Strange Life of a Cat

Mama Jiao seemed better today, at least her spirits were up.

However, after hearing last night’s events, she was determined to drag her injured self home if not for Papa Jiao doing all he could to stop her. There was no point in keeping last night a secret. Even if Auntie Ling didn’t tell her about it all, last night caused so much of a commotion that the faculty and family in the hospital would have heard about it.

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi remained silent after answering a few of her questions. Qu Xiangyang did most of the talking. He gave a vivid recount of last night’s story.

“Since the previous thefts, residents on the first and second floor had been taking precautions. Us living on the higher floors felt safer, but now it seemed that those people used this mentality. They target people living on higher floors specifically because they feel less at risk.”

“Apparently, they saw the bulletin board in the bio building and learnt that Brother Jiao just received a million-yuan grant. Coincidentally, they found out something had happened and there were only going to be children at home. So they targeted your family.”

“It was not as if we could have used the money from the grant. It’s meant for research.” Mama Jiao said emphatically, her tone rising.

“They didn’t think so. Lots of people get rich off pocketing research money.” Qu Xiangyang shrugged.

He suddenly remembered something and his eyes lit up : “I heard that several ‘veterans’ were at the scene of the interrogation last night and were able to get quite some information out of the thieves. The police didn’t find any leads last month after the first burglaries because someone pulled some strings. This time, they weren’t getting away with it that easily.”

“The behind the scenes culprit who planned the thefts was someone living in building A. His family is quite connected. Apparently, his uncle is the vice president of the school, specifically, the one that oversees admissions.”

Qu Xiangyang loved gossiping about people high up in the school. He was not at all worried they would give him a hard time. His father was just as powerful, and he had graduated anyways.

“Usually we might have turned a blind eye, given his connections and everything. But this time, he hit a nerve, and we couldn’t just pretend we didn’t know anything. Several more of the residents had gotten grants. That information is on bulletin boards all around the school. No one would feel safe again if thieves were coming to their doors just because of that.”

“One of the more senior guys called that vice president last night. I’m guessing, after he settles the problem in the quarters, he would come here and apologize to you folks.”

Zheng Tan sat on Mama Jiao’s bed, quietly listening to them speak. Papa Jiao had brought the bedding from home. It was not only more comfortable but also more pleasing to the eye. The nurse had just changed Mama Jiao’s bandages when they got here, so she wouldn’t be back any time soon.

Listening to Qu Xiangyang talk about the culprit, Zheng Tan nodded silently. If the thieves weren’t connected to the school somehow, how would they get a hold of the access card? He wondered what the school would do to prevent similar incidents from happening. If they change the security access card, he would need Papa Jiao to get him a new one.

“Hey brother Jiao, I heard that the thief didn’t even get inside your house before he was scratched on the face by your cat. The guy thought someone was home and ran like his life depended on it. He didn’t even stop for his partner.”

“He was probably running too fast and not paying attention to the road. He tripped and hit his head on the cement walls of the flower bed. He then got bitten by that bull terrier Mr. Yan got. Apparently, the dog was able to rip off a piece of flesh. Now it’s a hero in the quarters, you should’ve seen it…”

Papa Jiao watched Zheng Tan as he listened to Qu recount the events. The cat had his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. ‘Not bad.’ He thought. ‘It’s a good thing he didn’t feel the need to be in the spotlight.’

As they talked and laughed, the atmosphere lightened. It was the happiest they had been since Mama Jiao got into the accident.

Qu Xiangyang offered to watch over the kids for a few days, but Papa Jiao declined politely.

After Qu left, Mama Jiao asked him for his reasoning.

“I am going to ask Wei Ling. This way we know the kids are in good hands. That boy Qu puts too much of his energy into gaming. He might get Jiao Yuan to start playing.”

Zheng Tan agreed it was possible. Besides, the guy disregarded everything when he started to play computer games. They were better off having Zheng Tan watch the kids, than to expect Qu to be a good guardian.

In contrast, Wei Ling was a much more dependable person. All he needed to do was come watch the kids at night. He would still have all the free time in the world in the morning.

Zheng Tan wondered how his case was going. He had been on it for a while, yet the case was still unsolved.

As he was thinking about crime and investigations, a knock came from the door.

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi hurriedly put Zheng Tan back into the backpack. They tried to look nonchalant, but came off as way too serious, which made Mama Jiao smile.

The visitor was Zhuo. She heard about what happened in the residential quarters and came to wish them well.

