Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

"Ah, I'm finally back to the place I've been thinking about day and night. Dongqiang Town is still the most comfortable place!"

The fog was thinned by the sun, and the bluestone road was warmed by the sun. Even the pads of your paws felt warm when you stepped on it.

"Oh, I'll be able to meet the boss's mother-in-law soon. What should I say then? I'll tell her I met his sister, Mother-in-law Yin..."

"Isn't that figure my mother-in-law?"

Bai Tang ran forward two steps and suddenly stopped - the shadow of the old locust tree in front fell on the ground, and its branches were much denser than when he left. The person sitting on the bamboo bench under the tree, her silver hair swaying gently in the wind, was the owner's mother-in-law.

"Grandma, I miss you so much..."

His throat tightened and he was about to shout when he saw the needle and thread in his mother-in-law's hand fall onto the cloth with a "click".

When my mother-in-law looked up at me, her eyes were stunned at first, then moistened. However, she did not respond with a smile as before, but only asked in a trembling voice:

“…Is it white sugar?”

"It's me, grandma."

Bai Tang rushed over and squatted beside the stool, looking up at the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, which were exactly the same as in the memory.

"I am back."

My mother-in-law reached out to touch his head, and when her fingertips touched his soft fur, her knuckles suddenly trembled.

"..."

She didn't rub his fur like she used to, but just touched it gently, and then sighed after a while:

"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."

"Did you hear any noise?"

There was a "bang" sound in the room, and then two small figures broke open the wooden door and rushed out.

Tofu was holding a half-cleaned earthenware pot, and Tangyuan was clutching a rag. When they saw him, their eyes lit up:

"Sugar!"

"Bai Tang, you're back!"

The two little guys clung to his arms, one on each side. Tofu put the pot against the wall and asked anxiously:

"Where have you been? Brother Mo Yun has been squatting by Yuan Chu Luo for a while now, and he didn't respond when we called him."

Tang Yuan also nodded and said in a crisp voice:

"Grandma told us not to quarrel, so we helped sweep the yard every day and even hid the rice cakes you used to love to eat in the jar."

"Wait, you knew where I was a while ago? You came to Yuanchu Luo's place and saw me?"

At this moment, Mo Yun heard the sounds of tofu and glutinous rice balls, and a strange feeling came over his mind. At this moment, he didn't even know how much time had passed...

Bai Tang felt warm in his heart and patted them on the back:

"I went somewhere and now I'm back."

He turned to look at the troupe owner's mother-in-law, who was looking down at her needlework, with her white hair on her temples stained with locust petals. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she whispered:

"Mother-in-law, I know Sister Xiaoqing is in Shenzong, Wusong has returned to Dazong, and Dafei has also returned to Changzong - Brother Moyun told me on the way, they are all fine."

The mother-in-law paused while picking up the needle and thread. Without looking up, she just said "hmm":

"They all returned to their own sects. A few days ago, they sent someone to bring a letter saying that everything was fine."

She threaded the needle through the cloth, sewed two stitches and then said,

"Are you...feeling better?"

"A lot!"

Bai Tang wagged his tail, remembering what Mo Yun had said on the way, and quickly added,

"I was just entangled in chaos before, so I slept for a while. Now that I'm awake, I'm fine."

He didn't say that he "died once" - Mo Yun said that his mother-in-law knew it, but didn't point it out, probably because she was afraid that he would feel upset.

"That's really great..."

Just now on the way, he was still thinking about how to smile naturally when he got back, but when he squatted in front of his mother-in-law and smelled the familiar soapberry scent on her, he felt that there was no need to pretend, and the panic in his heart had long since dissipated.

"Rest when you get back."

Grandma finally raised her head and smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes curved up.

"The rice cakes are warming on the stove, and I'll have the tofu dumplings brought to you."

"I'm going, I'm going!"

Tofu pulled Tangyuan and ran to the kitchen. The footsteps of the two little guys echoed in the yard.

"Hmm? This thing... I don't think I've ever done it before seeing my mother-in-law?"

Bai Tang sat down next to the bamboo stool and watched her mother-in-law sew the cloth in her hand - it was a piece of white velvet with fine stitches, and it looked like it was going to be a small cushion.

"Is grandma still doing this?"

He remembered that he used to wear out his paw pads all the time, and his mother-in-law loved to sew these soft pads.

"Idleness is also idleness."

After sewing two stitches, the mother-in-law suddenly whispered,

"A while ago... Mo Yun always stayed at Yuanchu Luo's place and refused to leave."

"?"

Bai Tang was stunned and didn't respond.

