Bad Cat – Chapter 5

An aggregator MTL site earn more viewings than me… ( ；∀；) I guess it’s because I’m slow. Welp whatevs. As I said before, just MTL if you guys wanna faster release. I’m just going to continue my sloth life lmao

btw I decided to not put navigation buttons anymore cuz I only have one novel here, so I don’t think there’ll be any trouble of reading previous or next chapter. Less trouble for me lel

Enjoy!

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Fang Yan’s cheeky two sentences, after being beaten to memory lane by Gu gē’s fist, squatted in the corner to cry manly tears.

You said it was medical retirement? This is not the fist from someone who took medical retirement!

Gu Yusheng tidied the second floor, watching Fang Yan squatting there picking on the paint on the wall, walked over and gave him a kick, “Let’s go, go downstairs and help me wash the vegetables. I’ll cook for lunch.”

“Ey, okay~” Fang Yan resurrected with full HP, went downstairs and rushed to the kitchen, as if he was not the one who opposed Gu gē opening the restaurant.

Fang Yan himself was a soldier who took medical retirement. He knows for his fellow brothers that shed blood in the army, but left with injury or disability, it would be hard for them to return to society.

Calling them hard-headed is okay, being called stubborn is also fine. Most of the comrades-in-arms if he should say in general, refused to open their mouths and let their brothers give a helping hand.

While their peers who have made a name for themselves in their 30s, drive an expensive car and live in bungalows, also have children who attended private schools, they themselves have been a little reluctant. The money they received, either given to the family to change into a better house, or to pay the medications for their parents. Therefore it’s difficult for them to become rich.

Society is changing with each passing day. In the relatively closed environment of the army, a lot of their ideas and consciousness became out of touch with the reality.

Coupled with those hailing from ordinary families, the body not only may carry injuries, their education was not enough in addition to having no other working experience. Even those who are invincible in fights when they were around 22 – 23 years old, by the time they became 36 – 37 years old can only be security guards at the door.

The kind like Fang Yan who can open his own company after retirement, in the end is only a minority.

Therefore, knowing that Gu gē wanted to open his own small restaurant, Fang Yan didn’t have any meaning of looking down on him at all. But he was still very distressed, like his heart on fire.

Whoever knows Gu Yusheng, which soldier doesn’t worship or admire him?

Physical fitness, awareness, comprehensive strength, everything were able to make them convinced. When Fang Yan retired before, he cried like a dog. Thinking that in the future when Gu gē will be wearing a star on his epaulette, he would very proudly say to people; Did you see that? I used to be a soldier under General Gu. He also had saved my life.

But who would think, Gu gē is only 29 years old, and he took medical retirement.

Outsiders watched the excitement, but the insiders can see the road. How close Fang Yan is with Gu Yusheng ah, with a glance he can see that the other person was not injured or sick, and still in his peak state. So how can he leave the army?

He tried to figure it out from asking through his relationships, and wanted to see if there were any villains who tried to trip Gu gē. In the end, he can only hear some gossip, saying that Gu gē’s withdrawal had something to do with the tragic victory of his previous mission.

As for the specifics, they were all sealed in confidential files.

Fang Yan has a chivalrous heart that dared to laugh and dared to cry. Thinking that Gu gē must be packing to leave the army, he cried with a howl, letting the neighbors think that he was fighting with the huskies at home.

Wait until Gu Yusheng came out, Fang Yan wiped his tears and followed like a tail behind Gu gē, determined to become the best mother hen guarding their Gu gē.

Gu Yusheng knew that Fang Yan was concerned about him, but many things can’t be explained during the confidentiality period. His retreat really was not so complex; he just felt unsuitable, so he left.

He just moved so the ingredients were limited. Gu Yusheng fried a plate of fried pork with chilli and cooked brine noodles. Each person one using a bowl and another using the pot, eating the food deliciously.

“Gu gē, it’s so delicious.” The more Fang Yan ate, the more moved he became. Remembering that when they were in the army before, there were days when Gu Yusheng would open a small stove for them.

