Chapter 14

In the morning, Yixin was woken up by the alarm clock early. They had a presentation this morning, and he needed to arrive an hour early to prepare the slides. Even if he had stayed up late, he still had to get up.

Zheng Tan and Yixin left the house together.

Yixin ran to the East Garden cafeteria and bought two servings of steamed buns. After some thought, he also bought two cups of soy milk. He took them to the small forest in the family compound, where Zheng Tan was squatting on a stone table waiting.

Yixin placed one bag of steamed buns and a cup of soy milk on the stone table. He wasn't sure if cats could drink soy milk, but when he called Mr. Jiao, Mr. Jiao said that this cat had a strong stomach and was different from other cats. Yixin thought that eating only buns might be choking, so he bought an extra cup of soy milk.

It wasn't until Yixin inserted a straw into the disposable cup of soy milk that he suddenly realized cats probably wouldn't use a straw.

Yixin was worried, but Zheng Tan had already eaten one bun. He pushed Yixin's hand away and started sucking on the straw. Yixin was stunned, and if he hadn't been in a hurry to go to the presentation, he would have squatted there to study how Mr. Jiao's cat could use a straw with its mouth that leaked on both sides.

Zheng Tan didn't care what Yixin was thinking. He was very hungry and needed to eat quickly before going for a run. He wouldn't have the strength to run without eating.

There were eight small buns in the bag. When Zheng Tan was eating the sixth one, Ahuang and Chief ran over. The remaining two buns were given to them. As for Dapang, even if he came, he wouldn't eat what others left behind, just like Zheng Tan.

As usual, Ahuang came over and meowed twice to announce his arrival, urging the others to come quickly. After that, he started scratching the trees to sharpen his claws.

Zheng Tan threw the plastic bag and the soy milk cup into the nearby trash can and walked around the stone table to digest his food.

When Dapang slowly wandered over, Ahuang had already started scratching the third tree.

Zheng Tan felt it was time and called out. Ahuang stopped scratching and followed, occasionally nibbling on the grass.

Zheng Tan thought that if he didn't meet Weiling, he would run alone. It's just a run, right?

But before Zheng Tan left the East Garden area, he saw Weiling doing pull-ups at the public fitness equipment near the big lawn.

Seeing Weiling, Ahuang reacted the most. He jumped up like a flea, his fur bristling, and his ears spread out like an airplane. In comparison, Dapang was much calmer, just a bit wary but not as hostile as before.

Weiling let go and landed, looked at the four cats, focusing on Dapang and Zheng Tan. He didn't say much, turned, and walked out of the lawn, "Let's start running. Jogging, you have a track around the campus at Chu Hua University, let's run one lap first."

Zheng Tan: "..." A whole lap?

Chu Hua University is quite large. Since coming here, Zheng Tan had mostly stayed in the East Garden area, except for picking up Jiao Yuan and Gu Yuzi from their schools, going to the School of Life Sciences, and Lao Lan's small garden. There were many places in the university that Zheng Tan hadn't been to.

Running around the campus would be good, at least to get familiar with the place.

Zheng Tan ran about twenty meters and looked back. Dapang was squatting on the spot, yawning, Ahuang was in the grass pretending to poop, and Chief was licking his lips at a sparrow on a branch.

Damn, none of them are reliable. I'll run alone!

Weiling didn't wait for Zheng Tan and kept a steady pace, not too fast. Zheng Tan followed closely behind.

In the morning, students either rode bicycles or walked from the cafeteria, dormitories, and squares to the teaching buildings. In the peach forest, some students from drama and music clubs were practicing.

At this time of year, the osmanthus flowers in the school had been blooming for a while, and the fragrance was not as strong as before, probably about to wither.

When passing the square, Zheng Tan saw Grandma Zhai. She was dancing with her friends, waving red fans. It looked like they were about to finish, usually ending half an hour before class to avoid disturbing the students.

Grandma Zhai was doing a fan-twirling move and saw Zheng Tan running with his mouth open, almost throwing the fan. She had never seen Zheng Tan here at this time, and she didn't expect him to run so far, as this area was close to the teaching buildings, and it was rare to see cats here at this time.

Zheng Tan didn't pay attention to Grandma Zhai's expression. Although it was a slow jog, he was already quite tired. He had never run like this before, so it was no wonder he felt uncomfortable. The first part of the run was okay, but he gradually became more exhausted in the second half.

Weiling slowed down, but Zheng Tan didn't stop and kept running.

To get stronger and go further, he had to persist.

This was for his own life!

