The Cub Comes from Planet Meow 78

Chapter 78: Meow

Jing Mimi was stunned for a moment, then pressed the answer button.

Wang Qiuqiu’s voice sounded from the other end: “Mimi, did you see Luo Luo? Why is it so dark there?”

Oh, right.

Yesterday he shared the good news of going to see Sister Luo Luo with Brother Qiuqiu, and said he would call him and show him after seeing Sister Luo Luo.

When leaving the welfare institute, Brother Qiuqiu even drew him a Siamese cat. He would definitely like Sister Luo Luo too.

Unexpectedly, he met Sister Chule here and had so much fun playing with her that he forgot his promise to Brother Qiuqiu.

Jing Mimi immediately aimed the camera of his phone watch at the wall and answered: “Saw her. I’m playing hand shadows with a new sister I met. Look, it’s a puppy.”

After experiencing those things, Jing Mimi wasn’t as repulsed by dogs as before. Although he still didn’t like them and wouldn’t take the initiative to contact them, he no longer turned pale at the mention of them like before.

Plus, Brother Qiuqiu used to be a dog, so he shared the puppy shadow on the wall with him.

If it were anyone else, they wouldn’t have such “treatment.”

To video call Mimi, Wang Qiuqiu specially used a tablet. The screen on the tablet clearly showed the vivid puppy hand shadow.

No wonder Mimi was so engrossed in playing that he didn’t call him in time.

Although Zhao Chule didn’t hear the phone, she noticed Jing Mimi talking to the phone watch and raised his wrist happily as if sharing the hand shadow on the wall with the person on the other end. She cooperated very well by moving the ears of the puppy shadow, adding a bit more liveliness and cuteness.

Jing Mimi felt a bit itchy watching. He took off the phone watch on his wrist, held the strap in his mouth, ensuring it didn’t affect the video call screen, freed his hands, and put them in front of the flashlight, mimicking Sister Chule to manipulate his small hands.

Small hands cast cute little shadows on the wall, just a bit nondescript.

Hands were Zhao Chule’s second mouth. Jing Mimi naturally couldn’t control them as flexibly and freely as she did. Moreover, he was young and had just turned from a kitten to a little human not long ago.

Seeing him holding the watch in his mouth and raising his small hands to manipulate them vigorously, the curve of Zhao Chule’s eyes deepened unconsciously, thinking he looked like a cute puppy.

But the lights were off, making it inconvenient to use sign language, so she didn’t say this thought out loud, just reached out her hand to help Jing Mimi with the hand shadows.

Fortunately so, otherwise a certain kitten compared to a puppy would have a little temper again.

Just like this, Wang Qiuqiu on the other end of the phone watched hand shadows for a while.

When it ended, Jing Mimi said he would go to Wang Qiuqiu’s house next time to show him live.

Wang Qiuqiu smiled and said okay.

The lights in the room were turned on. Jing Mimi squinted his eyes to adapt for a while, walked quickly to the small sofa where the Siamese cat was curled up, aimed the camera of the phone watch at it, and said excitedly: “Look, Sister Luo Luo.”

The Siamese cat yawned lazily at the camera and “meowed.”

Wang Qiuqiu’s heart softened, really wanting to reach out and touch the kitten.

The next second, he heard Jing Mimi say: “Brother Qiuqiu, draw me another Sister Luo Luo, okay?”

This “another” awakened a memory buried in Wang Qiuqiu’s heart.

Once upon a time in the welfare institute, he mustered up the courage to draw a chibi version of himself—a German Shepherd puppy, but because it was drawn too cutely, it was mistaken by Mimi for a Siamese cat, and he even said Siamese cats were his favorite.

“…Okay.” Wang Qiuqiu decided not to explain, saving the disappointment.

Many years later, the adult Jing Mimi walked into Wang Qiuqiu’s studio and found him drawing a German Shepherd. Unlike his usual realistic style, the German Shepherd on the paper was chibi and cute.

Seeing Jing Mimi approach, Wang Qiuqiu drew another equally chibi and cute Siamese cat on the paper.

Looking at the two small animals with similar color schemes on the paper, Jing Mimi blinked blankly, something flashing through his mind quickly but failing to be caught.

Until Wang Qiuqiu’s voice sounded: “Mimi, which one do you like best… the German Shepherd on the left, or the Siamese cat on the right?”

