Chapter 3
Li Ying'an's pupil color is very light, yet very deep.
His pupils were neither the common black nor brown, but a dusky grey, like the layers of mist rising over the endless silent lake in a painting. Especially on such a damp and cold cloudy day, those pupils were darker and more attractive. Staring at them for a long time was like falling into the deep sea as if a boat had capsized.
I quickly looked away and left without turning my head.
Before I left the scrapyard, I heard the old man behind me say to Li Ying'an, "See? Tabby cats don't recognize their owners easily. They're very proud little creatures."
After eating and drinking my fill, I left the place where the two people and the dog were without looking back, and wandered aimlessly on the snow-covered streets.
I hid under a cleaner eaves, licked the soles of my feet covered with snow, and while shaking them, I looked around at the surrounding environment.
Now, the snow has stopped, but the sky remains dark. The wind has long since died, and the air is filled with the icy chill of winter. I see sanitation workers arriving for work one after another, bundled up tightly, walking slowly but working quickly.
I thought about what the old man had just said. Although his tone was rather sarcastic, I truly understood his point. Since childhood, I've served the Goddess Wuqing. Wuqing is the deity of all spirit pets. I respect, admire, and worship the gods. Being by her side, I always feel superior to other animals. It's fair to say I'm arrogant.
Li Ying'an asked me if I was willing to stay with him, and I had the initiative to speak in this way.
I refuse to be passive. No one has the right to choose me except Empress Wuqing.
Last year, I spent time with an empty-nest elderly woman, also a sanitation worker. We met on the street. She was quiet and reserved, but had a kind face and a good heart. I could tell at first glance that she was a good person. I enjoy spending time with people like her, so I stayed with her for the entire winter.
As for Li Ying'an, I didn't make a decision immediately.
From my first impression, I can actually confirm that Li Ying'an is a good person, but I always feel that he is not clean enough.
Where this impurity comes from remains to be seen.
I've been wandering the streets these past few days. The days following the light snow were all sunny, but the weather after the snow melted was exceptionally cold, and since I'm always running around, I need to have enough food to keep up with my energy needs.
When I'm lucky, I'll run into friendly people who feed me. When I'm unlucky, I can always find a way to avoid starvation, which is to go to the scrap yard to find Li Ying'an.
It was him who caused the convenience store to close, and it hasn't opened yet.
Ever since Li Ying'an started collecting trash, his days have been incredibly busy. If I wanted to see him, I could only see him around noon or in the evening. He treated me like the aunties and grandmothers of the past, his face brimming with warmth, without any pretense or hypocrisy.
For this reason, I deliberately observed him in detail for a few days, and indeed, as I originally thought, he was a kind person both in appearance and in heart. As for the initial discomfort, it seemed to have faded a lot with the passage of time.
Considering his current situation, my staying would only add to his burden. It is a great favor that he can give me a meal.
I think this winter will pass soon, and then I will set out on the journey to find my old friends.
I originally adhered to the principle of leaving when spring comes and flowers bloom, but unexpectedly, the principle was broken in an instant.
I think I saw my old friend Xiaoju near the scrap yard.
To my disappointment, this Xiaoju was not the old friend Xiaoju that I came to the world to find. This Xiaoju was just an ordinary cat.
I followed the little orange dog to the scrap yard and saw that it was scared by the big black dog that had sniffed me before, so its tail was raised high.
From a distance, it looked like a hedgehog, its fur standing on end. Fortunately, it arrived at the right time. It was dinner time, and Li Ying'an and the old man had already returned home, so it didn't need to face the big dog with fear.
It was the old man who first spotted the little orange cat that was frightened by the big black dog. I could hear him exclaiming in surprise from a distance: "Where did this little yellow cat come from? Look how scared it is! Its tail has become a reed."
Soon, the nearby door was opened and Li Ying'an, wrapped in a cotton coat, walked out quickly.
Just as he went out, the orange cat seemed to know him and suddenly jumped behind him, sticking close to one of his legs, carefully avoiding the big black dog that was staring at it with no ill intentions.
The old man saw this scene and smiled broadly at the surprised Li Ying'an. "You really are so popular with animals. There's one in front and another one here. You might as well open a pet shop in the future, haha."
Li Ying'an seemed pleased with the old man's words, the smile on his lips never wavering. Ever since the kitten had taken him as a safe haven, his gaze had been fixed on the orange cat, roughly my size. After the old man finished speaking, he slowly crouched down and tentatively stroked the cat's back twice. Once he was sure the kitten didn't resent it, he boldly took it in his arms.
"It's probably a stray cat. Look how dirty it is."
Hearing this, Li Ying'an looked at the orange cat carefully, looking left and right. Without a trace of disgust, he reached out and wiped the corner of the orange cat's eyes: "Lick its fur later, and it will be a brand new cat again."
The old man in the scrap yard had no objection to adopting a cat. He was eager to have a cat to solve the problem of rats running around in the yard next summer.
Now Li Ying'an has found another great rat catcher. It is obvious that the rat likes to be close to Li Ying'an more than I do. As expected, Li Ying'an invited it in a gentle voice, and the rat chose not to wander anymore.
Li Ying'an adopted the ordinary and gentle orange cat.
If you want to test someone, now is the best time.
