Chapter 220

"Is this the place?"

By an unnamed stream in Jing Shi, a man and a woman stood side by side—Ling Yue and Jun Jun; as she spoke, her brows lowered slightly, and her light-colored windbreaker inexplicably puffed out a big bunch, and when her words faded, the opened front revealed a fluffy little orange.

No, it should be a little orange head; it has a pair of pointed pink ears and big eyes—it's the milk kitten that was rescued earlier.

Perhaps it was because they had arrived at a familiar place and had drunk goat's milk to fill their stomachs; the little one was full of energy, kicking its little legs: "This is the place!"

"Mom is here, up ahead—humans, please help save my mom."

It recalled that scene, its soft body trembling.

Ling Yue rubbed its head, held its paw pad, and while walking listened to it recount what had happened before.

Jing Shi is huge—this has always been Ling Yue's impression.

The Mysterious Cat Queen had previously organized the stray cats in the city, but so far she had only managed a little over half the area; moreover, some strays are naturally timid, hiding here and there, and the mother of Xiao Chengzi is one of them.

Summer and autumn were still fine, but winter meant the end for the strays.

The temperature plummeted, and even the people who fed them became far fewer; they could only scavenge for food in trash bins, and many cats didn't even have a scrap of shelter.

Little Orange followed its mother; because it was a nursing mother cat, its strength couldn't compare to that of other male cats, but relying on maternal love it barely squeezed in—who would have thought that just as it had snatched a small fry, Little Orange was discovered by a nasty male cat.

"Yo yo yo, whose little cub is this? Chubby, greedy cat!"

"Don't, don't come over—my mom will grab you!"

The kitten's panicked cry made the cat mother instantly drop the fish; by the time she ran over, the nasty male cat had already fled.

"Orange, are you okay? Not hurt? Quick, let Mom take a look."

The kitten's fur puffed up from fright, looking exactly like a round, plump little orange. By the way, its name is Xiao Chengzi; according to the cat mother herself, oranges in the supermarket are expensive, many humans like them, and she hopes her Xiao Chengzi will someday find a good home.

The milk kitten understands nothing, lying on its mother's belly it says: "Mom, I want to stay with you; I don't want to be separated from you."

"You silly child."

The cat mother kept licking its body, found the child unharmed, and finally put her mind at ease.

But—

She slowly turned her head; the trash bin was already packed to the brim—not even a scrap of dried fish, let alone a grain of rice—and she lowered her head, her emaciated belly gurgling with hunger.

Little Orange, pressed against its mother's underside, also heard it; its ears twitched: "Mom, are we not going to have any food today either?"

"Let's go get some water."

But when they arrived at the small river they often visited, a expanse of glittering gold lay before them—the river water here had long since frozen into solid ice, and they couldn't drink any clean, warm water.

"Mom, are we going to starve to death? Just like Uncle Dian Dian."

That was a cat uncle who treated it very well—he wouldn't look at it with the greedy eye other cat uncles used when seeing food, which made it afraid; he would also tell it stories, recounting how bravely it caught mice, and then he sighed, looking at his own hind legs.

Uncle Dian Dian said, its leg was lame, and it could no longer catch mice.

Later, the exceptionally good Uncle Dian Dian suddenly disappeared.

It remembered that it had witnessed a heavy snowfall, icy cold white flakes falling from the sky, everywhere a blank expanse of white, and the milk kitten happily played for a long time.

Mom also froze in place, because winter had truly arrived.

Later, they found Uncle Dian Dian, lying on a pipe still emitting a bit of warm air, its fur damp and cold, adorned with transparent little ice chips.

Orange excitedly ran over and called out: "Uncle Dian Dian, Uncle Dian Dian, why are you sleeping here?"

"Uncle Dian Dian, why aren't you speaking?"

Behind it, the cat mother walked slowly, her eyes revealing an indescribable sorrow.

Its Uncle Dian Dian never woke up again.

Mom told it: "Uncle is hibernating; he's asleep—don't wake him, and in spring he'll wake up."

But it knew, having heard those bad uncles say, Uncle Dian Dian had already starved to death.

The kitten's words stabbed deep into the cat mother's heart; she lowered her head and licked the kitten's dull fur, feeling how its bones had hardened and protruded—though her offspring was already full-term, it had grown only a little since birth.

The cat mother shook her head, cradling it in her arms: "It won't happen!"

"As long as Mom is here, Orange will definitely not starve to death; Orange will surely grow up beautiful, find a human home, and then you'll be a lucky little cat with humans."

Little Orange blinked, not understanding why Mom was so fixated on humans; in its heart, being with Mom was the most important thing.

But the reality is, if they don't eat something soon, mother and child will both starve to death by the river.

Suddenly, the cat mother lifted her head and stared fixedly at the river surface; beneath the semi‑transparent ice, clusters of shadows appeared, and the hunting instinct buried in her bones awakened: "It's fish."

"Orange, wait for me on the shore—today's food is secured!"

Little Orange lay on the bank, looking blankly at its mother, then plopped onto the ice, stepped carefully, took a few steps, and warned the milk kitten on the shore.

The sun shone golden, Orange meowed in agreement with Mom's words, and it had always been the most obedient.

Fortunately, the temperature had plummeted, so this expanse of ice had formed only the previous night, making the ice thickness uneven; the cat mother cautiously probed, finally finding the thinnest spot, stepped on it, and it was still a bit thick.

It thought for a moment, then suddenly lay flat on the ice.

How cold!

The cold from the ice seeped into its bone crevices, making its body feel stiff, but its effort was quickly rewarded—the ring of ice around it melted.

