Chapter 1: Meow
“Meow?”
A beige Scottish Fold kitten lay on its favorite soft blanket. Its lusterless tail drooped stiffly, and its eyes were shut tight, as if it had fallen into a peaceful, deep sleep.
Floating above the Scottish Fold kitten was a translucent kitten spirit that looked exactly like it.
That soft, confused cry had come from its mouth.
But apart from itself, no one seemed able to hear it.
It was a bit confused about the situation. It didn’t know why its body, which had been stiff and painful just moments ago, suddenly felt light and airy. It didn’t know why it could suddenly fly, nor why there was a kitten exactly like itself lying on the table below…
It blinked its eyes and subconsciously drifted quickly toward two familiar figures.
They were two men. The slightly shorter one had a touch of premature gray in his hair, while the taller one held him tightly from behind.
They were its papas.
“Mi!”
The kitten spirit wanted to snuggle up to them as usual, but it passed straight through their bodies, pouncing on empty air.
“Meow?!”
The kitten spirit braked urgently in mid-air, so startled that the fur on its tail puffed up.
Before it could remain in shock for too long, a low sobbing sound suddenly rang in its ears.
Papa was crying.
The shot of anesthesia had already been administered.
Jing Zhi could no longer control his emotions; the dam broke, and he let the tears stream from his eyes, biting his lower lip as he sobbed quietly.
Jiang Suifeng’s eyes were also rimmed with red. He raised the back of his hand to wipe away a tear and hugged the other man even tighter.
The comforting effect was practically zero.
If not for the wish to prevent Mimi from sensing their negative emotions before the euthanasia, the tears would have flowed uncontrollably long ago.
The doctor, accustomed to such scenes, sighed secretly in his heart and continued preparing the next injection.
Euthanasia consisted of two shots: one anesthetic, one euthanasia agent. The interval between the two was very short.
The moment the second needle went in, Jiang Suifeng felt the person in his arms instinctively lurch forward. He hurriedly held him fast, his voice trembling slightly beside his ear: “Let Mimi end the pain.”
Mimi had reached a point where even eating was difficult; its joints were stiff, and moving was a struggle. Breathing for even one more second in this world was torture for it. If not for this, they would never have chosen euthanasia.
The only response he received was a suppressed whimper.
And, a “Mi-woo” that he could not hear.
It was a bewildered, innocent cry from the kitten spirit.
Originally, it couldn’t understand complex human language, only distinguishing simple words like “Mimi” (its name), “Papa” (its favorites), and “Canned Food” (yummy).
But after becoming this form, it seemed to have gained a magical power, allowing it to understand more things.
Mimi… end… pain…
Its body felt even lighter, as if a gust of wind could blow it away.
Yet, it couldn’t touch anything solid, nor could it feel the wind.
Just as the kitten spirit was dazed, the doctor used a stethoscope to confirm that the heart of the kitten on the table had completely stopped. He looked at the two parents who were weeping uncontrollably and said gently, “You can take it for cremation now. Bring the urn you prepared.”
Jiang Suifeng nodded upon hearing this. He picked up the light blue urn with a sunflower pattern that they had specially prepared for Mimi to hold its ashes.
Then, he wiped Jing Zhi’s tears, and together they took the kitten, whose heart had stopped beating, out of the room.
Just as the kitten spirit tried to follow, a paw suddenly blocked its path.
It was a large Calico cat spirit that had appeared out of thin air.
Its mouth opened and closed, and although it emitted meows, they were automatically translated into long and short sentences in the kitten spirit’s mind.
“Jing Mimi. Former name: Little Gold. Scottish Fold. 8 years old.”
“Had two sets of parents.”
“First parent: Chen Cai. Purchased from a Scottish Fold breeder. Deliberately staged a ‘rescue’ of an abandoned Scottish Fold to build a social media account, named it Little Gold, and used it to amass wealth. Abandoned it when its illness became severe at age 4.”
“Second parents: Jing Zhi, Jiang Suifeng. Found the abandoned Little Gold. Adopted it after failing to find the owner, named it Jing Mimi. At age 8, after confirming it could not be cured, chose euthanasia to end the pain caused by the disease.”
Hearing the names of its two papas at the end, the kitten spirit let out an excited “Mi-woo!”
