I Can Talk to Cats C5

Chapter 5: Cat Meows (Part One)

Translated by Lime

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In this chapter, Lin Lan is able to understand cats, so their thoughts will be (in parentheses and colored a salmon pinkish color). Let me know if it is hard to read or if I should change the color.

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The Lin Family was very lucky to be able to own a building in Xicheng. That year, Grandpa Lin Aijun made a fortune with the help of a national policy. Afterward, he didn’t continue to invest in the government project. Most of the money was used to build their current building, and the rest was used to start a rental business.

Although Xicheng was far from the first-tier cities like the capital of Modu, it was a leader in the second-tier cities. In recent years, with the ever-increasing and outrageous prices of houses, the rental business had a chance to fight for a leading position. Every year, there were foreigners who would work here and settle down. Grandpa Lin especially selected a piece of land near the main street to ensure that there would always be tenants and to make sure that rent was not too low.

Eight years ago, Grandpa Lin died of an illness, and Lin Youyu, his only son, inherited the building. He and his wife, Wang Xiuzhi, not only continued to rent out to tenants but also had a cigarette and liquor shop on the first floor.

He and his wife led a calm life, not too busy and not too idle. Their days were steady and peaceful.

“It’s a pity that your grandfather’s eyes were not discerning enough.” Father Lin muttered regretfully, turning to look at the building across from them. “When choosing land, we should have chosen that piece.”

Across the street from them was a high-end neighborhood with lots of green areas and an excellent environment. Further that way was a prosperous business district and a newly built subway station. Many luxury cars entered and exited the security gate of the residential area.

In contrast, on their side of the street, other than the Lin family’s building and other private houses, there were many crude buildings. In the streets and alleys, bicycles and motorcycles were scattered around, and there were many street vendors selling meat or vegetables. The two communities separated by just one road were starkly different.

For this kind of place, Chinese people had nicknamed it—the village in the city.

Fifteen years ago, the circumstances of the two sides were the same, but the demolition government policy did not favor the Lin family’s side of the road. The neighbors on the other side of the road happily held the money they received from the demolition and the new homes that were allocated to them with red eyes.

Their fates were completely different, separated by just one street.

Every time Father Lin thought about it, he became regretful.

“All right, stop thinking about it.” Mother Lin said to him angrily, “After all these years, you are still frustrated and brood over it unnecessarily. Even though the demolition didn’t happen on our side, our Lin family is worse off compared to those who live in the villas opposite us.”

“I don’t mean that.” Father Lin muttered gloomily, looking at the upscale residential area, and turned to talk to Lin Lan, “Lan Lan, let me tell you, if your grandfather had built the two small buildings on the opposite side, your family would have at least two buildings on that side. I heard a story of a Cheng family that had a traditional-style house, and because of the demolition, received four new houses. If our Lin family had built that…”

_{(T/N: A traditional style house in this context has a courtyard/open space in the middle and the building is designed around it to form a rectangle or square so there are 4 sections surrounding it.)}

“Aren’t you tired?” Mother Lin was so impatient that she patted her husband’s back, “If you have any other complaints to make, let’s go home first. Take Lan Lan’s luggage with you. Your mom is still helping me watch the pot in the kitchen.”

His wife had spoken, so Father Lin didn’t dare to say anymore. After she urged them to move the large bags on the ground, the family went to do so. They were not afraid of leaving the shop empty, as even if they left, the other shopkeepers would come to help monitor it for them.

Everything that she brought was taken by her parents, and Lin Lan’s hands were empty as she followed them. She observed her parents that were nearing their fifties and their graying hair. From time to time, they would quarrel with each other, and she couldn’t help laughing.

Lin Lan’s entire family lived on the third floor. When they passed by the second floor, a woman carrying a bag of garbage was just about to go down the stairs, and immediately yelled, “Lan Lan is back from her vacation! No wonder you were moving up and down with so many bags. You must have bought a lot of stuff.”

“Hello, Aunt Yu.” Lin Lan greeted her with a smile. This was the family of Uncle Yu, who helped her by acting as a driver earlier. They were the oldest tenants in this building that even knew Grandfather Lin before he passed. They were true neighbors of ten years.

“Today is the weekend, your family’s Ling Ling should have today off, right?”

_{(T/N: Ling Ling is Aunt Yu’s daughter)}

“It’s a holiday. That stinky girl will be like a pig as soon as she gets home.” Aunt Yu said, “This won’t do, I’ve finished making lunch and she’s laying in her bed. She’s already in the second year of junior high and doesn’t have any self awareness.”

“Never mind, she’s just in the second year of junior high. Even in the second year of high school they will be like this.” After Mother Lin heard this familiar complaint, she gave Lin Lan a look, immediately answering, “Your Ling Ling is like that, but my Lin Lin who studied didn’t actually go anywhere.”

