Strange Life of a Cat

“It’s been twenty-something years, god knows if that old cat is alive or not. This one’s only two or three,” Papa Jiao said.

The old lady shook her head. “This one’s male. That one’s female.”

Papa Jiao was speechless. How would he know that old cat was female? She never told him.

Zheng Tan didn’t notice Papa Jiao’s expression. He didn’t understand what this lady was saying.

F*ck! How did she know whether he was male or female?

Zheng Tan never turned his back to her and there was no way she could check. Zheng Tan didn’t like showing his behind like other cats.

Zheng Tan was starting to think this lady was a bit creepy.

“Is the cat cursing me?” the lady suddenly looked at Zheng Tan and asked Papa Jiao.

Zheng Tan was speechless.

Papa Jiao’s face twitched. He didn’t know how to answer that.

The old lady didn’t wait for an answer. She asked, “Do you have a car?”

Papa Jiao nodded. “I bought one a few month ago.”

“Good.” The old lady opened a drawer and took out a pendant. She handed it to Papa Jiao. “Here.”

The pendant was very plain looking. Many of the stalls on the night market near Chuhua University sold these things for a couple yuan. The old lady gifted it to Papa Jiao, but Zheng Tan somehow felt thate even if Papa Jiao hadn’t come with bags of goods, she still would have done this.

Papa Jiao thanked the old lady. She smiled, showing rows of dentures. She nodded at Zheng Tan, “Treat the cat well. It is fate you found it and it can bring you luck.”

Papa Jiao didn’t really believe in luck but he had to admit Charcoal had brought the family many opportunities.

“I’ll leave you to rest now.” Papa Jiao got ready to leave. He knew this old lady didn’t talk much and needed to rest a lot.

“Before you leave the village, bring this cat to see me again,” the old lady said.

Papa Jiao didn’t know what she wanted from the cat, but he agreed.

Zheng Tan glanced one last time at the old lady and the cat on her lap, then left with Papa Jiao.

After they left, the old lady sat up and combed her cat’s fur. She found a flea. “Another big one. Next time eat mice that don’t have fleas.”

The cat shook its ears.

Zheng Tan and Papa Jiao left the old lady’s yard but didn’t take the same path as when they came.

They were leaving the village. Zheng Tan looked at Papa Jiao curiously. He could tell Papa Jiao had something on his mind.

There was a mountain near the village. It wasn’t high and couldn’t be categorized as wilderness. People were planting fruit trees on the mountain and it looked less natural.

Zheng Tan followed Papa Jiao into a fruit garden. Papa Jiao stood and surveyed their surroundings, then he sat down next to a tree and lit a cigarette. He smoked in silence until half of the cigarette was gone. “Charcoal, I’ll let you in on a secret.” Papa Jiao smiled, “It’s really isn’t a secret actually. I’ve told many people, they just don’t believe me.”

This was what he had been waiting for.

Zheng Tan’s ears perked up.

“When I was a young child, even younger than Youzi, I was quite naughty. There was a rumor amongst the children that there was hidden treasure in this mountain. The kids from the village came here often to search for treasures but didn’t find anything. Most people gave up, but I didn’t. One day, I came here without anyone knowing where I had gone. I searched and searched but didn’t find anything. I was tired and hungry. I ate the bread I had brought and took a nap on the grass. I didn’t have any sense of danger and it was great luck that I didn’t die.

When I woke up, the sky was dark. It was past dinner time and I was very anxious to get home. On my way home, I slid down a steep slope. Unfortunately, when I got back up, I fell into a hole in the ground.

“The hole was very deep. I couldn’t climb out of it. People probably dug the hole then forgot to fill it back up. I was a child too, so I wasn’t strong. I yelled and yelled but no one came. I tried to climb up the hole and my fingers were bleeding from scratching the rocks in the soil. That was when I heard a cat meowing. A cat appeared. It looked at me then left. No long after, a rope was thrown down and I climbed up the hole by grabbing the rope. I felt someone holding onto the rope on the other end. The person didn’t use that much force though. When I got out of the hole, I realized it was the cat holding the rope. The other end was tucked into a crack in a giant rock. The cat was very smart. It ran away when I got out of the hole and that old lady back there appeared not long after. She told me she caught the cat stealing her rope and followed it.”

