I Can Talk to Cats C39

Chapter 39: Going Home for the Holidays (Part One)

Translated by Lime

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“They’re fighting! They’re fighting!” 

As soon as Lin Youyu returned home with the newly bought lock in his hand, he heard the mocking cries of the parrot.

In the living room, the two fighting cats caused chaos and confusion among the usually peaceful group.

On the heating pad, the two cats were locked together in battle. The rest of the cats were alarmed and leaped out of the way onto the sofa and into various corners of the room. With all the cats meowing and scrambling away from the fight, the noise in the room grew.

As for the troublesome parrot, it had flown a short distance to the kitchen, perching on the back of a chair.

“They’re fighting! They’re fighting!” The parrot flapped its wings with excitement and screeched.

Lin Lan was just about to bring the food out from the kitchen for dinner. Luckily, she witnessed the entire scene from start to finish. Otherwise, she might have wrongly blamed the two kitties who were fighting.

Lin Youyu stood at the entrance of the apartment, shocked, as he watched his daughter calmly set down the two plates of food. Swiftly, she turned around and grabbed the noisy parrot.

“They’re fighting… ahhh!”

Lin Lan was very practiced in her motions to restrain the parrot. She held its wings with one hand and used the other hand to stuff its neck into its wings. In this position, it looked like she had a murderous aura and could slice its neck open any time.

“All of you be quiet and don’t fight!” After dealing with the parrot who caused this mess, Lin Lan faced the two cats who were still locked together and yelled, “Milky, Jintan, if you two don’t separate right now, you’ll starve tonight!”

The severity of her threat could solve any situation. The British Shorthair and Siamese cat who were just ferociously fighting immediately separated. Lin Lan released the breath she was holding when it was apparent none of the kitties had sustained any injuries.

However, the two cats both felt wronged and meowed at her. They both tried to tell Lin Lan that the other cat started the fight first.

“The one who bit your tails wasn’t each other, it was this rascal.” Lin Lan lifted her hand to show them the parrot. His legs limply dangled as she swung him from side to side a few times. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Lin Lan let the cats roam around on the heat pad while she went to sort out the damn bird. Suddenly, she noticed her father: “Dad, when did you get back? Give me a moment to sort this out before dinner.”

Lin Lan headed towards her room with the parrot who had already given up resisting.

After she had closed the door, Lin Youyu and the kitties turned their heads in the direction of the room.

That bird was seeking out death.

Father Lin sighed and shook his head. It had been several years since Lan Lan taught the parrot a lesson. Xiao Kui was probably acting up after being spoiled by the Yu family for so long.

The Yu family had been curious as to why Xiao Kui would always compliment Lan Lan. Well, the answer was this.

The parrot was already acting like a chicken on its way to slaughter, so there was no way Lin Youyu was going to tell the Yu family how his daughter disciplined their pet.

A few minutes had passed, and the door to Lin Lan’s room swung open. The parrot was dejectedly perched on Lin Lan’s shoulder with its wings withdrawn; it now looked meek and obedient.

Father Lin quickly went to observe the parrot’s appearance. On the outside, not a feather was missing or out of place, and in no way did it look like it had been beaten. The only difference was its forlorn attitude.

“What happened to Xiao Kui?” After hearing commotion outside, Wang Xiuzhi was finally able to free up her hands to see what was going on.

Grandmother Lin, who had been sitting in the living room watching the whole time, laughed and said, “Look at what Lan Lan’s holding.”

Immediately, Father Lin and Mother Lin both looked at their daughter’s hand and bursted out laughing.

It was a bag of roasted chestnuts.

With the parrot, Lin Lan walked over to the living room. She stopped in front of the coffee table where fruit was stored in a bowl for decoration. After emptying out the bowl, she poured the chestnuts into it and placed the parrot on the table.

Lin Lan slid the bowl in front of the parrot and said, “Xiao Kui, you should know what to do.”

The yellow crown stood up on the parrot’s head, and it cried out in a sorrowful and resentful voice: “Heartless! Cruel!” 

“Stop taking your sweet time! Those who do wrong must face the proper punishment!” Lin Lan coldly ignored its pleas and continued, “Do the same as last time — deshell this entire bowl of chestnuts for me. Believe me or not, if you try to eat one, I’ll switch you out and give your mom a prettier bird!”

