Ch2 - Their Meeting

Asset Acceptance

Editor: Vez 

Xin Qin was a homebody who lived in an apartment left by his grandmother. Without the need to fulfil his parents’ expectations, he lived according to his own wishes, a decadent life revolving around gaming round the clock and eating takeouts. His day started when the first street lamp lit up in the evening. He glanced at the cat bed and toys piled in the corner before staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.

Coffee, the old Persian cat, had passed away three months ago. Without her low meows and shuffling, the place felt quiet and eerie. He could hear the sound of an angry mother calling her child to eat from the opposite building, followed by a bellow of laughter from the floor below, then the wonderful aroma of food wafted through the air.

After lying down for a good ten additional minutes, he finally got up. After freshening up, he put on his clothes, went to the corner of the wall, bent down and gathered the pile of various unnecessary cat items into his arms.

As he walked down, the hallway was crowded with a group of young children. They jostled and played in the narrow aisle. The little boy in charge saw Xin Qin and screamed, “Somebody is throwing away a cat!” The children huddled in fear and watched timidly at Xin Qin. 

Xin Qin did not explain himself nor did he give them a glance. With the cat bed in his arms, he walked through the gap made by the children. There is no cat, it’s just a box! He heard a little girl shouting behind him. Then the children resumed their game of tag and their loud racket returned to the corridor.

The neighbourhood’s dustbin was very clean. He could tell someone had recently emptied it. Putting Coffee’s things into the dustbin orderly, he noticed the auto-feeder for stray cats was full and the water bowl had also been refilled, but there was no cat in sight.

He began to ponder what takeout he should order today. Instead of getting food, his feet unconsciously took him to sit on the bench at the edge of the flower garden.

He had a full view of the auto-feeder from this angle. He did not dress for the weather that was getting colder and chilly. The muscles on his legs trembled from the sharp breeze. He raised his hand and secured the soft scarf around his neck. This scarf was the last one his grandmother had knitted for him.

A-Li crept into the flowering shrubs and secretly observed the human from the gap between the branches. He knew that this man was the inheritance left by his aunt for him. It was not the first time he had seen Xin Qin, but this was the closest encounter. It had been a week since he arrived in Maochun City and came to the neighbourhood where Xin Qin lived.

This was the third or fourth time he saw his human. In one of his previous observations he had had from a distance, the human that formerly belonged to his aunt had stood at the gate of the residential building, quickly accepted a paper box of some kind, and escaped from A-Li’s sight. Although he had not been c;ear at first, A-Li eventually realised that the silver door would not open easily, and all stray cats like him would be stopped outside, whilst his inheritance stayed in.

His inheritance looked very pale and too thin—by cat standards, of course. A cat with a physique akin to his human would have a hard time surviving the winter. Internally, he shook his head. He still had not decided on how to show up, introduce himself and make the human take him home. Today, the human was out for a longer period of time. He did not see any fur on the human, doesn’t he feel the cold? A-Li felt that this opportunity was godsend for him. He could jump out suddenly, take him by surprise and then order him to be his human. But he was also hesitant. He never had a human before, would he and his human get along?

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Will he like me? 

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The only annoying part probably were the too many cats in the area. It was so frustrating because he would often get into fights over territory. The number of scars on him had increased greatly during his stay here. Not to mention winter was coming and he wasn’t planning to die from this reason.

A-Li quietly and softly moved his limbs around, still hesitating, before silently moved half a paw forward. Kitty steps. As soon as he moved, he withdrew his paw, oww, and licked it. When he first arrived at Maochun City, he had met a big-mean spotted cat. That beefy fellow was powerful. A-Li had had a fierce fight with him. During his escape, he did not watch where he was going and stepped on broken glasses. The small pointy shards were embedded into his paw pads. His left front paw had been in severe pain these days, now it was a size bigger than his right paw. Thinking of this, he went through the motion and licked his paw again, then suddenly, a shadow came over him.

Xin Qin knelt down and quietly watched the big cat who thought it was hiding well. The filthy Dragon Li cat with a paw that appeared to be inflamed and unusually swollen, resembling a small steamed bun. He paused for a moment before lowering his head slightly and stretched out two fingers, gently explored forward and paused right in front of the cat’s nose. 

