What I want to share with you today is a letter that brought tears to my eyes. It’s a story told by a customer about her and her cat. At the customer’s request, the photos of the cat and the customized finished products will be kept confidential.

The following is from the customer Crystal (an alias):

In the later period of my study in Japan, I started having dreams every night. In my dreams, I was always at my home in China, with my family and thinking about the things at home.
As soon as I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling of the Japanese house, I would be in a daze for a few minutes. This happened every night. Without exaggeration, I was at home in my dreams, and when I opened my eyes, I was in a foreign country. This torture of the intersection between reality and dreams made me afraid to sleep. After a long time, I couldn’t hold on anymore. Even when I slept, I still had dreams every night. Later, I began to be unable to distinguish between reality and dreams. Sometimes I felt that what happened in my dreams was real, and that being in school during the day and walking on the streets of Japan were all fake, as if I was still in a dream.
Then, suddenly, there was an influenza outbreak, that is, the common flu in Japan. I kept coughing, feeling nauseous and retching. During the day in class, while the teacher was lecturing on the podium, I couldn’t stop coughing. I simply couldn’t control it, which seriously affected the classroom atmosphere. The teacher talked to me and asked me to hold it in.
But I couldn’t hold it in at all. I suffered every day. I couldn’t tell whether I was in a dream or in reality at that moment.
Then I started talking nonsense to the people around me, words and emotions that I would never express in my daily life. I began to feel that I was no longer myself.
Until one day, I went to my senior’s house for a meal as usual. I still remember that day when I went to her house, she made me a bowl of hot noodle soup. While I was eating, I suddenly burst into tears and couldn’t stop crying. That’s when I began to realize that something might be wrong with me.
I admit that I am a strong-willed person. I would never show it no matter how hard or tired I was. No matter how unhappy I was, I would never let it show on my face. I am a person who cares about my face. No matter what happens, I would still act as if everything was fine and talk and laugh merrily. Suddenly crying in front of my senior was something that would never happen no matter what the situation was. But I don’t know why I suddenly shed tears that day. My senior was shocked because in the impression of everyone around me, I was cheerful, humorous, and even the life of the party.
After going home in a daze that day, I started a video call with my family. I said I wanted to go home and that I was a bit homesick.
At that time, it was an important stage of the entrance examination. My family said to hold on a little longer and that I could go back during the vacation.
I gritted my teeth and held on, trying my best not to sleep.
Until one day, there was a gathering with friends. We had ramen, and as soon as I got home after we parted, I vomited and threw up everything I had eaten.
For a period of time after that, I would vomit a lot no matter what I ate, and my cough didn’t get any better either.
I went to see a doctor. To be honest, I couldn’t stand the false smile of the Japanese doctor who always maintained politeness and seemed to care about you. The most common sentence he said to me was: “Ganbatte” (which means “cheer up” or “do your best”)
He told me to try my best to live. Maybe I misinterpreted his meaning.
He made me feel that I might be dying soon, so he asked me to try harder, even harder. So I refused all his suggestions. I felt that his cold and false smile made me feel even worse.
The last outburst was when I cried during a video call with my mom.
My mom was so scared that she booked a flight ticket and I went back to China.
Before going back to China, I even had a quarrel with my school teacher.
He asked me why I was going back to China at such a crucial moment before the entrance examination. I lied and said that my heart hurt and I couldn’t catch my breath. He said he could accompany me to the hospital. I said I wanted to go to the hospital in my own country.
