PCJ – Chapter 276 The Fat Cat Goes Fishing

Zhang Wenrong and his group were quite upset these days. Previously, they had diverted water to fill up the horticultural farm’s reservoir and even had Jiaohua release some fish fry. But today, they accidentally witnessed something at the reservoir that completely unnerved them. The fat cat had actually gone fishing in the pond! The strange thing was, it had something tied to its tail, and the fish in the pond were biting it one by one, getting pulled out by the cat. With the cat’s enormous appetite, the few fish fry they had released were nowhere near enough to feed it.

“Brother Rong, this fat cat is seriously weird!” Zhang Jiagen shook his head in disbelief.

“Yeah, Brother Rong, what should we do? If the fat cat eats all the fish, we won’t even make back our investment. Since this was our idea, it’ll be embarrassing for us,” Zhang Hangao added.

Zhang Wenrong picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at the fat cat. The cat was still chewing when it saw the stone flying toward it. It quickly rolled to the ground, barely avoiding the hit. Realizing it had been caught stealing fish, it immediately bolted.

“This won’t do, let’s go tell Jiaohua. We can’t let this continue. Keeping such a cat is nothing but trouble,” Zhang Wenrong stormed off angrily.

As soon as Zhang Jiaohua got home from school, Zhang Wenrong rushed to complain about what had happened that day.

“Where’s the fat cat?” Jiaohua asked, surprised to hear that the cat had such an unusual ability.

“Who knows where it’s hiding now,” Zhang Wenrong replied, clearly annoyed.

“This is actually easy to solve. Since the fat cat is so good at fishing, we should just have it fish in the river. We’ve been eating too much wild game, and it’s about time to change things up,” Jiaohua suggested with a smile.

Zhang Wenrong’s eyes lit up. “Right! Why didn’t I think of that?”

He quickly turned to Zhang Hangao and Zhang Jiagen. “What are you waiting for? Go find that fat cat! There’s still time to get it to the river to fish.”

Before long, Leopard and a nimble dog had caught the fat cat and brought it back. The cat slunk into the yard, head hanging low, as if reflecting deeply on its crime. This cat had a strange way about it, always acting pitiful after causing trouble, a tactic Jiaohua was all too familiar with.

“Fat cat, don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. You’ve eaten so many of my fish fry. If you don’t make up for it today, we’ll be having cat stew tonight,” Zhang Wenrong threatened.

The fat cat curled up on the ground, trembling as if it was really scared.

“Stop playing dead, fat cat, or I’ll have Leopard deal with you. Get to the river and catch some fish to redeem yourself, or we’ll throw you in the latrine,” Jiaohua said, clearly irritated.

The fat cat immediately jumped to its feet and bolted.

“This lazy cat always needs a push to get moving,” Zhang Wenrong laughed as he chased after it, shouting, “Bring a bucket with you!”

Jiaohua followed, curious to see the fat cat fishing. It was something he had never witnessed before.

Not far from the village was a small river called Meizi Stream. The stream wasn’t wide—only about six to seven meters at its broadest point, and as narrow as two to three meters at its thinnest, making it easy to jump across. The water wasn’t deep either, with the deepest parts around three to four meters.

The people of Meizi Village rarely fished, though a couple of families would sometimes use nets when the water levels were high. Mostly, children would catch fish using small homemade nets fashioned from mosquito netting.

But for a cat like this one, it was better suited to catching larger fish. The best spot was near the pier by Meizi Pond, where the water was deeper. The pier wasn’t for boats. No boats could navigate a stream this small. Instead, it was mainly used by the village women for washing clothes. In the summer evenings, it became the village’s makeshift bathhouse for the men.

“What are you doing bringing a cat to the pier?” asked Zhang Enzhong, who was cleaning a cooking pot by the river.

“Fishing,” Zhang Hangao replied, out of breath from chasing the cat.

“How come you didn’t bring a fishing rod?” Zhang Enzhong asked, puzzled.

“I’ll tie a rope around the fat cat’s neck and toss it into the river. That’s how I’ll fish,” Zhang Hangao laughed.

“Hey, that’s quite the method. But what kind of fish would bite such a big bait?” Zhang Enzhong chuckled, obviously not taking him seriously.

The fat cat meowed in displeasure at Zhang Hangao’s words.

Zhang Wenrong pointed to a rock near the pier. “Over there. Fat cat, go on! If you don’t catch any fish today, you’ll be the one feeding the fish.”

The fat cat reluctantly crept over, crouched on the rock, and lowered its tail into the water.

Jiaohua strolled over casually. “Caught anything yet?”

Zhang Enzhong burst into laughter. “Jiaohua, don’t tell me this was your idea?”

“What idea?” Jiaohua asked, his eyes fixed on the fat cat perched on the rock.

“Sending the cat to fish! I’ve lived for decades and never seen a cat fishing with its tail. If your cat catches a fish, I’ll fry an egg in the palm of my hand and let you eat it,” Zhang Enzhong joked.

“No need for the egg. Just bring me two pieces of tofu later. I’ll add them to the fish soup for extra flavor,” Jiaohua replied.

“And if it doesn’t catch anything?” Zhang Enzhong asked.

“What do you want in return?” Jiaohua asked.

Zhang Enzhong thought for a moment. “How about giving me a box of black tea? That tea you have is really good.”

“Uncle Enzhong, you’re quite the businessman, trading two pieces of tofu for a box of black tea worth over a hundred yuan,” Zhang Wenrong chimed in.

“Doesn’t matter. Even if you asked Jiaohua for ten thousand yuan, you wouldn’t get a cent. He’s bound to lose,” Zhang Jiagen laughed.

“True,” Zhang Wenrong said, dropping the matter.

“Alright, Uncle Enzhong, do you have tofu ready at home?” Zhang Hangao asked.

“Go ask your aunt,” Zhang Enzhong replied.

“You make it sound like I’m going to… ‘eat’ your aunt’s tofu,” Zhang Hangao joked.

“You brat, show some respect!” Zhang Enzhong retorted, annoyed.