Humans often behave strangely when facing “Soul-Eater Beasts,¹” making noises they would want to punch themselves for if they heard them later.

Dou Sheng squatted at the mouth of the narrow crack, his hand lowered and waving gently.

“Mimi², come here.”

“Come over, Mimi~”

Xie Lan looked down at him. “How do you know its name?”

“Shh. All the cats in the world are called Mimi.” Dou Sheng explained in a low voice, then continued to call, “Mimi, Mimi~”

Yu Fei took off his hat and stuffed it into his back pocket. “With your height of over 1.8 meters blocking the way, does the cat dare to come over?”

Dou Sheng paused, switching back to his daily coolness. “You can you up. No can no bb.”³

Xie Lan was stunned. “What?”

He suspected he didn’t know English.

Dou Sheng explained calmly, “The gentleman is slow in speech but quick in action. Confucius’s teaching.”

Xie Lan let out an “Ah” of half-understanding.

Yu Fei looked at Dou Sheng like he was looking at a ghost. “Move, let me try.”

Yu Fei occupied the narrow crack, knelt on both knees, opened a snack and squeezed it into his palm, devoutly extending his hand into the crack.

“Mimi~” He called softly. “Come to Daddy, Daddy has food.”

“Look, who’s favorite Tuna King Salmon is this?”

“Mimi mimi~”

“Mimi? Mimi?”

Xie Lan couldn’t help but pick his ear.

He seriously suspected his ears were broken; he couldn’t hear anything other than “Mimi”.

“Disgusting.” Dou Sheng whispered in his ear. “Even he is tolerating it. I think I can stomach Haggis now.”

Xie Lan glanced sideways at him. “You’re not much different from him.”

“It’s different. I have the natural affinity of a handsome guy; he is an irritable guy feigning tenderness.” Dou Sheng laughed, raised his arm to hook around Xie Lan’s shoulder, and kicked the side of Yu Fei’s thigh with his toe. “Get up, let Xie Lan try.”

Xie Lan stiffened.

That hand clasped his shoulder, four fingers naturally pressing on his collarbone.

He could even perceive Dou Sheng’s fingers, perceiving them with his collarbone.

Yu Fei said irritably, “Don’t rush me, let me try again. She’s very close to me.”

“Close my ass.” Dou Sheng withdrew his arm from Xie Lan. “Does she even remember you?”

Despite saying that, Dou Sheng still cooperated with Yu Fei to adjust the lighting, stopping the light between the cat and Yu Fei, slowly moving it towards Yu Fei to lure her over.

As the beam of light brushed past the kitten’s silhouette, Xie Lan suddenly caught a hint of abnormality.

He grabbed Dou Sheng’s wrist.

Dou Sheng turned his head, his gaze sweeping over the hand holding his, landing on Xie Lan’s profile. “Hm?”

Xie Lan held his wrist and moved it to the right, forward, carefully adjusting the angle to trace the right side of the cat’s belly.

“Injured.” He frowned. “The right side is a fist larger than the left, hanging down.”

Silence fell. After a long while, Yu Fei, kneeling in front, clicked his tongue. “Really is.”

Dou Sheng asked in a low voice, “She hadn’t given birth yet when we saw her at the end of the term, right?”

Yu Fei nodded. “Should have given birth not long after the exams. Logically, the kittens would be two months old now. The mother cat should be back to normal long ago.”

“Pyometra.”

Xie Lan said softly, “Still able to run, so it’s not a bone issue. Best if it’s Pyometra, hope it’s not a Tumor.”

Yu Fei looked up at him. “Tumor is tumor? What is Pyometra?”

Dou Sheng had already checked the dictionary. “Pyometra (uterine infection)?”

“Don’t know the Chinese.” Xie Lan shook his head. “Mother cats often get this disease. There’s dirty water where the babies are kept. That’s roughly what it means.”

“That must be it.” Dou Sheng nodded. “Need to catch her quickly.”

Ignoring the dirt, Yu Fei pressed his shoulder against the narrow alley entrance and thrust his hand hard into the narrow crack.

