The Versatile Master Artist

After this.

Lord Guan died, General Zhang died too, and the lord Liu Bei also died after the eight-hundred-mile long chain of camps was burned. The Three Brothers of Peach Garden were wiped out, clean and white. After the heart-wrenching peaks, came one tragedy after another.

Just as he knew the plot of ”Romance of the Three Kingdoms.”

Gu Weijing could smell the scent of impending doom in the air.

He knew that at this time Amy was already a very old cat, and soon it would be unable to nimbly jump onto Tony’s head like now, placing its paw gently on his big head like a kindly mother.

Very soon, this story would take a sharp turn.

He clearly remembered the recent CARS evaluation sheet given by Dr. Jin Anqing, with a score of 46.

After a decade of happy times, Tony was about to close his heart again.

Gu Weijing took a deep breath and continued to leaf through the materials.

The last video was shot in the twelfth lunar month of 2001, fourteen years after Amy came to this family.

The initially scanned photos on film had evolved into a short video shot by a VCD camcorder.

Both the cat and Tony had grown up.

Not just grown up, by cat years, Amy was already an old cat past its prime at that time.

Due to illness.

It lay dying in a cradle, its once agile and vigorous body now dried up severely.

Luckily and unluckily, good medical conditions allowed Amy to live longer than an ordinary terminally ill cat.

When Gu Weijing saw the video, it was the first time he realized that a usually chubby cat could look as thin as a picked-up stick of firewood.

In the video’s background.

Doctors and nurses dressed in blue uniforms were arranging flowers and cartoon patterns in a warmly decorated room, with soothing classical music playing in the sound system.

In the millennium year, a tumor was detected in Amy’s head.

For the tumor, Jean Arnou spent several thousand US Dollars on his son’s precious cat, enough to buy a thousand native cats like Ah Wang in Myanmar, which shows his dedication.

But Amy was really too old, and the Scottish Fold was not a particularly long-lived breed among cats.

Resources sometimes run dry.

Letting her leave the world peacefully here was instead a more humane choice.

This was New Zealand’s best pet hospital.

Not only did it have professional and experienced veterinarians, but it also offered pet end-of-life care and euthanasia services for the rich pet lovers who had money to spare.

Rather than saying these were end-of-life services for pets.

It’s more accurate to say they provided emotional support for the owners.

The nurses would decorate the rooms warmly and comfortably, and would also cover the walls with various cute animal photos. After euthanasia, they would hand the cat’s urns and a lock of the cut cat fur to the owner.

According to different customer requirements, they could even customize accessories like cat necklaces.

There was once a local TV variety singer who cried profusely, hoping for a bracelet containing her dog’s hair, believing it would bring her luck, warmth, and faith when wearing it while singing.

They even provided animal ”priest” services for animal last rites.

As long as there was money, except for bringing back the dead, all kinds of services were available.

The philosophy of the elite pet hospital was to emphasize that death is not terrible, the beloved pet has not left, but has ascended to the Celestial Kingdom, accompanying the owner in another form.

This video titled ”The Ceremony of Love” was also filmed by the pet hospital.

In the video, Tony was standing not far from the cradle, leaning forward to look at his cat.

Beside him, a person who looked like a veterinarian or priest was holding Tony with one hand and Jean Arnou with the other, speaking softly.

”Amy is in a lot of pain now, she is just about to go to a place without pain, and shortly she will reappear by your side. Let us remember, Amy is a good cat, her heart and soul will faithfully accompany her beloved owner...”

Tony is already an adult.

In terms of physical build, he was half a head taller than his father and the doctor beside him, but the expression on his face was as helpless as a vulnerable infant.

He just kept his lips tight, his gaze fixed tightly on the cradle in front of him.

Gu Weijing wasn’t sure whether Tony could understand what was about to happen.

The medical records noted, Tony unlike Bu Dao’s condition, truly had a severe intellectual disability in the physical sense.

From a brain development perspective, he might not be much smarter than the cat in the cradle.

Being able to communicate with some daily common phrases was the limit of his understanding.

Theoretically, he should find it quite difficult to understand the specific meaning of ”euthanasia.”

But in the not-so-clear-resolution surveillance camera, Tony’s sorrowful look broke Gu Weijing’s heart.

After finishing what could be either comforting or praying words.

The doctor released Jean Arnou and Tony’s hands, preparing to carry away the cat cradle.

”My condolences, sir, unless there is a special request to accompany the animal to the last moment, it is usually recommended that you do not watch the ’sleep’ process.”

”Alright, we won’t watch.” Jean Arnou took his son’s hand.

”To confirm, the ashes are to be planted in greenery, and there’s a cat plush toy of the same color as Amy, correct?”

The doctor checked the list beside the cradle one last time to verify the client’s chosen services.

The illustrator gave the silent child a questioning look, waited a few seconds, then turned to the doctor and said: ”Yes, that’s it.”

”Please rest here for a moment, it will take about twenty-five minutes.”

The doctor handed the torn-off confirmation slip to Jean Arnou, then prepared to take the cradle away.

At this moment, a large hand grasped the other end of the cat cradle.

”Sir?”

The doctor looked at the big child grasping the cradle.

”NO.”

Tony shook his head.

”Sir, Amy will not leave, she just changed to another form to stay with you, please be encouraged. This is a process that every life must go through.”

The doctor comforted him.

Tony persistently shook his head and said NO.

The doctor shrugged, not getting angry.

He knew Jean Arnou’s son’s situation, the client is God, and after all, what’s the point of arguing with an autistic child who never grows up?

”Sir, please help persuade and control your son.” This sentence was directed at Jean Arnou and the other caregivers.

The man reached out, intending to directly take Amy from the cradle.

”Oooh— fuck”

The doctor suddenly let out an uncontrollable cry of pain.

Tony tightly gripped the edge of the cradle, not letting others snatch it away... this burly child suddenly opened his mouth wide, directly biting into the arm of the doctor trying to take Amy away.

”Sir! Sir! Someone, he’s gone mad.”

This was truly a chaotic, incredibly embarrassing scene.

Tony actually bit the doctor.

For a while, there were shadows of people moving in the camera, the doctor, Jean Arnou, the pet hospital caregivers, Jean Arnou’s personal assistant.

Different people were swaying in front of the camera, even the cameraman ran up to help.

The noise and clamor completely drowned out the soothing classical music in the background, the scene turned into chaos.

At this moment, Tony was scared and cried out loud.

He was once again isolated outside this ordinary world, yet stubbornly clung to the cradle.

He held on so tightly as if trying to stop fate from cruelly separating him and his Amy through this.

He opened his mouth wide as if intending to bite every hand that reached out.

Amy looked like it was shedding fur severely, resembling a bald old man with flesh showing through the fur. But in the arms of the burly Tony, its body was rendered even more miniature than the little bundle on his head fourteen years ago.

”Truly a child raised by a cat.”

Gu Weijing sighed.

Tony was already nineteen years old, and physically, he might be the strongest man in this pet ward, but at this moment, he could only instinctively use his teeth to attack every ”bad” person trying to cruelly take Amy away from him, like a poor little cat.