Chapter 76: Kitten

, humans shrunk to 1/100 size

This soft, delicate meow came from under the door crack, clearly drilling into everyone's ears.

「Click…… click click……」

Afterwards, a series of scratching sounds on the door rang out.

「This…… is a cat? 」

「Judging by the sound, it seems to be a kitten. 」

Zhao Xiao Yan's family kept several cats, so she naturally knew cat sounds and habits well.

「What should we do? 」

「It probably can't get in. 」

「Obviously it can't get in. 」

「……」

The cat outside kept meowing while continuing to scratch the door with its paws.

From under the door crack, one could clearly see a huge shadow flashing back and forth outside.

The next moment.

A fluffy paw appeared under the door crack.

Unfortunately the gap was still too small; its paw couldn't reach in, and then it moved its nose closer.

By then everyone had already retreated to the room's doorway, but they still instinctively bent over to look outside.

A pink little nose.

Orange-yellow little paws.

Obviously.

This is a kitten about two to three months old.

The happiest cats in the world are probably the stray cats on campus, showered with countless affection; a group of female students, even skipping lunch, will provide tasty food and drink for the cats. Look, the orange cats near the cafeteria are as big as tigers; after eating their fill, they lie by the roadside, allowing passing students to pet them.

Ziwei High School also has a rule against feeding stray cats, but it is equally hard to enforce fully.

Therefore, a stray kitten suddenly showing up in such a place is not really strange.

However, this kitten, for some reason, seems stubbornly determined to get inside.

If it were before, upon seeing such a kitten, Zhao Xiao Yan, a cat-loving girl, would surely shout, "What a cute kitten, I really want to pet it!" and then rush over to pet it furiously.

But now, who pets whom is uncertain.

Even such a kitten now appears as a colossal beast, its threat level comparable to that of a mouse.

In fact.

Nowadays, for humans, the biggest threats remain various insects and mice; even larger creatures like cats and dogs, due to their huge size difference, are not easily noticed unless they are right under our noses.

But there are still some exceptions.

For example, a running dog might accidentally trample a person to death.

Another example is a kitten with great curiosity and a tendency to meddle.

At this moment, everyone clearly encountered the second situation.

「When will it leave? 」

The twelve of us didn't even dare to breathe, staying still in place, afraid to make any movement that might further arouse the interest of this broken cat.

However, after almost ten minutes.

The kitten still had no intention of leaving.

「By the way, is there something here attracting it? 」

「Kittens have lots of energy, and their interests are unpredictable; a ball of yarn can keep them entertained all day, so maybe they find this door gap interesting. 」

Zhao Xiao Yan, the most experienced cat-raiser present, gave it some thought, but the result was no different from saying nothing; of course it's not her fault—anyone who dares claim to understand a cat will get slapped in the face by it right away.

Although everyone was nervous, hearing the cat's meow, most people, especially the girls, still felt their hearts melt, wanting to rush forward and hug the kitten for a good rub.

It is said that cats' meows evolved later to imitate infants' cries, in order to attract attention from humans.

Zhao Xiao Yan, idle, mentioned this useless piece of knowledge.

Qian Fei suddenly asked, "Could it be that they smelled the food here?"

「Seasoning packets? 」

「No. 」

Chen Mu shook his head: "From the start I've sealed the seasoning packets in many plastic bags, and each time Du Jia Jia finishes using them, I reseal them, checking repeatedly, just to avoid attracting reptiles or the like, so there shouldn't be any problem."

Zhao Xiao Yan also nodded: "Yes, I can hardly smell anything now; the kitten outside probably doesn't have a stronger sense of smell than mine."

Wei Dalei said sternly: "Or should I go chase it away?"

「Don't. 」

Zhao Xiao Yan hurried to stop him, perhaps because she didn't want to see either the cat or Wei Dalei get hurt.

Wei Dalei was obviously just talking; he's not so stupid as to actually fight a cat now.

"Let's just wait; after all, we're not in a hurry to go out either." Dong Junwei said somewhat helplessly.

「I'm just afraid it'll keep coming back often. 」

「Besides, if there's a kitten, does that mean there's also a big cat around? 」

「Will the cat eat us? 」 Sun Yuan asked tremblingly.

「Maybe; even if it doesn't eat us, such a kitten would probably play us to death……」

「But compared to being eaten by a centipede, I think being eaten by a cat would still be acceptable. 」 Chang Junyan's thoughts took a strange turn again.

「No, it's better to stay alive. 」

Nonsense?

Little Kitten lingered, not leaving; we couldn't keep holding on like this forever. Fortunately, the other side couldn't come in, so we relaxed a bit and gradually loosened up, chatting.

After a while.

The sound outside stopped abruptly.

Left?

Want to go out and have a look?

Better not.

Sun Yuan, listen to see if it's still there.

Sun Yuan focused his energy, held his breath and listened intently for a moment, then shook his head: 'No sound; I don't know if it left or is resting. If it's lying still outside the door, I wouldn't hear it either.'

Forget it for now; anyway, we don't need to go out recently.

The kitten affair was just a false alarm.

Everyone rested a whole day, and both spirit and stamina recovered well.

Chen Mu got up in the morning and went to look at the reservoir.

He worried that the outlet of the water diversion project would be damaged by yesterday's cat, went over to inspect, and then felt relieved.

Obviously.

Cats aren't that interested in inanimate objects.

He Ying didn't go out today, but instead ran a few laps in the room; fortunately the place is big enough, running along the wall makes a long distance.

You didn't go out today, did you? Chen Mu, fearing she would go out again to fetch dew to wash her face.

Since then, He Ying actually asked Chen Mu for a bucket, and every morning she would fetch some dew and bring it back for everyone to wash their faces.

Because of this, He Ying's favorability among everyone surged.

I'm not stupid either.

He Ying gave him a look.

Because of the cat incident, now nobody even dares to get close to the doorway, fearing a furry paw might suddenly reach in and drag them out.

Chen Mu laughed: 'I'm afraid you won't be able to resist going to look at that cat.'

Looking at everyone's performance yesterday, probably aside from Zhao Xiao Yan, He Ying likes cats the most; plus she's always confident in her abilities, she might really go out, driven by curiosity, to see what that little milk kitten looks like.

Speaking of this, thinking that we can't keep pets anymore, it's indeed quite regrettable.

Have you ever kept any pets? Chen Mu asked.

No, I've always wanted to keep a cat, but my family doesn't allow it, so that's regrettable; I never had one before, and now I have no chance either, unlike Zhao Xiao Yan, who at least still has some nice memories.

He Ying sighed, rarely showing a disappointed expression.