How Could a Kitten Spirit Have Any Bad Intentions? 23

Chapter 23

After finishing marking the test papers, Shao Sui called out solemnly, “Teacher Cheng.”

“Hmm?” Cheng Ke, passing by, responded. “Are you talking about Wu Xiao? I’ve also noticed something’s off with him lately. I’ve chatted with him a few times privately. He’s a bit stubborn, but he still listens to reason…”

“Not that.”

“Then what?”

Shao Sui hesitated: “Have you ever considered…”

Cheng Ke looked puzzled: “Considered what?”

Shao Sui carefully chose his words: “If one day your cat turned into a human, what would you do?”

Cheng Ke thought for a moment: “Can it change back?”

“…Probably.”

“Keep it, of course. What else?” Cheng Ke bent down to fill her cup with water. “It’s been with me for three years, I raised it from a tiny kitten to this chubby cat, how could I abandon it just because it turned human?”

“What if it couldn’t change back?”

“Then it depends.” Cheng Ke turned around, shrugging. “If it permanently turned human, would it still be willing to stay home with me? Wouldn’t it yearn for a wider world, want the same things as other humans? If I couldn’t provide that kind of life, would it resort to extreme measures, even commit crimes?”

Shao Sui said, “It wouldn’t.”

Cheng Ke chuckled, “Weren’t you talking about my cat? How do you know it wouldn’t?”

“…” Shao Sui changed the subject. “So if it permanently turned human, would you give it up?”

“Most likely. The biggest difference between humans and cats is their appearance. Why do I keep a cat instead of a dog, fish, or bird? Precisely because it’s a cat, with a cat’s appearance and personality, willing to be confined to my home, keeping me company until its last breath… Humans are much more complex.”

After Cheng Ke left, Shao Sui sighed softly, looking at the birds flying freely outside the window.

For a cat, as long as it was well-fed, it could be considered happy. But humans were different.

Like that gold-stealing Fatty Tabby, it could have survived by simply being a cat, but it resorted to trickery and theft, wasn’t it because of insatiable greed?

Having become human, it was no longer content with just being well-fed.

Since ancient times, spirits hadn’t had a good reputation.

Perhaps those scholars and writers knew that humans were the most complex creatures, and any animal, no matter how cute, would be corrupted after becoming human.

What about Mimi?

Shao Sui opened the surveillance app and found Mimi wasn’t in the living room. He adjusted the camera angle, panning around, but didn’t see him.

He quickly went downstairs, found a secluded spot, and called out through the camera’s speaker: “Mimi?”

With a thud, a figure appeared in the hallway on the live feed, a startled face framed by messy hair, peeking around the corner and whispering, “Sh-Shao Sui?”

“It’s me.”

Mimi cautiously extended one foot, peeking towards the entrance.

No one.

A quick glance at the living room revealed no one either, and the voice seemed to be coming from the plant stand diagonally behind the sofa, unlikely to conceal the large Shao Sui.

Mimi carefully entered the living room, clutching Shao Sui’s shirt, his voice trembling slightly: “Shao Sui, where are you? I can’t see you!”

Whenever he called out “Shao Sui,” he unconsciously drew out the syllables, less like calling a name and more like a soft whine.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m still out hunting.” Teacher Shao softened his voice. “This is a surveillance camera, I can talk to you remotely through it.”

“So cool.” Mimi moved closer, his face filling the screen. “Can you see me?”

Shao Sui: “Of course.”

Mimi tried to find Shao Sui in the camera’s red indicator light: “Why can’t I see you?”

Shao Sui choked: “Because it’s a one-way camera.”

Mimi understood. Shao Sui was poor and couldn’t afford a two-way camera: “Then can you hear me if I talk to it?”

Shao Sui said, “Yes, but I might not be able to reply immediately.”

Mimi was very understanding, “It’s okay, hunting is dangerous, don’t get distracted.”

Although the human’s “hunting” didn’t involve bloodshed, there were still many office politics and struggles, just as dangerous.

Even after a while without hearing Shao Sui’s voice, Mimi didn’t leave: “Shao Sui, are you still there?”

