702 Stray Ca (2/2)

The cat was fine. This was the jungle rule in the wilderness. Since it could not beat the intruder, it had to change its spot. Before it had time to say goodbye to the white mongrel cat, it continued on its journey.

Gradually, it realized that most of the people in the world were good; there were often chubby housewives that tossed food to the roof to feed the cats, and young university students also bought cat food and put it where the stray cats gathered.

These hot spots had already been occupied by other stray cats, though, and they were very sensitive to intruders of their territory. The Siamese cat was often chased away before it could finish even a few bites. At night fall, it snuck back quietly and picked up some left-overs to feed its hungry stomach.

It had a few bites of cold and dry cat food bits on the roof. It lifted its head suddenly and saw another Siamese cat glancing at it through the window of the third floor apartment in the residential building nearby.

That Siamese cat looked just like itself––maybe it escaped from Love Lovely Pets as well. The fur coat of that cat was clean and tidy, though, and its figure was plump. It yawned out of boredom and stared at it with curiosity and a hint of pity, as if it was wondering why it was eating the trash.

A silhouette flashed by the window. A pretty, young girl carried the Siamese cat in her arms and took out two cans of cat food of different flavors, asking it to pick. The Siamese cat chose the salmon flavored cat food with a bored expression on its face.

It was an adopted cat, no doubt, and lived a fancy life with good food and a warm house. It didn't know what cold and hungry meant.

The Siamese cat outside the window bowed its head with humiliation and looked at its filthy and stinky body. It was still hungry, and the last bits of the cat food on the roof was already gone. Its left eye was aching with blurry vision. It seemed to be infected and was oozing pus.

Separated by the window, the two cats seemed to be in two different worlds.

It suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of regret. Why was it avoiding people? If it embraced them bravely in the beginning, it would have become the cat with fancy food in a warm house...

It had been proven, as a matter of fact, that most people in this world were good…. right?

Therefore, it changed its mind and decided not to be a stray cat anymore. It craved human affection. How bad could castration be, anyway? It had already passed down its genes, so it had nothing to lose.

It jumped off the roof and ran up the street happily. It went over to each person that it came across and tried to play cute like the other Siamese cat. It hoped that one of them would take it home so that it could eat a good meal, take a bath, and get the left eye treated.

It was not very presentable at this moment, though––it was filthy and stinky. Except the people who were savvy in cats, nobody could recognize that it was a pedigree cat. Even if they did, they might hesitate as soon as they saw its infected left eye and pictured the expensive medical bill.

People avoided it out of disgust and were afraid of getting their New Year's new clothes dirty. They intimidated their children by saying, ”Don't touch that stray cat. It's carrying nasty germs, and it will bite you!”

After struggling for most of the night, nobody was willing to pause in front of it. It was getting even hungrier.

Whatever. Just let it be...

It bowed its head out of despair. Since nobody was willing to take it home, it would have to fight for territory with other stray cats.

”Mimi! Mimi! Mimi! Come here. Mimi!” Somebody was making a strange sound not too far in front of the cat. He seemed to be mimicking a cat meowing.

The cat found it kind of funny. Was this guy a fool? What kind of cat made a ”mimi” sound?

The aroma of salmon came from the same direction as the sound. It seemed to be a high-end, canned fish, maybe the same one that the Siamese cat was eating at home.

It lifted its eyes to look forward. It was a friendly-looking young man, squatting on the ground with an opened cat food can in one hand. He to it gently. ”Mimi, come here! I have good food for you.”

Was this a dream?

It could not believe its eyes. Was it hallucinating because of its infected left eye?

Even if its eye was hallucinating, could its nose and ears be precepting hallucinations, too?

It hesitated, but could not resist the temptation of food. It ran towards the man with big paces.

The man laughed, took out a piece of salmon from the can and waved towards it. ”Come, mimi. Come here if you want some.”

It grabbed the salmon fillet with its teeth and swallowed it after chewing it a few times.

Yummy! So yummy!

It had never tasted such great food, even in the the Love Lovely Pets breeding base.

It stared at the canned fish in his hand, and its vision blurred a little.

”Do you want more?” The man stayed in the same squatting position, and lifted his eyes to glance through the crowd with the same smile on his face. ”If you want more, come here.”

He stood up, took another fillet of salmon in his hand, then turned back and walked a few steps to lure it.

Actually, he didn't need to do this, as the cat had already decided to go with him. It hoped that he could adopt it. Even if it could not live a fancy life, at least it wouldn't be a stray any more.

The cat followed the man in obedience and left the busy street. After a few turns and detours, it entered a dark and secluded alley.

The young man waited for it every few steps and waved the fish fillet to make sure that it didn't get lost.

Finally, he stopped and turned back with a smile. The gentleness in his eyes was gone, and they turned cold.

”Look. Here is another one,” he said.