A Young Woman's Heart

Today, my Minister of Internal Affairs, Mo Xueyao, arrived at the palace early, looking rather sullen.

This cat kindly jumped onto her, wanting to soothe her with its warm fur, but she disgustedly threw it off.

It's true, people make good candy but don't appreciate a good cat's heart!

Well, it's been more than half a year since I last saw Miss Nancy. I've plucked my whiskers and decided to go see her.

Far from the dark clouds hanging over the palace, the warm sunshine shone on me.

It had been a long time since I had traveled far from home. I had only listened to reports from my ministers and other cats' descriptions, so I didn't have much of a feeling. But after going out, I was quite shocked.

Humans are truly amazing; in such a short time, they've brought about a dramatic transformation in the scenery along the way.

When was that building built?

Last time I came here, this place was still flat ground!

The area that was originally a stream has been filled in and turned into a park.

The task of transforming mountains and rivers still falls to humankind!

Even though I'm reluctant, I feel incredibly impressed at this moment.

The empire of the cat world suddenly seemed insignificant.

……

(two)

The Minister of the Interior's house has completely changed; when I first came in, I thought I had gone to the wrong place!

If I hadn't seen Miss Nancy sitting on the napkin box, I probably would have turned around and left.

"Mr. Crispy Candy!" she greeted me excitedly when she saw me.

I slipped through the half-open window and found that the bed had been converted into a bunk bed.

I remember when I was a kitten, I spent a carefree time here.

Ah, I really miss it.

Unfortunately, time is merciless.

There should be no one in the house.

But I still noticed someone breathing.

Turning my head, I saw another person lying on the bed.

She is Li Wanyan, the assistant to the Minister of the Interior.

She seemed to be reading a book and didn't notice me coming in.

Although I've gotten a bit stronger lately, I'm still quite agile and nimble!

"Long time no see, Miss Nancy." I nodded very politely. "How have you been lately?"

“Mr. Crispy Candy, you seem different from before.”

"Isn't it more elegant now?"

"Yeah, but it feels like we've become more distant."

"Oh my goodness, my beautiful lady..." I grinned and twitched my ears, "Want to go out and play together—haha, isn't it better if I just say it directly?"

“Hmm! That’s more like you.” Nancy’s voice chuckled. “But is it okay for me to go out now? It’s daytime, you know.”

"You can't move, can you?"

"Ah."

"It's alright, I recently found a magical gem. As long as you have it, you can move around during the day."

Where is it?

"Uh... I accidentally swallowed it yesterday, it's in my belly." I twitched my whiskers a little awkwardly. "Anyway, sit on me, and you can move, but only on my back."

"That's good too."

"Well, let's go!"

I crouched down beside her, glanced at the person lying on the bed one last time, and then nimbly jumped down the stairs through the half-open window.

……

(three)

Under the bright, pale blue sky, there were a few soft, cotton-candy-like white clouds.

Even under the sun, the winter wind carries a chill.

Only a few withered yellow leaves remained on the bare branches, and the weeds in the wasteland had all withered away.

A few crickets, barely clinging to life, are making their last sounds, while a group of ants are carrying food in preparation for winter.

"Oh, Mr. Cat."

"Call me King." I lazily lowered my head.

"Mr. King Cat, you are truly enormous."

"What's wrong, meow?"

"If you don't mind, could you move it a little? We're in a hurry to get back!"

"Oh." I moved aside a bit and saw a few catalpa beetles carrying luggage, looking like they were about to go on a long trip.

The lead ant greeted them: "Hey, you beetle family, where did you come from, and where are you going?"

The largest catalpa beetle's voice was somewhat deep: "Coming from the east, heading further south."

How south is it?

"A little further south."

What's the situation to the east?

"It's colder there than here; it's warmer in man-made cities."

"Oh!" The lead ant suddenly twitched its antennae. "The Queen asked me to deliver some gifts to you and then help her send a letter to her sister, who is also in the south. You should be going the same way."

"How far?" Now it was Mr. Caterpillar's turn to ask.

"It's very far, roughly from here to there."

Where is that place?

“Using human buildings as landmarks, it should be heading south, past one traffic light, then another... Hmm, let me count, yes, three traffic lights! Then, next to the big rock, there's an entrance and guards there. Just say you're an envoy of the Black Gold Queen.”

"Okay." The catalpa beetle family accepted the food and the letter.

The letter was very small, like a corner of a scrap of paper.

The so-called letter was not paper, but a small piece of bread—yes, not crumbs, but a whole piece.

It sounds strange, but it really is.

This distance isn't far for me.

Since I'm taking Miss Nancy around anyway, I don't mind giving them a ride.

"Want a ride? All I need is some information about the east—how are the cats doing over there?"

"I heard that the cats there have a leader who organizes them to find food in winter, and the food is distributed uniformly so there's no need to fight over it, so they live a pretty leisurely life."

How do they find food?

"Some go to humans to be affectionate, and some go to rummage through the trash cans, but they all have to be handed over and then distributed in a unified manner."

"Not bad." This is my recent command. The 'long' years have taught me that empires don't last, so recently I'm transitioning to a system with a more fiery color.

“Come on, Miss Nancy, you don’t mind having passengers going the same way, do you?” I felt Nancy grip my fur tightly. “Hmm, the beetle family is quite interesting.”

I knelt down to let them up, then ran in the direction I had just mentioned.

"Hold on tight, I'm super fast!"

It's much faster than a family of caterpillar beetles walking on their own.

We arrived here quickly, and I was quite tired, probably because I hadn't exercised in a long time.

"Thank you, Mr. Cat."

"Call me King." I repeated what I had just told the ants.

“Oh—Mr. King.”

There is indeed a large rock here, but perhaps the ants don't understand that this is not an ordinary rock, but a discarded millstone.

This is a field of golden-orange land, where the crops have already been harvested and nothing new has been planted yet.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been out. Even here, there’s a unique kind of beauty.” Miss Nancy hugged my neck and gently rubbed the back of my head with her soft hair. “When I’m at home, all I can see is the trees outside the window shedding their leaves one by one.”

"That's how winter is."

"But there is beauty in winter too. There are not only things that are shedding leaves, but also flowers that are about to bloom."

“Those are plum blossoms.” I looked in the direction she was pointing.

"Plum blossoms! Do they only bloom in winter?"

"Hmm, it's still early. It will bloom when it's about to snow, or rather, when it's so cold that it's about to snow." I licked my whiskers. "When I was very young, when I was still living in the family, I saw a plum blossom blooming in the snow with my own eyes."

"Is it beautiful?"

"Hmm... how should I put it, it's similar to my paw print... beautiful, not really, just rare."

"Take me out to see the snow next time it snows!"

I felt her grab my ear.

It hurts a little, but it's not painful.

Does that sound contradictory? Actually, it's not contradictory at all.

"Okay." I nodded vigorously. "Where do you want to go next? I can take you wherever you want to go."

"Then, Mr. Crispy Candy, can you take me on an adventure? I'm thinking... what would it be like inside that little hole?"