As she spoke, Lin Lan hit the table. Nearby, each cat attentively stared at the parrot with their eyes wide open. The parrot, who had never thought about losing its home, was now scared by her threat.

The kitties all remembered what Lan Lan had told them earlier; the parrot was to blame for the fight.

“Pretty lady! Pretty lady!” The frightened parrot began to sing praises for Lin Lan, hoping to placate her.

However, it was faced with a cold word: “Deshell!”

Most parrots eat fruits and nuts, including this cockatoo. Not only was it a master at deshelling seeds, it was also very proficient at opening hard-shelled nuts using its powerful beak. With the threat of both Lin Lan and the cats, the miserable Xiao Kui could only begin the work set out in front of him.

Xiao Kui nimbly flexed his feet and grabbed one of the chestnuts from the plate. He brought it up to his beak and chomped down. Almost half of the shell fell down, revealing the meat of the chestnut. He pecked at the shell again, and the rest was removed.

“When you’re done deshelling, put it in here.” Lin Lan pushed the bag that previously contained the chestnuts over to him.

The fragrant aroma of the chestnut in his claw tempted Xiao Kui, but under the incessant stares of Lin Lan and the cats, he could only follow the rules.

In the nearby living room, Father and Mother Lin burst out laughing from seeing the terrified parrot surrounded by Lin Lan and the cats.

He deserved this punishment. Before, the parrot had broken out of its cage several times, and even caused trouble with the cats. Now, after offending both the humans and the cats, who would face his punishment except for him?

It wasn’t the first time Xiao Kui had faced this punishment. In the past, whenever the parrot would cause trouble, Lin Lan would always force him to deshell chestnuts. Eventually, he came to understand that his standing in the Yu family was ignored when it came to the Lin family. So, from then on, he took the initiative to shower Lin Lan with praises.

Maybe his current behavior was because he had been very obedient and on good terms with Lin Lan the past few years. Now, after the Lin family brought in a bunch of kitties, the parrot went back to his old troublemaking ways. 

Even though Xiao Kui was being punished, Lin Lan couldn’t just leave him alone with all the cats. After watching the parrot deshell all the chestnuts, she took the plate and allowed the parrot back onto her shoulder. Then, she returned to the dining room.

“Go back in your cage.” Lin Lan gently thrust the parrot in before locking the latch with the lock her dad had just bought. Xiao Kui was now reflecting with his pitiful eyes cast downward. He perched on the cage and didn’t squawk.

After Lin Lan left, the parrot shuffled his claws so he was facing the dining room. He stretched his neck towards the dining table and saw someone reaching for the chestnuts he had just deshelled. Seeing that they really ate it, Xiao Kui let out a cry of distress and shuffled his claws back to the area of the cage furthest from the dining table. His head drooped down, expressing that he did not want to see the atrocity being committed.

The Lin family had purposefully provoked the parrot, and after seeing his reaction, they burst into laughter.

“Are you going to act up next time? If you do, you’ll end up like this again.” Provoking the parrot on purpose, Father Lin smugly plucked another chestnut out of the bowl. He silently thought to himself: Lin Lan was so admirable. Xiao Kui was now behaving obediently like his normal self.

After they finished eating dinner, Lin Lan went to give the kitties their food while Father Lin found a dark bed sheet and covered the bird cage with it.

The two cats that had been bullied, Milky and Jintan, were fed fragrant cat food and some extra small cat treats. Quickly, they forgot about the disturbance from earlier, especially since that annoying parrot’s cage was covered by a sheet. It wasn’t long before they started to play-fight again.

They really are about as intelligent as a two or three year old. They forgot all about the fight from earlier!

Lin Lan laughed — she had been worried about a potential grudge between the two cats, but it seemed like that wouldn’t be the case.

However, Father Lin was still somewhat worried.

Previously, the Lin family only had one cat, Snowflake. As a house cat, he was more calm and unbothered by Xiao Kui, so no problems ever arose. Now, there was a whole group of stray cats who likely preyed on birds before being taken in by Lin Lan. Father Lin was still on edge about the whole situation.

