Chapter 10: The Little Cat’s Fury

Li You rubbed against his brother a couple of times, which embarrassed him.

He pressed a paw pad over Li Ye’s mouth, pushing his face away, then shrank back into Li Ye’s arms like a rabbit.

Beneath the covering fluff, his thin-skinned face heated up in waves. Li You really felt awkward, so he simply escaped from Li Ye’s arm and slipped back to the cat bowl, where he buried his head and gnawed on the small dried meat pieces.

Li You had sharp observation skills, but he was somewhat clumsy when it came to comforting people.

Especially when the person was his brother.

The cat quietly ate his cat food, then glanced back at Li Ye, who sat in the booth handling official business. His gaze drifted to the lunch on the counter island that had never been opened.

Li Ye hadn’t eaten.

‘…’ Li You pondered for a moment, then got up and walked toward his brother. He leaped onto the booth and lay down beside Li Ye’s thigh, pressing his face against his brother’s leg. He opened his pair of pretty, clear blue cat eyes and looked up at him.

A seriously working person was the most handsome, Li You thought. There was truth to that statement.

Li Ye’s attention was on the light screen. He felt something soft on his thigh but didn’t look down. Instead, he reached out and rubbed the Ragdoll Cat’s head.

The technique had become even more skilled. Li You comfortably let out a ‘purr’, narrowed his eyes in enjoyment, relaxed as he lay on his brother’s leg, tilted his head and rubbed a bit, savoring the moment of comfort.

Li You opened his eyes and gazed up at Li Ye’s eyes above him. A gradual sadness welled up in his heart, along with a bit of inexplicable happiness.

Li Ye wasn’t a bad guy.

He hadn’t forgotten him even after ten years.

So today, he wouldn’t call him stinky Li Ye anymore.

Li You lightly placed his two front paws on Li Ye’s leg. He closed his eyes and yawned, rubbed against his brother’s leg a few more times, and before he knew it, sleepiness came over him. He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

He slept dreamlessly. When he opened his eyes, he was already inside the Imperial Military’s camp.

Li You was groggy from sleep. Upon waking, he opened his dazed eyes and looked around left and right.

No one was there.

This was a rest room. He was nestled on the sofa, and the only door was tightly closed, with not a sound from inside or out.

The cat poked his head around curiously. After a while, he got up and walked around the room, then squatted in front of the tightly closed door, staring intently at the doorknob.

A moment later, he arched his back into a preparatory jumping pose, pushed off with his hind legs, and leaped into the air—but he didn’t reach the knob. His ball-like body fell straight down, and his hind legs flailed helplessly in the air for a bit.

With a dull thud, Li You sprawled on the floor and resentfully stared at the high doorknob.

He tried a few more times with the same result. Later, he simply squatted in the door’s corner and lightly scratched at the door with his paw, attempting to get revenge on it in this utterly harmless way.

A little while later, there was movement outside the door. Li You, who had been scratching, immediately perked up his ears to listen carefully. The next moment, the doorknob turned—someone was opening the door. He quickly backed away, tilted his head, and stared seriously at the opening door.

A rotten smell squeezed in first.

“Little Meow!”

Li You froze for a moment and saw Little Wan Sis come in.

“Did you miss Little Wan Sis?” Little Wan Sis smiled brightly as she pinched the cat’s chubby cheeks and picked him up. “The routine check is over. Let’s go home.”

Li You was carried outward. He lay on Little Wan Sis’s shoulder and looked around left and right, but he didn’t see Li Ye.

Li You felt a bit down. He followed Little Wan Sis back to the pet shop and watched her bustle about, feeding the cats and cleaning the store.

With nothing to do and unable to help, he wandered around the shop. In the evening, he went to sit in the small garden at the entrance again and gazed outside.

The sunset glow made the Ragdoll Cat’s fur gleam golden.

Li You sat primly on the white chair. Not long after, Little Wan Sis, who had finished cleaning the store, came out. She placed a dish of minced meat on the small table and sat down on the white chair opposite.

“A little snack for you.” She pushed the minced meat closer to the Ragdoll Cat, rested her elbows on the small round table, lightly placed her chin on her overlapped hands, and curved her eyes as she gazed gently at the cat.

Li You wasn’t hungry and had no appetite, so he only took a couple of shallow bites.

Little Wan Sis’s attention was drawn to the fiery clouds on the distant horizon. After a long while, she suddenly spoke softly, almost as if talking to herself: “It was like this that day too—dusk, fiery clouds, bustling streets. That was the first time I met Your Highness Youyou.”

Li You froze and looked up at Little Wan Sis sitting across from him.

“He gave me a loaf of bread.” Little Wan Sis withdrew her distant gaze, turned back, and smiled happily. She gestured with her hands. “About this big, beautifully packaged. I guessed it was a pastry from the Imperial Palace kitchens since there was no label.”

