Photo by Tencent (interviewee not pictured)
Note from Kuang:
从退休到现在十几年的时间，不管刮风下雨，王阿姨每天坚持出门喂流浪猫，还另外收养了二十多只。长年累月，喂养这些流浪猫的花费是一项不小的开支，他们夫妻两个靠退休金生活，在生活上都挺节俭的。如果你愿意为这些流浪猫提供一点力所能及的援助，不论是经济上或是其他方面，请通过微信 (ID:melodypan0316) 跟我联系。
Since retiring a decade ago, Wang has been feeding stray cats every day. She has adopted over 20 of them. Over the years, the expenses add up. She and her husband live on their retirement pension, which is just enough to support their basic needs with some thrift and planning. If you’d like to offer any help caring for the cats, financially or otherwise, please contact me on WeChat via ID melodypan0316.
Wang, female, 65 years old, from Shandong, stray cat feeder
I just love cats so much. Whenever I see a cat I just can’t take my eyes off it.
My ancestral home is in Shandong. When I was 12, my father was transferred to Shaanxi. Our whole family moved to Ansai, a typical small city south of Yan’an in the Shanbei region.
We pictured Ansai as a nice place. Mao had lived in Yan’an during his revolutionary days so how bad could it be? But when we got there we were dumbfounded—there were only dusty hills as far as the eye could see. It felt as if we’d walked over a whole mountain before we finally arrived in Ansai.
The county was like one big slum. We lived in a cave house without a toilet. If you needed to use one you had to walk a long way to the public toilets. The roads were all made of dirt. When it rained, your shoes got covered in mud. During the winter, it got so cold you would choke.
In 1973, summoned by the Central Government’s initiative to “send young people to poor areas” for reeducation, I was sent to a remote farm. I was only 16, short and super skinny, so the elders took it easy on me. I was assigned to duties involving less intensive labor—serving food and tea in the production brigade canteens, and occasionally feeding their horses.
Things got a lot harder when I was later transferred to a medicine factory. My job was to cut herbs every day. After a day of work, I was so tired that I could barely lift my arms. But I was lucky, many others were in much worse situations. There were some people who could not bear their heavy workloads, day after day, and even committed suicide.
I met my husband in Yan’an. He is originally from Beijing but was sent down to Yan’an for “receiving reeducation from the poor peasants.” My father took a liking to him. My father said he treated others well, and was the type of person you could trust for a lifetime. Arranged by my father, we got married in Yan’an.
My father was so right about him. After we got married, he not only took very good care of me, but of the whole family. During festivals and holidays, he was even more considerate than I was about bringing the best gifts for my parents.
Our daughter was born in 1979. We lived in Yan’an until 1991, when Beijing introduced new policies allowing those sent-down youth to return back to the city. We followed my husband back to Beijing.
Coming back to Beijing didn’t promise an easier life. The government didn’t provide any support for the returning sent-back youth except a hukou. We could only rely on ourselves to try and earn a living.
My husband got a job in Tongren Hospital doing logistics. He stayed at his position until retirement. Meanwhile, I changed jobs quite a few times. First I worked in a grocery store, then when it closed, I worked as a care worker in a hospital. Through the family of one of the patients, I was introduced to a job as a cleaner at a travel agency. The pay was good and everyone there treated me well. They saved plastic bottles and paper boxes for me, which was enough for me to make an extra 10 to 20 kuai a day. I worked for that company for over a decade until my legs could no longer handle the job.
After retiring, I started going out to feed the stray cats. I am as punctual as when I was working: Every day I leave the house at 3pm and walk to the park nearby. If you count the cats on the way to the park, there are at least 30 to 40 of them. Whenever they hear me, they know their food is coming. They rush out from their hiding place in the grass. I have given a name to each of them. Three Flower, Sweet Fragrance, and Dahlia—I’ve been feeding them since they were baby kittens.
I’ve rescued and adopted so many cats. In my house right now I’m raising over 20 of them! I can’t afford fancy cat food, only the most basic kind that comes in big packages. A package of 10 kg lasts only five days. I mix in some canned food, the cats like it more this way. When I see them enjoying the food, it makes me happy.
My knees are not good, so when I walk I have to take a short rest every once in a while. It is usually 8 pm when I get home. At my age I should be enjoying rest and leisure, but here I am, spending my days feeding and caring for stray cats. But who made me love cats so much? No matter how exhausting it is, when I see them I don’t feel tired anymore.
Over the years, whenever a cat dies, I try to find a place to properly bury it. I try to hold a small ceremony, and ask Buddha to give it better fortune in the next life.
Perhaps it is a reward for feeding the cats—life has been good to me.
Both my husband and I have retirement pensions, not a big sum but enough to support us. As for my daughter, she is healthy and doing well. She is a good daughter too. We used to worry a lot about her being single, but now we don’t think it’s a problem as long as she is happy. As parents, what more do you need from your children?
If we’re on the subject of happiness again, I have to talk more about my husband.
We got married when I was 22. It’s been over 40 years and he has never stopped being affectionate. I’m not good-looking—I was born with lipoma on my face, but that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He only sees the good in me. Even when I’m quick-tempered sometimes, he is patient and forgiving.
