Xu Xizhi's house was filled with a moving mass of black silk.
He named him Prince of the Night. It was a stray cat he picked up from a cardboard box one rainy night. When they first met, those amber pupils were astonishingly bright in the rain, and with a soft cry, they captured Xu Xizhi's heart.
The days of raising a cat are filled with fluffy paw pads and purring sounds. The prince was a contradictory creature. He had the natural arrogance of a feline, and would show his disdainful back when Xu Xizhi disturbed him from basking in the sun; but after ten minutes of heat, he slumped on his lap like a boneless animal, letting him rub his belly, and his throat made a satisfying vibration, similar to that of a small motor.
Xu Xizhi was used to this sweet burden. I was used to it stamping plum blossoms on my notes, used to being picky about canned tuna, and used to it sneaking into bed late at night and touching the tip of its wet nose to his fingertips, as if to confirm his presence.
Until that empty evening, the cat turned into a human, approaching the point where science could film a season. But before Xu Xizhi could recover, the cat was gone.
Intention: Harmonious coexistence between man and nature