“At the time, I couldn’t bear to eat it because I hadn’t eaten for many days. Suddenly getting such a big loaf, I held it like a treasure. Later, when I was really starving, I rationed it over five days.” There was still a smile in Little Wan Sis’s eyes, but it had faded. She looked at the dish of cat-exclusive minced meat on the round table and sank into memories. “I can’t even remember how old I was then. I only remember smuggling from the waste star to Kara Star—no ID, no home, not enough to eat or wear. The world’s beauty had nothing to do with me.”

“Your Highness Youyou’s appearance resolved my predicament and kept me from starving on the street.” Little Wan Sis looked up at the sky. “Later, he even came back to the place where we met that day to find me. He brought clothes and food, took me to get an ID card, and told me never, ever to let hardship defeat me.”

“I asked him who he was, but he wouldn’t say. After that, he never appeared again. With my new ID, I found a job, slowly earned some income, bought my first light brain, and only then did I learn on Starnet that he was the Empire’s Little Highness.” Little Wan Sis took a deep breath, her voice sinking a bit. “But I don’t understand—such a gentle Little Highness, such a kind-hearted person—why was he despised by everyone?”

“They said he was inactive, that he wasn’t as good as the other Highnesses, that he was a turtle hiding in his shell. They ground morality to dust and forcibly bound it to Your Highness Youyou, only to repent years later when disaster struck, after he saved everyone.”

Little Wan Sis let out a strained laugh, devoid of any mirth: “But what’s the use of repenting? Your Highness Youyou was already gone. Those cursing voices vanished without a trace, as if the overwhelming abuse had never happened.”

“The purifying magnetic field emitted after Your Highness Youyou jumped into the Furnace let everyone in the Empire see his brief life’s experiences. Our minds gained a segment of memory—Your Highness Youyou’s solitary endurance and torment from age seven to seventeen as he desperately sought a solution.” Little Wan Sis paused, then said word by word, “He exhausted every effort, tried every method, endured endless scolding, yet kept a gentle and strong heart. He turned peril into safety with his own life, while we were the hateful beneficiaries.”

“Little Meow, all these years, I’ve never quite understood.” Little Wan Sis looked into the Ragdoll Cat’s eyes. “With so many people cursing him, he must have known. Wasn’t he disappointed? Then why did he still save those heartless people?”

Li You looked at Little Wan Sis’s eyes filled with anger and dazedly lowered his head.

‘…Why?’

He had pondered this question before but never found an answer.

If he had to give a reason, it was probably that, at the time, he only knew he had no choice but to do it.

Little Wan Sis’s outpouring ended there. She reached up to rub her brow, reined in her emotions, and lightly laughed again: “I’ve probably been too tired lately. I keep thinking of these sad past events, and with no one to talk to, I can only tell you about it.”

“I know you can’t understand. You’re just a meow—a cat. Being happy is enough.” Little Wan Sis returned to her cheerful, upbeat self. She propped her chin and looked at the cat. “Hm? Little Meow doesn’t like this snack?”

After hearing all that, Li You had even less appetite. He tilted his head back and ‘meowed’ twice, leaped down from the chair, went to Little Wan Sis’s chair, circled her legs, and rubbed against them a few times.

The pressure back then had been immense, forcing Li You to forget many things.

He had already forgotten Little Wan Sis’s childhood ordeal. Hearing her recount it now brought back faint impressions, and thinking about it stirred up some sadness.

Just as Little Wan Sis said, Li You hoped she would be happy too.

“Meow—”

Forget Your Highness Youyou.

The cat’s soft call went unheard by humans, as they couldn’t understand meow-speak. Little Wan Sis picked up the Ragdoll Cat: “Alright, I’ll get you a different snack.”

Unable to communicate, Li You felt a bit helpless. His past act of aid had now become an emotional burden for others.

Li You followed Little Wan Sis out of the garden, lay on her shoulder, and looked at the distant fiery clouds. He smelled that rotten scent again.

It was much stronger now.

That night, no horrifying human heads appeared outside the window, nor were there any sounds of gnawing. He slept lightly.

The next morning, Li You put on the chest harness and little yellow hat, then went out with Little Wan Sis to procure supplies.

He walked ahead, chest puffed out, pondering Little Wan Sis’s words from yesterday the whole way.

The purifying magnetic field from the Furnace had transmitted his ten years of experiences to every person in the Empire.

So that was how it was.

No wonder everyone knew what he had done.

Li You sighed inwardly, thinking that even after he was gone, he had caused such a stir. No wonder public opinion had reversed, no wonder that guy Li Ye was so…

He recalled the look in Li Ye’s eyes that he had seen in the Sunlight Palace, and his heart ached a little.

“Alright, Little Meow, wait here for me.”

Little Wan Sis picked Li You up and placed him on the soft pad in the play area. He snapped out of his daze and stared blankly as she walked away carrying a flower basket. He looked around.

Right—they had come to the Flower and Bird Market today to collect flower seeds. Little Wan Sis planned to plant tulips on the side of the Sunlight Palace.

Before leaving, Little Wan Sis had grumbled about being busy today and not wanting to bring the cat. But how could a cat understand human words? Even though Li You could, he pretended not to, pestered her to take him out for some air, and seized the chance to gather more information.