Lin Lan coughed hard after hearing her mother’s words, “Mom—”

This amused all the adults in the stairwell. Aunt Yu shook her hand: “Young people are like this now. I’ll stop talking now, your family is still busy. After I throw away this garbage, I still have to go call the small ancestor to eat.”

_{(T/N: Aunt Yu is saying that her daughter is like a small ancestor, that is lazy, while Aunt Yu has to do everything for her)}

After they finished talking to each other and both parties left, Lin Lan and her family went up to the third floor.

The third floor of the small building was the floor that the Lin family lived on, and was not to be rented out. The layout of the floor was already divided out when Grandpa Lin was still alive. One apartment was for him and Grandma Lin, another was for Father and Mother Lin, and the last was for Lin Lan.

The plan was pretty good, but after his death, Grandma Lin did not want to stay in the empty suite by herself. She was more willing to stay with her son and her daughter-in-law so she stayed at his house and ate three meals a day with them. Only at night did she return to her apartment. Father Lin and Mother Lin didn’t really have an opinion on her presence. After all, she only lived two steps away, and it was easier to take care of her.

As for Lin Lan? She lived with her parents, and her apartment was still empty. No one had ever lived there and the Lin family was waiting for their daughter to get married to use the space as a wedding house and decorate it then.

The three of them walked to the suite in the middle, and before anyone could open the door, the door was opened from the inside. An old woman in a thin vest was standing there. With white hair and a strong figure, she was standing with a spatula and laughing at them: “I heard a lot of noise at the entrance; it turns out Lin Lan is back.”

“Grandma!” Lin Lan was the first to go over, very happy to see this old lady, “I’m back!”

“It’s good to come back, you are grandma’s little baby, let me see you!” Grandma Lin couldn’t close her smiling mouth, and looked up and down at Lin Lan, “Your face has become thinner.”

“Really? In Greece, I ate so much seafood.” Lin Lan replied with a smile, “That’s right Grandma, the leather clothes and leather shoes there are cheap, I bought all of you guys some. Besides clothes, I also bought olive oil and olive soap over there, I’ll show you what I brought back!”

“Really?” Grandma Lin wasn’t like Mother Lin and didn’t scold Lin Lan for buying so many things, but she just smiled and squinted, saying, “Then I’ll go take a look later. It’s better to go eat first. You must have been hungry after traveling for so long. There’s still one dish left to cook, but that will be ready soon.”

“Grandma, you don’t need to say more, I’m hungry! As the door opened, I immediately smelled the braised pork ribs. I’m excited to eat!”

The family happily entered the apartment and their voices faded as the door was closed. The red couplets pasted on it were lively and bright.

After dragging her luggage into her room, Lin Lan took off her coat and changed into lighter loungewear. She washed her hands and then helped to carry several dishes to the table, which was full by the end.

She sighed comfortably as she sat in her usual seat.

“It’s better at home, right?” Mother Lin smiled at her daughter, but Lin Lan’s face was stuffed with the braised pork ribs.

Lin Lan didn’t answer and only grunted in response. Her mother continued, “I told you to try to find a job in this city, but you wanted to go to Beijing, Modu, or Guangzhou to work in a big city. Now do you believe me?” The mood was uncomfortable, and Lin Lan’s mind turned to find another subject to talk about, “Where’s Snowflake? How come I didn’t see him?”

“He went outside this morning to wander around, and hasn’t come back home yet.” Grandma Lin held her chopsticks and motioned to the cat food bowl in the corner, “I just filled up his bowl, and now it’s empty. A few days ago, it was raining nonstop and only just cleared up these past few days. The cat was probably tired of being inside and wanted to go play outside in the sun.”

“I probably can’t see him today then.” Lin Lan was disappointed because once her family’s big, white cat goes out, he would stay out all day and not come back in until the middle of the night.

Snowflake was a stray cat found by Lin Lan four years ago on New Year’s Day. At that time, he was only three months old, and the winter cold made him huddle half wet, half dry, under a broken water pipe. If Lin Lan didn’t save him, the kitten would have probably frozen to death. She couldn’t bear to see it suffering so she used a lot of effort to warm up the kitten and clean him. The family who previously didn’t own a pet saw that it was almost Chinese New Year, so they had no intention of throwing him away.

This is also how Snowflake got his name.

Before they didn’t raise a pet so they didn’t know, but after they raised one, the Lin family found out that the joy of owning a cat was something that you had to experience for yourself. It even gradually changed the attitudes of Father Lin, Mother Lin, and Grandmother Lin towards tenants who owned pets. In the past four years, the number of tenants who kept pets in the building began to increase as well.

“You might try to guess what ‘gift’ he’s going to leave for you the next day.” Father Lin told his daughter, “Every time you come home, he will give you something good and give the rest of us something common.”