He was very angry and shouted at me. He had never shouted at me so loudly before. He was so angry that he threw the book. In the end, I cried again, and once more I cried in front of others and shocked them.
I had been scolded before, but I would always scold back confidently.
I don’t know where the strength came from that time, but I just cried.
In the end, he asked me helplessly what had happened and why I couldn’t tell him. Holding onto the last bit of what I thought was my dignity, I said that my heart was uncomfortable and that I might have heart disease and couldn’t breathe.
When he signed the consent form in the end, he completely changed from his usual gentleness. He was so cold that he didn’t want to say one more word.
Actually, even now I still feel that I let him down and failed to meet his expectations. The angrier he was, the more I knew how much he valued me as a student.
I’ve rambled on so much. I’m glad that I received the exam results a month after I returned to China. I was the only one in my class who passed the exam.
But it doesn’t matter now because I have already left that country.
After returning to China, there was a lack of understanding from my family. My parents still don’t understand until now. At first, they repeatedly asked me what had happened, and now they just comfort me, saying that it’s all in the past and not to think too much about it. Although they still don’t know what “the past” is.
They also took me to see a doctor, but I smashed the doctor’s water cup.
They also took me to see a so-called fortune-teller. When I was asked what was weighing on my mind, I couldn’t say anything. The fortune-teller told my family that it was recommended to take me to a temple in the mountains and let me stay there for a while.
I was indeed taken there, but I didn’t get into the temple. I stayed in a local’s house in the mountains for a month. I still vomited everything I ate and coughed severely.
When people asked me why I was like this, I couldn’t answer either.
I didn’t have any pressure, and I didn’t have any emotional baggage either.
Maybe I just overwhelmed myself. But I still can’t figure out why I did that to myself.
Adopting a cat was a very hasty decision. When I heard that cats could cure depression, I opened a certain second-hand trading platform on my phone. It only took me 10 minutes to choose one. Later, my friends made fun of me for being too hasty.
I directly contacted the seller in the morning. He said that I could only pick up the cat before 7 am or after 8 pm. I went that night and used a backpack. Now that I think about it, I feel that I was really brave. At that time, I didn’t know anything, not the breed, not the preparations for raising a cat, and not even to check if there was anything wrong with the cat or if it was a sick cat.
When I arrived at the seller’s house, I knocked on the door and went in. There were still three little kittens left in their house at that time. I was tricked by the seller. He kept saying that it was a golden tabby cat, so I thought it was a rare breed and didn’t think much about it. I paid the money, put the cat in the backpack, and took it away… Who knew that as it grew up, it turned out to be a Chinese Li Hua cat.
When it was a kitten, it was really golden. It made me think it was a precious breed…
I won’t tell you how much I paid for it. Anyway… how should I put it… If I told you, you would definitely say… Is this person stupid…
After bringing it back, it was already past 10 pm. It was what is called a “naked cat” (with nothing prepared for it). There was nothing at home for the cat. I ordered cat litter, cat food, and a cat litter scoop via takeout. The key thing was that there was no cat litter box available that day.
I waited for the takeout for half an hour. I still remember the cat standing in the strange living room, looking up at the sky as if asking for help.
Since there was no cat litter box, I temporarily used my own foot basin.
Anyway, until now, my cat still uses that foot basin. When it poops, its two front paws hold onto the edge of the basin, and it stands upright while pooping.

