Ch18 - Goodbye, My Eggie

Please refer to the title QAQ

Editor: Vez 

Before they knew it, Sparta had been living in Xin Qin’s home for a month. He was completely free of parasites, up-to-date with his vaccine, eating well, gaining weight, and got a shiny coat. He was a very healthy cat. Under the doctor’s advice, Xin Qin intended to sterilise Sparta. Doing his homework, he researched a large amount of information on the internet. After comparing several hospitals, he carefully picked one with the best reputation, selected imported drugs and booked a surgical package. 

Sparta knew nothing about the up-coming knife. He remained a very happy cat. He was almost done with the cat preschool course. In this early stage, the course mainly focused on explaining basic knowledge. So the content was relatively simple, and there was not much homework to work on. Simply, this course right now was very easy. 

Sparta even took the time to learn cat-social networking. Through Miwu’s social media, he learned how to use the tablet for voice and video chat. He had added several cats as friends too, most of whom were his classmates this semester, Dai Mochi, who somehow got his contact information, and the annoying little tabby, Cong Baohui, who had left his mother and officially took over a human family of two. His humans were a couple. They were very polite and responsible. It was a good choice for any cat. Cong Baohui was living a decent simple life of never going hungry. Soon like a balloon being inflated, he grew another size. Cong Baohui was also very talkative, more so than a crow. Every time after class, he would catch hold of the Dragon Li cat to ask questions. Even now, the orange kitten was still inexpressibly curious about his Miwu. Unfaithful cat! Sparta mocked in his heart and swore to himself that he would never let Cong Baohui meet Miwu.

The day to say goodbye to his eggie had finally come.  

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.

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Soon, the Dragon Li cat, who was unaware of the danger approaching, was put into the cat carrier and taken out of the door. He was already familiar with the cat carrier. Xin Qin often used it to take him to the veterinary clinic for his follow-up. There he would meet Dai Mochi and some friendly humans. He was not against his human taking him there, so while being carried by Xin Qin, he was still his stupidly cute self, licking his fur in the cat carrier and even took an unsuspecting nap. It was not until Xin Qin brought him to an unfamiliar building that Sparta began to be on guard. The smell of this place was brand new, which made the Dragon Li cat feeling uneasy. Both of his ears perked up, he decided to take his human and run far away if anything was to happen—of course, he completely forgot his own situation. It wouldn’t be very smooth sailing with him inside the cat carrier. 

The hospital Xin Qin ended up picking was a general animal hospital. The one in charge of Sparta’s operation was the most experienced doctor, called ‘the master of the blade’. According to reviews, the doctor was tad strange, did not really smile, but was very skilled. After completing pre-operation physical examination, Xin Qin carried the cat carrier and stood outside the operating room with fear, waiting nervously. In his mind, he recalled stories of bad surgical accidents and post-operation results on the internet. He was still uncertain. His Dragon Li cat was completely ignorant about the impending calamity, which added to Xin Qin’s psychological burden. Fortunately, the wait was not long as Dr. Chen soon came out. Dressed in a very clean white gown, the doctor looked very young, thin and tall. He pulled the mask down to his chin, spoke very calmly, and did not seem to be a harsh person. He asked Xin Qin to take Sparta out of the cat carrier, which he did so immediately. 

Sparta nestled in his human’s arms and fixed his eyes on the strange human before him with vigilance. What is he going to do? Sparta stretched out his paw, wanting to smack away the other’s hand, but was stopped by Miwu. This strange human had the same scent as Dai Mochi’s human. Could this human also be a doctor? Why did Miwu change to a different doctor? Would I be able to see Dai Mochi again? Sparta shook his head, not able to understand. 

Dr. Chen quickly checked the Dragon Li cat in Xin Qin’s arms, nodded, lowered his voice and said, “Cooperate with me later.”

Xin Qin frowned in doubt. Cooperate what? Before he could figure it out, Dr. Chen suddenly went for the Dragon Li cat and snatched the cat away from him. Before Xin Qin could react, he saw Dr. Chen whirled into the operating room like a gust of wind, leaving only the shadow of his fluttering white coat. His eyes widened with surprise and instinctively went to follow them, but a nearby nurse stopped him and explained to him with a suppressed smile that some cats may resent the owner who sent them to face the knife after the surgery. But if they think they were taken away forcefully by the doctor and their owner is unable to protect them, this resentment would not transfer to the owner. On the contrary, they would think that the owner has made great efforts to protect them as they get loving treatment and protection from the owner afterward, this will make the pet more clingy. 

After listening to the nurse’s explanation, Xin Qin was torn between crying and laughing. He did not expect there was such a complicated scheme in the world as a cat owner. He remembered the incident at the beauty salon and still had some lingering fear about the Dragon Li cat fighting back. He could not help feeling worried and secretly hoped that this time there would be no blood spilling. 

Sparta, who was taken away by a strange doctor, was completely shocked. So shocked that he did not react like usual. The doctor moved so fast that by the time Sparta began to fight back, the other party had quickly placed the cat on the operating table. Several nurses working with the doctor seemed to be well-trained, not only did they not hurt the cat, but also effectively control the situation that the cat wanted to resist.  

