I Can Talk to Cats C13

Chapter 13: The Cat’s Knowledge (Part Two and Three)

Translated by Lime

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Recap: Lin Lan is visited by Qian Xuan and the Lin family warmed up to the kitten. Snowflake invited Lin Lan to visit his cat friends and the Cat Boss.

Some of the onomatopoeia in this chapter is weird but I couldn’t think of a better alternative. Try to imagine cat sounds instead hehe. Also if you see (parentheses) in the middle of a sentence without a T/N, the author wrote it.

As I have mentioned before, this chapter is super long. Enjoy!

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The very next day, the weather was sunny and the sky was clear. The warmth of the sunlight complemented the gradually cooling temperatures. It was an ideal time to take a walk outside.

Lin Youyu was preparing to go open the store when he saw his daughter wearing sportswear stuffing cans of cat food and treats into a bag.

“Didn’t you say that you were going to sleep for the next few days? Where are you going now?” Father Lin noticed that Lin Lan had thrown in almost half of their cat food and tried to stop her: “This is Snowflake and Sapphire’s food. What are you doing with it?”

“I was just about to tell you, I’m going out for the morning.” The bag was full and Lin Lan zipped it up. 

“Snowflake said that he wanted to bring me to go somewhere. I’m accompanying him to stroll around.”

As she said this, the plump, white cat near her feet meowed towards them.

“Snowflake? What nonsense are you saying?” Lin Youyu thought he heard wrongly: “Snowflake is bringing you out?”

“That’s right.” Lin Lan slipped on the bag and adjusted it. It was a bit heavy, but she was able to carry it: “He said that he would bring me to meet his kitty friends. I don’t have anything to do so I’m bringing these cans of food to meet them. Don’t wait for me at lunchtime, I’m going to pet cats!”

The human and the cat walked out of the entrance and the apartment door was softly shut. Lin Youyu was standing there with his mouth open, confused. 

“Uh…” He scratched the back of his head and stared at the entrance: “I’ve heard of dogs walking their humans, never of cats walking their humans.”

Once his daughter returned home, he experienced many new things.

Father Lin muttered this while Lin Lan had no clue. She cheerfully hopped down the stairs and turned left after she was outside.

Leading the way, the white cat’s tail was pointed straight towards the sky. His excitement was shown in this way. In the past, this would happen whenever he was given cat food. After Lin Lan was able to communicate with him and agreed to his requests, he had risen his tail like this many times.

Snowflake’s steps were agile and light. He turned his head back many times: “Miaow—” (Lan Lan, hurry up!)

Lin Lan increased her pace. The white cat exerted force and jumped onto the wall beside them, jogging. 

For humans, this wall was fairly high, but for cats, it only required a few additional jumps. If they walked on top of the wall, they would not be obstructed by humans so it was safer.

The cat was extremely familiar with these actions and she concluded that he used this route many times in the past.

Lin Lan followed him until the end of that wall and entered a park filled with greenery. They didn’t walk on the normal paths for humans, instead, Snowflake sauntered close to the edge of a building.

The edge of the building had a ten-centimeter cement pathway that was built by a construction worker. The cat had no difficulty walking along the narrow walkway. However, to the human, it was like walking on the edge of a precipice. The path was both narrow and dangerous. 

Was this the legendary “cat path”?

A “cat path” didn’t simply refer to a random path. Rather, it was a “path that cats walked on”. Contrasted with humans, cats that traveled on roads were subject to unintentional and intentional dangers.

The path that Snowflake was currently on was one that no human could use. If this scene was properly animated, it would definitely have an enigmatic appeal. Walking on it gave her feelings of anxiety, like playing hide and seek in her childhood, heart pounding. 

She wasn’t a little child anymore, now an adult woman. She couldn’t crawl under a hole in the wall or squeeze past bushes.

If someone else tried to follow the path ahead, they would eventually fall behind and lose the guide. Lin Lan, though, wasn’t worried to lose Snowflake at all. 

“Snowflake, this pit is too wide. I can’t jump over.”

“Snowflake, this pipe is slippery and I might fall.”

“Snowflake, can we take a detour?”

Because humans and cats were different (the truth is that Lin Lan was holding them back), the time it took to arrive at the destination was longer than usual. On the positive side, they were able to arrive at the place that Snowflake wanted to go to.

