Strange Life of a Cat-Chapter 200 - That Cat Was Playing Her

Chapter 200: Chapter 200: That Cat Was Playing Her

Chapter 200 -200: That Cat Was Playing Her

Zheng Tan ambled around Wild Pond, surrounded by some trees that, although not very tall, provided a decent amount of shade under the blazing sun.

There were many wild plants nearby that Zheng Tan recognized, though he could not name them. Some frogs or toads stood on floating branches in Wild Pond, croaking away. Upon sensing Zheng Tan’s approach, they would immediately leap into the water.

Sometimes, he could also see small fish swimming underneath the water surface. Not surprisingly for a place involved in fish farming, fish were everywhere, not necessarily thrown in there by someone; some might have entered the pond during the flood season by chance.

Cicadas in the trees were also making noise, seemingly competing to see whose call was louder.

In other places, there would undoubtedly be children on summer vacation fishing or catching shrimp around Wild Pond, but here, the children probably played too much from a young age to care much for it, preferring instead to watch the excitement around the bigger fish ponds where they occasionally got to take home some big fish for free.

Recently, some college students specializing in related fields had come for internships at a nearby aquaculture base, conducting research experiments among other things, which made the place even livelier. Some skilled children were even asked to help, while the adults didn’t have the leisure for it, nor did they care much for the meager pay. For the children, however, indoor work was not only rewarding but also came with the added perk of free air conditioning. Thus, when Zheng Tan and the others came to Wild Pond, they rarely saw any local children.

As he pondered, Zheng Tan’s ears twitched. He heard some noise up ahead.

Someone?

In Zheng Tan’s recollection, even if the children were not noisy, they would at least talk or laugh occasionally and often gathered in groups. They definitely wouldn’t be this quiet and wouldn’t cause a sudden disturbance now.

Zheng Tan tiptoed closer, and the noise ahead suddenly grew louder. The plants growing around Wild Pond obstructed his view but also provided cover, making it difficult for anyone on the opposite side of Wild Pond to spot Zheng Tan.

The closer he walked, the narrower Wild Pond got, and he was almost at the end of it.

There was a little girl about the same age as Little Youzi, wearing old clothes patched coarsely. Though she looked the same age as Little Youzi, she was considerably thinner and darker due to exposure to the sun, unlike Youzi, who was plump and pale. Her bare arms and legs looked as if covered only in skin, lacking any substantial flesh. Her shoulder-length hair, probably self-cut, looked uneven.

When Zheng Tan looked over, the child was pulling up her line; no wonder the noise had suddenly increased—otherwise, Zheng Tan might not have noticed someone was there so quickly.

The child was also shrimp fishing, with a tin can beside her half-filled with earthworms that Zheng Tan could clearly see wriggling. She seemed experienced, having cast lines in three spots not far from each other. Presumably, after catching a shrimp with one of the lines, the little girl would grab a few worms from the can to replace the used ones.

Earthworms weren’t ideal bait for shrimp fishing, but they were easy to catch. However, fresh, live earthworms had to be replaced frequently, as the dead or soaked ones decreased in effectiveness and couldn’t fool the older shrimp.

After replacing the earthworms with fresh ones, the little girl sat beside the water for a couple of minutes, then got up and quietly moved between the three rods, watching which one had movement.

Zheng Tan walked over and noticed a cracked plastic bucket tied together with ropes, already containing some crayfish; it seemed the child had a good catch. There were also some green shrimps aside from the crayfish. With many aquaculture operators in the area, seeing green shrimps wasn’t unusual. As for the crayfish, being an invasive species known for its strong adaptability and broad distribution, it wasn’t surprising to find them around.

There was also a sickle, broken at one end, by the bucket. Such sickles were common among farmers, but it felt oddly unsettling to see such a small girl using one.

As he mused, Zheng Tan looked up and locked eyes with the little girl.

Zheng Tan rarely saw such a fierce look in a child’s eyes, not even in those who were moodier, because there was not only fierceness but also a distinct intent to kill in her eyes. Zheng Tan had no doubt that if the girl had her sickle in hand, she would have swung it at him without hesitation.

But, she didn’t have her sickle now.

Zheng Tan wasn’t actually afraid of the girl. In fact, he felt a bit mischievous.

Afraid I’ll mess with your shrimp? I’m going to mess with them anyway.

Zheng Tan quickly pawed at the shrimps in the bucket with his claws.

It must be said that sometimes Zheng Tan just got bored and couldn’t feel at ease without causing some trouble.

A clod of earth came flying at him.

Zheng Tan dodged swiftly, but the clod brushed past the edge of the shrimp bucket, which was already on uneven ground. With that brush, the bucket teetered a bit and then toppled over.