At that time, I suffered from severe insomnia and couldn’t fall asleep throughout the whole night. I was so exhausted that my mind couldn’t function properly.

After getting the cat, I deleted all the social media apps on my phone, turned it off, and just stayed at home with the cat, shutting myself off from the outside world.

Perhaps he sensed that I couldn’t sleep at night. He started sitting beside my pillow every night, staring at me with his eyes wide open. At first, I was a bit scared. I thought he might scratch my eyes out with one of his paws. But later on, I didn’t care anymore.

Until one day, I kept my eyes closed for a long time. He thought I had fallen asleep. Then I heard him let out a deep breath, as if he were sighing. After that, he tilted his head and fell asleep nestled against my neck.

Only after that did I realize that he had been watching over me, waiting for me to fall asleep before he himself would doze off.

From then on, I began to sleep under his persistent “intense gaze” every night.

Gradually, I started to be able to fall asleep.

Until one day, when I opened my eyes, there was the sunlight, and I could see his big face just by turning my head.

That was when I began to know that I would overcome depression.

It’s like a little knight guarding me, watching me as I sleep.
At that time, even when I fell asleep, I would have nightmares. It was like being tortured by sleep paralysis, and I couldn’t wake up. I would cry and shout. Every time this happened, I would be woken up by its paw pats.
Although it didn’t show its claws, it only used its paw pads…
Every time I was woken up by it, I would be startled. Its big eyes would just stare at me without moving.
Because I couldn’t sleep well, I would turn on a small night light by the bedside. I remember once, when I woke up, I found it lying on my arm with its belly facing up, looking at me with its eyes wide open and not moving at all.
I also turned my head to look at it. We just stared at each other for a while. I found that it didn’t even blink. So I subconsciously moved my head back a little, but it still didn’t move and kept staring at me with its eyes open.
No matter what I was eating, it would come over and paw at my hand, asking me to let it smell it. Only after it smelled it could I continue eating.
It would get up at 4 am every day and sit by the window in the living room, staring at the birds outside.
Since my home is on a high floor, birds often land on the window.
Once a bird was pounced on. Worried that it would be dangerous because of the high floor, I sealed the window and replaced the screen with an iron one.
Since then, I would be woken up by the chirping of the birds outside the window at 4 am every day. When I came over to take a look, I would find the cat sitting by the window with its pupils turned into a vertical line, staring intently at the birds outside. Those birds would fly around outside my window, and sometimes they would even flap their wings against the screen, provoking my cat.
It made my cat so angry that its eyes would turn into a vertical line, and it would stare at them fiercely. I could feel that it was really angry every morning when it woke up. It would stare at the birds with a completely different aura from when it stared at me. It felt like it was icy cold all over when it stared at the birds. Every time at this moment, I would stagger over and gently stroke it from behind. Sometimes when it was staring too intently, when I touched it, it would turn around in surprise. When it saw that it was me, it would turn back and continue looking out the window. Sometimes when I touched it from behind, it would suddenly lie down and relax. At that time, I knew that cats also have tempers and need human comfort. Every time after I stroked it and heard its happy purring sound, I would say, “Sister is going back to sleep.” Then it would temporarily forget about the birds and accompany me back to the room and lie down beside me and continue to sleep with me.
My cat can also be in a bad mood. For example, on rainy days or when it thunders, there won’t be any bird calls outside the window. When it can’t see the birds, its mood will be very low. I even took a photo of it in that state.
At this time, it really can’t be cheered up. No matter how I try, it will still look wronged, and I secretly laughed at it for a long time.
It likes to bite eggplants. Since we got this cat, we haven’t been able to eat eggplants at home. We would buy them and put them in the kitchen, planning to cook them the next day. But when we took them out, we would find that they had been bitten…
It doesn’t like to eat shrimp. If anything has the smell of shrimp on it, it will turn around and leave. Eating a bite of something with shrimp smell is like it’s going to kill it.
It likes to eat loaches, but it doesn’t like them boiled. It only likes them stir-fried with spicy sauce by my dad first, then rinsed with warm water for it to eat.
It likes to eat ice cream. Every time I eat ice cream, I have to leave a small bite for it, and it will lick it slowly.
It likes to eat persimmons. Every time after taking out the persimmon seeds, I will cut a small piece for it.
It likes to eat potato chips. If you don’t let it lick them, it will scold you and argue with you loudly while pressing your arm.
It likes to lie on my piano the most to sleep. So after getting it, I can’t put anything else on the piano. I have to leave the space for it.
