Chapter 148 Little Orange Cat
"It was just a coincidence."
I feel a little embarrassed to be praised like this all the time.
It only took a few minutes to reach the house with the kitten.
Taozi knocked on the door and asked loudly, "Are you home, Brother Chen?"
A voice answered from inside, and then a man with a slightly swollen right cheek pushed open the door: "What's wrong, Taozi?"
“My sister wants to get a cat. Didn’t your cat just have kittens last month? Do you still have any? She wants to get a new one.”
After Taozi finished speaking, the man's gaze shifted from Taozi's face to mine.
Upon seeing me, he exclaimed, "Oh my, isn't this the little girl who just saved us? Come in, come in!"
I followed Taozi into the house and sat down on the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove).
The man poured us a glass of water and said, "This cat belongs to my wife. I can't make the decision. She's gone out and will be back soon. Please wait a moment."
I whispered thank you, taking small sips of water as I waited.
A moment later, there was some noise at the door, and a woman entered the house.
"Honey, this little girl is the one who saved our base at our doorstep back then. She wants to trade for a kitten, what do you think?"
"Oh, it's you, girl! Do you want a kitten?"
The woman clearly didn't recognize me and was probably hiding at home, but she learned about what happened at the entrance of the White Town base through her husband.
"Yes, yes, I want to get a cat. How much do you think I need to trade for it? I brought some supplies with me."
I stood up, showing my utmost sincerity.
"Oh, everyone says you saved our White Town base. Why would we trade for a cat? We'll just give it to you. Come on, come with me and pick one."
The woman came up and warmly took my arm, leading me into another room.
I let her pull me along, saying, "No way, one thing at a time. Kittens are so rare these days, we definitely have to get a replacement."
Upon entering another room, there was a large, worn-out basket on the floor, half of which was covered by a mesh screen; it seemed to be the cat's bed.
I crouched down and saw only five kittens inside: three orange tabby cats and two tabby cats. It seemed their mother wasn't home.
Three were sleeping soundly, while the other two were waving their little paws and playfully biting each other, which was quite adorable.
They were all clean and plump, showing that the woman of the house had taken good care of them.
"Take your pick and see which one you like."
Perhaps afraid of waking the cat from its sleep, the woman spoke very softly.
This kitten doesn't look very big. I'm planning to pick a bigger one, which should be easier to raise.
I glanced back and forth between the five kittens. The two that were awake were too noisy and wouldn't do. The one sleeping in the middle was too thin and might be difficult to care for if it wasn't near its mother, so that wouldn't work either.
In the end, we chose the chubby little orange cat that was sleeping on the outermost side.
Is this orange cat okay?
I pointed to the kitten on the far right and asked softly.
"Okay! No problem!"
The hostess simply grabbed the chubby orange cat I had specified and handed it to me.
I paused for a moment, then reached out and took it. The kitten was incredibly soft in my hands. Not only was its fur fluffy and smooth, but even its little bones and flesh were soft, as if it would melt in my hands at any moment.
Even when someone picked her up, she didn't wake up. She rubbed her little head against my hand, turned over, and went back to sleep.
Holding the kitten, I asked the woman to come with me to Aunt Liu's house to get supplies. At first, she refused, but I persisted and eventually gave in.
When they arrived at Sister Liu's house, Sister Liu had already applied the medicine to Brother Liu's body, and Brother Liu was already asleep.
Seeing me holding the kitten, Aunt Liu was very happy. She found a cardboard box in the house and put the kitten inside.
I led the lady of the house to the front of the truck, opened the cargo bed, and pulled out a bag of rice and a bag of flour.
"Oh dear, this is too much, too much."
The woman refused to accept the rice and flour as soon as she saw them.
"Sister-in-law, you should take it. If you don't, the girl will feel uncomfortable."
Seeing that the lady of the house was unwilling to accept the money, Aunt Liu also tried to persuade her.
The woman accepted the rice and flour, gave some instructions on how to care for the kitten, borrowed a stroller from Aunt Liu, and pushed it home.
Still thinking about the milk shop, he asked Aunt Liu where it was.
Aunt Liu immediately recognized her: "The cattle farmer, the third house on the far west side. Are you here to buy milk?"
"Yes, yes, it's not easy to come all this way, and the first thing I thought of when I got here was to buy some milk."
"Have Taozi accompany you on another trip. Your brother Liu can't be left alone here, otherwise your sister-in-law would go with you."
I smiled and agreed as I walked out, saying, "Okay, okay, sister-in-law, I'll go right away."
I was told to have Taozi come with me, but he just caught a kitten and disappeared. Anyway, I know the location, so it's fine if I go alone.
After walking for about 5 minutes, we arrived at the third house on the far west side.
I knocked gently on the door, and a woman responded from inside. Her voice sounded familiar, similar to that of the milkman.
The door opened a crack, and the person inside, seeing it was me, opened the door completely.
"Oh, young lady, you've come! I remember you, you're here to buy milk, aren't you!"
"Yes, the milk I bought from you last time was so delicious. I've been thinking about it ever since I got back, so I came here as soon as I had the chance."
"Come in quickly."
The woman led me into the courtyard. As soon as I entered, there was a large cowshed on my right, with two large cows and a calf grazing leisurely.
"I need some milk this time, but I mainly want milk tofu and milk skin."
"Okay, okay, the milk will be freshly squeezed for you. The milk tofu and milk skin will have to go to the base center; I've frozen them in the freezer there."
As the woman spoke, she smiled and found several empty mineral water bottles.
"Ah, why is it frozen there?"
I don't quite understand.
"The base doesn't have electricity during the day, only for one hour from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, and even then, there are power rationing, so no one can use their refrigerator. But the base manager is very thoughtful; each household can use a small compartment in the freezer in the center of the base. Milk curd and milk skin spoil easily, so I freeze them there."
After the woman patiently explained, I understood. It was indeed reasonable. It was already difficult for the base to provide an hour of electricity at night, let alone for every household to have a refrigerator.
"Wait until I finish milking, then we'll go to the center of the facility to get it."
The lady went into the cowshed, squatted down next to the cow, and began milking it, aiming the milk at the mouth of a mineral water bottle.
This cow produces an amazing amount of milk. A woman can fill half a mineral water bottle with just one squeeze. I wish I could raise a cow too.
That's what I think, but I absolutely don't plan to actually raise one. The herd at home is already a bit too much for me; a cow would be the death of me.
Within minutes, the woman had filled five bottles with milk.
She wiped the bottle clean, put it in a cloth bag, and handed it to me.
"Let's go to the base center to get some milk tofu."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
