Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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As the snow melts, sunny days become more frequent, everything comes back to life, and tender leaves adorn the treetops.
Li Yi’er left early and went to the small lake where he and the kitten often went. Throughout the winter, the kitten rarely had a full meal, so he wanted to bring back more fish for it so that it could eat its fill at once.
Hopefully, it won’t leave him after winter.
In the dead of winter, with snow falling everywhere and nowhere to find shelter, it was willing to huddle with him in the small, dilapidated hut. But what about after the winter was over?
It was so intelligent and lovable that many families would probably take it in, and it would never have to worry about going hungry again.
Li Yi’er knew that the kitten often went to the blind old woman at the end of the street, where the blind old woman would give it food. Sometimes he worried whether it would come back. Every time he returned home and saw it there, he would secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
He thought that winter was over and food would be easy to find. As long as he didn’t let it go hungry again, it wouldn’t leave.
Li Yi’er came to check every day, and finally the ice on that small lake melted. The ice blocks cracked into a thin layer and flowed with the water, like dumplings floating in a pot.
Li Yi’er obtained a bag of insects and earthworms, and then used a homemade fishing rod to fish.
It was past noon when three fishermen came to the lake. One of them even had two fishing rods. They were very experienced and steady, and soon they had caught two or three fish, while Li Yi’er only caught one.
As evening approached, the fishermen gradually left. One fisherman with a white beard passed by him, glanced at the fish next to him, and couldn’t help but praise, “There are still such patient young men these days.”
After he finished speaking, he walked away slowly. Li Yi’er ignored him and focused on fishing. His fishing rod was not very good, and he lost the fish several times, but it was the best fishing rod he could make with the available materials.
The moon climbed into the dark sky, a few stars flickered, and the temperature dropped sharply at night. Li Yi’er felt that after guarding the place for so long, he had lost all feeling below his knees.
Finally, a small fish fell up, making a total of ten fish. This was the biggest catch he’d ever had.
“The kitten will definitely be full, and it will be very happy,” Li Yi’er thought happily.
He strung all the fish on the fishing line, carried them, and walked back under the moonlight. He even hummed a little tune, an unknown tune that his sister often hummed to him.
Halfway there, he noticed a clump of small white flowers by the roadside. He didn’t know their name, but they were very resilient. He bent down and picked a small handful. For some reason, he believed the kitten would like them.
When Li Yi’er reached the door of the small, dilapidated house, he paused. He could vaguely smell a faint scent of blood, and he was startled. The kitten was injured.
Li Yi’er hurriedly pushed open the door. The small house was too dark, and he could only see a blurry outline. He saw the kitten lying motionless on the ground.
He dropped the fish and flowers he was holding and ran over to pick it up.
The sticky liquid and icy temperature on his hands froze Li Yi’er in place, and he couldn’t come to his senses for a long time.
After a long while, he gently shook the kitten in his palm, as if afraid of hurting it, and uttered a hoarse voice with difficulty: “Kitten… Kitten…”
But it gave him no response.
Li Yi’er staggered to his feet, picked up the cat, and walked outside. He tripped hard as he crossed the threshold, clutching the cat tightly in his arms, and rolled around on the slippery ground.
Li Yi’er disregarded everything else and looked down at the kitten in his arms by the moonlight.
The kitten’s head was smashed open, its belly was ripped open, and its intestines and internal organs spilled out.
Li Yi’er’s blood froze. The bitter cold of winter couldn’t stop the chill in his bones and blood. His fingertips trembled as he carefully put its internal organs back into its already cold body.
He suddenly stood up and ran forward without stopping for a moment. He was out of breath from running so fast, and his heart and lungs were throbbing with pain.
There were doctors on the street; he should go see one. It will be alright.
“Bang bang bang—”
On the dark street, only loud knocking could be heard, but no voices could be heard.
“Who is it! In the middle of the night!” The doctor put on a coat and went to open the door. He saw a disheveled child outside the door. He didn’t know what had happened to him. His hands were covered in blood and his forehead was bruised.
“Li Yi’er, you’re here to see me, right? I won’t charge you. Just don’t bother people in the middle of the night next time.” The doctor said with a headache. Since this was the first time the child had come to him, he decided to be soft-hearted this once.
Li Yi’er immediately shook his head, his eyes bloodshot, and mumbled incoherently and anxiously as he handed over the kitten in his hands.
It took the doctor a while to understand what he meant, “Save the cat?!”
“People might not even be saved, yet you want me save a cat. Who has the time for that? Besides, this cat is already dead.”
Li Yi’er grabbed his sleeve, pleading with him, and knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly until his head bled.
The doctor, exasperated and impatient, waved him away, saying, “Go away, go away!”
Li Yi’er was pushed out and fell to the ground. The cold stone steps were not as cold as his hands. He did not give up and begged each doctor in turn.
