Ch11 - Gifts from the Cat

If your cat likes you enough, you will receive gifts

Editor: Vez 

By the time Xin Qin brought Sparta home, street lights had begun lighting up. The soft dim light entered through the window, dying the living room carpet orange. Strangely enough, after the afternoon rollercoaster, the human and the cat were quite calm. Other than Xin Qin keeping Sparta in his arms, not releasing him even after entering the door.

Sparta was still clenching on to the small cloth sack with his mouth, refusing to let go. Xin Qin did not know what was inside, but Sparta would emit low cries whenever he touched it. Feeling exhausted, he let the cat be. He placed Sparta in his nest, rubbed his head and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for the cat.

Sparta gently placed the small bundle in his nest and continuously rubbed it with his cheek and chin until it was covered with his scent again. The bottom of his nest was covered with Xin Qin’s old clothes. He dug up a spot to bury the cloth pouch and then patted it down with his hind paw.

Afterward, he licked his paws with satisfaction, just in time to hear Xin Qin calling him for food. He sprang up from the nest and ran briskly to Xin Qin, raising his tail high as he rubbed lightly against Xin Qin’s jeans with his soft and fluffy butt. Xin Qin squatted down and gently scratched the Dragon Li cat’s chin, who gently returned the favour by rubbing his furry cheek with his fingers. Once the Dragon Li cat had his fill of cuddles, he buried his head into the bowl and ate his dinner whilst purring. Xin Qin fixed his eyes on the cat, sitting cross legged on the ground, watching Sparta clean his kibble one by one. 

Miwu, I am done. Sparta opened his mouth and licked his whiskers. Xin Qin,  who was still sitting cross-legged, poked Sparta’s forehead with his finger. Sparta abandoned the idea of cleaning his face and rubbed around Xin Qin’s finger. After a long playful session, Sparta suddenly remembered his homework. He restlessly stood up and circled around his human, bumping the other gently with his body.

Curious, Xin Qin reached out and caressed Sparta’s neck. “What’s wrong? Do you need something?”

Miwu, Miwu, let’s go turn on your tablet!

According to Dai Mochi, the most convenient tool is a tablet, which is smaller than an ordinary computer and cats could operate it with their paws. Sparta knew that his human had one. He had seen his human slide images around on it before.

—First, you have to make sure that your human did not set passwords for these things called computers. Passwords are a very strange thing. Once the computer is locked by this password, we cannot turn it on with our paws alone. The best way to determine is to watch your human use it. If they can turn it on directly without any obstacles, it means that the computer does not have a password installed. Most home desktops will not have passwords, the same for some tablets, but mobile phones often do. Cats with access to the human’s phone only should pay extra attention and carefully observe the human’s hand movements on breaking the curse on the phone. We cats have very strong memories. As long as they observe and practice frequently, they can quickly master the skill.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

—Of course, we cannot rule out that some humans will use their fingers to turn on the machine. This is the most annoying one, because for some reason, cats cannot complete this task with their paw pads. By the way, people who use only their fingers to turn on the device are extremely irresponsible. They may prevent cats from participating in online classes and completing their studies.

—Secondly, you need to observe the types of computers you can use in the future. They may be large desktops, medium-sized laptops, small tablets, or even mobile phones (phones are the most difficult, and the biggest reason is humans are rarely apart from their phone, even during activities that require their attention, such as eating or relieving themselves. So it becomes very difficult for cats to have a chance to use the device. Can humans not survive without their phones? This is a question we are still trying to figure out). But even if you recognize the kind of device you can use, some details might lead to your failure. Different computers have different methods of use, even if they are tablets, there are different varieties. Your handbook details the practice methods and preparations for different computer varieties, which you can use for reference. 

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—How can a human help you complete your exercises? Very simple, just show the computer or phone in front of them to draw their attention. Next, you don’t need to do anything. Just wait and observe. Humans are horrible hunters. They can never concentrate on one thing—except for using the internet. They have no willpower against it. At any opportunity that offers them access to the internet, they will involuntarily indulge in it. 

