Chapter 221: The Fish Says Fine, The Cat Says Unacceptable [Part 1]
It would appear that the kid wasn’t completely detached; he only acted that way when he was facing a stranger. Cillin thought that it was understandable. The same look would’ve adorned the face of anyone who had the same experience. In the slums, kids his age became mature and more sensitive faster than a lot of people.
“Five! Five!”
The triplets ran over to him.
Old Chang felt slightly better after bringing his grandson back home. Plus, he was doing good business as of late, so he managed to buy an upgraded version of a drug needed for Five’s treatment. It made him feel less worried about Five’s condition.
As Old Chang chuckled at the triplets running towards them, he looked at Chang Five and asked, “Do you want to rest upstairs, Five?”
Chang Five shook his head, “Downstairs is fine.”
It was a revealing sentence. Cillin didn’t need to touch Chang Five, he noticed that the kid’s lungs were bad just from his voice alone. Perhaps this was why he was so quiet.
“Okay.” Old Chang was used to this already.
The triplets carried out a deck chair in familiar fashion before staring expectantly at Chang Five and Old Chang as if they wanted some praise for the effort. A rare smile sprung onto Chang Five’s face.
Old Chang carefully put Chang Five down onto the deck chair before taking out two pills and a medicine bottle, “Take your pills first before you play with them, okay?”
It was natural for children to dislike consuming medicine, but Chang Five was a kid who swallowed more pills than he ate capsule meals. He swallowed the pills and drank warm water to soothe his throat when suddenly, he sensed that a pair of eyes were looking at him. It didn’t belong to that stranger.
Chang Five looked up, and he noticed that a gray cat was crouching next to the parts cabinet and staring at him with round eyes. Its eyes looked less like the clueless eyes of a normal cat, and more like the eyes a human possessed. He could sense neither pity nor scorn from its gaze, there was only curiosity. The gray cat had even moved its nose and sniffed the air while swaying its tail at random times. He wondered what it found in the air.
The triplets immediately grew excited when they followed Chang Five’s gaze and saw Wheeze. They strove to introduce it before anyone could.
“Five, this is…”
“This is Wheeze, it’s very smart…”
“It could speak too!”
“Don’t interrupt me!”
“You’re the interruptor!”
Cillin “…” He had been completely ignored. It would appear that a cat’s charm to children really was infinite.
Old Chang simply watched on while feeling amused. He didn’t ask for much, all he wanted was happiness for his grandchildren.
Chang Five was used to the triplets antics already, so he made them stop with a hand gesture. Then, he looked at the gray cat, “Are you called Wheeze?”
The gray cat simply swayed its tail and said nothing.
Chang Five asked again, “Can you speak?”
The gray cat stuck its butt upwards, stretched its back, lumped up its paws before sitting back down to stare at the four children.
Chang Five to Eight: “…”
Chang Five looked at the triplets. He wasn’t doubting their words, he was feeling gloomy wondering if the cat was toying with them.
The triplets were angry too. But before they could point fingers and start reprimanding the gray cat, it jumped down from its original position and ran towards the four children. Then, it gently leaped onto the deck chair Chang Five was in and found a place on his legs to sleep in. Chang Five’s legs were covered with a blanket, so it was a comfortable napping spot.
Chang Five didn’t know what to say as he watched the utterly fearless gray cat nuzzling and lying down on the sweet spot of his legs. Moreover, this was the first time he came into close contact with any sort of animals. For whatever reason, animals normally ran far, far away from him the moment they saw him. Their actions often made him recall memories of people talking behind his back; it was why Chang Five shared no particular fondness for any kind of animals. This cat however, was an exception.
Cillin’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing. The cat was obviously trying to tease the kids. And so he went away to talk with Old Chang about Haas’ order. The customer’s flying car was already parked inside the workshop, waiting for repairs.
“Oh, Haas, is it? That fellow has high demands when it comes to flying cars, and he is always in a hurry. That’s why the parts are changed quite frequently…”
Old Chang more or less understood the situation from Cillin, but he still contacted Haas one more time just in case. After that, he and Cillin wasted no more time and got to work.
Chang Five had frozen for a second when the gray cat jumped up to his legs. He seemed to be a little lost as to how he should respond as this turn of events was very surprising to him to say the least. It was rare enough to find a cat that didn’t run away upon seeing him, and now it was even sleeping on top of his legs.
The triplets didn’t mind that the gray cat had chosen to be uncooperative. Instead, they chuckled, “It seems that Wheeze likes Five a lot too.”
Chang Seven was stretching a chubby finger and poked the gray cat’s stomach gently, Chang Eight was playing with the gray cat’s front paw pads, and Chang Six was giving the gray cat a scratch under the chin. The gray cat narrowed its eyes into slits carelessly, allowing them to play to their heart’s’ content. It turned its head sideways to indicate to Chang Six that he could scratch another spot now.
Chang Five frowned at the gray cat for a very long time before he finally gathered the courage to touch its ears one time. It was soft and pretty comfortable to touch.
The gray cat didn’t bother with Chang Five’s moments. The only reaction it gave was to flick its ears out of habit.
Chang Five failed to withdraw his finger in time before the flicking ear hit it. But his finger didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt at all. The lack of pain actually piqued Chang Five’s interest as he bravely tried to touch the long hair standing behind its ears. This time the gray cat flicked its ears a little harder.
Chang Five had to admit that he was getting addicted to this.