Chapter 57: People Are Inferior to Cats
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhang Zian had hardly finished speaking when Fina had already started to eat in a whirl. There were no side dishes, and cats did not eat rice. It was actually a little bit shabby. He thought for a while that there were still some eggs in the refrigerator, so he made two more servings of egg drop soup again. He chopped and shredded one of the servings while it was hot, and placed it by Fina’s side.
"Don’t only eat fish, there are also eggs," he said, but Fina turned a deaf ear and still only ate the fish.
Why am I talking sense to a cat? He laughed helplessly and went to the refrigerator to get a small piece of natural butter. He used a spoon to poke in Fina’s egg drop soup, dug a small hole in the middle and put it in, then covered it up with shredded egg. Not long after, the hot egg drop soup melted the butter, and the aroma overflowed out. Fina lifted her head from the plate of grilled fish, stared hesitantly at the dish holding the egg drop soup, and sniffed. "What did you do?" she asked. Zhang Zian smiled mysteriously, "Magic."
Fina originally wanted to make a contemptuous expression at him, but her natural curiosity overcame everything. She tried a bit of the egg drop soup, and it seemed that it was very palatable. She threw the fish down and started to eat the egg drop soup in a whirl again.
"Let me help you combine them." Zhang Zian waited to get consent from her first. He didn’t want to get clawed by her.; a lot of cats were very protective of their food. Seeing that she did not oppose, he poured the grilled fish pieces into the egg drop soup.
Fina ate very happily, and did not even bother to lift her head. Zhang Zian also began to eat his own share of food. Due to the fish having been marinated for too short of an amount of time, he felt that it was a bit bland, but it probably suited Fina’s taste.
A salty or bland level that was just right for humans was too salty for cats, and what humans taste as too bland was just right for cats to eat.
A cat’s need for fats was greater than what a human needs. Thus, food like butter that was practically pure fat was very attractive to them, and was the ultimate way to deal with cats that were picky eaters. But the premise was natural butter, made with cream, and not margarine. Margarine was hydrogenated oils, harmful for humans when ingested, and even moreso for cats. Cats still can’t eat too much of it even if it was natural butter, or else they would have diarrhea.
Fina was still a cat no matter how ruthlessly tyrannous or commanding she was.
This was his first time returning to eat at the table ever since his parents had passed away. Usually, he resolved with small restaurants or take-outs. He knew that it wasn’t good, but he never had the motivation to try to cook.
Thank you, Galaxy. You made me pull myself together.
Thank you, Fina. You made my life get back on track.
…
After lunch, Fina ran into Zhang Zian’s room after she had wiped her mouth and beard. She jumped on the windowsill to sunbathe and digest, and began to sleep soundly not long after. Zhang Zian didn’t expect her to help with cleaning up the plates anyways. After cleaning up the tableware, he played a few rounds of hide-and-seek with Galaxy—the record was, of course, complete defeat.
Two customers had come in during this time, but they did not have any desire to buy, and left after just having a casual look around. Zhang Zian lay down on the deck chair to rest. He took a nap, woke up, drank some water, went to the bathroom and played on his phone for a while, then took another nap. He didn’t do any meaningful stuff other than calling express delivery to receive items.
The afternoon went by very quickly after half the day had been snatched.
Life should be as so; the rich would naturally be in admiration of everyone—"Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, I gaze on the southern mountains with tranquility"[1]—both were different types of lifestyles, but who could affirm that the former was better than the latter?
…
When the sky turned dark, Zhang Zian assumed that there would be no more customers, and closed the shop early. It was still fish for dinner; there was nothing else to eat. While Zhang Zian was making dinner, he turned the TV on in passing, wanting to watch the local news. Fina, who had slept the whole afternoon, keenly heard the voices of strangers. She moved her ears and opened her eyes immediately. Two pairs of glowing green gems lit up the dark, dusky room. She pulled the door of the room open and went into the kitchen, following the sound; her eyes immediately focused on the twenty-four inch small screen LCD TV.
There was a large TV in the living room, and this small TV was installed for mother, so that when she cooked, she would not be bored. On the contrary, too big of a TV screen would be a hindrance if it were in the kitchen.
Similar to a lot of young people, Zhang Zian watched very little TV.
"How did that person get inside?" Fina stared at the announcer of the local evening news in the TV. She took a few laps around the thin TV, and even fiddled with it with her cat claws. Luckily, the TV was stabilized on the wall, or else it would probably have been knocked down.
"This is a TV, also a product of modern technology—of course it’s not invented by me. It can transmit scenes from very far away to every household. The person you see is in fact several kilometers away in the television station. The television station is an institution responsible for making television programs."
Fina snorted a few times, not sure if she had understood or not.
The announcer said, "The next news. This is a video that was broadcast on the Internet today. Someone tried to steal a kitten at a local pet shop, and as a result was caught in the act by a cat. Someone happened to be live broadcasting in the pet shop, and enthusiastic users transcribed the video onto the Internet. Viewers please look…"
The scene switched to the video that the users had uploaded. Due to the uploaded video having been compressed, the picture quality wasn’t too clear, but it was enough to clearly be able to see the happenings of the event and the details.
The television station even matched the scene of the video with remarkable replies of some users of Weibo.
"Word! The cat was ferocious!"
"Pretty and able. I request the address of the pet shop—please give me a dozen of this cat!"
"They all say dogs look after the house and protect the yard, but I think that this cat is more able than dogs!"
"My cat must be fake…"
Zhang Zian was very downcast to find that the main interest of the video was Fina, while the scene of him in a calm posture with the situation well in hand on the deck chair was abruptly cut out.
The scene changed to the broadcast room of the television station. The announcer was grinning from ear to ear, "Upon seeing this video, my colleagues were also amazed. Maybe this was the legendary ‘other people’s cat’."
The announcer quickly lowered his head and changed the manuscript, and continued to say, "Regarding the suspect of the cat thief in the video, enthusiastic users have already identified that person—a boss of a local car repair shop. There is news of this person owing hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt, and has been relying on ‘tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall’ [2] to maintain loans. Currently, many creditors have already gone to block the door of the car repair shop. After this video was exposed, this person’s whereabouts became unknown. Rumors say that this person has already abandoned home and is on the run."
"A straw can break a camel’s back, but a cat can destroy a boss." If this had not happened, maybe this boss’s true colors wouldn’t have been exposed for a long time. He would borrow even more loans, and cheat more people out of money. There was a creditor who called the police after having seen the video. Currently, the police are already involved, and I believe that this person will be arrested and brought to justice soon."
"The next news…"
Zhang Zian quietly turned off the TV.
Fina’s pretentious face was even more arrogant. It had already evolved to the point of being able to act pretentious without even having to speak!
In this world, people are inferior to cats!
Footnotes:
[1] An excerpt from a poem written by a poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty named, Tao Yuanming.
[2] A Chinese saying that meant to rob Peter to pay Paul. In other words, to try to make ends meet.