Strange Life of a Cat

Chen Zhe didn’t expect to see the cat in front of his building when he opened the balcony door. He had just boiled water to make tea and was planning to change the milk he had placed outside. He had recently learned that not all cats could drink milk. However, the black cat that visited him from time to time seemed to like milk. So he always left some out for the cat.

Zheng Tan saw Uncle Wintersweet wave to him with a cup of milk in his hand. He hesitated.

Should he go over?

Zheng Tan had planned to leave after seeing if Uncle Wintersweet was home. However, he could sense kindness and hope from the man, and his curiosity got the better of him.

What did he want?

Zheng Tan jumped onto the balcony.

The balcony was the same as always. There were paper boxes, a cushion, and a cup of milk.

Zheng Tan had come, so Chen Zhe didn’t place the cup of milk in his hand on the balcony but placed it on the desk in front of Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan had jumped onto the desk to get a better view of the room.

The room had completely changed. The books on the bookshelf were all gone. The door to the other two rooms were all open, but Zheng Tan could see the rooms were both empty. There were several packed boxes on the floor of the living room.

There was a cup of wintersweet tea on the desk. It was still hot. The can with wintersweet flowers was empty. This was probably the last of this years flowers. Spring was coming, and the temperature was rising.

A book was placed next to the cup. If Zheng Tan hadn’t experienced the fire for himself, he would never have believed it had anything to do with this domestic scene.

He looked at Chen Zhe. He was different somehow, like a weight had been lifted off him. His smile was clean and pure. He was like a clear blue sky.

People always showed their true colors when they were alone with animals.

Chen Zhe sat back in front of his desk and stared at Zheng Tan. Zheng Tan was becoming irritated when Chen Zhe finally looked away. He started telling Zheng Tan about what he had done. He talked about the three deaths but didn’t go into detail. When he mentioned Lai Er, he merely said, “It’s a trick.”

Zheng Tan thought he was right. This person had caused what had happened to Lai Er. How did he do it though?

Trick? A magic trick?

What did he mean?

But Uncle Wintersweets didn’t say any more. He took a sip of tea and started talking about other things.

Zheng Tan was speechless.

Zheng Tan was disappointed. Though Lai Er bursting into flames was frightening, but he was still curious. It was like witnessing a great magic performance. People always wondered how the magician did it.

Zheng Tan wanted to know how he set Lai Er on fire. What did he do? However, Chen Zhe wouldn’t say.

“I donated the piano. These boxes are all filled with books. I’m going to donate them to high schools in less developed areas. The students there could use them,” Chen Zhe said.

Why was he telling a cat all this? Zheng Tan didn’t understand.

He didn’t want to drink milk at this time. Zheng Tan’s eyes fell on the book beside the cup of tea. It was in a foreign language that wasn’t English. Zheng Tan didn’t recognize the language, but the book cover caught his eye. On it was a young man kneeling in front of a priest in a church.

He was confessing his sins.

Many people used confession as a mean of stress release. Was Chen Zhe confessing?

If he was confessing, why was he confessing to a cat? What kind of a confession was this!

Chen Zhe checked the book cover again, then looked back at Chen Zhe.

F*ck!

Zheng Tan wanted to flip the table.

He was a cat, not a priest. He didn’t hold confessions.

Chen Zhe wasn’t just confessing though. He simply wanted to let off pressure. He couldn’t tell anyone this stuff, so he chose to talk to a cat. Zheng Tan understood. He wasn’t the first person who did this. Cats couldn’t talk and could not tell other people what they had heard.

Zheng Tan was special though. He understood what he said and knew what happened.

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection unto eternal life…” Chen Zhe said. He was quiet for a while, then he took a deep breath. He saw the cat stare at him. It looked surprised. He smiled. He never thought he would tell another soul these things. However, now he was telling a cat. He felt much better now. He thanked this cat. If not for him, he would have to live with this burden for the rest of his life.

Chen Zhe took out a gold pocket watch and dangled it in front of Zheng Tan. “What do you think I should do with this? To many people, this is a very important thing, but I don’t want to keep it. It reminds me of my past.”

Zheng Tan was losing patience.Chen Zhe kept talking but he left out all the important parts. The pocket watch was still dangling in front of him. His eyes were tired from watching the watch move from side to side. He swatted the watch away.

Chen Zhe didn’t hold onto the watch very tightly. He didn’t expect a suggestion from the cat, he was just asking for the sake of asking. He felt a tug on the chain before he could tighten his grip the watch was sent flying. It landed on the desk.

He froze for a moment. Then, suddenly, he smiled. “Not a bad idea.”

Zheng Tan was lost. What idea? What was happening?