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Veggie was born in Kaifeng and grew up in Kaifeng, a true local cat through and through.\n\nBack on the streets, it was the toughest little bully around. Heidan was its most loyal sidekick. One did the stealing, the other did the snatching. Together, they were unstoppable.\n\nUntil one day, they picked the wrong target.\n\nVeggie was prowling near Harmonic Span when it spotted a meat pie in the hands of a big, burly man. Veggie had Heidan rush in as a distraction while it looped around behind to make off with the pie.\n\nThe man did not even dodge.\nHe simply hooked a foot out. Heidan went down face-first, and the man caught Veggie with the same easy motion as if it weighed nothing.\n\nThe cat and dog fought like mad in his grip. The man did not get angry. He crouched down instead, studying them with amused interest.\n\n"Well now. Would you look at you two."\n"One starts the trouble, and the other actually goes for it. That's something."\n\nHe split the pie in half. One piece went to the whimpering Heidan other he held out in front of Veggie.\n\nHeidan would not eat. It pushed its share toward Veggie with its nose.\nVeggie, however, stared at the man warily. There was something about him that put it on edge.\n\nSeeing neither of them bite, the man laughed.\n\n"What, you think I put something in it?"\n\nThey were scared stiff, yet still trying to shield each other. The man laughed again, softer this time.\n\n"Fine. You two remind me of my old brothers. Loyal to the bone."\n\nAfter that, the man kept showing up. Sometimes he brought food. Sometimes he just watched them roughhouse.\n\nThen one day, Veggie and Heidan followed him for a long while. Somehow, they ended up in a place that was clean and beautiful, with walls so high and crowds so thick it made Veggie's head spin.\n\nAnd that was where they stayed.\n\nThere was food that never ran out, fat carp to catch, and more games than they could count.\n\nWhen the man strolled past the pond now, he would often pause to watch them and sigh.\n\n"Yeah. You little rascals have it good."\n"Me? I'm not half as happy as I used to be."\n\nVeggie could not understand a word of it.\nBut Veggie knew this: there was food, there were fish, and Heidan was here to play with.\n\nThat made it the best place in the world.