A cat’s brain capacity is small; it had already somewhat forgotten the events of the first four years of its life, remembering only the happy times with its papas during the last four years.
The Calico cat lovingly circled it with its large tail and continued, “I am the Guiding God of Planet Meow. Mimi, it is time for you to leave this place and go to Planet Meow.”
“All cats who pass away go to Planet Meow. It is the Garden of Eden for cats.”
Upon hearing this, the kitten spirit suddenly struggled free from the large tail, letting out a “Meow” with its fur bristling.
It didn’t want to leave Papa!
The Calico cat was not surprised; this wasn’t the first time it had encountered a kitten spirit unwilling to leave. Whether willing or not, they all had to go.
Afraid of being taken away, the kitten spirit stumbled and fled, instinctively searching for the figures of its papas.
The Calico cat followed unhurriedly behind, in no rush at all.
Who knows how much time passed before two figures finally appeared in its field of vision.
Papa!
The kitten spirit excitedly sped up.
It was a hospital corridor. Jing Zhi sat on a somewhat faded blue row of chairs, holding the heavy urn. His tears had run dry, leaving numb tear stains on his face. Jiang Suifeng stood in front of him.
The two were saying something, their words laced with barbed tones. Mimi couldn’t quite understand.
But cats are particularly sensitive to the emotional changes of those around them. Having lived together for four years, it could sense that this was the precursor to a quarrel between its papas.
In a place invisible to the two men, the kitten spirit circled anxiously, meowing and crying.
In the past, whenever its papas argued, it would jump into their arms, meowing and acting cute to distract them. Every time this happened, its papas would soften and reconcile.
But now, it could no longer jump into their arms to act cute and make peace.
After passing through its papas’ bodies an unknown number of times, the kitten spirit finally wilted. Its tail drooped dejectedly, and tears fell quickly like beans.
It seemed to finally understand the meaning of the word “end.”
“Let’s go, Mimi.”
The large Calico cat, having approached unnoticed from behind, suddenly wrapped its soft belly around Mimi, holding it in a gentle embrace.
Everything before its eyes suddenly went black.
“Jiang Suifeng, let’s break up.”
Before leaving, this was the last sentence it heard Papa say.
The kitten spirit struggled rapidly, finally breaking free from the darkness, only to find that the scene before its eyes had completely changed.
Its papas were gone. Beneath its feet were endless soft clouds. On the clouds stood an exquisitely beautiful Cat Paradise, with many bouncing figures weaving back and forth within it.
It was no longer a translucent spirit but had turned back into a healthy beige Scottish Fold kitten, with all four paws landing on the cloud ground.
The feeling of solid ground should have been reassuring, but it felt even more terrified.
It only felt safe when it was by its papas’ side.
“Mimi, welcome to Planet Meow. All the cats here will be your new family.” The Calico cat’s tail gently touched Mimi’s tail.
Jing Mimi was stunned for a long time. Its tail curled up, and suddenly, it let out a “Meow” and burst into tears: “I want Papa!”
**
Planet Meow had received a crybaby kitten named Jing Mimi.
The clouds of Planet Meow were melted into many little pits by its tears.
The Tri-colored Cat God thought of many ways but failed to coax it.
It recreated the cat room from Mimi’s memories, but Mimi cried even harder, saying Papa wasn’t inside.
It cooked delicious cat meals for Mimi, but Mimi wouldn’t eat a bite, saying it wanted Papa to feed it.
It brought many cat toys, but Mimi remained listless, not even sparing a glance, saying it wanted to play with Papa.
…
Mimi couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning Papa, and every time it said “Papa,” it would shed tears.
Finally, the Tri-colored Cat God brought over a special kitten.
It was a Tortoiseshell cat with only one ear.
“Sister Chestnut!” Jing Mimi’s eyes lit up instantly, and its drooping little tail perked up.
“Mimi, long time no see.” Chestnut excitedly pricked up its single ear, darted over to Mimi, and licked its fur.
Chestnut was a cat belonging to a friend of its papas. Sometimes when the papas were busy, they would send Mimi to stay at Sister Chestnut’s house for a few days. They were very good friends.
But Mimi hadn’t seen it since two years ago.
It hadn’t expected them to reunite on Planet Meow.
Chestnut had already heard about Mimi’s situation from the Tri-colored Cat God and decided to keep Mimi company so it could adapt to life here as soon as possible.
