Chapter 6
The next day, the three cats began to move.
Jiang Heng was sick, and his body would only get weaker day by day. Furthermore, with so many cats and dogs in the urban village, Little White and Big Yellow wouldn’t be able to survive on their own.
So Jiang Heng decided to move to the flower bed from yesterday. There was still cat food there, and if it hadn’t been discovered by other cats, it could sustain them for a few days.
But as a family of the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled, their progress was exceptionally slow.
The sky was overcast. The dirty, chaotic urban village even had a foul smell in the air. The spring wind and rain hadn’t cleansed the place at all.
They didn’t reach the flower bed until noon. Fortunately, the cat food and canned food were still there. Jiang Heng settled Big Yellow in the flower bed and took Little White out to forage.
They couldn’t just eat their way through their supplies.
It started raining in the afternoon. A thin mist veiled the distant mountains. Within the mist, new green gradually covered the dark brown branches, and wild pear trees bloomed a soft white amidst the greenery.
At the foot of the mountain, the roar of machinery and cold, gray buildings dominated the world.
There was no spring in Jiang Heng’s world. Looking up, he could only see countless trucks coming and going on the oil-stained streets, the workers’ faces etched with numbness and fatigue.
No one cared about the two cats hurrying through the rain.
He took Little White to the orphanage he had shortlisted.
The orphanage gate was just two mottled iron sheets, with two short walls on either side. Creepers sprawled over the gray walls, becoming the most striking color on the street.
The sounds of children playing came from inside. Jiang Heng and Little White crouched at the entrance, pondering how to get in.
The iron gate was hopeless. He finally set his sights on the creeper-covered wall. Fortunately, the orphanage was dilapidated, and they found a dog hole near the wall.
Jiang Heng and Little White stealthily slipped inside.
The orphanage was small. Just inside the dog hole was a playground. It was lunchtime, and a group of children were lining up for food, a caretaker standing among them with a ladle.
“You’re all wearing clean clothes that were just changed this morning. If anyone dares to get their clothes dirty during lunch, I’ll spank you! And, have you all remembered what the teacher taught you?”
A group of children, holding bowls, answered sparsely, “Remembered…Be polite, greet people, don’t talk back to guests, and don’t lose your temper at guests…”
“It’s no use just remembering it in your mouths. You need to remember it in your hearts, understand? The students from A University are coming later. Our orphanage has been open for so many years, and very few have gotten into A University. Students are kind. If you are polite and well-behaved, maybe they will donate more money in the future.”
“We understand, Caretaker. When can we eat?”
“Eat, eat, eat! All you think about is eating!” The caretaker’s face was full of exasperation, but he still lifted the lid of the pot in front of him. “Come, come, line up, one by one…”
As the lid was lifted, the aroma of food wafted out.
Little White swallowed, tempted. “When are we going over?”
Jiang Heng stared at the scene ahead. “Wait a little longer.”
The children in the orphanage had no say; the caretaker was in charge.
The caretaker was a short, stout man. Even though it was only March, he was already wearing short sleeves, revealing a section of tattooed arm. His features looked fierce, and he seemed intimidating.
He served the food while grumbling, but the children didn’t seem afraid of him and were giggling.
Jiang Heng observed for a while. Little White was clearly getting impatient, and just as it was about to lose its patience, the sound of a door opening came. A woman emerged from inside, carrying a basin of stir-fried pork belly.
The crowd erupted in excitement. “Meat! Sister Su Ye brought meat!”
Dozens of children, forgetting about the line, rushed forward. The caretaker struggled to maintain order with his ladle, but to no avail.
Jiang Heng looked at the woman carrying the meat in surprise. If he remembered correctly, she was the kind person who had given him and Little White fried rice that day.
Little White twitched its nose. “I remember her. She gave us food. She smells nice.”
Women’s senses were much sharper than men’s and children’s. Jiang Heng and Little White had been squatting by the wall for a long time without being noticed, but Su Ye spotted them soon after she came out.
Jiang Heng met her gaze.
The woman smiled in pleasant surprise, handed the basin of meat to the caretaker, and walked towards the wall.
She crouched down in front of the two cats. “What a coincidence! I didn’t expect to see you again.”
She reached out and petted Little White, still unable to find a place to touch Jiang Heng.
“Are you hungry? Wait, I’ll find something for you to eat.”
When Su Ye returned, the tattooed caretaker followed her. The man’s voice boomed, “What are you doing, sneaking off to the kitchen to make such a big basin of meat? The kids aren’t short of food.”
Su Ye couldn’t find any cat food, so she filled a bowl with rice and a few rinsed slices of meat. Her voice was gentle, no matter who she was talking to.
“Brother Li, this is just a small gesture from me. Besides, I grew up here. I know best what the living conditions are like in the orphanage.”
“I don’t think you do! Those donating students are coming this afternoon. They won’t be short of food. Your life is already so difficult, why bother with those disobedient brats?”
Su Ye ignored him, crouched down in front of the two cats, and placed the bowl in front of them. Her incomplete left hand gently tapped Little White’s forehead. “Eat.”
The caretaker’s tone immediately shifted. “Where did these cats come from?”
Su Ye looked at the hole in the wall. “They probably crawled in from there. I have some sort of connection with these two cats. I saw them once before. I didn’t expect to see them again after my restaurant closed down.”
