With withered, yellow leaves covering the mountains and only the lower halves of rice stalks remaining in the fields, Bai Yu buried the small yellow dog in a simple earthen grave.
Shortly after, she heard Xia Mimi from next door talking about how Black Fatty had suffered severe burns from boiling oil, leaving a large patch of raw, peeling skin that made him howl in pain at home.
Remembering how Black Fatty had stolen three of her chickens and caused Xiaobai's death, Bai Yu felt a burning anger she couldn't swallow.
Taking advantage of the deep, quiet night, the young girl hoisted two chicken cages onto her back and scaled the wall into Black Fatty's backyard.
After a few muffled chicken squawks that went completely unnoticed, Bai Yu climbed back over the wall, carrying two baskets overflowing with chicken cages.
Daju had been left at home to watch the stove, but he fell so fast asleep from exhaustion that half his fur burned off without him even realizing it.
If Bai Yu hadn't returned from her chicken-stealing expedition just then, the courtyard might not have seen chicken for dinner tonight—they would have had roasted cat instead.
"Daju, wake up! The smart patch of fur on your ears is completely burned off," the girl said, splashing a ladle of water to snap the orange cat awake.
The orange cat sprang up in one fluid motion, leaped to the edge of the water vat, and upon seeing that half its handsome cat face was scorched black, let out a miserable, involuntary meow.
It was so furious that it barely ate any chicken meat all evening.
Daju thought to himself: *It's over. How am I supposed to face my wives now?*
*My wives are definitely going to lose interest and fall in love with someone else.*
*What if my wives don't love me anymore......*
The melancholic orange cat stared at the chicken meat in its bowl, completely devoid of appetite.
After feeding her grandmother a bowl of chicken soup, Bai Yu came outside and found Daju wearing a bitter, deeply aggrieved expression.
Unable to help herself, she chuckled and stroked his bristly, scorched fur: "Daju, if you don't eat, your fur won't grow back."
"Meow~"
"Really, finish all the chicken soup, and in a few days, your maomao will grow right back."
Though the orange cat had no idea whether this was true, for the sake of its precious coat, it drank the entire pot of chicken soup clean.
Bai Yu had stolen all eight of Black Fatty's chickens. To avoid discovery, she slaughtered them overnight, salted them down, and hid them inside the rice jar.
Yet, this secret finally blew wide open on a certain early winter night.
The north wind rattled the doors and windows with a sharp *clatter*. Daju's left side had grown a layer of fine fuzz, but no matter how the stray female cats wailed outside the window, he refused to step outside.
"Be a good boy, Daju. Just another half a month, and your fur will grow in completely. You'll be just as handsome and dashing as before."
Seeing Daju's listless expression, Bai Yu continually stroked his head to comfort him.
"Meow~" Daju gave a perfunctory response.
At that moment, with a deafening *bang*, the front gate was kicked open from the outside.
Black Fatty strode in, his face swollen and burned red like Judge Bao's, boiling with fury.
"Bai Yu, I must have given you too much face! How dare you resort to thievery and come stealing from my house!"
"Lads, drag her to the back mountain! Tonight, if I don't break her in, you can write the name Black Fatty backward in Xiangyun Village!"
Grandmother rolled off the bed and hit the floor, trying to rescue Bai Yu, but she was kicked a few times by one of the thugs instead.
"You villains are devoid of conscience! You'll be punished for this!" Grandmother spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out on the floor.
Bai Yu was dragged away to the back mountain by several good-for-nothing thugs.
She screamed for help all the way, but the lights in the village went out one by one.
No one came to save her.
Because no one wanted to get their hands dirty.
After all, Black Fatty was the local bully of Xiangyun Village; who dared to say no to him?
The back mountain was deserted, and the northern wind howled through the night as Bai Yu's limbs were pinned down into the damp, cold mud.
Her ears were filled with the lewd, salacious laughter of Black Fatty and his henchmen.
"Fatty Bro, once you're done having your fun, can you let us brothers have a quick go as well?"
