Regardless of being a student of the associate primary school or Chu Hua University itself, the school term had started consecutively after the lantern festival.
The beginning of the school term caused some to be cheerful and others to have polar opposite feelings.
In Zheng Tan's perception, the university students had more smiles on their faces when they returned to the campus than the children from the associate primary school.
The children from year one and two were still desperately trying to find excuses to not go to school. The eyes of some children at the primary school gate were red, snuffing their noses now and then, as they shuffled towards the school gate under their parents' coercion.
In contrast, the youngsters that rode past on their bike like a gust of wind were in a much better mood, rushing to find the girls that they missed dearly after a long time of not meeting.
The psychologies of the year six children were unique, carrying the complex emotions of "I am finally growing up" and "Sh*t, there is still so many homework and tests", spending their final moments in primary school.
Zheng Tan didn't know if every year six brat had that conflicting psychology, at least Jiao Yuan did. Little rascals always had mysterious excitements and worries. Just like what Papa Jiao had said, they were about to hit puberty.
Ah, children in puberty…
If that was true, then after entering middle school, Jiao Yuan could no longer be considered as a kid. He would belong to the category of "young man". Yes, he could probably find some "adult" book in Jiao Yuan's room in the future.
Zheng Tan huddled on the couch. The tip of his tails gently swayed as he watched Jiao Yuan and Youzi leave the house. Mama Jiao walked them to school, then went to do grocery shopping after dropping off the kids.
Zheng Tan didn’t go out for the past few days in daylight. The campus was filled with people; it was extremely lively. After the new students had reported to the university, the school that had remained silent for the winter break became rowdy again.
Zheng Tan didn't want to saunter outside at a time like this, as it was inconvenient. Therefore, Zheng Tan had adjusted his lifestyle for the first week of school. He slept at home during the daytime and staked out in the night after eating supper.
The past few nights of staking out allowed Zheng Tan to gain an understanding of the tattooed man's daily routine, but that was far from enough. He must make sure that the plan succeeded the first time by tailing him for several times more. Besides, the resources at hand were still lacking, there were still some things not found.
Zheng Tan napped on the couch for a while. When he woke up, he realized that it was only nine thirty in the morning. Mama Jiao hadn't come back yet, probably chatting with someone again.
Stretching out, Zheng Tan looked out the window. The sun shined bright, but the temperature remained low as before. Those who walked past were still wearing dense puffer jackets.
Bored and unable to sleep, Zheng Tan decided that he might as well go for a walkabout.
Tiger had become a lot lazier after the new year, fatter too. Zheng Tan had often seen Tiger lying asleep on his balcony. His head peeped slightly through the railings of the balcony and his tail swung outside, occasionally swaying as if he was afraid that others didn't know he was sleeping there. Luckily, the gaps between the railings were not wide, Tiger wouldn't fall through from the opening.
As for Sheriff, its family had chained it at home because there were many cat dealers during the new year period that were catching cats illegally. After several cats from the surroundings had gone missing, Sheriff, who had always roamed outside, was compelled to not leave the house, even if it made the earth tremble with its calls.
Without them, Zheng Tan felt having more freedom and at ease alone.
After an exercise of climbing the tree, Zheng Tan trekked through the unpopulated forest. There weren't many people walking along the campus boulevards. The two rows of Chinese parasol tree along the side of the lanes no longer appeared bleak, perhaps because the campus had gained some popularity.
Zheng Tan wandered aimlessly towards the places with sunlight. No wind, the sun gleamed on the furs on his body. It made it warm and fluffy, and very comfortable.
Zheng Tan's eyes squinted as he enjoyed the pleasant sunlight. Suddenly, he heard someone calling his name.
Looking towards the source of the voice, Zheng Tan saw a figure wearing a long and loose fur parka standing on the other side of the flower bed and waving at him.
Zhuo?
Zheng Tan changed his direction and headed towards Zhuo.
