Chapter 18: This Cat Sounds Definitely Not a Serious One
News of the earthquake quickly reached Rome, crossing the Mediterranean coast.
The person who was telling Gu Lin "we'll all perish together" just a second ago is now showing Ms. Song Jiahe his perfectly healthy body.
"Look." Ji Tong placed the phone on the stand and spun it around.
After confirming the information, Song Jiahe felt relieved, only then noticing the unfamiliar background in the video: "Not in the dormitory?"
“Hmm,” Ji Tong said, “at Gu's—at a classmate's house.”
Ji Tong picked up her phone again and touched her nose where the camera couldn't see.
Perhaps because he had just experienced the "end of the world," Ji Tong suddenly felt a little guilty.
…Why were you only thinking about Gu Lin back then?
However, there was only one hour left, and Gu Lin was the only person he had with him. It was normal for him to think of Gu Lin as the closest person to him. Ji Tong then thought again.
Ji Tong sat at the foot of the bed, and to verify the principle, said, "Mom."
Song Jiahe: "Hmm?"
Given Song Jiahe's background in art, it's not surprising that he asked this question.
Ji Tong: "If the world were ending in an hour, what would you do?"
Song Jiahe was clearly quite interested in this question.
She didn't give a perfunctory answer; she thought about it seriously for a few seconds.
"I guess I'll do nothing, like right now, just video call my baby."
Ji Tong: "..."
The sky has fallen.
The principle of proximity doesn't work.
Ji Tong: "...What about Dad?"
Isn't Dad in Rome too?
Song Jiahe: "Of course, Dad also video calls you."
Ji Tong: "..."
"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking this?" Ms. Song Jiahe found it somewhat amusing.
Ji Tong: "...Nothing, I just missed you."
Song Jiahe: "Then Mom should come back as soon as possible."
"Hmm," Ji Tong said.
"Is that Tongtong on the phone?" Ji Yuanfeng pushed open the door and entered. Song Jiahe was humming a song and drawing her eyebrows, looking to be in a good mood.
He vaguely heard his wife talking on the phone.
"Okay," Song Jiahe replied.
Ji Yuanfeng: "What did you say? Why are you laughing so happily?"
Song Jiahe: "He was probably scared by the earthquake. He asked me what I would do if the world ended in an hour. I told him I would video call him."
"I asked you that too."
“I told him that his dad would also video call him.”
“Of course.” Ji Yuanfeng nodded.
"They probably miss us," Ms. Song Jiahe concluded.
The two were incredibly soft-hearted and had no idea that their precious child, far away in Anjing, was sitting at the foot of someone's bed, reflecting on her actions.
It's to the point where I'd sit up in the middle of the night and say, "I'm so damn stupid."
But instead of reflecting on oneself, it's better to blame others.
It's all Gu Lin's fault.
-
After making the accusations, Ji Tong sent another message to Haiyuan, asking about the kittens' condition.
Including Gu Jiulin, whom she found some time ago, Ji Tong has a total of 25 cats under her name. Most of them have good temperaments. 17 of them are kept at Haiyuan Cat Farm, and 7 of them have been given to her family.
—The kittens given away were all female kittens. It wasn't that no one wanted the male kittens; it was just that their names were "bad." From Gu Erlin to Gu Jiulin, they didn't sound like proper cats at all.
The people from Haiyuan sent over the surveillance video directly.
During the half-minute of the earthquake, the kittens did move a little, but thankfully, they didn't get all pricked up.
"We'll soothe them with cat treats and canned food later, especially those two cowards, Xiao Wu and Xiao Liu."
"OK."
Now only one troublemaker remains: Gu Linlin.
I don't know if I was scared.
Ji Tong learned a trick from Gu Lin and sent Uncle Chen a big red envelope, asking him to make a trip to Ping'an Park.
"Why are you being so polite with your Uncle Chen? You and A-Lin helped my grandson all the way to Chongqing High School. How could I not help you with this?"
“We didn’t help much; it was Xiao An’s own hard work,” Ji Tong said.
When Ji Tong was in his first year of high school, Chen Ping'an, the grandson of Uncle Chen, was in his first year of junior high school. They met because of a barbecue, and Ji Tong and his friends often gave him extra tutoring. Although he didn't get into the top high school in the end, he still managed to get into a key high school.
Back then, this "top high school competition class tutoring team" made many parents around them green with envy, and they still regret not going into the barbecue business.
