After doing all this, Kōyū put the cardboard box aside, squatted down, and continued to pet the cat with Ai.

It's only noon now, so the two of them have plenty of time and can pet the cat for a while longer.

Watching the orange cat nibbling on its cat food, Guangyou said with some regret, "It's a pity we can't send it to an animal shelter; we can only let it try its luck here."

In fact, the two of them had considered adoption, and Kōyū had mentioned it to Ai before.

However, Ai refused at that time.

Her reason for refusing was simple:

Everything is not truly back to normal yet.

After hearing this reason, Guangyou felt that it made a lot of sense.

Life may seem peaceful on the surface, but beneath that calm lies a turbulent undercurrent.

There are still many problems that haven't been solved.

No one can guarantee that the future will be smooth sailing and free from any unexpected events.

Just like that time at the amusement park, even Guangyou didn't expect that they would encounter such a thing.

Let's wait until everything has truly calmed down before considering adoption.

"Yeah, there's nothing we can do about it." Ai knew what Kousuke was talking about and nodded in agreement.

Animal shelters in Japan may not be paradise for stray animals; they could even be hell.

Stray cats are alright; they're not aggressive and are quite common on the streets. Many people feed them, just like Guangyou and his companion are doing now.

Buy some cat food and feed it, then take the opportunity to pet the cat.

Stray dogs are different. Compared to cats, dogs are more aggressive and may carry rabies, so some people specifically capture stray dogs and take them home.

After these stray animals are sent to or captured by animal shelters, the shelters will post a public notice to help the stray animals find new owners.

The public notice period is limited, for example, seven days.

If the stray animals remain unclaimed after the public notice period ends, they will have to undergo euthanasia.

When that day comes, the animal shelter staff will take the unclaimed animals to another location.

This place has an extremely ironic name—Dream Box.

The staff will then inject carbon dioxide into the box.

The consequences of filling a small, sealed box with carbon dioxide are self-evident.

"It's the animals that die, but the people who enjoy peace," Guangyou sighed, petting the orange cat.

"From a human perspective, this is to prevent citizens from contracting rabies from being attacked by stray dogs, and a certain period has been given to help them find new owners."

Ai's gaze lingered on the orange cat eating its food, and she said softly, "From their perspective, they were just a bit cruel. The ones who are wrong are the people who abandon their pets."

“Yes.” Kwang-yu nodded.

“Independent shelters don’t do this, but most organizations have limited funding and manpower, and the animals don’t live very well,” Ai said. “There are also some people who use this method to make money.”

This statement made Guangyou fall into deep thought.

He seemed to have just thought of something.

"Most non-governmental shelters do not have a stable source of income."

Reaching out to pet the orange cat, Ai said calmly, "Employee salaries, venue rental, animal food and medical expenses... these add up to a considerable sum."

"Most containment organizations are operating at a loss, so there are fewer and fewer of them now."

"Yes." Guangyou naturally knew all this.

Those who are willing to generate electricity out of love are ultimately a minority; after all, not everyone has a mine at home.

People still need to eat. If they can't even afford to eat, how can they have the energy to take care of animals?

Ultimately, it all comes down to not having enough money.

“These animals can’t make money.” Xiao Ai suddenly thought of something, paused for a moment, and said, “If only these animals could work and earn money like people and support themselves.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Ai shook her head and began to doubt herself: "However, that's unlikely. Putting aside the difficulty and effort required for training, even if they were trained, where else could these cats and dogs go besides the circus?"

After negating herself, Ai shook off what she considered some unrealistic ideas from her mind.

Then, Ai continued petting the cat.

Upon hearing Ai's words, Kōyū frowned and muttered to himself:

"Work and earn money like a human being, to support yourself..."

"Training...making money..."

He remembered a place that perfectly met these requirements:

1. Let the cat work and earn money like a human to support itself.

2. The training is not difficult. It doesn't need to be trained to climb ropes or jump through hoops. You just need to ensure that the cat is healthy and doesn't bite.

He did think of such a place, but he couldn't quite remember exactly where it was.

Putting aside whether he had been there before or not, he has been here for so long that many unimportant memories have begun to fade.

I have a vague recollection of it, but I can't quite remember.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Ai noticed that something was off with Kousuke and asked him a question, while gently tugging at his clothes.

Coming to his senses, Guangyou shook his head and explained, "I thought of something just now, but I can't remember it now."

"If you can't remember, then don't think about it for now," Ai said, looking at Kōyū. "That's what you told me."

Upon hearing this, Guangyou was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and smiled, saying, "You're right. If you can't remember, then don't think about it for now."

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