Chapter 51
Despite his oppressive and restrictive childhood, Shao Sui would occasionally recall the rice cake soup his mother made every winter morning.
The rice cakes were soft, chewy, and glutinous, yet not sticky, retaining their shape and deliciousness no matter how much they were handled.
The oversized rice cake in his arms asked, “Shao Sui, do I go inside you, or do you go inside me?”
Shao Sui, showering him with kisses, whispered, “Let me go inside you, okay?”
Mimi readily agreed, “Okay, go ahead.”
The little cat spirit spread his legs trustingly.
Shao Sui’s eyes darkened, and he kissed him again, then, just as he was about to open the lubricant, he suddenly remembered something and got up to open the bedside table drawer. “Wait a minute, baby.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to take a pill… a vitamin.”
Mimi, recalling what the association’s teacher had said, realized some humans weren’t very capable. He said knowingly, “Shao Sui, every medicine is three parts poison, let me do it.”
Shao Sui, swallowing his allergy pill with water, raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”
The little cat spirit, knowing some humans were particularly sensitive about this, and that being blunt would hurt his pride, pretended to be clueless, “Nothing, I also have what you have.”
“Then you can take over when I’m… tired.” Shao Sui chuckled. Having taken his medication, he no longer had any reservations, nibbling on Mimi’s lips. “Did the association’s teachers mention whether cat spirits can cry after turning human?”
“They didn’t…”
“Then let’s try it.”
“Try how… ah.”
Mimi couldn’t form a coherent sentence anymore, his eyes quickly welling up. He tried to keep his eyes wide open, preventing the tears from falling.
The rice cake was soft and glutinous. Even poking a hole in it with a stick wouldn’t ruin it, it would just bounce back, squeezing the stick, letting out soft whimpers.
Sometimes, when strange sounds escaped his lips, he would cover his mouth in surprise, then, after a moment, remove his hand and share his experience, “Shao Sui, I feel like I’m not myself anymore…”
Shao Sui chuckled softly, driving the little cat spirit to surrender, “How can baby be so soft and… melty? Have your bones dissolved?”
“No, my bones are right here…”
“Oh, then I must be mistaken.” Shao Sui flipped Mimi over and kissed his back. “There’s one here too, one of the most flexible bones in the human body, it’s called the spine.”
Mimi trembled at the kiss, “Mm…”
Shao Sui caressed his back, continuing, “Kittens also have this bone, from the cervical vertebrae down the back, then the lumbar vertebrae, and finally the caudal vertebrae, the tailbone…”
“Like this?”
The blanket suddenly bulged, and Shao Sui’s hand brushed against something furry. Realizing what it was, his Adam’s apple bobbed, his throat suddenly dry, his breathing quickening.
Shao Sui vaguely remembered the night of his mushroom poisoning, Mimi, in his human form, had also conjured a tail to prove he was his cat.
Later, after sobering up, he thought it was just a hallucination and hadn’t dared to ask Mimi about it, afraid of seeming like a pervert.
Shao Sui gritted his teeth, “I really want to eat you, baby.”
“Cat meat is sour, it doesn’t taste good…” Mimi’s pillow was soaked with tears, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Eat a dog instead.”
“Not eating dogs, not eating other cats, just want to eat Mimi, only like eating Mimi.”
Mimi recalled the teacher saying that most humans adored cats, were their loyal servants, and sometimes, their love was so intense they would say things like, “I want to squish you to death with my butt,” or “I want to eat you up.”
It wasn’t to be taken literally; it was just humans expressing their love for kittens.
Mimi couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride, wrapping his tail around Shao Sui’s waist, “So you love me that much.”
“Yes…”
“Do you love me more as a kitten, or as a partner?”
“…”
This question was like the classic “If your mother and I fell into the water, who would you save first?” Impossible to answer without falling into a trap.
“I love you both ways.” Seeing Mimi about to press further, Shao Sui pinched the base of his tail and kissed it. “Okay, baby, not a good time to discuss this.”
“Then let’s discuss it after we’re done…”
The “done” little cat spirit promptly fell asleep, impossible to wake, let alone discuss anything. Shao Sui brought a warm towel and wiped him down, looking at Mimi’s peaceful sleeping face in the dim light.
He couldn’t resist, showering him with kisses.
Feeling the ticklish sensation, Mimi raised his hand to cover his mouth and his other hand to cover his eyes, blocking out the light.
A month of social training hadn’t made Mimi wary of Shao Sui, on the contrary, he seemed even more relaxed, his every action conveying dependence.
When he went to pick up Mimi, Shao Sui had thought his life was over, forever yearning for the little cat spirit he couldn’t have.
