Chapter 3 The rear cover Mimi ran away
The air conditioner in Zheng Yi's house was blowing cool air, and Jiang Hao wanted to sigh a hundred times, saying it was so comfortable.
The two children were doing their homework at the table in the living room. After a while, they finished. Zheng Yi pulled out his game console, while Jiang Haoxiang wanted to review tomorrow's lessons. Zheng Yi's forehead was choked with anxiety, thinking they were working too hard. He didn't know Jiang Haoxiang was just trying to buy time and get home later.
"Have you finished your preview?" Zheng Yi slumped on the sofa next to him, his fingers clicking on the game controller.
"Yeah." Jiang Hao wanted to put his homework book and pencil case into his schoolbag.
Xiang Li poked his head out of the kitchen: "Are you done writing? Want to play for a while and have some fruit?"
Jiang Hao wanted to shake her head and put on her backpack, afraid that the longer she stayed, the less she would want to leave. But she had no choice but to leave: "No, Auntie, I'm going back. Thank you, Auntie."
Zheng Yi paused the game and stood up to send Jiang Hao back home. Jiang Hao pushed open the door of Zheng Yi's house, but the cool air was shut in behind her, and she suddenly felt dispirited.
After getting out of the elevator and standing in front of the Jiang family's gate, Jiang Hao wanted to ask Zheng Yi to go home quickly. Zheng Yi said, "I will leave after you go in." Jiang Hao wanted to use the key around his neck to open the door. His father had not come back yet, and his stepmother was probably resting in the master bedroom.
Jiang Hao wanted to turn around and said, "Bye, Brother Zheng Yi."
"Let's go." Zheng Yi entered the elevator.
Jiang Haoxiang changed into slippers: "Mimi, I'm back."
There was no usual response, no orange figure jumping out to rub against her legs.
She felt a little strange, walked a few steps into the living room, and called out again: "Mimi?"
Still no movement.
She went to the balcony to check. The cat's bed was empty, and the water and food in the bowl seemed untouched. She ran up and down the stairs, searching the bathroom, the kitchen, under chairs, her room, and every other place the cat might hide. No one. Nowhere.
Jiang Hao seemed to be panicking. She ran downstairs and stood at the master bedroom door. She put her ear to the door and listened. It was quiet inside. She didn't dare knock.
At this time, step-grandmother came down from upstairs with folded clothes in her arms. Jiang Haoxiang ran over and said, "Grandma, have you seen Mimi?"
My step-grandmother said in a very calm tone: "Cat? The cat ran away this afternoon!"
Run, ran away?
Jiang Hao couldn't seem to comprehend the meaning of these words. How could Mimi run away? She never runs away.
"Where did you go?"
"Who knows?" Grandma walked downstairs with the clothes in her arms. Jiang Hao seemed to subconsciously move to the side to avoid blocking the way because the stairs were narrow. "The door wasn't closed tightly, so it slipped out on its own. It's just a cat. If it ran away, it ran away. Maybe it will come back in a couple of days."
After saying that, she ignored Jiang Haoxiang who was standing there frozen in place and went to the balcony.
Just run away.
Just a cat.
Jiang Haoxiang was a little scared because she wanted to push her grandmother down the stairs...
She looked at the empty living room, then at the door.
Mimi is missing. She's not sleeping in some corner; she's truly gone. She ran away. She's been left alone in this house.
Jiang Hao seemed to be so frightened that he stood there unable to move.
After a while, she seemed to be suddenly freed from the spell, opened the door and rushed out.
She didn't take the elevator, climbing floor by floor to the top, then descending floor by floor to the ground floor. The corridor, the stairs, the downstairs of the residential complex. It was already dark, the streetlights dim, and mosquitoes swarmed around them.
"Mimi! Mimi!" she cried.
I looked along the flowerbed downstairs, behind every trash can, but there was nothing there, nowhere! Nowhere!