Dai Mochi was right. After circling around the tablet for the third time, his human came over, sat next to him and picked up the tablet.

“What are you up to?” Xin Qin scratched the top of the Dragon Li cat’s head. Sparta gave a warm meow, stopped turning and sat down. The cat’s eyes were half closed, staring at him motionless. “You…want to play on the iPad?” There was uncertainty in his voice, feeling like he was going crazy. No matter how smart a cat could be, how could a cat want to play on the iPad? But the Dragon Li cat was looking at him without blinking, like the cat was urging him to unlock the device, which he did by pressing the button to wake the device up.

Would anyone believe me if I said my cat insisted on me surfing the internet? 

Meow, meow! Miwu did not install a password. Miwu is the best human! Sparta pushed Xin Qin’s elbow with his head excitedly. Meow, Miwu’s tablet has a circular button. Meow, meow, that’s great! Dai Mochi said that this kind of computer was the easiest to use. Miwu is indeed the best human!

Humans are truly strange. There is nothing special to do, but once they turn on their tablets or phones, they could not help using the internet and start wasting time. Xin Qin ridiculed himself while using the tablet to check his notifications. The Dragon Li cat was sitting upright nestled beside his legs, with his neck craning forward slightly and eyes focused on his every move whilst waving the tip of his tail from time to time. The cat appeared to be very curious and interested in the tablet.

—You need to properly guide your human to focus on demonstrating what you need to learn. You can act on it yourself and bring to their attention on what interface you need to open. WC is one of the main communication tools used by us to learn. It is a green ball. Note, the ball is static, so it is difficult for cats to spot it right away with their own eyes. You have to use technique and learn to ask for help. This is very difficult, but you need to have patience, just like hunting. As long as you have enough wisdom and are patient, you will always succeed. 

—As far as we know, almost every human in Maochun City uses this communication tool. The human who invented WC was obviously friendly to cats. The interface is very user friendly, not many complicated features, and uses a colour that we can distinguish. Yes, that’s right. Humans do see some colours that we can’t. Meow, I don’t know why humans are such boring creatures. You will have a deeper understanding of it once you officially attend school. 

Xin Qin kept sliding his finger on the tablet screen. Sparta was looking at it in enjoyment and was ready to join in with his paw. Then, his human suddenly stopped, turned off the tablet and put it aside. He propped his arm and looked at Sparta.

Meow? Is that all for today? Sparta’s whiskers trembled. Miwu?

—Remember, your practice is not fixed. Humans are without logic. As I had mentioned previously, they can’t concentrate and will give up on any task at hand at any given time. You have to look for opportunities. It may take some time, but have no fear, what cats have plenty of is patience. 

Thinking of Dai Mochi’s advice, Sparta was relieved once again. He relaxed his whole body, lay on his side on the sofa and swayed his tail in a regular motion. Miwu smells so good. 

“You are still a dirty cat.” Xin Qin suddenly pointed out.

Miwu?

“But, thank you for coming back.” Xin Qin bent down and gave Sparta a big kiss on his forehead.

Sparta retracted his head, looking up in confusion and leaning far back, forming a perfect arc. From Xin Qin’s angle, the cat’s two green eyes were shining with an uncanny lustre under the light. The Dragon Li cat tilted his head and curiously stared back at Xin Qin. 

Xin Qin stretched out his hands and gently pinched the Dragon Li cat’s cheeks and gave them a squeeze which earned him a yowl from Sparta and he quicklylet go. Sparta gazed up, fixing those two green eyes at him. Xin Qin met the other’s gaze like he was looking at his own kind.

“I’m sorry.” He began using a very soft and slow voice, “This is actually my first time raising a cat in all seriousness. Coffee was very well-behaved, probably because she was advanced in age, she knew how to take care of herself and I hardly had anything to take care of. She was my grandmother’s cat. I think she liked me very much and I also liked her back, but she was not a cat that I got on my own accord. She was a keepsake left by my grandmother, something for me to cherish.”

