Going to chase the cat
She found the altar that Lai Xi had mentioned. It was completely clean, with no sacrificial items on it, not even an incense burner. She found it strange but didn't think too much about it. She found the fourth drawer and opened it. Sure enough, there was a locked box inside.
As Jin Yilin turned the numbers on the lock one by one, she wondered why they were still using such an old lock in this day and age. Her hand was getting sore from turning the numbers one by one.
The password was correct, the lock loosened and cracked, revealing a large photo frame. Inside the wooden frame was a blurry old photograph that had not been laminated. Even though most of the people in the photo had blurred features, and even the tallest man's entire body was covered in mold, Kim Hee-ro could still recognize everyone in the photo.
Because this photo is Jiang Yilin's talisman. Ten years ago, when she came to visit Jiang Yilin, she could see this photo every day. At that time, this photo was hung in the most conspicuous position in the main hall.
In the photo, a cool, aloof woman sits in a wheelchair, gazing tenderly at her five-year-old son, Jiang Yilin, who is laughing happily. The man pushing the wheelchair, dressed in a black Zhongshan suit with slicked-back hair, looks at the camera with a deep gaze and a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. Everyone who comes to visit can see this photo, see this happy family.
Upon seeing this photo, Kim Hee-ro was certain she had come to the wrong place; the photo must have been placed here by Jiang Yi-lin.
She keenly heard footsteps coming from the doorway. Without thinking twice, she quickly closed the lid, casually turned the key to lock it again, and then closed the cabinet door, pretending to have just come in and standing still.
"Oh! Sister Xilu, what are you doing here?" Laixi, who was standing at the door, saw that no one had noticed her and quickly said to Jin Xilu, "Come out quickly. The head of the family doesn't allow people to come in casually. You must not touch anything here."
Kim Hee-ro scratched her face awkwardly, thinking that since she had already touched him, she might as well pretend not to know and not cause any trouble. She apologized, "I'm sorry, I went to the wrong place. Luckily, you came as soon as I came in."
After coming out, Hee-hye led Kim Hee-ro towards the real reception room, saying as they walked, "It's my fault too, I forgot you're new here and you might get lost."
Kim Hee-ro didn't rush to deny his words, but went along with him, pretending to be annoyed, and asked, "Wasn't that the reception room? It had everything in it."
As they walked down the corridor, Lai Xi made sure there were only the two of them there. She then told Jin Xilu everything she knew: "That's not wrong. There are two identical reception rooms. Although I don't know why there are two, you're going to the old reception room that the head of the family usually doesn't allow us to go near."
Kim Hee-ro understood, and the mystery in her heart continued to grow.
After walking down this corridor, we arrived at the reception room that we were using now. It also connected to the garden, but because the garden was being watered, it was inconvenient to come in, so Lai Xi led Jin Xilu on a detour.
The layout of the new reception room was exactly the same as the old one, so much so that Kim Hee-ro was in a daze when she came in. Here she saw the same picture frame on the wall, except that the picture was clear and bright, and even the gardenia behind the person was clearly visible. The bouquet of flowers in the blue and white porcelain on the table was changed every day.
Same?
No, no, Jin Xilu took a small step back. She quickly realized that it was all fake, a sense of happiness that Jiang Yilin had painstakingly created.
Lai Xi found the cat food and treats and gave them to Jin Xilu, then he was called away to help move the ladder.
Jin Xilu found the two cat bowls under the gate, poured half into each bowl, and then sat on the threshold watching the two cats eat with their heads down, the sunlight shining softly on their fur.
Sanhua finished her food first, stuck out her pink tongue and licked her garlic-clove lips, staring at Jin Xilu with lingering satisfaction, and made a muffled sound: "...Meow."
Jin Xilu thought it wasn't full, so she gently stroked its head. But when her hand touched the calico's fur, it suddenly bristled. Its soft fur became stiff and stood up, its claws gripped the ground tightly, and it lowered its body, staring at her fiercely.
Not only has the calico cat changed, but even the usually calm orange cat is now tense, its spine bulging and its pupils constricting: "Meow! Meow meow."
She immediately realized that it wasn't what she thought, and the two of them hurriedly turned around to look behind them, but there was nothing there. The bright sunshine made the cement road feel warm, and the small pebbles lay motionless on the road.
"What happened?" Jin Xilu had barely finished speaking when she felt something fall from the roof and hit her on the back. She groaned in pain, and before she could regain her balance, she was pounced on by the heavy orange cat.
Immediately afterward, Sanhua jumped onto her body, bent down and picked up the thing that had hit her. Luckily, Sanhua's head was small, so she was able to see the culprit that attacked her: a gourd with a red cloth strip tied to it and a golden totem printed on it, which was used to hang on the door to ward off evil spirits.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Before she could figure out what was going on, the calico cat and the orange cat seemed to have planned it together. The two cats were agile and quick, and in no time the calico cat jumped onto the wall and disappeared.
Jin Xilu didn't even have time to brush the dust off herself before she immediately stood up and chased after the two cats to the door, but they were long gone.
"Come on, I'll take you to see the treasure."
"Who! Who's speaking?" There wasn't a single person passing by on the street in front of me. Could it be someone behind me again?
The garden behind Kim Hee-ro had just been watered with roses. The loose soil shimmered in the sunlight, and the brown wooden fence was also wet, with water dripping onto the ground, leaving short streaks of water on the surface.
No, it wasn't behind me; it was the voice coming from above. Just as I thought that, I heard that voice again.
"Get out of the way!"
Jin Xilu took a step back, her breathing still unsteady, when she heard a voice coming from the wall above her, "Oh dear, I'll just come down and lead you over."
This reminded Jin Xilu of how Jiang Yilin had suddenly appeared in front of her a few hours earlier, blocking her way and preventing her from leaving.