“Miaow—” (We’re here!) The white cat swung its tail and meowed.

Lin Lan was gasping for breath as she sized up the environment. When they were traveling, Lin Lan was measuring the approximate distance from the apartment to their destination. She really admired the kitty’s patience; they had already traveled very far, around four kilometers. 

In front of her was an abandoned home that seemed to be deserted. The weeds were rampant and there were almost no humans in the vicinity. Despite this, the lighting was great. On the rooftop, she could see many stray cats laying on the tiles and basking in the sun.

One cat, two cats, three cats… There were around ten cats. Was this the stray cats’ headquarters?

Cats were different from dogs. although some kitties were homeless, they would not stay in dangerous surroundings. The one exception was if they were sick and incapable to take care of themselves. Most of the humans who encountered stray cats ignored them. Their fur was always pristine and they would sit in inaccessible places to humans, watching them hurry about.

Lin Lan stood still and watched them, her eyes filled with envy. As for what aspect she envied, it was unclear.

Her attention caused the peaceful cats basking in the sun to be alarmed. The distance between them was relatively far, so the startled cats stood, but did not jump down and escape.

In front of her, Snowflake nimbly leaped onto a pile of rubble in order to jump onto the roof. He meowed at the group of cats.

It was a little hard to hear and the exact words were not clear. Lin Lan could still vaguely make out Snowflake introducing her as his sh*t shoveling servant. He also mentioned that she was able to understand them and even talk with them.

When he finished, all the kitties on the rooftop turned their heads to stare at her with their glassy eyes full of curiosity.

“Hi!” Lin Lan waved her hand at the group of cats: “I am Snowflake’s Mom and I came over to treat you some food. Thanks for taking care of Snowflake in the past!”

Food!!

The amazement that the cats felt at the human speaking cat language quickly changed after hearing her words. 

A black and white cow cat was the first to move from the rooftop to the ground. It meowed at Lin Lan: “Miaow!” (Food! There’s food! I want food!)

_{(T/N: The tuxedo cat is referred to as the ‘cow cat’ in China. The ‘official’ name is a bicolor cat. I’m using cow cat for now because I think that the name’s kinda cute.)}

It circled around Lin Lan and its tail wagged from side to side, without the typical alertness of a stray cat.

“It’s inside my bag.” She set down her bag and reached inside to pull out a can of wet cat food. She peeled open the top and strips of fish meat could be seen. 

“Miaow!” (Food!)

The cow cat’s tail stood straight up and it pushed against Lin Lan’s leg. Then it meowed pleadingly as if to ask for the food.

Finally, Lin Lan set the can on the ground but the cat didn’t eat. It turned its head towards the rooftop.

The cat was eager to eat the food earlier so Lin Lan was confused. She noticed that it wasn’t only the one cat. The entire group of cats on the rooftop didn’t budge. Suddenly, she thought of a reason.

Many wild animals had social hierarchies within their groups. This group of stray cats had a Cat Boss.

Lin Lan scanned the cats attentively and locked her gaze on an adult Li Hua cat. It was sitting there, upright. It was a stray cat, nevertheless, she sensed the imposing and ruthless aura of a leader.

_{(T/N: ‘狸花猫’ = ‘Li Hua Mao’ or Li Hua cat. The English name for the breed is the Dragon Li cat. Although I have been using mostly the English names for the breeds/names of pets, I may just use ‘Li Hua’ for this circumstance.)}

The cat’s golden eyes stared at her and Lin Lan looked at it as well. She understood that the cat was assessing if she would pose a danger to them.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Li Hua cat faintly meowed and Lin Lan was not able to hear it. The cat next to her did and began to greedily gobble up the food, letting her realize what he said.

She was accepted by the Boss! The other cats on the rooftop impatiently meowed and headed towards Lin Lan. Their tails were all straighter than the next.

Food, food, it’s really food!

Lin Lan had to take on the job of being the can opener, unsealing all of the cans she brought with her, setting them in a row. The cats eagerly ate in the same formation. A few threatening meows were heard as part of their natural instinct.

She heard the screeches of some cats, which in her head, translated to “you are dead if you snatch my food” and “if you come closer I’ll scratch you”. Even though they were threatening each other, Lin Lan thought it was hilarious.

Most of the cats had jumped down for the food, but not all.

