Strange Life of a Cat-Chapter 230 - 224 Advanced Scammer

Chapter 230: Chapter 224: Advanced Scammer?

Chapter 230 -224: Advanced Scammer?

The third year of Zheng Tan’s life as a cat didn’t have anything too special about it. Jiao Ma took the two kids and a cat back to the Jiao family’s old house for the New Year, and they also visited Mr. Gu’s place for a few days.

On New Year’s Eve, Mr. Jiao called, saying that if things went well, he might be able to come back in the second half of the year, but he didn’t make any promises. When it comes to research projects, nothing is certain.

To Zheng Tan, it was a year without many ups and downs.

As he lay on the balcony and yawned, Zheng Tan looked off into the distance from the fifth-floor balcony. After school started, the campus was bustling again; it was another year of spring with flowers blooming and trees sprouting tender buds.

This was Zheng Tan’s third year here, and after getting used to it, he didn’t have too many other thoughts. Sometimes, even if he didn’t want to admit it, he had to compromise with the stubborn old man called fate. What else could he do? Torture himself? There’s no need to be so troubled.

Zheng Tan rubbed his chin against a flowerpot next to him, rolled around out of boredom, and remembered what Little Youzi had said when they woke up this morning. Zheng Tan ran into the bedroom, jumped onto the dressing table, and looked at himself in Jiao Ma’s makeup mirror; it seemed he had… gained a bit of weight.

The New Year was indeed a time when it was easy to gain weight. This year, Zheng Tan really didn’t go out much, spending his days eating and sleeping. Add to that his hearty appetite, and it would be strange if he didn’t put on a few pounds.

He’d been cooped up at home lately, not really wanting to go out, which Zheng Tan attributed to spring fatigue and autumn lethargy. However, he needed to get out and move more. Winter had passed, and there was no need to keep on extra fat.

Zheng Tan didn’t exit directly from the side gate of the East District courtyard but took a walk inside the campus instead. Passing a path, he happened to hear Zeng Jing, Mr. Jiao’s only female graduate student, complaining about the recent improper conduct of some professors in the institute.

It was just like what Yi Xin had complained about before the New Year. Without a powerful boss backing them up, graduate students had little say in the institute. One aspect of this was the competition for public resources. Even for public resources, there should be a first-come-first-served order, a priority system. Resources and funding were limited. Those with the ability got to use them first, those who occupied them kept them.

Listening to Zeng Jing’s complaints, Zheng Tan felt that there was more than what Yi Xin had mentioned. Otherwise, Zeng Jing wouldn’t have expressed her feelings with “a small temple with strong winds and a shallow pond with too many bullfrogs.”

Although Zheng Tan didn’t understand the specifics of their department, through eavesdropping on the complaints of Zeng Jing and Yi Xin, he knew that these students sometimes got bullied by other teachers, and intra-institute seniority disputes with the tacit approval from their advisors were common. Competition among students from the same institute was constant. Those in scientific research sometimes wouldn’t lose to politicians when it came to shrewdness. These days, those who were solely dedicated to their studies without any concern or backing were either protected or became cannon fodder in power struggles and stepping stones for others’ ambitions. And of those who could follow their original aspirations, the proportion was truly too small.

However, it seemed Mr. Jiao wasn’t one to swallow his pride and suffer in silence. Wait for him to settle scores after the autumn harvest, Zheng Tan was quite confident in his Cat Dad.

Zheng Tan planned to head towards the Affiliated Hospital area again today; he hadn’t quite familiarized himself with that place yet.

Arriving at the hospital, Zheng Tan couldn’t help but remember the kind old lady he had met here before the New Year. He wondered how the old lady was now and how her health was recovering.

Jumping up onto the fence, Zheng Tan walked along the high wall. Even in winter, many green yards could be seen, and now there was even more new greenery, full of life.

The weather was nice today. Some patients who were recuperating well but couldn’t stand being in the ward had come out with their families to walk around. Looking at the surrounding scenery, their moods would naturally improve a lot.

Zheng Tan didn’t intend to look closely and decided just to have a quick glance while walking along the fence. After the superstition incident before the New Year, Zheng Tan felt it was better not to draw too much attention in the hospital.

Although he didn’t look closely and walked rather hurriedly, to Zheng Tan’s surprise, he was called out after only a few steps.

At first, Zheng Tan didn’t think he was the one being called, until he heard “the black cat on the wall” called out several times, and then he looked in that direction.

The one who had called him was a young nurse, not the one Zheng Tan had seen before the New Year. Beside the young nurse sat an old lady in a wheelchair, being pushed by the nurse.

The lady in the wheelchair was the same old lady Zheng Tan had met before the New Year. As Zheng Tan looked over, the old lady waved at him.

Compared to when he saw her last, the old lady now seemed much thinner, but her complexion was better, and the brightness in her eyes made one feel unconsciously optimistic.

No doubt the old lady had seen Zheng Tan, but because she couldn’t shout loudly, she had the young nurse who was pushing the wheelchair call out.

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The young nurse looked at Zheng Tan curiously, knowing that many people in the hospital were superstitious about pure black things. Last time, a visitor in a black suit was chased out by a patient who was hit by something; the patient had ranted about the visitor having a malicious intent for a long time. But now, the old lady seemed so enthusiastic about a black cat, truly puzzling.

Other patients out for a walk also saw the old lady’s behavior and voiced their curiosities, staying away out of superstition and fear of bad luck.