Shao Sui replied: “Yes. What were you doing just now?”

“Making a nest.” Mimi added, “You promised.”

The night of his mushroom allergy, when Shao Sui was delirious, he had indeed promised to rebuild the cat’s nest. But the next day, after realizing the cat turning human wasn’t a hallucination, his world was turned upside down, and he forgot all about it.

“It’s okay, you can make it.” Shao Sui thought for a moment. “But choose a different spot.”

Mimi, on screen, lowered his head, “Where? I like it indoors.”

“…I didn’t mean outside. There’s too much dust and bacteria under the bed. You can make it on the bay window.”

“But it doesn’t seem hidden enough.”

Shao Sui didn’t understand why he needed to hide at home. Didn’t he feel safe?

But he didn’t argue, just thought about the layout of his apartment. “How about the wardrobe? The bottom left compartment is quite spacious, see if you like it.”

Mimi moved away from the camera.

He soon returned: “I like it, but what about your clothes?”

Shao Sui said, “Just put them on the bed, I’ll take care of them when I get back.”

Mimi volunteered, “I’ll fold them for you!”

Teacher Shao, the germaphobe, didn’t want to agree, but seeing Mimi’s excited expression, he reluctantly consented: “Okay, thank you, Mimi.”

“You’re welcome!”

Shao Sui took the opportunity to say, “You can choose some new clothes for your nest, those need to be washed.”

Mimi said he understood: “Because they got dust from under the bed, they’re dirty.”

“Exactly.” Shao Sui asked, “Why aren’t you wearing shoes again?”

“They keep falling off.”

The Great Meow King couldn’t tame the annoying slippers, so it kicked them away, then guiltily placed them back in the shoe cabinet and ran around barefoot.

Shao Sui coaxed him like a child: “Put them on, I’ll bring you properly fitting shoes tonight.”

Mimi was easily appeased: “That’s great!”

Shao Sui asked, “What color do you like?”

“Green!”

“Okay, I’ll be back when the hour hand points to six. Do you recognize the number six?”

“Yes.” Mimi said proudly. “Teacher taught me.”

Shao Sui couldn’t help but chuckle, “Which teacher?”

If that teacher knew Mimi could tell time now, wouldn’t they be turning in their grave?

Mimi said, “A teacher from the school near the Chinese medicine clinic. I was very small then, I used to sit on the teacher’s desk and listen to the lessons. I was the closest student to the teacher!”

Shao Sui imagined the scene – him teaching, Mimi the cat sitting on the desk in front of him, having to touch it whenever he picked up chalk or the eraser – and his heart softened.

But seeing the human face on the live feed brought him back to reality.

“You didn’t cause trouble for the teacher, did you?”

Mimi protested loudly: “I’m not that kind of cat!”

Shao Sui said, “Okay, I believe you.”

What he was actually thinking was, Mimi would bite my pants while I was mopping the floor, who would believe he didn’t cause trouble in class?

Mimi’s voice suddenly softened, “I won’t cause trouble for you either.”

Shao Sui felt a strange pang in his heart.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face on the screen, he changed the subject, “Don’t touch the stove in the kitchen, and don’t open the door for strangers, understand?”

Mimi replied crisply, like a good student: “Understood!”

Shao Sui added, “Absolutely no more eating ice cream like before, don’t you feel bad having diarrhea all the time?”

Mimi mumbled, “I haven’t eaten any today.”

Shao Sui had restocked the ice cream two days ago: “Be good, only one.”

Mimi reluctantly agreed: “Okay.”

The school bell rang on Shao Sui’s end, startling Mimi on screen, almost making him jump like a cat, though his jumping ability in human form was less impressive.

Shao Sui asked again, “Did you drink water today?”

Mimi’s eyes darted around, “Yes…”

Shao Sui said coldly, “No, you didn’t. Now, immediately, go pour yourself a glass of water and drink it.”

Cheng Ke was right.

Even cats, after turning human, would pick up bad human habits, like Mimi learning to lie so quickly.