As long as the ingredients are sufficient and it was food that he had tasted, at most in two or three tries Gu Yusheng can make it. Relying on this skill that he kept at the bottom, he made a lot of young soldiers moved to the point of calling him mother.

The food made by Gu gē, has a motherly taste.

Of course, Gu Yusheng would pull them all to get a beating one by one afterwards. But even if they were beaten again, the food was still delicious.

Gu Yusheng didn’t have a family. Holding the chopsticks and eating slowly, he watched Fang Yan gobbling and munching from the pot looked very funny. “Alright, wait until next week when I finish sorting out the shop, call Erpeng and the others over.”

It was hard for him to get in contact with the outside world when he was in the army before, but now that he has left, they can often meet and have a meal together.

Gu Yusheng has no other relatives anymore. Fang Yan, Erpeng and the others are not only his comrades-in-arms, but also brothers and family to him.

“By the way Gu gē, why do you want to open your restaurant in this community ah?” Fang Yan knew that he wouldn’t be able to persuade Gu Yusheng after he had made his decision, so he thought from another angle; how much can you earn from a small restaurant in a community compared to the city center ah!

Even if Jiuzhou District is well-known for being in the mid to high-end location, the total numbers of the residents are there. With such limited traffic, when can he get rich to climb to the peak of life ah?

For Gu Yusheng, Fang Yan can be said to be willing to give his whole heart. Thinking that when he followed Gu gē into the community, he still needed to fill in a lot of details to enter, he felt that someone of Gu gē’s culinary skills should have a better platform.

“It won’t be tiring with less people.” Contrary to what Fang Yan thought, this is actually the reason he fancied the city corner’s Jiuzhou community. The entry and exit to the community is strict, basically with the advantage of not being disturbed by people. He still has very serious auditory hallucinations, so it’s better to stay here.

Is it fine to have less customers when doing business? Fang Yan was stunned, but Gu gē deserved to be Gu gē, amazingly different from others. He has a steady stream of *rainbow farts to blow, and he really wants to show off to Erpeng and the others about it.

However, Gu gē also needs to rest. So, Fang Yan also felt that having fewer customers is better. When doing business, rather than getting fame and interest, being happy is the best. He is the *grass on the wall for Gu gē.

The design of the house upstairs and store downstairs is quite suitable to Gu Yusheng this single male. The many years of military life made him and Fang Yan as diligent and neat people, so in less than half a day they have finished cleaning up the shop.

“Gu gē, pay attention to your phone in the afternoon. I’m sending something over.”

Fang Yan ran up and down the stairs twice, and saw that the things in the store were just enough to survive. In life, you should enjoy the convenience you have. He was ready to send something over.

“The security in the community is too strict, I have to contact you first every time I go in and out, really.”

Even though Fang Yan was complaining, he still recognized the management methods of Jiuzhou Community. He even suspected that the security guards at the guardhouse memorized all the residents living in the community, otherwise how would they know that he was an outsider?

“Jiuzhou community was also considered a hot topic on the net. I remember that it got on the news for a while.” Fang Yan had his fill of food and drinks, moved a chair and sat next to the store’s door to digest, pointing to the roads and infrastructure outside to Gu Yusheng.

Gu Yusheng looked over, and also found out the differences. Unlike the ordinary design, Jiuzhou community seems to have added a lot of renovations?

“Hey, that’s right. It was all for a black cat. Probably the developer is the ultimate cat slave.”

When Fang Yan said so, Gu Yusheng also thought of when he bought the store. The contract agreement also mentioned a cat called Huatang, and the attached clause related to the cat filled about 3 – 4 pages of the papers.

Gu Yusheng didn’t know much about cats, but touching the identification card worn on his body, he thought of his other comrade-in-arms.

The mission which was barely won before his retirement, took five of Gu Yusheng’s comrades, one of which was a military dog named “Dorji”.
Five people plus Dorji took the mission, but only Gu Yusheng alone survived. This also led him to retire because of a serious case of PTSD.

The remains of the four comrades were returned to their respective families, but Dorji’s id card was left behind to Gu Yusheng. When he heard Fang Yan mentioned the cat, he thought of Dorji’s descendant, that there was one unqualified puppy.

