The Blind Old Woman thought it was someone from the property management office again, but when she opened the door, she found it was her unfilial son.
What brings you here?
The Blind Old Woman should have been happy that her son came to visit, but for some reason, she had a bad feeling and felt uneasy.
"Come see Mom."
The son, waving his car keys, slipped past his mother and went inside. He tiptoed through the room filled with cardboard and plastic bottles, the warped, old floorboards creaking under his feet. He walked from the living room to the bedroom, then from the bedroom to the kitchen, and finally into the bathroom, saying as he urinated:
"Mom, do you know how much a cat costs online now?"
The Blind Old Woman's heart skipped a beat, and she said, "Didn't you take the cat away?"
"One hundred thousand!" The son shook his hips in front of the toilet, zipped up his pants, and came out without flushing. "What a pity, what a pity, I killed the cat too early last time. If it were now..."
He sighed, tilting his head to look at his mother with a half-smile, "Mom, did you get another cat?"
The Blind Old Woman quickly replied, "No, no, I can barely support myself, where would I find a cat?"
The son walked to the bed in the bedroom, yanked the sheet up, and bent down to look under the bed. He must have pulled too hard, because the draft he created kicked up a cloud of dust, making him cough repeatedly. He stood up, and, unwilling to give up, kicked a few shoeboxes under the bed. After waiting a while, seeing no movement, he disappointedly put the sheet down and said to his mother:
"Mom, if you see a stray cat, you should pick it up and keep it. One cat is worth a car!"
He probably thought the chances of finding a stray cat were too slim, and even he didn't believe it, so he jingled his keys and went out.
The Blind Old Woman asked him, "Aren't you eating here anymore?"
Her son said, "Forget it, let's go back and eat."
The Blind Old Woman breathed a sigh of relief that the little orange cat had escaped a disaster, but also felt a little disappointed. She said, "Didn't you come to see me? Why are you in such a hurry?"
The son stopped and turned around. Seeing the increasingly deep wrinkles on his mother's face, he seemed a little moved, then pouted and asked, "What's for dinner?"
The Blind Old Woman smiled, just as she had smiled when she was young and saw her even younger son come home from school. Back then, she would wait at the door every hour, watching her son skip home from the alleyway with his schoolbag slung over his shoulder, shouting as soon as he saw her, "Mom, what's for dinner?"
"What does your kid want to eat? I'll go buy it." That's what she always said before, and that's what she still says now, even though she doesn't have much money in her pocket.
The son said, "Forget it, Mom, I'll go buy it. You just cook and wait for me."
The Blind Old Woman was a little surprised. Over the years, apart from coming to ask for money, her son rarely bought anything on his own initiative. She couldn't help but suspect that the boy had incurred gambling debts again, but even so, she didn't have any money to give him right now.
Perhaps her son has matured! she thought. Her son was very sensible when he was little; if he hadn't become addicted to gambling, he wouldn't be like this now.
The Blind Old Woman felt a surge of joy. Indeed, what could be more joyous and blissful than a prodigal son returning to his mother's embrace?
She grabbed two handfuls of rice from the rice bin and put them in the washing basket. Remembering the kitten under the bed, she grabbed another handful. But then she couldn't help but worry. Her son was eating at home, and the cat would get hungry eventually. When it was hungry, it would meow and might even crawl out. If her son found it then, he would definitely try to get rid of it. She heard that the price had risen to 100,000 yuan. 100,000 yuan! That's no small amount of money.
The Blind Old Woman retrieved the shoebox from under the bed where she had hidden the cat. Opening the lid, the cat timidly peeked out, looking around for a moment before meowing and emerging from the box, rubbing against the Blind Old Woman's feet. The Blind Old Woman then instructed it:
"My son is coming in a little while. You stay hidden in the box, and whatever you do, don't come out."
The cat was about to meow again, so the Blind Old Woman pressed its head down to stop it. Afraid it hadn't understood what she'd just said, she threatened, "My son will do anything for money. If he finds out, he'll kill you. Who told you to be so valuable!"
The cat seemed to understand, cowering inside the box, peeking out half its head and looking pitifully at the old woman. The Blind Old Woman closed the lid, pushed the box further inside, and used two other empty boxes to block it, before finally going to wash the rice with peace of mind.
The meal was ready, and the Blind Old Woman's son returned, carrying several food boxes. He said, "Mom, look, there's braised pig's head, roast duck, vegetarian goose, and spiced tofu—all your favorites."
"Good, good!" The Blind Old Woman was overjoyed and hurriedly wiped the table, watching her son open the food boxes one by one and spread them out on the table.
She said, "I'll go get the rice."
The son said, "Mom, please sit down, I'll do it."
The Blind Old Woman was helped to sit down by her son. She was both happy and nervous, and asked, "You're not thinking of selling my house again, are you?"
The son served the rice, then took two pairs of chopsticks, handing one pair to his mother and saying, "That's not true! Besides, if I sold your house, my sister would tear me apart!"
The Blind Old Woman said, "You didn't conspire to trick me, did you?"
"I can't reason with her!" The son huffed and puffed down a few mouthfuls of rice. Seeing that his mother hadn't touched her chopsticks, he picked up two slices of roast duck, dipped them in sauce, put them in a thin pancake, wrapped them with scallions, and handed it to her, saying, "Mom, you eat."
Seeing that her son didn't seem to be faking it, the Blind Old Woman took the food without worry, put it in her mouth and chewed it slowly, her face beaming with a happy smile.
She had barely taken a few bites when there was another knocking at the door. The Blind Old Woman went to open it and saw that the property management staff had arrived again, followed by a group of people, the one in the lead being the old man she had met by the trash can.
The Blind Old Woman asked, "What are you doing?"
The property management said, "They said you have a cat, and they insisted on coming over to see."
The Blind Old Woman said, "I don't own a cat."
The old man said, "I heard her say with my own ears that the kittens were lucky. At that time, she found a box of food. What else could it be but raising a cat?"
The Blind Old Woman said, "You can't just make things up without evidence."
The old man said, "You'll know once you go inside."
The Blind Old Woman panicked a little and looked at the property management staff. The staff member shrugged and said, "This is public opinion, it's none of my business."
Seeing that the property management staff didn't care, the others became aggressive and started shouting that they wanted to go in and see.
The Blind Old Woman's son came out, his face stern, and said, "Who dares to come in? This is trespassing, which is illegal. If this were United States, I could shoot you all on the spot!"
When they saw the old woman's son at home, and seeing his aggressive attitude, their momentum waned. The old man said, "Your mother's cat poses a threat to the safety of the residents in our community. On behalf of the homeowners' committee, I demand that she hand over the cat."
The son said, "You want me to hand it over so you can exchange it for money? Even if I did, I wouldn't give it to you! Go ahead and go find the police, let them search us!"
The Blind Old Woman's son argued with them for a while, but they lost and dispersed. The son then went back inside with the Blind Old Woman to eat, saying, "Mom, don't be afraid of them; they have no right to enter your room."
The Blind Old Woman said, "Yes, yes, thank goodness you were here, otherwise the kitten would have..."
She knew she'd said the wrong thing as soon as she opened her mouth, but her son just chuckled and said, "Mom, you should keep the kitten. It'll be good to keep it, it'll be good to keep it!"
The Blind Old Woman, thinking her son had truly changed his ways, happily exclaimed, "You agree to let me keep a cat?"
The son said, "I agree, why wouldn't I! What a pity about that cat... I reckon the price for killing a cat will go up. Right now it could buy a car, and in a while it might even buy a house. Let's keep it for now, Mom, you're right, let's keep it for now..."