Chapter 21
The next day, the sun was high in the sky as Shao Sui and Mimi stared at each other in the sun-drenched hospital room.
Shao Sui remained silent, and Mimi didn’t dare to speak, thinking he was seriously ill.
Shao Sui had asked the nurse during her rounds, “How long do mushroom poisoning hallucinations last?”
The nurse replied, “It’s hard to say. We don’t have many cases of mushroom poisoning here, not much experience, but I’d estimate three to five days.”
Shao Sui breathed a sigh of relief. So it was still a hallucination.
The nurse glanced at the card on the bedside table: “But you’re not suffering from mushroom poisoning. It says here you have an allergy and a fever.”
Shao Sui took a deep breath and pointed at Mimi: “Can you see him?”
The nurse gave him a strange look: “Of course I can see him. Your brother is so thoughtful, he’s been here since 1 AM, hasn’t slept at all.”
Shao Sui felt his vision darken.
Brother?
Strictly speaking, this was his adopted son.
“Are you alright?” the nurse asked, concerned. “We have a psychiatric department here, if you’re under a lot of stress, go see a doctor, don’t avoid seeking treatment.”
Shao Sui said calmly, “Any recommended specialists?”
The nurse, for the first time, encountered such a cooperative patient: “I heard Dr. Zhao is good, but he rarely sees outpatients.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“You’re welcome?”
Even after leaving the room, the nurse wasn’t sure if Shao Sui was genuinely thanking her or being sarcastic.
Shao Sui sat quietly in bed for a long time, trying to process the overwhelming information.
Shortly after getting a cat, a thief appeared in his apartment, not stealing electronics or gold, just eating ice cream, even foolishly flushing the sticks down the toilet. The clothes he thought the thief had stolen were found under the bed, covered in cat hair.
No surveillance cameras in the community captured the thief, and there were no signs of forced entry. Whenever he went to work, the thief would appear, but if he took the cat with him, the thief wouldn’t show up.
And the nurse just said he wasn’t poisoned, just had an allergy, and she could see this teenager who claimed to be his cat.
It couldn’t be that all the medical staff were suffering from mushroom poisoning.
In conclusion—
Mimi hesitated, then asked, “Shao Sui, is your brain broken?”
Shao Sui ignored him: “It’s managing.”
Mimi asked with concern, “Can you still make me canned food?”
Shao Sui finally looked at him: “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Of course, eating is important.” Mimi said, “If the school fires you, I’ll have to work at a cat cafe to earn money and become your owner.”
He didn’t know how much money humans needed to eat every day.
Mimi had no experience owning a human, and he felt anxious about the future. He didn’t even know how to catch birds or mice, how could he hunt in the human world?
It was clear the teenager… Mimi was seriously considering it.
Shao Sui’s heart softened a fraction, still not quite believing his identity. “Tell me something only we would know, to prove you’re Mimi.”
“You already know I’m a cat spirit! Why are you still talking nonsense?” Mimi walked closer and touched Shao Sui’s forehead with his own. “You’re not burning up anymore.”
Shao Sui pulled away uncomfortably, remembering Mimi had also said this last night. “When did I find out?”
Mimi was hurt by Shao Sui’s words and actions: “You always ask me to ‘speak,’ and yesterday, you even asked if I would be okay at home alone.”
Teacher Shao was speechless.
He did always ask the cat to “speak.” For instance, yesterday morning, he had deliberately teased the cat, “Do you want salmon or beef flavor today? Beef, then.”
When the cat meowed impatiently, Shao Sui responded with an “oh”: “How would I know you wanted salmon if you didn’t say anything?”
Or when buying cat treats: “Mimi, do you prefer the expensive one or the cheap one? Silence means you prefer the cheap one.”
Or when showering the cat with affection: “Mimi likes it when Daddy does this, doesn’t he? Tell me, do you like being nibbled on your left ear or your right ear?”
How could a cat understand a human’s irresistible urge to act foolishly around them?
As for asking the cat “Can you stay home alone,” that was purely a human linguistic habit. He couldn’t very well ask “Can you, a cat, stay home alone.”
That would be too strange.
But clearly, Shao Sui couldn’t explain this to Mimi in a few words.
A cat’s brain was too small, even in human form, unable to comprehend too much.