Jing Mimi, whose memory revived: “…”

At this time, Jing Mimi chatted with Wang Qiuqiu on the phone watch for a while and was taken to the dining room to enjoy a sumptuous lunch.

Zhao Yan’s husband also returned, and the family warmly entertained this group of guests who met because of cats.

The atmosphere at the table was harmonious. The chef specially prepared a children’s meal for Jing Mimi. Jing Mimi ate until he hiccuped non-stop, making everyone else smile knowingly.

Jing Mimi had a small appetite. After eating, he went to play with the Siamese cat again.

Not long after, He Xiaokang came to Jing Mimi, reached out his hand, and stroked the head of the Siamese cat in his arms.

Jing Mimi looked up with his little head and asked in confusion: “Uncle, aren’t you eating?”

He Xiaokang smiled and answered: “Uncle is not in good health and can’t eat many things. Came to pet the cat with you.”

Jing Mimi nodded dully.

No wonder Uncle is so thin…

He Xiaokang was tall, with little flesh on his body, making him look like a slender bamboo, revealing an abnormal sickness.

“Uncle must take good care of yourself.”

The kitten Mimi was also very thin before, raising himself very badly during the wandering period. Later, he gained weight with Papa’s care.

“Don’t worry, Uncle is much better now. Before, I couldn’t leave the hospital and had many surgeries. Now I can live a normal life.”

Hospital… surgery…

Jing Mimi looked at He Xiaokang all over again, empathizing very much with people who had similar experiences to the kitten Mimi.

He still remembered the wish of the Siamese cat Tie Tie, related to He Xiaokang, and also remembered the scene of the thin bald man holding the Siamese cat seen on the tablet.

Compared to the state in the video, he was much better now, grew hair, and wasn’t so, so thin.

Uncle must be a very important person to the Siamese cat Tie Tie.

Jing Mimi was curious about their story. Looking at He Xiaokang, then at the Siamese cat he was stroking, he asked: “Uncle, I’ve seen your video. Did you also raise a Siamese cat?”

He Xiaokang’s eyelashes trembled. He stroked the Siamese cat’s fur again, his eyes distant, as if seeing something through it.

…

He Xiaokang had a smooth life since childhood. His parents were loving, his grades were above average, he successfully got into his dream university, and after graduation, he successfully joined a profession-related public institution as a fresh graduate, experiencing no storms.

At that time, the only thing that troubled him a little was that life was too smooth and unchanging. The daily nine-to-five life always felt predictable and a bit boring.

Some people might think he was pretentious and insatiable, but people always yearn for and idealize what they don’t have.

When sitting at his workstation, he always looked out the window and fantasized about himself in a parallel universe—possessing powerful abilities, shouldering the mission of saving the world, everyone knowing his name.

The name He Xiaokang was a bit rustic; he had to think of a cool, awesome code name…

The next second, the vibrating phone and the leader’s WeChat message called his thoughts back: The document was returned, several places needed modification, fix it and submit it to him before 5 PM tonight.

Damn it.

Finally fixed, printed out slowly on the old printer in the unit, he still had to pick up a black gel pen and sign his big name honestly—He Xiaokang.

Until he took sick leave, he hadn’t thought of a cool, awesome code name.

Not long after, a thunderclap completely shattered his unchanging life.

Not a mission to save the world, nor to become a household hero.

He was diagnosed with a rare blood disease.

The most urgent task at hand was: hospitalization, surgery, and a recovery with slim hope.

The only identity at hand was: patient.

Lying in the hospital receiving blood transfusions, listening to his parents calling everywhere to borrow money, looking at his riddled body, he began to miss his boring but peaceful life before.

How did that lyric go…

What you can’t get is always in commotion.

Humans are just cheap.

Because of the condition, he received countless blood transfusions, including blood from the hospital blood bank and blood donated by caring people in society who heard about his condition and came to the hospital specially for him. His body was full of needle holes, big and small.

At first, he tried to find joy in sorrow: Will so much blood from different people in my body fight like the true qi in cultivation novels, finally merging into the most powerful mass, making my body brand new?

Later, after experiencing many blood transfusions and surgeries, his body and spirit were devastated to numbness, and he never had those whimsical fantasies again.

Fantasy can only be fantasy forever.

Reality is always cold and ruthless.

