“The little one is very healthy. Apart from being a bit thin, everything’s good.”
Reluctantly, Ji Mingzhu placed Wan An into the newly purchased pet carrier.
Gu Yu thanked her and prepared to leave, but suddenly remembered Jian Ya. Smiling, she asked, “Dr. Ji, do you remember Jian Ya?”
Ji Mingzhu paused, then said, confused, “I don’t recall any cat named Jian Ya.”
Gu Yu burst out laughing. This was too absurd. It was true—Ji Mingzhu only loved animals, not people.
Sitting in the car, she immediately sent a voice message to Jian Ya to relay this story. Fifty seconds of voice message, thirty seconds of it was just her laughter.
Jian Ya sent back a long string of ellipses. Gu Yu laughed so hard she nearly doubled over, as if she could literally hear the crows cawing now. She shared the chat log with Jiang Bomu.
“Seems like your friend,” Jiang Bomu said with a smile, “has a very long road of chasing ahead of her.”
Gu Yu’s laughter instantly died. Wasn’t her own path of chasing just as long? She and Jian Ya should be crying on each other’s shoulders. Truly the pot calling the kettle black.
But today had some new progress too. Jiang Bomu called her a “friend.” Just thinking about those two words, Gu Yu felt a secret sweetness in her heart. What kind of friends shared a bed every night?
She and Jian Ya were different. She would definitely succeed in this chase first!
Back at the apartment complex, the driver helped carry the mountain of bags upstairs, quickly forming a small hill. And that wasn’t even counting the cat tree—the pet hospital said they’d come install it tomorrow.
Gu Yu took a picture of the small hill and sent it to Jian Ya.
Jian Ya replied quickly: [Why a cat bed too?]
Gu Yu was puzzled: [Where else would she sleep?]
[You don’t get it. A cat will sleep everywhere except the cat bed.]
Gu Yu was full of questions. What kind of logic was that?
She put Wan An in the cat bed. A moment later, she still hadn’t moved, just stayed curled up, even looking like she was about to fall asleep. Proudly, Gu Yu took a photo for Jian Ya.
[She’s tiny now. Wait a few days, just you watch.]
Gu Yu didn’t believe it at all. She put her phone away and helped Jiang Bomu unpack everything.
Back home, they’d already discussed it. Wan An would stay in the second bedroom, with her bowls also placed there. Cat litter wasn’t needed yet, so it was put on the terrace. The cat tree went in the small living room to maximize her play space.
They’d just finished when they heard Wan An’s quiet little mews. Definitely hungry.
At the hospital, they’d been educated extensively on cat care. Now, they took it extremely seriously, terrified they’d mess up and harm Wan An.
Opening a can of goat milk formula, Jiang Bomu followed the steps meticulously. The amount of hot water, the scoops of powder—all precisely measured. She almost needed a graduate cylinder.
Gu Yu watched intently too. Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she laughed. “Sister, don’t you think we’re like raising a child?”
Jiang Bomu’s hand paused briefly. She asked, “In what way?”
“In every way,” Gu Yu replied, cupping her chin in her hands. “There’s a saying—the first child is raised by the book, the second by the pig. When we have a second kitten, will we just muddle through carelessly?”
“Wan An is the only child,” Jiang Bomu gently stirred the prepared formula, her voice resolute. “There won’t be a second.”
“But you always end up with more cats, like Dr. Ji.”
“No,” Jiang Bomu gazed tenderly at Wan An, who, smelling the milk, was scrambling unsteadily toward them. “If I can raise Wan An well, I’ll be completely content.”
Gu Yu smiled. “You bought the stuff, you’re feeding her the milk. I’m more like the godmother.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Jiang Bomu declared, “Both of us are her mothers.”
Gu Yu froze. A surge of sweetness bloomed in her heart. Yes, they were both Wan An’s mothers. All they were missing was a marriage certificate.
“Little Wan An, you have to grow up quickly,” Gu Yu patted the head of the kitten drinking her fill. “When you’re bigger, you can eat more treats, and we’ll eat Jiang Bomu out of house and home together.”
“So insolent,” Jiang Bomu scolded her lightly. “Call me sister.”
“Wan An calls you mom, and I call you sister? The generational titles would be a mess!” Gu Yu protested. “We’re the same generation!”
If only she could get rid of the “sister” title once and for all. Thinking this, Gu Yu argued even harder. “You’re only seven years older than me, not seventeen. If we’re peers, I can talk to you about so many more things without any burden.”
Jiang Bomu became slightly interested and raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Like…” Gu Yu racked her brain. “Like dramatic gossip at my school, or pretty women on the street.”
“…Not interested.”
Gu Yu’s spirits fell. When would Jiang Bomu ever start seeing her as a woman?
“In any case, I’ll address us each separately,” Jiang Bomu said flatly. “Sister will always be sister.”
She had considered changing the form of address, but it was too early. Gu Yu had just admitted she didn’t have a crush on anyone. If she rushed to get her to change the title, her intentions would be as clear as day. What if she scared Gu Yu off?
Jiang Bomu took a sip of water and suppressed the matters weighing on her heart.
The two new mothers spent the whole day playing with the child delivered by the rain, still savoring the fun. That evening, their conversation still entirely revolved around Wan An.
Gu Yu smiled. “Wan An seems to really like the teaser with the feathers. She gets so excited every time she sees it.”
“She’s a little bolder today than yesterday,” Jiang Bomu watched Wan An sleeping peacefully in her cat bed. “In a few more days, she’ll be a little tyrant.”
Gu Yu frowned. “What if we really spoil her rotten?”