The little girl didn’t bother with Zheng Tan but ran over quickly to catch the escaping shrimp and throw them back into the bucket before looking up again to see the Black Cat half-hidden in the bushes, showing only its head. When she stood up, the Black Cat ducked into the bushes, which rustled a few times and then went silent, by which time the cat had vanished.

The little girl standing in her original spot looked at the bushes and frowned. She always felt that cat was playing tricks on her but, recently, when it half-hid in the bushes watching this way, the look in its eyes was a bit strange. Many elders in the village said that black cats were somewhat supernatural, some calling them spiritual beings and others evil entities. She had disagreed before—it’s just a cat, purely a way to scare oneself. But after what happened just now, she started to believe it a bit.

Zheng Tan walked in the bushes, feeling somewhat uneasy, not because the little girl had thrown clods of dirt at him but because of the scene he had just witnessed.

When the little girl had bent down to catch shrimp and throw them back into the plastic bucket, her already short clothes rode up, revealing a section of her back. Zheng Tan saw it clearly—there were multiple scars on the girl’s back like she had been whipped with a bamboo stick or something similar. Initially, Zheng Tan hadn’t paid much attention to the lighter marks on the girl’s arms and legs, having heard Mr. Gu mention that fights among village children were common, regardless of gender, and wounds were nothing strange. But the marks on her back were fresh wounds. Zheng Tan felt pain just looking at them, let alone a little girl the size of Little Youzi.

Abuse? Domestic violence?

Zheng Tan flicked his tail, Jiao Ma and Little Youzi both told him not to meddle, and he didn’t plan on interfering in such matters. Moreover, he couldn’t do much about it. Every household has its own troubles, and there are plenty of families like this one, whether in the city or the countryside, where parents beating their children isn’t uncommon.

So, after wandering around for a while, he caught a frog that had popped out of nowhere and teased it for a bit. Zheng Tan felt much better, looked at the sky, and headed back toward the spot where Little Youzi and the others were catching shrimp.

When Zheng Tan returned, Jiao Yuan was showing off an old-looking shrimp, its big claws fiery red. Jiao Ma liked eating these large-clawed ones for their tender meat.

Little Youzi was tying worms as bait. Mr. Gu had grabbed four fat worms and put them on the string, Little Youzi only needed to tie the string. Beside it were two worms that had already died, one even pinched off by a shrimp. Mr. Gu always tied no less than three worms for Little Youzi, guessing some were either directly pinched by the shrimp or he hadn’t tied the worms securely and they’d escaped.

After fishing for over half an hour more, Mr. Gu told the kids to pack up, ready to head home. Seeing Little Youzi somewhat reluctant, he smiled and said, “We can continue tomorrow, your summer vacation is still long.”

Zheng Tan looked at the iron bucket filled with shrimp. There were already half a bucket full, definitely enough for a dish.

Dinner was bountiful, and Zheng Tan also had a hearty meal.

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After dusk, the villagers, having bathed, gathered at the door of their homes to enjoy the cool evening air and gossip about various news from around them, discussing the day’s interesting events.

Mr. Gu had moved the bamboo bed out and even fixed a mosquito net on it. Little Youzi stayed inside, listening to Mr. Gu next to him recounting tales of “back in the day.”

As for Jiao Yuan, unable to sit still, he already went to catch fireflies with the kids next door.

Next to them was a lit mosquito coil, but Zheng Tan could still distinctly hear the buzzing sound of mosquitoes around.

Er Tong was panting with its mouth open and tongue out, lying down for a while before moving to a cooler spot to continue lying down. During dinner, it annoyed Zheng Tan and, after being smacked by Zheng Tan, became much more well-behaved. It definitely stayed at least a meter away from wherever Zheng Tan was lying down, not daring to come closer.

The village night was cool, noticeably cooler than the city.

Zheng Tan stayed by the bamboo bed, listening to Mr. Gu’s boastful tales with Little Youzi, his ears perked up.

Nearby, Jiao Ma, an old lady, and several other neighborhood women sat together talking.

“Sold another one? How could he bear to do that?” Jiao Ma sighed.

“What’s there to bear? He’d already sold off five before, one more won’t matter. I suppose the remaining three will also be sold sooner or later,” said the aunt from next door.

“Staying at home, they might as well be beaten to death by him,” the old lady sighed.

Zheng Tan listened to their conversation about a household in a neighboring village where the male head of the family wanted a son but ended up having nine daughters instead. Adding to this, the man was a gambler who felt keeping daughters was useless and made a habit of selling his daughters and frequently beating his children at home. Finally having a son, he neglected the remaining three daughters completely.

Despite family planning policies preaching the equality of having sons or daughters, thousands of years of ingrained thoughts aren’t easy to change in just two or three decades. Moreover, many people simply don’t care about laws—you can’t reason with them, and the locals, having seen so much, grew indifferent to such matters.

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