In the worst-case scenario, Mimi might have become distant, uncomfortable with his affection, wanting to leave him and explore the world.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Mimi was still Mimi, the slightly arrogant yet completely devoted little cat spirit.
Shao Sui removed Mimi’s hand and kissed away the tearstains at the corner of his eye, “You said you couldn’t cry…”
The clock on the wall pointed to eleven, almost midnight.
Having only eaten cake for dinner, Shao Sui, after strenuous exercise, was a bit hungry, but Mimi was clinging to him so tightly that he couldn’t bear to get up and find food, so he picked up his phone and, while Mimi was asleep, browsed through his phone, looking for traces of his past month.
The phone, previously only containing short video apps, now had many other apps, like ticketing apps, food delivery apps, various social media apps, and even one called “Cat Spirit Gathering Place.”
Shao Sui searched for it on his own phone, but the results were irrelevant. It seemed to be an internal forum for cat spirits.
He opened Mimi’s photo album, which, besides random pictures, also contained… himself.
Mimi’s photography skills weren’t very good, and the pictures were all candid shots, taken from strange angles, like Shao Sui cooking in the kitchen, taken from the corner of the dining table, or Shao Sui sleeping, taken from above while Mimi was sitting on his waist.
Shao Sui chuckled, “He made me look so ugly.”
The kitten didn’t have a concept of beauty and ugliness when it came to the human he liked, marking every picture of Shao Sui with a heart and adding them to his favorites, browsing through them every day during their separation.
Shao Sui opened the camera and took a picture of Mimi.
His sleeping form, covering his eyes and mouth, was incredibly cute.
How could the world possibly turn without kittens?
Shao Sui wanted to show off, but he couldn’t post pictures of human Mimi, Director Cao might have a heart attack. He chose a picture of Mimi in his cat form and posted it on his WeChat Moments, with the caption: The cutest kitten in the world.
Cheng Ke: Mine is the cutest.
Shao Sui ignored her, her blue-and-white cat was as fat as a pig.
He wished Mimi was also a bit chubbier, he was too thin now.
Shao Sui put down his phone, opened Mimi’s WeChat, and resent all the failed voice messages and texts, saving them on his own phone.
Afraid of waking Mimi, he put on his earphones and listened to them one by one.
The first one was Mimi crying, his voice trembling, “Shao Sui, why isn’t the message sending? Did you delete me? Don’t you want me anymore!?”
The little cat spirit learned that night that humans could cry.
“Guan Jiu said you care about me, that you don’t want to abandon me, is that true? Come and pick me up.”
…
“Can you fly over and kiss me? Please.”
…
“The teacher said it’s best not to get too attached to a human, it’s easy to get hurt, because there aren’t many good people nowadays, it’s hard to love someone or a cat forever.”
“But I’ll always love Shao Sui.”
“Will you stop liking me one day?”
…
“Shao Sui, I passed a subject today! The teacher said I can see you after passing six more!”
“What are you doing? Do you miss me? Your kitten misses you a lot.”
…
“The teacher said partners live together, supporting and accompanying each other, feeling each other’s sadness and happiness, missing each other terribly when separated, wanting to rush to each other’s side.”
“That’s how I feel right now.”
“I want to kiss you, hug you, sleep with you.”
“For us cats, the line between liking an owner and liking a partner isn’t that clear. The teacher also said human love is a mix of many emotions, no need to differentiate them, they’re not pure themselves.”
“Shao Sui, I think I can be your cat, and also your partner, as long as you’re happy.”
…
“Watched three pornos today, one with a male human and a female human, one with two male humans, and one with two female humans… shhh, don’t tell the teacher I described humans like that, I’ll lose points, and then I won’t be able to see you.”
“The teacher said watching these movies is to help us determine our sexual orientation, everyone is studying hard, but I can’t focus, I keep thinking about you.”
“The teacher also said that when we can only imagine doing that with a specific person or cat spirit, it means we like them as a partner.”
“Shao Sui, you can do anything to me.”
…
“Today’s exam was the ‘Human Dependence Test,’ I almost failed, but I cleverly answered some questions in reverse. Like, what would you do if you lost Shao Sui? I said I would return to the base and dedicate myself to the organization, making the cat spirit base thrive!”
“They believed me, saying the cat spirit base can’t thrive, they’re not planning a rebellion yet.”
“When the teacher found out I only scored 61, she pointed at the wall and yelled, ‘Is Shao Sui made of catnip or something, making you so obsessed!?'”
“I don’t know, Shao Sui, you’ve never bought me catnip.”