It was during the cultural revolution and the people all avoided her. Papa Jiao remembered him and the other kids had thrown rocks and mud at her house. The lady had to move into a tent on the mountain until the cultural revolution ended.

Papa Jiao still remembered what it was like being trapped in the hole. He was hungry, cold and scared.

“She found a cat tooth on the rope. The cat probably broke its tooth when it was biting the rope.” Papa Jiao flicked the ash off his cigarette and stared into space.

The rope was very tough, but just biting it wouldn’t result in a broken tooth. The cat was pulling on it too. The cat might have broken the tooth when it was dragging the rope over here or it might have broken it when it was trying to pull him up. No matter what, Papa Jiao was deeply grateful. However, he never saw the cat again.

“The lady melted some rosin and preserved the cat tooth for me. I still have it. I’ll show you sometime,” Papa Jiao said to Zheng Tan.

Over thirty years had passed and Papa Jiao knew that cat was probably no longer alive. However, when Mama Jiao brought home a black cat, he immediately thought of the one that saved his life.

The cat had appeared in the dark and even when it looked up at people from the ground there was no fear in its eyes. It almost looked like a panther.

Because of this, Papa Jiao, who opposed raising pets in cities, agreed to keep Zheng Tan. The SARS epidemic had just passed and there were two kids at home. Mama Jiao was very surprised he agreed to keep the cat. No one else in the Jiao family knew this story.

“That lady told me not to tell other people about my experience. She said some stories are best left untold. People wouldn’t believe anyway and I might get into trouble.”

Back then Papa Jiao didn’t understand why she had said so. When he was older, he understood that back then things that had the tint of superstition could get people into a lot of trouble. After the cultural revolution, people were more accepting and were less prone to take extreme measures when something weird happened. Even so, Papa Jiao still didn’t tell most people about had happened. He had tried telling it once but no one believed him. If he didn’t still have the cat tooth he would have believed it was all just a dream.

Papa Jiao took Zheng Tan to where the hole was. Papa Jiao came here every time he came back to the village. The hole had been filled and the mountain had been turned into patches of fruit trees.

When they returned to the house, Papa Jiao went to help with New Year preparations. Zheng Tan didn’t have anything to do, but he didn’t want to catch rabbits with the kids. He went to the old lady’s house and tried to gather information about her. Many people had come home from the city and every day she had visitors. No one cared about superstitions these days. Compared to her peers in the city who charged a great deal, the old lady was quite ethical.

She wasn’t famous in Yiyang but was quite well-known in the village. She was in her nineties and wasn’t from here originally. Some of the villagers held her in awe and veneration, others were fearful of her. However, most people who left the village to work in the south came here and asked for blessings.

A lot of people didn’t believe in superstition anymore thanks to school and science class. However, people still went to her for peace of mind, just in case.

People might say they didn’t believe in superstitions but the lady still didn’t lack visitors. Many went to her with money and gifts. If you believe in something, it exists. [1]

Zheng Tan didn’t know much about the old lady. However, no matter if she was a fraud or not, she never caused any harm or trouble. Her business actually had a good reputation. Even if she was a fraudster, she had once saved Papa Jiao and that was enough for Zheng Tan. She might have been the reason why Papa Jiao accepted his odd behavior so quickly too.

He remembered her telling Papa Jiao to bring him to visit her again before they left. He didn’t know why she wanted to see him again, but judging by Papa Jiao’s story, she didn’t seem like a bad person and didn’t mean him any harm. She had adopted her cat after it was hit by a car. She seemed kind.

[1] (Old Chinese saying)