Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  Fina named the Cat from the Book as Snowy Lionet because it felt that its fur was really long, even longer than the furs of most of Persian cats. Fina thought Snowy Lionet was a more suitable name for the Cat from the Book than Snowy Snitch; what kind of a name was that?

  Fina had seen lions long time ago. In fact, it had met lions many times. And the fur of the Cat from the Book reminded it of their long manes. Fina disliked long fur, for it was really troublesome and inconvenient. Long fur would hook it on tree barks and weeds, and it would feel too hot in the summer—in Egypt, summer was all year round. Though Fina didn’t want long fur for itself, it appreciated it. Even in Fina’s picky eyes, the fur of the Cat from the Book was very beautiful. It looked like silver silk, which was pure and flawless.

  After declaring the Cat from the Book’s name, Fina gently leapt onto its exclusive tier on the cat tree and waited for its breakfast.

  The Cat from the Book was excited to follow Fina. It tried to jump up as high as Fina did… Bang! The Cat from the Book hit itself on the wall, and then slipped down slowly.

  Zhang Zian thought to himself, what a funny scene; it looked just like a buffoon character in animation movies.

  “You know, people have their own limits. You don’t have Fina’s excellent athletic abilities.” He complained about the Cat from the Book’s emulation of Fina.

  Egyptian cats, especially original Egyptian cats, were the best athletes among house cats. Compared to Egyptian cats, Persian cats and Linqing Chausie cats, who had short little legs, were much weaker. They were basically greenhouse flowers in need of meticulous care.

  “Meow—That hurt!” Snowy Lionet tearfully pressed its paw on its nose. Normally, it would have bickered with Zhang Zian, but right now, it was worrying whether Fina would look down on it after what just happened.

  Fina glanced at it from its tier at the top, showing no ridicule or contempt, then closed its eyes and went back to sleep.

  Snowy Lionet was so embarrassed. When the pain on its nose slightly diminished, it started to observe the layout of the cat tree against the wall. The tiers of the cat tree were distributed in tiers irregularly: some board platforms were closer to each other, while others were distributed far away. Fina leaped from the ground and jumped directly to the top tier. Snowy Lionet did not possess Fina’s remarkable leaping or athletic ability, so it could only jump to the lowest level, and then ascended tier by tier, and stopped when it finally arrived at the second-highest platform.

  The Cat from the Book looked up at the top. The highest platform had been occupied by Fina, and it was a little far away from the second-highest platform. It was not sure whether it could jump to the top, since this platform was not large, and there was no room for it to have some area to run up. Besides, one layer of platform did not have enough room for two cats to lie on. So, instead of embarrassing itself again in front of Fina, it chose to stop there where it was closest to Fina.

  Suddenly, Snowy Lionet found a great advantage!

  Fina was lying on the highest platform, and its long tail was hanging down to the upper part of the second platform, swinging gently in a small range. Whenever Fina heard strange voices, smelled something peculiar, or encountered something or someone in its dream, its tail would tremble, become taut, or roll up.

  Snowy Lionet lay on the second-highest platform carefully. It was so glad to find that Fina’s tail was hanging so close before its eyes. Thought it couldn’t be with Fina on the same platform, it was satisfied to see Fina’s tail. It gazed at this tail fondly. Afraid of provoking Fina, it tried very hard to restrain its desire to lick the tail.

  It stuck its nose forward, and deeply sniffed at the tip of Fina’s tail, trying to firmly remember Fina’s body odor.

  Zhang Zian was amused by Snowy Lionet’s behaviors. What a persistent admirer! And what a pity that Fina did not like it back, Fina just regarded it as a servant and attendant.

  Richard flapped its wings and landed on Zhang Zian ‘s shoulder, saying enviously and regretfully, “True love!”


  “Yes, it is!” Zhang Zian agreed.

  “Just like what I said before…”


  “Shut up!”


  Zhang Zian had seen through its trick, and Richard could only bitterly swallow the latter part of that sentence.

  “Okay. I need to go out for a while, and I will be back soon.” Zhang Zian looked at his watch.

  “Bring my breakfast back.” Fina opened its eyes and reminded him.

  “Got it. And what about you, Snowy Lionet, you want to eat anything?” After all, the Cat from the Book was a virtual elfin, and he was not sure whether it needed to eat.

  Snowy Lionet was gazing at Fina’s tail infatuatedly, and it answered impatiently, “Of course, and I want fresh meat!”


  Just like the description in Chin Ping Mei.

  Both Galaxy and Snowy Lionet were virtual elves. But Galaxy didn’t need to eat, because in Schrodinger’s hypothesis, there was no description about its eating. Xiao Xiao Sheng from Lanling, the pseudonym of the author for Chin Ping Mei, had explicitly attributed Snowy Lionet with the property of favoring fresh meat, so when it became an Elfin, it still liked eating fresh meat.

  The fictitious setting would be extended into reality—a seemingly small detail, but Zhang Zian had also understood it, and he was content by it.

  He opened the shutter door, and the wind on this autumn morning blew in.

  “Ah-choo!”


  Richard, who was standing on his shoulder, sneezed.

  Zhang Zian frowned, “You don’t have avian influenza, right?”


  Richard raised a wing to wipe its nostrils and rebutted, “Nonsense! I am very healthy! It’s because your stupid place is too damn cold!”


  “Too cold? It’s only autumn. You will know what freezing is when winter arrives.” Zhang Zian waved at Richard, “Now get away from my shoulder. I’m going out.”


  “Quack! What a rude person!” Richard fluttered its wings and flew upwards, “Remember to bring delicious food back to me, like pistachios, pecans and walnuts. Don’t try to fool me with millet grains or dried corn!”


  “Just be grateful that you have something to eat!” Zhang Zian was about to leave the shop when he turned back and warned Richard, “Keep your mouth shut when people come to our shop. If you keep talking in this way, you may end up being dissected by the government for scientific research.”


  Zhang Zian also noticed one thing – when Galaxy, Fina and Old Time Tea talked, ordinary people like Wang Qian and Li Kun could only hear the common “meows” of cats. But when Richard said “butt buddies” to them yesterday, they heard the words clearly as what is was.

  What did that mean?

  It seemed that Richard’s apprehension went two ways. It could understand ordinary people’s words, and what it said was also understandable to ordinary people. Impressive!

  So it was an Elfin that could communicate normally with ordinary people?

  “Quack! Quack! I didn’t know you cared about me so much! Relax, I’m not that stupid! I know what I should say in front of different listeners. I’m an expert, you know?” Richard kept bragging about itself.

  It was giving Zhang Zian a headache. He didn’t expect that this loquacious bird could shut up at the right time, but he was hoping that its big mouth would not cause any serious trouble…


  He went out of the shop, pulled down the shutter door and locked it, leaving the noise of the Apprehensive Bird behind the door.