Chapter 7
Admittedly, Shao Sui was startled when he was bitten, as the abs were a rather sensitive area.
However, he soon realized Mimi hadn’t actually bitten down, it was just a show of force, carefully controlling its strength. To protect its precious testicles, Mimi reluctantly released its teeth.
Shao Sui looked down. Although the skin wasn’t broken, the teeth marks were deep, perfectly controlled by Mimi. He said dramatically, “That really hurt.”
Mimi froze, glancing up at the human’s expression. From this angle, the human’s face was distorted, appearing enormous, his brow furrowed as if in genuine pain.
Mimi felt a little guilty, licking the spot it had bitten as if to cover it up.
Stop saying it hurts.
Shao Sui felt a ticklish sensation from the licking.
A cat’s tongue had barbs; no wonder it could keep its fur so smooth.
Shao Sui disliked any liquid on his skin outside of showering. It was very uncomfortable.
Fortunately, thanks to this little incident, Mimi became very cooperative. He quickly brushed the cat’s teeth.
The kitten’s teeth were healthy, though its mouth had been full of blood when it was brought to the hospital. Thankfully, with timely treatment, it had recovered well, with healthy pink gums and straight teeth.
After brushing, Shao Sui wrapped his finger in a disposable wipe and cleaned the residual toothpaste around Mimi’s teeth.
The product description said the toothpaste was edible, but Shao Sui wasn’t taking any chances.
Mimi, mid-lick, kicked Shao Sui’s hand and let out a disgruntled meow.
Shao Sui threatened, “You can’t eat this, it’s poisonous.”
Mimi froze, clearly still traumatized by its previous experience.
Shao Sui added, “A little bit is fine.”
Mimi relaxed, placing its fractured leg on Shao Sui’s palm for balance. Shao Sui, unsure what it was doing, supported it with one hand while cleaning the cat hair from the sink with the other.
While Shao Sui wasn’t paying attention, Mimi quickly shook its body, sending fur and water droplets flying, splashing him.
“…” Shao Sui, his expression unchanged, wiped his upper body with a tissue: “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Meow.”
What are you talking about? This Great King doesn’t understand.
“Stop licking.” Shao Sui picked Mimi up by the scruff of its neck. “Drinking bathwater, not picky at all.”
“…” This male human deserves to be bitten to death.
Mimi bit the air to vent its anger.
At this moment, Shao Sui somewhat understood why so many people liked cats despite their disobedience and bad temper. They were quite interesting.
Firstly, they were somewhat cute, and secondly, humans had a self-destructive tendency, enjoying teasing these arrogant little creatures.
After Shao Sui turned on the hairdryer, Mimi became very well-behaved, shrinking its neck and staying still. He couldn’t hold the hairdryer too close, otherwise it would start struggling. Shao Sui could only keep his distance. Fortunately, he had only used a wet towel and hadn’t actually rinsed it with water, so it dried quickly.
“Mrow.”
“Such a chaotic vocabulary, can’t you settle on one language?” Shao Sui flicked Mimi’s forehead. “Stay still.”
He then went into the bathroom, cleaned the carrier, put on gloves, placed the clean cat inside, and carried it to the floor-to-ceiling window in the study.
“Stay in there for a while, I’ll let you out after I’ve finished cleaning.”
As soon as Shao Sui left the study, he heard the cat meowing inside, as if protesting his broken promise.
As soon as he entered, Mimi stopped.
As soon as he closed the door, Mimi started meowing again.
Shao Sui was amused: “Have I been too lenient with you?”
It had cowered like a quail in the bookshelf compartment on the first day, and now it dared to hit him, bite him, and throw tantrums.
Shao Sui: “You really are…”
The moment he turned to leave without closing the door, Mimi immediately retreated to the corner of the carrier, convinced that when Shao Sui returned, it would be with a stick or a hanger, his face contorted as he beat it.
Mimi trembled at its own assumption. Just as it was considering the probability of survival if it jumped out the window, Shao Sui returned.
He wasn’t holding any weapons, just a can of cat food.
Was he going to throw the can at it?
“You finished the last one. This is a new flavor that just arrived.” Shao Sui squatted in front of the carrier and opened the can in front of the cat, placing it inside.
Mimi didn’t move or make a sound for a while.
