Chapter 156 - Extra 3 Part 2 Words Between the Lines
—Geese Fly North was known as a "Grandfather Specialist."
Somehow or another, this phrase began to circulate among producers searching for someone who could do a grandfather voice.
In the online voice acting community, a CV's role often stemmed from first impressions, especially for those with rarer vocal types. Their roles were typically boxed in by the producers from the get-go, leading to them being typecast. But he didn't mind this.
Or rather, he enjoyed voicing elderly characters.
Every time he was done recording, he would play it back and memories of his past with his grandfather surged forth through his voice. It was as if he could see the elder's kind smile right before his eyes. Even if there were differences between his imitation of his grandfather’s voice and the real thing, it still choked him up a bit to listen.
However, roles like that of an uncle, father, or grandfather typically only had a few lines. Emails requesting voice recordings came only every few days; it didn't take up much of his free time.
In contrast, his free time had increasingly been consumed by work recently.
The city had entered the rainy season in May and the temperatures were rising noticeably. The consecutive days of abundant rain seemed to have squeezed the rich pigments out of the plants' leaves, making them a vibrant, glossy green, bursting with life. The large grove of Chinese parasol trees behind the hospital was also lush and verdant. It should be an uplifting sight but for a pet hospital, such weather was hardly a good sign.
The transition between spring and summer often marked a peak time for parasites and bacteria to flourish, coinciding with the shedding of fur in cats and dogs, making it easier for infectious diseases to break out during humid, rainy days.
The hospital's treatment rooms and operating theatres were considered high-risk areas for infection. The nurses spent considerable time each day dehumidifying, sterilising, and replacing sanitary supplies to prevent secondary infections in their weak little patients.
As a vet who frequently conducted surgeries, he also paid particular attention to the cleanliness of surgical instruments and the disinfection of surgical sites. Yet this was the season where the little ones brought in were especially prone to shedding, there would be clumps of wet and dirty fur everywhere. While he still had the liberty of cleaning up for those not in immediate need of surgery, emergency cases had to be dealt with on the spot, making the pre-surgery preparations extra challenging and consequently extending working hours.
But this wasn't even the worst of it—
It was his turn to work the night shift that day. The torrential rain had swept through the streets since morning, leaving puddles everywhere and making it difficult to walk.
As he navigated his way to the hospital through the puddles of water with an umbrella in hand, he suddenly spotted a crowd and two small vans were gathered at the hospital entrance. It looked chaotic.
Alarmed, he didn't even have the time to care about the rain as he rushed over in large strides.
"Aiya, Dr Shen, you're finally here!"
Though muffled by the rain, Shen Yan could still hear the sense. of urgency in the head nurse, Ms Pang's voice. Ms Pang had worked in the veterinary hospital for over ten years and was highly experienced; she wouldn't be so easily flustered by everything like those fresh graduate interns. But if even she was anxious, then the situation must be serious…
"What happened?" he asked.
He had already noticed the words "Stray Cat Rescue Centre" printed on the two vans and had a vague sense of the gravity of the situation.
Sure enough, Ms Pang started keeping him up to speed, both anxious and angry, "They're from the local stray cat rescue. They've just brought in a batch of injured stray cats. Apparently, they were deliberately abused! The physical conditions of strays were already bad enough, but not only were they injured and maimed, they were also tied up outside in the rain for an entire night! What a monster!"
His expression darked immediately. Shen Yan quickly threw on his white coat without another word and joined his colleagues in saving the cats that were barely clinging to life.
They'd encountered cases of animal abuse before but this was the first time their hospital had received such a large number of injured animals at once.
Due to the overwhelming number of injured cats, the doctors had to determine which ones needed immediate surgery, which required blood transfusions, which could be directly left to the nurses for care, and which needed isolation, etc.… Not only was the workload enormous, but the rooms available for them were also limited. Fortunately, the rescue centre had contacted some charities who intermittently brought in supplies of sanitary materials and nutrient solutions, slightly alleviating the burden on the hospital.
He and a few of the other doctors divided the work, each taking charge of one severely injured cat.
The cat he took on was the most severely injured; it had likely been thrown from a height by someone. It was retching repeatedly, had multiple fractures, and massive internal bleeding from its spleen. Its fur was one part soaked by the water from the rain, and the other part by pus and blood. Even when the nurse accidentally tugged at a tender spot while shaving the fur around the wound, the cat couldn't even cry out. All it could do was stare at Shen Yan with fearful, tear-filled eyes as if it had already given up struggling.
