Sitting in the Golden Cup Bread van, Zhang Zian headed in the direction of the pet shop.

  The van traveled very slow, slower than usual. It was often honked at by other vehicles at the back of the car, urging him to go quickly and not hold up traffic.

  He is very calmly ignoring these horns – you have the ability to overtake, why should you care so much about me? I am going to travel at this speed no matter how many times you honk at me.

  Especially when he is making a turn, he took the principle of ‘look left, look right then proceed’ to the extreme. He will rather play it safe and was driving with a great amount of caution.

  He was so careful because although the tires of this car were changed recently, he still could not trust them.

  It was also because he drove slowly, that when he was close to the pet shop, he noticed that there was a cardboard box by the side of the road.

  It’s no surprise that there are cardboard boxes on the side of the road.

  However, the problem is – he also saw a grandmother riding an old small tricycle. She was riding very slowly, and there is a Pomeranian in the tricycle basket. With it, there were some empty bottles and waste cardboard boxes. She was obviously an elderly that regularly scavenges for recyclables. The grandmother also saw the cardboard box, and she had no reason not to pick it up having seen it.

  As expected, she stopped the tricycle, patted the Pomeranian’s head as a way to tell it to stay put, not to run away and not to bark. Then, she walked over and picked the cardboard box.

  Everything is logical up to this point.

  However, when she bent over to pick up the cardboard box, she appeared to be astonished by what she found. She waved the cardboard a little before placing it back down. She had a difficult look on her face, and she looked around as if looking for help.

  Zhang Zian can turn a blind eye to this, but it is now noon, and there is no pedestrian on the road. The grandmother seems to need help, so he stepped on the brakes.

  The Golden Cup Bread Van that was already traveling at turtle speed stopped at the roadside and parked very close to the grandmother’s tricycle.

  Zhang Zian got off the van, went over and asked, “Grandma, are you feeling alright?”


  The old grandmother turned her head slowly. There were patches of stitched cloth on her clothes, but she was not dirty or stinky.

  Zhang Zian seems to have seen her somewhere, perhaps when he usually passes by the area.

  The Pomeranian in the tricycle barked twice, thinking he was a bad person.

  “Ah…… I’m fine. I’m fine.” Grandma gently rubbed her chest and pointed to the cardboard box on the floor. “I was shocked when I was about to pick up the cardboard box. It suddenly moved. It seems like there is something inside. Perhaps a living thing……”


  Living thing?

  Zhang Zian looked down and stared at the cardboard box.

  This is obviously a courier box, about 30cmX30cmX60cm in size. There is still a courier seal that has not been torn off on the upward side. As for the sender, the recipient, and the contents, it had already been blurred off.

  Just as he watched the box, the cardboard box moved again. He was taken a little by surprise and stepped backward.

  The Pomeranian barked even more, but it was left in the tricycle and couldn’t do anything other than calling.

  “Young man, be careful……” Grandma was worried and said, “I have been picking garbage for more than ten years. Many people throw anything and everything. I heard that some people raise snakes or poisonous spiders, and then after a while, they don’t want to raise them. The poisonous spider is very big. You have to be careful……”


  She was worried about Zhang Zian. What if he opens the cardboard box and suddenly a poisonous snake or poison spider bites him?

  Zhang Zian also has the same concerns.

  It’s like……

  Like…… What is it……

  There is a noun buried in the depths of his mind, but he can’t remember what it is at this moment. The general idea is…… Before you open this box, you never know what is inside.

  “We still have to open it and see if there is anything dangerous inside. What if it hurt someone else?” he said.

  “That is true…… but in any case, be careful!” said the grandmother.

  She hurriedly hobbled back to her tricycle and pulled out a pair of dirty cloth gloves. She was embarrassed to hand them to him. “Would you like to wear gloves? It will, in some way, protect you……”


  Zhang Zian accepted her kindness, put on her gloves, and said, “You stand back a little. I am afraid that I will hit you when I dodge.”


  “Alright.”


  The old grandmother took a few steps back and was so worried that she broke out in a cold sweat.

  This cardboard box does not open from the top, but two boxes are cupped together from the top and bottom. To see what is inside, the top box must be lifted up.

  Zhang Zian carefully lifted the top box but did not completely remove it. He only revealed a narrow gap, so if there is some dangerous animal inside, he can immediately close the box.

  Judging from the movements of the animal inside, it is not very small, so it should not be able to emerge from this narrow gap.

  He glanced into the dark gap using the midday sunlight.

  The unknown thing hidden in the black box may be anything. However, if he can just get a look at what it is, then……

  Then what is it?

  He can’t remember, but he has already seen something, and so there was not further guessing needed.

  Inside is a pair of shiny eyes.

  He recognized it at once; this is a cat’s eyes. There will be no mistakes. If he, as a pet shop’s son, cannot make out a pair of cat’s eyes, he can go ahead and call it a day.

  The eyes, shining in the dark box, was silver-gray in color. However, beneath those eyes lies a deep bottomless fear and a desire for light.

  “Meow……”


  It whispered quietly in the box as if to say: let me out.

  Zhang Zian’s mind suddenly seemed to be hit hard by something, and all the blood in his body suddenly rushed to his head. His whole body was in a state of rigidity as if two waves of turbulence had collided in his mind.

  “Young man, what’s inside…… the box?” The Grandma was worried. Even though he kept her away, but she watched him standing stiff as a rod and came over to pat him on the shoulder.

  Zhang Zian came back to his senses and quickly said, “It is not a dangerous animal. It is a cat.”


  With that, he opened the box.

  A black and white bicolor kitten cringed in the corner of the cardboard box and squinted its eyes in the face of strong sunlight.

  “Yeah! It turned out to be a kitten! It made me worry for such a long time!”


  The old grandma laughed, sighed, and said, “The older the person, the smaller the size of their courage! Sigh, I am not longer useful……”


  With that, she turned to her tricycle, walked towards it, and slowly got on the seat.

  “This cat……” Zhang Zian turned around and said.

  The old grandmother turned back, looked at Pomeranian in her tricycle with love, and said, “I, with one puppy, am finding it difficult to raise it properly. The cat, if you like it, take it home…… the weather is getting colder by the day. If it’s staying here, it’s going to be bullied. I’ve heard that some little punks like to torture cats…… If you can’t raise it, then there’s no other choice but to leave it. However, don’t cover the box, maybe If a good person sees it, he will take it home.”


  When she finished, she slowly went away in her tricycle.

  The Pomeranian no longer barked. It kept looking back at him, with…… that cat.