Jiang Haoxiang's tears mingled with sweat, and she didn't bother to wipe them away. Like mosquitoes circling the streetlights, she circled the neighborhood. Maomao and Kai Xin left together, bringing panic and sadness. Jiang Haoxiang pulled out her own children's phone, and her first thought was to find Zheng Yi.
"Hello? What's up again?" Zheng Yi could still hear Aunt Xiang Li's voice.
Upon hearing Zheng Yi's voice, Jiang Hao felt like she was about to collapse. She burst into tears into the phone, unable to speak clearly: "Brother Zheng Yi, Aunt Xiang Li, Mimi ran away, Mimi is gone! I can't find her! I can't find her anywhere! Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"
The sound of a chair being dragged could be heard immediately from the other end of the line: "The cat ran away? Don't cry! Stand still! Where is it? We'll be down right away!"
In less than three minutes, Zheng Yi and Xiang Li appeared downstairs. Zheng Yi ran around the neighborhood and found Jiang Haoxiang, and Xiang Li followed soon after.
"What's the matter? I miss you so much. Don't cry, tell me slowly." Xiang Li squatted down and wiped her tears with the back of his hand.
Jiang Hao wanted to sob, and repeated intermittently how she couldn't find the cat when she got home, and what her step-grandmother said.
"ran away?" Xiang Li frowned, but his tone remained gentle towards Jiang Haoxiang, "Don't worry, Auntie and brother will help you find her. Mimi is timid, so I guess she didn't run far."
Zheng Yi had already started looking around: "Stupid cat! What are you running around for! Let's split up and look! Mom, you go over there, I'll go check over in the garage! Jiang Hao wants you to come with me!"
The three of them took action immediately.
"Mimi! Mimi, come out!" Zheng Yi said in a loud voice.
Xiang Li carefully checked the security office. There was no surveillance camera in the stairwell, but there was one at the entrance of the apartment building, and the orange cat was indeed seen running out of the building. Xiang Li called the security guard to help him look for it.
She turned on the flashlight on her cell phone and shone it in the flower beds, under the car, and behind the air conditioner outdoor unit.
Jiang Hao wanted to follow Zheng Yi, wiping her tears and calling out to him with a sob.
Time passed, and those who had been out for a walk to cool off returned home. After searching for nearly two hours, I still couldn't find a single hair of the cat.
Jiang Haoxiang's tears had dried up, her eyes were swollen like walnuts, her throat was hoarse, and she was so tired that she could hardly stand. Xiang Li checked his phone. It was almost ten o'clock.
She walked over and put her arm around Jiang Haoxiang's shoulders: "Haoxiang, it's almost ten o'clock, and you have to go to school tomorrow. Go home with your brother and sleep first, and I'll look for you later, okay?"
Jiang Hao wanted to shake his head vigorously, and tears welled up in his eyes again.
Zheng Yi also shook his head: "I won't sleep either! I'll look for it again!"
Xiang Li sighed and toughened his attitude: "No! Children can't stay up late! Zheng Yi, take Haowan back. Right now!"
It was rare for her to use such a stern tone.
Zheng Yi finally pulled Jiang Haoxiang's arm and said, "Let's go. I'll look for you tomorrow."
Zheng Yi looked at Jiang Hao's stubborn look and reached out to gently pull her wrist: "Let's go, be obedient."
Jiang Haoxiang kept looking back as he pulled her along, tears streaming down her face. Zheng Yi said nothing, but held her tightly and brought her back to his house. He looked at Jiang Haoxiang and said, "Why don't you sleep at my house? My mom will definitely agree."
Jiang Hao wanted to shake his head immediately: "No. What if Mimi comes back in the middle of the night? It won't recognize your house."
Zheng Yi looked into her eyes and knew that this was almost impossible, but he was reluctant to say it out loud.
Zheng Yi took her back to her house and sat down at her door. No one spoke.
The sound-activated light in the hallway went out. A mosquito buzzed in his ear, and Zheng Yi waved it away. Then, noticing a few bites on Jiang Haoxiang's legs, he immediately pulled his sweatpants up to his knees, exposing his entire calves, and spread his arms wide. He hoped the mosquitoes would bite him instead of Jiang Haoxiang.
