It sits in a brand new cat cage with all kinds of cat toys-none of them are expensive, my wife said

This is the morning my wife made an appointment to see a little tabby cat. Her photos have been on her phone for a week. An hour ago, she took the cat cage into the kitchen.

"Where did that come from?" I said.

"We have it," my wife said.

But we have never had a cat cage. We used to borrow one from next door and take the old cat to the vet.

"It has a label on it," I said. My wife unzipped the front zipper of the cat cage and took out various cat toys, some kitten food, a litter box, scratching posts and a small bowl.

"None is expensive," she said. "Each toy is less than a pound."

"It's not a question of money," I said. "This is about due diligence."

In fact, from my perspective, this is about the possibility that there are no new cats right now. The one in the middle comes in and walks directly to the refrigerator.

"Are you going to see this cat with me?" my wife said.

"Yes, all right," the man in the middle said.

"This is for viewing," I said. "Watching for the first time. And you have already bought cat furniture."

"What are you worried about?" said the middle man, from behind the opened refrigerator door. I said, "We don't even know how many legs this cat has."

"Obviously, I don't carry toys with me," my wife said.

"Why go and see it?" I said. "Why not send it directly?"

The eldest walked in, apparently having a hangover, and began to make coffee.

"Are you going to see this cat with us?" my wife said.

"What about after that?" I said. "Do you take it to the vet for investigation?"

"No," my wife said. "you have not."

"So you just said,'Thank you, we have some other cats, we are watching but we will keep in touch'?"

"I have completed all my research," my wife said.

"Things are moving very fast," I said. "too fast."

"What is he talking about?" the oldest said to the middle one.

"He was worried that the cat had no legs," the man in the middle said.

"I'm worried that the decision I made will be made rashly and hastily," I said.

"You can always rely on your father to pour cold water on anything interesting," my wife said. "He thinks this is his job."

"At least someone is doing his job," I said. A few minutes before noon, the three of them set off by car. I was sitting in the kitchen alone, thinking about the old cat's last visit to the vet. When we tried to borrow the cat cage, there was no one next door, so he wrapped it in a towel. I did not participate in that trip either; I sat in the same chair and wished everything went well.

In the end, the youngest one came down, also obviously hangover, and made coffee behind me.

"The front door was opened three times last night," I said. "One, three and 7.30. Which one are you?"

"I'm about three years old," he said.

"I understand," I said. I have asked the other two, and they also asked for the three o'clock position.

"Where are everyone?" he said.

"They went to see the cat," I said.

"Look at a cat, or do you really get a cat?" he said.

"What do you think?" I said, indicating that cat merchandise was spread on the kitchen table like a pet shop window display.

After 20 minutes, I felt impatient with the lack of news. I sent a text message to the person in the middle, which read: "Huh?" Ten minutes later, he sent me a picture of a kitten. I think: it is very cute. I reply to the text message: "How many legs does it have?"

A few minutes later, he sent me a text message, which read: "8".

I wrote a text message saying: "Tell them we won't pay for the extra legs", but when I pressed the send button, I heard the sound of a key turning in the front door lock. Looking at the photo of the kitten again, I noticed that it was sitting in a brand new cat cage in the back seat of our car.

Three hours later, everyone was sitting on the kitchen floor, watching a kitten chasing a feather on a wire, with a ball and bell in it, and a dog sitting on the edge of the circle with a nervous breakdown. I sit at the table. My wife looked up at me.

"Don't you want to play with your new kitten?" she said.

"I will use it again after others use it up," I said. But by then, the kitten will live under the washing machine.