Strange Life of a Cat - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: This dumbass street performance

That guy entered the town and when by some coincidence he walked past a bicycle shop, he suddenly came up with the idea of buying a bicycle. In fact, this rascal hadn't rode a bicycle for a long time, even on road trips he would drive on four wheels.

Although it was only second-hand, it was a mountain bike anyhow. The owner was not too happy on the surface because Fang Shao Kang didn't buy a new bike, but since he still made a sale, he checked the bike again.

The bicycle store owner looked at Fang Shao Kang strangely, he probably didn't think that anyone would propose such a demand. Usually the people who bought this kind of bike used them for sport, who would add a bicycle basket to it, to buy groceries? Either way, since the customer asked, he wouldn't reject them, he could earn some dimes from a bicycle basket.

Fang Shao Kang pondered for a second and then nodded his head, " Yes."

"Probably not too heavy."
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After finishing checking and installing the basket, one took the money, the other got the goods.

Zheng Tan squatted on the side and watched this Fang named uncle who was being narcissistic, he couldn't understand why this Fang guy would choose this lifestyle. From the phone call with Papa Jiao, Zheng Tan heard some hints of respect from Zhao Le's tone, it wasn't the false sense of affection to express politeness but real respect. This means that this Fang guy probably had some background, at least he was not short of money, but what was the cause of this thirty almost forty year old guy to choose this life experience? Making himself look like a castaway.

Zheng Tan: "…" Cargo your ass!

Hopping inside the basket of the bicycle, Zheng Tan felt a little uncomfortable but he couldn't tell why, either way it was nowhere near as comfortable as squatting inside the basket of the children's bike.

There was indeed a road made between this small town and the metropolis at the next stop, but it was an expressway. You can drive on that in a car, but when you're riding a bike it was a different story.

It was that section of country r

oad upon which Zheng Tan's experience of suffering began.

The bicycle traveled along the country road, which was full of potholes made up of pebbles and mud. When it became turbulent, Zheng Tan felt the basket move up and down in intense movements more uncomfortable than when he rode Wei Lin's bicycle, his head became dizzy from the shaking.

Zheng Tan had to jump with all his might inside the basket to catch Fang Shao Kang's attention. When Fang Shao Kang got off the bike, he jumped off the basket straightaway. When he landed he was still slightly faint-headed and almost lost his balance.

"The basket was uncomfortable?" Fang Shao Kang thought for a moment, "how about squatting in my bag?"

Having his head stepped on twice, Fang Shao Kang felt that the cat must have done it on purpose, no wonder people say that cats were vengeful. He better buy a hat next time in town otherwise the cat would really revolt against him, he as the young master Fang had never been stepped on the head like this.

Zheng Tan had become comfortable but Fang Shao Kang began to feel the strain, the freshness had passed and he start to tire. The backpack had some weight to it plus a cat which made it even heavier.

The national highway's road condition compared to the country road was by all means much better, so Zheng Tan didn't object.

They found a small motel to settle in. Due to not knowing if the motel owner allowed cats, Zheng Tan was hidden in the backpack and taken in. The room wasn't too big, a single-bed room, but other facilities were complete.

As Fang Shao Kang organized the photos and the records, Zheng Tan ran to the bathroom, filled the bathtub with water and adjusted it's temperature. Then he began to immerse himself in the bath.

He squeezed some shower gel and carelessly rubbed it on himself, then he began to swim. According to his current size, the bathtub could actually be said to be a small swimming pool for Zheng Tan.

When Fang Shao Kang finished arranging his things and entered the bathroom, he immediately saw that black cat swimming in the bathtub and looking like it was in great comfort. Hell, it even squeezed some shower gel!

'Black cats are so abnormal.' Fang Shao Kang secretly thought.

Fang Shao Kang came out from the bathroom. He looked at the only bed and the black cat that was lying in the middle, and was left dumbstruck. A cat forcibly occupying his territory was freaking annoying.

Zheng Tan was alright, he took a bath, removed nits and had a pleasant sleep. He was filled with energy.

After eating lunch, Fang Shao Kang and Zheng Tan went out the door.

The camera was hanging around Fang Shao Kang's neck so Zheng Tan stayed inside the bag, peeping out through the zipper of the bag as usual.

Zheng Tan turned his nose up to many of these things right now, he only came along in boredom to look around and find some way to kill time. He had no idea what Fang Shao Kang was looking at, but he was being attentive.

The environment was quite rowdy, Fang Shao Kang probably didn't want to stay here any longer, he planned to leave.