Seeing the other party had no intention to hurt him, the Dragon Li cat hesitated if he should struggle and go find Miwu. During this moment of hesitation, he was laid flat down. This posture was the same when he was examined by a doctor in the past, so Sparta was not too uncomfortable. He flicked his tail and thought about how to break through their hold. Then, he suddenly received a needle on his back. He cried out very unhappy. Then he received another unexpected needle! Mewl, what is wrong with you humans! Shouldn’t we greet each other first! Let me go!

Next, even more shocking to Sparta was that someone was touching his eggie! He felt something cold close to it. He was no stranger to this kind of touch, as he had been shaved like this when he went to ‘Eat Plenty’ for an injection. Dai Mochi once told Sparta that humans usually give them injections for the good of their health, but they always want to shave cats before giving injections, which would make cats who were not used to exposing their skin especially uncomfortable.

In other words, they were going to shave his fur down there!

Being aware of this, Sparta let out a screech. This was probably the first time that the fearless Dragon Li cat cried for help in his life.  

Xin Qin, who was waiting outside the operating room, heard the howl from inside. He could hardly recognize that it was from his Dragon Li cat. He stood up unknowingly and anxiously looked inside, but he could not see anything. Fortunately, the operation room soon quieted down, they were probably starting the operation officially. He knew the whole process was very short. It took almost a few minutes for Sparta to be sent out and returned to his arms again. 

Dr. Chen came out with the cat and asked Xin Qin calmly whether he wanted to keep the cat’s genitalia as a souvenir. At the thought of having something dripping with blood, Xin Qin quickly turned down the offer. Then Dr. Chen explained a few precautions before leaving. 

Xin Qin gingerly put the Dragon Li cat on the table. Sparta was still not awake from the anaesthetic. His closed eyelids were red, mouth half open and tongue slipped out of his mouth. He looked extremely cute and stupid. He had never seen Sparta like this before. It was both distressing and funny. He put eye drops into Sparta’s eyes and peeked at the wound. It was wrapped with gauze with faint blood stains leaking out. Very little change to the size. He leaned over and gently kissed the Dragon Li cat’s round head. Luckily, the anaesthetic wore off quickly. Within half an hour, Sparta began to flutter his limbs and stumbled to get up. Xin Qin painstakingly looked after from the side. He did not dare to act for fear it would upset the cat even more. At this time, Sparta was still groggy from the anaesthesia and could not recognize anyone for the time being. 

Sparta confusingly controlled his limbs and tried to keep his balance. In his faint memory, this should be an extremely easy thing. But, meow, why aren’t my paws listening to me? He was feeling somewhat anxious but sttangw as well. Why am I feeling anxious? What am I looking for? He felt that there was a force inside, which prompted him to sniff the air, trying to find the familiar and reassuring scent. Unfortunately, his sense of smell was like his limbs, out of his control.  

Xin Qin kept close to Sparta’s side to make sure the cat did not hurt himself or tear the wound. After about half an hour, Sparta seemed to be more clear-headed and began to recognize people. He put his nose against Xin Qin, wanting to come closer. Xin Qin was very concerned about the cat’s wound, feeling like the gauze was now soaked with blood. During the time he gently steadied the Dragon Li cat with his hands to appease him, he called Dr. Chen for another examination. 

After a while, Dr. Chen appeared, still in his white scrub, but there were some blood splashes from who-knows-where on the hem. Seeing Xin Qin’s twitching eyes, he skillfully inspected Sparta’s surgical wound and pinched the family jewel that was no longer filled. Xin Qin sighed in relief internally. Thankfully, Dr. Chen confirmed that the operation was very successful and Sparta could leave the hospital. 

Xin Qin put the Elizabethan collar he prepared on Sparta. Maybe from being unaccustomed to the plastic cone, the Dragon Li cat was uncooperative, but had little strength to argue from not being fully awake. He got the cone on Sparta with little effort. He kissed Sparta again and carefully put his cat into the specially arranged cat carrier. 

It cost him nearly six hundred yuan to neuter Sparta, not counting some miscellaneous costs. It was really a big expense. Xin Qin was gratified that his livestream popularity had been increasing steadily from the season hitting its peak as well as from being in the first batch of players to break into top five hundreds. He had attracted more and more fans’ attention, and had already started the negotiation with the Fish Cat Platform. With his current momentum, he would be able to smoothly sign the contract. After which he expected his income to increase by a decent amount. Then, he could take better care of Sparta.  

In the taxi, he could not feel the coolness of late autumn. Putting his hand on the cat carrier, Sparta seemed to be asleep, but he could still feel the restless twitches in the cat’s sleep. Xin Qin recalled the scene when he first took Sparta to the clinic. The Dragon Li cat nestled quietly in his arms and was full of curiosity about the world. The cat was obviously hurt, but not afraid at all. This pained Xin Qin inside as he prayed that the Dragon Li cat’s wound would heal as soon as possible.