This startled A-Li. His hair stood up, back arched upward along with his shoulder blades. For a moment, he could not decide whether he should use his claws. The man is moving his paw so close. What does he want to do? For me to smell his scent? Should he not offer me his butt instead? But he smells so good! A-Li’s heart was beating hard. His neck stiffened and his ears pinned back and flat.

After a moment of pause, Xin Qin slowly but steadily continued to lean over, bent, and gently rubbed the tip of the cat’s nose with his knuckles. The Dragon Li cat was obviously frightened as it quickly moved its head away. Xin Qin took the opportunity to pet the back of the cat’s neck.

A-Li felt his hair on his entire body stand up. This was the first time someone other than his mother touched his neck this affectionately. This feeling was very foreign. It wasn’t uncomfortable but being comfortable was also out of the question. It was itchy, strange, meow! It made him want to break free, but he did not move a single muscle in the end.

Xin Qin approached slowly, gingerly combing his fingertips along the Dragon Li cat’s striped fur. This cat was actually beautiful. He found this whole thing strange. It was like he fell in love with this unfamiliar stray cat at first sight. 

“You are hurt.” He opened his mouth and whispered, “Do you want to go to a warm place with me?”

What was he saying? A-Li stared at the human with his round green glassly, marble-like eyes.

“You need some food and antibiotics.” He rubbed the cat twice with his knuckles before removing his hands. He smoothly took off the scarf around his neck, shook it, and brought it close to A-Li’s nose, like he was using the cloth to tease the cat.

A-Li pricked his ears as they trembled curiously. He slowly began to relax, but remained in his crouched position. He sniffed the scent, smelling this human’s unique scent on the warm fabric. It smelled very good. 

Xin Qin used the scarf to get closer to the cat little by little. He was very patient and gentle.

A-Li narrowed his eyes, focusing on the scarf slowly wrapping around him. It carried the human’s warmth.

Xin Qin suddenly raised the corner of his lips to smile before he suddenly stretched out his hands and embraced the cat along with his scarf.

Before A-Li could react, he was held tightly in the human’s arms. He subconsciously stretched out his limbs and wanted to struggle, but the human coaxed him softly, “Shh, don’t move. Let’s go see a doctor.” Xin Qin adjusted his posture to make the Dragon Li cat more comfortable. 

A-Li suddenly lost his urge to struggle. His human was very gentle and did not hurt a single hair of his. More importantly, this human smelled super nice! And the heat from this embrace was like the warmth of the sun. Purr, he really wanted to rumble away.

This little guy is very well-behaved. Xin Qin noticed. Instead of taking a detour home, he went straight out of the neighbourhood’s front gate with the cat wrapped in his scarf, and took a taxi to the nearby veterinary clinic. When he got into the taxi, he suddenly regretted throwing away Coffee’s carrier bag. It might have been very useful right now. But on second thought, Coffee’s cat carrier backpack was strawberry pink. This Dragon Li cat could be male so it might be for the best. Is it a boy? He curiously lowered his head and studied the big sweet cat in his arms, but decided to hold off the checking till they arrived at the clinic.

A-Li was actually not being obedient. Although the truth was a little embarrassing, enough for him to lose some of his cat face, he was startled in place. His human carried him into the big iron box—no, a car. He remembered his younger sister, Ni Luo Piaoxue, had told him of how much humans liked this kind of metal box that could run by itself.

He knew not of where the human was taking him. Outside the glass window, the neon lights buzzed past, leaving behind the fleeting beautiful multi-coloured flashing streaks. He widened his green eyes, uneased by the passing light spots and tightly clinged to his human. 

Meow, this world is so big!

The man’s warm and firm palm was pressed against his head. A-Li wanted to look at his human, but his vision was blocked, even then, he still felt very much at ease. After an unknown time had passed, the human finally carried him out of the metal box. He was brought to a strange room with a very unpleasant smelling air. A-Li wrinkled the tip of his nose, disliking the odd odour. At the same time, he noticed that he was surrounded by many of his kind, as well as many dumb dogs. They were either kept by a collar around their neck or inside of a strange cage. None of them were communicating with each other, just making whimpers of uneasiness.