A dozen minutes later, Uncle Chen replied to the message.
"Tongtong, she's not here today."
Although Ji Tong had already guessed it, she was still somewhat disappointed.
"Okay, I understand, thank you Uncle Chen."
"It's alright, don't worry too much. Gu Linlin is very clever."
"Uh-huh."
"Come to Uncle Chen's place for barbecue next time!"
"good."
After ending the chat, Ji Tong sat on the bed for a while, then got up, pushed open the door, and went out.
"Gu Lin, I want to..."
"Go find Gu Linlin."
Ji Tong's voice was interrupted, and she asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Gu Lin: "I heard Uncle Chen's voice."
Ji Tong stood by the door: "I'm going to find Gu Linlin, what about you?"
"I'm at home," Gu Lin said calmly.
Ji Tong lowered her eyelashes: "...Oh, okay, then I'll..."
"Is that possible?" Gu Lin's voice carried a hint of helplessness.
Ji Tong raised her face.
"Don't ask this kind of question again."
"I have time to do whatever I want."
Ji Tong: "Oh."
The same "oh" sounded different in two ways: the first time, the eyelashes were drooping, but the second time, the eyes and eyebrows were curved.
-
The following day, it was still raining in Ankyo.
Ji Tong thought that coming out with Gu Lin this time would bring some luck, and that the fat, clumsy cat would finally have some sense of propriety, but it didn't.
Ji Tong walked around Ping'an Park twice with an umbrella, and then searched inside and outside the stairwells of the two old residential buildings where it often appeared, but still couldn't find it.
The cat carrier and the canned food were both carried by Gu Lin.
Ji Tong walked out from a corner of a small attic, shining her phone's flashlight. The corner of the attic was very low, and she had to bend down to get in and out.
Gu Lin was about to go in, but Ji Tong stopped him because he thought it would affect his back.
Gu Lin raised his hand to protect the back of Ji Tong's head: "No?"
"Hmm, no," Ji Tong said fiercely, "Why doesn't this big fat truck cat give you any face at all?"
He used a series of adjectives such as "big," "fat," "truck," and "stupid," which shows that he was very angry.
"There's still one place we haven't looked at," Gu Lin said.
Ji Tong: "?"
-
Half an hour later, Ji Tong found Gu Linlin in a cement pipe in the open space behind the school.
That's where he and Gu Lin found it.
It's not that Ji Tong forgot about this place; it's just that it seems to have never returned since he found it.
Before he could find it, Ji Tong often came here, but he came ten times and came up empty-handed ten times. The old man at the back gate recognized Ji Tong and said, "There's a lot of dust here and no food, so no cats come here."
After that, Ji Tong stopped coming often.
Perhaps it was really frightened by last night's earthquake, and instinct drove it to hide here.
"Gu Linlin," Ji Tong called out towards the cement pipe.
The cow-patterned cat in the tube heard the familiar voice, meowed, and ran over.
When I found it, it was just a tiny bit of meat; now it's grown into a truck.
Ji Tong took out cat treats and canned food from the cat carrier, pouring them for the cat while reciting something.
"You're hiding here, deliberately trying to make me unable to find you, aren't you?"
Gu Linlin ignored him, opened her enormous jaws, and began chewing on cat food.
One bite, and not half the bowl was spilled.
Their eating habits are appalling.
Ji Tong was initially worried that there might be something wrong, and she visited three hospitals, but the doctors all said she was perfectly healthy.
Some kittens eat heartily because they are very hungry, but... this size doesn't seem to be the case, so I can only say tactfully that your son might just have this habit.
"I've told you so many times, don't eat like that. What will you do if you dislocate your jaw one day?"
Gu Linlin ignored him and continued to eat heartily. After he was full, he rubbed his fluffy head against Ji Tong's palm.
I didn't try to get involved with Gu Lin.
Ji Tong suddenly felt a little nervous and increased the pressure on her hand, pushing Gu Linlin towards Gu Lin's direction.
Fortunately, Gu Linlin was quite accommodating. Her pink nose twitched a few times, and she finally recognized him, snuggling up to him.
Ji Tong breathed a sigh of relief.
When Gu Linlin lowered her guard, Ji Tong wrapped it in her own clothes and took it to the vet.
He was worried about leaving it outside alone after half a month of continuous rain.
Registration, examination, and admission were all completed in half an hour.
As the two left the pet hospital, Ji Tong's phone rang.
