Chapter 114: Forgiveness
Zhan Chuchen took the tabby cat to the pre-arranged pet hospital first, planning to settle it there before returning to school.
When Gu Qinghuan opened the office door, she worried briefly that the calico cat might run away. But it was still lazily lying on the scratching board.
“Are we going to catch the calico next?” Song Yi asked.
“The carrier is for the tabby now. I guess we could use a cardboard box…” Gu Qinghuan glanced at the stacked delivery boxes in the office. “But given this calico’s personality, it feels risky.”
“Let’s give it a try. We’ve prepared everything, at least we should attempt it,” Qin Yue said enthusiastically.
Gu Qinghuan agreed. She picked a suitably sized box from the pile, modified it with tape and scissors, and the three of them approached the calico in a surrounding formation.
The calico stood up alertly but stayed perched on the scratching board, staring at Gu Qinghuan.
She opened a can of cat food, brought it close for the calico to smell, and tried pushing it into the cardboard box to lure it in.
The calico didn’t move.
“Should I try using a cloth bag?” Song Yi lifted the bag slightly.
“Then you two surround it with the bags—fast, precise, and firm. I’ll hold the box. Once the calico is inside, we close it immediately,” Gu Qinghuan decided.
Qin Yue and Song Yi focused, raising their bags. The calico looked left and right, and then lightly—
Jumped into the cardboard box.
The cloth bag duo: …Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
Even Gu Qinghuan momentarily froze. Then she watched the calico push the can of food disdainfully out of the box, yawn, and lazily lie down.
By the time Gu Qinghuan snapped out of it and sealed the box with tape, the calico didn’t move at all. Even when she lifted the box, it stayed asleep.
Qin Yue’s expression was subtle: “I don’t know why, but I feel strongly mocked.”
Song Yi nodded in agreement: “We prepared so elaborately, yet it was so effortless in the end. Feels unfair!”
Gu Qinghuan held the box: “No matter what, we caught it. That’s what matters.”
There was no need for all three to go to the vet. In the end, Song Yi accompanied Gu Qinghuan, while Qin Yue returned to clean up the trash from modifying the boxes and organize the office.
The pet hospital had just received the tabby. Seeing Gu Qinghuan bring the calico, the staff was puzzled: “Isn’t one cat supposed to be neutered?”
“This one is,” Gu Qinghuan said, lifting the box in her arms. The calico reached a paw out, trying to swipe.
The vet checked the calico: “Has it fasted?”
Gu Qinghuan shook her head honestly: “I don’t know.”
“Then we’ll put it in a cage first. Surgery in four hours. Pick it up after school.” The vet guided Gu Qinghuan to place the calico in the cage.
The calico shook its head, sniffed around, then calmly lay down, butt facing Gu Qinghuan.
“Thanks, doctor. And the tabby living ‘downstairs’?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
“That one’s your classmate, right? Payment for temporary care is settled, contact info left. After neutering, she’ll take it,” the vet said.
Zhan Chuchen had thought things through well. Gu Qinghuan also prepaid the neutering fee—Bai Hanshan had already allocated the funds.
With arrangements settled, Gu Qinghuan and Song Yi rushed back to school.
With the cats caught, Song Yi returned to class, while Gu Qinghuan returned to the office.
After picking up the calico, she needed to prepare the room—food, water, and litter box ready.
Qin Yue watched her set up and kept yelling: “Cat litter spilled! I just cleaned the floor!”
Then he grabbed the task from Gu Qinghuan’s hands: “I’ll do it!”
Gu Qinghuan: Fine by me.
When they got back to class, Yu Xin asked: “Did you catch the cats?”
“Yes, both of them,” Gu Qinghuan held up two fingers. “But we didn’t catch them—it was the cats themselves.”
The auditor Jiang Chuchu: “What are you talking about?”
Gu Qinghuan explained the whole process. Yu Xin was shocked: “The calico is so smart! It even locked up the other cat.”
“That tabby sounds so pitiful, getting neutered instead of the calico,” Jiang Chuchu feigned sympathy briefly.
But for stray cats, neutering is necessary to prevent more unwanted litters.
“I hope the tabby will behave with Zhan Chuchen. Then she’ll have a cat, and it’ll have a home. Win-win,” Yu Xin said sincerely.
“Should be fine! It was very obedient in the carrier and didn’t hiss at me. I think there’s hope!” Zhan Chuchen said, joining the conversation.
“What about the calico later?” Jiang Chuchu asked.
“It’ll continue staying in my office for now. Later we’ll see what it wants,” Gu Qinghuan replied.
Gu Qinghuan’s family didn’t dislike cats—they loved them. They had owned cats before, but their old cat passed away when Gu Qinghuan was in the second year of middle school.
Though the cat died of old age, the family grieved and didn’t adopt another cat for years.
After school, Gu Qinghuan went to the vet again to pick up the calico in its post-surgery outfit.
“This stray cat has likely had several litters. Its uterus was infected. Watch it closely for forty days post-surgery and bring it back if there are problems,” the vet instructed.
According to the vet, the calico hated headgear and would try to remove it, but the neutering outfit was fine.
The tabby still stayed at the hospital, no carrier needed. The calico was finally free from the cardboard box and transferred into the carrier.
Once the carrier door opened, the calico jumped out and ran straight to the scratching board, pausing at the canned food along the way.
Previously, Qin Yue had placed the can in a plastic bag to prevent spoilage, bugs, or dust.
The calico pawed at the bag and let out a “meow”—its usual food-demanding sound.
Gu Qinghuan opened the bag, temporarily poured the kibble onto a sheet of paper, then filled the cat bowl with the canned food.
The calico devoured the 85g can in under two minutes.
Gu Qinghuan sighed: “So you can eat… why didn’t you eat at noon?”
The calico licked its paws, ignoring her.
Gu Qinghuan washed and dried the bowl, refilled it with kibble, waved, and left: “Alright, rest. I’ll feed you again tomorrow morning.”
The office door was locked again. The calico looked at the door, then lay down on the scratching board to sleep.
Its stomach finally felt better, though still a bit sore, and the outfit was slightly uncomfortable.
But considering its chubby body, it decided to forgive the two-legged creature.