He knew that Brother Mo Yun was in pain - when he woke up next to Yuan Chu Luo that day, he saw the dark circles under Brother Mo Yun's eyes and his trembling fingertips when he clenched his claws, and he vaguely guessed it.

"He didn't say anything, just squatted by the gong and kept watch."

The mother-in-law spoke in a very soft voice, as if she was afraid that the two little ones in the kitchen would hear her.

"I knew he was feeling miserable, but I didn't dare point it out—some things he had to figure out on his own."

"I didn't expect that several days have passed. Is there anything in that place that can affect my perception of Cat Earth?"

As he was speaking, Mo Yun walked in from the gate of the courtyard.

He had probably just walked around the town entrance, and the corners of his clothes were stained with the scent of locust flowers. When he saw the situation in the yard, he paused, said nothing, and just sat down on the stone block next to the locust tree.

"Brother Mo Yun!"

Bai Tang waved at him,

"Tofu dumplings, go get the rice cakes. Let's eat together later."

Mo Yun hummed, her eyes falling on him. She paused before looking away, looking at the morning glory climbing on the courtyard wall - it was planted with tofu dumplings before, and it had climbed higher this year, and the purple flowers were blowing little trumpets.

Bai Tang suddenly remembered what happened on the road.

When Mo Yun was leading him back, they passed by the old building outside the town. Mo Yun stopped and stared at the building in a trance. He even asked, "What's wrong, Mo Yun?" Mo Yun just shook his head and said, "Nothing, just strolling around."

Now that I think about it, I was probably feeling so depressed during those days that I went to stay there.

"Rice cakes are here!"

Tofu ran out with a coarse porcelain bowl. The rice cake in the bowl was still steaming, and the sweet fragrance filled the yard.

Tangyuan followed behind, holding a pair of clean wooden chopsticks in his hand.

Bai Tang took the bowl and took a bite of the rice cake. It still tasted the same as before, sweet and with a hint of rice aroma. He moved closer to Mo Yun and handed the bowl over.

"Brother Mo Yun, you eat too."

Mo Yun didn't answer, but just said:

"you eat."

"Let's eat together."

White sugar picked a small piece and handed it to his mouth.

"Grandma's rice cakes are the best. You used to say they were sweeter than Shen Zong's dried fish."

Mo Yun paused, lowered her head and took a small bite.

As the sweetness of the rice cake spread across his tongue, he suddenly remembered how he had stood guard over the Yuanchu gong a few days before—the gong surface was cold, and so was the sugar's claw. He had held onto that claw, always afraid that if he let go, he would lose even that bit of coolness. It was the owner's mother-in-law, when she handed him a thick coat, whispering, "If he knew you were like this, he would definitely not agree," that kept him from collapsing.

"By the way, sugar,"

Tofu suddenly came over and pointed at the bamboo basket in the corner of the yard.

"We saved some locust flowers for you! They were in full bloom a few days ago, so we picked a basketful and dried them in a bamboo basket. When they're done drying, I'll have Grandma make you some locust flower cakes."

"Really?"

Baitang's eyes lit up,

"I love eating Sophora japonica cake the most!"

Tangyuan clapped his hands and laughed:

"I'll make it once it's dried! Then I'll let Brother Mo Yun have a taste too."

The owner's mother-in-law was sewing cloth on the side, listening to the laughter in the yard, and the corners of her mouth curled up quietly.

The sunlight fell on her silver hair and on Baitang's furry head, warm as melted sugar.

Mo Yun looked at Bai Tang holding the bowl and eating rice cakes, the tip of his tail still wagging gently, and the light in his eyes was brighter than the sun.

He suddenly felt that the depression that had been lingering in his heart for the past few days seemed to be washed away by the sweet fragrance and laughter - it was back, really back.

The wind leaked through the locust tree leaves, bringing with it the sweetness of rice cakes.

Bai Tang bit the rice cake and smiled, suddenly remembering what Mo Yun said on the way:

"When you get better, you can go wherever you want."

He looked up at Mo Yun and saw that he was looking at him with soft eyes. He chewed the rice cake and said vaguely:

"Brother Mo Yun, after we finish eating the rice cakes, let's go to the town entrance. I remember there was a sugar painting stall there. I used to squat there and watch Uncle Wang paint sugar cats..."

Mo Yun looked at the corner of his mouth which was stained with some rice cake crumbs, and said "hmm" softly, with a smile slowly spreading in her eyes.

The morning glories in the yard were blowing their little trumpets, tofu and glutinous rice balls were chasing butterflies, and the owner's mother-in-law's needle and thread were dancing lightly on the cloth.

Bai Tang moved the bowl closer to Brother Mo Yun, feeling that this day was just like the rice cake in her hand, so sweet that it softened her heart.