Zheng Wei looked at the ceiling and suddenly felt incredulous, "Ruan Ruan, you really haven't blamed him at all, not even when he broke his leg and lay in the bathroom until dawn, waiting for him to finish operating on someone else? He's not a stranger now, he's your husband, the one who should accompany you for a lifetime, protect you for a lifetime!"

  Ruan Ruan fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook her head on the pillow.

  Zheng Wei cried, the more she thought about it, the more sorrowful she became. She didn't know if Ruan Ruan's "not blaming" was due to despair or because there had never been any hope from the start. Was this really Ruan Ruan's happiness? Without love, without hate, and without any demands or expectations. If so, then such a life until old age would be utterly desperate.

  She wept in Ruan Ruan's calm gaze, and in the end, she didn't even know if these tears were for Ruan Ruan or herself. Ruan Ruan wanted to comfort her with a few words, but opened his mouth only to say nothing, instead gently patting her hand.

  "Did you have a happy birthday?" Ruan Ruan waited until she had cried herself out before changing the subject, "Yesterday morning, Lin Jing called me and specifically asked what kind of flowers you like now. I said you seem to like lilies... Did you receive the flowers? And did he call you afterwards... What's wrong, didn't something happen afterwards?" She also saw a hint from Zheng Wei's tears.

  Zheng Wei said, "I did it with Lin Jing."

  Even with Ruan's calm and composed personality, she was shocked to hear such a sudden remark. Zheng Wei recounted the events of last night from Chen Xiao Zheng to Lin Jing, mentioning the "unexpected event" that occurred at her place, which she hastily attributed to having drunk too much.

  Ruan Ruan listened to her finish and asked only one sentence, "What do you think yourself?"

  "I don't want anything," Zheng Wei said. "But I don't understand, why are you even helping Lin Jing and partnering with him to cheat me out of my Mouse Treasure..."

  Ruan Ruan said, "I didn't think of helping him, I just wanted to help you. I don't dare say how good he is, but after all, he's kind-hearted, and you're not completely indifferent to him either. Having someone by your side, even if you trip and fall on that day, it won't be as miserable as I am now. Besides, don't you like Miao Bao too?"

  Zheng nodded vaguely and then shook her head again.

  In the following days, Zheng Wei went to the hospital to see Ruan Ruan as soon as she got off work. Several times, she met Wu Jiang in a white coat by the bedside, and he smiled at her, but Zheng Wei couldn't respond with a smile.

  Lin Jing had called her many times, and every time she saw his phone number, the fragments of that night would make her mind a mess. So she would always hastily say a few words and hang up, refusing to have an in-depth conversation with him or see him again. Lin Jing's tone seemed to have a hint of helplessness, but perhaps he thought it was not a bad thing to let her calm down for a bit, so he didn't continue the aggressive pursuit from that night. The phone calls continued every day, just asking about her well-being, and even though she had an attitude, he pretended not to notice.

  About four or five days later, Lin Jing called her again. Zheng Wei was impatient and immediately explained that he would be away on a business trip for over a week, the hourly worker he hired had also taken time off, no one could take care of Mouse Treasure, so he had to board it at a pet store.

  "Don't dream on, I won't take it back again." Zheng Wei flatly refused.

  Lin Jing said, "I didn't think of letting you take it back, but you also know that its personality isn't very sociable, and I'm afraid it might not be used to the pet store. If you have time, would you go take a look at it? Of course, if you don't have time, then never mind."

  Zheng Weiming knew that to completely cut off contact with him, she should forget about the cat. But when she got up at night to drink water and saw the empty space on top of the refrigerator, and the cat toys scattered all over the floor, she couldn't help but start missing that not-so-cute fat cat, even though it was suspected of being a spy. After all, for many days after work, only the cat had accompanied her, and even on nights when the power suddenly went out, because the cat was by her side meowing "meow", she felt like she wasn't alone in the darkness.

  The next day, after leaving the hospital, Zheng Wei still went to that pet store. As soon as she entered, she saw Miao Bao sitting alone in a cage. The other kittens were either playing with each other or sleeping together, but it was lonely and unhappy. The owner of the pet store said that Miao Bao didn't like to play with other kittens, and would become tense and aggressive whenever it approached another cat. It was better off being alone in a cage, but it wasn't eating much.

  Zheng Wei thought of its usual domineering and arrogant appearance, good at eating and sleeping, and couldn't help but feel a little heartache. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed to have lost some weight. As soon as she walked up to the cage, Mouse Treasure stood up and called out to her directly. Zheng Wei reached in to pet it, and it gently rubbed its chin against her hand. In the past, when they were at home, it wasn't as close to her as this. Zheng Wei's heart ached, afraid that she would go soft, not daring to stay for long. Just as she was thinking of leaving, she saw a woman holding hands with a little boy looking at the cats. The little boy pointed at Mouse Treasure and said, "Mommy, what kind of cat is this? It's so fat and ugly."

  The woman looked at it and smiled in surprise to the owner of the pet store, "This can't be a stray cat, you're selling this kind of stray cat in your pet store?"

  Zheng Wei's anger rose from her heart, what's wrong with the tabby cat? Are kings and nobles born of a different breed? She looked at Mouse Treasure again, who was among several breeds of famous cats, straining to hold his head high and chest out, and felt inexplicably sad.

  After much negotiation, the shop owner called the foster parent and finally agreed to let Zheng Wei take Mousey away. She held Mousey tightly in her arms as she left, feeling quite relieved at first, but soon regretted it. She knew that taking it back home was unwise, but couldn't bear to leave it there.

  On her way home, Zheng Wei received a call from her father in the taxi. She usually calls her father and mother once a week, they have been separated for many years and neither of them has remarried.

  After chatting with her about some daily life, Dad asked about Zheng Wei's mother's recent situation in a somewhat hesitant tone. In fact, Zheng Wei was thousands of miles away, while his parents lived in the same city, but now they had to learn about each other's lives through her.

  I called my mom the day before yesterday, she said everything is fine.

  Dad was still hesitant. Zheng Wei understood and directly raised an eyebrow to say, "Dad, are you thinking of remarrying mom?"

  "Dad nodded in agreement, 'Weiwei, Dad is about to retire soon. All these years, I've had no one else, and your mom has been alone too. We were a young couple when we got married, and our arguments back then were just for show. I hope to spend the next ten or twenty years with her.'"

  "Does mom know? What did she say."

  "I didn't explicitly mention it to her in person, but she should have known what I meant. She didn't say anything, so I hope you can say a few words on my behalf when you see her. She doesn't listen to others, but she'll always consider her daughter's words seriously."

  Zheng Wei agreed with her father, actually she also thought of her mother's loneliness in the past few years living alone. Moreover, deep down inside, as long as it was possible, she still hoped that her parents could reunite.