How Could a Kitten Spirit Have Any Bad Intentions? 3

Chapter 3

The living room was lit with warm yellow light. Shao Sui sat at the dining table preparing his lessons, but he wasn’t left in peace. His family kept sending video calls, one after another.

He silenced them without even looking, followed immediately by several urgent voice messages.

Afraid he wouldn’t listen, they also sent text versions.

The gist was that he was at the age to start a family, to find a partner. Were there any female teachers at school he had his eye on? It would be best to bring someone home for the Mid-Autumn Festival for the relatives to appraise.

As if bringing someone home was as simple as bringing back a product.

Shao Sui ignored them completely.

After preparing his lessons, he rubbed his sore neck.

There wasn’t a sound from the study; the cat didn’t make a peep. Shao Sui sat for a while and then opened a food delivery app and ordered a few cans of cat food.

Although the stuff was ridiculously expensive, he couldn’t just watch the cat starve to death.

This was called sunk cost.

A life saved for several thousand yuan starving to death because of a hundred yuan worth of canned food, burning real money for a dead thing. Pointless.

Well, not entirely. At least it contributed to the pet hospital’s GDP.

While waiting for the delivery, Shao Sui moved through his excessively tidy apartment, mopping and disinfecting repeatedly. Finally, he stepped into the shower and turned on the faucet, drenching himself from head to toe.

By the time he was finished, the cat food had arrived.

He originally intended to go into the study and open a can, but opening the door would likely wake the cat, which would then stare at him with those round, vigilant eyes, as if he were some heinous villain. So he decided against it.

Anyway, the Big Data-recommended posts he just read said that cats usually wouldn’t eat on their first day in a new home.

Before going to bed, Shao Sui checked the community group. There was still no sign of the cat’s owner.

The photo he posted was taken on the first day. The little calico was lying in a pet tray at the hospital, its wet fur clinging to its body, looking pitiful, seemingly only three or four months old, like it was at death’s door.

So ugly, the owner probably didn’t recognize it.

Following Cheng Ke’s suggestion, Shao Sui posted again on social media, describing its specific features, such as calico, hazel pupils, long fur all over, a triangular patch of white fur on its chest extending to its forehead, black fur around the corners of its eyes with a touch of golden brown, like it was wearing beautiful eyeshadow.

Oh, and most importantly, a male cat.

After all, even the doctor said male calico cats were one in a million. The owner would definitely recognize it from this characteristic.

The next morning, as soon as Shao Sui woke up, he found the comment section had exploded. Not only was it 99+, but a bunch of people were privately messaging him, cursing him, accusing him of creating a hoax for attention, and wishing death upon his entire family. The comment section was relatively mild in comparison.

Le Ke: What the hell chest fur? It’s called a bib.

mimi: Don’t you know all calicos are female?

Loves Big Radishes: The next step is crowdfunding to save the cat, right? [laughing]

Ragdoll Brother: Probably a newly opened cattery, let’s disperse, how can there be male calico cats?

I Hate Stupid People: This is a tabby, not a calico. OP thinks he’s found a treasure, just let him be!

…

Shao Sui raised an eyebrow, his emotions unmoved.

After all, the thought that behind these comments might be one of his students, minors who hadn’t even finished compulsory education, made him feel there was nothing worth getting upset about.

As for what breed the cat actually was, he didn’t care. He just wanted to find the owner and get rid of it quickly.

Of course, there were also some kind children or adults who believed he wasn’t lying, thinking the cat hadn’t been taken to the hospital yet, and were willing to donate money to save it.

Shao Sui pinned his comment: Treatment completed, this post is only for finding the cat’s owner.

Soon, several people with the same IP address as him claimed to be the cat’s owner, but when asked for previous photos of the cat, they all stammered, and some even sent pictures from the internet.

Shao Sui might not own a cat, but he wasn’t off the grid.

He patiently blocked these people one by one.

There was also one netizen who had genuinely lost a cat. The photo they sent was indeed very similar, but they firmly believed it was a female cat, thinking Shao Sui had misidentified it, repeatedly emphasizing that there were no male calicos.