“Wang Xiuzhi, why don’t we move the bird cage into our room? After all, with all these cats here, I don’t feel safe leaving Xiao Kui alone with them.” During the day, draping a sheet over the cage was enough to prevent the parrot from making trouble, but when night fell, the stupid parrot might seek out trouble on its own. By putting him in a different room, it would be safer.

“As long as he doesn’t make noise, I don’t care.” Wang Xiuzhi understood the intentions of her husband and agreed.

“No need to worry about that, the cage will be covered, so he shouldn’t be obnoxious.” 

Just like this, the husband and wife figured out their new course of action concerning the parrot. Lin Lan didn’t object to their plan either. Even though the parrot was subjected to her punishment earlier and it wasn’t likely for him to make trouble again, Lin Lan wouldn’t bet on the outcome.

She could only talk to the cats, not control everything they did. What would happen if one cat was unable to restrain their natural instincts? Xiao Kui would only have lived to be seven years old!

As she listened to their conversation, Grandmother Lin held her teacup and gazed out towards the balcony. “Today, the Yu family left for their hometown. The other tenants should be leaving soon as well.”

After Grandmother Lin made this comment, the rest of the Lin family were reminded.

This was something that happened each year. After the Yu family left, many other tenants packed their things and made a trip back home. Everyday, different tenants in the apartment building left to go back home.

Qian Xuan was the first to leave after the Yu family. After three days passed and her business trip was over, she immediately went to the cat cafe to pick up her pet.

“Niu Niu!” The shit shoveler took the kitty out from her cage and gauged her weight with her hands. Good, she didn’t lose weight.

Then, Qian Xuan observed the things in the cat cage: the cat food that was set in the cage was the kind she brought; the temperature of the water in the bowl was lukewarm; and the cat bed was the one she especially brought for Niu Niu. Seeing everything to her liking, Qian Xuan’s face lit up.

“Thanks, Lin Lan, for taking care of my Niu Niu.” Qian Xuan was truly satisfied with the care for the past three days. As soon as she walked over, Niu Niu tried to brush against her and she kept meowing at Qian Xuan. 

“You’re too polite, I’m just doing my job.” Lin Lan reached out and petted the British Shorthair before saying, “For the past three days you’ve been gone, this kitty was deeply affected and rarely exited the cage to play. When you go home, make sure to pamper her.”

As she listened to Lin Lan, Qian Xuan’s smile grew even bigger. “She’s truly a fragile and picky cat.” Qian Xuan pet her beloved kitty and spoke again, “My holiday starts tomorrow, so I’ll have to pamper her when I return to my hometown.”

“Wow, this year your break starts pretty early. Well, I hope you and Niu Niu have a safe journey!”

“Thanks! I’ll be sure to bring you some local goodies!”

Qian Xuan hugged her cat and happily left, leaving behind Lin Lan, who was reminded by their conversation of something.

She turned her head to stare at Song Xinmin and Wang Jiayi, both of whom had moved in not too long ago. Lin Lan asked, “You two… are really not going back to visit home this year?”

Tang Xiaya had already told her that she would be going home this weekend at the very latest, but as for these two residents at the cat cafe, Lin Lan was unsure of their plans.

“I’m not going!” The rich missy replied in a haughty manner and pouted, as if she was reminded of something. Hmph! They all thought she wasn’t independent enough, so this year, she wouldn’t go back to show them how independent she really was! 

After seeing Wang Jiayi’s expression, Lin Lan decided not to ask further.

Song Xinmin was much more calm when he answered, “I’m for sure not going back. I already talked to my family about my plans, and they support me. Every year I don’t visit my family, I make sure to video call them. Even if I’m not physically there at home, they still know how I’m doing.” As he talked, he smiled.

He was much luckier than many of his peers because of his family’s support for his dream.

Going home for the holidays made some happy and others unhappy.

Qian Xuan left the next day, and her fellow resident on the fourth floor, Xu Xiangfei, also left with his dog. Compared to the joy of other people who were returning home, he was reluctant.

Coincidentally meeting Xu Xiangfei, Lin Lan was curious and asked him, “It’s rare that you get the chance to go home and see your family. Aren’t you looking forward to it?” 

Xu Xiangfei, who was always acting silly, was now downcast as he forced a smile and said, “Imagine having to deal with all your relatives urging you to get married. Would you be so eager to go home?”

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Thanks for reading & thanks for sticking by me through all my inconsistent updates!

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