Chapter 31: Meow p2
The next day, Jing Zhi saw a crazy message from Jiang Suifeng on his phone early in the morning.
Jiang Suifeng: [Say, should I dye my hair yellow? Mimi’s color.]
Jing Zhi had just woken up and still had a bit of grumpiness. He huddled the little cub still sleeping soundly in his arms and typed with squinted eyes.
Jing Zhi: [Don’t talk about yellow hair.]
After replying to the message, Jing Zhi casually threw the phone aside, hugged the soft little guy in his arms, and napped for a while longer.
Because Mimi had insomnia sleeping alone in the dormitory the night Qiuqiu left and woke up with big dark circles under his eyes the next morning, for the sake of his health, Jing Zhi slept with him these past few nights.
Anyway, there wasn’t much time left before the notice period ended. Jing Zhi decided to temporarily be a doting prospective parent.
Today, the welfare institute had a new activity. People from the fire brigade would come in the afternoon to provide fire safety education for the children.
The snow outside had accumulated very thickly. Jiang Suifeng had to work overtime these days and hadn’t had time to come over and build a snowman with Mimi. There was really no way around it during the busiest end of the year.
However, Mimi had just returned from the hospital not long ago, and Jing Zhi didn’t allow him to play in the snow for too long, afraid he would get sick again.
Although the little human Mimi’s physical examination results were much healthier than the kitten Mimi’s, it was better to be careful. It was easiest to develop some chronic illnesses when young.
After lunch, Jing Mimi obediently nestled in Papa’s arms for a nap.
When he woke up, the uncles and aunties from the fire brigade also set off.
The welfare institute staff began to organize the children to sit in rows, waiting for the fire safety knowledge popularization.
Those listening were children who hadn’t reached the age to go to school or couldn’t go to school.
Jing Mimi sat obediently on the small stool, hands on his knees.
Having lived in the welfare institute for so long, he had completely integrated into the orderly human collective.
While waiting, the Cat God’s long-lost voice suddenly sounded in his head: “Mimi, there’s a new mission!”
Jing Mimi sat up straighter and responded to the Cat God in his mind: “Hmm?” waiting for its next words.
“It’s the wish of a special kitten, Mao Mao.”
“The wish is: kiss Chen Ankang for it.”
“Chen Ankang is a retired firefighter who is coming to the welfare institute to popularize fire safety knowledge. You will see him later.”
Jing Mimi didn’t have any impression of Mao Mao. There were too many kittens on Planet Meow. He didn’t stay on Planet Meow for a long time and didn’t interact with many cats.
He didn’t know what kind of special kitten it would be.
But Papa had introduced “firefighters” to him. Like police officers, they were a very amazing group of people.
Jing Mimi waited patiently. Finally, a group of people walked in one after another from behind the door.
Among them, the most eye-catching was an uncle with a strange appearance.
He had no hair, and there were many deep and shallow scars on his skin. Almost all eyes fell on him.
Some children showed fear, some were curious and probing…
Jing Mimi’s gaze scanned everyone, guessing which one was his mission target.
After hearing a self-introduction, Jing Mimi’s eyes lit up instantly.
So that uncle was Chen Ankang! The target in the mission.
Unfortunately, he had to sit obediently in his seat to listen to the lecture now and couldn’t go over to complete the mission.
Jing Mimi wasn’t afraid of him. Humans chosen by kittens for wishes must be very, very good people.
He wasn’t afraid of humans approved by cats.
The fire safety knowledge popularization lecture was very interesting. Originally, Jing Mimi’s little brain kept thinking about the mission, but soon he was completely attracted by the lecture and participated in the on-site simulation games with other children.
At the end of the lecture, the firefighters told the children a story about a firefighter sacrificing himself to save others.
Many eyes in the audience were filled with admiration.
Chen Ankang touched his bald head a bit embarrassedly.
At the end, the welfare institute staff took a group photo of the children and firefighters, leaving some free time for the children to interact freely with the firefighters.
Many children approaching caught Chen Ankang a bit off guard, but he still tried hard to show a gentle and friendly smile, even though he knew any expression on his face would look weird.
“Uncle, you are so amazing.”
“Uncle, you are a big hero!”
“Uncle, does it hurt?”
“…”
“Uncle, can I kiss you?”
Chen Ankang responded to each one, flattered, and subconsciously answered the last question too: “Yes.”
After answering, he was stunned, looking at the child who spoke in disbelief.