The burly caretaker seemed rooted to the spot upon seeing the cats. Usually, cats were terrified of him, but these two weren’t afraid at all.
He carefully squatted down next to Su Ye. “Where did these cats come from? Are they together? This white cat looks so clean, it doesn’t look like a stray.”
Su Ye hesitated. “They probably know each other. They were together last time I saw them. I thought this white cat looked so beautiful and clean, I thought it was someone’s pet, but I didn’t find a name tag on it.”
The caretaker’s eyes lit up, and he reached out his hand, covered in a green dragon tattoo, to pet Little White, but the cat dodged him.
He felt a pang of disappointment. Before he could retract his hand, a warm, furry body rubbed against his palm.
The kitten beneath his hand was thin and dirty, its breed indistinguishable, its fur messy. It nuzzled its relatively clean head against his palm, its glassy eyes shining, as if saying:
Let you pet me a little, don’t be sad.
The caretaker’s steely heart instantly melted.
He didn’t mind the dirt and patted the kitten’s head. “What happened to this cat? How did it get so dirty?”
Su Ye said, “Judging by the dirt on it, someone probably splashed something on it. There’s an urban village nearby, and the kids there are little tyrants. Their favorite thing to do is mix gasoline and soot with diluted glue and splash it on people. This cat probably fell victim to them. It’s very difficult to wash off.”
The caretaker frowned. “They would do that to such a small cat?”
Su Ye didn’t speak.
After all, having grown up in an orphanage, she knew more about the ugliness of human nature than anyone.
They had been squatting there for a while when several children came running over with their bowls, their eyes lighting up when they saw the two cats.
“Kitties!”
Jiang Heng and Little White were surrounded by a group of children as they ate, looking up to see several pairs of shining eyes.
“…”
So…much…pressure.
Although the children in the orphanage were also mischievous, they were obedient. No one tried to touch the cats, they just squatted beside them, chattering.
“Such a beautiful white kitty! What breed is it?”
“How did they get in? Does it like carrots? Can I give it my carrots?”
“This skinny cat is so dirty. Did it roll around in mud?”
“…”
Suddenly, someone in the crowd giggled. “It looks so funny! Its body is so skinny, but its belly is so big. Is it pregnant?”
Su Ye was startled and looked at Jiang Heng. The kitten, who had eaten so vigorously that day, had only taken a few bites and looked listless.
“What’s wrong with it?” The caretaker’s rough hand stroked Jiang Heng, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He just felt that Jiang Heng looked different from other kittens.
Su Ye picked up Jiang Heng with one hand and gently felt him all over with the three remaining fingers on her left hand. Her expression was grim. “It’s sick.”
“Sick?”
Su Ye put the cat down, gently stroked its head with her slender fingers, and sighed softly. “They’re stray cats; they have their own fates. We can only give them some food. I’m afraid there’s not much else we can do.”
She looked at the cat quietly squatting in front of her. When she met its glassy eyes, she had the distinct feeling that it understood her.
“Such beautiful eyes…” She rubbed the kitten’s ears. “If it were clean, it might be very pretty.”
Ultimately unable to bear it, Su Ye continued, regardless of whether the cat could understand. “Come here if you’re hungry in the future. Although you won’t get anything fancy, at least you won’t go hungry.”
After speaking, she saw the ugly little kitten stand up and bow to her, as if expressing its gratitude.
Su Ye abruptly stood up, turning her face away. “I’m going to see if the director has eaten.”
Without waiting for the caretaker’s reply, she hurried off, as if escaping something.
The children surrounding the kittens were sent back for their afternoon nap, leaving only Jiang Heng and Little White in the corner.
The rain wasn’t heavy today, and they were relatively dry under a large tree. Little White, having eaten its fill, lay on the ground, licking its fur and chatting with Jiang Heng. “What were they talking about just now?”
There was still more than half of the food left in Jiang Heng’s bowl. He looked at the wall behind him, somewhat distracted. “They praised us for being cute and said they were going to adopt us.”
Little White stopped licking. “Do you want to be adopted by them?”
Jiang Heng asked, “What do you think of them?”
Little White didn’t answer directly. It pondered for a moment, then asked Jiang Heng, “Will they abandon us again?”
Just like its previous owner.
Jiang Heng didn’t know.
He lay on the ground, a wave of exhaustion washing over him. His chest still hurt, but along with the pain came a deep, debilitating fatigue.
He wanted to sleep.
But he didn’t dare. He was afraid that if he fell asleep, he wouldn’t wake up.
He got up from the ground and said to Little White, “I have to go out for a bit. You can rest here. The children here shouldn’t hurt you. You can also go back and find Big Yellow. I’ll meet up with you later.”
“Where are you going?”
Jiang Heng slowly shuffled away, his voice still cheerful.
“I’m going to do something very important!”
…
When the caretaker came over with water, he only saw Little White. The other cat was nowhere to be seen. He poured the water into the bowl. Before he could sneak in a pet, his phone rang.
The director’s aged voice came from the other end.
“The donating students are here.”
Outside the mottled, dilapidated walls, a brand-new bus slowly approached in the drizzle. The only old peach tree in the orphanage was quietly budding in the gentle wind and rain, bringing a touch of life to the dull, gray courtyard.
