I Can Talk to Cats C10

Chapter 10: The Second Cat (Part Two)

Translated by Lime

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Recap: Lin Lan went to go see Qian Xuan’s cat in the animal clinic and became angry when she looked down on Snowflake’s breed. On her way out, Snowflake leads her to an abandoned kitten that is about to die. Lin Lan decides to bring it to the animal clinic and saves it.

LOL the author finally mentioned Snowflake’s gender, and it is a male cat. I went back and changed the pronouns. I’m also changing Xicheng to Xi City.

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Being able to understand cats had its downsides.

At this moment, if Lin Lan did not know what the kitten was saying, she would have heard the cost of treatment and gave up on it. The treatment cost was not cheap, and the most important part was that it was not a guaranteed success.

However, she couldn’t ignore it. She heard the squeals and was able to understand them. 

“Doctor Liu, please try your best.” Lin Lan drew Snowflake closer to herself, and sighed when she saw the weak kitten: “Its life or death will have to depend on its own will to live.”

The veterinarian rapidly began to work. He inspected the kitten, and since there were almost no physical wounds, he started to clean the cat.

“Its fur is matted and twisted together. This is making it hard to access the infection so the best method is to shave all of its fur off and let it grow back later. I will also place it inside an incubator to assure that the kitten’s temperature is stable, and to prevent it from spreading feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR) to other cats…” 

From time to time, Doctor Liu would explain his course of action to Lin Lan. The kitten had been shaven, leaving only fur on its head, four legs, and tail. Although it wasn’t as dirty as before, it seemed so fragile that it could stop breathing anytime.

“Look at this part.” Lin Lan anxiously stared at the kitten, and without realizing, her eyebrows were wrinkled, “How long will it take to heal?”

“That will change depending on how well it recuperates.” Doctor Liu explained, “Fortunately, excluding the diseases that I already diagnosed it with, there are no more. The pneumonia is not serious, and if the circumstances with FVR are favorable, you can take him home to slowly recover in about a week. Since Snowflake has previously been infected with mange and needed to get the area shaved, you already know that the fur needs time to grow back.”

Lin Lan didn’t speak. Although the kitten was afflicted with several ailments, luckily, they were not serious. The probability of the kitten surviving was larger and she really would be taking care of a cat who fought with death and won in the future.

She paid the treatment fees and the kitten was left inside the clinic. Lin Lan held Snowflake in one arm, and in her other hand was the four figure receipt while they exited.

Her heart hurt but at the same time, she had a newfound respect for Qian Xuan’s ability to part with large amounts of money. Within Xi City, her salary was around average, not rich or poor. Even though Qian Xuan looked down upon Lin Lan’s ordinary cat, she really did love her own cat, enough to eat dirt. 

_{(T/N: So ‘土猫’ = rural/countryside/ordinary cat, but is a common type of cat in China. ‘土’ directly means dirt/soil/ground, so this is a play on words by the author, as Qian Xuan ‘ate dirt’, meaning that she is willing to spend so much money on her cat and is willing to suffer.)}

Lin Lan’s dissatisfaction with Qian Xuan from earlier gradually vanished.

But, she was going to be very meticulous in making the future cat food—If she spent more time and effort in preparing the food, then the time that she would have to spend worrying about Snowflake getting sick would be less.

“Snowflake, you need to remember this as well.” Lin Lan pet the head of the cat that was in her arms, “You are not allowed to wander around places that are dirty in the future. You just saw, if you get infected, the veterinarian will completely shave off your fur and you will become bald.”

The white cat withdrew its head, flattened its ears, and used its paws to cover its head. Fearfully, he meowed out: “Miaow…” (Lan Lan, I won’t randomly wander around and be infected. You don’t need to shave my fur!) 

His fearful reaction caused Lin Lan to be unable to hold back laughter and she stroked his head: “Don’t worry, as long as you are healthy, no one will dare shave your precious fur.”

The kind of sensation that petting his fluffy and soft fur was loved by the shit shoveler. Everyday, Lin Lan couldn’t get enough of it.

