Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Robbing Money

“The place is way too small.” Egg Fried Rice impatiently rolled over.

The hospital’s “ward” was naturally much smaller than the vast, free world outside.

“Then you can go back.” Fluffy lay sprawled across the “hospital bed,” replying to Egg Fried Rice.

“Do you think I don’t want to go back? It’s all your fault!” Egg Fried Rice was already in a bad mood, and hearing the little fat cat say that only made him angrier.

“How could it be my fault? It was obviously that tree branch’s fault. Just now, you were the one who wanted to imitate me. What could a little kitten who had fainted and was completely unconscious possibly have done wrong?” Fluffy pressed his head against the door, trying his best to make eye contact with Egg Fried Rice.

“What did the tree branch do wrong? Clearly, you were too fat!” Egg Fried Rice was so angry that he wanted to get up and go outside to beat the little kitten up.

“You say I’m fat? Oh my goodness, the fattest cat in the neighborhood actually has the nerve to call me fat.” Fluffy clicked his tongue twice.

While they were arguing noisily, the doctors and nurses in the hospital were at a loss for words.

You two look so energetic and lively, and you still have the energy to argue. There’s obviously nothing wrong with you anymore. You can go home.

The doctor shouted these words in his heart.

He had seen plenty of cats and dogs in his time. He had only ever seen ones desperately trying to go home. He had never seen one voluntarily wanting to stay.

Calico scratched his face somewhat awkwardly. The little cat in his family simply liked doing things differently from everyone else.

“There aren’t many patients here.” The bored little fat orange cat started a new topic.

“Of course not. This is a newly opened pet hospital, and a lot of people don’t know about it yet.” Egg Fried Rice sounded somewhat proud. There was nothing happening in this area that he didn’t know about.

“Really? Could it be that the doctors here aren’t very good, so everyone refuses to come?” Fluffy gave Calico a meaningful look.

Calico glanced at the doctor. Just then, another new patient arrived, so the doctor and nurse went to receive them, leaving no one watching this area.

Under the little fat orange cat’s instructions, Calico opened the cage door.

He thought Fluffy was going to jump down, but unexpectedly, the little fat cat remained lying there. He merely pushed off with his hind legs, sticking half his head outside.

“Hi~” He greeted the neighbors in front, behind, to the left, and to the right.

He had not paid much attention before moving in, but now that he looked carefully, there were actually quite a few neighbors.

To his right was Egg Fried Rice. To his left was a brown cat whose appearance he could not see clearly. In the cage below was a snow-white lump of a dog. There were also other wards, but those guys were hiding too far inside for him to see them.

He cheerfully greeted them. Clearly, any cats or dogs with enough leisure to respond to him were not in this room.

Egg Fried Rice originally could have responded, but he was not in the mood now.

Even though none of the cats or dogs answered him, Fluffy’s mood was not too bad.

“Do you want to go home?” Calico could not help asking as he looked at the little fat cat, who seemed no different from usual.

“No way. Didn’t you hear the doctor say that there was a little kitten who had been perfectly fine at the hospital, but died as soon as it went home?” In one second, Fluffy pulled his head back into the ward and used his paw to pull the cage door shut, closing it skillfully.

“Alright, I’m going to sleep now, Little Shi.” As he spoke, he closed his eyes.

Calico: “…………”

Calico sighed. Forget it. The hospital bed fee had already been paid. Besides, tomorrow, even if they did not say anything, the first one who would probably be unable to stand it would be this little fat cat himself.

The others who had originally come to visit the patients had already left. Only Calico remained.

Calico went to the lobby to bask in the sun and rest.

The kitten who had just arrived was only there to get vaccinated, so the doctor soon returned.

He had just come in to check on the other cats and dogs when he saw the orange kitten leisurely stand up. Right in front of him, the kitten extended the claws on both paws, pushed them through the openings in the cage door, and attacked the lock from above and below, pinning it down.

“Click.”

“Snap.” The kitten pushed, and the cage door opened.

He slowly jumped out and stretched lazily.

Doctor: “…”

Doctor: ?

Fluffy walked forward two steps, passed by the doctor’s feet, then seemed to remember something and backed up to the doctor’s feet.

“Meow, meow, meow?” Where’s your bathroom?

“You look perfectly fine now. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. You can go home.” The doctor bent down and grabbed the kitten by the scruff of his neck.

“Meow, meow, meow!” I already paid for my hospital room!

“I’ll give it back to you!”

Fluffy was greatly shocked. He stared at the doctor with wide eyes.

How could he understand him?

Look at the way this fat orange cat was begging to be beaten. Wasn’t it easy enough to guess?

Fluffy pondered for a moment.

His gaze quickly swept across the empty ward, and he gave a light cough.

Look, there are hardly any people here. Only a warm-hearted and kind little cat like him would come to help the hospital increase its income and make the place look occupied.