The reason why a good person is called a good person is because he has the ability to sympathize with all living beings. Simply treating someone well only shows that he has a kind heart. As to whether he can be called a good person by definition, it remains to be tested and cannot be known for the time being.
The orange cat in Li Ying'an's arms was plain-looking, malnourished, and, having been a wanderer for so long, had dirty fur and looked scruffy. If it were a kitten, perhaps more people would take pity on it and adopt it, but it looked like me, had lived at least two or three years, had no physical defects, and could walk and run, so few people stopped to look at it.
Orange cats are very clingy. It probably encountered something dirty outside, so it is unwilling to get close to people, so it cannot attract humans to adopt it, causing it to wander until now.
And now, it seemed to feel Li Ying'an's deep love and kindness towards it, and it did not resist at all. It nestled obediently in Li Ying'an's arms like an ignorant child.
Goddess Wuqing once said that every cat is a spiritual creature. The performance of the orange cat is enough to prove that Li Ying'an is indeed a good person. He seems to be like this to every animal.
I watched quietly from the side for a while. The orange cat in Li Ying'an's arms must have smelled the scent of its companion in the air and turned its head to look in my direction.
Its behavior attracted Li Ying'an's attention. I saw both the man and the cat looking at me. The fiery gazes made me feel creepy.
"Hey, little raccoon——"
Before Li Ying'an could finish his words, I left in a flash.
Generally speaking, cats my age, once fully capable of survival, wouldn't stay home if allowed to roam freely. Perhaps it was the icy weather that had given the stray cats the warmth of humankind, and they resolutely chose to defy their natural instincts of freedom and stay safely with Li Ying'an. Every time I went to the scrapyard, I saw the orange cats lazing about.
Even though he is no longer a savage without a cat, Li Ying'an still follows his previous schedule. He also knows the priorities and does not neglect his work at all because of the arrival of the orange cat.
As for me, I am no longer as regular as before.
In the past, I went to the scrap yard just to make do and find a bite to eat when I couldn't find anything better.
And now, about two weeks after I met Li Ying'an, the couple's shop suddenly opened.
After discovering this, I ran to the familiar door excitedly, squatted in front of it and looked around inside, and finally politely pushed the door open, hoping to become the first customer.
The old couple didn't expect that I could find them. They were as excited as I was.
With the old couple's meticulous feeding, I rarely appeared in Li Ying'an's presence anymore. In fact, the temperature in the shop was much warmer, which was just right for me. The old couple had tried to keep me several times, but I easily escaped each time. Today, I was able to stay on my own initiative mainly because the clouds had darkened again and snow had fallen.
After lunch, I was lying on the sofa combing my hair when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a strange yet familiar person walking down the stairs next to the pile of junk. Her appearance was unfamiliar to me, but her scent seemed familiar to me. For a moment, I unconsciously stopped combing my hair and turned to look at her.
The woman also discovered me lying there when her front foot landed on the ground.
"Ruirui," the kind mother hugged her thinly dressed daughter and pointed at me and said to her, "Look, there's a kitten."
Three different pairs of eyes fell on me in unison. I couldn't help but straighten my casual posture and sat up from the sofa. I couldn't help but stand up, arched my waist, and yawned.
"I like kittens." The woman seemed to be lost in some memories. Her eyes were dull, but the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. When she came back to her senses, she was walking slowly towards me.
Despite the familiar scent lingering in my nostrils, the moment the unfamiliar figure approached me, I instinctively felt wary. I took a step back, my normally happy tail nervously wrapped around my hips, my eyes wide as round beads, staring intently at the woman's next move.
But the woman stopped just one step away from me. She didn't choose to move closer, nor did she move away. She just sat on the ground, hugged her knees, and turned her head to look at me blankly.
I looked at her and suddenly felt pity for her.
Her eyes were very similar to those of Li Ying'an whom I knew, gray and dim, but the emotions in them were even stronger than Li Ying'an's. They were like the gray and white shots in an old movie, hazy, blurred, gentle, yet filled with deathly vicissitudes and terrible silence.
Her eyes were like the eyes of a dead person.
Although we are both women, Empress Wuqing's eyes are like a spring full of vitality. Although there is tenderness in both of their eyes, the eyes of the woman in front of me are really empty.
When I approached her and was about to stretch out my claws to touch her body, her pupils dilated rapidly as she stared at me, as if I was about to attack someone. I was so frightened that I stepped back with my tail erect.
The woman quickly stood up and grabbed her mother's hand. She murmured tremblingly, "It's dangerous for me to get close to the cat. He will tie me up and take me to a horrible place..."
Her words were light and airy, as shaky as her whole being.
I hid at the edge of the sofa, heard her repeating the same words over and over again, and saw her panic-stricken look.
The woman's mother hugged the child tightly in her arms. When the child in her arms stopped nagging, she turned around and looked at her husband who wanted to intervene. Then she shook her head and said softly, "I'll take her upstairs to rest first. Old man, you can do your thing."
The mother and daughter hurried out of my sight, and I followed their gaze and slowly withdrew it.
Outside the window, the falling snow showed no signs of stopping, but became increasingly dense. The wind was not as strong as in midwinter, but it was still cold enough to freeze a cat.
Even though the couple didn't mean to drive me away, their daughter's behavior towards me still made me feel a little embarrassed.
I think I should get out of here. I haven't been to the scrap yard in a long time.
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