Chapter 1316: A Way of Guarding You
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Using the toilet was a very private matter. Even if two persons were husband and wife, it was weird to stare at someone continuously while they used the washroom. That would likely be a source of argument.
Initially, Zhao Qi hadn’t taken it seriously. She’d thought that Lan Lan might be thirsty. It might have heard the sound of water and thus followed her in. However, when she left the bathroom, she realized that Lan Lan’s water bowl was full! This meant that it had no intention of drinking water at all.
After repeated trips, she couldn’t stand it anymore. Whether she woke up in the morning or in the middle of the night, as long as she went to the bathroom, Lan Lan would follow her to the toilet and stare hard at her.
Really…really weird.
Fortunately, Lan Lan was a cat. She would be tolerant. If this were a person, she would have lost it.
But even so, she felt like she was going to lose it soon. The burden on her psychological state was great. She had to try to relieve it through crazy mindless shopping—this was, of course, an excuse. To be precise, she wanted to minimize the number of times she used the toilet at home.
Her best friend was s.h.i.+ s.h.i.+, and she was one of the few who knew what was going on. She had suggested to her that she should hit it a few times when Lan Lan stared at her in the bathroom so that it would not dare to do this again the next time.
Ever since s.h.i.+ s.h.i.+ had been corrected by Zhang Zian for her wrong way of raising a dog, she no longer pampered her Labrador as much. She rewarded it when it deserved it and punished it when it deserved to be punished. If it continued to be mischievous and did not change, she would hit it a few times on the spot where it made the mistake. This forced it to recognize its mistake, and it did not dare to do it again.
Since then, her Labrador seemed to have had a complete change. It was no longer a dog that barked, peed, and sh*t at random. Instead, it was now a dog that others praised when they were outside, sat when asked to sit, and stood when asked to stand. Her neighbors, who raised, dogs asked her about how she trained her dog. She and her boyfriend glowed when they heard this.
Therefore, s.h.i.+ s.h.i.+, who had experienced success with training her pet, told Zhao Qi to use punishment as a way to teach her cat.
Zhao Qi was torn. On one hand, this behavior was too strange and could not continue. On the other hand, she was reluctant to beat Lan Lan. Besides, would it even be useful? The cat was not a dog. It may only destroy her relations.h.i.+p with Lan Lan. Instead, she would rather it continue liking her. It could just go ahead and stare. Perhaps she would get used to it after a while.
In fact, there was something even more embarra.s.sing to mention. Lan Lan sometimes not only stared. It even ran over…and pulled on her pants. Usually the pants were very tiny and expensive. It could very easily use its claws and pull threads off.
Zhang Zian laughed and said, “There is nothing wrong with it. Lan Lan may think that you are hiding good things in the bathroom and eat them when no one is looking. Thus, it stares at you for that.”
The clerk and the two girls could no longer hold back. They laughed and laughed.
Zhao Qi was angry, yet she found it funny at the same time. She said awkwardly, “Stop rubbing it in! Isn’t it shameful enough for me? What the h.e.l.l is going on?”
“This is…” Zhang Zian shrugged. “In fact, this situation is not uncommon. It is not only seen in cats. Sometimes dogs do it too. It’s just that people think that dogs seek humans’ attention a lot, so when the dog follows someone into the bathroom, most people don’t think much about it. As for the reason why they do it… People are not cats and dogs. What are they thinking about? We are not sure. We can only guess.”
“A guess is fine. I just want to know the reason,” Zhao Qi said stubbornly.
“Some people say that this is because the cat is afraid of water, and the bathroom is full of it. Thus, it is afraid that you will fall into the toilet and drown… From another angle, it can also mean that you are very important to it,” he explained.
After Zhao Qi listened, she was in a complicated mood. Lan Lan was worried about her, which made her happy. However, her method of handling this worry also troubled her.
“There are also people who say that the cat wonders why you don’t use cat litter when going to the toilet. It wants to help you cover up the excrement after you finish to prevent the smell from attracting natural enemies,” he said. “This is because in the eyes of the cat, human beings are a sort of stupid cat. A cat that is not good at hunting prey and not good at hiding. If they do not look out for humans, they worry that humans may starve to death in minutes or be eaten by natural enemies.”
Zhao Qi couldn’t decide if she wanted to laugh or cry more.
“But I don’t think these two statements are necessarily accurate,” Zhang Zian continued. “The loophole in the former saying is that dogs are not afraid of water. Why do dogs follow then? The latter loophole is that when the cat is in the bathroom, the person may not pa.s.s motion. So how will it know when that will happen? Thus, there are many, many speculations. Some people even say that the cat can smell the ammonia in the excrement, so it will come over…”
Zhao Qi thought about it. At times, Lan Lan did follow her just as she entered the bathroom and didn’t take off her pants.
“What do you think is the reason?” She humbly asked for advice.
“I personally prefer another explanation,” Zhang Zian said. “Whether cats, dogs, or humans, all are the most vulnerable when using the bathroom. They are vulnerable to natural enemies, so cats and dogs follow people to the toilet. They want to…watch your back, to help look out for you. There is some truth to this explanation, but there are also some loopholes. The real reason may be a combination of a few or perhaps none at all.”
Zhao Qi listened to him carefully and was even somewhat mesmerized by what he said. However, after some thought, she realized that the behavior still could not be explained.
Zhang Zian advised, “You don’t have to worry too much. Whatever the reason, we know this—Lan Lan is very concerned about you and also values you. It is not what you think, that it grew apart from you when it got older. It is simply another way of showing care and concern for you.”
After a pause, he said, “When it was young, it merely wanted you to play with it. Thus, it would always stick close to you. Now that it is older, it does not want to play as much. Isn’t this similar to humans? If I brought you toys from your childhood, would you still want to play with them?”
The rest thought the same. Yes, those beloved toys in childhood, even if they had not been thrown away, were probably collecting dust in a corner of their homes.
Zhang Zian gave one final example. “Or imagine this is like a child. He was once very close to you,” he said. “You were dependent on each other. However, he has grown up quickly, but your impression of him continues to be that of a young boy. You did not notice how fast he grew up. You then only focus on the fact that he is slowly growing distant from you. You get sad thinking of this. However, he has already grown into an adult, fully capable of independent living. He is no longer as close to you, maybe even deliberately distant from you. However, when he thinks you may be in danger, he will appear by your side and guard you in his own way.”
Zhao Qi, w.a.n.g Yan, Zhou Jiena, and the staff were already mesmerized by what they heard.