In one corner of the square, there were some young people singing and being watching nearby. Although there weren't many, there were still some people who was throwing money before them.

These five youngsters were not from this city and weren't from the same place either, they met here. They got along well and prepared to form a band. They were in the age of secondary high school students, still underage. Yet, they didn't go to school because they said they liked music too much and wanted to strike out on their own and see the world through their own eyes.

Zheng Tan vaguely remembered a drifting singer that he had seen before, twenty something years of age with a guitar on his back. He sang in every corner of the city and was sometimes invited by small bars to sing. When people think of drifting singers, it was usually "a bird of passage, lead a wondrous life" that kind of impression. As to drifting singers, Zheng Tan's sight only fell on that dire figure and didn't have too many memories.

"I need people's appreciation, not their pity. We're not as unkempt as people imagine, street art is not swinging some fleas out of the hair…" The youngster that was chatting with Fang Shao Kang said, sharing his thoughts.

The youngster scratched his head and was a little embarrassed, "It's unfixed. I used to earn little when I was alone, I could only get the money for a train ticket after a few days of work. But it's better now, we only sing here for a while, we contacted a small pub the day before yesterday. We're going to go there later and sing, it's a little early right now we're just practicing here."

At night time, they returned to the motel. Fang Shao Kang tried the guitar out, initially he was a little awkward, but slowly he began to get the hang of it, clearly he had played it before.

"Charcoal, let's sell our talents tomorrow!"

"I heard that lots of people bring their pets along to perform, they earns a lot of money. Here, I have something specially prepared for you!"

Glancing at the container and the spoon, Zheng Tan knew what Fang Shao Kang wanted but he pretended that he couldn't understand.

After a moment of silence, Fang Shao Kang said, "didn't they say you were quite smart? You can't even do this? You are not as miraculous as Zhao Le claimed."

"How about his, see, I don't have a lot of spare money at hand. Just look at this motel that we're living in, such a poor condition. Tomorrow we go and perform on the streets, if we earn a lot, we will move to a better hotel, the one with two beds in a room. One for each of us, lots of room, there's no need to crowd or fight over pillows and sheets, much more comfortable, how's that?"

"Plus, if we did earn money, we go by car to the next city and stop riding."

Fang Shao Kang beat the glass container with the spoon twice, then placed the spoon before Zheng Tan, waiting for him to make the decision.

"Oh, and there's this!" Fang Shao Kang took out paper roll core, taped it onto the spoon with sticky tape. The paper roll was just big enough for Zheng Tan to fit an arm through.

"Ting!"

"Yes yes, just like that, now, I sing one line, you strike once." Fang Shao Kang strummed the metal strings of the guitar and began to sing, "Twinkle twinkle little star~"

Seeing Fang Shao Kang was looking at him, Zheng Tan took a deep breath, then beat the spoon at it.

"Good! Continue! How I wonder what you are~"

"Up against the sky so high~"

…

The next day, Zheng Tan was dragged by Fang Shao Kang to continue practicing. After eating lunch at noon, they took a nap and rested, then went out the door around four with all the stuff.

In that corner, the five youngsters that they saw yesterday were there again. After tuning, they began to sing. The songs that they sang included music that were currently in trend as well as some classics, they were all songs that young people liked, filled with liveliness.

There was an opening on the cardboard box, Zheng Tan felt that it was like a donation box and he was the poor cat that needed people show mercy to.

This fellow, Fang Shao Kang, wore a hat, his beard hadn't been shaved for a few days, there was no way of seeing his actual appearance. Zheng Tan felt that he must have done it on purpose.

People's curious eyes around here made Zheng Tan's face heat up, whether it was being a human before or as a cat now, he had never performed in the full blaze of publicity. This made him feel awkward, it was okay when they were at the motel since there was no one watching, but now under the watchful eyes of so many people, Zheng Tan felt like the spoon weighed tons

Not far in the distance, the five youngsters finish singing "Glorious Years", and noticed things over here.

Zheng Tan tugged his ears, it felt wrong to back out now, it felt like shirking. After some psychological development, Zheng Tan extended his arm inside the paper roll with the spoon.

After the prelude, Fang Shao Kang's bold voice sounded.

Zheng Tan bit the bullet, holding up the spoon and beat it against the container.

"Wandering aimlessly from one village to another~"

"Watching the slanted sun set and rise again~"

"Long live the land and the sky as days stretched long and long…"

The performance was terrible and the singing sucked, but the crowd grew nevertheless. Moreover, many people began to throw their money inside that box.

A moronic human, an idiotic cat, and this dumbass street performing experience.