It’s also all thanks to his consistent support that I can take care of all these cats. He helps me buy them food and take them to the vet. He also bought me a pushcart and a small folding chair so that I can rest when I’m out. He bought me a cover for my knees to help ease the pain; even when it wasn’t the right fit and he had to go back and forth to exchange for different sizes, he didn’t think it was any trouble. In our house, he is also the one buying groceries and cooking three meals a day.
My whole life I’ve never dreamed of having wealth or fame. Because of my husband, my life feels so full and content. Finding the right partner has been the great fortune of my life. And being with him has been my life’s great meaning.
Edited by Dan Xin Huang and David Huntington
王，女，65岁，祖籍山东，流浪猫喂养者
我特喜欢猫，看见猫就走不动道了。
我祖籍是山东的，12岁我父亲转业到陕西，带着我们一大家子去了延安下面的安塞县，一个典型的陕北小城。
我们去之前想着好歹是毛主席待过的地方，肯定差不了，结果一去傻眼了，放眼望去都是又高又大的土坡，上上下下走了很久的山路，才到安塞。
当时整个小县城跟贫民窟几乎没差别，我们住的还是窑洞。窑洞里只能睡觉，上厕所要出门走老远，到处都是土路，要是碰上下雨，鞋子沾的全是泥，冬天又冻得够呛。
73年的时候，响应知识青年上山下乡，我被安插到一个偏僻的农场。我那时候才16岁，个头小，长得干巴瘦，上头照顾我，分配的都是比较轻松的活，在生产队的食堂里端茶送水，喂喂生产队的马。
后来被调到一个药材厂，就辛苦多了，天天要切草药，往往是干完一天的活，手都快抬不起来了。虽然累，但是我的情况跟很多人比还算是好的，当时有人受不了天天干重活，自杀的都有。
我跟我现在的老伴就是在延安认识的。他是北京人，千里迢迢到延安农村，接受贫下中农再教育。当时我爸一眼就相中他了，说小伙子为人好，是个可以托付终生的人。在我爸的安排下，我俩在延安结了婚。
我爸眼光果然没错。他不只对我好，对我的家人也特别照顾。逢年过节，该给我父母尽的礼数他比我考虑得还周到。
我们79年有的闺女，一家三口在延安生活，直到91年，北京出台政策，下放知青可以返城返籍，我们就随他回了北京。
回来北京，生活也一样不容易，返城知青政府只管落户，其他的啥也不管，我们只有自己跑前跑后找门路。
我老伴找到一个工作，在同仁医院做后勤，一直做到退休。我工作来回换了好几个，先是在一个副食店上班，副食店倒闭之后去医院做护工，后来通过病人家属介绍，在一家旅游公司当保洁，待遇还算不错，大家对我很照顾，塑料瓶子纸箱都留给我，有时候一天光是废品都能卖个十块二十块的。干了十几年，后来我腿脚不行，才没做了。
不用工作之后，我就开始专注喂流浪猫。我每天像上班一样准时，下午三点钟从家里出门，一路上加上公园里的猫，算下来少说也有三四十只。它们听见我的声音就知道有吃的了，会从躲着的草丛里蹿出来。几十只猫，我都给取了名字，三花儿，芳芳，大丽，都是我从小喂到大的。
我前前后后也救助和收养了很多流浪猫，现在家里还养着二十多只呢！我买猫粮，都得一大袋一大袋地买，也买不起贵的，二十斤一袋的猫粮，只够喂5天。我每次会往猫粮里头掺点猫罐头，这样猫更爱吃，看它们吃得香，我也开心。
我膝盖不好，走一段就得歇一阵，等我喂完猫到家，已经差不多8点了。按理说，到了这个年纪我可以在家享点清福了，可是我却每天为了这些猫忙活受累。没办法，谁叫我就是爱猫呢？每天不管多累，看见它们就不累了。
养流浪猫这么多年，每只猫去世，我都会找个地方好生埋了，替它们拜拜菩萨，希望它们来世能投个好胎。
可能是我这么多年坚持喂猫换来的好报吧, 生活对我不赖。
我跟我老伴都有退休金，不算多，但至少够生活了。再说我闺女，一直没病没灾，对我们二老也算孝顺。我们刚开始也替她着急结婚的事，但现在反而想通了，只要她自己过得好就行，做父母的不能奢求儿女太多。
要说到幸福，还得回头再说说我老伴。
我22岁跟他结婚，到现在四十多年了，他对我一直可谓是知冷知热。我长得不好看，天生遗传脸上有很多脂肪瘤，可是他都不在乎，眼里只看到我的好。我有时候脾气急，他也总是让着我。
我能养这么多猫，也全靠有他一直支持我，给它们买猫粮，在猫生病的时候带去看病。我每天出门喂猫，他特意给我买手推车和一个折叠小板凳，好让我累的时候可以随时坐下来歇一歇。我膝盖不好，他替我买护膝，尺码不对来来回回换也从不嫌麻烦，一天三顿买菜做饭也都是他。
我这一辈子，从来没有奢望过什么大富大贵，因为有他，我感到特别知足，特别幸福。找到一个对的人，是我这辈子最大的福气，也是我这辈子最大的意义。
Kuang is the founder of Beijing Lights. She would love to hear your thoughts about the column and is open to new collaborations. She can be reached at kuang@spittooncollective.com.