Mai Ya was originally a cat owned by our neighbor. My husband and I first noticed him while hanging laundry, when we saw him lying on the windowsill, seemingly supervising our work. At the time, we just thought he was beautiful, and since we had the impression that “cats are shy” (based on our experience with stray cats), we kept our distance and admired him from afar.
Over time, whenever we went out to hang or collect laundry, he would hear the noise and jump onto the windowsill to watch us. I thought to myself, “After seeing him so many times, he probably isn’t scared anymore” (though, in reality, he was never scared to begin with), so I approached the screen window and took a few photos.
Below: A young and fresh little cat (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎)
Below: Rubbing against the screen window, probably wanting to be petted (´艸`)
When we left, the sound of the door closing attracted a little cat watcher (｡•ˇ‸ˇ•｡)
After many rounds of hanging and collecting laundry, we saw him every time and grew fonder of him. My inner girly heart was completely stirred, and I felt like a lovestruck teenager. So, shamelessly, I wrote a note to the neighbor, saying something like, “I’d love to get to know you—your cat is so adorable! Can I pet him occasionally? (*/ω*)” and included my WeChat ID.
To my surprise, the neighbor added me on WeChat late at night! We chatted, and it turned out she was planning to rehome the cat because she was moving to another city for work and couldn’t take him with her. She asked if we would consider adopting him.
The neighbor sent us a photo of him—his original name was “Chu Yi”. Looking back now, he really was just a little kitten back then (ฅ>ω<*ฅ).
After some time, on October 3, 2017, I got my first cat. We renamed him “Mai Ya” (Naming him was a battle of wits between my husband and me.)
As soon as he arrived, I couldn’t wait to hold him, but as expected, I was quickly put in my place—he wouldn’t let me. I had to sit on the floor and watch him explore. He wasn’t timid at all, taking light steps to investigate everything, sniffing around, and rubbing against his new belongings.
Later, he discovered our hamster’s cage and lay on the floor, watching the hamster intently. (The cage was a bit dirty, so I didn’t include it in the photo (/ω).
By this point, he already allowed me to get close and pet him. After a while, he started purring. (It was my first time hearing a cat purr, and I thought it sounded a bit fierce at first (ꐦಠ ಠ).)
We brought him home around 8 PM. I had to leave for an errand at 9:30 PM and returned around 11 PM. By then, Mai Ya was already playing with me. Below: His favorite toy at the time.
At first, he was indifferent, but then he suddenly pounced
“I’m so fierce!” (( (//̀Д/́/) ))
(๑> <๑)
He even marked his toys with his saliva, claiming them as his own.
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