Chapter 6

Comrade Xiao Qu's building has a rather special resident on the ground floor. The peculiarity mainly lies in the pet the household keeps—a rare blue-and-purple macaw.

This bird is named "General," and it is considered the high, rich, and handsome type among parrots. Its value is equivalent to a fully renovated 100 square meter apartment in the center of Chu Hua City, and its value is still on the rise.

With a high IQ, proficiency in multiple languages, and a striking appearance, combined with the principle of rarity, it's no wonder this bird is so valuable.

Unlike most of the balconies in this residential building, the fourth-floor balcony is entirely enclosed with thick wire mesh, mainly to prevent the bird inside from flying out, not because of the fear of it escaping, but because of the fear of it bullying people and animals. This bird may look well-behaved, but it's actually full of mischief.

"General" has a nickname, "Cat Sorrow," because it particularly enjoys bullying cats, especially biting their ears. It's said that several cats in the school have been bitten before. This information was told to Zheng Tan by Dad Jiao when he first arrived, with the intention of making Zheng Tan more alert, to guard against fire, theft, and parrots. Just by looking at its size and considering the bite force of a macaw, one can imagine how destructive it can be when it gets angry.

However, after getting to know it, Zheng Tan realized that this bird actually picks its targets when bullying cats. The cats in the eastern residential area are fine as long as they don't provoke it, but if it sees cats from the western residential area, it's a different story.

Perhaps due to the influence of its owner, this bird particularly enjoys singing old nostalgic songs. Some songs Zheng Tan has only heard in documentaries about nostalgia, and some he has no memory of at all, but the melodies clearly date back to the 1980s, which is still considered recent.

What Zheng Tan finds most peculiar is the bird's intelligence. If the average intelligence of a parrot is equivalent to that of a 4-5-year-old child, then this bird downstairs is probably on par with an adult, and a genius at that.

Why does he say that?

The bird downstairs was still singing softly, and Zheng Tan couldn't help but look up at the sky with a sigh, then scanned the balcony, found a metal mosquito coil tray, and pushed it to the edge of the railing. He then extended his paw and gently tapped it.

"Clang ding, clang clang, clang ding clang ding... [Damn, it's so noisy!]"

The singing downstairs abruptly stopped, and the next moment, Zheng Tan heard the sound of flapping wings and the "clang clang" of the bird's toes hitting the wire mesh. Clearly, the bird didn't expect to hear such a sound at this time, so it was very excited and ran to the edge of the wire mesh.

A short while later, the sound of pecking came from downstairs, as if the bird was pecking at some food packaging.

"Da di, di di, di da da da, di di da... [You're actually here!]"

No one would have thought that in the middle of the night, a cat on the fifth floor and a parrot on the fourth floor of Building B in the eastern residential area of Chu Hua University were communicating in Morse code.

Actually, Zheng Tan's Morse code skills were not very proficient; he had only learned it recently. The one who could truly use it skillfully was the seemingly most unremarkable and inactive calico cat, Big Fat.

Every time Big Fat went to visit relatives in the military district, or when the person from the military district came to visit the old lady, Big Fat would be tested on various code-related skills, such as Morse code communication, simple fence code card games, etc. If Big Fat's performance was unsatisfactory, well, he would have to obediently eat instant noodles.

This parrot is a loyal enthusiast of code-related activities. When Big Fat is at home, it would carry cards to play fence code games with Big Fat. If it can't find Big Fat, it would find Zheng Tan or its owner to play Morse code games, but its owner is usually busy and doesn't have much time to play with it, so Zheng Tan often suffers. Last week, "General" was taken to a nature reserve in another province, and Zheng Tan had a few days of peace.

Now that this guy is back, Zheng Tan's mood became much more depressed.

[Heard that Ah Huang was neutered? I saw it today with an Elizabethan collar.] "General" was still excited about finding a chat partner in the middle of the night and had no sympathy for Ah Huang.

[I haven't seen it for a few days.] Zheng Tan continued to tap the mosquito coil tray.

[Sigh, that's the fate of pet cats, truly pitiful. I guess the Four Musketeers of the East will become the Four Eunuchs of the East.]

[Not every pet cat will have that surgery.]

[Don't fool yourself and the cats.]

[Go away, I don't want to bother with you.]

[Don't go, let's chat more. Aren't cats nocturnal?]

[What's it got to do with you? I'm going to sleep. By the way, can't you sing something more modern?]

Half a minute later, the low singing voice from downstairs started again.

"You're like a fire! A blazing fire that warms me~~"

Zheng Tan: "..." I really want to strangle it!

