Put Little Kitty Down
Fish mixed with rice? Ji Xiao looked at the kitten in his arms. Where was he supposed to get fish mixed with rice for it…?
“We’ll go buy some canned cat food at the supermarket later,” Shen Yu said after taking a few sips of her drink. “I’ll leave this to you two. Over the next few days, fatten it up a little. It’ll be easier to find someone to adopt it that way.”
“You really are something when it comes to giving orders.” Ji Xiao was worried. The kitten looked terribly weak, and he was afraid they might end up raising it to death.
“Cut the crap. Just carry out the order.”
“Lin Zi likes cats the most. I think this mission is best handed to him.” Ji Xiao glanced at Lin Zi, who was standing there grinning with his arms folded. “He keeps a cat in his computer just to satisfy the craving. He grooms it and checks it for fleas every day. Full of love.”
“Oh?” Shen Yu laughed and looked at Lin Zi. Judging by sight alone, he had to be around one meter ninety, and he was built solidly too. Who would have thought he played that kind of thing. “You really can’t tell. Such a mighty, imposing man, and you’re into that.”
“Absolutely mighty and heroic.” Lin Zi answered openly, not embarrassed in the least, though he had completely missed the point.
Shen Yu was amused and nudged Ji Xiao with her foot. “Your friend is pretty interesting. He talks just like Cui Yuanhang, completely all over the place.”
The moment the name Cui Yuanhang came out, Ji Xiao’s expression changed immediately. One look told Shen Yu that she had said the wrong thing again, so she hurriedly changed the subject and lifted her chin toward Lin Zi. “Then the kitten’s in your hands, mighty and heroic man.”
“Leave it to me.” Lin Zi answered with a smile. He glanced at Ji Xiao. Ji Xiao’s mood had obviously dropped off a cliff, but Lin Zi didn’t ask any further.
“Aren’t we supposed to go buy shoes this afternoon?” Ning Xiaoyue noticed the atmosphere had turned off and patted Shen Yu. “Let’s go now. I still want to try on a few more pairs.”
“All right, let’s go now.” Shen Yu looked at Ji Xiao and stood up. “Next time you guys are off, your big sis is treating. Bring the horse-wrangling man along too. Whatever you want to eat, I won’t say a word against it.”
“Maoxuewang.” Ji Xiao stood as well, holding the kitten, and answered weakly.
“Go stand somewhere else.” Shen Yu hated maoxuewang more than anything. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you!”
“So still not very sincere, huh? Didn’t you say there’d be no objections?” Ji Xiao smiled.
Shen Yu hooked an arm around his neck and pulled him off to one side, lowering her voice. “Sis didn’t mean it, really, I didn’t. I’ll be careful in the future. Don’t take it to heart, okay?”
“It’s fine.” Ji Xiao pinched her chin. “You just brought it up so suddenly, I wasn’t prepared.”
“That’s easy then. Next time I say it, I’ll definitely let you know first so you can get ready.”
“Is there anyone like you?” Ji Xiao frowned. “Please hurry up and get married off so you can go torment somebody else. I can’t take it anymore.”
While Ding Wei was inside clearing the cups, he noticed that the firefighters at outside table four had paid and left. He let out a breath of relief, though he didn’t know why he had been feeling a little tense.
As they were leaving, Ding Wei heard the kitten let out a cry.
He frowned and hesitated over whether he should meddle in this business. In the end, he still decided to run after them, but the group had already vanished from sight. He stood in the doorway blankly for a moment. Forget it. He couldn’t control that much anyway. Maybe they’d notice it themselves later.
“Ding Wei,” a young girl called to him from inside. “Boss is looking for you. He told you to go to the office.”
“Mm.” Ding Wei stood there a while longer before finally turning and going back into the shop, passing through the back door and heading upstairs.
Lu Kuan’s office was on the second floor, and his home was on the second floor too. For a single man, Lu Kuan’s place was actually quite cozy. Ding Wei felt that judging from Lu Kuan’s appearance, he didn’t look like the kind of person who could arrange a home and office like this.
“What is it.” Ding Wei stood in front of the desk.
Lu Kuan stood by the window tending to the flowers planted on the windowsill. He took a long time before finally turning around and saying, “Go over to Uncle’s place. He has something he wants to talk to you about.”
“What does he want to talk about?” Ding Wei picked up a little kitty ornament from Lu Kuan’s desk and looked at it. He hadn’t been in contact with Uncle for a long time. Ever since the time before before before before before last that he had lost a tail, he hadn’t seen him again.
“How would I know.” Lu Kuan took a small cloth and wiped the leaves one by one. “I’m not a cat.”
Ding Wei put down the ornament and raised his head to look at the back of Lu Kuan’s head, narrowing his eyes a little. Lu Kuan didn’t turn around. He just laughed softly. “What, little kitty, want to scratch me?”
“Not interested.” Ding Wei pressed his fingers against the tabletop, turned, and walked out of the office. “Lu Kuan, you’re even more annoying than your brother.”