The Flower and Bird Market was next to Sunrise Village, though—a sparsely populated area where useful info seemed unlikely.

Li You curled his tail around himself and lay on the round pad, pawing at the bell on his chest harness.

The crisp ‘ding-a-ling’ made his ears itch. He shook his head, jumped down, undid the bow Little Wan Sis had tied on the leash with a few paws, then swaggered out of the play area to patrol nearby.

He was already here—might as well look around.

He had to be quick and return before Little Wan Sis came back.

The Flower and Bird Market was huge. After the cat circled around, he found nothing, but he did get flower petals all over his body.

He shook his four dusty paws and looped back, stopping at a small crossroads. He looked left and right, puffed out his chest, and headed right, returning to his spot to flop down.

Hm? Something was poking him?

Li You, balled up, shifted his body and suspiciously looked left and right. Finding nothing, he withdrew his gaze and continued sprawling into a ball.

Not long after, a person appeared before him. A shadow covered him. Li You, who had just narrowed his eyes to yawn widely, paused, opened his eyes, looked up, and saw his brother’s poker face.

‘…’

He stiffened, glanced left and right, then looked back: “Meow.”

Do you need something?

Li Ye looked at the ball of cat on the soft pad, his gaze shifting downward. He didn’t see the cat’s paws.

“Oh my, little cutie, where are your pawsies?”

It was Peisengke’s voice.

Li You turned toward the sound and saw that smug face again.

He irritably shifted his neatly curled body and, out of great mercy, extended the paws hidden under his fluff to show him.

See? Meow does magic tricks.

“Oh, so it’s long fur, short legs~”

‘…’

Are you polite, officer?

Li You huffed inwardly, tilted his head up and yowled a few times at Peisengke, then turned back to gaze at Li Ye, who seemed preoccupied.

“Quite the temper.” Peisengke stopped teasing the cat and looked at Li Ye. “Your Highness, did you find the item?”

Li Ye looked at the cat: “Mm.”

‘?’ Li You gazed at the two, his paws at a loss, so he tucked them back under his fur, shrank his neck, and let out a “mew.”

What are you looking for? Why stare at him like that?

Li Ye’s gaze shifted downward to the Ragdoll Cat’s fluffy fur.

Li You froze for a few seconds, then looked down at himself too. He only saw the fluffy fur on his chest. He moved his hind legs and suddenly felt the poking again. His heart jolted. He immediately stood up on all four legs and looked down.

There was a very old pen on the soft pad.

Li Ye reached for the pen as the cat stood up, but a paw pad stepped on his hand. He glanced at the cat and continued to pick up the now-warm old pen.

Li You pawed at his brother’s withdrawing hand twice, narrowed his eyes, and carefully examined the pen.

Wasn’t this the one he had given his brother before?

How many years had passed? It was faded, yet he still kept it?

“Meow—”

Li You stepped forward two steps, sat down, and tilted his head to watch Li Ye put away the Old Pen. His tail swished left and right twice.

“You ran all the way here just for this old pen?” Peisengke, standing nearby with his arms crossed, asked, “You still write by hand these days?”

Li Ye glanced at Peisengke, his gaze landing on the similarly faded brooch on the man’s chest.

Noticing the look, Peisengke clutched his brooch protectively, as if it were a treasure. “What are you looking at? I can’t give you this one. Lolo gave it to me!”

Li Ye withdrew his gaze. “Heh.”

“…” Peisengke realized something and grinned. “Are you mocking me?”

Li Ye ignored him. He placed his hand in front of the ragdoll cat and hooked his finger around the bell on its neck, shaking it with a jingle.

Li You’s ears itched. He rubbed against the back of his brother’s hand to soothe it.

“Hey, this old pen was given to you by Your Highness Youyou?” Peisengke asked knowingly.

Li Ye grunted an “Mm,” his reaction unusually calm.

“No wonder.” Peisengke chuckled and fell silent.

No wonder what?

Li You looked at the two men speaking in riddles, feeling depressed as he stared at his brother. A bit of displeasure stirred in his heart.

Just then, Li Ye’s hand, which toyed with the bell intentionally or not, seemed quite provocative in the eyes of the cat. Li You couldn’t resist the teasing. He opened his mouth and bit down on his brother’s finger—without much force, just gently grinding his sharp teeth against it twice while letting out a “wu wu” sound from his throat.

“Yo, it’s biting now?” Peisengke jumped in surprise.

Li Ye showed no reaction, only feeling a soft, wet sensation on his finger.

He lowered his eyes to look at the cat. Once it had bitten enough, the cat released his finger and licked it again with its tongue.

A cat with a strange temper.

That was what Li Ye thought. This was the cat he had encountered—one whose eyes resembled Li You’s a bit, and whose personality and little quirks were much like Li Ming’s.

Li You smacked his lips, looking at the mark on his brother’s finger. He felt much better, and his tail swished to the left as he huffed inwardly.

【This time Youyou won.】

Li Ye paused, lowered his eyes, and quietly stared at the red mark on his finger. In a low murmur to himself, he said, “When have you not won?”

The paw-licking Li You froze upon hearing this.