The other party became increasingly agitated, finally sending a voice message: “If you don’t return my cat, I’ll expose you online!”

Shao Sui was also getting annoyed. He went to the study with a straight face, half-knelt in front of the just-awakened and still-dazed cat, lifted one of its hind legs, and took a picture of its testicles.

“Click.”

The calico turned its head stiffly, staring at Shao Sui.

Shao Sui could actually see an expression of disbelief on the cat’s face, as if saying, “What are you doing?”

After a long stare-down, Shao Sui pinched the bridge of his nose. His emotions really hadn’t been stable lately. What was the point of getting angry with a netizen? Their age was probably less than half his shoe size.

So he simply sent the person three words: Go ahead and expose me.

The calico’s private photo was narrowly saved.

Before his phone screen went dark, Shao Sui glanced at it. The testicles were so small, it was no wonder it was infertile.

The calico let out a weak “hiss.”

Delete it!

“Time to change your bandages.” Shao Sui casually put on gloves, pulled the cat out from the bookshelf compartment, and said, “Behave.”

Some minor wounds had already mostly healed during its hospital stay. The main issues were the cat’s fractured left foreleg and the large area of damaged skin on its left hind leg. The doctor wasn’t sure if it had been scalded.

He removed the gauze, sprayed on medicine, and re-bandaged the area. During the process, the little calico cooperated, neither scratching nor biting.

The doctor had said the gauze on its forehead could be removed and that it just needed two more days of medication.

As he removed the gauze, its round, triangular ears stood erect on either side, twitching with each touch.

Shao Sui deliberately slowed down, touching them several times more, to appreciate the calico’s suppressed expression of frustration from being under his roof.

He could see that the little thing wanted to bite him several times, but it held back.

Interesting.

Shao Sui felt his earlier thought wasn’t a misconception. This calico was exceptionally intelligent and could even understand every word he said.

To verify this, Shao Sui took out two pills: “Eat these yourself, and I’ll open a can for you.”

The calico slowly approached, sniffed carefully for a while, then cautiously licked the pills twice before taking them into its mouth.

“Can you swallow that without water?” The human made no move to open the can.

The calico hopped with difficulty back to its triangular book nook, turning its back to Shao Sui and ignoring him. It wasn’t taking the medicine for the canned food; it just wanted to get better quickly!

“Fine, don’t drink.”

Shao Sui chuckled. As soon as he entered the study, he noticed that although the water level hadn’t changed, half the cat food was gone. Nevertheless, Shao Sui kept his promise and brought a can of food for the obedient calico.

He tapped the can with his finger: “Look back. Don’t think I opened it beforehand and poisoned it.”

The cat, which had been keeping its head down, stealthily lifted half its head to peek.

Shao Sui removed the book leaning against the cat, opened the can, placed it in the bookshelf compartment, and pushed it closer to the cat’s mouth: “This is a one-time thing, don’t make it a habit.”

The calico: “…”

So poor he can only afford one can?

It turned out it didn’t fully grasp the meaning of Shao Sui’s every word.

What Shao Sui meant by “don’t make it a habit” was that it shouldn’t eat on the bookshelf in the future; it should go to the “cat dining area.”

Misunderstanding, the little calico treasured the canned food after Shao Sui left.

Maybe I should save half for tomorrow.

By the time Shao Sui finished brushing his teeth, washing his face, and having a simple breakfast, the clock hand pointed to seven. When he was a homeroom teacher, he had to leave by six.

Shao Sui stared at his stubble in the mirror for a while, then frowned and put down the razor, deciding to remove the mirror when he got back that evening. Out of sight, out of mind.

It took him about ten minutes to reach school, and before he even entered the office, he was intercepted by the head teacher again.

Director Cao, with his receding hairline and large belly, looked Shao Sui over with a smile: “Much better, a man needs some stubble to have character—but your clothing could be even more old-fashioned.”

Shao Sui sighed: “I’m trying my best.”

Director Cao slapped his thigh: “I get it, you have a good figure, you look good in anything! I suggest you eat more meat, do you go to the gym?”

The gym environment was too dirty for Shao Sui.

