Falling, falling, and with a plop, the little cat once again collapsed into a heap on the plaza in front of the dilapidated temple, all thanks to that damned gravity.
The beautiful Blue-Gold Cat finally managed to smooth herself out, climbed up from the ground, and fumbled her fluffy big tail behind her.
“Can you manage or not? You run on four legs worse than on two,” Zhong Jianli said, lighting a cigarette and squinting at the silly cat before him. “Stop walking on just your back two legs. If people see, they’ll think I’m some perverted circus ringmaster forcing you to train on your hind legs.”
“You try walking on two legs for twenty-seven years and then suddenly switching to four,” Fang Ye shot Zhong Jianli a glare. “I’m already doing great!”
There was a soft gray-gold kitten earnestly practicing walking on flat ground, her four little legs moving like they’d been shipped in separate packages, each with a mind of its own. After barely two stumbling steps, they tangled together and she flopped face-first into the dirt.
“HAHAHAHA!” Having scrambled up in a sorry state, Fang Ye heard undisguised laughter coming from above her head.
Fang Ye, once the king of the stage, a superstar: …I never once messed up a dance step back in the day!
“Master Buling, teaching a cat to walk again?” the contractor helping repair the abandoned temple greeted him.
“Amitabha. Every cat blooms in its own season this one’s season is simply rather late.” Zhong Jianli’s freshly shaved scalp gleamed in the light, his words full of tolerance and compassion, the very picture of a young enlightened monk. Only Fang Ye could hear the sarcasm dripping from his words.
“Meow!” Fang Ye was so furious she jumped up, cursing out this fake monk with his sickeningly sweet, passive-aggressive airs, albeit in a tiny, milky kitten voice.
“Whoa, this little cat’s got quite the temper!” Master Wang burst out laughing at the sight of Fang, puffed up in fury like a ball of sesame paste with every hair standing on end.
“Master Wang, roughly how long until the work is finished?” Abbot Buling pressed his palms together and bowed politely to the contractor.
“Soon,” Master Wang said, hands on his hips, glancing back at the abandoned temple. “If Master Buling just wants the main hall’s roof fixed, it’ll be quick. Oh, right! I noticed the Buddha statue’s looking pretty beat up. Want me to repair it and give it a fresh coat of paint, free of charge?”
“No, no, no need to trouble your crew with the statue, I’ll handle that myself. Just please get the main hall’s roof repaired as soon as possible.” With that, Zhong Jianli bowed politely once more.
Fang Ye: …Though she’d only spent three days with Zhong Jianli, it had already been enough to upend her understanding of this world. First, he could apparently turn himself into a cat. Second, he had apparently transitioned from a con-man shaman to a monk with baffling smoothness. And third, this sloppy, devil-may-care man actually treated a Buddha statue with such reverence.
“Huh, how come I don’t remember there being a temple here?” A young woman’s voice interrupted Fang Ye’s thoughts. Fang Ye looked toward the sound and saw a young woman examining the little run-down temple with some surprise.
“Well, since I’ve stumbled upon it, it must be fate.” Fang Ye didn’t even need to intervene, the girl had already convinced herself.
The girl wandered off toward the temple’s main hall on her own. Zhong Jianli and Fang Ye exchanged a look, “Business is about to pick up!”
Zhong Jianli immediately winked and made an encouraging gesture at Fang Ye, mouthing what looked like “You got this!”
Running into this guy was truly a curse. Fang Ye resignedly commanded his utterly uncoordinated limbs to scramble and tumble toward the girl.
The temple’s plaque had just been finished and not yet hung up, sitting crookedly off to the side. The three characters “Chiming Temple” on it were written by Zhong Jianli himself bold, flowing strokes of masterful calligraphy, completely at odds with his own scatterbrained image.
Though the main hall was dilapidated, it was exceptionally clean, as if time had left no dust upon it. Directly in front of the Buddha statue stood an old bronze incense burner, beside which was piled incense sticks for visitors to take for free.