He didn't say anything, simply stroking it gently with immense tenderness.
Even his colleagues said the chances of this cat surviving the surgery were extremely slim; even if it did, it likely wouldn't live long. Still, he insisted on trying.
The surgery was a major one, lasting over two hours. And once it was over, he immediately started on the second cat, then the third…
Before he knew it, it was already half past ten at night. Only after he stepped out of the operating room, did he realise that cold sweat was trickling down his forehead, his fingers were ice cold, and his heavily bloodshot eyes felt dry and throbbing with pain as if there was a knife inside his skull scraping along the edges of his eye sockets.
He had lived with his grandfather for many years. The elder always emphasised the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and had taught him to maintain regular eating habits, so he had always been diligent about eating on time. Only in exceptional circumstances such as this would he miss a meal. Now, with his body clock disrupted, sharp pangs of hunger began to grip his stomach.
The head nurse noticed him gently clutching his stomach and suddenly remembered he hadn't eaten a single bite since the afternoon, and barely even had time for water. She hurriedly urged him to head home and rest.
Seeing that all the little ones that needed treatment had been properly settled, he let out a small sigh of relief and didn't refuse her offer. Then, he dragged his weary body out of the hospital.
It was still drizzling in the pitch black night. He had an umbrella in hand but didn't feel like opening it. He simply let the rain soak his face and clothes as he walked forward numbly.
…All the restaurants should be closed at this hour.
…What about leftovers? There might still be some in the fridge; I can make do with that.
Deep down, he knew that living alone could never compare to having someone by your side and you could care for each other. Especially when work got busy and health and quality of life took a backseat. Even when he returned home, there'd be no warm lights to welcome him, no one like his grandfather to greet him with, "Have you eaten? I've just heated up some soup, would you like some?"
Everything reminded him: he was alone. Completely alone.
"Ugh…"
Shen Yan suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. It was as though a black gate had slammed shut before his eyes, causing him to stumble, nearly tripping, and had to grab onto the wall for support.
Though he managed to steady himself, there was still an overwhelming sense of weakness, as if all energy had been sucked out of his body.
Raindrops trickled down his pale face one after another. All he could feel was cold, but he couldn't tell if it was the rain or himself.
And this rain… was bound to continue for quite a while.
+++++
Over the next week or two, Shen Yan barely got any rest.
He poured all his energy into caring for the injured cats, leaving his personal email unchecked and even put a pause on voice acting.
The people from the rescue centre would come by from time to time to check on the cats, but they also delicately expressed their concerns about the difficulties of future adoption. Finding homes for stray cats was challenging enough, let alone ones with health issues. It was a tricky situation—housing such a large number of cats needing long-term medical attention put a heavy strain on the hospital's space, manpower, and resources. These were issues that couldn't be solved solely by external donations.
To ensure the cats could continue receiving treatment, he pleaded with the hospital to deduct a portion of his own salary to cover the cost of medications.
Following his lead, his colleagues joined in, and in the end, even the hospital director agreed to charge for the medicine at cost price, essentially offering treatment free of charge. Everyone did everything they could to help these homeless little fellas. Meanwhile, the hospital reached out to regular clients, asking them to spread the word among their social circles about potential adoptions, which thankfully helped find homes for some of the cats.
"The main issue is the lack of public awareness; not many people know about it, which is why it's so difficult."
That was what someone from the rescue centre said.
"Actually, when the cats were first found, the provincial TV station sent someone to cover it, and it also made it onto the news that day. But their focus was mostly on the abuser’s identity and their motives for animal cruelty… If they would have paid more attention to the follow-up as well."
…The TV station?
If the media could make a report on the follow-up, it might make it easier to find homes for these little guys.
He quietly noted this, and when he got home, he decided to try his luck and searched online. Sure enough, he found a related news video on the provincial TV station's official website. However, the video was a compilation of various news stories, with the cat abuse case receiving less than twenty seconds of coverage. The emcee barely touched on it before moving on, so naturally, there was no way it would attract much public attention.
He let out a soft sigh. Just as he was about to close the page, his eyes caught a link below the video that read "News Analysis: A Detailed Breakdown of the Cat Abuse Incident."
He paused momentarily before moving his cursor to click on the link. Turns out it was a feature article on the TV station's news forum.
