Zheng Tan was planning to leave home to avoid this disaster. However, Mama Jiao reminded him several times to come home on time tomorrow.

Zheng Tan twitched his ears. Running away was not a good idea. Even if he could run away this time, there would be a next time. Mama Jiao wouldn’t let him off the hook that easily.

What should he do?

He didn’t have a good plan. He decided to just ignore Toffee. It wasn’t like she could force him to do anything. Not every cat was Li Yuanba. Even if she was another Li Yuanba, Zheng Tan was still probably stronger.

The next day, Zheng Tan stayed on the balcony and sighed all day. He was thinking about his life. Mama Jiao, however, took this as a sign that he couldn’t wait to meet Toffee.

Bang!

Zheng Tan banged his head on the flower pot beside him.

After dinner, Mama Jiao kept an eye on Zheng Tan so he couldn’t run away. Papa Jiao was reading the papers on the side.

Zheng Tan sat on the sofa. His spirit was still down. His tail swayed from side to side. He had spent the day thinking of ways to get out of this mess. Just when he was debating between plans A and B, Mama Jiao’s phone rang.

She picked up the phone, then stood up and started walking out the door. She told her colleague to call when they entered the quarters.

Soon, Zheng Tan heard footsteps in the hallway. Mama Jiao was talking and laughing with someone.

Her colleague was in her forties. They taught the same subject and were pretty close. She lived close to campus.

The colleague had a pet travel bag in her hand. Zheng Tan could sense an unfamiliar cat inside. However, he didn’t sense hostility. The cat was simply cautious because she was in a new environment.

Zheng Tan stared at the bag. The two kids came out of their rooms to meet the visiting kitty.

Mama Jiao’s colleague opened the bag. Zheng Tan could see the cat hiding inside from his angle.

The cat was indeed hiding. She was more upset than curious and refused to come out of the bag.

She was a silver Scottish fold and looked healthy. Her owner obviously took good care of her.

Scottish folds were very cute. Her looks were way out of Zheng Tan’s league.

She wasn’t pretending to be quiet like Tiger, nor was she like Sheriff who needed to check out everything. She wasn’t majestic like Li Yuanba either. Toffee was truly peaceful.

Jiao Yuan was interested in the new cat. He inched closer to take a better look. Toffee felt him coming and shrank back into her bag. Mama Jiao glared at him. He backed up.

The colleague took Toffee out of her bag and cuddled her. She seemed less nervous now that her owner was petting her. Though she was calmer, she was still eying her surroundings with caution.

This was Mama Jiao’s first time seeing Toffee. She had heard a lot about her and liked her the instant she saw her. Scottish folds were lady magnets.

“Ms. Mo, Toffee is so pretty!” Mama Jiao exclaimed.

Ms. Mo smiled, but Zheng Tan noticed her smile was slightly stiff. This Ms. Mo truly loved Toffee. He could tell by the look in her eyes when she looked at the cat.

“Come Charcoal, meet your new friend,” Mama Jiao waved to him.

Zheng Tan pretended he didn’t hear her.

Papa Jiao eyed him and sighed. He knew he was pretending.

Ms. Mo didn’t say anything. Cats didn’t understand human language after all.

However, Mama Jiao knew he understood her, but she couldn’t tell him off in front of Ms. Mo. She glared at him as if to say ‘I’m disappointed in you’.

Zheng Tan was set on pretending to be dumb. He did take peeks at Toffee out of curiosity. Her ears were very small.

Ms. Mo put Toffee on the floor. She rubbed against her leg then jumped back onto her lap.

“Your cat is so lady-like.” Mama Jiao smiled.

Indeed, not every cat was like the four musketeers of the eastern quarters.

Jiao Yuan and Youzi were sent back to their rooms and the grown-ups started chatting. Papa Jiao could tell Ms. Mo had something on her mind that she didn’t want to say in front of children.