Snowflake had eaten at home before while the Li Hua cat beside him didn’t move. It appeared to be wary of Lin Lan. If she moved all of a sudden, it would tell the other cats to flee.

The cow cat was eagerly eating the food and at the same time, was wary of Lin Lan. The Li Hua cat had a muscular physique and strong predatory instinct. No wonder he was the boss of the group.  

Kittens with this kind of disposition would certainly not become a house cat.

The outdoors was its favorite environment, even if they had to sleep without any shelter or be indefinitely hungry and cold.

Snowflake and the Cat Boss waited until the rest of the cats had eaten their fill before descending from the rooftop.

“Miaow, Miaowow—” (Lan Lan, this is Cat Boss. He is the strongest cat that I know! All the cats in the vicinity listen to him/follow his orders!)

Snowflake swung his tail and proudly introduced him to Lin Lan. 

He was right to be proud. A cat that brought others to find food deserved to be called Cat Boss.

Lin Lan didn’t think that her cat son calling another cat ‘Boss’ was strange or odd. In fact, it was quite astonishing that a pet cat was able to join a stray Cat Boss’ group. Stray cats needed to be ferocious to fight for food and to control its territory. A house cat that did not lack for food would never be able to possess the same aura.

The Cat Boss did not fear humans as much as other stray cats. It didn’t jump all the way down to the ground, rather sat on a ledge and scrutinized her from its position. 

“Do you want cat food?” Lin Lan gently asked the Li Hua cat. Based on the way it moved earlier, this cat must be older, maybe around seven or eight years old. It must have had plenty of good and bad experiences with humans so it was alert, still accepting her help. 

“If you don’t like canned food, I brought lickable cat treats with me that Snowflake and Sapphire eat.

 “Miaow!” (It’s really yummy, Boss. You should try it!)

Snowflake meowed in agreement.

The Li Hua cat finally let out an audible meow that was slightly scratchy. Most ordinary people would think that this sound was unpleasant and comparable to that of a baby’s crying.

“Omeow, Omeowowow—” (Snowflake has told me about you, the two-legged creature that raises him. You are the only one that I have met that can understand us. We can also understand what you are saying. Recently, you brought home and treated a kitten that was near death.)

Lin Lan furrowed her brows: “Can you not call me a two-legged? Refer to me as a human. Lan Lan is fine as well.”

The more she came in contact with these kitties, she distinguished a pattern. A stray cat would call humans “two-legged creatures”. Pet cats or previously owned stray cats would usually call humans “people”. It was an easy indication of whether a cat was completely stray or not. 

The Li Hua cat disregarded Lin Lan’s request and meowed at her. It translated to: “You come with me”. After telling her this, the big cat jumped down to the ground and led the way.

The Li Hua cat jumped three or four times and gracefully avoided obstacles. Lin Lan had a bad feeling.

Are they taking another cat path!?

Lin Lan stepped forward and thought: when one guesses something bad, it almost always comes true. Lin Lan took another step and realized that the Cat Boss was taking her on a road accessible for humans. Either way, Snowflake was coming along with her so she would have his help if they reached an obstacle. This way, Lin Lan wouldn’t turn into those clueless participants on reality TV shows.

They traveled for around half a kilometer before the Li Hua cat stopped. It motioned for her to enter a trash-filled alleyway.

Lin Lan heard mews coming from inside the alley. It wasn’t one kitten, but multiple. Her face paled.

Don’t tell me that the Cat Boss heard Snowflake talking about her picking up Sapphire and hoped that she would take more kittens home. Not to mention, it sounded like a whole litter of kittens. 

The Li Hua cat saw her unsure appearance and knew that she must be unwilling. It ambled into the alley and meowed.

Subsequently, there were movements in the garbage-filled alley. The mews of the kittens became more audible and a litter of jet-black kittens appeared from the shadows and into the light. 

One kitten, two kittens, three kittens… this was too good… There were five kittens and a large cat. In total, there were six black cats.

Under the sunlight, their black fur was all the more conspicuous.

“Owwmiaowow—” The Li Hua cat meowed at Lin Lan again, “Miaow—” (She and her kittens are healthy. Not one of them is sick. Raising them won’t be as hard as your Sapphire.)

Lin Lan’s face was frozen: “Cat Boss, I have a question: Is this your wife and children?”

