver was hungover and severely hurt. He was still in the operations room and in critical condition.

Many people on the school shuttle were hurt, out of which, six were seriously injured. Two of the passengers were still being rescued.

Mama Jiao was one of the luckier ones. She was brought to the hospital covered in blood. That was what Papa Jiao saw when he got here. She had been stabbed by broken glass in several places. Three of the cuts were very deep. The wound on her leg was showing bones. But none of her bones or organs were actually hurt. She just looked like she was in very bad shape. In truth, compared to those six who were seriously injured, Mama Jiao could be considered lucky.

The broken glass was taken out in surgery. No fractures were found, but she needed to stay for further observation.

When Papa Jiao received Zheng Tan’s call, Mama Jiao had just left surgery. He had not yet recovered from seeing her covered in blood, which was the reason why he sounded like that. Now, he was back to his usual calm self.

He had asked Auntie Ling to fetch the children, in case the situation grew worse, to give Mama Jiao a chance to see them one last time.

Relatively speaking, Mama Jiao’s situation was not serious. After the surgery, she was sent directly to the general ward. The ICU was full.

In truth, this so-called “general ward” was, strictly speaking, not very “general”. The hospital gave school faculty and family additional benefits that included special rooms on a separate floor of the hospital.

Compared to other wards, the difference here was that the ward was divided by walls, instead of curtains, into four small compartments. The walls were thin, so talking loudly was still not an option. But it was better than being crowded together. The ward next door wasn’t divided. It was up to the patients, but most of those who just went through surgery like Mama Jiao would choose the divided wards.

Each compartment was very small, with less than ten square meters of room. It felt crowded when more than a few people were inside.

Mama Jiao had not woken up yet, but knowing that she was out of danger now, everyone in the Jiao family felt better.

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi were sitting on a bench in the corridor. Gu Youzi’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. Jiao Yuan was not better off by much.

Yi Xin did not stay for long. He still had work of his own, so Papa Jiao sent him away.

“Not enough people available!” Papa Jiao sighed while watching the boy walk away.

“I should take a few more grad students next year.”

Zheng Tan wondered what Yi Xin would think if he heard that.

Zheng Tan ate his bento in Mama Jiao’s compartment to avoid being seen by others. A nurse came by to check on the patient. He hid from her inside Jiao Yuan’s backpack. The books were all taken out and put into a plastic bag.

Mama Jiao’s accident was kept a secret from the both her and Papa Jiao’s parents. They were not young anymore, and traveling back and forth from their hometowns was too much of a hassle.

Zheng Tan and the two children stayed here, while Papa Jiao took a trip back home. He went to fetch clothes and supplies and also got the small wooden table with the Chinese chess patterns. It could used as a bedside table, a desk for when the kids needed to write homework and a dining table.

Papa Jiao was planning to stay here for a couple of days. There was a folding chair in the compartment for any accompanying family to rest on. It was a bit small, but Papa Jiao figured it was only for a few days

That day, the Jiao children did not go back to class, but stayed here with Papa Jiao. Mama Jiao woke in the afternoon, said a few words, then fell back asleep. Although her face was still pale, her waking up put the minds of three people and a cat at ease.

Around five in the afternoon, Papa Jiao went to buy dinner. He sent the kids home after the meal so they wouldn’t have to take the bus in the dark.

Originally, Papa Jiao had planned for the two children to go to Auntie Ling’s or some other family friend’s place for the night. The children firmly opposed this plan, saying that they were old enough to look after themselves and that they couldn’t sleep well in other people’s homes.

Eventually, Papa Jiao backed down. He looked Zheng Tan, whose head was poking out from Jiao Yuan’s backpack and said: “Charcoal, look out for them. Help out at home a little bit.”

“Aow-” Zheng Tan agreed. He didn’t need to be told to take care of the kids. He already thought of himself as their older brother.

Footnotes :