"Normally this girl plays hard to get and you can't even touch her, but today we get to share in Fatty Bro's good fortune and finally taste her."
"Yeah, we want to know what a pretty girl feels like too."
Flattered by his lackeys' sweet words, Black Fatty untied his belt, completely carried away with himself.
"Fine. Once I'm sick of playing with her, this stinking bitch is yours."
In Bai Yu's tear-filled, watery apricot eyes, she saw only Black Fatty's towering, ink-dark shadow.
In the depths of despair.
Out of the corner of her eye, the young girl caught sight of a fat, flaming cat charging toward them.
It was Daju!
He had set fire to his own cherished fur to ignite the back mountain.
On a howling northern winter night, the dead wood on the mountain was not easily caught, so he ran back and forth time and time again, finally setting half the mountain ablaze just in time to save Bai Yu.
Xiangyun Village was a mountain-dependent community.
If the mountain burned, it could ruin the harvest for the entire coming year.
Human nature being what it was, people only intervened when their own interests were directly threatened.
"Fire! There's a fire!"
"Quick, put out the fire! It's a wildfire!"
The lights in the village that had just gone dark flickered back on one by one as people hurried toward the back mountain.
Putting out the wildfire happened to rescue Bai Yu in the process.
With her clothes torn to shreds, Bai Yu clutched Daju—now completely charred black—and wept uncontrollably.
The villagers stared at the scorched half of the mountain, then looked at the blackened cat in Bai Yu's arms.
With dark, gloomy expressions, they muttered, "Good grief, what bad luck. Half the mountain burned down, and she's just sitting there crying."
"Why couldn't that Black Fatty have taken her to his own house to do his business instead of dragging her to the back mountain? Now look at this, the fruit trees won't bear a single piece of fruit next year."
"How can you blame Xiaobai for this! She's the victim!" Xia Mimi finally broke free from her parents' restraint, rushing out to stand in front of Bai Yu.
"If we don't blame her, who do we blame? If she'd just known what was good for her and married Black Fatty, would half the mountain have burned down?"
"If you're so smart, why didn't you get a divorce and marry Black Fatty yourself?!" Xia Mimi's chubby face trembled with fury. Unable to hurl any further insults, she was dragged back home by her parents.
That night was the coldest night of early winter.
Crouched and shivering in the wet mud, Bai Yu shed tears as the cold wind numbed half her body.
The cat's charcoal-grey face kept nudging against hers, its bristly, scratchy fur rubbing the girl's cheeks until they turned red.
........
At the Lin Residence.
"Don't touch me...... don't touch me......"
The young girl lay on the soft bed, cold sweat soaking through her clothes, her face as pale as paper.
Unable to reach Bai Yu in their chat group, Daju had panicked and jumped out the window.
In the dead of night at the Lin Residence, the orange cat wiggled its backside and ran at top speed, with Lin Du following close behind until they finally reached the door of a relatively remote guest room.
Daju let out a "meow" and scratched at the door, leaving Lin Du with no choice but to push it open.
He found Bai Yu lying in bed, trapped deep within a nightmare.
A flash of memory reminded him of her zombie-like appearance earlier that day.
The orange cat leaped onto the bed, rubbing its fluffy head against the girl's face.
One moment it was licking her left cheek, the next it scurried over to the right, nudging her palm with its head.
It was so frantic it let out a rapid flurry of meows.
Finally driven to desperation, it turned around and let out a fierce, menacing "meow" at Lin Du, who was standing off to the side.
Hearing the orange cat drop its usual high-pitched squeak, Lin Du was slightly taken aback.
Seeing that Lin Du still hadn't reacted, the orange cat actually hissed at him in a rush.
The man chuckled softly, leaning over to check on the girl's condition.
Who stays trapped in a nightmare and can't wake up?
It looked much more like she had been hypnotized.
Lin Du's eyes darkened deeply. When he touched the girl's hand, it felt as cold as ice.
As soon as he extended a single finger, Bai Yu gripped it tightly.
"I can't die...... I can't die......"
"Save me....... please save me......."