Compared to the last time Zheng Tan had seen her, Zhuo's stomach was now evidently protruding. Even wearing loose winter clothes couldn't cover up the bulging curve.
Zhuo had a bag in her hands, and inside the bag was a book. It looked new, most likely freshly bought from the bookstore near the front gate of the university.
"What are you doing here?" Zhuo looked at Zheng Tan and said. She bent her back and extended her hand to gently touch Zheng Tan's forehead.
Despite knowing that in front of her was a cat which can't talk, Zhuo still asked as an involuntary habit.
Those people who spent a lot of time with animals would also be like that, talking when they see other animals instead of mimicking their cries.
Zheng Tan was somewhat afraid of approaching Zhuo. With the sight of that belly, what would you do if something happened? She bent her back with a little difficulty just by the looks of it. Besides, wasn't it said that pregnant women avoided cats at any cost because of the problem of toxoplasmosis?
Taking a look at his surroundings, Zheng Tan realized that he had unconsciously approached the roundabouts of the western resident courtyard. So Zhuo had spent this period of time living in the western courtyard?
"Come on, let's go to my place?" Zhuo took two steps then stepped a foot and turned to look at Zheng Tan, a little anticipated.
Zheng Tan stood unmoved and thought, it had been a while since his cold was healed, as for the problem of toxoplasmosis… He probably didn't have it? He appeared to be quite healthy and bathed often. He had slept daily in the same bed as Youzi. Judging from the sight of Youzi looking fine, there was probably nothing that could contaminate Zhuo.
After a slight hesitation, Zheng Tan looked at the hopeful eyes of Zhuo and strode.
Noticing that Zheng Tan had followed her, Zhuo's face immediately showed signs of happiness. She walked ahead while talking to Zheng Tan about the things that occurred in the previous months.
Zhuo didn't usually talk to people. There was only a handful whom she could speak with. However, Zhuo wouldn't tell them that thing at heart straight away. She was still reserved towards people, but to cats, it was different.
People could talk to some animals, or objects with psychological sentiments, about their innermost thoughts more easily. This was a way of catharsis. Many people owned pets for this reason.
It became inconvenient for Zhuo to move around afterward because her belly became bigger and bigger. She needed to recuperate. "Buddha" was worried about Zhuo running around every day. Just as it happened that the allocation of ownership for the new building in the western courtyard had begun, "Buddha" gave Zhuo the household that belonged to her.
People like "Buddha" were already famous and wealthy. They didn't care about a single house. If it was usual, "Buddha" wouldn't even fight with other teachers over it, but for Zhuo, "Buddha" did.
Just a single sentence from "Buddha", and others would have to move aside.
This time around, there were not many people moving around outdoors in the western courtyard. During working hours, there were only some scattered few in the courtyard that could be seen.
The houses on this side of the western courtyard were very new. Some buildings had a similar layout to the buildings in the eastern area, but looked much more luxurious in the exterior and looked fashionable in appearance. The greenery was alright, but definitely not as good as the eastern side. Although the architectural design was very brilliant, Zheng Tan was still not quite used to it.
Perhaps he had gotten used to the old houses in the eastern courtyard. Facing these spectacular new buildings, Zheng Tan felt something was missing.
Zheng Tan recalled the time when he first came to this place. Many residential buildings by the eastern yard had Japanese creepers that climbed all over. The nearby trees had flourished, and somebody even built a grape trellis at the corner of the courtyard. At dusk, some elderly people would sit there, fluttering the brown spotted bamboo-shell fan in their hands, speaking freely.
Some said that old was a sentiment, that was true. Time had corroded them for over ten years, experiencing many generations of compiling emotions that sedimented. This was probably the reason why those old professors would still live happily in that old house that was not big.
After living in the eastern yard for a while, Zheng Tan had finally felt the serenity in such simplicity.
Zhuo didn't live in those houses that Zheng Tan saw when entering the residential quarters; it was deeper in.
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