Ms. Mo liked cats but had always owned house cats. Most of her former cats ran away after a few years. They might have gotten lost, or were stolen by cat traffickers and sold down south. Last year, a friend gifted her Toffee. She loved the cat. Toffee didn’t like leaving the house, which saved her a lot of trouble.

Her neighbors and friends saw Toffee and all asked her for a kitten.

Ms. Mo liked cats, but she didn’t know much about them. She did know, however, that Scottish folds often had unhealthy kittens if they reproduced with other Scottish folds. She decided to find a healthy male cat that wasn’t the same breed to guarantee the health of the kittens. She had her eyes set on house cats.

Her friends were very against her idea. Rarely did people bred Scottish folds with house cats. Most people used British Shorthairs or American Shorthairs. The kittens would look better and sell for a higher price.

Mama Jiao frowned. Indeed, Toffee was much better looking compared to Charcoal. However, to her, her cat was the best. He never caused trouble and even helped out with the kids. She didn’t like it that other people looked down on her cat.

Papa Jiao stopped her before she could say anything. He let Ms. Mo continue.

Zheng Tan was listening as well. He didn’t know much about Scottish Folds, expect that their ears folded and they were very expensive. To many people, they were a precious breed.

Ms. Mo saw the look in Mama Jiao’s eyes and hurried added she didn’t need the kitten to look very pretty. She just wanted them to be healthy. She had made up her mind at the vet this afternoon.

“People around me started to buy Scottish folds after they saw Toffee. My sister was one of them. She got bored after two months so I took over her cat. Her cat was female as well and was three months younger than Toffee. That cat wasn’t so lucky and her tail couldn’t bend like a normal cat. I took her to Mr. Guo’s this afternoon for a checkup. The results weren’t good.”

A vet told her that many Scottish folds were born with hereditary diseases. Their tails were often short and stiff. They often had other bone diseases as well and their joints were weaker than other cats. Many experience joint pains after a few years.

“Toffee was very lucky that she’s healthy so far. I don’t know how long her luck will last though. I didn’t know much about them before, but I am responsible for them now. I have to take them for regular checkups at the vet and I don’t want her to have kittens until I’m sure she’s ok.”

“The vet told me that the breed is very special. I shouldn’t breed cats without the supervision of a specialist. Toffee was very lucky and I need to protect her. My sister’s cat has to endure the pain of bone diseases. Every step hurts.”

“We all have cats and we all know that cats can endure pain without letting it show. They hide their illnesses out of habit to protect themselves. It’s hard for us to tell what they are feeling. If I let Toffee have kittens, and the kittens are born with bone diseases, then I…I can’t stand it.”

Mama Jiao was quiet. She didn’t have much experience with cats. Zheng Tan was her first pet and he was very trouble-free.

How many people truly knew a cat’s pain?

Even Zheng Tan didn’t understand what other cats were experiencing. He was slightly different after all.

“I came here today to tell you this so you won’t misunderstand,” Ms. Mo explained. “I don’t see house cats as inferior.”

Mama Jiao shook her head and said she understood. She asked about the other cat.

Ms. Mo chatted with Mama Jiao for a while then stood up to leave. She had another cat at home that needed her care.

So, Zheng Tan’s first set-up date ended before he could do anything. Ms. Mo did tell Mama Jiao to take Zheng Tan over to her place to visit her cats. Her cats disliked leaving the house, but she knew Zheng Tan went on strolls to their school.

Papa Jiao did some research on Scottish folds on the internet that night. Zheng Tan sat on the desk and read with him.

There were a lot of debates regarding this breed.

Scottish folds had such a bad name because of the people who bred these cats simply for their commercial value.

It took a lot of sacrifices to breed a true Scottish fold. Zheng Tan didn’t know what happened to the failed ‘products’. They might be sold off at a cheap price, or they might be dealt with in less humane ways. Zheng Tan couldn’t change the reality of the pet market. He felt lucky he was a very healthy cat and wished that Toffee could remain healthy as well.