“Save the cat? Are you sick?”
“If you come again next time, I’ll beat you to death.”
“Alright, stop wasting my time and get away from here. You’re such bad luck.”
The last doctor, seeing the child’s eyes filled with despair yet a glimmer of hope, sighed, “Child, this cat really can’t be saved.”
The old doctor saw the child kneel down and kowtow to him, then blankly and stiffly held the kitten and walked away with uneven steps.
Looking at his thin and short back, the old doctor put his hands behind his back and sighed deeply: “If I had a child that big, I would never let him suffer through the hardships and cold, drifting aimlessly like a duckweed.”
The moonlight, like a round disc, hung far in the sky, its silvery glow falling on the lake like a layer of fine frost.
Li Yi’er stood by the lake, holding the kitten, his eyes filled with sorrow. He had been fishing here during the day, hoping to give the kitten a happy meal, but at night, he felt as if he had fallen into hell.
He wondered, why?
Even the closest people will eventually leave, not even a kitten will be spared.
The more a person lacks warmth, the more they cherish that glimmer of light. To gain it and then lose it is like the last flower on barren land being uprooted, and their last string snapping.
Tears fell silently as Li Yi’er finally accepted the fact that it was gone.
“Ah—ah ah—”
The veins on his neck bulged, and all the pent-up emotions were released at this moment, like a dam collapsing and a torrent of water pouring down. He let out a hoarse and desperate voice, like a cuckoo crying blood, which echoed over the lake for a long time.
After a long while, the child by the lake, along with his cat, jumped into the lake.
The lake surface rippled slightly, but quickly returned to calm.
….
After an unknown amount of time, Li Yi’er felt soaked to the bone, his throat filled with the taste of earth. Someone pressed on his lungs, and he coughed up water, taking a long time to recover.
It was still dark, and there was a fisherman in front of me.
“You little brat, I praised you for being so calm during the day, but you came here to kill yourself at night. If I hadn’t lived nearby and heard your crying, I would have come to check on you. You would have been at the bottom of the lake feeding the fish by tomorrow.”
Hearing the voice, Li Yi’er realized that it was the fisherman who had passed by him during the day and spoken to him.
Li Yi’er only breathed a sigh of relief when he looked down and saw that the kitten in his arms was still there.
The fisherman said, “It’s strange, you jumped into the lake with a dead cat in your arms, and you wouldn’t let go of it even if you tried, so I rescued you from the lake too.”
Li Yi’er stood up unsteadily, bowed to him in gratitude, and then turned and left.
“Hey, kid,” the fisherman called out hurriedly, “If you have any difficulties, why don’t you tell me? Maybe I can help you in some way. Don’t try to kill yourself again. There won’t always be someone to save you. My home is on that piece of land on the east side of the lake, the one closest to here. If you need anything, you can come and find me!”
Seeing that the man didn’t turn his head and hadn’t taken in much of what he said, the fisherman wrung out the water from his clothes and left.
When Li Yi’er returned home, he hugged the cat, lay down on the ground, and remained motionless, thus passing the long, dark night.
For the next two days, he didn’t leave the house, nor did he move an inch. He neither ate nor drank, and just stared blankly, as if he had resigned himself to his fate and let himself be controlled.
He held the cold-sensitive kitten to his chest as before, but it would never feel warm again.
On the third day, the door of the small, dilapidated house was kicked open, and three boys came in. The fat boy in the lead saw Li Yi’er on the ground and laughed heartily: “Freak, why did you make yourself look like this? But it suits you quite well.”
Li Yi’er’s expression was blank. These people would come to cause him trouble whenever they had nothing to do, especially the leader named Wang Siyun. His father had a bad temper and would beat him at the drop of a hat. He only picked on the weak and came to Li Yi’er to vent his anger.
Li Yi’er had never cared, and now he cared even less.
A group of people hit him several times, but he didn’t react at all. Someone wondered, “What’s wrong with this freak? Did he get stupid from being beaten before?”
“What is he holding in his arms?”
Wang Siyun pried his hand away and noticed the cat fur sticking out from under his clothes. He grinned wickedly and said, “What, the cat’s still here? You can’t bear to eat it? I thought you’d already eaten it.”
“Did you like the meat we sent you?”
In an instant, Li Yi’er’s dull eyes turned bloodshot. He rammed into Wang Siyun and bit his neck.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
“Damn it, you dare bite me!”
No one expected Li Yi’er to suddenly go berserk and bite people. Wang Siyun was caught off guard and reacted by kicking Li Yi’er and hitting him in the stomach with his hands.
The remaining three people all went to pull Li Yi’er away.
Li Yi’er had not eaten for two days and could not resist for long. When he was torn apart, his mouth was full of blood, and Wang Siyun was almost skinned alive.
“He’s insane! Kill him!”
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