“I work out at home.”

“I say, don’t bother. You’re not a woman, what do you need such a good figure for? When your belly gets big like mine, naturally, no students will stare at you.”

Shao Sui mercilessly exposed him: “Last time you told Teacher Cheng not to wear makeup to work and to make herself look pale and thin.”

Director Cao wasn’t embarrassed: “No way around it, it’s part of being a teacher. It’s not that I’m making things difficult for you, it’s just that students these days are hard to please. You can’t hit them, you can’t scold them, you have to prevent puppy love between students, and you also have to prevent them from falling for teachers.”

Shao Sui frowned at the mention of this.

Director Cao continued sighing: “And times have changed. Not only do you have to prevent heterosexual relationships, but you also have to prevent homosexual ones! Minor squabbles between students are fine, but we’re teachers. If things blow up, we’ll lose our jobs.”

“Mm.”

“Teacher Shao, your sexual orientation is normal, right?”

Shao Sui raised an eyebrow: “Do I need to get into a heterosexual relationship to prove it?”

“Absolutely not!” Director Cao exclaimed, “Don’t do that, I beg you! That child’s secret love diary was discovered by his parents, and he’s been throwing tantrums at home all summer, saying he’s depressed. If he finds out you’re dating, what if he jumps off the school building?”

Shao Sui had a headache: “Then what do you suggest I do?”

“Just be quiet, minimize contact with that child, be aloof… but not too aloof!” Director Cao advised earnestly, “Just bear with it for another half a year. His mother said they’re transferring schools next semester.”

Shao Sui said, “He should see a psychologist.”

Director Cao cried out, chattering incessantly, “My dear Teacher Shao, you can’t say things like that! Times have changed, homosexuality isn’t a disease. If that child hears it and gets stimulated, taking a wrong path, can you bear the responsibility? You can tell me this privately, but—”

Shao Sui said helplessly, “I wasn’t talking about sexual orientation, I was talking about his personality… it’s a bit problematic.”

“Don’t I know that?” Director Cao was also helpless. “But parents don’t consider mental illness a real illness, what can we do? If we mention it to them, they’ll just get angry. Just bear with it.”

“Fine.”

“Alright, I’m leaving.” Director Cao waved his hand. “Keep it up, kids are superficial, make yourself look uglier!”

Shao Sui turned around and bumped into the new homeroom teacher, who had just finished morning reading duty.

Cheng Ke sighed, “The resentment in my heart has suddenly dissipated.”

Shao Sui: “.”

Cheng Ke asked with a smile, “How’s Mimi?”

Shao Sui’s tone softened slightly: “He’s managing.”

Cheng Ke couldn’t imagine Shao Sui chasing after a cat and calling it Mimi: “Is that going to be his name from now on? It’s too common.”

Shao Sui was unmoved: “He can go back to his original name once I find his owner.”

Cheng Ke smiled without saying anything.

Shao Sui only had one class in the morning, and the student who wrote about liking him in his diary wasn’t in that class, so overall, things were relatively calm.

During the break, he sat at his workstation, twirling his pen, then picked up his phone and typed in the search bar: What are common cat names?

The search results that popped up were somewhat outrageous. The top post’s cat was named “Axi Ba,” the second one “Sang Biao.”

[Translator’s Note:“Axi Ba” is a Chinese transliteration of the Korean expletive “a ssibal” , which is a vulgar curse word similar to “damn” or “shit” in English. However, in China, “Axi Ba” has been adopted as a milder, internet-friendly way to express frustration or annoyance without directly using profanity—similar to saying “dang it” instead of a stronger curse word. “Sang” means feeling down, hopeless, or having a pessimistic attitude—often used in internet slang to describe a “moody” or “depressed” vibe. “Biao” is a rough, masculine-sounding name, often associated with tough or aggressive personalities .]

So if these people lost their cats, would they have to shout all over the neighborhood: “Axi Ba, come out! Axi Ba!”

Or call out tearfully, “Sang Biao, Sang Biao, where did you go!?”

Understanding neighbors might not laugh, but those who didn’t might call the police.