The little Dragon Li cat my mom picked up is called Diudiu. Every time my mom mentions Diudiu, she is extremely proud. Diudiu would meet my mom on her way home from the night shift and walk back with her. It would compete with my mom for the spot beside her pillow. The neighbor’s puppy in the yard was most afraid of Diudiu.
Whenever the puppy wanted to run out to play but hadn’t had enough fun, as soon as its owner called out “Diudiu is coming”, the puppy would scurry back. They were also good friends, though Diudiu was the boss. Diudiu was very good at sizing people up. If someone didn’t like it, Diudiu would ignore them. If it knew someone liked it, it would act cute and cuddly.
The neighbor’s daughter liked Diudiu very much. Once, when Diudiu went to the neighbor’s house to play, it saw them watching TV and eating marinated chicken heads. Diudiu first put its paw on the table and then checked if anyone was paying attention. When no one noticed, it immediately stretched its paw to hook a chicken head and ran away with it to destroy the evidence.
By the time the neighbor’s daughter came to her senses, the things in the bowl were gone. The neighbor’s aunt said, “Who told you to just watch TV? Diudiu must have taken it!” My mom said that Diudiu wasn’t picky and would eat whatever people ate. When my mom ate rice crackers, Diudiu ate them too.
Every time fish was cooked, people ate first, and the leftovers on the table would be eaten slowly by Diudiu. Diudiu was very well-behaved and never tore up the house. Diudiu was a cat with a strong sense of self-esteem. Once, it brought a small mouse home to play, but accidentally let it escape. My mom got angry and scolded it, saying it couldn’t sleep until it caught the mouse. Then my mom went to sleep. In the morning, when she got up, she saw Diudiu squatting drowsily beside the cabinet. The small mouse had just run out from underneath. Diudiu fiercely grabbed it and bit it to death, then ran away to sleep.
Later, when it had kittens, my mom made food for it. It let the kittens eat first and then ate itself. When the kittens were naughty and my mom asked Diudiu to discipline them, Diudiu would call the kittens symbolically and then answer my mom perfunctorily, as if saying, “I did it. What if they don’t listen to me?” Diudiu was very understanding. My mom said that once my uncle was sick and sweating on his forehead, Diudiu stayed by his side and licked the sweat.
I’ve never seen Diudiu, only pictures. My mom said that Diudiu was a very beautiful big Dragon Li cat. Unfortunately, it went out once and never came back. If it were still alive now, it would be a very old cat…
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