She’d seen videos of less-than-adorable cats too—ones that peed and pooped everywhere, scratched and bit people, yowled at night like they hadn’t eaten in three days… Thinking of all that, she almost felt it was better not to keep a cat.
“Then there’s nothing to be done,” Jiang Bomu said, her tone both helpless and doting. “What does a little cat know? We’re the ones who indulged her.”
Gu Yu realized her patience toward little cats was always extraordinary, her temper almost nonexistent. This made her even more curious about the reason. But remembering Jiang Bomu wouldn’t talk about it, the nerves that had just loosened tightened again.
Under the night light’s glow, she silently studied Jiang Bomu. The warm light fell on her face, but her cool, aloof features didn’t soften. Her heart seemed as cold as her face.
Who would ever walk into her heart? Gu Yu thought dismally.
“…Xunxun, are you listening?”
Gu Yu snapped back. “What?”
“What are you thinking about, so lost in thought?” Jiang Bomu asked.
Gu Yu pressed her lips together and decided to take another gamble. “I was wondering if you had some special connection with cats before. Why do you love little kittens so much?”
She was anxious and hopeful, giving herself a chance, and giving Jiang Bomu a chance too.
If this time, again, it didn’t work… she thought dimly, perhaps it was simply never meant to be between her and Jiang Bomu.
“It’s not exactly a special connection,” Jiang Bomu spoke quietly. “It’s my… obsession.”
Her word choice made Gu Yu ponder for a moment. How deep an obsession?
Jiang Bomu stared at the sliver of moonlight leaking through the gap in the curtains and began telling her story quietly. “I was probably thirteen or fourteen. On my way home from school, I found a dying kitten. That cat was also white, with just a black tip on its tail. It had rained that day too. She was filthy all over, with a wound on her back. I brought her home.”
It sounded quite similar to finding Wan An. Gu Yu was an attentive listener, waiting for her to continue. But for a long time, she didn’t speak. The other half of the blanket trembled slightly.
Gu Yu started and reached for her hand. Only then did she discover it was ice cold, and tears shimmered in her eyes.
Perhaps Gu Yu gave her courage. Choking with emotion, she spoke. “What I didn’t know then was that this was the beginning of that little white cat’s nightmare…”
“Sister…” Gu Yu interrupted, a bit flustered. “Maybe you shouldn’t tell this story anymore?”
She had never imagined such an ending. If she had known, she never would have asked. Filled with regret and guilt, Gu Yu wiped the tear tracks from Jiang Bomu’s face, but the pillow was wet and wet again, impossible to dry.
“I have to tell it.”
This matter had been bottled up in her heart for over a decade. It needed to come out.
She wiped away the tears and continued, “The little white cat, even though she was injured, still trusted humans. She’d eat anything I gave her. When I put medicine on her wound, she didn’t struggle. So, so well-behaved.”
Gu Yu knew the turning point was coming. She couldn’t bear to hear more, yet couldn’t help guessing—maybe the cat’s injuries were too severe and she died? Or maybe she was an ungrateful thing and just ran away after healing?
Gu Yu would rather it was the second, but Jiang Bomu was crying so hard. Gu Yu pressed her lips together, afraid to imagine further.
“I was already fully prepared to raise her. But the next day after school, she flew past me and fell, broken and bleeding.”
Jiang Bomu tried desperately to control her trembling voice, but it was useless. By the last four words, blood and tears seeped through every sound.
Tears welled in Gu Yu’s eyes too. She asked urgently, “What on earth happened?”
“It was Jiang Wende…”
She couldn’t finish. Choked with sobs, Gu Yu immediately understood—that was her father’s name.
“Xunxun, do you know what he said?”
Jiang Bomu took a deep breath, seeing Jiang Wende’s expression then as clearly as if it were right before her. Calm to the extreme, yet with a smile in his eyes, as if that wasn’t a living, breathing life.
She repeated the words carved into her very heart. “‘I magnanimously threw you out, and you actually dared come back.'”
“Xunxun, do you understand?” Jiang Bomu buried her face in Gu Yu’s arms. “She could have lived. I was the one who killed her.”
Her tone was so fragile. Gu Yu’s heart ached as she said, “It wasn’t your fault. You tried to save her. The fault is Jiang Wende’s. He’s the one who abused that cat.”
“But if I hadn’t taken her home, she’d be fine…” Jiang Bomu murmured, repeating herself.
She’d already fallen into a dark loop, heaping all the blame onto herself. No matter how much Gu Yu said, it was useless. All she could do was pat her back and soothe her softly. “Now we have Wan An. Wan An says you should sleep, or tomorrow she won’t play with you.”
Gu Yu talked and talked and finally coaxed Jiang Bomu to sleep.
She gazed at the faint dawn light breaking on the horizon and silently hoped that Jiang Bomu would never have to see Jiang Wende again.
But fate had other plans.
A day later, Jiang Wende appeared at the door. Gold-rimmed glasses, crisp suit—elegant and refined, just like a month ago.
Jiang Bomu trembled with fear. She stuffed Wan An into Gu Yu’s hands, trying to reassure herself. “Wan An will be fine. Xunxun, take good care of her.”
Gu Yu said, bewildered, “Sister, you can just refuse to see him.”
“It’s no use,” Jiang Bomu gave a pained smile. “Xunxun, you don’t understand.”
For extra safety, she tried to lock the second bedroom door. But Gu Yu pushed it open, resolute. “Then, this time, I’ll face him with you.”
Jiang Bomu stared at her, stunned.
“Remember to stay behind me,” Gu Yu smiled at her. “I’m not afraid of him.”
In that instant, Jiang Bomu felt she was seeing a female general clad in silver armor, ready to hold off an army.