Miwu…Sparta called out his human. He did not know what his human was talking about, but he seemed to be talking to him. The voice was so low and gentle, in the tone that cats loved. Sparta responded to the other’s words as if he understood.

“But you are different. At the beginning, I decided to raise you and also said I would be responsible for you. But I didn’t do a good job, so I want to apologise to you. I know you may not understand, and maybe I am saying this outloud for self-reflection. I am a person with flaws and I can’t do many things. I can’t even take good care of myself or set my life straight. I may hurt you unintentionally or irritate you. Sorry, I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me for now, but I hope you will give me more time. I will love you well, accompany you to the best of my ability, become your family and someone you can depend on. I will let you eat the most delicious cans, buy you the funnest toys and take you to the best places. When you are old or stick, I will remain by your side. I will try my best to make your life easy and happy, for you to become the happiest cat in the world.” Xin Qin declared as he put forward his right hand with his palm facing up. “Let’s high-five on it.” Shaking his hand he said in a joking manner. 

Sparta’s eyes followed the human’s moving right hand. Hard to tell what the serious cat was thinking. He hesitated to raise his paw and it froze in mid-air, seemingly indecisive.

Miwu! He raised head and called the human, who was looking at him with anticipation. Sparta lowered his head again, looked at the human’s palm and hesitantly waved his paw in the air. In the end, he finally put his paw on the human’s hand. Does Miwu want to play a game of ‘whose paw is on the top’?

The Dragon Li cat’s paw was very fluffy, hiding his sharp claws and leaving only the soft toe beans. It was the same paw that was once inflamed and swollen from an accident and had brought him a great deal of pain. Now that the wound has healed, he could put his paw on the human’s palm with ease.

Xin Qin smiled brightly and enthusiastically shook the cat’s paw. “Sparta, you must be a genius!” 

Miwu! Sparta found that his human had no respect for the rules of the game and angrily pulled his paw out from the human’s grasp. I guess I will teach you how to play the game next time. He licked his paw unhappily for a while. Soon, he forgot the reason why he was angry and suddenly remembered that he still had not given the other his gift yet. He got up, ran back to his nest, dug out the small bundle from the pile of old clothes, lowering his head he picked it up between his mouth and quickly rushed back to his human.

This cloth sack was prepared for him by his little sister, Ni Luo Piaoxue. She had also taught Sparta how to carry the bundle using its ring-like opening. Sparta carried this small bag on his back all the way from Quliu Town. The bag contained all of his precious treasures. He had collected many things with great effort and carefully selected his top three favourite ones just to give them to his human. Now, his gift had finally reached his dearest human’s hand.

Will Miwu like them? 

Xin Qin curiously accepted the small bundle. It was made from a small cloth bag that was perfectly cat sized. It looked like a prop for taking cat photos. The bundle was slightly flat. Xin Qin pinched it between his fingers and found it was not filled with soft content like cotton, but with things. He originally thought the bag was a toy picked up by the Dragon Li cat, but it might be something more. “Are you giving this to me?” After he asked this off-handedly, he raised the small bag and shook it in front of Sparta, who yawned and did not seem to mind at all.

“Then I will open it?” After his question, he studied the item.

A zipper was sewn on the side of the bag. Xin Qin opened it and took out things from within. A shuttlecock that had lost most of its feathers; a small hollow ball with a round bead inside that would make sounds when shook; a broken Chinese checker game piece with a small tooth mark on it. It looked like a kid’s unwanted toy. The piece was a rough frog model wrapped in a green transparent bead. 

Somehow, Xin Qin had this strange thought. He seemed to understand that everything inside of the little bundle was probably Sparta’s toys. And now the cat gave all the playthings he possessed to him.

That night, Sparta got permission to sleep with his human on the bed even though he had not taken a bath. He slept very soundly on the human’s soft pillow. His gifts to his human were quietly placed in a visible location in the living room. Soon after, his once beloved toys will gradually be drowned out by countless strange and interesting things he’d find in time, as Sparta would no longer be interested in playing with his childhood toys. However, his human would never discard these treasures from Quliu Town. They shall be cherished for a very long time.