Probably because the news segment itself was too short to delve into the details, they had used the forum to serialise the story in the form of a feature article on the forum…
Taking a close look, he noticed the author's name was "Qi Jing."
—"Jìng" (誩), what a rare character.
He pondered the name silently. Like most people, his first reaction was that the character was made up of two "yán" (言).
Perhaps it belonged to someone who loved to talk, the complete opposite of him…
When that thought flashed through his mind, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly. What was he doing, getting distracted at a time like this? He should be focusing on the contents of the article.
As expected, the article was an in-depth analysis of the abuse case. It detailed the entire series of events and even included photos that weren't shown in the news broadcasts with accompanying explanations.
Shen Yan carefully read through it, line by line.
[May 11]
On a gloomy, rainy morning in mid-May, most residents were just waking up, preparing for the day ahead. None of them would've expected to be met with a bloodstained concrete path upon stepping out.
"Every morning, I'd leave some food by the flowerbed downstairs for the stray cats nearby. They know this, so they usually wait there even before I come down. But today, I didn't see a single one. At first, I thought it was because the rain was too heavy. but who could've known…"
Ms Huang, a resident of the estate, choked up as she spoke to the reporter.
As a cat lover, Ms Huang already had three cats at home and couldn't adopt any more, so she had taken to feeding the local strays outside instead.
Never in her wildest dreams did she expect that the reason her "old friends" didn't show up was because they had fallen victim to a vicious attack by a group of deranged people.
(Picture 1): A photo of the stray cats taken by Ms Huang before the incident.
(Picture 2): A photo of the injured stray cats at the scene, barely hanging on to life.
The stark contrast between these two sets of photos clearly demonstrated the perpetrators' cruelty and twisted mentality, sparking outrage among the local cat-loving community.
…
…
[May 13]
Today, we spoke with Director Liu, the head of the city's animal protection agency. Director Liu expressed great concern about the incident and mentioned that several volunteer-run animal rescue groups had joined the search for witnesses and the culprits.
Given the large amount of strays abused in this incident, it was highly likely that the attack had been carried out by a group, though the possibility of a lone perpetrator couldn't be ruled out either.
According to Director Liu, volunteers are actively searching for clues in the neighbourhood, questioning residents who had passed through the area that day. And so far, they've made some progress.
…
…
[May 17]
Thanks to the efforts of many, one of the suspects in the cat abuse case has finally been identified. However, he refused to be interviewed by our reporter, claiming, "I haven't broken any laws. This is a violation of my privacy," and threatened legal action if any media outlet published his personal information.
His defiant attitude, coupled with his complete lack of remorse for the abuse, left everyone following the case outraged.
Unfortunately, current national legislation in our country lacks specific laws protecting pets or stray animals.
In this cat abuse case, because most of the victims were strays, the abuser wouldn't face any legal consequences. The only recourse is to use public opinion to condemn them to the fullest extent possible.
Currently, over a hundred countries worldwide have enacted animal protection laws based on the "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act", establishing a range of measures to punish those who abuse animals. Hopefully, similar policies will be implemented in the near future to further curb animal abuse.
…
…
The writer's style was concise, fluent, and vivid. The narrative style drew the reader in, making them feel like they were experiencing the story firsthand.
It felt incredibly real—
Because the event was analysed in layers, the feature article was released as a serial and published over a period of about a week. It even included images that had not been made public in the news, as well as interviews with relevant individuals.
Though the investigation had hit a dead end due to legal loopholes with the culprit had ultimately going unpunished,
and the feature seemed to have ended on a rather disappointing note. Still, Shen Yan felt grateful that someone had written such an article.
He was a vet; he could use his professional expertise to help those injured animals, but there wasn't much he could do to raise public awareness on his own. The power of the media was crucial. Yet, these days, most media outlets are filled with attention-grabbing content, making it harder and harder to find a report that's deep, insightful, with real social significance.
Finding someone like that was also becoming increasingly difficult—
"Qi Jing…" He muttered under his breath.
If the character "Jing" (誩) meant being more willing than most to speak up and challenge social injustices, then it truly was a good name.
I LOVE SEEING HOW OUR BEST BOI SHEN YAN FALLS IN LOVE WITH QI JING!! They deserve the world (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)
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my interpretation is completely off lol Help me help you have a better
reading experience ahahah what a tongue twister XD
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Thank yous!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day!!
You can support me by sending some love in the comments or through the button below
peace lilies~