Although it was a joke, Lin Lan swore that she saw a hint of jealousy appear on her dad’s face.

“Dad, if you like it so much, do you want me to give Snowflake’s ‘gift’ to you?” Lin Lan calmly replied, “Remember to eat the gift in front of Snowflake.”

At the table, Mother Lin and Grandmother Lin both burst into laughter, and Snowflake’s ‘gift’ was not something that anyone wanted to claim.

Father Lin was defeated and quickly changed the subject: “Let’s not talk about Snowflake. Lan Lan, this time you’re returning for good, right?”

The chopsticks that Lin Lan was holding stopped moving: “Probably.” Her voice sounded a little uncertain. In the beginning, she was so shocked at Shao Xiuye’s betrayal and out of anger, quit her job and started planning her revenge.

But now that she already retaliated and the trip to Greece was already over, it was impossible for her to say that she didn’t regret losing her job. However, it was too late.

“Let me think again.” After taking another bite of food, Lin Lan bowed her head and played with her rice. “I’ll first take some days off to rest, and then I’ll start looking for a job again.” She knew that she would have no trouble with food or water due to the rent that the tenants paid to them. Even more, she would be able to spend more than she previously could while working.

From this point of view, the Lin family was very supportive of Lin Lan to find something to do. They had the ability to mindlessly eat and sleep every day without working too much, but that lifestyle was not appealing to them. The reason why the Lin couple ran a cigarette and liquor store was to find something to do.

Lin Lan helped with the dishes when dinner was finished. She unpacked all the Greek souvenirs she had bought on her trip except for the special goods that she had mentioned to Grandma Lin earlier. She had also bought two exotic, locally-made, carpets. The larger one could be hung on a wall or spread on the ground. The smaller one was bought for Snowflake to lie on at home.

“It fits the cat nest at the top of the cat tower perfectly.” The size of the carpet was exactly perfect, and Lin Lan was satisfied, “I specifically bought it after checking the size.”

This way, everyone in the family, including the cat, received a present.

“Be careful that it doesn’t use the carpet to sharpen its claws.” Father Lin warned.

“That won’t happen!”

Dinner was eaten, presents were distributed, and someone had to go downstairs and monitor the shop. According to the usual routine, Mother Lin would go manage the store because she wanted to catch up on gossip, while Father Lin played Go on the back street.

_{(T/N: Go = Chinese chess)}

Lin Lan accompanied Grandma Lin downstairs to the senior activity center. Grandma Lin also had her own hobbies. The senior group was rehearsing some sunset red fan dances and Errenzhuan performances, buzzing with activity.

_{(T/N: roughly translates to “two person dance/song”, and is a popular dance in Northeast China)}

“Lan Lan, don’t worry about finding a job, it’s okay to rest more.” At the entrance to the senior activity center, Grandma Lin patted her hand, saying, “Grandma knows you have been hurt for a while but I haven’t said much to comfort you. Anyways you are still young and will meet better people.”

“Grandma, thanks for thinking of me. Don’t worry, I’m alright already.” Lin Lan gave her grandma a reassuring smile. “After me, that dog man doesn’t have anything going for him. At the most, that wealthy woman is just playing with him and I’m too lazy to fight for him. I think she will lose interest and throw him away soon. It’s like a toy in another child’s hand. Because it is something that other children want, it has value. If no one else cares about it, the toy becomes boring.”

Just like how the mindset of despising the poor and loving the rich is not unique to just women, a man’s mindset to easily be swayed was not unique to them either.

Grandma Lin looked at the smart and charming granddaughter in front of her and sighed softly: “You have known how to take care of yourself since you were little, so Grandma is not too worried about you. Now that you’re back home, you have the freedom to take time and think about what you want to do. Even if you don’t want to do anything, your mom and dad won’t force you.”

“I will definitely think about it.”

After sending her grandmother into the activity center, Lin Lan didn’t want to be asked by all the gossipy elders about her situation which would make her want to pull her hair out, so she left immediately.

Walking alone on the side of the street, Lin Lan looked around her. Compared with the last time she visited, there wasn’t much that changed. Yellow leaves from sycamore trees fell with the gusts of wind. As she walked, there would be the occasional sound of crunching leaves beneath her shoes.

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice shouting and the noise of a dog running in the bicycle and pedestrian lane behind her.

“Yes! Cola! You go! I’ll be home very soon at this rate!” The young man shouted shamelessly, which drew glances from around him. Lin Lan also turned to look back.

Unexpectedly, she saw a husky running with his mouth open. Behind him was his owner, wearing activewear and holding on to the dog leash. The young man was standing on a skateboard, and from time to time, propelled himself with a push of his foot.

One dog, one person, and a skateboard. It was hard to say whether the person was walking the dog or the dog was walking the human.

