203: Chapter 203 The Interest on Laughter

After Lin Feng pulled the curtains the previous night, the cat circle did not disperse. Seven cats huddled under the Old Locust Tree, heads facing inward and tails pointing out, their purring rising and falling in waves. Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the leaves, falling onto the Cat Coin cards; the silvery-white light illuminated the paw prints clearly. The wind stopped, the leaves went silent, leaving only the cats' purring and the occasional "He-he-he" mixed in. Lin Feng lay in bed, unable to sleep; listening to those sounds, he felt they were like distant bell chimes, striking one by one, steady and unhurried.

The next morning, he pulled open the curtains to find the cat circle still there, but with something new—a small slip of paper was tied to the tip of each cat's tail. The slips were yellow, looking as if they had been torn from a notebook, with a smiley face drawn in pencil. Lin Feng walked out, squatted beside the cat circle, and gently untied the slip closest to him to look at it. On the back, a line of words was written: "Laughter earns interest. Deposit for one day, laugh twice. Deposit for two days, laugh thrice. Deposit for three days, laugh four times. The longer you deposit, the more you laugh. — White Cat." Lin Feng was stunned. White Cat could write? He checked the slips on the other cats' tails; each one had different handwriting. Black Cat's slip had a drawing of a dried fish with "Exchange laughter for dried fish, exchange dried fish for laughter" written beside it. Yellow Cat's slip had a paw print with "One step, one laugh" next to it. Calico Cat's slip had a moon with "Laugh at night, laugh during the day too." Orange Cat's slip had a sun with "Sunbathing makes you warmer, laughing makes you fuller." Grey and White Cat's slip had a fallen leaf with "When they fall they grow back, when you laugh it comes back." Lin Fengs Cat also had a slip tied to its tail; he untied it to see that there were no drawings, only a single word: "Worth it."

Lin Feng held the slip of paper and looked at the cat. The cat's eyes were closed, and the tip of its tail flicked gently. Lin Feng folded the paper and put it in his pocket. He stood up, brushed off his pants, and walked into the Restaurant. Margaret was frying dried fish, the oil in the pan crackling and popping. Lin Feng squatted at the kitchen door and told her about the slips. Margaret stopped her spatula and turned to look at him. "Cats can write?" Lin Feng said, "I don't know. But the notes were on their tails. Maybe they tied them themselves." Margaret scooped out the fried fish, placed them on a plate, and carried it to the Old Locust Tree. Squatting by the cat circle, she untied the slip from White Cat's tail and read it. "Deposit for one day, laugh twice. Deposit for two days, laugh thrice. Deposit for three days, laugh four times." She smiled. "Its interest is higher than the bank's." She tied the slip back; White Cat opened its eyes to glance at her before closing them again. Margaret took a piece of dried fish from the plate and placed it before White Cat. White Cat didn't eat it, only sniffed it. Margaret placed another, but White Cat still didn't eat. Only when she placed the third did White Cat lower its head, pick one up, chew slowly, swallow, and then give Margaret two "He—he—" laughs. Margaret was stunned. "It deposited for one day? Laughed twice?" Lin Feng said, "Yeah. Deposit one day, laugh twice. Not a bit more, not a bit less." Margaret placed another fish, and White Cat ate it and laughed twice more. It had laughed four times and eaten two fish. Margaret stood up and looked at Lin Feng. "It doesn't owe me anything." Lin Feng said, "Yeah. It doesn't owe anyone. You give fish, it laughs. You don't, it doesn't. If you deposit, there's interest. If you don't, there isn't." Margaret put the remaining fish back on the plate and carried it into the Restaurant. She felt she needed to relearn how to deal with cats.