“Waoww—” (They’re not. The male cat stole food from the two-legged creatures and was captured and then killed.)

The answer was unexpected and miserable. Was the Cat Boss trying to take care of the family? This Cat Boss was actually a very responsible and caring Cat Boss.

Lin Lan knew that he asked her because she was able to communicate with them. The cats were able to completely understand what she was saying, unlike other humans who relied on body language and tone of voice to guess what they meant. Additionally, she was close with her two cats. This was why Cat Boss made his decision.

Despite these reasons, she couldn’t just accept a litter of black cats, right?

Obtaining such a bizarre ability didn’t mean that Lin Lan agreed to become a savior of cats. She was an ordinary person and had her own goals and priorities in mind. Occasionally, she was softhearted, but that rarely happened. It wasn’t possible for her to be kind every second of the day.

_{(T/N: ‘喜得金手指’ = golden finger of joy, I used ‘bizarre ability’ instead. It means she received an extraordinary skill and this term is usually used in novels to describe a protagonist.)}

She was not trying to be as kind as Buddha, she was only a random citizen with few responsibilities that did a few good deeds to show her thanks.

Lin Lan was pondering how to politely decline Cat Boss’ plea for her to adopt the cats. The Cat Boss entered the alley and she stayed behind. During his absence, she noticed the constant scuffling of the kittens and their mews. Not much later, he came out.

In his mouth was a black leather wallet that he placed in front of Lin Lan.

The wallet was bulky and the clasp was separated. It exposed a wad of cash and several cards, including a bank card and an identity card. The Li Hua cat placed his white paw on top of the wallet and meowed at a stupified Lin Lan.

“Miaowow, Owmiaowowmiaow—” (I know that many two-legged creatures like this. If you take them in, I’ll give this to you.)

The sun had risen higher and noon arrived quickly.

At lunchtime, the Lin family saw their daughter that had been walked by the cat (?) come home.

“Hurry up, go wash your hands and eat.” Wang Xiuzhi was waiting for her daughter to come home before they ate. She set down the ragdoll cat in her hand onto Grandmother Lin’s knee and went to fill the bowls with rice.

Grandmother Lin happily received the kitten and rubbed its head. She glanced at the beautiful, glassy eyes and sighed: “Valuable cats are expensive for a reason. They are nice to look at and their temper is pretty good. This three month old kitten is bigger than most other kittens at this age.” When she finished speaking, she turned her head towards her granddaughter and said, “Why did you return this late, Lan Lan? If you came home a minute later I would have told your Dad to call you to hurry up.”

“That’s right, I’m hungry.” Lin Youyu agreed. In the morning he restocked goods in the small shop downstairs and was exhausted from the physical labor.

“I was delayed by something.” Lin Lan’s expression was complicated and she reached out her hand to stop Wang Xiuzhi from going inside the kitchen. 

“Mom, don’t leave so fast, I want to tell you all something.”

The elderly Lin family was puzzled. Lin Lan brought the bag from behind her back and unzipped it. A family of black cats peeked their heads out.

A few minutes later.

“You just brought home Sapphire and now you went out to find more cats!” Wang Xiuzhi was not happy, “You brought home so many at once! Do you not want the money needed to make cat food?”

Lin Lan silently sat there and cautiously replied, “That’s why they gave me this…”

She pointed to the thick wallet on the table. At one glance, it looked very valuable. Those who were familiar with luxury goods could tell that this was a Hermes wallet. The market price for this wallet was greater than the cash inside, not counting the several cards.

“I think that my daughter did the right thing.” Lin Youyu saw the wallet and furrowed his brows: “There’s so much cash, identity cards, and banking cards. The owner is probably anxious to find it. Lan Lan did a good deed. This should be sent to the public security bureau.”

_{(T/N: Public security bureau = police station)}

“Doing a good deed doesn’t include bringing a family of cats home, right?” Wang Xiuzhi looked towards her husband and said, “Could she not have snatched the wallet and ran? She is such a big human and she can’t win against a cat?”

“You’re thinking too simple! If that cat fought against Lan Lan, what would happen if it scratched her face?” Lin Youyu immediately argued back, “You didn’t encounter many cats in the past, but my Mom and I have encountered some fierce cats in the village. They were so fierce that even the dogs didn’t dare provoke them! These cats that Lin Lan brought back look quick and feral. Did you think through the consequences of your words? Think about our Snowflake being so intelligent and why he is still lower ranked than other cats?”

