The vacation days spent at Grandma’s house were extraordinarily leisurely.
But Ying Miaomiao was feeling a bit anxious.
Perhaps it was because there was no progress in her transition into a human, or perhaps it was due to her own messy thoughts that she hadn’t yet sorted out.
This continued until the day of the Qingming Festival (Tomb Sweeping Day).
The weather was gloomy. It had rained all night, and the early morning was chilly.
After Shi Xinyu and Grandma prepared Ying Miaomiao’s meal, they set off for ancestor worship. According to the customs of their town, a lot of things needed to be prepared for ancestor worship, and the process was lengthy.
Therefore, the meal left for Ying Miaomiao was quite substantial.
This time, she didn’t wheedle and beg to go, unlike the last time Shi Xinyu went out. Instead, she sat obediently by the entrance, watching Grandma and Shi Xinyu leave.
Once she confirmed they were far away, Ying Miaomiao jumped onto the soft sofa covered with a green slipcover. The soft texture was comfortable and perfect for going back to sleep.
Although the weather outside remained gloomy, the only good thing was that it wasn’t raining. After all, one of the things Ying Miaomiao disliked the most about ancestor worship was when it rained.
The wind howled outside the window.
Ying Miaomiao looked up, her sapphire-blue eyes narrowed into a slit. Such a strong windy day was indeed abnormal.
The entire small town was quiet. It seemed there was no sound other than the wind, utterly silent.
She shifted to a more comfortable position, lying down, her gaze fixed intently on the window. The blue hydrangeas outside swayed in the wind.
Wind stirred the clouds, and the sky darkened.
Occasionally, a few dog barks could be heard from far away. Ying Miaomiao’s ears twitched, and she seemed to hear footsteps.
The steps were very light, but they weren’t Shi Xinyu’s or Grandma’s. Ying Miaomiao sat up straight and looked out the window.
A person wearing dark blue work clothes and carrying a toolkit walked towards the house. The person was wearing a hat, completely bundled up, and Ying Miaomiao couldn’t tell if they were male or female.
The person knocked on the neighbor’s door.
Because the distance was quite far, and the wind was loud, Ying Miaomiao couldn’t clearly hear what the person was saying, only vaguely distinguishing a man’s voice.
She felt something was off.
People dressed like that were usually electricians or plumbers, but such work was generally done only when the owner was home. As far as Ying Miaomiao knew, the next-door neighbor had driven off for ancestor worship early this morning—the loud noise had even woken her up.
After that sound, there was silence for a long time.
Ying Miaomiao still felt uneasy. She jumped off the sofa and went upstairs. The upstairs window offered a direct view of the neighbor’s doorway.
She crouched by the window, her pupils narrowed to a line.
It was desolate outside, with only a few pedestrians occasionally passing by, carrying items for worship.
After waiting for a long time, Ying Miaomiao estimated that about twenty minutes had passed before she finally saw the figure in the blue work clothes.
Ying Miaomiao keenly observed that the toolkit slung over the person’s shoulder seemed a bit more bulging than before.
Although there was no concrete evidence, a word suddenly popped into her mind: thief.
An alarm instantly blared in her head.
This thief seemed a little clever. By changing into work clothes, they wouldn’t arouse suspicion even when leaving someone’s house.
Moreover, knocking on the door in work clothes could rule out the possibility of someone being home. If someone were home, saying, “Sorry, I must have mistaken the place,” would perfectly resolve the situation.
But what was truly frightening was not just theft, but the potential for harm.
Cold sweat broke out on Ying Miaomiao. Seeing the person about to walk toward their house, she quickly ran downstairs.
The Confrontation
At the entrance.
A rhythmic knocking came from outside the door, but the person didn’t speak. After a few knocks, a voice finally sounded.
“Is anyone home? Plumbing repair.”
His voice was low, seemingly deliberately suppressed—this was a very cautious thief.
There was a long silence inside the house. Only when he became impatient and knocked hard again did a muffled sound ring out.
The hand that was knocking paused, and he asked again, “Is anyone in there? If someone is, please open the door, I’m here to fix the plumbing.”
Ying Miaomiao was a little nervous. She had just picked up a sturdy ornament in her mouth and dropped it from a medium height to make some noise, but the person didn’t seem to be giving up.
Things went contrary to her wishes.
The sound of departing footsteps did not ring out. After waiting for a while, the lock made a faint sound.
Ying Miaomiao hid in the blind spot, counting the seconds in her mind.
Three, four, five.
Click. The lock responded and opened.
The person behind the door was very cautious. He first opened a narrow gap and poked out half his head to observe the interior of the house. Only after confirming no one was inside did he push the door open with confidence.
But what he didn’t expect was that a cat was hidden in the blind spot.
The moment he stepped halfway in, a glass object smashed right by his feet. As he lowered his head to check, a sharp pain struck his face.
Several bloody scratches appeared from his left eye down to his nose bridge.
He cried out in pain.
He used the tool in his hand to throw at the other direction.
Ying Miaomiao was a bit slow and was unfortunately struck on her hind leg, but she couldn’t feel the pain. She knew her strength was insufficient but her agility was high, so she could only launch a surprise attack. Taking advantage of the brief opening, she quickly ran out the door, choosing not to engage in a prolonged fight.
