Chapter Seventy: The Nickname "Drifting"

"..."

Zhang Congwen rolled his eyes. "I'm a dog trainer, not a cat trainer. Why do you keep asking me to train cats? Besides, do you even have a cat? When I came to your house to train Big Tiger, I didn't see one."

Xie Caizhe quickly explained, "It's not my family's cat, I'm helping someone else."

Zhang Congwen paused, "Don't tell me you're flirting with another girl."

Xie Caizhe hurriedly shook his head in denial.

After Xie Caizhe explained, Zhang Congwen finally understood. The cat he wanted him to train wasn't from his own home, nor from some female classmate's house, but belonged to their homeroom teacher.

Previously, Xie Caizhe had found a stray kitten and wanted to bring it home, but his mother was allergic to cats. In the end, he had to give the little stray to his teacher to care for.

For some unknown reason, the cat was quite clingy and friendly while young, but suddenly one day became extremely timid and scared of people, easily stressed when encountering strangers.

Coincidentally, during the cat's early days at the teacher's home, the teacher was busy with some personal matters and had no time to care for it.

Later, when the teacher became less busy, the cat's problems became apparent. Several times, due to stress, it scratched the teacher. As a result, the cat has never been neutered or vaccinated.

Xie Caizhe always felt guilty about this.

Today, seeing Zhang Congwen had some knowledge about cats, he thought of asking for his help.

"This cat's situation is rather complicated. I might not be able to handle it," Zhang Congwen said honestly after hearing the story.

Xie Caizhe, however, was more confident than Zhang Congwen. "Brother Zhang can handle anything! Isn't it trendy to cross fields these days? If you can train both dogs and cats, imagine how impressive that sounds!"

Zhang Congwen didn't quite understand what was so impressive about training dogs and cats, but thinking of the idle days he had lately, he agreed in the end.

Still, he repeatedly emphasized to Xie Caizhe that he might not be able to handle the cat, and would only go take a look. Whether he could train it depended on fate.

Xie Caizhe agreed cheerfully and happily went home.

Zhang Congwen knew Xie Caizhe wasn't so delighted because he had agreed to help his teacher with the cat, but because after training Lin Xiaoru's cat, he now had another reason to visit her home.

Back at his rented apartment, Zhang Congwen searched for information about cat training to quickly catch up.

Although cat training wasn't his specialty, since he had agreed, he was determined to do his best. Yet he found there was very little useful information online; most of it was vague and scarce.

Instead, most online knowledge about cats was based on people's subjective assumptions.

For example, popular topics online claimed that every time the owner went out, the cat thought the owner was out hunting. If the owner brought food home, the cat would admire them.

Leaving aside whether cats feel admiration, just the idea of going out hunting—did anyone consider that if the owner never succeeded at hunting, where did the cat food come from? Was it supposed to fall from the sky? It made no sense.

Once, Zhang Congwen took a photo of rabbits. In the picture, two rabbits were in a cage, reaching for grass placed on top. The cage was too high, so they had to stand on their hind legs and stretch their forepaws up. Since the grass was in a corner, one rabbit climbed onto the other, seemingly hugging it.

Zhang Congwen posted the photo online, joking that one rabbit couldn't reach the grass, so the other lifted it up.

He didn't expect so many people to believe this clumsy lie, without a single objection.

It was then that Zhang Congwen realized how attributing human traits to animals could mislead so many.

Take some dogs, for instance: perfectly normal animals, but their owners insisted on thinking of them as humans, which often led to behavioral problems.

Despite most online information about cat training being worthless, Zhang Congwen still managed to find some genuinely useful insights. Unfortunately, none of the cases resembled the situation of his teacher's cat, so he had nothing to reference.

Even so, Zhang Congwen found inspiration in what he learned.

By connecting it with his knowledge of dog training, he unwittingly improved his own skills. He grasped details and concepts he had previously overlooked or misunderstood, gaining new insights.

At the time, he didn't realize that two seemingly unrelated fields—cat training and dog training—could lay such a solid foundation for his journey as a dog trainer.

...

Xie Caizhe's homeroom teacher was a single mother in her thirties.

Her accent was hard to place, but whenever she spoke, she liked to end sentences with a distinctive "wa".

Zhang Congwen had asked Xie Caizhe about his teacher's name, but he admitted he'd forgotten; he only remembered her surname was Bao. Privately, all the students called her by her nickname, "Drift".

She earned this nickname because she always appeared and disappeared unpredictably, often showing up at the back of the classroom like a ghost, without a sound.

"Hello wa," she greeted Zhang Congwen politely upon his arrival.

"Hello," Zhang Congwen replied with a smile.

"You really aren't afraid of our teacher," Xie Caizhe whispered in amazement from the side.

"Why should I be afraid of her?" Zhang Congwen asked, puzzled.

Xie Caizhe said, "Haven't you noticed how strong her presence is? All our classmates are terrified of her."

Zhang Congwen nearly laughed. He wasn't her student; what was there to be afraid of?

Xie Caizhe looked at Zhang Congwen with admiration.

After bringing Zhang Congwen to his teacher's home, he barely said a word before quietly slipping away, leaving Zhang Congwen alone to face the so-called intimidating aura.

It was clear Xie Caizhe was genuinely afraid of his teacher.

"Looks like Caizhe is really scared of you," Zhang Congwen said with a smile.

"He's just a little rascal. It's normal for him to be afraid wa," Drift replied, a hint of pride in her eyes.

From his impression, Drift wasn't at all like the intimidating figure Xie Caizhe described. Although she was in her thirties, Zhang Congwen still sensed a youthful air about her. Her appearance was also quite youthful, looking no older than her twenties.

He imagined that as a girl, Drift must have been lively and adorable.

Zhang Congwen couldn't understand how someone like Drift could frighten a clever student like Xie Caizhe.

"Where's your cat? Could you show me?" Zhang Congwen got straight to the point.

"Alright wa." Drift looked Zhang Congwen up and down. "I didn't expect the dog trainer Zhang to also train cats."

Zhang Congwen was surprised. "You know me?"

"It's already widely known at school wa. Not just our grade, other grades have heard your name. I bet even the parents know about the famous dog trainer Zhang wa," Drift said.

Although she'd heard of Zhang Congwen at school, she wasn't entirely convinced of his abilities. Especially since this time he was here not for dogs, but for cats.

But since he came recommended by her student, she said nothing more.