Wang Xiuzhi was being swayed by her husband’s words and muttered, “They are not that strong…” However, she didn’t stop scolding Lin Lan, “I am not disagreeing with you turning the wallet in to the public security bureau as we don’t lack money. However, I don’t agree with this family of black cats…” 

“Adopt!” She was interrupted by Grandmother Lin who slapped her thigh and loudly said, “Lan Lan we can take them in. Grandma will support you!”

“Mom!?” Shocked, Wang Xiuzhi turned her head towards her mother-in-law.

“Black cats are good; I owe a favor to a black cat. Grandma’s favorite cat is actually the black cat.” As she spoke, Grandmother Lin walked towards the bag and caught a black kitten that was clumsily running everywhere. She held it in the crook of her arm and stroked it while speaking, “When your grandfather and I first got married, this country was very poor. The village that we lived in lied about food production to seem well-off and each household was very tight on supplies. Everyone almost starved to death, including the Lin family. At the time of an approaching emergency, it was the black cat that we raised from when I was little that saved us. It went into the mountains and caught mice for us to stay alive. Somehow, we barely survived but in order to save us, the cat didn’t eat any of the meat itself. In the end, it quickly passed. Ah—”

These past events had never been brought up before and the Lin family fell silent. Grandmother Lin’s eyes turned red and watery. She said to her daughter-in-law, “Xiuzhi, blame me for being a bit selfish. Please let Lan Lan raise them.”

Her mother-in-law had said it like this so Wang Xiuzhi didn’t have any other thoughts of dissent.

It’s just… 

She rotated her head to look at the layout of their dining and living rooms. Other than the dining table, sofa, and coffee table, there was Snowflake’s bed, the cat tower, his water dispenser, and the food bowl. After adopting Sapphire, an incubator, another cat bed, an automatic lukewarm water dispenser were added… wait a minute, the spacious living room was completely crowded.

Now, all at once, there were six more cats.

Wang Xiuzhi felt an oncoming headache: “Our house really is not able to hold any more cats.”

Faced with this issue, the previously silent Lin Lan responded: “I already thought of this on the way home. I will move all of the cats into my own apartment. This way, this apartment here will be less cluttered.”

_{(T/N: If you forgot, Lin Lan has her own apartment that her family has saved for when she gets married. She still sleeps in her parents’ apartment though.)}

“This is not possible!” Wang Xiuzhi loudly refuted, “That apartment was being saved for when you get married. Even a human hasn’t lived in there yet and now cats will!”

“What’s the problem with that? Either way, it hasn’t been renovated.” Lin Lan attached no importance to it. Anyways, she was going to inherit a building as part of the rich second generation so she was going to have no lack of a man. 

“Too many cats will result in a bad stench. If we move all of them, it would be the best.”

“This is okay!” Lin Youyu agreed with his daughter, “After we finish eating, I will help you move everything. If you lack anything, I can also get it for you.”

As part of the Lin family, Lin Youyu looked at the black cats when he listened to his mother’s past. Strictly speaking, that black cat had saved his parents’ lives, including him who was not alive at that time yet. Their Lin family could afford to raise a few more cats!

“By the way, have you given the black cats names yet?”

“Not yet. I’m going to return the wallet and fill out papers to adopt the cats before I think about their names.”

The father and daughter had already begun to consider the follow-up matters of raising more cats. Wang Xiuzhi was listening and restrained her temper. With a stomp, she stepped over the cats on the floor and entered the kitchen: “I don’t care! Eat your food!”

The Cat Boss had warned her in advance. To be well-fed and safe for the rest of her life, she had to behave. The mother cat was very calm and taught her children to be the same way. The kittens were around five months old and were healthy, letting Lin Lan feel relieved.

She convinced her father to take the family of cats to the animal clinic to get vaccinations while she rode her moped to the public safety bureau to return the wallet that Cat Boss had given to her.

Although she took in the family of black cats, she didn’t plan on keeping the wallet.

However, if the owner of the wallet voluntarily gave her some money, she wouldn’t refuse it. 

What Lin Lan didn’t know was that her turning in this wallet would almost result in a huge mess.

At the public security bureau.

