my friend is a stray cat

Chapter 18

The owner of the hardware store still hated the cat for taking his skateboard away. Seeing Cheng Hui sitting motionless behind the door, he stood with his hands on his hips at the door and looked at him, as if cursing in some dialect , with a fierce look on his face.

Cheng Hui felt the other party's dislike, so he blinked at the boss, got up before the other party was about to wave a broom to drive him away, took two steps back and ran away, making a big circle around and back to the hardware store. Behind him, he looked up and saw A Ye lying on a narrow window sill, facing the window glass, his ears were shaking, he didn't know what he was doing.

Cheng Hui dropped the dandelion and ran over, jumped onto the window sill in two or three steps, and started yelling before he could stand still: "Aye, Aye, Douding is gone, I have been waiting at the door of the hardware store for a long time..."

Cheng Hui paused in the middle of speaking, because when he turned his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of the glass beside him. Apart from his shadow reflected on the glass, there seemed to be a large piece of yellow substance stuck to the other side of the window glass. Leaning over to take a closer look, he exaggeratedly sighed: "Mom."

Douding was pressing his face firmly against the other side of the window glass, and the warm air exhaled from his nose left a small cloud of water mist on the window glass.

"Cheng Hui... I'm here..." Douding said, the voice coming through the window was muffled.

Cheng Hui pressed his forehead against the windowpane, and through the glass he saw various kinds of wood and hardware fittings piled up in the room, which looked like a small warehouse, the whole room was crowded and dark, with Douding's red water bowl and food bowl don't match this room.

"Why are you here? Why aren't you guarding the door?" Cheng Hui asked, "Are you sick? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"No..." Douding sighed, and the area of ​​water mist on the glass became larger, "I was grounded."

"Did you commit a crime?" Cheng Hui asked.

"No." Douding sighed again, and changed his posture, "I heard from my master that the government is sending people to deal with stray dogs in the city recently, so he locked me up first."

"But you are not a stray animal, you are a domestic dog." Cheng Hui said.

Douding lamented in a long voice: "But I don't have a dog certificate! If I sit in front of the store brazenly, I may be investigated, and if it is found that I don't have that certificate, I may be arrested..."

Cheng Hui looked at A Ye. As a cat that doesn't need sex, he didn't know much about this kind of thing, so he asked him, "Really?"

Ah Ye nodded.

"If you don't have that kind of thing, you can't even go out?" Cheng Hui asked again.

"There is no such thing as a dog certificate that is against the rules. Douding lives in the world of humans, and he can only choose to abide by the rules set by them." A Ye explained, and then he turned to Douding and asked: "Then this How does your master plan to solve this matter?"

"This... I actually don't know what he thinks." Douding thought for a while, "If the matter of catching the dog is over in two days, I can go out and play. Still advancing, the owner might give me a dog license, after all, it’s not an option to keep me here forever, but it’s not up to me to decide whether to do it or not, I can only wait.”

"It seems that you have been wronged for a while." Ah Ye said.

Douding whined twice, and pressed his nose against the window glass, his black nose being squeezed and deformed by the window glass and his grievance at the moment.

Ah Ye thought about it, and suddenly asked: "It's almost winter, why do you suddenly have to manage stray dogs? I remember it was in the early spring."

Douding raised his nose, "I really know that."

"How to say?"

Douding said: "I heard what my master said while chatting. I don't know if it's true or not. Anyway, the cause seems to be the two big dogs who quarreled across the road last time. They and their master quarreled intermittently for two streets that day. Then I don’t know who loosened the dog’s chain first, and the big dog rushed out like crazy, and then caused innocent humans to be injured, including a child, and then this matter was exposed by the news, and then , The action of checking dog certificates and catching stray dogs has begun."

"If they want to deal with stray dogs..." Cheng Hui asked Ah Ye: "Those dogs in the second block should be dealt with. Is this a little good for us?"

"Not necessarily." Ah Ye pointed to the window glass, "But then again, do you want to teach Douding how to open the window? You are the best at this kind of thing."

Cheng Hui looked up at the window in front of him, then shook his head, "This kind of window structure is too old, and I've never seen that kind of lock before, so I can only guess... Douding, why don't you try left and right? Give it a spin?"

"Forget it." Douding shook his head, "I'm not as flexible as you guys, and I'll be beaten if I break it."

Ah Ye said: "Then there is no other way, you have to endure it for a few days, your master will never keep you locked here forever."

Douding groaned twice again, and slid down from the windowpane. Cheng Hui leaned against the glass and looked in. He saw Douding spread himself out on the ground and merged with the surrounding pile of yellow wood.

When Cheng Hui turned his head again, he found that A Ye had already jumped off the window sill, and he also jumped off the window sill to follow, asking, "Maybe what did you mean just now? Wouldn't it be a good thing for us to have no stray dogs?"

"For me, it's not a good thing." Ah Ye said, bypassing the alley, walking along the edge of the road with Cheng Chen, crossing the overpass and walking a certain distance, just in time to see the van catching dogs, with a dull The sound of dogs barking came from the van.

Across the road, Cheng Hui saw the whole process of catching dogs for the first time. Two humans wearing thick protective cotton pads were holding a long pole with an iron ring in their hands, and a dog was tied around their waists. Net bag.

Cheng Hui saw a wild dog that was blind in one eye running around in front of the two of them, but it might be because one eye couldn't see well, so he was finally wrapped around his neck by an iron ring, and Cheng Hui heard him howling, but The sound didn't come out completely, as if it was restrained in his throat by the iron ring, and then the wild dog was put into a net bag, carried into the van, and became one of the muffled dogs barking, to meet his completely unknown fate .

At this time, Ah Ye continued to explain: "Stray dogs are indeed a threat to stray cats, even a fatal threat, but for me, they are indispensable."

Cheng Hui looked back at A Ye, "Why?"

"Because of the existence of these wild dogs, I and those of the same kind in the third block can maintain a relationship that is both antagonistic and unified." A Ye said: "Those cats hate me, but when we have a common enemy, there will be a short-term Yes, the opportunity to live in harmony, the three blocks can maintain a temporary balance. But if the second block becomes clean, there is not even a stray dog, then... I will become the common enemy of the rest of the cats."

Cheng Hui was stunned for a while after listening, then nodded slowly, "I understand."

Ah Ye watched the van drive away slowly.

"But Ah Ye, what should we do now?" Cheng Hui asked.

"Two dogs must be kept." Ah Ye replied, "At least two."

Cheng Hui's eyes widened, "Are you going to rob that van?"

Ah Ye turned his head and looked at the other party, "Robbing the van, am I crazy?"

"Then how do you protect it?" Cheng Hui asked.

"See if there are any wild dogs left on the opposite side." A Ye replied: "If there are no... just grab two from other places and stuff them in."

Cheng Hui's eyes opened wider, "Is this okay?"