“Does it want something to eat?” Gao Zhou tried to follow Yu Yuanyuan’s line of thinking. “No problem, tell me what you want, and I’ll buy lots of it.”

The little one crouched down, listening intently to a series of “meow, meow, meows,” before shaking her head. “No, it says it wants you to follow it somewhere.”

Gao Zhou was completely lost. “Huh?”

Da Hua (the cat) led the way out of the yard, with Yuanyuan following closely behind. Gao Zhou, as if pulled by an invisible string, obediently trailed after the little girl and the cat.

They walked for a while until they stopped under a large tree.

Gao Zhou faintly heard weak, high-pitched meows, not the usual “meow meow,” but more like “mew mew,” urgent and panicked, as if the cat were in trouble.

When Da Hua began to meow, it drowned out the weak sound from above.

Yuanyuan squatted in front of the cat, seriously listening for a while before looking up and pointing to the tree. “Uncle Gao, Da Hua says there’s a little kitty stuck up there and wants you to help rescue it.”

What??

Gao Zhou was half-skeptical, but he looked up into the branches and, sure enough, spotted a small, white figure huddled on one of the branches.

The white kitten was clinging tightly to the trunk, trembling and on the verge of fluffing up in terror, its tiny paws gripping the branch as it let out desperate, pitiful cries.

“Look, there’s the little kitty!” Yuanyuan excitedly pointed up to the tree, trying to show where it was. “It’s so scared!”

Incredible!

Could it be that Miss Yuanyuan really understands cat language?

This seemed far too coincidental to be a lucky guess. As impossible as it seemed, Gao Zhou was beginning to believe her.

Could she truly understand animals?

Regardless of whether it was true or not, the most pressing issue was to get the kitten down.

Gao Zhou shrugged off his suit jacket, preparing to toss it aside, when Yuanyuan eagerly ran over, raising her short arms. “Yuanyuan will hold it! Yuanyuan will help!”

The little one, acting as a soft and adorable human coat hanger, melted Gao Zhou’s heart. He handed over the jacket without hesitation.

Yuanyuan obediently held the oversized jacket, looking up at the tree, her head tilted upward to watch.

The spot where the kitten was stuck seemed impossibly high and difficult to reach. But Gao Zhou nimbly climbed up the trunk, his movements surprisingly agile and fluid, more like a professional than an ordinary person.

The kitten, fluffy like a ball of white rice, was perched precariously on a thin branch, swaying back and forth.

Frightened out of its wits, the kitten scooted further out along the branch as Gao Zhou approached, letting out a pitiful, defensive “mew” of protest.

“Meowww!” Da Hua called out loudly from below.

Yuanyuan also waved her arms from the ground, shouting up, “Little kitty, don’t be scared! Uncle Gao is a good person; he’s here to help you!”

To everyone’s surprise, the kitten quieted down and slowly started inching its way toward Gao Zhou.

The sudden cooperation caught Gao Zhou off guard. For a moment, he wondered if the little guy was actually a toy—some sort of programmed device, perhaps?

The small white ball of fluff wriggled toward him on the branch. Gao Zhou extended his arm and, with precision, scooped the kitten into his hand.

“Good job, Uncle Gao!” Yuanyuan cheered.

“This human would make a good underling. Not bad, not bad,” Da Hua purred in approval.

Just as both the little girl and the cat celebrated, a sharp cracking sound came from above. The branch beneath Gao Zhou sagged ominously.

Gao Zhou quickly tucked the kitten into his shirt and began to carefully backtrack when suddenly—

A louder “CRACK!” echoed through the air as the branch gave way under his weight.