“Mimi, come out quick, Mimi—”

Where the light shone, the cat hesitated and retreated half a step.

“I’ll do it.” Xie Lan whispered.

YouTube wasn’t accessible in China. He tried opening Bilibili and typed “kitten meowing” in the search box.

The first video that popped up was what he wanted—Play this video and your cat will come to save you.

Xie Lan turned the volume to the maximum and stepped back two steps holding the phone.

The milky, anxious meows of a kitten came from the phone, echoing in Yangchang Alley.

A few seconds later, the black cat inside suddenly leaped, dragging her heavy belly on one side and sprinting out wildly.

She passed Yu Fei and Dou Sheng without stopping, running straight to Xie Lan’s feet, hesitating, stopping to circle.

Xie Lan immediately bent down to grab her. Her reaction was fast; she turned and ran. Dou Sheng blocked her from behind, and together with Xie Lan, they pinned the cat down at the same time.

“Woo—”

Xie Lan grabbed onto Dou Sheng’s hand—that slender, well-structured hand.

But he only held on for an instant before letting go, frowning and hissing.

Yu Fei picked up the small flashlight and shone it on Xie Lan’s hand.

—From the fingertip to the pad of the finger, there was an extra white line, over a centimeter long. It was only white for the first few seconds, but soon blood seeped out.

Tip of the left index finger, exactly the spot for vibrato.

Xie Lan went autistic.

Being scratched by a cat didn’t hurt much, but he was used to treasuring his hands. Even if he didn’t touch the violin a few times a year now, he still retained the subconsciousness cultivated since childhood, feeling that injuring his fingers was very troublesome.

“You hold her.”

Dou Sheng carefully transferred the cat to Yu Fei. “Gently, yes, avoid the belly…”

The cat had struggled fiercely just now, but now that she was captured, she stopped moving, only whimpering constantly through her nose.

“Stop whining (Ying-yang guai-qi).⁴” Dou Sheng poked her nose and lectured, “We kindly disguised as your little cub to catch you, and you’re unhappy?”

“……” Xie Lan couldn’t help but say, “Sounds like such kindness.”

“Ying—” The little black cat turned her head angrily.

Immediately after, Yu Fei howled—Ow! The flashlight tilted, and a mask of pain flashed across his face in the light.

“She bit me!” He hissed. “Little female cats have unpredictable tempers, too difficult to deal with!”

Dou Sheng took the flashlight, shone it on Xie Lan’s fingertip, and blew on it twice.

“Squeeze a couple of drops of blood out.”

Xie Lan replied immediately, “No.”

“?”

Dou Sheng stopped his hand abruptly, looking up blankly. “Why?”

Xie Lan pulled his hand back, curled it up protectively near his palm, and carefully stuffed it into his pocket.

“Go to the hospital for medicine later.” Xie Lan said, “Can’t do it myself.”

“True.” Dou Sheng nodded blankly, then couldn’t help sighing, “You’re quite careful.”

“Douzi, call a car, go to Kitty House.” Yu Fei said while holding the cat, “I feel her condition isn’t great. Just saw her trembling when she walked outside the alley.”

“Okay.”

Domestic pet hospitals were similar to those in the UK. Late at night, there was no one else. The doctor took the cat into the treatment room, touched her belly, and suspected pyometra. An X-ray and blood test were needed.

After entering the hospital, the little black cat seemed less guarded, but visibly wilted, sitting in a “meatloaf” position at the corner of the table, squinting and motionless.

“Stray cat, right?” The doctor asked while checking the ear canal.

Yu Fei said, “Indeed don’t have the conditions to adopt, but take her for vaccines every year. The last booster shot was half a year ago.”

The doctor was a bit surprised hearing this, looked up and scrutinized the three of them carefully. “Students? British High?”

“Mmh.” Dou Sheng reached out and gently stroked the little black cat. “She’s about three years old. Had kittens a month or two ago. Vaccinated every year before, rabies too.”

The doctor sighed with emotion, “Students have benevolence. Alright, I’ll take her to draw blood directly.”

