I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

As I traveled and observed, I noticed that big cities are very different from small towns, but they also share some similarities, such as the fact that I still often go hungry.

Sometimes I meet kind people who feed me, and some even try to trick me into going home with a few cans of food, but I only want to beg for food, I never thought of becoming a human's pet.

I once squatted by a human's window and saw those of my kind who were kept in captivity. Although they did live a very comfortable and fulfilling life, with someone to take care of them, they never had to worry about food.

But that's not what I want.

What I want is to become a human being, someone who can control their own destiny, not a cat.

I have high aspirations.

But whenever I'm hungry, I still envy those cats, those cats that are kept as pets by humans.

Right now I'm just a stray cat, not as well off as those foolish fellow cats, but once I succeed in getting the title, hmph.

Unfortunately, seeking official recognition is a matter for the future; what we need to do now is figure out how to fill our stomachs.

I heard a car horn behind me, so I twitched my ears and turned around. There was a white van parked on the side of the road not far away.

Then several people got out of the car, carrying cat food and canned food.

I've met another kind person.

Several foolish cats of my kind had already rushed over, but I didn't move. I'm different from those stupid cats. I'm a cat that can beg for a title and become human. I need to be more reserved.

I'll go over when they call me.

"Mimi mimi..."

It's those four words again. It's hard to understand why humans always call cats "mi mi mi mi," no matter what kind of cat it is.

This also happens to stray dogs, who also have a common name – zuozuozuozuo.

With that thought in mind, I scurried over on all fours and joined those silly cats in eating the cat food and canned cat food that these people had brought.

The taste is not bad.

I might take pity on you and let you pet me for a moment, but only once, unless you give me another can of cat food.

A furry body rubbed against me. Which silly cat is touching me?

I turned my head to look, and the silly cat that had been eating the most was now swaying unsteadily, as if it couldn't stand up, and then it slumped softly to the ground.

I was stunned. What happened?

Before I could think it through, the silly cats around me started falling to the ground one after another.

Oh no, the cat food is poisonous!

I'm so smart, I reacted quickly, but it was too late. My head started to spin, and my eyelids became heavy, so heavy that I couldn't lift them.

This feeling inexplicably reminded me of the experience of almost drowning.

Then I knew nothing more, all I saw was darkness, and I died.

"This place won't take them anymore. Is there a stray cat and dog rescue station in Yangcheng?"

"I think so, but that place is pretty small, they might not accept it anymore."

"Let's go ask first."

I heard indistinct voices around me, and I slowly opened my eyes. Huh, I seem to be alright?

But where is this place?

I looked around in a daze, and it seemed like I was in an iron cage, locked inside.

After observing secretly for a while, I realized that I was probably in a human car, and that the car was still moving.

There were cages all around me, and they were all filled with cats, many of them: one, two, three, four, five, six...

many.

All the cats were sticking out their tongues, looking silly, and not moving at all.

But that's not the scariest part. The scariest part is that there's a cat lying on a bed in front of them, with two humans around them, their faces covered by masks, wearing blue clothes that look like they're made of plastic, and holding knives and gesturing at the cat's stomach.

The man's white gloves were covered in bright red blood.

Oh no, we've run into someone who kills kittens.

I was so scared I didn't dare move. These people were terrifying.

I should have known better than to feed them those cat foods and canned food, otherwise I wouldn't have been caught. And I wasn't even full, what a waste.

No, I have to find a way to escape.

But I was locked in a cage, and the car seemed to be completely enclosed, without even windows, and I didn't know where to run away.

"Phew..." After waiting for a while, the man with the knife let out a breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "This one is done. Go get another one."

"Wait."

Seeing the person in front of me pick up the cat from the bed and walk towards the back of the car, I quickly and quietly moved to the back, shrinking into the corner of the cage and not daring to move.

Please don't hug me, I don't want to go.

The person put the cat back in the cage and slowly reached her hand towards me. I was terrified, but the next moment, she pulled her hand away and took the other cat.

I breathed a sigh of relief, not knowing how to describe my feelings at that moment. It wasn't until later, after I learned about it, that I realized it should be called surviving a disaster.

The cat that was taken away had its belly cut open with a knife. I didn't dare to look, but I noticed that the cat that had been taken away didn't seem to be dead yet.