The child was extremely beautiful, and his hair was also an unusual light yellow. Hearing his affirmative answer, he leaned over, stood on tiptoe, and quickly planted a light kiss on his cheek.
Chen Ankang was completely stunned.
Since that accident, until now, he had never received any kiss.
Not entirely because no one except family was willing to kiss someone looking like him, but even with family, he resisted letting them kiss him like this.
No.
If that counted as a kiss, he had received one.
And more than once.
The one who kissed him was his kitten, Mao Mao.
The encounter with Mao Mao happened in the second year after his accident.
At that time, he couldn’t accept his unrecognizable self, refused to go out, refused to see people, and even had thoughts of suicide.
He didn’t regret becoming a firefighter, nor did he regret rushing in to save people, but he really couldn’t bear living in this world with this appearance.
The patient companionship of his family, the encouragement of teammates and leaders, and the gratitude of fire victims allowed him to hold on until now, but he was really too tired.
He wanted to be free.
Just then, another serious fire broke out in City A. He saw it in the work group and local news.
There were many comments under the news, and one attracted his attention.
[Too tragic. Heard it was a person living alone. The person choked to death, and the cat at home was also burned badly, bloody and fleshy. It’s still breathing though, sent to the pet hospital. Don’t know if it can survive.]
For some reason, maybe it was destiny, this kitten planted a seed in his heart.
That night he kept thinking: Is the kitten okay? How are the injuries? Did it survive? If it survived, its only owner died; will anyone still be willing to take care of it? …
The next day, as soon as he opened his eyes, he couldn’t wait to ask his former teammate about the situation of this kitten.
The teammate was one of the firefighters participating in this rescue and replied quickly: [The kitten was rescued. All the fur on its body was burned off, and the skin was also burned in large areas, but the will to survive is very strong. Currently in good condition.]
Perhaps his depression always worried the people around him. After that, that teammate reported the kitten’s situation to him from time to time.
[The wounds are recovering. Although it can’t move yet, it cooperates very well with the doctor’s treatment.]
[Can feed some liquid food now. The little guy is greedy.]
[Good news, good news, the kitten can stand up! Although only standing up, walking is not quite okay yet, but it’s already a big improvement.]
[The kitten can walk!! Although the speed is very slow, believe it won’t be long before it can run.]
…
The messages were accompanied by some photos of the kitten. He accompanied the kitten’s recovery unilaterally on this side of the screen, as if seeing his former self in it.
At that time, he also stood up bit by bit like this.
How difficult it was.
During that time, his hope every day was to receive news about the kitten, and the world wasn’t so gray anymore.
Finally, when his teammate told him he wanted to find an adopter for the kitten, he mustered up the courage: [Can I adopt this kitten?]
The teammate sent the kitten to him that day.
The kitten had no fur on its body, probably second to third-degree burns. The hair follicles were severely damaged, and the skin was covered with scar tissue. It would probably be difficult to grow cat fur again in the future.
But the kitten’s mental state was good. Having walked through the gates of hell and returned, it knew these humans were saving it and was closer to humans.
Upon meeting, the kitten purred and pressed against him.
His heart softened instantly.
What a cute kitten.
Although it had no fur and was covered in unhealed scars, cuteness was a feeling. Ugly-looking things could also be labeled as cute.
The family of the injured person he rescued in that rescue often visited him. There was a kindergarten-aged little daughter at home who was never afraid of him and even smiled and said to him, who appeared stiff due to mobility inconvenience: “Uncle, you are so cute.”
Maybe she thought his unique walking behavior was interesting. Like a robot?
He… was actually cute?
Just like that, the kitten became a member of the family.
He gave the kitten a new name, “Mao Mao” (Fur/Hair), hoping it might grow fur one day.
Of course, it didn’t matter if it didn’t grow.
He fed Mao Mao food and water and scooped the litter box personally every day. Mao Mao would also sleep with him, always pressing its little nose against his cheek, as if planting a kiss on it.
He liked the feeling of his cheek being touched by the kitten’s nose.
Liked such kitten kisses.
He never had any negative thoughts again. He even asked his family to take photos of him and Mao Mao and printed them out.
In the photo, both human and cat had experienced the baptism of fire and were reborn from the ashes.
Gradually, he started trying to go out.
He personally went to the courier station to pick up things bought for the kitten, personally took the kitten to the hospital for follow-up checks, and even boldly attended some lectures…
Although it was inevitable that some people would be scared by him, there was more understanding, tolerance, and respect.
Taking this step, he discovered that the beauty of the world was enough to offset those negative thoughts in his heart.