“Hmm?” Shao Sui pushed the can further inside. “Don’t like this flavor? Good thing I only bought two cans…”
Before he finished speaking, the proud, one-armed warrior moved towards the can, its pink tongue flicking out to lick the food.
“…” Apart from the egg yolk at noon, Mimi had never eaten in front of Shao Sui. It usually sniffed the opened can and then urged him with its eyes to leave.
Shao Sui initially wanted to pet it, but stopped himself halfway.
The cat was clean, but he wasn’t.
The mysophobic Teacher Shao began diligently cleaning.
He washed and disinfected his hands, changed back into his morning loungewear, disinfected the bedroom, and then started cleaning the kitchen, balcony, and living room.
Fortunately, the apartment was only seventy square meters, so cleaning wasn’t too tiring.
Shao Sui had considered hiring a cleaner, but it was hard to find someone who wasn’t perfunctory and paid as much attention to detail as he did. It was better to do it himself than spend money and be frustrated.
After finishing the rest of the apartment, he carried the carrier out and placed it on the living room floor, then started cleaning the study – wiping the desk, the books, mopping the floor, disinfecting.
By the time he went back to the bathroom, Shao Sui was covered in sweat.
He took off his clothes, cleaned the area where he had bathed the cat, and then went into the shower.
The sound of rushing water filled the air, the woody scent of shampoo foam swirling down the drain along Shao Sui’s long, strong legs.
Completely refreshed.
Shao Sui turned off the shower, dried himself, blew dry his hair, got dressed, and then left the bathroom. He touched the spot where he had been bitten, wondering if Mimi was getting impatient, when he saw a blur flash across the dining table and disappear into a corner of the sofa.
At that moment, Shao Sui was extremely grateful that there were no dusty corners in his home, otherwise the cat’s bath would have been in vain.
Shao Sui scooped Mimi up: “You can even open the carrier now? Look at you—”
Mimi let out a soft meow.
Shao Sui narrowed his eyes, pinching its pink paw pads: “Wet?”
Mimi lowered its head, trying to bury it in its belly.
Shao Sui held the cat by the scruff of its neck, forcing it to look up, and noticed its mouth was also a bit wet.
Having just eaten canned food, it was understandable, but…
Shao Sui walked to the dining table and looked at the glass of hot water he had poured before showering to let it cool. The lid, slightly ajar before, was now completely open, the water level noticeably lower, with a few water droplets splashed around it.
Shao Sui held the cat, incredulous: “Not only did you drink from my glass, but you also washed your feet in it?”
The Great Meow King remained silent.
Shao Sui felt dizzy, gritting his teeth: “Don’t tell me you’ve been helping yourself to the water on my desk these past few days as well?”
Shao Sui hadn’t even considered that the cat would steal sips of his water, and with Mimi’s fractured front leg, it shouldn’t have been able to jump onto the table, so he was completely unprepared.
Seeing the cat’s guilty look, he felt his vision darken, already contemplating whether he should drink a bottle of disinfectant to sterilize his stomach.
“No wonder you never drank the water I gave you and haven’t died of thirst yet.” Shao Sui smiled. “So you’ve been drinking my water all along?”
“Meow…”
Mimi even had the audacity to tuck its tail, as if it wasn’t the one at fault, but the human bullying it.
Shao Sui sat on the sofa, placed the cat on his lap, and glared at it in exasperation, unable to think of a suitable punishment. Finally, he picked up the ruler from the coffee table, startling the cat into burrowing into his arms.
“…”
All cats are manipulative, aren’t they?
Who could bring themselves to hit it now?
—Teacher Shao could.
As a teacher, Shao Sui knew well the principle of correcting mistakes, otherwise they would only worsen. He gripped the ruler and swatted Mimi’s backside a few times.
Mimi didn’t know what a ruler was. At first, it trembled in fear, but gradually, realizing the flat stick didn’t hurt at all, it unconsciously raised its backside, its fluffy tail pointing towards the sky.
“…” Shao Sui searched online. A cat raising its backside and tail indicated pleasure.
He lifted the cat’s little head with one hand: “Are you a masochist?”
The Great Meow King didn’t understand what a masochist was, but it didn’t sound like a compliment, so it punched the human.
The human remarked: “All you do all day is act cute.”