It's Li Yuan.
"Where is it?" he asked.
Ji Tong gave an address: "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. The dorm supervisor just came up to check the doors and windows and asked if you're staying outside next week. If you are, you need to get a leave slip from your counselor in advance. If you're going back to the dorm, we'll help you cancel your leave."
Yesterday and today, two people came to remind him to go back to the dormitory. Ji Tong was silent for a moment before replying, "Okay, I got it."
Li Yuan didn't understand: "Huh? What does 'I understand' mean?"
Ji Tong: "Let me ask."
Li Yuan: "Who are you asking? The counselor? Or the dormitory supervisor?"
Who else could it be?
Ji Tong turned her head slightly and glanced at Gu Lin.
"Whose call was it?" Gu Lin asked.
Ji Tong: "A Yuan."
"What's wrong."
"It's nothing," Ji Tong said calmly.
Although it was Sunday, there weren't many pedestrians on the road because of the rain.
As Ji Tong passed through the shopping mall, she suddenly stopped.
"I'm going to buy something."
Gu Lin naturally had no objections.
Ji Tong pulled the person along and led them to a cultural and creative store.
He didn't linger and went straight to the jigsaw puzzle area.
Ji Tong: "Boss, do you have any jigsaw puzzles of the 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival' scroll?"
Young boss: ???
Where did this wild and handsome guy come from, asking for the Qingming Scroll right off the bat?
The boss shook his head: "No."
Ji Tong looked disappointed, but she let out a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "Which puzzle has the most pieces?"
Boss: "Around the planet, 3000 yuan."
Ji Tong: "Then I'll take this one, thank you."
Back in the apartment, Ji Tong ate a few bites of food hastily, shuffled into the living room in her slippers, and dumped all the puzzle pieces onto the clean carpet in front of the coffee table.
The fragments scattered like a blue snowfall.
He sat cross-legged to the side, studying the pictures.
"Why did you suddenly buy a jigsaw puzzle?"
From the moment he entered the cultural and creative store until he returned to his apartment, Gu Lin never asked him why he bought the puzzle, not even now.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to give it my all."
Outside the window, the sky was overcast. Ji Tong moved the warm yellow candle lamp to the coffee table and sat down to start the jigsaw puzzle.
Gu Lin didn't speak, quietly helping to sort through the broken pieces.
One piece, two pieces...
When they got to the eleventh piece, Ji Tong's shoulders swayed slightly.
“A Yuan just called me.”
"Yes, what did you say?"
"They said the dorm supervisor came to ask me if I wanted to stay out next week."
Ji Tong saw Gu Lin open his mouth as if to say something, but he didn't give him the chance and spoke first.
He was afraid that if he heard Gu Lin's voice, he wouldn't be able to speak.
"Gu Lin."
Ji Tong lowered his head, looking very serious as he studied the jigsaw puzzle, and said casually, "I want to finish this puzzle."
"But the dormitory is too small and inconvenient. Can I stay here until I finish the puzzle and then go back?"
Ji Tong is so clever.
The reasons are sufficient and justifiable, and no one can refuse.
It's a pity I couldn't buy the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll.
As Ji Tong was thinking this, she didn't hear Gu Lin's voice.
Ji Tong: "?"
What's the meaning?
Why isn't there any response?
Just as he was about to speak, he saw out of the corner of his eye that Gu Lin suddenly reached out and picked up a piece of the puzzle.
Under Ji Tong's questioning gaze, right in front of him, the puzzle piece fell into the melting candle lamp beside him with a "thud," which was already mostly melted.
Blue planetary fragments gradually sank into the transparent wax oil and settled to the bottom.
Under the lamplight, it looked like a piece of aged amber.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Ji Tong watched helplessly as the puzzle sank, unable to stop it in time. In her frantic attempt to do so, she could only grab Gu Lin's forearm. "What are you doing? How are we going to put it together if a piece is missing?"
Ji Tong turned her gaze to Gu Lin and glared at him.
Gu Lin: "Yeah, we can't finish it."
“Oh yeah, so you knew too. What if a piece is missing…” Ji Tong suddenly stopped talking.
Gu Lin looked at him.
Ji Tong's hand was still resting on Gu Lin's forearm, their body heat mingling.
Gu Lin turned his face away, his body exuding a faint scent of orange groves.
The sharp facial features appeared exceptionally soft in the dim light of the melting candle.
He repeated it slowly.
"I can't finish this."
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