“Mimi, stay strong.” Yu Fei lowered his head and rubbed his forehead against the cat’s head. “If you’re sick, we’ll treat it. Daddy will pay however much it costs. Be good, be good.”

Xie Lan whispered to Dou Sheng on the side, “Is he always like this?”

“Mmh.” Dou Sheng’s lips barely moved: “Can’t walk straight whenever he encounters a cutie.”

Xie Lan couldn’t help but click his tongue too.

The nurse came to take the cat away. Dou Sheng stopped her. “Can you bandage a person? My friend hurt his finger.”

“Finger?” The nurse poked her head back in from outside the door holding the cat. “Let me see.”

Dou Sheng reached out, grabbed Xie Lan’s index finger, and extended it a little forward. “Here.”

The surroundings were quiet for a few seconds.

The nurse adjusted her hold on the cat, stepped back over the threshold, and leaned in to examine the tiny, almost imperceptible wound closely.

“Ah…” She hesitated. “The blood has already coagulated. There are cotton balls at the front desk, just wipe it for him. It’s fine since the cat had rabies shots.”

“Better bandage it.” Dou Sheng said, “Bled quite a bit just now. And he plays the violin.”

Yu Fei said faintly from the side, “Bled so much blood, the alley was dyed red. At least 0.0001 milliliters.”

Dou Sheng curled his lip: “Stop causing trouble. It’s not like you’re the one injured.”

“???”

Yu Fei flew into a rage on the spot. “I think you’re truly blind, fuck me. Unbelievable.”

He waved his hand in front of the nurse. “I was bitten.”

“Yours needs treatment!” The nurse said immediately. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier? Hurry and follow me.”

Yu Fei stood in front of Dou Sheng with a long face. “Heard that? Move.”

“Sorry, forgot.” Dou Sheng stepped aside. “After you.”

Xie Lan returned to the waiting area and looked at the wound on his left hand.

Indeed, it was nothing. The shallow scratch had already scabbed over. It wasn’t even as serious as the blisters from vibrato practice when he was a child.

Dou Sheng was ordering band-aids for delivery. Xie Lan glanced at his screen and said, “Forget it.”

“Can’t forget it. If Ms. Zhao Wenying sees it, she’ll scold me.” Dou Sheng tapped on his phone. “Besides, I know you violinists’ hands are precious, especially the fingertips and pads of the left hand. If there’s a little break, you have to nurse it well, can’t do anything, stop everything, just have to nurse the hand, right?”

Xie Lan was stunned.

This theory coincided perfectly with his concept.

But he knew his concept was ridiculous. It was instilled by Xiao Langjing when he was a child. Xie Jingming and all the teachers and friends around him thought it was utterly ridiculous.

Growing up, Xie Lan also felt it was exaggerated, but he just got used to it.

Many childhood habits, especially those brought by his mother, even if realized to be unreasonable after growing up, could not be discarded.

Dou Sheng finally found the band-aid he liked—transparent, waterproof, with a donut pattern on the cotton pad.

He added the band-aids to the cart, casually added some iodine and bandages, and said offhandedly, “I understand it all. My friend who plays the violin is just like this.”

“Friend who plays the violin?” Xie Lan was a bit surprised. “From Class 4?”

“You don’t know him.” Dou Sheng shook his head, carefully entered the delivery address for Kitty House, and muttered in a low voice, “He’s not like you, fishing for three days and drying nets for two (slacking off). He plays really well.”

---

TL Notes:

1. A slang term for cats, implying they are cute little monsters that devour your soul ↩︎
2. In China, “Mimi” is the generic name used to call any cat, similar to “Kitty” ↩︎
3. A “Chinglish” phrase that originated from Chinese internet slang (ni xing ni shang, bu xing bie bi bi). It means “If you think you can do it, go ahead. If you can’t, stop criticizing/talking trash.” ↩︎
4. A pun on the idiom Yin-yang guai-qi (陰陽怪氣), which means to speak in a strange, affected, or sarcastic manner (passive-aggressive). Dou Sheng replaces “Yin” with “Ying” (the sound of whining/crying) to mock the cat for whining after being caught. ↩︎