When Old Zhou came to deliver the mail, he was stunned to see the slips tied to the cats' tails. He fished a letter out of his bag and handed it to Lin Feng. "Yours." Lin Feng opened it; inside was a single sheet of paper with only one line: "Lin Feng, Cat Coins earn interest now. Deposit one Cat Coin, it becomes two after a day." There was no signature. Lin Feng folded the letter and put it in his pocket. He looked at Old Zhou. "Did you deposit too?" Old Zhou pulled a Cat Coin from his pocket and placed it by the pit. Lin Fengs Cat opened its eyes, picked up the Cat Coin, stuffed it into the pit, and then pulled a slip of paper out from the edge of the pit to place before Old Zhou. The slip read: "Deposit for one day, interest is one Cat Coin. Deposit for two days, interest is two. The longer you deposit, the more interest you get." Old Zhou looked at the slip and laughed. "A cat's bank has more credit than a human's bank." He folded the slip, put it in his pocket, and rode off, his bike chain clinking away. Lin Feng squatted by the pit, looking at the cats with their tied slips. He felt the cats weren't opening a bank; they were teaching people. Teaching people to store up laughter, teaching them to wait, teaching them to take things slow. Laughter isn't in a hurry, the cats aren't in a hurry, and humans shouldn't be either.

In the afternoon, White Cat's slip changed. A new line was written on it: "Deposit one day, laugh twice. Deposit two days, laugh thrice. Deposit three days, laugh four times. Deposit four days, laugh five times. Deposit five days, laugh six times. Deposit six days, laugh seven times. Deposit seven days, laugh eight times." Lin Feng counted and smiled. "Deposit seven days, laugh eight times. That's one extra laugh." He squatted before White Cat, took a dried fish from his pocket, and placed it down. White Cat ate it and laughed eight times at him. "He—he—he—he—he—he—he—he—" Not one more, not one less. Lin Feng placed another fish, and White Cat ate it and laughed another eight times. It had only been deposited for a day, but it laughed eight times. It wasn't interest; it was because it was happy. When happy, it laughed a few more times. Interest is the rule, happiness is the mood. Rules cannot be broken, but moods cannot be suppressed either. Lin Feng felt White Cat understood life better than he did.

Black Cat's slip had also changed. It read: "One laugh for one fish. Two laughs for two fish. Three laughs for three. The more you laugh, the more you get. But you can only laugh ten times a day. Any more is exhausting." Lin Feng looked at these words and felt Black Cat understood moderation better than he did. Laughing too much is tiring, and when tired, one stops laughing. When the laughter stops, it's gone. When it's gone, one must wait for tomorrow. Laugh again tomorrow, and it returns. He squatted before Black Cat, took ten dried fish from his pocket, and placed them one by one. Black Cat ate them one by one, laughing once for each fish. It ate ten fish and laughed ten times. Having finished, it closed its eyes and started purring. It was tired. Lin Feng put away the remaining fish and squatted nearby, watching Black Cat sleep. When the cat slept, the corners of its mouth curled up slightly, as if it were laughing even in its dreams.

At night, the slips on the seven cats glowed under the moonlight. Lin Feng squatted outside the cat circle, looking at them over and over. White Cat's slip, Black Cat's slip, Yellow Cat's slip, Calico Cat's slip, Orange Cat's slip, Grey and White Cat's slip, and Lin Fengs Cat's slip. Every single one was different, yet they all bore the same word: "Laugh." It wasn't written; it was imprinted. Not imprinted on paper, but on the heart. The cat's heart, the human's heart, the heart of laughter.

Margaret came out carrying a plate of mushrooms and squatted next to Lin Feng. "You've been watching for a long time today." Lin Feng said, "I'm looking at the interest." Margaret looked at the slips. "Does the interest change?" Lin Feng said, "Yes. When the cats are happy, the interest is high. When they aren't, it's low. But it's never zero." He stood up and brushed off his pants. "I'm going to sleep." Margaret stood up too. "Will you look at the interest tomorrow?" Lin Feng nodded. "Yes. When the cats laugh, the interest rises. When they don't, it stops. When it stops, we wait. After waiting, it will rise again." He turned and walked into the Restaurant, Margaret following behind him. The door closed, and the lights went out. The cat circle remained under the Old Locust Tree, seven cats huddled together, the slips on their tails fluttering gently in the night breeze. Moonlight shone on the slips, the words flickering like they were breathing. Lin Feng stood inside the Restaurant, looking out the window. He saw the shadow of the cat circle, the shadows of the slips, and the shadow of the interest. He watched for a long time, then pulled the curtains and went to sleep.

[Chapter 203 End]