When she was carrying Snowflake home, she crossed paths with an anxious Lin Youyu. He saw that she had exited the animal clinic and rushed over: “What happened? You suddenly brought Snowflake to the animal clinic, is he sick?” He created a ruckus and extended his hands to take the cat, “Wasn’t he alright in the morning?”

Lin Lan didn’t avoid his questioning and let her father hold the cat and explained: “He wasn’t sick, Dad. Snowflake didn’t get sick, but a small kitten that he picked up was. I brought it to the animal clinic.”

“Oh.” After hearing that it wasn’t their cat, Lin Youyu calmed down. He raised the cat and swung it: “That’s good, that’s good. It wasn’t my precious that was sick, it was only a false alarm.” He embraced the cat again, “Let’s go, grandfather will take you to eat some fish.”

This scene was almost like a grandfather pampering his spoiled grandchild.

Just to mention in passing, Snowflake is a male cat. When the New Year passes, he would be five years old.

“Dad.” Lin Lan wanted to shout at the man who was about to walk off with the cat and emphasized her previous words, “I said that I encountered a stray kitten that I brought to the animal clinic to treat it.”

“Treat then, so what.” Lin Youyu still didn’t understand the implications, “In any case it’s not me…You sent the cat to be treated!?” 

A wave of realization washed over him. Lin Lan faced her shocked father and begrudgingly nodded: “That’s right. Snowflake asked me to pick up the kitten. In other words, we will soon have a second cat.”

The pot-bellied middle-aged man blinked twice and thought about the matter for a moment: “Fine, we will raise it then.” He said this and returned Snowflake to Lin Lan’s embrace. Father Lin started to head over to the animal clinic: “I am going to Xiao Liu’s place to see what that new kitten’s appearance is like.”

“Wait, Dad!” Lin Lan tried to prevent him, but her father was already gone, “The new kitten is very ugly right now…” 

As expected, Father Lin ran out and returned back with a complicated expression. He faced his daughter with the intention to speak.

“Dad.” Already knowing what her father was going to say, Lin Lan quickly said, “Snowflake led me to it. At the moment, it is sick, so obviously it won’t have a decent appearance. Wait for it to regrow its fur and it will look better, but you have to wait! Think about it, when I brought back Snowflake, he wasn’t beautiful either, right?”

The white cat was very charming and his bearing was graceful. Its pure, snow-like fur was not blemished and it was sleek. If you pet him, it felt nice. His meowing was also pleasant to hear. After becoming used to their own cat, the Lin family was picky towards other cats. Father Lin had received a huge shock and he wanted Lin Lan to feel an ounce of his anger by speaking a few words to express his scare.

“Humph, fine.” No one would be able to quash all their doubts and simply agree, but hearing his daughter trying to persuade him, Lin Youyu could only agree: “But, if you don’t convince the rest of the family, my permission is useless. You still have to get your mother’s opinion.”

The couple were married for so long already. Lin Youyu learned that Wang Xiuzhi preferred prettier cats like he did, although she never said it. For now, that new kitten was so ugly and the result wasn’t confirmed yet.

“Then, I’ll tell Mom now.”

The father and daughter both entered the tobacco and liquor shop. Within several minutes of them entering, Mother Lin had already complained about several actions of her husband. The explanation why they came back left an unsightly look on her face.

“Mom! Snowflake led me to find it, Snowflake found it!” Lin Lan had no choice but to repeat her statements many times, “Snowflake is lonely and wants a companion!”

“Don’t try to tell me this!” Wang Xiuzhi rolled her eyes at her daughter, “Do I not understand the cat that I personally raised these years? Look at how it amused itself all these years, has he ever acted lonely?”

Her mother was making it difficult for her, but Lin Lan wasn’t intimidated, and continued with a sincere plea: “Mom, I’m being honest! If you don’t believe me look at Snowflake. He is telling me that he wants a companion! Snowflake, go, soothe your grandmother, act adorably towards her!”

In the morning, Mother Lin had already experienced the cat acting meng towards her. Now, in the afternoon, she went through another session. The stern face of the BOSS had suffered a critical attack with the unrelentless meowing of Snowflake. Mother Lin hugged the cat and pet him.

