Chapter 9
March 12th, Arbor Day.
The sky cleared. The dark clouds that had lingered for so long parted, revealing a washed-clean blue.
It was a beautiful day.
Jiang Heng left quietly. The two cats were still asleep. He nimbly slipped out of the garden without a word of goodbye.
In his current condition, if he left, he probably wouldn’t see them again, and saying goodbye would only add to the sadness.
He reached the bus stop he had mentioned when the sun climbed higher.
Two people were standing at the bus stop. The March wind was still cold, and Jiang Heng shrunk his neck, sizing up the two people. Seeing them engrossed in their phones, he found a corner to crouch in.
A small, thin cat, when crouching down, looked about the same size as the bus stop pillar, easily overlooked.
No one knew what kind of journey this little cat was about to embark on, nor how much mental preparation it had taken to summon the courage to board a bus.
It just curled up on the ground, looking listless, its body thin and dry, its bald tail wrapped around its legs. Several days had passed, but its fur hadn’t grown back.
The bus came every ten minutes. As the sun shone through the gaps in the bus stop roof, the bus slowly approached, backlit by the light.
Jiang Heng stood up.
To the small cat, the bus looked like a behemoth. Cold, reeking of gasoline, like a tall building that could collapse at any moment, crushing him beneath it.
He dry heaved without warning, feeling nauseous.
He felt a blood-red haze creeping into his vision, the smell of blood thick in his nose.
The two people at the bus stop put away their phones and stared at the approaching bus.
Jiang Heng pawed the ground, suppressing his slight trembling and racing heart. The moment the bus doors opened, he nimbly darted inside.
There weren’t many people on the bus. Some were dozing against their seats, others were looking at their phones. No one noticed the cat that had just boarded.
Jiang Heng huddled under a seat, trying to minimize his presence. He breathed a sigh of relief when the bus started moving again.
A cat’s perspective is low. From his angle, he could only see the base of the seats and a few pairs of shoes. The bus swayed and rattled forward, and Jiang Heng’s heart leaped into his throat with every bump.
To say he wasn’t afraid would be a lie. The pain of every bone in his body being crushed was still vivid in his memory. Whenever he closed his eyes, a hazy red washed over his mind.
All his blood.
Jiang Heng gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the bumps.
It was okay. Who would never ride in a car again just because they had been in an accident? Besides, that was just a low-probability event. How could anyone be that unlucky?
He mentally made a note to give Lu Yichuan a piece of his mind.
If it weren’t for him, he wouldn’t be on this bus. When he saw him, he would definitely bite him and give him a good beating to vent his anger.
…
The bus ride to the city center took two hours. During this time, Jiang Heng didn’t dare to sleep. He didn’t know the way, so he had to stay alert and listen to the bus stop announcements, afraid of missing his stop.
As soon as he heard his stop, he slipped off the bus with the crowd.
The sun rose higher, and Jiang Heng stretched lazily under the sunlight. Looking at the familiar shopping malls and streets, he slowly smiled.
Thankfully, even after a few years, this place was still familiar to him.
A University wasn’t far from here. He just needed to transfer to another bus, a twenty-minute ride.
Thinking of this, Jiang Heng was filled with determination.
Way to go, Little Jiang Heng! The most difficult part was over. Just two bus rides, a piece of cake for you!
Cherry blossom buds were emerging in the green belts, some already bursting with pink petals. The air carried a faint floral scent.
Willow branches swayed, their vibrant green fluttering by the roadside. Just a two-hour bus ride away, the spring here was much more evident than in that industrial area.
Jiang Heng didn’t find any food. He lapped up some water from a fountain, found the bus stop, and when the bus arrived, he slipped on board just like before.
Perhaps after a week of continuous bad luck, the heavens finally took pity on him, and his journey was remarkably smooth.
When he stood under the dense camphor trees, looking at the gates of A University, he was still in a daze, as if he hadn’t realized he had reached his destination.
The people coming and going at the entrance were all young university students. There were no speeding trucks, no children with wooden sticks, and no adults with numb, weary eyes.
Someone noticed the dirty little cat, but everyone’s eyes were kind. Two girls even bought a sausage and placed it in front of him.
Jiang Heng looked down at himself. Dirty, smelly, bald tail, and a sour odor emanating from his body.
The girls’ hands were clean. They carefully laid out a tissue on the ground before placing the sausage on it.
“Poor kitty, how did you get into such a state?”
“…”
Her friend urged her, “Hurry up, class is about to start. If the teacher takes attendance, we’re doomed.”
The two girls hurried off with their bags, and the bell rang soon after.
Jiang Heng crouched by the flower bed at the entrance. The sun shone brightly, the trees were tall, and the streets were clean. He, in his filth, felt out of place.
He was silent for a moment, then opened his mouth and took a bite of the sausage.