Li Hean had a headache and rubbed his temple. A criminal case that he was assigned had reached a dead end. The victim was killed in an isolated alleyway. The cause of death was intentional and few traces were left behind. Plus, there were no surveillance cameras installed in the surrounding area so the murderer was not seen at all. The entire team was stressed over this case.

Soon, lunchtime passed but he didn’t bother to eat anything. By himself, he scoured through all the materials and photographs of the scene to look for details that he missed.

At this time, a low-ranking police officer unexpectedly ran over.

“Team Leader Li! Team Leader Li! New evidence has appeared!” He looked excited and used both of his hands to shake the table. 

“A citizen came over and delivered a wallet that happens to be the victim’s!”

“What did you say!?” Li Hean stood up and ran out of the room.

The public security bureau’s reception was too eager. Lin Lan was about to cry after seeing more and more police officers gathering around: “I, I really didn’t know that the owner of the wallet had an accident!”

She wanted to be an upstanding citizen and return a lost wallet. Somehow, she had stumbled upon a murder case, and the owner had died!

“We know, we know.” Team Leader Li Hean immediately tried to comfort her by telling her a joke, “The murderer wouldn’t be as stupid as to bring a wallet to the police themselves.”

Lin Lan ferociously nodded her head; she wasn’t that stupid. At first, she was hoping for a smooth process to avoid fighting with the owner. She read on the internet that people claimed that “my wallet contained ten thousand yuan, how come there’s two thousand left”. Lin Lan wanted to evade these white-eyed wolves but found herself in a matter much worse than some money: a criminal lawsuit. A huge deal!

_{(T/N: People are shameless and pretend that there was more money in the wallet so they can accuse the returner of stealing. White-eyed wolves = thankless sh*tbag… my mom called me this a few days ago lol.)}

“Miss Lin, please don’t panic.” Li Hean calmly asked, “We want to know why the victim has been dead for over half a month, and now the completely intact wallet has appeared in your hands? You probably know that if so much time has passed, the wallet would usually be empty by now.”

That’s right, why did the wallet that was missing appear in her hands half a month later? Even then, nothing was missing. This was a point of doubt.

Lin Lan clenched her fist. Faced with an extensive information network, she did not dare to make up lies in front of the police and stuttered: “A, a cat gave it to me…”

The policemen’s faces showed confusion.

They were about to ask her for more details when a cheerful shout came from the entrance: “Brother-in-law, I came by as per older sister’s request to deliver your lunch!”

Cheng Fengyang lifted his older sister’s lunch that was skillfully made with love and entered the public security bureau. He noticed that the atmosphere was completely different from normal and saw his brother-in-law along with several police officers surrounding a young woman from the neighborhood across.

This girl was pretty familiar.

“Eh? You’re that girl who picked up a sick kitten and it turned out to be a ragdoll cat!” Cheng Fengyang blurted out, “I met you when I accompanied my pet Star to buy hair growth powder. This gossip has been passed everywhere!”

“It’s you!” Lin Lan recognized Cheng Fengyang almost instantly. He was familiar and he had accidentally helped her prior to that. Lin Lan relaxed.

“Brother-in-law, what are you doing surrounding this chick with so many men?” Cheng Fengyang looked at his acquaintances and said, “Don’t tell me she broke the law.”

“You broke the law!” Li Hean angrily replied to his younger brother-in-law, “Hurry up, don’t bother us. Drop off the food and get out of here!”

_{(T/N: Li Hean basically said ‘no you’ for the first sentence.)}

How could Cheng Fengyang leave? He blocked out his embarrassment and stayed behind to listen. As soon as he realized what they were talking about, he immediately said, “Do you think that she is the murderer? Impossible! When the victim was killed, this girl was at the animal clinic treating her ragdoll cat. Even if she had grown another pair of legs, she couldn’t have committed the crime!”

“What do you know?” Li Hean replied.

“I really was there. If you don’t believe me then check the surveillance cameras in the apartment building and in the animal clinic!” Lin Lan quickly agreed, “During that time, I couldn’t go anywhere else other than the animal clinic because of the sick kitten. The kitten has recovered now so I brought my cat out to wander around. I didn’t expect that another cat would force me to adopt a family of black kitties!”

Lin Lan was positive that no one would believe her claim about being able to talk to cats so she spun the truth to be seven parts true, three parts false.