Mimi, scolded, went to get a glass. As he was about to fill it with water, he heard Shao Sui’s voice, “Press the blue button first, fill it halfway, then press the red button – and take your hand away!”

Mimi followed the instructions nervously.

He could only hear Shao Sui’s voice, unable to see his expression or sense his emotions. It felt like dealing with a demon king.

So scary.

“Finish it, every last drop.” Shao Sui said sternly. “And another glass this afternoon, I’ll check.”

Mimi gulped down the water, thinking how awful it tasted.

He wouldn’t die from not drinking water, why force him?

Seeing Mimi finish the water, Shao Sui softened his tone, “Are you hungry?”

Mimi’s displeasure was written all over his face: “I was a little hungry, but now I’m full from all the water.”

The kitten was sulking.

Shao Sui chuckled involuntarily, “I’ll order you takeout, I’ll tell you when it arrives.”

“Will you call me like this again?”

“Yes. I have to go to work now, you watch some TV.”

“Okay.”

Although Mimi agreed, he didn’t leave the camera’s view.

After a while, Mimi’s face filled the screen again, whispering, “Shao Sui, are you still there?”

No response.

So Mimi, thinking he was speaking privately, said, “If I drink water obediently today, can I sleep with you tonight? We haven’t slept together in a long time, you don’t smell like me anymore, I want to groom you.”

Actually, Shao Sui was still there.

He was watching Mimi’s every move, but remained silent.

It had been several days since Mimi transformed. He claimed he could turn back into a cat, but he never did.

Shao Sui didn’t force him. It was normal for a cat, suddenly human, to find it novel, but asking Shao Sui to accept sleeping with, cuddling, and kissing another male was a bit much.

Even if Mimi was a cat on the inside, his outward appearance was still that of a young man.

Wasn’t this just being gay?

Teacher Shao couldn’t handle it, so he could only ignore Mimi’s requests.

If Mimi was willing to transform back into a cat at night… then it was negotiable.

After Mimi left the camera’s view, Shao Sui turned around and saw Wu Xiao standing in the corner on the third floor, watching him. He frowned and returned to the office, opening the food delivery app.

Mimi used to only eat breakfast and dinner, but now, as a human, he got hungry at noon too.

Having never taken Mimi for a checkup, Shao Sui wasn’t sure if he could tolerate all human foods, or if he still had a kitten’s stomach, so he didn’t dare to order anything random. Same as before, triple-digit-priced seafood sashimi.

He didn’t even dare to calculate how much he had spent, but roughly estimated Mimi had already eaten over a thousand yuan worth of food in the past few days.

He had to find a way to take Mimi for a checkup.

No health insurance, no ID card, a kitten spirit truly couldn’t go anywhere.

Raising a person was indeed much more troublesome than raising a cat.

But Mimi said many cat spirits worked in bars. Didn’t those places require ID cards? Did they have some legal means of being recognized in human society, like a cat spirit agency or something?

Lost in thought, Shao Sui unconsciously switched to the online shopping app and started browsing rugs.

Because of his OCD, Shao Sui, living alone, would never consider a rug, such a dust and germ magnet, but Mimi strongly disliked wearing shoes, and clothes too, finding them restrictive.

Shao Sui couldn’t tolerate a naked man running around his apartment. It was indecent. He could only force Mimi to wear clothes to cover his bare skin.

No clothes was absolutely unacceptable, but not wanting to wear shoes was negotiable.

“Seven or eight hundred yuan for a rug, are they robbing me…”

Teacher Shao grumbled while placing the order.

It was past 3 PM. Shao Sui, having just finished reviewing test papers with two classes, felt exhausted. As soon as he returned to the office, he opened the surveillance app like a peeping tom.

Mimi was watching TV, sitting properly.

Shao Sui remained silent, rewinding the footage by an hour. He saw Mimi shuffling to the camera with a cup, saying unhappily, “Shao Sui, please check.”

Then he gulped down the water.

Shao Sui, as if possessed, replayed the clip three or four times, then quickly switched away when a colleague walked past, casually opening his lesson plan.