I don't know what year it is. In a bustling town, there was a Mid-Autumn Festival one year, and families were reunited, but in a dilapidated yard in an alley, an old woman named Ah Zhi suddenly died on this festive day.

Ah Zhi was just sixty-six years old when she died, she was an old man with a rough fate, and her children's luck was particularly bad, she died of her husband at the age of forty, and she had to raise five children by herself. However, the children did not let her worry about it either. The eldest daughter used to work in a shop, but later fell in love with a man and eloped with the other party, and has not been heard from since; The eldest son accidentally drowned while swimming; The second son contracted measles and died; The third son was kicked out of the house by Ah Zhi because he loved to steal. As a result, only Ah Zhi and his youngest son Ah Liang are left in the family. Fortunately, Ah Liang is a filial son, not only did he come out to make money to subsidize the family when he was very young, but he was also very good to his mother. Therefore, the life of the mother and son has always been peaceful and smooth.

"It's really rare to give birth to such a filial child as Ah Liang, and Ah Zhi is really blessed." That's what everybody says. Originally, everyone was very sympathetic to Ah Zhi's plight, but as Ah Liang grew up little by little and his life got better and better, he couldn't help but start to envy him.

Ah Liang is 20 years old and sells fish for a living. He lived a simple life, was honest, and was very liked by his neighbors. Because some old customers are willing to work hard, his daily income is not low.

However, as time passed, the neighbors became less and less like Achi. In fact, she is not a bad person, and she is not usually very annoying, but she especially likes to raise cats, which is the case when she is young, and even more so when she is older. At that time, she had a total of fifteen or sixteen cats, all of which were kept at home, and lived in a small house with people. In fact, if it's just like this, there is no need for others to hate her, she has a cat in her own house, and she is not in someone else's house, who can say anything? Even if others don't seem a little uncomfortable, as long as the cat doesn't go to their house, it's fine. After all, it is Ah Zhi's freedom to have a cat, as long as it does not interfere with others, no one has any reason to complain about it all day long.

However, cats are different from people, they never stay in one place quietly. No matter how much food Ah Zhi prepares for them, they always like to run to the neighbor's kitchen to steal food, which is the nature of animals and cannot be changed. It's okay once or twice, and everyone can barely accept it. However, the cats always did this, and none of the neighbors could stand it. Although every time something like this happens, Ah Zhi and Ah Liang will personally go to each other's homes to apologize, but the thing is gone, what's the use of apologizing? What's more, cats don't have a long memory, and they won't stop making mistakes because of their owner's apology.

It's always a vicious circle. Over time, some mean people gave Ah Zhi a nickname and called her "Granny Cat", and I don't know who called her first, but it was slowly called away anyway. What Ah Zhi will think when he hears this nickname, no one knows. But as Ah Zhi's son, Ah Liang definitely doesn't like others to call his mother that. But he was too docile to persuade his mother to stop keeping cats, nor to get into conflict with his neighbors over these things. So, he can only continue to live with the cats, sell fish and sell fish, and go home and go home.

Later, someone noticed something unusual. When Ah Liang goes home every day, there are always a few fish left in the fish basket. According to common sense, his business is so good, there should be no surplus every day.

"Ah Liang, why can't you sell your fish every day?" Finally, someone asked curiously.

"No, it's not unsold, it's to feed the cats、、、、、、 Ah Liang explained embarrassedly, "Mother insisted that I keep a few fish every day to feed the cats!" People were amazed.

Soon the neighbors knew about it, and they all complained about Ah Liang, and they were even more disgusted with Ah Zhi. Originally, they didn't have a good impression of Ah Zhi because of those cats, and coupled with this incident, their disgust with Ah Zhi could already be called "anger".

"Ah Liang's temper is so good! The cat mother-in-law fed the cat with such expensive fish every day, and he didn't say anything. If this continues, no matter how hard Ah Liang works, he will lose a lot. It's weird, does she like those cats more than her own son? It's ridiculous! Ah Liang is really pitiful! ”

It's no wonder that people say that, and those cats are really annoying. They are becoming more and more presumptuous, not only swaggering in and out of other people's houses day and night, but also unscrupulously scratching through window paper, stealing fresh fish, and whining all day long after they have eaten and drunk enough.

Finally, the neighbor who lived in the south couldn't take it anymore and moved. The neighbor who lived north was a carpenter, and his wife was about to be tormented by cats and was crying out that she didn't want to live here anymore.

"These cats have made everyone uneasy, and they have also caused a lot of trouble for Ah Liang, let's drive the cats away, right?" Someone suggested.

People couldn't bear it anymore and were in favor of it. However, they know very well that it will definitely be useless to talk to Ah Zhi about this matter, so it is better to go to the landlord together to react to the situation, and they want the landlord to negotiate with Ah Zhi. If Ah Zhi is willing to get rid of those cats, everyone will be happy. If Ah Zhi is unwilling, they think, the landlord will evict Ah Zhi's family. The landlord is certainly not on the side of a few, and he is worried that people will move and his rent will be lost. The landlord immediately called Ah Zhi to tell her what the neighbors meant, and ordered her to get rid of the cats immediately. Of course, she could choose not to get rid of them, so she and her son would have to move out immediately.