Pure black, the most similar to Dorji, but the character is too lively. Being coquettish and rolling around is really not suitable to be a military dog, at such a young age it was already facing unemployment problem.

Gu Yusheng’s doctor has asked him before whether he wanted to take that little guy away. Anyway, unemployed dogs are generally taken away to shelters, restoring their status into ordinary dogs.

At that time, Gu Yusheng’s state was too bad, so he had disagreed. But now he thought of wanting to contact him again, if the puppy still hasn’t found an owner, he can bring it back to take care of it.

Sending away Fang Yan, Gu Yusheng returned upstairs to take out Dorji’s id card. Touching the imprint above, as if he could still see among the gunfire, the black army dog loyally guarding them.

The clock’s ticking, the sounds of water flowing in the pipes, and the voice of conversation coming from outside the window, let Gu Yusheng tighten his hold on the id card, began to force himself to calm down and take a deep breath.

No, no, there’s no timed bomb here, no bombing countdown, no civilians struggling to breathe from serious injuries or bleeding, also no teammates left behind to let him go accomplish the task objective quickly.

The corners of the stainless steel sheet made the palm of his hand feel painful, but let Gu Yusheng’s state eased slightly better. Taking out the mobile phone, he dialed a number.

Dorji’s offspring puppy that was running out of style, was still continuing to eat and drink military rations even after losing its job. Until now, it still hasn’t found a meal ticket, and was in urgent need for a rich owner to take it away. Gu Yusheng’s call came over just at the right time.

It seems that everything is still not too late.

After making an appointment with the other party about the time to bring the pup back home, Gu Yusheng went to wash his face with cold water, still couldn’t look at himself properly in the mirror. Then he got ready to go out and buy some dog toys and other things.

Unlike what Fang Yan thinks, what Gu Yusheng lacked was never money. He just wants to find a relatively quiet and closed place so he can heal himself.

The store didn’t have a sign, but the decoration partition outside has been removed. Probably it would be opened soon, which makes many residents passing by to take a look.

There are three buildings at the “red-tiled house” here. One is the Community Housekeeping Center, and the other is a large supermarket. They don’t know what the new store will be.

It has been under renovation for 2 – 3 years, if it’s still not open for business, the community residents would think that this is not a storefront, but a display shop specifically designed to stay here.

Anyway, it’s true that the whole community let a cat ancestor frolicking around. So setting a storefront kept in a decorative state here specially as a display store is totally not a problem!

Gu Yusheng locked the door, wearing soundproof headphones, walked to the pet shop at the south gate to buy things. He always has a little sympathy for the puppy he had yet to meet, thinking of the hardships that they and Dorji have while performing tasks outside made him couldn’t help but want to treat the puppy better.

Regardless of the price, he picked the most expensive ones. Under the shop assistant’s smiling recommendation, Gu Yusheng thanked them for their delivery service, and took two bags with him home.

The security in Jiuzhou community is very good. In the afternoon, Gu Yusheng noticed that a lot of four or five-years-old children playing together not far away, the grandparents watching over them sat in the pavilion nearby to chat together relaxedly.

Gu Yusheng has broad shoulders and long legs, with big steps when he walks. When passing by, his eyes saw the children were jumping around.

Life is precious, and Gu Yusheng also has a little more tenderness for these little children. He took off the soundproof headphones, took a closer look, and then the corners of his mouth slightly twitched.

A group of children like the koi in a pond, were fished around by a black cat lying on a sculpture with its tail.

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Translation Notes:
1. 彩虹屁: Rainbow farts, a Chinese slang on giving exaggerated praises to please someone you admire.

2. 墙头草: Grass on the wall, Chinese idiom for someone who doesn’t have their own opinion and follows whichever side the wind blows.

This is spoiler, but Gu Yusheng is a precious cinnamoroll.

P/S: I just wondered whether you guys prefer explanation (for idioms/slangs/whatever) in the middle of the chpater or at the end of the chapter? Cuz I’m still struggling with wordpress and don’t know yet how to hyperlink the words to the explanation. I do know some people doesn’t like TN inserts in the middle of reading.