_{(T/N: ‘萌’ = ‘Meng’, or acting cute. Kind of like ‘aegyo’ which is a more widely known Korean version of the term.)}

“Fine, fine. If you want to raise another cat, then raise another one.” Snowflake was situated on her knee, and Mother Lin stroked him. She was petting him happily, but her eyes were still sternly scanning Lin Lan: “Even with my permission, you need to think it through. A kitten is harder to raise than an adult cat. Plus, it is still recovering from an illness. If you want to raise it, you need to do it by yourself. Me, your dad, and your grandmother will not help you.”

These words were a little familiar.

「Let me tell you, this cat was brought home by you. If you don’t want me to throw him out, you have to raise him yourself. You must be clear of this!」

That’s right, four years ago when she brought home Snowflake and said that she wanted to raise him, Mother Lin said this. But now?

Observing the white cat that was swaying his tail on her mother’s lap, Lin Lan laughed inside her heart. On the outside, she passionately nodded: “Of course, of course, I will raise it myself and I won’t need your help.”

So like this, they informed Grandmother Lin about this situation over dinner. The matter of owning another cat had to pass through each member of the family before being decided.

One week later, Lin Lan excitedly lifted the cat carrier and pushed open the door of the animal clinic: “Doctor Liu, I’m here to bring the kitten home!”

Because the distance was only a few stories away, Lin Lan would frequently visit the animal clinic if she was not busy. 

The kitten was tenacious and had survived. Disregarding its shaved fur and its unsightly appearance, it had survived and was somewhat healthy.

Lin Lan genuinely felt thankful.

It was fortunate that her hard earned money wasn’t wasted.

She opened the door and the veterinarian was not sitting behind the table like he usually was. Instead, he was examining a border collie on a small cot, and treating its hind leg.

On the dog’s leg near it’s butt, was a shaved patch of fur and a wound that had blood around it. Doctor Liu was currently treating it, and the dog was wearing a muzzle. Lin Lan immediately pitied it.

The owner of the dog was sitting to the side, his face filled with anxiety. He looked like he wanted to help but was afraid of getting in the way.

“It’s okay now; the splinter has been removed.” Doctor Liu set down the tool and wiped his sweating forehead. He tried to comfort the dog, “You are a good boy. The wound will heal quickly.”

The owner of the dog let out a sigh: “Thank you, Doctor Liu. In order to comfort me, Star accidentally bumped into a potted cactus. It really scared me.”

“You’re welcome, it wasn’t a serious wound.” After wiping his forehead, his hand was full of sweat. Doctor Liu thought that making a living was quite hard and helplessly looked towards the owner, “In the future, be more careful and don’t play with the dog near plants.”

“Of course, there won’t be a next time!” The dog’s owner that was across from Doctor Liu was Cheng Fengyang. Embarrassed, he bowed his head to agree, “This, this really was an accident! Star, do you agree with me?”

He still wanted to blame his dog in his final words so the border collie ignored him and looked at the shaven patch with grief and started to whimper.

Even the owner could understand this sort of sorrowful reaction: I have become ugly after being shaved. I won’t ever be a beautiful little puppy anymore!

Cats were not only like this, even dogs valued their fur.

Seeing his border collie grieve for his lost fur, Cheng Fengyang said with embarrassment: “Star, don’t be so sad. Your fur will grow back soon and you will become the most treasured dog in our neighborhood!”

The dog ignored him again by turning his head away. The owner didn’t pity him at all.

Lin Lan watched with interest and couldn’t help but size up the unfamiliar young man who looked to be about twenty years old. He was wearing casual attire and his hairstyle was one that was popular. He was quite handsome; if he was walking on the street, he would definitely turn heads. But right now, the dog did not bother with his charm, and was more concerned with the ruined portion of its body. This situation was so funny, and even after half a day, it was funny to Lin Lan.

Cheng Fengyang was pacifying his dog and didn’t notice the presence of Lin Lan. He was still trying to use words to soothe the border collie.

Doctor Liu had already ignored the owner and left him there to comfort his dog. He welcomed Lin Lan: “Come, the kitten has recovered very well, you can pick her up.”

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The kitten is a female cat and her name will be Sapphire 🙂

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