Papa Jiao quickly stood up to give her his seat. Because of the relationship formed between their cat and Zhuo, ‘the Buddha’ had been treating him better when he went over to borrow equipment. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t look like she was plotting murder either. So there was improvement.

Seeing it was Zhuo, Zheng Tan got back out. It was much more comfortable sitting on a comforter than squatting in a bag.

“Hey, Charcoal. Did you sneak in?”

Zhuo wasn’t surprised to see Zheng Tan here. She gave him a light pat on the head.

The cat provided a common topic for Mama Jiao and their visitor.

Mama Jiao felt relieved. She really wouldn’t know what to say to Zhuo if not for her pet.

Even though they didn’t know the specifics, Zhuo’s current problems were no secret. She felt bad for her.

The young woman was one of ‘the Buddha’s’ three favorites, with such a bright future ahead. Recently, the physics department had got some big project going on. If she were to participate, it would most certainly become another highlight on her resume. Yet, this kind of thing had to happen at this exact time. She got pregnant after she agreed to conduct the radiation experiment and was dead set on keeping this kid whose health could not be guaranteed. Oh, young people these days…

Zhuo didn’t stay here for long. She soon had her loose coat back on and left.

“This Zhuo … so unfortunate!” Because the kids were there, Mama Jiao couldn’t really explain the whole thing.

“Is Auntie Zhuo having a little baby?” Jiao Yuan asked.

“Uh-Huh.” Mam Jiao did not want to elaborate. They had been talking for a while and she was starting to feel tired, yet she wasn’t sleepy.

Papa Jiao thought about it for a second, then said: “Speaking of babies, there’s one thing you certainly do not know.”

“What?”

Jiao Yuan and Gu Youzi looked up at him curiously. Zheng Tan did the same. Except, Zheng Tan was prepared for the ‘let me tell you’ that was about to come.

“Let me tell you …” Papa Jiao found a pen and paper. He began drawing figures as he spoke.

He was right! Zheng Tan twitched his ears.

Although the words ‘let me tell you’ provoked nausea for him now, he was still curious in what Papa Jiao had to say.

Mama Jiao, on the other hand, knew exactly what he was going to say. After all they had been together for so many years. She shook her head whilst smiling. She wanted to see the kids’ reactions.

“We humans have more than one stages of growth and development. For example, fetuses go through several steps in their mother’s bellies. You boys, Jiao Yuan, are pretty much the same as girls during the initial embryonic stage.”

Zheng Tan, Jiao Yuan: “!!”

If you had to describe their reaction, the cat and boy looked as if they had been forced to swallow dog shit.

Papa Jiao ignored the look on their faces and went on: “Though you start off similar to girls, later on you experience a stage with five gender switch points.”

Papa Jiao drew an “Y” on the paper, “Gender chromosomes will send out a signal at the appropriate time, which will trigger a series of hormonal reactions. Hormones will issue a sex conversion signal, so that the embryo gradually turns from female to male. There are five change points. If something wrong happens during anyone of them, the embryo will develop into a female… ”

Pap Jiao went on and on, but the two kids and the cat were dumbstruck.

What did you expect when you told a boy he was transformed from a girl?

F*ck, this can’t be true…right?

“I am a man! A guy! With a you know what!” Jiao Yuan was so desperate to get his point across, that he was ready to take off his pants to prove himself.

“Yes, you are a boy, we are all clear on that. I am just explaining a fact. Everyone has to go through those development stages. It’s normal. ” Papa Jiao said.

Jiao Yuan still looked sick. In fact, Zheng Tan was not feeling much better. It was just that cat faces were less expressive, and he had black fur. People might be able to tell that this cat had a funny look on his face, but they wouldn’t know he just died a little bit inside.

“Boys are boys and girls are girls! You are either male or female, how could there be such a thing?” Jiao Yuan was bewildered. Human evolution and development was indeed a mysterious and mess-with-your-head type of topic.

“Well, many scholars argue there are more genders than just male and female. There are at least five: male, male-like, bi-gender, female-like, female.”

Zheng Tan: “…”

He didn’t know what to think anymore.

“So, sometimes we discover people with Y chromosomes that look nothing like a man without surgery. It’s rare, but it is possible. You cannot deny it. We must treat scientific fact as fact.” Papa Jiao’s last sentence caused Zheng Tan’s thoughts to come to a halt.

He suddenly remembered some things.