Only after the door slammed shut with a bang did Lu Kuan slowly turn around. His gaze fell on the place on the desk where Ding Wei’s fingers had pressed. He reached out and touched it, finding two shallow little dents. “Your temper’s getting worse and worse.”
Uncle was an old cat. Ding Wei didn’t know how many tails he had, because he had never seen Uncle’s cat form. He didn’t know what Uncle’s name was either. He had always just followed other people in calling him Uncle.
Uncle was a very easygoing uncle. Theoretically speaking, he should really be called great-uncle. It was said that the number of years he’d lived could make up half a history book.
He had always said Ding Wei was a nine-tailed cat with spiritual energy, one who would accomplish great things in the future. A very long time ago, when Ding Wei had only just begun cultivating his tails, Uncle had often guided him. Even the name Ding Wei had been given by Uncle.
But in his heart, Ding Wei had always secretly believed that Uncle was probably a failed nine-tailed cat. Otherwise, why would he still be wandering around the human world all this time?
Most of the time, Uncle lived in a very quiet little town outside the city. To be exact, he lived on the riverbank beneath a broken bridge in that little town.
A little black cat wandering back and forth alone over a riverbank full of all kinds of weeds was not something eye-catching. Besides, there wasn’t a single person around. After circling several times without seeing any sign of Uncle, he started to get irritated.
The fourth time he passed beneath the bridge, he could not help letting out a few impatient meows. Before the last meow had even finished, his voice suddenly changed pitch, going up eight degrees into a drawn-out, “Miaow, aow, aow, aow, aow…”
Someone had grabbed his tail, which shocked him badly, because he hadn’t sensed anyone behind him at all. With no guard up whatsoever, his tail had been seized.
Without even turning his head, he pumped his legs desperately, trying to run. After kicking a few times, he realized he was still stuck in the same place, his paws scraping uselessly against a big round rock. That humiliating state made him furious, and he whipped around and bit straight at whoever was behind him.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” The hand holding his tail released it, and a steady voice came over. “That kind of temper won’t do.”
It was Uncle.
He bit empty air and, after seeing clearly who was behind him, felt that this old guy had become more and more lacking in dignity. His beard looked like it hadn’t been shaved in ages, and his clothes were a mess too. He looked like a scavenger.
He backed up two steps and sat down, drawing his tail in at his side. The tip of the tail was still held up, swaying lightly with displeasure.
“You’re too impetuous.” Uncle squatted down to look at him and reached out to stroke his head. “How can this do? Even if you cultivate nine tails like this, it still won’t be any use…”
Shut up!
He sprang up at once, the black fur all over his body puffing up as he arched his back and bared his teeth at Uncle. What he hated hearing most were words about cultivating tails. He had struggled so hard for so long and still had never succeeded. That was frustrating enough already. Hearing words like that now made him not even want to look at this person one more time.
After baring his teeth, he turned and darted up onto the riverbank, running away with a bouncing, irritated gait and never looking back.
Uncle didn’t move. He just stayed squatting where he was and smiled as he shook his head.
Five minutes later, Uncle heard footsteps approaching. They were very light, but very steady. The footsteps stopped only when they reached his side, and then he heard Ding Wei’s familiar voice, tinged with a bit of helplessness. “What did you want with me.”
“Lost another tail again?” Uncle stood and looked at him.
“Mm.” Ding Wei waved a hand, his eyelids drooping. “Did you really need to ask that separately?”
“You’re too impatient, child.”
“If I wasn’t impatient, I’d turn into you.” Ding Wei answered. Compared with those cats who could cultivate one tail in two or three months, even when he strained with all his might, it still took him half a year to grow another tail. That already counted as very not impatient. “Uncle, you haven’t bathed in a long time, have you?”
“Who says that? I had just washed up before I went to see Lu Kuan.” Uncle lowered his head and sniffed himself. “It’s true I haven’t changed clothes in quite a while.”
“Talk business.” Ding Wei hadn’t actually smelled anything strange on Uncle, but that movement still made him raise a hand and cover his nose.
“The sixteenth of this month is a good day. Find a place where the spiritual energy is abundant, and there will be gains.”
Ding Wei bit his lip. The sixteenth? It was only a few days away. It was just that, where was a place with abundant spiritual energy… He didn’t ask. Uncle would never tell him. He could only find it himself.
“Got it.” Ding Wei turned to leave.
“And one more thing. You should go to school. I had Lu Kuan contact a school, a private one, and you…”
“Not going!”
“I won’t harm you. Listen to me and you won’t go wrong. It will help you cultivate your tail.”
Ding Wei walked off without turning back. But he had to admit, Uncle understood him very well. That last sentence had struck right at his weak spot. Going to some crappy school could actually help him cultivate tails?
“Is this fish mixed with rice?” Ji Xiao squatted in the hallway, looking at the pot in Lin Zi’s hands.
“Isn’t it?” Lin Zi was not at all vague about it and took a direct taste. “Captain Wu just made this. I think it smells pretty good… so why won’t it eat?”