Where am I? He began to panic and was quickly held closer in the human’s arms.

“Stay still.” Xin Qin hushed softly, wrapped the Dragon Li cat tighter in the scarf, leaving only a small opening. He knew a narrow space brought a sense of security to cats. At this moment, the cat rolled in the scarf was both curious and slightly flustered as it peeked out from the little opening with vigilance. Hiss—the Dragon Li cat bared his teeth with hostility at the Samoyed nearby The big fluffy dog started to wag its tail excitedly. This made Xin Qin smile. 

Being so late in the day, the wait time was not long. This veterinary clinic was called ‘Eat Plenty’. Xin Qin brought Coffee here many times before and was familiar with the doctors. Today, Dr. Yu was on shift. The gentle female veterinarian made a brief examination of the Dragon Li cat and even studied the scar on its left eyes. It was unfortunate once she determined it was an old wound. She intended to clean the wound on its left front paw with alcohol before removing the glass fragments with a tweezer.

A-Li did not know what was happening as he was suddenly surrounded by this strange human’s smell. When his body was pressed down, he began to act on instinct.

Meow! Little sister said that after entering a family and assuming responsibility over a human, a cat will be demanded to present themselves in front of the human’s companions. Meow, I don’t wanna! I am not ready! A-Li began to yowl. Sadly, his human did not understand what he was saying. The man just stroked him gently and even helped the doctor hold A-Li down firmly. A-Li struggled even harder.

Get out of here quickly! I am no good right now! My fur is very dirty and tangled at many spots. I have not had the chance to lick them clean yet! I am also very skinny, not good-looking, and have many scars! You will be laughed at by your friends! A-Li turned his head and angrily bared his fangs at his human. Meow! I do not want to be the reason for you to be made fun of! Just leave! I will be more beautiful in the future. Both of my sisters are very good-looking. Let’s return in the future, okay…? 

Listening to the cat’s hissing grow quieter and quieter, Qin Xin thought the cat must be out of strength from the lack of food. He frowned and inquired the doctor, “Is this injury serious? I don’t think this is the only injury he sustained, but I did not have the time to inspect carefully.”

The female doctor shook her head. “The wound is just inflamed. It is not that serious, but you will need to return back here for a check up. Hold the cat firmer, I can’t hold the tweezer steady.” After a while, a female nurse came in to help and the three finally managed to hold down the exhausted large Dragon Li cat.

A-Li couldn’t move his neck as he flickered his tail unhappily. Meow! This human is so stupid. Doesn’t he know that he will be laughed at by his companions if he takes me out to show off in such a hurry? The feeling of being laughed at is awful. This he was familiar with. A-Li remembered the humans who had appeared in his early life. Some of them also tried to pick up A-Li, but they all gave up in the end.

Ah, this cat is not very good-looking.  

It’s so mean looking, look at its eyes. 

So dirty. Isn’t a cat supposed to groom itself?

Throw it out!

A-Li could not understand what they were saying, but he could pick up the unfriendliness and disdain in their tone. He probably was not the best looking cat. That was why he did not want this gentle and nice smelling human to be ridiculed by his peers… 

“Why are you crying?” Xin Qin lowered his head, freed up a hand and gently brushed the cat’s eye socket. His fingertips were wet. The Dragon Li cat turned its head and ignored him.

The doctor also leaned over to have a closer look and reassured, “Don’t worry, this is normal. It looks like this little fellow is still very energetic.”

Once the Dragon Li cat had completely calmed down, Qin Xin softly caressed at the back of the cat’s head, “Just bear it for just a little longer, all right?”

A-Li shook his head, away from the human’s hand. Hmped! Such a big fool! Ouch, my paw— 

Translator has something to add:

Teo: I would like to recommend a super cute and short anime about a cat. It is called ‘Nights With a Cat‘. It is free on YouTube and the ending song is so lovely. Please check it out uwu