Your Opinion Doesn't Count

Lu Linyuan had only mentioned it in passing. After all, it would still be a while before Ruanruan could be spayed. They had mainly come to the hospital to find out why she was retching and looking so miserable.

There was still a lot he didn't know about cats.

They ran every test, including bloodwork and X-rays. The results showed nothing seriously wrong; it might just have been a hairball or something.

"Cats like to groom themselves, so hairballs can easily form in their stomachs. Some cats vomit to get them out. If you're worried, you can get some hairball paste and give her a little regularly."

In short, it had been a false alarm.

Ruanruan thought they could leave, but Lu Linyuan stayed put and continued asking about spaying.

"For spaying, weight is important as well as age. The risks are a little higher for female cats than for males, since it's abdominal surgery. We'll need to see what condition she's in at the time before deciding what day to schedule the operation."

Listening to that made Ruanruan's head spin.

It wasn't that she was a coward. She just didn't think her luck was all that good. Female cats could die from being spayed, and it happened far more often than with males. She was afraid she would be the unlucky one.

Life was so good now that she was afraid her life would be cut short and she'd kick the bucket after only a few days of enjoying it. That would be far too tragic.

Whimpering, Ruanruan crawled around in Lu Linyuan's arms and buried her head against him. If he had been wearing a coat, she would surely have wriggled inside like a caterpillar and refused to come out.

Her fear was plain to see, and she was trembling a little, too.

Lu Linyuan thought she'd been frightened. After all, she'd just had a whole tube of blood drawn. Seeing a whole tube taken from such a tiny little thing made his heart ache, too.

His palm brushed gently over her back, and he lowered his head and said softly, "There, don't be scared. We're going home now." After finishing his conversation with the doctor, Lu Linyuan picked Ruanruan up and left.

His voice was gentler than usual, with a touch of soothing warmth.

In any case, it soothed Ruanruan's little feline heart at that moment, and she didn't seem quite so afraid anymore.

The moment they got home, Ruanruan was full of life again. As soon as Lu Linyuan put her down, she zipped through her cat flap into the cat room, then shot like a little cannonball onto the slide, the cat tree, and the shelves on the wall. The shelves were set at different heights, especially for her to do parkour on.

He opened the door to find Ruanruan bursting with energy and said helplessly, "Looks like I worried about you for nothing." With all that energy, she didn't look unwell in the slightest.

"Meow-" That's right, I'm in excellent health!

I'd have even more energy if you didn't spay me!

Seeing how happily Ruanruan was playing, he left the cat room, went to the study, and sat down to call his younger sister. After all, she had given Ruanruan to him, so he ought to take her opinion on spaying into account.

As soon as the call connected, Lu Linyuan got straight to the point without wasting words, telling her about having Ruanruan spayed when she was a little older.

Lu Yiyi shouted, "Brother, whatever you do, don't just go and have Ruanruan spayed! It's really risky for female cats. I saw several videos on the video channel of female cats dying after being spayed. It was terrifying! Some died from infections after surgery, and some died under anesthesia when vomit blocked their windpipes. It was really scary." She made it sound as horrifying as possible.

After listening, he paused and said, "It's that serious?"

"Yes! I'll send the videos to you on WeChat. See for yourself!" Then she sent her brother every video she had found of cats dying from spaying, all in one go.

Of course she knew that, for most cats, spaying was for their own good. But if that good came with a risk to the cat's life, it wasn't something an owner wanted to see.

The more you cared about a cat, the more afraid you were that something would happen to it.

Ruanruan especially was no ordinary cat. She was the cat her brother held at the very tip of his heart, so they should be even more cautious about spaying her.

"So you mean we shouldn't spay her?"

"Right, don't spay her!"

"It's rare for you to be so firm about something..." As her older brother, he suddenly found it a little strange, though he couldn't say why.

"I'm doing this for Ruanruan's sake."

"But if she goes into heat, the information I read says she could easily develop a uterine infection. That's risky too."

"That can be treated with medicine and IV fluids. If all else fails, she can be spayed then. Maybe Ruanruan's a little dummy who won't go into heat at all."

"That's childish talk. All right, I'll think it over some more myself. Let's leave it at that for now."

"Anyway, if you do have Ruanruan spayed, you have to tell me."

"I know."

After ending the call, Lu Linyuan still didn't know whether he should have her spayed. After all, everyone was afraid something dangerous might happen, but she could get sick if she wasn't spayed, too.

Just then, Ruanruan squeezed through the little cat flap at the bottom of the study door. In a few quick movements, she climbed his trouser leg and jumped onto his lap, rubbing her little head against his palm as usual.

"Meow~" What are you doing, young master?

Lu Linyuan lowered his eyes to Ruanruan, who was looking up at him, and murmured to himself, "What's your opinion on being spayed?"

"..." Ruanruan shuddered instinctively. My advice is obvious: don't spay me.

"Looks like you don't like it either."

"Meow!" That's right!

"Forget it. Your opinion doesn't count. You don't even know what spaying is."

"?" Then why did you ask me?!