“Those… didn’t mean I knew you could transform.” Shao Sui said wearily. “If I remember correctly, I’ve seen you before, haven’t I? In human form.”
Mentioning this made Mimi angry: “I was so scared, and I went out looking for you in the pouring rain, but not only did you not recognize me, you also disliked my feet! You usually love pinching my feet and kissing them—”
Shao Sui quickly covered Mimi’s mouth, whispering, “Keep your voice down when discussing such private matters.”
This wasn’t a private room.
After covering Mimi’s mouth, Shao Sui realized his mistake and quickly retracted his hand.
Mimi responded with an “oh,” continuing its accusations in a mosquito-like voice: “I didn’t want to talk to you anymore. After finally getting home, even the door bullied me, refusing to open!”
Everything matched up.
Because he didn’t help apply the bandages, the cat refused to let him touch its paws. Because the locked door kept the keyless cat outside, it wanted to attack the door lock. As for the table and coffee table’s offenses, they could discuss those later.
And the uniform Director Cao said was an old design was the one he had worn in high school, hence the ill fit.
Shao Sui: “So you ran away from home?”
The cat said matter-of-factly: “You didn’t even recognize me!”
Shao Sui laughed in exasperation. He didn’t believe anyone could recognize their cat after it turned into a human.
Teacher Shao resisted the urge to seek psychiatric help: “Tell me more details.”
Mimi only mentioned things that upset him: “One time, you left me at the pet hospital, saying you’d be back in an hour, but you were very, very late.”
“I wasn’t late.” Shao Sui reiterated, “It only took me fifty minutes.”
Mimi insisted: “You were late.”
Shao Sui thought he should send Mimi to kindergarten to learn how to tell time.
Mimi continued, “A few days ago, you also took me to see that bad man who hit me. I was so scared, thinking you were going to give me back to him, I accidentally peed on you and scratched you.”
“…”
Shao Sui had treated the scratches himself; he didn’t know how Mimi found out. However, he was increasingly convinced of the cat-turning-human incident. After all, no human could say “I accidentally peed on you” with such an innocent expression.
Shao Sui couldn’t help but explain, “I didn’t intend to give you back to him.”
“You did!” Mimi, initially upset, was feeling better now. “You said if he paid the medical expenses, you wouldn’t want me anymore.”
Shao Sui, slightly agitated, picked up the glass of water from the bedside table, then put it back down due to his OCD: “Don’t twist my words. That’s not what I meant. I was just trying to anger him. That kind of person would never pay twelve thousand yuan for a cat.”
Mimi’s eyes widened: “What if he did!”
Shao Sui said firmly, “There’s no ‘what if.’ Even if he paid, I wouldn’t give you to him.”
Mimi believed him: “Okay… then if he hadn’t hurt me, would you have given me back to him?”
This hypothetical scenario wasn’t valid. If Hu Yuan hadn’t hurt Mimi, Mimi would have happily returned to its original home and wouldn’t be here questioning him.
But reasoning with a cat was pointless.
Shao Sui simply denied it: “That’s not possible. If he was a good person, I would have asked him how much he wanted to sell you to me.”
Saying this to Mimi in his human form felt strange, like human trafficking.
Mimi pressed further: “Would you buy me no matter the price?”
“…”
Teacher Shao couldn’t bring himself to lie. Honestly, he wouldn’t pay more than three thousand, but he would definitely demand reimbursement for the cat’s medical expenses. No one would pay over ten thousand yuan for a stray cat they had only had for two months, so Mimi would still end up with him.
“See, you did think about giving me away, many times.” The more Mimi spoke, the more upset he became. “You also kept threatening me, saying you would have to compensate the landlord for anything I damaged, and then ask that bad man for reimbursement.”
Shao Sui’s heart skipped a beat, remembering the morning Mimi deliberately broke the water glass. Was it because he had said, “The more things you damage, the more likely your owner is to abandon you”?
Mimi nodded: “Yes, I didn’t want to go back at all. I wanted to break the TV, but I was afraid you couldn’t afford it.”
Shao Sui: “…Thank you.”
Mimi, a polite kitten, replied: “You’re welcome.”
They stared at each other in silence.
Mainly because Shao Sui was speechless. Although the reality was staring him in the face, he still found it hard to accept.
Where was his soft, fluffy cat!
Shao Sui said calmly, “Let me process this.”