It stood up, shook its fur, its stiff body showing no sluggishness, and began to trample frantically—not a random probe but a skillful stomp, each step using its full strength, arching its waist, paws down, carving out a round hole the size of a cat's head, which also served as a breathing hole.

Clear, shallow water appeared, oxygen flooding into the river, and the sealed‑off nearby fish schools instantly sensed it, shadows from all directions beneath the ice converging toward this spot.

"The kitten will be able to eat fish meat!"

The cat mother, truly a big shot, flicked out her sharp claws in a flash, zeroed in on a medium‑sized, just‑right big fatty fish, slapped it down with one paw—swift and accurate—launching it onto the ice.

The fish, its waist and body plump from three seasons' worth of nutrients, thrashed from lack of oxygen, and its blue‑green scales flashed blindingly in the sunlight.

"Orange, Mom caught a fish for you."

The little orange cat on the bank sprang up joyfully, so excited it ignored Mom's warnings and darted over; the thrill of the big fish meant nobody noticed that, beneath the ice, ever more fish were gathering near the narrow opening.

They kept butting their hard skulls upward, fighting for every wisp of oxygen, and the thin ice layer silently shattered in a web‑like crack.

"Crack!"

Thin ice collapsed; the nearest cat mother and little orange were the first to fall into the water, the bone‑chilling river water surged from all directions, the thick fur soaked up water, becoming heavy and icy.

Little Orange panicked and kept struggling, bobbing up and down, while the mother immediately hugged it, letting it lie on her head: "Don't be scared, don't be scared…"

Its voice came in broken bursts, near and far, its teeth chattering, it struggled forward in the icy water.

Chaos and despair, Orange recalled the situation, the air in its chest felt as heavy as cement; Ling Yue wanted to soothe its emotions, her fingers hovering mid‑air.

Who says animals don't feel sorrow and shed tears? What is she seeing now?

No time to linger, they had already arrived at the ice where the orange‑cat mother and child had fallen in, sweeping past, everything in view, glittering with golden light.

Suddenly, Ling Yue spotted a tiny yellow speck with her keen eyes—half its body in the water, drifting, half on the ice, looking nearly exhausted.

To be honest, Ling Yue had already guessed before arriving that things might be dire, but seeing the cat mother's desperate struggle still shocked her deeply once again.

"I saw your mother."

As she spoke, she was about to set down the little orange cat when a hand stepped in front of Ling Yue; she saw the boy's profile: "The ice is too thin—I'll rescue the cat."

Ling Yue almost forgot he was a big cat, and had no time to react—Jun Jun had already stepped onto the ice, his movements agile and nimble, making not a sound as he trod upon it.

In the blink of an eye, he had reached the orange‑cat mother's side.

A pair of warm hands suddenly lifted her from the water; the cat mother struggled to look up—it was a person, behind them a huge expanse of light, and in the orange cat's eyes a dazed thought rose: "Am I… in heaven?"

Immediately it realized what was happening, flailing with bared teeth and claws: "Save me! Don't come near! Don't come near! I still have Little Orange, I still have my kits to feed—don't take me to heaven, please!"

Its voice was hoarse, sounding even more like a heart‑rending wail, but to Ling Yue, who understood beast speech, it made her stare for a moment, then she burst out laughing.

Hahaha, it actually thought it was already dead.

Jun Jun beside her: "……"

How could I possibly be like those Western bird‑people!

Ling Yue's little Orange in her arms gasped with a meow: "Mom?"

What it didn't know was that, as a mother orange cat, the panel shown by Ling Yue indicated it was only a year and a half old—it itself was just a newly adult child.

Ling Yue immediately took the cat mother, used a technique to dry it, and then realized the mother and child were nearly identical—one just an enlarged version, the other a reduced version.

Whether out of embarrassment or something else, on the way back the cat mother stayed quiet, the nearly identical pair huddled together, Little Orange chattered away, telling it how she had met a kind soul who brought her to rescue her mother.

Cat mother: "Did we run into… a soft‑hearted deity?"

They settled in comfortably at the stray‑animal rescue center; Ling Yue began handling the aftermath, first taking in these poor cats, the center now on the right track.

After a period of training, many of the previous cats had been adopted, some could support themselves and were lent out for work, leaving many cages empty, which became the new homes for this batch of strays.

She partnered with the former pet hospital to have all the cats spayed or neutered; Ling Yue never spared expense in this regard.

After a major overhaul, it also cost her considerable effort.

Throughout, Jun Jun worked constantly by her side, like her right‑hand man; a glance from Ling Yue and he reacted instantly, their rapport flawless.

That day, Ling Yue went downstairs and absentmindedly scanned the lone sofa in the living room—no one… nobody?

She instinctively searched, still saw no familiar figure; Jun Jun had suddenly vanished, and Ling Yue first felt how stark the absence of a person in the house could be.

Where did he go?

As that thought surfaced, a squeaky voice came from behind: "Are you looking for Lord Jun Jun?"

Ling Yue turned her head; the treasure‑seeking rat Duo Duo wore a smile, and for some reason Ling Yue detected a hint of lecherousness in it, she narrowed her eyes: "You know?"

The treasure‑seeking rat Duo Duo bobbed its head like a chick pecking grain: "I know, I of course know!"

That expression was practically saying outright: "Come ask me, come ask me!"

Ling Yue lifted its butterfly‑knot tail: "Confess and be lenient, resist and be strict—tell me, where is Jun Jun?"

The flailing Duo Duo: "!"

I let my guard down—I actually didn't dodge!

As they spoke, a burst of footsteps sounded; Ling Yue glanced over, for a moment feeling her vision blur, she hastily scooped up the treasure‑seeking rat, placed it behind her, and asked hesitantly: "Jun Jun?",,,.