A Cat's Wandering Diary

When Lu the cat gained intelligence, there was fighting everywhere below the mountain, and the timid cat had never once gone down the mountain.

On the day the nation of Huaxia was founded, as that solemn declaration rang out across heaven and earth, the spirits in the mountains all sensed the same thing: to help restore the nation's fortunes sooner, spirits could no longer cultivate by drawing on the energy of mountains and rivers, animals could no longer become spirits, and those who had gained intelligence but not taken human form could no longer continue transforming. The ban would be lifted once the nation's fortunes had recovered.

Lu the cat had not yet taken human form, and instantly lost all motivation to cultivate. It spent its days in the mountains playing with cats and dogs and catching little birds, until it accidentally offended a powerful spirit.

Driven away by the powerful spirit, Lu the cat had no choice but to leave the mountain.

At first, the cat chose to wander alone. But living on the margins of society meant encountering dark things. It took less than a month to go from eagerly standing up for others to feeling weary of it all. Lu the cat decided it couldn't go on like this, and began looking for a human to serve as its owner.

But it had a long list of requirements. No one with poor character, no one who was unfilial, no one who swore, and no one who spat on the ground. It couldn't choose a family that was too poor and needed it to catch mice for a living, either. It hadn't caught mice in years.

At last, it found a suitable old man, but they parted after only a few days together. Lu the cat realized that good connections were rare and couldn't be forced. So it stopped expecting to stay with any of its owners forever. When fate brought them together, they would gather; when fate led them apart, they would part. Lu the cat wandered from one owner's home to the next, accompanying Huaxia through the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and on into the twenty-first century.

Note: This is a story set in a parallel world. It does not involve real historical events and is not based on real people. Everything in it is made up by the author.

Theme: Look back on yesterday, stand firm in the present, and look forward to the future.