The girl stood in the hall looking around for a moment, then went and took three incense sticks, lit them at the eternal flame, knelt on the old prayer cushion before the burner, closed her eyes in prayer, and reverently kowtowed three times to the battered statue.
Fang Ye, sharp-eyed and quick-pawed, seized his moment. The instant the girl stood up, he let out a soft, sweet “meow”, then instantly bristled at his own cutesy voice.
“A pretty light golden-gray kitten is very good at lowering people’s defenses. And when someone with troubles faces a completely harmless animal, their desire to open up skyrockets.”
Those were Zhong Jianli’s exact words that day. If the car hadn’t been his own choice and the route his own pick, Fang Ye would have reasonably suspected that his death was part of Zhong Jianli’s process of manufacturing a tool cat.
“Wow, what an adorable kitty!” The girl froze upon seeing Fang Ye, then immediately crouched down, scooped him into her arms, and petted him furiously.
“Ahhh! I’m a grown man! Put me down, don’t touch me!” Fang Ye, still unable to accept his new role, screamed internally and struggled with all his might.
“Oh my god, he’s so affectionate! Kitty is so cute!” Looking at the little cat whimpering and meowing in her arms, gently pressing her hand with his soft paw pads, the girl was practically glowing with delight.
“Put me down!” Fang Ye stared into the girl’s eyes and meowed, enunciating every word.
“Wow, such beautiful blue eyes!” Completely missing Fang Ye’s fury, the girl covered his head with one hand and ruffled it wildly.
Fang Ye: …How is she this impenetrable?
“Little kitty, since you’re the temple’s cat, you must be on good terms with the Buddha, right? Could you put in a word for me before the Buddha, and ask him to help make my wish come true?” the girl said softly, stroking Fang Ye’s back. “I’m not greedy. My wish is small and easy to grant, it won’t trouble the Buddha at all.”
“Huh? I didn’t expect Zhong the Fraud to actually have some real skills!” Fang Ye’s pretty ears perked up.
Then instantly went limp again as he collapsed back into the girl’s arms. She’s actually stroking my back!
As a human, Fang Ye hated being touched. But as a cat, nestled in the girl’s soft sweater, having his back stroked felt so good his whole body went weak.
So much for the aloof persona not a shred left…
“Meow!” Fang Ye called out, keeping his voice as delicate as possible, signaling the girl to continue.
“My mom is sick. The doctor said it’s a malignant tumor, but she’s the only family I’ve ever had, it’s always been just the two of us. I just found my first job, and our good days were only just beginning. I so wish my mom could be healthy again!”
Whoosh! Fang Ye let out a breath of relief. Thank goodness, it was only a small wish.
“Meow…” Fang Ye the Little Immortal kept his word, every mission accomplished.
A phone rang with a cheerful jingle. The girl carefully set the cat back down on the ground and pulled her phone out of her pocket.
“Hello, Dr. Li. Is something the matter?”
“Wow! Really?! The tumor can be removed? Thank you! Thank you so, so much!” The girl hung up, trembling with excitement. “Oh my god! This temple is truly miraculous! I have to make an offering of thanks!” Tears of joy streaming down her face, she looked around for a long while until she finally spotted Zhong Jianli, who was moonlighting as a roof-tile repairman outside the temple. Then, like a startled fawn, she bounded over and skidded to a halt in front of him, bowing awkwardly. “Excuse me, Master, how do I make an offering of thanks to the Buddha?”
“Amitabha. Simply offer three sticks of incense to the Buddha with a sincere heart, benefactor.” For some reason, Fang Ye noticed that Zhong Jianli, eyes lowered as he answered earnestly, seemed especially serious, almost solemn without a trace of his usual devil-may-care attitude.
Having received the master’s answer, the girl indeed hurried back into the main hall, where she reverently took three sticks of incense, lit them, and knelt on a prayer cushion, kowtowing and murmuring her thanks with utmost devotion.
The instant the three sticks of incense were placed into the old incense burner, Fang Ye felt as though he heard the crisp chime of a coin dropping, as if a long, invisible progress bar belonging to him had finally been activated, inching forward by a distance that was utterly negligible, yet profoundly meaningful.