“Captain Wu is such a failure. Even the food he makes won’t be eaten by a cat. I don’t even know what his daughter ate to grow to the age of eight…” Ji Xiao muttered softly. Looking at the kitten curled up in the cardboard box, he felt worried. It had been an entire afternoon, and this cat had done nothing but cry. It wouldn’t eat canned food, wouldn’t eat fish mixed with rice, and wouldn’t even drink water. It had cried itself hoarse.
“Stuff food into it.” Lin Zi gritted his teeth.
“Get lost. What if we stuff it to death? Shen Yu won’t let me off the hook if that happens.”
“Then I’ve got nothing.” Lin Zi tossed the pot onto the floor. Two grown men had spent all afternoon wrestling with one tiny kitten, and in the end they still couldn’t do a thing about it.
“Leave it here. It’s a female cat, maybe she’s shy.” Ji Xiao stood up. Even his waist was sore. “Go do whatever we were doing. If we leave it alone for a while, maybe it’ll eat on its own.”
Ding Wei really didn’t want to meddle, but when he was heading home, he still couldn’t help himself. He made a small detour and lingered for a while by the side of the fire brigade. The cat had been taken back by the firefighter. He could hear the weak cries of the kitten coming from the brigade dormitory building.
He was honestly impressed by that person. The kitten was crying itself into that state, and he still hadn’t noticed anything?
That kitten was injured. Its back leg was broken.
Humans really were far too slow. Ding Wei frowned. If this kept up, in less than two days, this kitten that had only just been weaned would die.
He circled the fire brigade yard several times. There was no way he could brazenly walk in, find those people, and say that the kitten’s leg was broken and had to be treated. And by the time he made his second round, the armed police standing watch at the yard gate were already starting to stare at him.
What a pain. Ding Wei looked around, then quietly edged toward the courtyard wall at the back of the fire brigade.
“Ji Xiao, today’s mood not too great?” Lin Zi was sprawled on Ji Xiao’s bed listening to the crying of the kitten out in the hallway.
“No.” Ji Xiao turned on the computer and got ready to log into his game.
“That Cui Yuanhang, why does your face go long as a horse every time your sister brings him up?” Lin Zi was very close with Ji Xiao, but he had never once heard him mention a person who could make his expression change instantly like that. “You’re really not giving the fairy any face.”
Ji Xiao’s hand on the mouse paused. He had known Lin Zi was definitely going to ask about this today. “Does the horse in your family grow that handsome?”
“Don’t talk crap. Why are you dodging around with me? I can tell from one listen it’s not a girl. What, are you scared I’ll steal him from you?” Lin Zi kicked at his chair.
“A friend of mine.”
“…Can you get the whole sentence out in one go? What kind of friend is it that can’t even be mentioned?”
Ji Xiao closed the game he had just opened, leaned back in his chair, and said, “A dead friend.”
Lin Zi didn’t ask anything more. He lay on the bed without making a sound. Ji Xiao didn’t move either. He just stayed there leaning back against the chair, head tilted up.
After a while of silence, Lin Zi suddenly stood up and patted him. “Why did that cat stop crying?”
The kitten that had been crying nonstop outside the door had gone silent.
“Did it finally start eating?” Ji Xiao stood too, crept over to the door as lightly as possible, and opened a crack to look outside. After one glance, he yanked the door wide open and barked, “Stop right there!”
The kitten that had been in the cardboard box in the hallway was no longer in the box. Instead… it was being held in another cat’s mouth.
Lin Zi crowded over to the door, took one look, and froze. A little black cat had that kitten clamped in its mouth, head pointed toward the stairs. Judging by the look of it, it had been about to slip away, but Ji Xiao’s sudden shout had probably startled it, because it had gone rigid on the spot, one front leg still lifted and not yet set down.
“A cat… stealing a cat?” Lin Zi couldn’t believe his own eyes.
“How would I know!” Ji Xiao stared at the little black cat, not daring to make any big movements for fear of frightening it off.
The little black cat slowly turned its head with the kitten in its mouth. Its amber eyes met his. This time he didn’t hesitate. He recognized at once that this was the same cat they had pulled from the sewer the other day, those eyes were exactly the same.
“This is… the cat we pulled out of the sewer that day, right?” Lin Zi whispered into his ear. “Look, even the tail grows the same. The tip’s bent a little on both of them.”
“Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, put it down.” Ji Xiao paid no attention to Lin Zi’s analysis. All he wanted was to get Shen Yu’s cat back. He slowly crouched down, lightly tapping the floor with his hand. “Good kitty, put little kitty down…”
Idiot…
Of course he wasn’t going to put the kitten down. If it stayed here, the kitten would die. He shot the man a sideways glance. Still kitty kitty kitty, too. Then he turned his head and, carrying the kitten in his mouth, ran straight for the stairwell.
“Holy shit.” Ji Xiao sprang to his feet and grabbed Lin Zi. “Chase it, now!”