Just like he could never become a hero saving the world, and might even kick the bucket and leave this world if not careful.

He Xiaokang would always be He Xiaokang. This slightly rustic name wouldn’t be replaced by any cool, awesome code name.

Until he met Tie Tie, a Siamese cat thin as a skeleton.

During that time, his condition was actually improving, and he didn’t have to stay in the hospital all the time. But this body had left irreversible traces, having to live apprehensively and carefully for a lifetime, inseparable from various medicines and regular checkups. Many things couldn’t be eaten, many entertainments couldn’t be touched. His spirit became more and more listless. His parents were very worried about him and often took him out for walks.

Because of his riddled body, he intentionally or unintentionally avoided bustling downtown areas, liking to walk to quiet places with few people.

As luck would have it, he saw an old van with peeling paint in a hidden corner.

The van was full of cages, and the cages were full of cats, dark and cramped. He only saw a momentary scene when the door opened and closed, but it was shocking.

Two men were talking in vague dialect, roughly meaning this cat was useless, dispose of it.

Then, a Siamese cat thin as a skeleton was picked up by the scruff of its neck and thrown out of the car.

Just then, a man received a call, saying enthusiastically and attentively to the other end that there was type B cat blood here, sending it to that pet hospital immediately.

Vroom vroom, the car engine sounded, leaving a trail of smelly exhaust and a dying Siamese cat.

Strange forces at work, he and his parents took this Siamese cat to the pet hospital together. If they didn’t do this, it was hard to say if it could survive tonight.

He thought, even if he couldn’t be a hero saving the world, he should do something good.

From then on, he became this kitten’s hero.

People at the pet hospital said the Siamese cat was covered in needle holes and must be a blood cat.

He searched online for what a blood cat was, contacting such a bloody industry chain for the first time.

As a patient with a blood disease, he had also received many caring blood donations, but everything was based on the premise that the blood donation was voluntary.

But what about cats? Cats can’t speak, can’t make choices voluntarily, can only be roughly drained of blood, enduring pain and weakness after blood donation.

Staring at the dense needle holes on the cat similar to those on his body, he suddenly felt so angry, so angry.

If it were him, if the source of the blood transfusion was involuntary, a gray industry chain like blood cats, he would rather not treat this disease.

He couldn’t be the hero in his fantasy, nor did he want to fuel the arrogance of some unjust and immoral behavior—couldn’t be a hero, couldn’t he have a bit of heroic backbone?

He took the Siamese cat home and adopted it.

During that time, he was reading some books to kill time. When he picked up the Siamese cat, he happened to be reading How the Steel Was Tempered by Nikolai Ostrovsky. He casually named the Siamese cat “Tie Tie” (Iron Iron), after all, blood always smelled like rust (iron).

He actually didn’t like reading classics, preferring whimsical online comics and novels, but his taste changed suddenly after getting sick, feeling he should read something realistic and down-to-earth.

As early as elementary school, he had heard a famous sentence from the book: “Man’s dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past…”*

Counting the needle holes big and small on the Siamese cat, he suddenly thought of this sentence, feeling he shouldn’t be depressed anymore; he had to do something.

Even if he couldn’t become a hero in fantasy, he had to live life well and not be defeated by this illness. Ordinary people also have ordinary people’s plain but passionate way of living.

After all, the blood of so many caring people flowed in his body.

Blood, such a precious thing.

Some people use it to make huge profits, while others rely on it to save lives.

His current body was precious.

On the night he took Tie Tie back, he contacted the Animal Protection Organization in City A, told them the license plate number of that van, and actively cooperated with their investigation.

Although it took a lot of effort, the result was good—almost all the blood cats in the van were saved, receiving good treatment and care, and some of them had been adopted by new owners one after another.

Tie Tie became a member of his family.

He cheered up day by day, using his meager strength to help some small lives. Tie Tie also had a strong will to survive. Under his careful care, it changed from a dying state hanging on by a breath to a cat that could do parkour at home, gained some weight, and the remaining needle holes on its body gradually healed.

Tie Tie was extremely clingy, as if regarding him as a savior, very, very close to him. It was also a kitten who liked meowing very much, meowing at him from time to time, rubbing against him, asking for pets.

Later, he thought countless times: Actually, he already had the coolest and most awesome code name. It was given to him by Tie Tie, called “Meow Meow.”

Because he was Tie Tie’s hero.