Chapter 20
Such familiar sounds and smells.
A burst of hurried footsteps stopped beside me. I looked up and saw a face that was all too familiar.
She was the girl who gave me the second-hand phone.
Obviously, Li Lan also recognized me: "It's you! Why is it you, little tabby? So you are a kitten with a family."
She squatted down and stroked my head, but I stayed there without moving.
I had no intention of struggling or running away, and I hadn't expected Li Lan and Li Ying'an to know each other. Even though we lived in the same building, there were so many residents, and everyone was so busy with their own lives that few had the time to appreciate the moon, the flowers, or even chat or have fun.
It just so happened that these two people had already met. In my heart, I just prayed that Li Ying'an's current mobile phone would not be seen by Li Lan, or even recognized. Otherwise, Li Ying'an might think that I had become a demon and stole the mobile phone that Li Lan gave to Li Feng. If he met Li Feng again at that time, it would be trouble again.
My mind is racing.
"You actually recognize Li Youzhi?" Li Ying'an said.
"Its name is Li Youzhi? Such a kind name." Li Lan touched me, then looked up to explain, "Didn't I tell you before that Huang Huang got lost? It was a tabby cat that helped me find him. It's really smart. It even knew how to ask someone to send Huang Huang back to me. I haven't found him yet, and I still haven't given him the snacks I promised him. I'll give them to him now."
She asked Li Ying'an to wait there for a while so that she could go home and get the snacks she had prepared for me.
Despite being rejected many times by Li Ying'an, she still insisted and asked us to wait.
After Li Lan left, the empty streets seemed even lonelier.
The few old street lamps on the roadside emitted a flickering yellow light. It was very quiet here, except for the occasional quarrel between a couple upstairs, and the sound of wind blowing through the branches, making the newly sprouted sycamore trees rustle.
At this moment, the yellow light no longer held warmth; it cast the shadows of buildings and trees onto the ground, forming strange shapes. The world was a swirling yellow and black, with an inexplicable sense of decay.
But it’s not absolute. At least the place where Li Ying’an and I are is warm.
Li Yingan sat on the curb, lifted me from the cold ground onto his lap, and then kneaded my hind legs.
The night had already deepened, but he could still see that I was injured: "How come you're injured after going out?"
I ignored Li Ying'an's words. A day's work wasn't worth talking about, and I was willing to do it, but a child kicked me on the way, and my fatigue level for the whole day suddenly reached its peak.
I absentmindedly rested my chin on the hard knees of the person beneath me, listening to the wind in the trees.
Li Ying'an was still talking to me: "When I got home from get off work today, I saw that the food at the door was still there, so I knew you definitely didn't come home for lunch."
Then he asked several questions in a row, "Why didn't you go home at noon? Aren't you hungry? Did someone kindly feed you, or did you go out to do business like you did with Huang Huang, the cat?"
I thought he was noisy, so I kicked him.
He pinched my feet and continued to rub them: "Next time you go out, remember to go home and eat a full meal, and don't let yourself get hurt."
From beginning to end, he never blamed me for getting injured because of fighting. He was only responsible for dealing with the consequences.
"Sorry for the wait!"
Li Lan was not alone. She was carrying Huang Huang, who was wearing a small sweater, on her shoulders and holding a large bag of snacks in her right hand.
"Here," she handed everything in her hand to Li Ying'an without hesitation, "this is all for Xiao Youzhi."
There aren't many things in the bag, but the thoughts are so heavy that it weighs down the bag when I hold it in my hand.
I didn't rush to sniff it, and looked obviously not interested. Seeing this, Li Ying'an wanted to refuse it on my behalf, but Li Lan had made up his mind, so he had no choice but to grab it in his hand.
"Xiao Youzhi was the key to finding Huang Huang. If it weren't for him, my Huang Huang might be gone."
Li Lan told Li Ying'an about the day when Huang Huang was injected with anesthetic. Whenever she mentioned Huang Huang, her voice seemed to tremble, as if she had lost her most precious Huang Huang.
When she mentioned Huang Huang, she felt infinite emotion. She was a talkative girl, and now she wanted to pour out her heart and tell everyone the importance of Huang Huang, hoping that people would pity her.
Li Ying'an was a man with strong empathy. Upon hearing this, he couldn't help but frown, and his sadness and pity were all obvious.
"You seem to be someone who loves animals, too. Otherwise, we all thought Youzhi wouldn't come home, but he showed up. This means he likes you very much, and you treat him very well, too."
Li Ying'an also laughed and said, "Indeed, I was prepared for him not to come home, but Youzhi is different from the kittens I've raised before. He is very spiritual."
Li Lan once confessed her history of raising cats, and Li Ying'an told Li Lan everything without reservation, just like he did to Li Feng before.
This surprised Li Lan: "I never thought your father was such a person. I thought he was just like you."
"He won't be like me, and of course, I won't be like him, because I know how to write the word law."
Li Lan is a special education worker. Having spent a long time with the deaf and mute, she can easily detect problems when she hears someone else talking: "Did he break the law?"