“Uh oh, Cola, what’s wrong? Don’t run on the sidewalk!” The husky changed his direction and rushed for the sidewalk, which made the young man panic trying to control him. Fortunately, the crazed dog slowed down and stopped, which made it a lot easier.

When he looked up and saw that the broken dog had rushed to a passerby, he first panicked and before realizing it was Lin Lan: “Oh, isn’t this the little host! When did you have the time to come back? 

_{(T/N: little host means the son/daughter of the landlord)}

Lin Lan, who was patting the dog’s head with enthusiasm: “I keep telling you not to call me that, Comrade Xu Xiangfei.”

“I don’t see a problem, I rent your family’s apartment and you’re the landlord’s daughter. It’s very appropriate to call you little host.” He picked up the skateboard and walked over to Lin Lan with the long dog leash in his hand.

This man rented an apartment on the fourth floor and was single. His husky was named Cola and he had lived in the Lin family’s building for two years. It was said that he worked for a big company in the city center from 9 to 5, and this single dog’s days were wanton and carefree.

In order to prevent this stupid husky from destroying his house, he developed a way to walk Cola with a skateboard using an idea from the internet as inspiration. After work and on weekends, he would take his dog out to enjoy ‘the ride’. 

It was easy to tell from his words and the consequences of his actions that he was part of the stereotypical reckless, modern youth.

But both the human and the dog were just being silly…

Lin Lan looked down at the husky, who was facing her, wagging his tail and panting. He was a beautiful, large dog with greyish-white fur. In particular, the heart-shaped white patch on its face and almond eyes made him seem charming. Even the long eyelashes were delicate.

She had to admit that even a dog had a pretty face these days. Huskies were so beautiful that people couldn’t help forgiving them for exchanging all their IQ points for a pretty face.

The young man wanted to raise his hand and aggressively pat the husky’s head when all of a sudden, the dog jumped up like a sudden gust of wind and started to bark at a tree.

“Cola, what are you doing?!” Xu Xiangfei was pulled by his dog in that direction.

Lin Lan also went over to see what was going on. She followed the husky’s gaze and discovered that on the tree was a stray cat. Its four claws grabbed onto the tree trunk, and its fur was raised.

“Cola, stop! Don’t scare the kitten!” Xu Xiangfei used force to pull the husky away. He looked at Lin Lan, embarrassed that his dog made him lose face in front of this beautiful girl.

However, Lin Lan wasn’t paying attention to him and was staring at the cat in amazement. She clearly heard a sharp meow, but her brain automatically understood what it was thinking.

“Miaowww—hiss—!” (Get out of my sight, you stupid dog! If you come over I won’t be polite!)

“Woof woof woof! Woof woof woof!” The husky kept barking, but Lin Lan only heard normal barks.

The stray cat on the tree above screeched, “Hiss—!” (Go away! This is my last warning, don’t come closer!)

The wild cat had changed its posture from a frightened cat to a ferocious cat that was ready to pounce at any time. Lin Lan couldn’t help but to reach out and tug the dog leash along with Xu Xiangfei to drag the silly, provocative husky away.

As soon as the dog was pulled away, the cat became less tense. To ease its mood further, Lin Lan shouted, “It’s okay, he can’t catch up with you, quickly run!”

The cat stared at her, and Lin Lan thought that it would meow again, but it quickly ran off.

“This stupid dog is always ready to bark at other cats and dogs!” After the cat left, the husky was quiet again, and Xu Xiangfei patted its head and laughed.

Lin Lan looked at the husky, looked back at Xu Xiangfei, and seriously suggested: “I think that Cola still has a lot of energy. Why don’t you bring him to run another two rounds?”

Makes sense!

The young man took his husky to continue walking him on his skateboard. Lin Lan walked slowly along the road and soon arrived at the entrance to the Lin family’s building.

The first floor of the shop was divided into six shops. In addition to her parents’ cigarette and liquor shop, there was a clothing store, a snack shop, a milk tea shop, and a pet clinic. The businesses had their own ups and downs, so Lin Lan, who had seen many of the shops change, didn’t usually talk to the owners.

This time she glanced at the shops and thought about the cat meow that she had heard earlier.

Just as she wanted to go upstairs, she heard another desperate cat meow.

“MIAowww—Miaowowww—!” (Help! Save me! The sh*t shoveling officer is taking me to have an injection again!)

_{(T/N: Sh*t shoveling officer = slang for cat owner/cat slave)}

Looking towards the sound, Lin Lan saw a person carrying a pet carrier towards the entrance of the pet clinic.

Lin Lan stared at the claws that were protruding from the air hole and fell into a daze.

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Lin Lan is finally going to realize her ability! We are beginning to see her daily interactions with the tenants, and other pets. Snowflake is also in the next chapter 😉

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