After running one lap, Zheng Tan rolled on the grass to rest. He knew there was an outdoor faucet on the big lawn and decided to drink some water.

Weiling didn't stop. After doing pull-ups, he ran another lap and then continued doing pull-ups at the public fitness equipment.

Zheng Tan rested by the faucet, drank some water, and saw Weiling running again, this time faster.

Zheng Tan took a few deep breaths and followed, but he was much slower and soon lost sight of Weiling. He didn't plan to keep running and turned at a fork in the road, heading toward Lao Lan's small garden.

As usual, Zheng Tan climbed over the wall, as it was too far to walk to the garden's entrance. His legs were a bit weak from the run, and he almost couldn't jump up.

Although it was called a small garden, it was actually quite large, with several transparent greenhouses full of plants, and not much open space.

After climbing the wall, Zheng Tan didn't jump down immediately. He walked along the wall to a greenhouse, then jumped onto it with a thud.

Lao Lan, who was busy with a small shovel inside, looked up and scolded, "Can't you jump somewhere else? A few more jumps and my greenhouse will have to retire early!"

Zheng Tan ignored him and walked to the side of the greenhouse, where there were a few stacked wooden boxes forming a ladder. He jumped down step by step.

Zheng Tan looked inside the greenhouse. It was transparent, so he could see clearly.

Lilies?

Yellow ones?

Zheng Tan had never seen yellow lilies before, only white ones. The flowers inside looked similar to the lilies he had bought to impress girls.

Why was Lao Lan growing so many yellow lilies? White ones should sell better, right?

Zheng Tan was puzzled and walked inside. There was a wooden box at the entrance containing some brown stuff, but he didn't pay much attention. His focus was on the yellow flowers.

Lao Lan, who was busy with his shovel, turned and said, "Be careful, don't damage the daylilies!"

Daylilies?

So they weren't lilies?

Zheng Tan tugged at his ear. He was a complete novice in this area and couldn't tell the difference even if he looked closely. He couldn't even remember what lilies looked like, just that they seemed familiar.

Just as Zheng Tan was thinking, someone came to the small garden.

It was a few students who had come to collect samples.

Like others, these students were very cautious in front of Lao Lan.

"Professor Lan, we called to make a reservation. We're here to collect samples for our research on the antioxidant properties of flavonoids."

Lao Lan didn't stand up, just pointed to a corner of the greenhouse, "There, where I marked. You can collect samples there, but don't touch anything outside the marked area."

"Okay, okay, we'll be careful," a student nodded quickly.

The students carefully went to the corner Lao Lan pointed to. One of them, probably a freshman, whispered, "So this is the forget-me-not grass. It looks a lot like lilies."

The other students flinched, and sure enough, they heard Lao Lan's voice.

"Daylilies belong to the family Liliaceae, genus Hemerocallis. Haven't your teachers taught you this? What's so strange about them looking similar?"

Lao Lan's voice was calm, but it was clear he was angry.

The students fell silent, afraid to say anything wrong and get scolded. They quickly finished collecting their samples and politely said goodbye and left.

Zheng Tan squatted nearby, still thinking about what the student said. So the legendary forget-me-not grass was actually daylilies? The former sounded more sophisticated, while "daylilies" sounded more rustic. Zheng Tan had never connected the two names before.

After the students left, Lao Lan stood up, stretched his back, and walked out of the greenhouse, taking the wooden box at the entrance with him.

"Fresh daylilies have more fat and vitamin C than dried ones, but less protein and other trace elements. I prefer the dried ones. In my hometown, this stuff is common, but it's hard to find in the city. Black Coal, let me tell you..."

Blah, blah, blah.

These retired professors couldn't help but teach, even to a cat that understood nothing. As soon as he heard "let me tell you," Zheng Tan knew Lao Lan was in teaching mode, just like Mr. Jiao.

Zheng Tan played in Lao Lan's small garden for a while and left at noon.

The sun was bright. When Zheng Tan returned to the East Family Compound, he saw Ahuang lying on the grass, half in the shade and half in the sun. To his surprise, there was a creature next to Ahuang, making a whimpering sound. Ahuang was licking it, and it stopped whimpering.

What the hell? When did this creature with a silly face come to the East Garden? He had never seen it before!

Before Zheng Tan could finish his surprise, another one came running over.

Zheng Tan: "..."

Who the hell is this deformed creature that looks like it got punched?

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Thank you to Catmimi, lxbeiyue, Wuxinlun, Pingdigu, and Lazyorange for your support! Thanks to everyone for keeping this book on the homepage! Bow~

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