Chapter 14: Accident

Chapter 14: Accident

The school’s electric cart was a two-seater. Song Ji and Fei Yu met up, hopped on the cart, and headed toward the hospital.

Fei Yu sat on the back seat, holding the orange cat in his arms, whispering softly to comfort it.

Along the way, Jitui was feeling down, its furry head poking out of the backpack, chin resting on Fei Yu’s wrist, whimpering.

“Boss, my stomach hurts so bad, I think I’m dying.”

Fei Yu’s chest tightened, like it was stuffed with a wet cotton ball.

He fought back the sting in his eyes, leaned close to the orange cat’s ear, and whispered softly.

“No, no, the Cat God blesses every good little cat. Jitui is a good cat, so you’ll be fine…”

The electric cart sped past the garbage station outside the school, and a sudden thought flashed through Fei Yu’s mind.

Most students at A University were friendly to the little strays on campus, but that didn’t mean everyone meant them well.

Could someone have maliciously poisoned Jitui…?

Fei Yu’s face went pale, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.

His voice unconsciously tensed, lips trembling as he forced out the words one by one, softly: “Jitui, think carefully. In the past few days, has anyone fed you something strange?”

“I, I…” The orange cat’s eyes darted around, stammering and unable to speak clearly.

It hesitated for a long time, then under Fei Yu’s anxious gaze, whispered shamefully, “I was too hungry this morning, so I couldn’t help digging through the trash. I ate a piece of bread in there.”

Jitui shrunk its neck, its voice trailing off: “That bread was sour, not tasty at all.”

It wasn’t human poisoning.

Fei Yu breathed a small sigh of relief, but then felt both angry and pained by Jitui’s words.

The school cats were regularly fed by the Cat Association, so they never went hungry.

But this orange cat was too greedy—not satisfied with the Cat Association’s food and often pestered passing students for extra snacks.

Over time, it had become a sleek, well-fed, super-sized fat cat.

Obesity could lead to many feline diseases, so the Cat Association reluctantly reduced its food supply for the sake of Jitui’s health.

But Jitui couldn’t stand it and sneaked off to dig through the trash.

If Jitui said that, the bread was probably already moldy and spoiled, causing the stomach pain and vomiting.

Fei Yu asked again, “When did you eat it? Do you remember?”

Jitui thought for a moment and nodded honestly: “Right after the music from the speakers played the second time.”

“A few students ran past me at that time, so fast—they startled me and almost made me choke.”

The “speaker music” the orange cat mentioned was the school’s class bell, which the campus cats used as a time reference.

The second bell of the day meant around ten in the morning.

Fei Yu sighed, paused, then curled his finger and tapped the kitten’s nose, his soft voice helpless: “Don’t eat random stuff anymore, okay?”

“I won’t,” the orange cat shook its head, promising earnestly, “I really won’t ever again.”

Faint soft sounds drifted into his ears. The wind was too loud, so Song Ji didn’t catch what Fei Yu said, and assumed he was soothing the cat.

The average lifespan of a stray cat was only two or three years—suffering from hunger and cold, illness, constant anxiety, endless cycles of breeding…

Without human help, that summed up their lives.

Song Ji tormented himself with the thought: If he hadn’t found Pearl, would it have suffered the same?

Just the thought made his chest ache with a prickling pain.

The pet hospital was near A University, handling most of the sterilization for the school’s strays, so the staff were quite familiar with the campus cats.

The doctor had already received the call, and as soon as the two entered with the orange cat, she began the examination.

She carefully checked Jitui’s vital signs, lightly pressed its swollen belly, and her brows gradually furrowed.

The doctor said, “Jitui looks like it ate something it shouldn’t have.”

She looked up at the two, asking cautiously: “Do you know what it ingested? If we know, it’ll help a lot with the treatment.”

Song Ji shook his head: “Sorry, we’re not sure.”

The doctor realized that too—the strays on campus wandered unpredictably, so knowing exactly what they ate was unrealistic.

“It’s okay, it just means the little one will have to go through a bit more,” she comforted, then turned to signal the nurse. “Get ready, take the orange cat to the treatment room.”

Fei Yu froze for a second, then asked, “Trouble? What will happen to it?”