“Meow!” You’re the one acting cute!
The punishment having turned into a reward, Shao Sui, displeased with its comfort, put away the ruler: “If you drink from my glass again, I’ll confiscate your canned food and you’ll be eating dry food.”
He had also spent over two hundred yuan on that bag of dry food, but the darn cat refused to eat it.
“Knock, knock—”
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
A startled Mimi shot upwards, clinging tightly to Shao Sui’s neck.
“Ouch!” This time it really hurt. Shao Sui’s face contorted. “Let go of your claws, you’re digging into my flesh!”
Mimi reluctantly loosened its claws but still clung tightly to Shao Sui’s neck.
It had to be said, Teacher Shao rather enjoyed it.
He patted the cat’s back, wincing: “It’s okay, it’s just the delivery I ordered.”
Just as he was about to get up, Mimi jumped down from him, limped into the study, and cleverly kicked the door shut.
“…”
Shao Sui shook his head, opened the door for the delivery person, and said, “Just put it on the floor, thanks.”
Delivery person: “You’re welcome.”
While Shao Sui turned to get the disinfectant spray, another delivery arrived. He had ordered a vacuum cleaner from a nearby store at noon, and they had promised home delivery.
The delivery person said, “The warranty card and instructions are inside. If you have any questions, just contact us. We offer after-sales service.”
“Okay, thanks.”
After disinfecting the outer packaging, Shao Sui carried the item into the entranceway, closed the door, and started unpacking.
Meanwhile, realizing the stranger had left, Mimi started scratching at the door, meowing incessantly, desperate to get out.
“You can close the door but can’t open it?” Shao Sui went to open the door for it. “Don’t scratch, this isn’t my apartment, I have to pay for damages.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the darn cat deliberately punched the door a couple of times, though without extending its claws.
It had a mischievous air about it.
Shao Sui took out his phone and confirmed receipt of the vacuum cleaner, then noticed another message from Cheng Ke: By the way, I forgot to mention, although male calico cats are infertile, they still need to be neutered, otherwise they might spray urine everywhere to mark their territory during mating season.
Cheng Ke: Just a heads-up in case you plan to keep him long-term.
Shao Sui paused, replying: There’s no “in case,” such an important decision like neutering should be left to his owner.
Cheng Ke’s reply was very perfunctory: Mhm, mhm.
“…” Why doesn’t she believe me?
Shao Sui ignored Cheng Ke and started unpacking the deliveries with the cat.
He was mainly responsible for unpacking, the cat for inspecting.
“This is a scratching post, for sharpening claws.” Shao Sui demonstrated by scratching it a few times. “Like this. You’ve been owned before, you should know how to use it, right?”
Mimi lowered its head and mimicked his scratching.
Shao Sui wasn’t quite satisfied: “Why is it shedding bits?”
Teacher Shao, who had never owned a cat before, didn’t know there were quality differences in scratching posts, but seeing Mimi enjoying itself, he didn’t put it away, thinking he would buy a better quality one later.
The next item was a small ball. Shao Sui unpacked it and threw it towards the balcony. Mimi instinctively stood up, its eyes lighting up with excitement. Even with only three functional legs, it arched its back and hopped after the ball, its pupils dilated. Finally catching the ball, it turned its head to find the human secretly taking pictures of it.
Caught in the act, Shao Sui wasn’t embarrassed, beckoning, “Come here, give me the ball.”
It gave him the ball, but not directly into his hand.
Mimi seemed to have deliberately placed it just out of Shao Sui’s reach, requiring him to stand up and take a couple of steps.
Mimi sat properly, staring intently at Shao Sui.
“Looks like your owner never played this with you—”
Thinking it didn’t understand the game, Shao Sui bent down, picked up the ball, and threw it again, waiting for the cat to bring it back. Mimi quickly ran to get it, but again stopped just out of Shao Sui’s reach on its return.
It released its teeth, letting the ball fall to the floor.
“…”
Shao Sui had no choice but to stand up, take two steps, and bend down to pick it up.
Just as he was about to reach it, Mimi mischievously batted the ball further away with its paw.
After a few repetitions, Shao Sui narrowed his eyes, a realization dawning on him: Why did he feel like he was being played by this darn cat… like training a dog?
