Chapter 140 (1/2)

The people walked over to a few graves and kneeled They burnt incense then set off firecrackers

Zheng Tan watched theh the sa with Mama Jiao's family

He was about to leave when he was spotted by a child

The child was very excited to see a cat He didn't understand the iraves and was bored He ran over

He tripped over a bu he had in his hand flew out and landed in front of Zheng Tan

The child's mother came over to pick him up and dust the dirt off his clothes

”The rooster's gone” The child didn't cry but sounded very upset He showed his mother his empty hand

Rooster?

Zheng Tan looked at the thing that fell in front of hiold rooster-shaped keychain

There was a ditch between Zheng Tan and the child There was a lot ofon the side An athletic young roup fit the criteria The man who had chatted with Papa Jiao wore an expensive suit paired with leather shoes He didn't even attempt to jump

”We could keep walking that way and see if we could cross over there,” he said

The kid ignored his father and pushed away hisTan and said, ”Kitty”

”Yes That's a kitty” The child's nized animals now and praised him for his effort

”Kitty!”

”Yes It's a black cat” The mother patted dust off his pants then took his hand to take him away

He pushed away her hand again and pointed at Zheng Tan ”Have the kitty throw it over Have the kitty throw it over”

”The kitty can't throw Daddy will get it for you later,” the mother explained patiently

”Let the kitty throw”

”The kitty can't”

Before she could finish her sentence, she heard round beside her

She was speechless

The kid didn't knoas going through his mother's head and happily picked up his toy He pressed a button on the rooster and it croaked Seeing that it wasn't broken, the child smiled

Zheng Tan didn't want to help at first but the kid trusted hi a keychain wouldn't cause any suspicion, would it?

Zheng Tan swayed his tail then left

”Doesn't that cat belong to the fahway?” an old man asked

”I don't think so A lot of families have cats and there are plenty of black cats around,” the mother answered

Though they felt the cat was oddly familiar, the old man and the father didn't say any more

Papa Jiao planned to leave after the Lantern festival [1] So on the fifteenth of the lunar calendar, Papa Jiao took Zheng Tan to see the old lady again

Zheng Tan could hear the sound of Er'hu from a distance away

He didn't know eneral, but he seemed to detect a bittersweetness in the music

Papa Jiao opened the gate and Zheng Tan saw the lady playing her instrument on the chair near the door She was old but could still play like a pro If he hadn't seen it for hi a tape

Papa Jiao found a chair and sat doithout interrupting her playing

Zheng Tan looked around The three-legged cat was sitting on a wooden chair It seeht since he last saw it It appeared to be sleeping but its earsTan could tell by the gifts on her table that a lot of people ca the New Year's celebrations

After finishi+ng a piece of music, the lady put down her Er'hu and looked at Papa Jiao ”You came”

”Yes I'oodbye,” Papa Jiao said

The old lady turned to Zheng Tan He felt the hair on his back stand up on end

”Come here cat,” the lady waved to him