The doctor explained patiently: “If we don’t know what it ate, we can’t just give medicine blindly. We need to take X-rays first. If the cat hasn’t swallowed anything sharp, we can induce vomiting.”

“Inducing vomiting is rough on a cat. The medicine will make it nauseous, drool, and retch repeatedly. If it vomits something foreign, it’s fine. If not, we may need to consider surgery.”①

Fei Yu’s face went pale, and his lips trembled slightly.

Seeing the boy’s expression, the doctor gently reassured him: “You’ve done well. Getting it here in time saved it—it’s in good shape.”

Fei Yu looked worriedly at Jitui, whose whiskers were tense, moaning softly, and didn’t entirely buy the “good shape” assessment.

“Alright, you two wait over there. We’re starting treatment,” said the doctor.

As Jitui was about to be wheeled into the treatment room, Fei Yu gritted his teeth and, ignoring Song Ji beside him, suddenly blurted out, “Wait—I remember!”

“Jitui ate bread from the trash this morning. That bread was probably spoiled, causing the vomiting.”

Song Ji froze for a moment and shot Fei Yu a sharp glance, his eyes filled with shock and confusion.

He distinctly remembered Fei Yu had been at the coffee shop all morning.

How could he possibly know what Jitui had eaten?

The doctor didn’t notice the subtle tension, adjusted her glasses, and asked again: “Are you sure? Around what time?”

For Jitui’s safety, Fei Yu couldn’t worry about being found out. He steeled himself and answered, “Around ten o’clock. I’m sure.”

The doctor let out a sigh of relief and nodded to them: “Good. Knowing the specifics makes it much easier. Please rest assured, we’ll do everything we can to help.”

She told the nurse to get the tools ready, turned and entered the treatment room.

Suddenly, the corridor was empty except for the two of them.

For a moment, neither spoke, the silence so quiet it was unnerving.

Fei Yu lowered his head, able to hear his own heart pounding nervously in his chest.

After a long while, he mustered his courage and tentatively lifted his eyes, slowly glancing sideways.

Song Ji looked at him with a complex expression, his usually gentle eyes dark and cold, swirling with emotions Fei Yu couldn't read.

Fei Yu instantly lost his nerve and quickly looked away, silently staring at the floor.

A long time passed—or maybe just a few minutes.

Song Ji parted his lips, chose his words carefully, and said softly, "I'm not going to ask."

In those few minutes, Song Ji tried to talk himself into believing

that Fei Yu just happened to step outside the café, just happened to run into Drumstick, and just happened to see him eating something.

But his brain kept presenting clear evidence to the contrary.

He could replay every single move Fei Yu made at the café today in perfect detail.

When he smiled as he handed him the coffee, when he finished up and trotted over to his table to chat, when he served which customer...

Even some details—Fei Yu's smiles to customers were less genuine than the ones he gave him, and the mini cakes he gave the group across weren't as fancy as the one he gave him—he remembered it all clearly!

Song Ji hadn't even realized how closely he'd been watching Fei Yu's every move.

Everyone has secrets.

And the way Fei Yu was avoiding it was so obvious.

Song Ji understood that if he kept pressing, he'd be too insensitive, too pushy—overstepping the boundaries of friendship.

A faint sense of disappointment welled up inside him.

Given where they stood, he still hadn't earned the right to be let in deeper.

Move on, act like he didn't notice a thing—that was the unspoken understanding between adults.

Song Ji forced a smile and said casually, "We still have to wait. Why don't you sit down and rest? I'll go pay."

He started to walk away but was stopped short when someone suddenly grabbed his sleeve.

Song Ji turned around, startled, and saw the soft crown of Fei Yu's head.

They'd rushed over, so his usually neat hair was tousled by the wind, a few strands stubbornly sticking up.

After a long pause, Fei Yu finally looked up and said slowly, "Song Ji, do you believe..."

"...that there are people in this world who can understand what animals say."

"I am one of them."

Song Ji stood there, stunned, as Fei Yu's soft voice echoed in the hallway.

"The reason I knew is that on the way here, Drumstick told me himself."

Author's note:

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① The treatment details for Drumstick have been adapted for the story. In real life, always consult a doctor for specific cases.