Although he hasn't woken up yet, he's definitely not dead, and he has a cut on his ear, which was made by those people with scissors.

The car slowly drove forward, and one cat after another was taken to the bed, their bellies slit open, and then a notch cut off their ears.

I found that all the cats were fine and alive, but I was still a little scared. Who knows what these people wanted to do? And having their stomachs cut open must be so painful.

But soon it was my turn. The man opened my cage, and just as I was thinking about how to resist, the car slowly stopped. "We've arrived. I'll get out and ask around."

The car door was opened.

Looking back now, that must have been the time when I ran the fastest. I dare say, even the fastest rabbit in the mountains couldn't catch me back then.

The moment the car door was opened, I darted out. Because I was running so fast, I fell hard when I landed and rolled on the ground.

Ignoring the pain, I dashed into the roadside bushes. Only the lush green grass could give me a sense of security. Then I ran faster and faster, farther and farther along the bushes.

I only slowly stopped walking when I was far away from that terrible car and those terrible people.

I didn't know what happened to those of their kind afterward, but I later learned that they were all fine.

Those people weren't the ones I thought were killing kittens; they were just performing sterilization surgeries on stray cats.

But that's all in the future.

And so, I arrived in Yangcheng, a small city, or rather, a very small city.

I resumed my wanderings in the new city, continuing my search for humans I could beg for favors from. I found a large pit in an abandoned construction site and settled in it; it contained many large cement pipes.

I also found a piece of clothing that someone had discarded in the trash can; I can use it as a mattress pad when I sleep at night.

I lived in that big pipe for twenty days, or maybe twenty-one days. It's been so long that I can't quite remember now, but that's where my life started.

To be more precise, it only started after I met that person.

Later, I was very grateful to that car and those people; they brought me to this city and allowed me to meet him.

It was a beautiful night, with many stars in the sky and a very round moon. Or perhaps this is just a romanticized version of my memory. People are like that; they tend to romanticize what they consider beautiful or special days.

So it was probably just an ordinary night, but because I met him on such an ordinary night, I feel that everything about that day was extraordinary whenever I think about it later.

All I remember is burying my head in the clothes to smooth them out so I could sleep more comfortably.

Once the clothes were smooth, I lay down and tried them out. They were very soft, and I was about to snuggle up on them and rest for a while.

Footsteps approached from afar, and the person making the footsteps was humming a song, a song so indistinct I've forgotten what it was, and perhaps even he himself doesn't remember it.

He slowly approached, his hand resting on the iron plates of the construction fence. With each step he took, the blue iron plates made a clattering sound.

I was a little angry.

This person is very noisy and makes a lot of noise. He also walks very slowly, really very slowly. He even has to rest by holding onto the metal plate after taking two steps, which makes the metal plate clatter and rattle.

I ran out of the pipe, jumped onto the ditch, and angrily meowed at him. What's wrong with this guy? Why doesn't he go home at night and come all the way here to bother a kitten?

I have no home, and neither does he?

He heard my voice, seemed to pause for a moment, and then walked towards me, reeking of alcohol.

It turns out he was a drinker.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust and tilted my head to look him over, while he was looking me over as well.

"Are you a stray cat?" he suddenly asked after a while.

"Meow?"

I meowed in confusion. Is this person an idiot? How can they not see something so obvious?

Of course!

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” he said again.

"Meow?"

I continued to wonder, this person seemed to really have a problem, did he want me to speak to him like a human being?

"Want some?"

He pulled out several bags of snacks and a carton of yogurt from his pocket and waved them at me.

I wanted to refuse him, but I couldn't resist.

Looking back now, I realize that it was because of those few bags of snacks and that carton of yogurt that I ruined my entire life.

That was the first time I had ever tasted yogurt. Others might kindly give me cat food or canned food, but they would never give me these kinds of things.

So, for the sake of the yogurt, I decided to overlook the things he did that bothered me and to consider him a good person.

As he left, I hesitated for a long time watching his retreating figure before calling out, "Wait a minute."

"Huh?" The guy turned around, looking puzzled. I took the opportunity to raise my paw, trying my best to stand up like a human, and asked him, "Do I look like a human to you?"

He wasn't scared off like the others, and he didn't even show any fear, but the things he said afterward still make me a little angry when I think about them now.

"You look like an adorable white-haired catgirl to me."