Looking at the strong landlord, Ah Zhi had no choice but to agree obediently.

"I'm sorry to cause trouble for everyone, I'll get rid of them right away."

That being said, after all, those cats have been with Ah Zhi for so long and already have feelings, how can Ah Zhi bear to throw them away with his own hands? So, knowing that this would annoy others, she made a plea———— hoping that her neighbors would do it for her.

The landlord thought that this was also human nature and that this request was not unreasonable, so he agreed to her request. It wasn't long before the carpenter who lived next door to Zhi's house and two other male neighbors went to Zhi's house to deal with the cats. There are about twenty cats in this group, some large and some small, and some even newborn.

"I'm sorry to trouble you." Ah Zhi calmly beckoned to the visitors, and did not seem to be reluctant to the cats at all. She summoned all the cats, had the three men divide them into groups, stuffed them into old bags or wrapped them in rags, and watched them take the cats away until they were out of the alley.

"I always feel that this thing is a little wrong, looking at the back of their departure, Ah Zhi is actually laughing, this is what I saw with my own eyes, there will be no fake."

Afterwards, the carpenter's wife always said this to the neighbors.

Where were the cats lost? A remote and inhospitable place, of course. The three of them chose a suitable spot, threw the cat there, and went home.

When everyone heard that this was the end of the matter, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. They naively thought that they would finally be able to live a few days in peace, but they never expected that before dawn, those cats would all run back!

The carpenter's wife was the first to find out. At first, the neighbors didn't believe it, so they came to Ah Zhi's house to find out, but unexpectedly, the carpenter's wife said that it was not bad at all———— that the large group of cats not only came back one by one, but also unharmed. They happily scurry around the room, as if mocking people's innocence.

How did they get back? No one knew, not even Ah Zhi, she just said that in the middle of the night last night, she saw them lining up, one by one through the window, and finally back into the room. Indeed, some people have heard before that cats have spirits and can find their way home, so it is not surprising that Azhi's cat can come back.

However, no matter how smart the cats are, they can't be smarter, and in order to prevent those cats from being found again, this time, everyone asked the three men to dispose of the cats and throw them away.

It took the three of them a day's arduous walk to abandon the cats to the suburbs, and then they returned home with peace of mind.

The effect was significant, at least much better than the last time, and two days had passed, and the cats hadn't slipped back like they had last time.

However, strange things did not stop, but happened more frequently.

This time, it happened to the locksmith's wife and her seven-year-old daughter, who were also Ah Zhi's neighbors.

Here's the thing, the mother and daughter went to the temple to worship the Buddha, and when they came back, it was already dark, but the moonlight that night was particularly good, and everything was very clear. People with good eyesight can even see the glittering dew hanging under the eaves.

"Mom, look!" The mother and daughter were walking well, but the daughter suddenly pulled her mother's sleeve, stopped, stared straight at the roof, and pointed out to her mother.

It's okay not to look at it, but this time, my mother gasped in fright, and got goosebumps———— only to see a snow-white cat standing on the roof of Ah Zhi's house, stretching out its two front legs, standing up with two hind legs like a human being, drooping its tail, like drunk, staggering across the roof, until the end suddenly disappeared.

When encountering such a strange thing, no one dared to speak, so the mother hurriedly ran home with her daughter and closed the doors and windows tightly, for fear that the white cat would chase after her and cause unnecessary trouble. It wasn't until the locksmith came home that she was a little emboldened to talk to her husband about the strange thing.

"Nonsense! It's simply impossible, you must be mistaken. "The drunken husband doesn't believe it at all. In fact, he was suspicious, so after his wife and daughter fell asleep, he secretly came to the door of Ah Zhi's house, wanting to listen to the movement inside and see what was going on.

It didn't take long for the locksmith to hear Zhi's joyful voice.

"Oops, why did you come back!"

As soon as she finished speaking, a cat's bark sounded, sounding like it was responding to her.

When the locksmith heard this, he couldn't help but be taken aback, and most of the wine was sober, and he quickly slipped back to his home.

"Did you really see the cat walking like a human?" He woke his wife up and confirmed.

"Is that still fake? What's wrong? The wife asked.

This time, the locksmith finally believed. In fact, he was one of the three people responsible for losing the cat. Now that such a strange thing has happened, he is terrified, but he can't do anything but get himself drunk. His wife, hearing what he had just seen, kept her eyes wide open, and did not sleep all night.

That very night, all the cats returned.

The next morning, the locksmith's wife was so frightened that she told her neighbors what she and her husband had seen. Everyone knows that normal cats certainly don't walk like humans, and in this case, those cats must have something strange, and maybe they have become essences.