The doctor squeezed the little cat’s neck twice, feeling slightly embarrassed. “It’s a new hospital to begin with, so not many people know about it. And there aren’t many inpatients. That doesn’t mean all the little animals around here are healthy.”

Fluffy had already achieved victory. He swung himself back and forth twice before breaking free from the doctor’s grasp.

The doctor watched the cat swagger out of the room and did not forget to remind him, “The bathroom is on the left.”

Fluffy walked two steps to the left and discovered that the bathroom the doctor had mentioned was a litter box. Technically, he was not wrong.

He glanced at the litter box. It was even an enclosed one, the kind he hated most.

All the stink was trapped inside the litter box. How awful.

He looked it over and touched it with his paw. Who knew how many little kittens had used this thing to go to the bathroom? He turned around and decided to leave.

Suddenly, the instant he left, a sharp gaze seemed to prick him. He followed that gaze, but found nothing.

Must have been an illusion.

He went to look for a real bathroom.

He went around in a circle and quickly found the one meant for humans.

“Hey, hey, hey, that isn’t for kittens to use.” The nurse tried to stop him, but the little orange cat had already swiftly jumped onto the toilet and comfortably started using it.

The rest of what the nurse wanted to say got stuck in her throat.

“Meow, meow, meow!” Kittens have privacy too!

Fluffy was extremely displeased.

The nurse hurriedly closed the door. After a while, she watched the little cat walk out of the bathroom and, after confirming that he had not fallen into the toilet, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The doctor was still checking on the conditions of the other cats and dogs when he suddenly heard a loud crash.

When he turned his head, all he saw was the little cat lying on the floor and the swaying cage door.

“Fluffy!” Calico ran in after hearing the noise.

The little orange cat climbed up from the floor as though nothing had happened, as if the one who had just failed to jump and slammed into the cage door before bouncing back onto the floor had not been him.

“Want me to help you get back up?” Calico turned half his face away.

Now was not the time to laugh.

Fluffy and the doctor exchanged glances.

The doctor had no smile on his face, but the amusement in his eyes was almost overflowing. “Do you want me to carry you back up?”

Fluffy: “…”

He looked at Calico, then at the doctor, took a deep breath, planted his paws firmly on the spot and kicked twice, then leaped up.

“Bang!”

“Calico~!” The little kitten climbed up from the floor with a pitiful whimper and burrowed into Calico’s chest.

Calico licked his head.

What a troublesome little fellow.

“You’re even acting spoiled with your girlfriend.” The doctor found it amusing.

Fluffy instantly lifted his head from Calico’s chest and looked at the doctor twice.

“Little Shi, hurry up and show him your balls!”

Calico was a Maneki-neko of noble bloodline.

It was said that his ancestors had lived in the imperial palace. It was impossible to tell whether the emperor had influenced the cats or the cats had influenced the emperor.

In any case, this was a clan of lucky cats possessing an extremely powerful fortune.

There were not many members of the clan left now. One inheritor cat appeared in each generation. Calico had paid the price of becoming an ordinary male cat in order to become an inheritor, though he had retained a few of his abilities as a lucky cat.

Calico’s original name was Cang Shi. That name was too difficult for ordinary cats to remember, so all his friends called him Calico. Only Fluffy still called him “Little Shi.”

Little Shi was, after all, a calico cat. Anyone unfamiliar with him would assume he was female, and he had long since gotten used to being mistaken for a girl.

Now, one of the great pleasures of the little orange cat’s life was to wait until everyone assumed Calico was female, then suddenly expose Calico’s balls to them and scare them half to death.

He absolutely loved the shocked expressions on their faces.

Calico gently tapped the little fat orange cat on the head. This kid was spouting nonsense again.

They were just balls, after all. He had been brought in for treatment earlier, so there were surely plenty of people who had already seen them.

And he was still embarrassed. Their Little Shi. The little fat orange cat lecherously patted Calico’s butt.

“Alright, then I’ll help you back up now.” The doctor held out a hand.

The little orange cat gave a couple of grumbling whines, then obediently lay flat on his outstretched hand.

The doctor’s mouth twitched. As expected of a little fat cat who refused to suffer even the slightest loss.

He respectfully carried the little cat back into the ward.

“Alright, don’t come down again unless there’s something you need.” The doctor felt that he should put on a little authority as he said this and closed the door.

The little cat lying down immediately rolled to his feet and shouted loudly, “Meow, meow, meow!” I’m hungry!

“Twenty-five dollars for half a kilogram of cat food, ten dollars for one can.” The doctor did not even need to guess what the fat orange cat was saying.

Robbing money!

At last, the hateful little cat’s face showed an expression of shock.

The doctor remained calm. Of course the hospital was a place that robbed people blind. Was this his first day knowing that?