It should be emphasized that people who are not familiar with pets tend to confuse "sexual maturity" with "full development period," and confuse these two different concepts.
It is easy to understand using human beings as an example.
Thirteen or fourteen years old, or even younger, have reached sexual maturity. They can marry early, give birth early, get pregnant early, and have an abortion early. However, this does not mean that they have grown up. They are still protected by the law on the protection of minors. They are not considered legal adults until they are eighteen years old, and their brain and body finally stop developing until they are in their early twenties. Only then is the full development period over.
Using cats as a comparison, if your cat is not allowed to marry early, give birth early, get pregnant early, and have an abortion early, it can be sterilized when it reaches sexual maturity. It is equivalent to a human being entering the palace to serve the emperor at the age of thirteen or fourteen, but after entering the palace, its body will continue to develop.
Most cats will stop developing after one year or so, while a few cats have a full development period of up to three years.
Zhao Qi secretly sighed. Although she has raised a cat for a long time, and often talked about it in the company, which attracted the envy of her friends, every time she came to the Amazing Fate Pet Shop, she always felt like a novice who had just raised a cat. She could always learn new things.
At the same time, she was also glad that she did not listen to her bad friend Shi Shi's suggestion to beat Lan Lan and correct its behavior, which would undoubtedly make Lan Lan sad, because it obviously wanted to protect her. The misunderstanding was entirely because human beings always speculated about the psychology of cats from their own point of view. If you are not a cat, how can you know the happiness of a cat?
She was like this, and Wang Yan and Zhou Jiena felt like they had opened the door to a new world, and unconsciously let down their guard.
Whether it was a self-bred cat, a CFA certified cattery, or an ordinary pet shop, whether a business was unscrupulous or not was not determined by the identity of the owner, but by the quality and willingness of the operator.
"Well, I have a class here on the weekend, so I will leave now," Zhao Qi said. Although it was a class, it was not as boring as learning knowledge in school. Instead, it was very fulfilling.
"Are you going to meet Shi Shi?" Zhang Zian looked at her shopping bag and wondered why she seemed to have an endless supply of money even though they were both human beings.
Zhao Qi's expression stiffened. "Oh yeah, Shishi is still waiting for me … Forget it, let her boyfriend accompany her. I woke up too early today and I'm a little sleepy. Let's go home."
Zhang Zian was speechless. How could you stand your best friend up so easily?
Indeed, Zhao Qi wasn't in the mood to continue shopping. As mentioned before, the main reason she went out today was that she didn't want to stay at home to go to the bathroom and be stared at by Lan Lan. However, she didn't think it was weird anymore, so there was no need to tire herself out on the weekend. She should go home and have a good rest to prepare for work and overtime on Monday.
Most importantly, before Lan Lan truly grew into an adult cat, she wanted to spend more time with it. It was as if there was a treasure placed in front of her. She didn't know how to cherish it before, but she didn't want to miss it in the future.
Coming out of the pet shop, she flagged down a taxi and told the driver the name of her neighborhood. Sitting in the car, she sent a message to Shi Shi, telling her that she wouldn't be going to the appointment and turning off her phone temporarily. She could imagine how furious Shi Shi would be after being stood up. She would be bombarded with phone calls if she couldn't get in touch with Shi Shi.
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the neighborhood. She paid and got out of the car, walking quickly to her apartment building.
"Hey, Zhao Qi, you're out so early in the morning? Did you just come back? "
Zhao Qi turned her head and saw Liu Wenying walking in the neighborhood with her daughter Yue Yue. Liu Wenying was holding a white cat with a leash and was smiling and greeting her.
This white cat was even smaller than her Lan Lan. It was just an ordinary cat, not as lively and affectionate as Liu Wenying's previous Siamese cat. It seemed a little timid, hiding behind Liu Wenying when it saw Zhao Qi, staring at her timidly.
"Yeah, I just came back from outside." Zhao Qi smiled and squatted down to say to Yue Yue, "Yue Yue, you came out to bask in the sun?"
The sun was very bright in the early summer morning. The weather was not hot, and there was a cool breeze. There was no need to worry about catching a cold, and there weren't as many mosquitoes as there were in midsummer. It was a good time to take children out to bask in the sun.
Yue Yue was also very shy, but she was quite familiar with Zhao Qi and met her often. She nodded and responded in a low voice, "Hello, Sister Qi Qi."
"Good girl!"
Zhao Qi scratched Yue Yue's nose with her finger and then noticed the few nameless yellow flowers in Yue Yue's hands.
"Yue Yue, where did you pick these flowers? Are they dirty? "she asked.
"Under the tree …" Yue Yue turned around and pointed, answering in a childish voice.
"Yue Yue likes flowers?" Zhao Qi asked again.
Yue Yue looked up at her mother and got her mother's encouraging look. She replied, "To see Fluffy."
To … see Fluffy?
Fluffy was the name of the Siamese cat that died of rabies.
Zhao Qi was stunned and also looked up at Liu Wenying.
Liu Wenying nodded to confirm her question and said calmly, "Yue Yue misses Fluffy, so I brought her to put a bunch of flowers in front of its grave. I also went to put a bunch of flowers in front of Baibai's mother's grave."
Baibai was the name of this little white cat. Its mother was a white stray cat. She had been beaten to death by a loafer in the neighborhood during the cat abuse incident that had once caused a ruckus in the city. Liu Wenying had buried the body of the big white cat together with Fluffy's ashes.
Zhao Qi had heard about the cat abuse scandal. She often saw related reports on forums or Weibo, but these reports were rarely seen now.
"Sister Wenying …"
She admired Liu Wenying very much. Although she didn't know how Liu Wenying explained the death of Fluffy and the big white cat to her daughter, most parents would deliberately avoid the concept of "death" from their children.
Liu Wenying smiled faintly. "It's nothing. I used to take my children to sweep the graves of my elders."
Zhao Qi rummaged through the shopping bag and took a fake flower from the outer packaging of a piece of clothing. She handed it to Yue Yue. "Yue Yue, your sister's Lan Lan and Fluffy are good friends. Can you bring this bunch of flowers to Fluffy for Lan Lan?"
"Okay."
Yue Yue reached out her little hand and took it, holding it tightly in her palm. She had seen Zhao Qi's Lan Lan before. Sometimes, she would bring the cat to visit Zhao Qi's house. It used to be Fluffy, but now it was Baibai.
"Good girl." Zhao Qi gently rubbed Yue Yue's little head again.
Seeing Liu Wenying and Yue Yue holding hands and leading the little white cat to the direction of the green space in the neighborhood, Zhao Qi missed her Lan Lan even more.
Lan Lan would grow up, grow old, and one day, she would die. This was an unavoidable ending for all things in the world.
But before that day came, she and Lan Lan still had a long way to go.
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