When it gets a new toy, it will show it off. It will hold the toy in its mouth and put it at the door. When my parents come back home at night, as soon as they enter the door, it will show them the toy with the toy in its mouth. But after playing with it for two days, it will throw it aside and lose interest.
It likes fish, but it won’t catch the fish in our own fish tank. When we visit relatives’ houses, it will try to catch the fish in their fish tanks. Even after being scolded, it will turn a deaf ear and blatantly reach its paws into the fish tank to catch the fish.
When it gets back to our own home, it has no interest in the fish tank at all and doesn’t even bother to take a look.
My friends envy me for this because it’s difficult for them to keep both a cat and fish.
Occasionally, a fish will jump out of the fish tank and fall to the ground. It will sit beside it and shout loudly, and then I will run over and pick up the fish and put it back in the fish tank.
I even think that it knows these are the fish in its own home, so it won’t hurt them.
As a result, the number of fish in my family has been increasing. Now we already have three large fish tanks.
When going out, it refuses to set foot on the ground. It would rather be held in my arms to see the scenery than walk on the ground. If I put it on the ground, it will argue with me angrily. Anyway, I can’t shout louder than it. When it’s angry, its voice is super loud. Maybe it’s afraid of getting its little paws dirty.
I open the door every day to clean the floor and let in the air. I put a small chair at the door. It will lie on the chair and look out into the corridor. Then I will say, “If you run out, you won’t be able to come back. There’s no food outside, and you’ll starve to death…”
Every time I say this, it will make some impatient “meows” a few times.
I can feel its impatient tone. I’m glad that it has never run out again when I wasn’t paying attention.
Occasionally, when I go out to buy groceries and come back home, it will meow at me and seem to be asking me where I’ve been and why I went out.
Even though we don’t speak the same language, I can understand what it means. It will meow at me angrily. At this time, I will comfort it and say that I went downstairs to buy groceries or something. Then it will grumble and walk away.
Maybe someone will ask me if it’s really like this.
But this is really something that I have gradually understood and realized by staying with it every day.
I have also been to many cities and many places, but in the end, I can only sleep peacefully when I come back to it.
I know that I can’t live without it, but it doesn’t matter. At least I’m not alone. I still have it.
There’s so much more to say. If I really wanted to describe it all, there’s just so much. I almost stay with it 24 hours a day. I don’t go to work, I don’t go out much, just occasionally go downstairs to buy some groceries.
This is my boring life. I get up at 4 am to accompany it to watch the birds, get up at 7 am to clean the house, wipe the floor with pet disinfectant, change the water in the fish tank, use a lint roller to clean the carpet, and use a small towel to wipe its face and paw pads. In the afternoon, it will take a nap on my arm, and I will secretly look at its fur and whiskers. I will kill the fish myself and make fish soup. Every time I bring back crucian carp, I kill it myself. In the face of the bloody scene, it will sit beside me with its ears flattened like an airplane and watch me chop off the fish’s head in shock.
I’ve written a whole bunch of random things. The medical treatment made me gain weight from 90 jin to 120 jin. I was the one who fought with the doctor and didn’t cooperate, and I was also the one who couldn’t control myself and cried.
After going through all these ups and downs, I have seen through a lot and understood more.
No one can save me. I’m glad that my little angel came to me with its golden fur.
It has taught me to be gentle, shown me that there is still kindness in this world, and I have also learned how to argue with a cat, although I’ve never won.
There’s also one more amazing thing. Before I had a cat, I never came across any stray cats. After having a cat, when I go on a trip, I always encounter stray cats that come to me for food.

Later, a friend who also has a cat said:
Animals are all spiritual. They go through the six realms of reincarnation and endure great suffering before being reincarnated as cats. If you treat them well, you will accumulate merit. When you walk on the street, other cats will see your merit, and they will know that you are kind to cats. So they will think that since you are good to their kindred, it should be okay for you to offer them something to eat and drink. That’s why you will be targeted by all kinds of stray cats.
I remember a sentence said by a pet blogger.
Cats are masters of social interaction. They can precisely grasp the distance between people. They won’t make you dislike them, nor will they express their love excessively. They will do appropriate things at an appropriate distance. Cats don’t lie. They are the most honest beings in the world. Cats don’t deceive either. They will show clearly whether they like something or dislike it.
Learn from cats their strength, calmness, and open-mindedness.
Tomorrow will be better than today.
Because we will eventually keep moving forward.