Jing Mimi asked, “Sister Chestnut, do you know how to go back?”
Chestnut licked Mimi’s drooping little ears. “Mimi, we can’t go back. After cats die, they can only stay on Planet Meow.”
The little bit of spirit Jing Mimi had managed to muster was extinguished. It curled up beside Chestnut, wrapping its tail around its body, wanting to cry again.
Planet Meow had no concept of time. Cats slept when tired and ate when hungry, doing as they pleased without a care. It didn’t know how long it had been away from its papas, nor how its papas were doing now.
It missed them so much, and it was so worried about them.
Before leaving, they seemed to have argued. It didn’t know if they had made up yet.
Suddenly thinking of something, Jing Mimi looked up with its small head and asked the kitten grooming it, “Sister Chestnut, what does ‘break up’ mean?”
Although it could understand some language now, it was still just a newly enlightened kitten, and the meanings of many words were unclear.
Chestnut paused, seeming to guess something, but still provided an answer: “It refers to the end of a romantic relationship between lovers. After breaking up, they won’t live together anymore, and they might even never see or contact each other again.”
The fur that had just been licked smooth instantly stood on end.
Jing Mimi quickly stood up, the whole cat bristling like a little hedgehog.
It had to go back to find Papa! It couldn’t let them break up!
But soon, it remembered Sister Chestnut’s words: We can’t go back.
It could choose not to believe the Tri-colored Cat God it had just met, but it had to believe Sister Chestnut. If it were possible to go back, Sister Chestnut would have gone back long ago.
Tears, like pearls from a broken string, poured from the kitten’s eyes.
Chestnut tried to comfort it for a long time to no avail and had to go find the Tri-colored Cat God.
“Great Cat God, is there really no way for Mimi to go back? Its papas need it very much right now.”
This was the first time the Tri-colored Cat God had encountered a kitten that loved crying so much. Seeing the pitiful sight of its face fur soaked with tears, the God finally softened its heart.
With the rapid development of Earth’s civilization, the number of pet cats was increasing, and the attachment of deceased cats to humans was deepening.
As the Cat God, besides bringing deceased cats to Planet Meow and caring for their daily lives, it also had to fulfill the cats’ reasonable wishes—such as making a butterfly land on the window sill when their owner missed them, leaving a pair of small paw prints at the door, or secretly pushing out a corner of a toy the kitten had hidden deep in the sofa while it was alive…
The wishes were becoming more numerous, and the God was feeling quite overwhelmed. Recently, it had often wondered: Should I order a Little Believer to go to Earth to share the burden?
The beige Scottish Fold kitten cried until it was tired, and finally, gradually fell asleep.
The soft cloud ground had been smashed into many small pits by the tears again.
Only tears of sorrow would leave scars on the clouds of Planet Meow; this served as a reminder to the Cat God to heal and comfort its Little Believer.
**
When Jing Mimi woke up, it found itself surrounded by a group of cats.
Directly in front of it was the familiar Tri-colored Cat God.
Jing Mimi was a bit confused about the situation. It curled its little tail and blinked its slightly swollen eyes.
“Mimi,” the Tri-colored Cat God spoke first, “I can help you return to your papas’ side, but there is a condition.”
Jing Mimi instantly perked up. It sat up, propping itself up with its two front paws, and nodded its little head incessantly. Its mind was filled with only six big words—”Return to Papa’s side.”
The Tri-colored Cat God said, “I need you to assist me in fulfilling the wishes of the cats.”
With that, it looked at the group of cats surrounding them.
Seeing this, the cats spoke one by one:
“I loved playing with foxtail grass the most when I was alive. Mimi, please pick a bunch of foxtail grass and put it at my owner’s door.”
“My owner is a gaming nerd. Mimi, please register a game account, use my name to add him, and send him a free virtual flower in the game. My name is Corn.”
“My owner has a baby now. Mimi, please give the little baby a kiss for me.”
…
The Tri-colored Cat God continued, “I will filter out the wishes you can fulfill. For every one you complete, the time you can stay on Earth will be extended. Your previous body can no longer be used, so I will arrange a new human body for you to facilitate your actions.”
“Are you willing?”
“Meow!” Jing Mimi raised its tail high.
As long as it could return to its papas’ side, it was willing to do anything.
**