However, since it was the Qingming Festival, there were too few people around, and his cry did not attract attention.
He hurriedly closed the door, ignoring the blood on his face, and ran in the direction Ying Miaomiao had fled.
Ying Miaomiao felt that her stamina as a cat was much better than when she was human, but being relentlessly pursued by a person, she became panicked and disorganized, completely forgetting that she could jump and climb walls or use small passages only accessible to cats.
Running for too long, Ying Miaomiao didn’t realize that the thief’s target was not her at all, but an electric scooter in the same direction.
Only after she stopped did she suddenly feel a faint smell of blood in her nasal cavity, which stung, and a burning pain in her hind leg.
After resting in place for a while, she looked up.
She seemed to be home.
Noticing this, Ying Miaomiao ignored her physical discomfort and rushed home with some excitement.
She nimbly slipped back into her house through a small ventilation window in the living room that only a cat could fit through.
The furnishings in the house were exactly the same as when she had left for work, but there was a faint layer of dust, and in the humid spring weather, it was permeated with a slight musty smell.
Where was her mother? Was she not home?
Ying Miaomiao froze.
She checked the clothesline area and the kitchen, trying to find any trace of habitation, but the house was tidied very cleanly, without a single trace.
Ying Miaomiao sat by the entrance, looking at the shoes she had given her mother, sealed in a plastic bag and placed on the shoe rack.
Her mother seemed to have prepared for a long trip.
The Competent Police Chief
Since moving her hind leg hurt now, Ying Miaomiao stayed at home for a while.
She was a little grateful that she had indulged and eaten more of the cat food Shi Xinyu made for her this morning because it was so delicious; otherwise, she would be ravenously hungry right now.
The living room clock pointed to 4:30 PM.
Ying Miaomiao moved her inconvenient but slightly better hind leg and left a small secret signal that only she and Ms. Ying knew about.
She still decided to go look for Shi Xinyu.
She hoped Shi Xinyu wouldn’t be scared when she saw the mess in the living room.
She used leverage to leave the house.
Before leaving, Ying Miaomiao looked back, feeling worried and a little guilty. The concealment she maintained for fear of worrying Ms. Ying seemed to have made Ms. Ying even more anxious.
The wind howled. Ying Miaomiao walked down the street with her tail drooping. If it weren’t for the conspicuous collar around her neck, passersby would have mistaken this battered cat for a stray.
“Miaomiao, are you okay?”
A deep voice rang out.
Ying Miaomiao turned around and saw the orange tabby cat she often fed.
The orange tabby had kept himself well-fed, his coat glossy, and his belly nearly dragging on the ground. He was robust and now opened his mouth in concern: “Do you want something to eat?”
Ying Miaomiao shook her head, but her eyes were a little sore. She blinked, saying glumly, “Thank you, I’m going to find someone.”
With that, she continued walking toward Shi Xinyu’s house.
The orange tabby, however, followed. He blocked Ying Miaomiao’s path and worriedly licked her hind leg.
“Miaomiao, were you hurt by a bad person? I told you, stay far away from those stinky humans—oh wait, you’re different, you’re a sweet kid.”
The orange tabby spat a few times, seeming to realize his topic had strayed: “Where are you going? I’ll take you part of the way.”
Ying Miaomiao shook her head. “You can’t take me. I’m going somewhere a bit far, and I’m afraid you’ll get lost.”
The orange tabby was very angry at Ying Miaomiao’s slight. He turned around and pushed a worn-out skateboard out from the nearby grass. There was a crack in the skateboard, and he said smugly, “You don’t think I’m going to carry you in my mouth like those stupid cats, do you? I have human tools.”
Ying Miaomiao was stunned. The tears that were almost welling up vanished, replaced by shock.
The hidden side of the little cat truly astonished her.
Hesitating for a moment, she asked, “Do you all act like this in front of others usually?”
The orange tabby nodded. He stepped onto the skateboard, pushing with his two hind legs, saying with some effort, “Of course not. You are the person I trust the most—hurry up and get on.”
Without hesitation, Ying Miaomiao got onto the slowly moving skateboard. A warmth spread through her heart. Leaning against the fuzzy and solid back of Big Orange, she said again, “Thank you.”
With Ying Miaomiao’s directions, they reached Shi Xinyu’s doorstep in only half the time.
She hadn’t felt it while running, but once she was back, Ying Miaomiao felt her tears were almost ready to burst out.
But the few households nearby seemed to have discovered they had been robbed, and the area was noisy. When Ying Miaomiao was a short distance from the alley, she quietly asked the orange tabby to let her down and strongly advised him to be careful not to let humans see him using their tools.
Grandma had moved a chair and sat alone at the entrance.
Ying Miaomiao knew it was her turn to step forward.
She approached, used her clean paw to smooth the messy fur on her head, tidied her slightly disheveled coat for a bit, and then slowly walked forward.
“Meow-aow~”
I’m back, hello everyone~
Her voice was extremely ingratiating, but her legs were soft, seeming like she was about to collapse at the courtyard gate the next second.
Seeing this, Grandma grabbed the little cat by the scruff of the neck and placed her inside the house. After checking Ying Miaomiao’s injury, she left a meal nearby.
Grandma walked to the side, her expression serious. She called Shi Xinyu, but the line was busy for a long time.