"He's been involved in all the frauds and deceptions."
Li Ying'an felt completely ashamed just talking about this. His already pale face now drooped even more fiercely as he forced out a shameful smile. He looked as stiff as a living dead. "You saw me go into the police station today, and I won't hide anything from you. My life story is shameful, even a little dirty. My mother was abducted to be someone else's wife. She suffered for many years before I helped her escape from the clutches of wolves. I'm still alive and can still be considered a normal person thanks to a teacher I met. My mother and I were able to escape thanks to her help. I went to the police station to help her escape."
Li Ying'an carries a heavy responsibility. Now that he's climbed out of the abyss, he must help those still trapped and trying to climb out. I heard the shop owner and his wife mention calling the police, but I guess nothing happened then. Now, many days later, Li Ying'an has gone to the police station again, perhaps to inquire about the progress or outcome of the abduction and trafficking case.
No wonder the old couple disliked Li Ying'an. Li Ying'an's mother should have had a better home. Li Ying'an was a stain in her life. It seemed that Li Ying'an should not have been born.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and the yellow light of the street lamps was getting thicker and thicker. I looked up at Li Ying'an, who was staring at me with his eyes lowered, but his heart was empty. My eyes softened unconsciously.
I seemed to have seen this kind of look in his eyes before. It was the first night when I turned into Li Feng and went to find him. It was the night when the yellow and white kitten died. He sat up from the darkness with this kind of self-blame in his eyes.
Maybe he is the kind of person who, in the dead of night, would think about the relationship between the kitten's death and himself, and would blame himself for his own birth.
He probably also resents his life experience.
Not only was I able to see this, but Li Lan, who was about the same age as him and sat next to him, could see it too. "This isn't really your fault. You didn't become the person you hated. It's already great that you didn't suck your mother's blood with him. What's more, you're brave enough to seek help now. You're doing good deeds."
Li Ying'an raised the corner of his mouth indifferently. He touched my back and murmured, "I don't ask whether good people can live a hundred years, I just hope that those who do bad things will get retribution."
Looking at Li Ying'an's face, which was becoming increasingly haggard due to the reminiscence of the past, Li Lan thought for a moment and said, "Telling me all this means that you now consider me a friend, and I can promise not to spread it around. You see, we live so close to each other now. If you need anything in the future, you can always come upstairs and ask for my help... How about we add each other's contact information?"
Being able to say these things to others, Li Ying'an didn't care whether others said nonsense or not. He didn't refute Li Lan's words, but only responded to the second half of her sentence: "Thank you. You can sweep me."
Li Ying'an took out his mobile phone without hesitation.
Li Lan opened the Scan function and was about to scan the QR code prepared by Li Ying'an. Unexpectedly, when he looked through his phone, he suddenly felt that the phone in front of him looked a little familiar: "Hmm..."
"What's wrong?" Li Ying'an saw Li Lan scanning and then turned his head away to stare at his phone, feeling a little confused for a moment.
Li Lan said truthfully, "Your phone looks so familiar."
Oh no!
I felt like I was struck by lightning, and my spine couldn't help but arch slightly.
"...Really?" Li Ying'an hesitated, his tone revealing a barely perceptible panic. His mind told him to hide it, but his body was honest, showing it off from every angle. He said, "This is a second-hand phone."
Li Ying'an didn't say that I picked up the phone for him.
"I think I have one like this," Li Lan mentioned it briefly, but she didn't really take it seriously. Instead, she waved her hand carelessly, "But it's not mine. I gave it to a younger brother a few days ago. Xiao Youzhi knows that younger brother. It was Xiao Youzhi who asked that younger brother to bring Huang Huang to me. I gave it to him because he needed a phone."
Li Ying'an seemed to be lost in thought: "So that's how it is..."
After getting to know each other, it was getting late, and both of them thought about work the next day, so they stopped chatting.
Before Li Ying'an stood up, I jumped off his legs and hurriedly ran back to the grass along the same path.
Li Ying'an was so shocked by my swift movements that he froze in his tracks, speechless. Li Lan also sensed the sluggishness of the people behind her. When she looked back, my figure had already merged with the darkness and disappeared.
"Li Youzhi must have gone to the toilet in the haystack," Li Ying'an said with an apologetic smile, "Then you can take Huang Huang back first."
Li Lan didn't wait any longer, turned around and left.
Not long after she left, I jumped out of the bushes.
I knew that it was impossible for me to bring back the potion Wen Liangxi gave me in the form of a cat, so when I was some distance away from Li Ying'an, I hid it in the grass.
The weather was still a bit cold at night, and the medicine would be frozen if left outdoors. I thought I would need it again, so I secretly went back and dug a hole to hide it in, and then covered it with a thick layer of dead grass. Maybe it could resist the cold and prevent it from freezing into a small piece of ice tomorrow, so that I could use it at work.
Li Ying'an mistakenly thought that I was going to take a shit. Even if I had a mouth that could speak, I couldn't explain this.
Just think of it as me going to take a shit.
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