Ignoring the overly energetic bird, Zheng Tan returned to the chair in the living room, bent his front paws to cover his ears, and closed his eyes to sleep.

The next morning, Xiao Qu was woken up by Zheng Tan's loud meow, and he struggled to get up, wearing his SpongeBob pajamas, to open the door and let Zheng Tan out.

Actually, Zheng Tan could open the door himself, but since this wasn't his home, he needed to be more restrained. Besides, Zheng Tan also wanted to give Xiao Qu some trouble and not let him sleep well.

When Xiao Qu opened the door, yawning and struggling to keep his eyes open, he noticed that the Jiao family's door was open, and everyone who was having breakfast had gathered at the door.

Rubbing his eyes, Xiao Qu smiled, "Good morning!"

Zheng Tan walked straight to the dining table, and Jiao Mom had already gone to the kitchen to serve breakfast for Zheng Tan.

Outside, Xiao Qu used a pair of tongs to pick up the rat from last night, and Jiao Dad commented, "The force was a bit too strong, but overall, it was good."

Zheng Tan pulled his ear, pretending not to hear, and continued eating breakfast.

Jiao Mom also served a bowl of vegetable porridge for Xiao Qu, inviting him to eat together. Given Xiao Qu's habits, he wouldn't buy or make breakfast at this time. At the dining table, Xiao Qu talked about the rat-catching incident last night, and the Jiao family was excited, especially Jiao Mom, who told everyone about it whenever she went out.

In the afternoon, Ah Huang was brought over by its owner, and the Elizabethan collar was no longer on.

After a few days, Ah Huang looked much thinner and lacked energy, a state Zheng Tan had never seen it in before.

Jiao Mom was chatting with Ah Huang's owner nearby.

"Sister Ling, is Ah Huang still recovering from the surgery?" Jiao Mom was a bit worried.

"It shouldn't be. I've seen other cats in the same situation, and they were lively the next day. However, after the surgery, it has changed a lot and no longer urinates everywhere."

Zheng Tan walked into Jiao Yuan's room and rolled out a large glass marble.

Hearing the sound of the rolling marble, Ah Huang's ears twitched, and it looked over.

It was a good sign that it reacted. Zheng Tan thought it might have been too shocked by the surgery and become dull. He bent his paw and pushed the marble toward where Ah Huang was lying.

Ah Huang, lying there listlessly, reached out a paw to hook the marble.

Five minutes later.

Zheng Tan watched Ah Huang, now energetic and playing with the glass ball in the living room, and felt a great deal of emotion. This guy wasn't affected by the surgery; it was just cooped up at home!

Finally, at Jiao Mom's suggestion, Ah Huang was allowed to go for a walk.

After going out, Ah Huang returned to its previous lively state, running and howling as soon as it stepped out of the building.

"Meow-ao-ao—meow-ao—meow-ao—"

On the fifth floor, the two women standing on the balcony were puzzled. Weren't cats supposed to stop making such sounds after surgery?

Based on his understanding of Ah Huang, Zheng Tan knew that it was just releasing the frustration of being cooped up at home with the Elizabethan collar for a few days, and also calling its friends.

At the corner, they met Grandma Zhai from the third floor of the same building, whom Zheng Tan and the other cats knew.

"Ah Huang?" Grandma Zhai called out.

Hearing its name, Ah Huang, which was howling with its tail up, suddenly stopped, squinted its eyes, and responded in a delicate voice, "Meow~"

Zheng Tan: "..."

It felt like the sudden transformation from a street brawler to a refined lady.

Continuing the familiar path through the woods, they arrived at the small forest next to the residential area, where Big Fat and Chief had already been summoned by Ah Huang's calls.

Big Fat still had that half-sleepy, droopy-eyed look, while Chief had something in its mouth, probably some kind of insect.

The four cats walked a bit deeper into the woods, and Zheng Tan moved his ears, sensing that there was someone else in the woods.

Looking up, he saw a hint of blue on a tree ahead.

It was "General." The yellow crescent shape around its beak always made Zheng Tan feel like it was grinning.

Ah Huang looked up and saw "General," opened its mouth, and meowed, "Meow-ao—"

"General," perched on the tree, looked down at the four cats with its yellow-ringed eyes, then raised its untagged foot to its beak and said, "Shh—"

Zheng Tan: "..."

What is this guy up to now?

——————————————————————

Thank you to Gu Mo Zou Shang, Chang Feng Zhan Yue Yuan, a123asdf, and Lazyorange for your support! Thank you all for your votes and support!

[Page Flip AD Start]

[Page Flip AD End]