Mimi: “Go ahead, I’m not stopping you.”
Shao Sui couldn’t process anything while looking at Mimi’s face: “Go to the window and get some fresh air.”
Mimi looked at Shao Sui: “You won’t run away, will you?”
“No…” Shao Sui pinched the bridge of his nose, then called him back. “Forget it, the weather is cool, you might catch a cold.”
The human was a cat, the cat was a human.
What if, while getting fresh air, he saw a bird and, like a cat, instinctively jumped out the window? That would be a criminal case.
Mimi obediently sat down. Humans were so fickle.
Shao Sui opened his phone and found many unread messages.
Everyone was asking if he was okay, how his illness was, including his father, whom he hadn’t spoken to in a long time.
Shi Yingdi: Sick? What happened?
Shi Yingdi: Nothing serious, right?
Shi Yingdi: Which hospital? Daddy will come visit you.
Shao Sui felt a wave of disgust. If his feelings for his mother were a mix of love and hate, then his feelings for his father were pure disgust.
But how did they all know he was sick?
Shao Sui scrolled through his message history and discovered “he” had replied to everyone who contacted him yesterday: I’m in the hospital, it’s not convenient to talk.
Shao Sui looked up: “Mimi.”
Mimi, who had been staring at him intently, replied: “I’m here.”
“You replied to the messages for me?”
“Yes.” Mimi added, “Because your phone kept ringing.”
Definitely not because Mimi was curious about his phone and wanted to play with it.
Shao Sui asked: “How did you unlock my phone?”
Mimi didn’t understand: “Your brain is a bit broken, but your hand isn’t.”
Shao Sui: “…”
He understood. Mimi used his fingerprint.
Shao Sui, clinging to the last sliver of hope that the human wasn’t a cat, asked, “Then how did you reply? You’re a cat, can you type?”
Mimi demonstrated: “No, you just long-press this, then you can talk, and it converts it to text and sends it.”
“…So smart.”
“Thank you.”
Mimi had discovered this feature while observing Shao Sui using his phone.
Shao Sui noticed Mimi looking at him and, after a moment, realized he should respond: “You’re welcome?”
Mimi nodded with satisfaction: “When are we going home? I’m hungry.”
Teacher Shao didn’t want to go home.
Teacher Shao still wanted to see a psychiatrist.
Mimi always ate on time, one meal at 6:30 AM, another at 5:30 PM. It was indeed late for Mimi.
“Let’s have lunch then.” Shao Sui sighed, opening the food delivery app he hadn’t used in ages. “What do you want to eat?”
“Salmon canned food!”
Shao Sui reminded him, “You’re human now, you still want cat food?”
This stumped Mimi; it hadn’t considered this issue.
Eating cat food in a hospital room would be strange. Shao Sui ordered salmon and sweet shrimp sashimi for Mimi. It should suit a cat’s taste while also being acceptable human food.
While paying, Shao Sui hesitated for a second.
For some reason, spending money on Mimi in his human form didn’t feel as natural as spending money on Mimi in his cat form.
The delivery could only be delivered to the hospital lobby. Shao Sui wasn’t comfortable letting a newly transformed cat go down and get it, so he paid the family member in the next bed to pick it up.
They returned shortly, and Mimi, taking the food, said politely, “Thank you.”
The family member was delighted: “You’re welcome, such a polite young man, so rare these days.”
You can have him.
Shao Sui thought, but didn’t say it out loud.
After the events from last night and this morning, Shao Sui understood one thing—
Cats were sensitive, jokes didn’t land well with them.
Before he figured out what to do, it was best not to upset him and drive him away. He was too naive, easily tricked, and then he might never find him again.
Shao Sui frowned as soon as he opened the delivery bag. Eight slices of salmon and ten sweet shrimp for 150 yuan? What kind of seafood pricing was this…
But seeing Mimi happily eating, he didn’t complain. At least it was fresh.
Mimi, a considerate cat, asked: “Do you want some?”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Okay.”
Mimi thought for a moment, quickly leaned in and gave Shao Sui a kiss, then happily continued eating the sashimi.
Teacher Shao, the germaphobe, wiped his mouth, suffering internally.
Hadn’t it been resistant to kisses before? Why so proactive now?
Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the teenager’s clear eyes, the same hazel color as Mimi the cat. His focused eating was endearing.