His world wasn’t burned to ashes by that fire. Spring came, and everything revived.
But even in spring, there is withering.
A cat’s lifespan is much shorter than a human’s. This burn not only brought irreversible damage to Mao Mao’s skin but also injured some of its organs, greatly discounting its already short lifespan.
Within two years, Mao Mao left.
When it left, he cried hoarsely, and his family once feared he would collapse again.
But through his teary eyes, he saw a few soft cat hairs.
Growing on the back of the kitten that had already closed its eyes, hard to notice without looking closely.
Mao Mao grew fur.
Mao Mao left the fur to him.
Like a tender green sprout growing on the ruins.
It was the last gift Mao Mao left him.
He couldn’t bear to cut off these few cat hairs, but he didn’t sink into depression either.
He lived well.
Perhaps as early as in the company of the kitten, he also grew “fur.”
He would still be a bit inferior, timid, and sensitive, but these were not enough to crush him anymore.
Just like now, he appeared in the welfare institute and didn’t retreat.
…
“Little friend,” Chen Ankang felt his throat was a bit hoarse, “why did you want to kiss Uncle?”
Jing Mimi blinked his eyes. He couldn’t answer that the kitten asked him to kiss, but he still answered without hesitation: “Uncle is a big hero. I like Uncle, so I want to kiss Uncle.”
He wasn’t good at lying. Most of the time when encountering questions that were hard to answer, he chose to ignore and not answer.
So, this answer wasn’t considered lying.
Chen Ankang’s heart softened. Looking at the child in front of him, he seemed to see the pure and soft kitten.
His body uncontrollably took out his phone from his pocket, and he said, “Can Uncle take some photos with you guys?”
After the accident, he became particularly resistant to taking photos. The situation improved a bit after Mao Mao appeared.
After Mao Mao left, he rarely took photos again.
But now, he wanted to take some photos with the children. Seeing them in the photos after going back, he would feel his soul purified.
“Okay!”
Besides Jing Mimi, other children also cooperated and took many photos with him.
During the shooting, pairs of small hands curiously and carefully stroked his burned skin. Slightly itchy, like the feeling of wounds healing.
After the shooting ended, Jing Mimi stared at the photo on Chen Ankang’s phone lock screen wallpaper and asked, “Uncle, is this the kitten you raised?”
Chen Ankang’s gaze followed to the photo of him and Mao Mao on the lock screen, smiling and answering, “Yes, its name is Mao Mao.”
Jing Mimi asked again, “Is it a Sphinx cat?”
Chen Ankang was stunned, then laughed dumbly, “No, it’s the most beautiful Calico cat among cats. It also had an accident in the fire like Uncle, and all the fur on its body was burned off.”
Jing Mimi nodded thoughtfully.
…
[Mao Mao’s Wish Completed]
Planet Meow, in front of the huge cloud TV.
Almost all the cats were sitting on the cloud ground, but one figure was suspended in mid-air.
It was a beautiful Calico cat, with a pair of soft small wings woven from cat fur on its back, flapping gently, enjoying the best viewing angle.
The small wings were evolved by the Cat God using the few hairs it grew before death when bringing it to Planet Meow.
It always flew around on Planet Meow. The kitten Mimi had actually seen it, but only from afar, thinking it was a beautiful little butterfly.
Ruins will grow tender sprouts.
Flesh and blood will grow wings.
Fire is just a medium for forging them.
They will eventually be reborn from the ashes.
…
The fire safety knowledge popularization lecture ended. Chen Ankang returned fully loaded with many photos, planning to share them with his family and Grandpa Jiang as soon as he got back, telling them about today’s experience and… the kiss on his cheek.
Jing Mimi, on the other hand, ran to find Jing Zhi with his short legs immediately.
Jing Zhi was in the staff dormitory, opening his computer to deal with some work. Seeing the little guy appear, he immediately withdrew his hands from the keyboard and mouse, moved his wrists casually, and his gaze fell on him.
Jing Mimi couldn’t wait to speak, asking him, “Papa, is the Calico cat the most beautiful kitten among cats?”
Jing Zhi was slightly stunned.
There were indeed rumors that cats were considered beautiful based on the number of coat colors. Among them, the Calico cat was the great beauty of the cat world.
But… the kitten cub asked him this, could he really answer “Yes”?
Jiang Suifeng seemed to have asked him a similar question, asking if a certain game streamer he often cooperated with was a very interesting person.
***
Author’s Note:
Mimi: [Let me see] Papa.
