Meng Yan's Transformation

Zhan Mengyan grinned and said, "Li Sanqiang, are you so curious about why our homeroom teacher Zhang Deren treats me like this?"

"Classmate Zhan Mengyan, I'm not particularly curious. I just care about my classmates and want to stand up for you. I'm not a good student, but I'm a righteous person. I want to speak out when I see unfair and unjust things." Li Sanqiang replied.

Zhan Mengyan looked at Li Sanqiang with disdain and said, "We have to go back to the street together anyway, so I'll tell you a story my aunt told me when I was a child. You'll understand after listening to the story."

When Li Sanqiang heard that Zhan Mengyan was going to tell him a story, he was extremely excited and said like a child, "I have liked listening to stories since I was a child, especially myths or folk stories. Anyway, I like to listen to whatever you tell. Please tell me now."

Zhan Mengyan just kept telling the story: "Once upon a time, there lived a family in a village on the south side of a mountain. There were only an old couple and they made a living by working for the rich man. One day, the old man went to work for the rich man, and the old woman was spinning cotton at home. While she was spinning, a cat jumped to the side of the cotton spinning wheel. When the old woman saw the cat, she put down her work. She saw that the cat's eyes were like a child's eyes, shining with water, and its body was delicate, white and tender, very cute. Suddenly the cat spoke: 'Old mother, please, take me in as your son.' The voice was desolate and sad. The old woman felt sorry for him. Thinking that she had no children around her, having a talking cat could also relieve her anxiety, so the old woman took the cat in. It was time for lunch, and the old woman asked the cat to go to the rich man's house to call his father back for dinner. The cat jumped out and turned into a handsome young man. The old woman saw him through the window and was surprised and happy. She thought that Congcheng was a god who had given them a son. The cat walked into the rich man's house and happened to meet the rich man's daughter combing her hair at the door of the main hall. The rich man's daughter kept looking at him and fell in love with him. She told her mother that she must marry this young man. Her mother also thought that the cat was handsome, so she told the rich man about it. The rich man had no choice but to agree to their request and find the old farmhand to promise the marriage. After getting married, the couple loved each other, worked hard, were kind, and respected the elders of both families. Three years later, they gave birth to a pair of children who were very smart and lovable. The cat boy's parents no longer had the worries of the past, and they lived a very happy life. One night, the cat boy got drunk and told his wife the truth. It turned out that he was a cat spirit. Because he opposed the drought that God had brought to the people, God sent soldiers to capture him. Fortunately, he was taken in by this kind old couple and was spared the disaster. The cat boy also told his wife that his cat skin was a treasure. Without it, he could not become a human. If the gods in heaven saw the cat skin, he would surely die. His wife wanted to see his cat skin, but he refused to give it to her no matter what. Once, the cat boy went to work in the fields. Driven by curiosity, his wife found the cat skin. When she took it in her hand and looked at it curiously, she heard a thunder and the cat skin disappeared. The wife was so scared that she didn't know what to do. She went out and stood at the entrance of the village waiting for her husband to come back. She waited and waited for 49 days, but her husband didn't come back. It turned out that the cat skin was seen by the clairvoyant who patrolled the world and told the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor ordered the Thunder God to take the cat skin away. The cat boy died and never came back. When the cat boy's parents found out, they shouted: Daughter-in-law! It was your curiosity that killed your cat husband. Later, this matter spread, and from then on there was a saying that "curiosity kills the cat."