Everything she said was able to be verified by the testimonies of others. At the moment, there was a “first-hand witness”. The police didn’t have the intention to force her to stay, so this matter was promptly settled.

Lin Lan let out a deep sigh after exiting the public security bureau.

“Were you scared?” Cheng Fengyang asked her, “Don’t worry. It’s their job to do a routine inspection. If they don’t have any evidence, they won’t arrest anyone for no reason.”

“I know that it was unlikely for me to be arrested, but it was scary.” She patted her chest for reassurance and smiled at the young man: “Thanks for backing me up earlier. My name is Lin Lan and we met at the animal clinic a while back. I still don’t know your name.”

“I’m Cheng Fengyang.” He smiled back, “The police officer that was interrogating you was my brother-in-law, Li Hean. He’s a decent person. Don’t be put off by this experience.”

“That won’t happen.” Lin Lan shook her head: “Both you and your brother-in-law are good people.”

She bid Cheng Fengyang goodbye and hopped on her moped to leave. She left behind a confused Cheng Fengyang who thought, “My brother-in-law and I are good people?”

He didn’t understand until he saw the rear view of the small moped traveling farther and farther away, and the sight became more and more familiar. 

It was the woman from that night!

He recognized her as the person that he helped illuminate in the dark. So, that’s why she said that.

“This is a little embarrassing.” Originally, he had wanted to be a nameless helper, now, he had been identified. He blushed and scratched his head.

On the contrary, Lin Lan didn’t feel much as she rode back home on her moped. However, her leg trembled— she was almost suspected to be the murderer of a victim, how could she not be afraid!

She had lived for so long and had never needed to go to the public security bureau other than to register documents. That wasn’t even close to being interrogated by the police!

In a bad mood, she wheeled the moped back into its spot. Instead of going back to her family with a frown, she entered her own apartment to see the cats.

Lin Lan opened the door with her key and saw the plain walls of the unused apartment. As soon they heard movement, the kitties came over, meowing.

“Miaowow!” (Lan Lan!)

“Miaow, miaow!” (Lan Lan, you’re back! We are behaving!)

The little, black lumps clumsily waddled over. The cute milk-scented kittens soothed her uneasy mood.

“Are you used to the new environment yet?” Lin Lan squatted down to scoop up the kittens. 

“The new cat bed has to be washed before being used. Is it okay if you have to endure sleeping in Snowflake’s old cat bed for tonight?”

The kittens mewed their approval, each trying to tell her that their living conditions improved drastically. They were able to play and had food.

(Grandfather fed us tasty food earlier!)

(We want to live here forever to play with Grandfather and the others!)

The small cats were easily distracted by the food. Lin Lan helplessly shook her head and released them from her grasp. The mother cat was keenly staring at her with a pair of jade-green eyes.

Lin Lan reached out to her: “Welcome to your new home. Let’s get acquainted with a hug.”

The black cat slowly approached and obediently snuggled into Lin Lan’s embrace.

The mother cat’s voice was frail: “Miaow—” (I can catch mice for you, I’m not totally useless.)

The adult cat was familiar with the ways of this world. She was willing to let go of her arrogance to not be abandoned. Lin Lan understood the cat and was a little sad.

Black cats were also nicknamed ‘mysterious cats’. Some people liked them but more disliked them. Their jet-black fur was second to other fur colors when attracting people. If they were to be a house cat, they were not as popular compared to other cats.

All at once, there were so many cats. Surely, there was going to be more conflict in the future.

Lin Lan sighed, thinking about her mother’s previous attitude. In fact, two cats were the limit for Wang Xiuzhi. Six more cats definitely crossed the line. Even though it was grandmother who wanted to keep them, sooner or later, there would be an argument.

Lin Lan was determined to keep these cats and she also didn’t want to anger her mother. She must come up with an effective solution.

How would she accomplish this?

She returned to their apartment. Just as she was about to open the door, it opened from the inside. A fashionable middle-aged woman was being led out by Lin Lan’s parents.

Wasn’t this the clothing store’s owner, Sister Yang? Why did she suddenly come over?

“I’m really sorry, Brother and Sister Lin. I have no other choice.” Sister Yang hadn’t seen Lin Lan yet and was talking to her parents, “Someone in my family suddenly fell sick and requires a large amount of money for treatment. I don’t have any money to continue to rent the store. I’m truly sorry.”

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