His habit of standing on the fence and spying on others has now been passed on to the cats.
The orange cat jumped down from the wall and stood steadily in front of her. She thought to herself: As expected of the chivalrous cat raised by Jiang Yilin.
"Was that your voice just now?" Kim Hee-ro crouched down and pounced on the cat, wanting to hug it, but the orange cat noticed first and ran away.
"Hmm... I don't know how you can hear my voice now." The orange cat jumped onto the wall again, stood on the wall and looked back with a haughty expression, meowing, "Now that the gods are out, only you can help me."
"Come with me!"
Lai Xi, who had finished his work and came out to find Jin Xilu, bumped right into her chasing the cat. He scratched his head and stood still, saying slowly, "No need to chase them, they'll come back on their own when it's time."
Unfortunately, he spoke too late; by the time he opened his mouth, all that could be seen was a fleeting afterimage of Kim Hee-ro chasing the cat.
The orange cat was above, and Kim Hee-ro chased after it below. The wind blew into her green sweater, and sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the house. Without hesitation, she immediately took action, following her heart.
The orange cat leaped between walls like a nimble yo-yo, jumping from one house to another's rooftops and eaves, occasionally stopping to look back and see if Kim Hee-ro was following.
Where do you want to take me?
"Meow."
"Strange, I can't hear your thoughts anymore." Kim Hee-ro noticed the orange cat in front of her had stopped, so she slowed down and walked over to it. "Have we arrived?"
"Hey! There's an adult over here, come over here quickly." Children's laughter came from the alley. As the heavy, chaotic footsteps approached, the first one to emerge was a little girl of about seven or eight years old.
Her brown snow boots were stuffed with white down, and the well-fitting shoes shook the sand when she stepped on them. As she watched the child happily rushing towards her, Kim Hee-ro was immediately frightened and squatted down.
As for why she didn't run away, it's because she couldn't run anymore.
"Sister! Sister, pretty sister, we're short one person for our jump rope game, can you help us?" The little girl missed her target, her foot twitched forward, and laughter continued to escape her throat.
Jin Xilu didn't answer, but instead looked up to look for the orange cat. She saw it lying on top of a pillar covered with colorful broken tiles. After staring at her for two seconds, the orange cat yawned leisurely.
Its long tail twirled behind it, then pointed up and down at the little girl's companions running after her. It was clear that the orange cat had no intention of leaving.
"Okay, but I haven't played in a long time, so I'm not very good at jump rope anymore." Kim Hee-ro rubbed her waist where she had been bumped, stood up, put her hands on her hips, and faced the group of elementary school students who had gathered around her, looking a little nervous.
Looking at their rosy little faces, she thought to herself that they were only two or three years old when she left, and they certainly didn't know her or her stories. That's why they were willing to surround her without any burden, wanting to play with her.
"It's not a big deal! If you don't know how, we'll teach you."
"That's right, it's very simple. You hold the rope first, and you'll know how after we jump once." Before Jin Xilu could answer, the girl pulled a pink rubber rope from her pocket. Her canine teeth were slightly visible, and her two big, bright eyes were very sparkling when she smiled. "Come on, sister, lower your head, and I'll help you put it on."
Before Kim Hee-ro could even refuse, she was half-heartedly dragged onto the rope by the round-eyed girl. The girl put the other end of the rubber band around her body, and as she ran away, the originally loose rubber band gradually tightened. When the rope was moved down to her ankles, it was considered properly tied.
Another girl in a red cotton-padded jacket raised her hand, tapped the ground with her hip on her black leather boots, and beckoned everyone to look over: "Let's begin, sister, watch carefully."
She was radiant, her ankles dangling in the air as she smoothly hooked onto a rubber band. Then, with a twist of her waist, her black braids swung behind her head, and she flipped her body to the other side, her feet still hooked onto the rubber band, landing lightly and steadily on the ground.
"Dong dong qiang, dong dong bang." The second short-haired girl joined in shyly. She used her toes to brace against the rope and spun around so fast that Jin Xilu couldn't see how she did it. The next second, she had already completed a trick with the girl in the red cotton-padded jacket.
The girls exchanged smiles, perfectly in sync, and began to sing and dance, their voices clear and bright.
"The immortal deer descended to earth, got lost, took a nap, bumped into a tree, pear blossoms fell, a cat fell, and he borrowed a flower."
As the rope was pulled higher during the jump rope session, the difficulty increased. In the end, only one girl in a red cotton-padded jacket was still struggling to turn over, and the lyrics were nearing their end.
"Pear blossoms fall, pear blossoms fall, a cat falls, borrow a flower."
The final hurdle: the girl who was pulling the rope with Jiang Xilu suddenly blurted out, "Ask the young lady if she'll spare us!"
The rope was pulled down to below Jiang Xilu's chest. This height would be very difficult for an eight-year-old to move the rope, but the girl showed no fear. She put her hands on her hips, puffed out her chest, snorted through her nose, and defiantly added a line from a song, "No mercy!"
The other girls behind them, who had also lost, cheered them on: "No mercy, no forgiveness, no mercy!"
The girl took a step back, gathered her strength, and leaped forward. Her left foot successfully hooked the nearest rubber band and pinned it under her foot. But that wasn't all. She took a breath, turned to the side, released the rubber band to create some space, and then stepped over it with her right foot. She was about to jump up quickly and kick the hooked rubber band with the top of her boot without falling. This move is called "flicking spring flowers."
Just as the girl was about to jump up and start playing the rope, a calico cat suddenly appeared out of nowhere, carrying something in its mouth. Its round, powerful body crashed onto the girl like a firecracker, and the two were thrown apart.
"Hey! Where did this cat come from? Yuyi, are you alright? How are you?"
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