The following afternoon, after their respective lectures, Shaun and Jeffrey were getting a drink from the supermarket, of which the owner was a benevolent, Japanese old lady, near to their university campus. Shaun seized this opportunity to inquire about his sister's missing kitten- Tiffy. "Excuse me, Mrs Yamada, I am wondering whether you have seen a yellow striped cat recently?" inquired Shaun in fluent Japanese, "As yesterday, my cat was lost, and I couldn't find it anywhere."
隔天下午，孝恩和傑佛瑞上完課後，在大學隔壁的一間超市買飲料。超市的主人是一位慈祥的日本老太太。「不好意思喔，山田太太，妳最近有没有看見一隻黃色條紋的貓咪呀？」孝恩用著流利的日文問道。「因為昨天，我的貓失蹤了，我們怎麼找都找不到。」
"No, I am very sorry," replied Mrs Yamada, "One of my cats has recently disappeared as well, and it returned after a few days. Cats are like that, they're very mysterious, and sometimes, they need their own personal space. Be patient and wait for a few days, I am sure it'll come home soon. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for it."
「很抱歉，没有耶！」山田太太答道。「前幾天我有一隻貓咪也不見了，幾天後牠自己就回來了。貓就是那麼的神秘，有時，牠們也需要私人空間。耐心等待，我想，幾天後，牠就會自己回來了！別擔心，我會幫你注意的。」
After Shaun said 'thank you' to the old lady, he turned to go, when, suddenly, he perceived Nadia walking past the shop window.
孝恩道謝後，轉身要離開，突然看到娜迪雅正從窗口邊走過。
"Look, Jeff," said Shaun after nudging his friend, "It's Nadia!"
「阿傑你看！」孝恩推了推朋友說。「是娜迪雅耶！」
"Why do we seem to see her wherever we go these days? Do you think she's stalking us?" replied Jeffrey, "Let's go ask her what she's up to yesterday." Jeffrey said as he grabbed hold of Shaun's sleeve and pulled him outside.
「奇怪了，怎麼這幾天老是碰到她？她是不是在跟蹤我們啊？」傑佛瑞答道。「走，咱們去問問她昨天是發生什麼事兒！」傑佛瑞說畢便拉著孝恩跑到外面去。
"Oh, hi!" exclaimed Nadia in astonishment after perceiving the two, "Fancy meeting you guys here!"
「嗨！真巧！」娜迪雅看到兩人後驚嘆道。「怎麼會在這兒遇到你們倆？」
"Oh....um.....we study at the university around the corner," responded Shaun, "We just finished our lectures and was grabbing a drink when we saw you."
「噢...嗯...我們所就讀的大學就在轉角。」孝恩說。「我們上完課後來買瓶飲料，結果就看見妳走過去。」
"What a coincidence!" cried Nadia, "I'm a sophomore in that university, too!"
「那還真巧！」娜迪雅答道。「我也是那所大學的大二生耶！」
"OMG, us too!" responded Jeffrey in surprise, "What course do you study? I study Ancient History and Shaun studies Physics."
「我們也是耶！」傑佛瑞驚訝的答道。「你讀什麼系呀？我讀歷史系，孝恩是讀物理的。」
"I study Animal Science!" replied Nadia. "It's a real surprise! How come I never saw you two before on campus?"
「我讀動物科學！」娜迪雅回答說。「真奇怪，我們居然以前都不曾在校園內遇見！」
"Well, I guess you wouldn't be able to know everyone in the same uni!" concluded Shaun, "Actually, we would like to ask a favour from you." Shaun moved on to recount how he was taking care of his sister's cat, and ended up losing it the following day.
「大學這麼大，不可能看過所有的人吧！」孝恩說。「事實上，我們有件事想拜託妳。」孝恩開始陳述了一下他如何幫妹妹照顧貓，結果貓隔天卻不見了的事情。
"Sure, no problem! I'll keep an eye out for it!" Nadia promised.
「好的，沒問題！我會幫你們注意的！」娜迪雅答應道。
As the two boys got home, it was nearly sunset. "I have to admit, that Nadia's pretty weird!" mumbled Jeffrey as they opened the front door.
兩人到家時，已經黃昏了。「我不得不承認，那娜迪雅還挺奇怪的！」傑佛瑞喃喃自語道。
"You have a crush on her, don't you?" Shaun teased.
「你喜歡她，對吧？」孝恩開玩笑道。
"No, I don't! I'm just merely stating a fact!" retorted Jeffrey, whose face immediately turned scarlet.
「我並沒有！我只不過是說一件事實罷了！」傑佛瑞滿臉通紅的答道。
Suddenly, they perceived that an old lady, who seem to own many cats, was moving in to a house next to theirs, which had, hitherto, been an empty wasteland.
突然，兩人注意到一位老太太正搬進蓋在原本是塊空地的隔壁房屋裏，她似乎養了好多隻貓。
~To be Continued~
～待續～
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