He saw that Jiang Haoxiang had a runny nose, so he took out a pack of tissues from his trouser pocket and stuffed it into Jiang Haoxiang's hand: "Wipe it."
Jiang Haoxiang took out a piece of paper and wiped it.
After sitting in silence for a while, Zheng Yi looked at the ground and suddenly said, "Mimi is so timid. I guess she's hiding in a corner somewhere. She'll come out when she's hungry. Cats are like that."
Jiang Haoxiang turned his head and asked quietly, "Really?"
"Of course! It definitely didn't get far! Tomorrow morning, I'll go look carefully in those places again. I'm sure I'll find it!"
Although he said this, he was not sure at all in his heart. But he still spoke with firmness.
Jiang Hao seemed to be comforted a little by his words. He rested his chin on his knees and looked at the corridor door, hoping that the orange figure would jump out from inside.
Zheng Yi didn't rush her. He just stayed with her until Jiang Haoxiang began to doze off, her head nodding. Then he touched her arm and said, "It's time to go back. You have to go to school tomorrow."
Jiang Haoxiang raised his head in a daze, rubbed his eyes, and stood up. His legs were numb from sitting.
"Thank you, Brother Zheng Yi. You are so nice." Jiang Hao wanted to cry again.
"Stop crying."
Zheng Yi watched her open the door with her key and walk in before returning to his own home. He felt that he had done nothing and did not deserve this thank you, but he also felt a little bad that he could not do more for Jiang Haoxiang.
After the two children were sent home, the gentleness on Xiang Li's face faded. She stood downstairs and went to the security office again. Several security guards had already changed shifts. She explained the situation to Xiang Li again and asked the security guard on duty to help keep an eye on it.
As she searched, she pondered. The cat had escaped this afternoon. A timid house cat that had been raised for seven years, slipping out at a moment's notice, vanishing without a trace. How could Xiang Li possibly believe such childish rhetoric? Jiang Hao had accidentally mentioned a few times that her stepmother disliked cat fur, and she also remembered the last time she'd gone to deliver sour plum soup, and her step-grandmother had said it wasn't a good idea to keep a cat while pregnant because cats carry bacteria. The answer was clear. It didn't run away; it was let go. On purpose, while Jiang Cheng was away on business, he'd gotten rid of the cat left behind by his ex-wife.
Thinking of this, Xiang Li became furious.
Lin Ran had picked up this cat, Mimi. Four years into their life, Lin Ran passed away. For the remaining three years, Jiang Haoxiang looked at the cat like she was her own mother. Xiang Li could only imagine how agonizing Jiang Haoxiang must be. The child had believed the cat had accidentally run away and was still blaming herself.
By three in the morning, the security guard had contacted her via intercom, but no one had found her anywhere. Xiang Li leaned wearily against a lamppost. Cats usually come out late at night when few people are around, but Mimi was nowhere to be found.
Hope was fading. She flipped through her contacts to find Jiang Haoxiang's stepmother's number, wondering if she should wait until daybreak to contact her. Ultimately, she gave up. She was pregnant, and it wasn't appropriate to provoke her temper. Besides, what good would a beating do? It would only sever ties and make Jiang Haoxiang's future situation even more awkward.
She opened WeChat and saw a post Jiang Cheng had made a few hours ago, located in another city. Xiang Li looked at the post and felt powerless.
Jiang Cheng was not at home. As an outsider, she could not question his wife or mother-in-law. It would be embarrassing, especially since she had no evidence.
Xiang Li had been working in the business world for many years, but this was the first time he felt so embarrassment. He was filled with rage, but he had no idea where to direct it.
She pushed open Zheng Yi's door. Zheng Yi was sleeping in a sprawled position, his quilt kicked aside. Xiang Li felt uncomfortable, so she quietly walked over and tucked the corner of the quilt for her son.
The next day, before they could figure out what to do about the cat, Jiang Haoxiang fell ill.
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