Chapter 629 - 288: Cat Portrait_2

To observe the natural interaction between an autistic child and a tabby cat, Gu Weijing left Ah Wang and Bu Dao to play in the room.

He gave them the space entirely to themselves.

He moved a beanbag chair into the corridor to observe the emotional development between these two little models through the camera.

So far.

There has been no spark of what might seem like a "close bond" between the two little models in the camera.

Bu Dao seems very interested in the cat, the problem is — he’s a bit too timid.

Jasmine, though a well-behaved little girl, had excitedly pounced on Ah Wang to drag him away after getting his permission on their first meeting.

Ah Wang was her plush toy, to be stroked as she pleased.

But for Bu Dao, he only took a couple of tentative steps towards the tabby in the corner.

After Ah Wang casually bared his teeth menacingly.

He was so startled that he fell to the ground, pointing at Ah Wang and repeatedly shouting "cat, cat," but not daring to get close again.

Ah Wang, on the other hand, was pleased with his own authority.

She felt she had reclaimed all the lost dignity from Jasmine through this chubby child.

The cat squatted there constantly squinting, wriggling its whiskers, and occasionally flashing its sharp tiger teeth to gleefully scare Bu Dao.

Watching on his phone, Bu Dao seemed just a moment away from tears.

Gu Weijing sighed and rubbed his forehead in resignation.

Ever since taking on this task, he had spent time reading a lot of material about autism patients.

Gu Weijing knew that being timid is a typical characteristic of many autism patients.

Their perception of the external environment is completely different from that of normal people.

They isolate themselves and easily become frightened by overly intense stimuli.

Whether it’s the firecrackers on the street, the thunder booming overhead, or even people talking loudly, and Ah Wang’s warning meows.

In short, they live like a group of easily startled little rabbits.

In the past, Gu Tongxiang enjoyed listening to Elder Shan Tianfang’s storytelling of the "Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

In it, Li Shimin’s brother, the great master Li Yuanba, is the reincarnation of the Golden-winged Roc, the number one martial artist in the world, wielding a large hammer, invincible.

Even the main antagonist, Yu Wen Chengdu, couldn’t beat him. In historical tales, he could kill nearly a hundred thousand troops in an afternoon, conservatively averaging over 3,000 per minute.

Yet this great master was a natural fool, especially afraid of thunder, shaking with fear at the sound.

If one could capture any glimpse of historical truth from the tales, it is very possible Li Yuanba was a severely autistic patient.

"Maybe this isn’t a good idea?"

Gu Weijing looked at Ah Wang’s smug demeanor on his screen, then at the studio door on the side.

He began to seriously consider whether he had made a wrong decision.

It’s said that Scottish Fold cats generally have a softer temperament, and who knows if that Amy cat is indeed very gentle.

Bu Dao’s first experience with a pet facing Ah Wang, this ill-tempered little tiger, better not scare out any psychological shadows.

Time ticked by, minute after minute.

Luckily, little Bu Dao didn’t really cry, he just stared longingly at the cat in the corner, neither daring to approach nor willing to run away.

With no further reaction from Bu Dao, Ah Wang seemed to tire of trying to play with him.

To the cat, this child who just sat there saying "cat, cat" was indeed a strange one.

Like a large doll repeating a specific phrase.

Though not as intensely irritating as that annoying little girl, scaring such a puppet-like child truly lacked any sense of accomplishment.

The tabby cat stood up, rolled a blue plastic cat toy ball from beneath the curtain, and began playing with her cat toy.

She liked things that could roll around on the wooden floor by themselves.

"Sigh..."

It seems this observation was a failure.

The dynamics between Amy and Tony are irreplicable, and Bu Dao has retreated into his self-enclosed state, not even calling out to the cat, just sitting there blankly.

Outside the screen, Gu Weijing let out a low sigh.

The director named this child Bu Dao, after the Burmese national flower, the Padauk flower, whose Buddhist floral language symbolizes introversion and prosperity.

The name didn’t quite fit.

Whether prosperous in the future is unknown, but the introversion is definitely there.

Isn’t being autistic enough to be introverted?

A few times, Ah Wang brushed past Bu Dao while chasing the cat toy ball, her fluffy tail almost sweeping against the chubby baby’s calf.

Regardless of Ah Wang’s willingness to be touched, the little fellow dared not even reach out to pet the cat.

The blue plastic ball rolling around on the floor appeared to have more vitality than Bu Dao.

Gu Weijing patiently observed for another half hour, just when he thought the evening would be wasted.

A change occurred, completely unexpectedly!

Ah Wang, tired of chasing the cat ball by herself.

Her abundant energy spent, she took small licks from the water bowl beside her, paying attention to the aluminum cat food can under the coffee table.

She crawled under the coffee table, and with a paw, pushed over a 200g can of wet food onto the floor.

Ah Wang was very smart, with a strong learning ability.

She could even learn to press the button on an electric cat ball with her paw, knowing there was delicious food inside the aluminum can.

However, the task of opening a can was truly beyond a cat’s abilities.

She tried gnawing the can’s edges with her teeth but couldn’t exert enough force, only leaving a few subtle dents.

Ah Wang examined it for a while, then tried to turn the can of wet food on its side.

The brand of cat can Koizumi Katsuko bought was not as flat as typical pet cans.

It was cylindrical, so after a few attempts, Ah Wang successfully got it to "roll."

Ding, ding, ding...

The can repeatedly crashed against the marble skirting at the base of the studio walls.

Outside, Gu Weijing couldn’t help but smile at the scene.

Elementary school readers say when medium-sized felines hunt hedgehogs, they smartly find a high rock or cliff to drop the hedgehog to its death.

That way, they can reach the soft flesh protected by spikes.

Unfortunately, aluminum cans aren’t hedgehogs, and the studio lacks a high cliff; collision alone won’t crack them open.

With a series of crisp clangs, Ah Wang’s paws began to sweat from her exertions, leaving a trail of plum-like wet prints on the champagne-colored floor.

When it comes to food.

Ah Wang never knows what giving up means; frustrated by the unyielding can, she banged her paw onto its surface.

Only to be thwarted again by the hard metal.

"Meow!"

In pain and frustration, Ah Wang contemplated rolling on the floor.

Suddenly, Ah Wang’s ears twitched, and she twisted her head from the corner to look back, at the chubby child who had edged closer cautiously, sometime unknown.

Her body instinctively arched, pupils contracted with alertness, her two front paws clutching the can’s edge, holding the cat food beneath her.

Observing this scene through the camera, Gu Weijing’s heart sank.

When did Bu Dao muster the courage to try playing with the cat?

At this very moment.

Ah Wang was a cat raised on leftover scraps and catching mice, contrastingly to trained pets.

Protection of food is almost ingrained in her very bones as an animal instinct.

To this day.

When Ah Wang eats, only very few people whom she is intimately familiar with are trusted enough not to be guarded against.

Perhaps only Gu Weijing and Koizumi Katsuko could approach Ah Wang without provoking an expulsion.

Over food cans, Old Wu and his cat stirred up quite the chaos.

If Miss Sakai hadn’t trimmed her claws, who knows how many new scars might have adorned the face of Yangon’s famed thin-gold calligraphy artist.

When the tabby cat wants to eat, strangers approaching her truly risks a bite.

Gu Weijing could already imagine Ah Wang leaping up to nip Bu Dao in the face, instantly standing up tensely, intending to break into the room and halt the observation.

His hand had already grasped the doorknob.

Suddenly, he paused again.