How Could a Kitten Spirit Have Any Bad Intentions? 64

Chapter 64

Side Story 6 (Part 3/3)

Mimi finally wilted, returning to the hotel, taking a shower, and falling asleep. About two hours later, Shao Sui tickled his waist.

Mimi mumbled, “Don’t…”

Shao Sui lowered his head and kissed him, “Still going tide pooling?”

Mimi mumbled, “Seafood can’t get rabies shots…”

“We’re not taking them home, we’re eating them tonight.”

Mimi struggled to sit up, smoothing his messy hair.

Many tourists were tide pooling. Shao Sui found a local guide and chose a less crowded area.

“I’m taking you to a spot where you can actually find something, not like those online scams.” The guide showed them how to use the tools. “Make sure your shoes are secure, it’s easy to get injured, and please, if you see any trash like bottles, pick them up.”

Shao Sui and Mimi didn’t stay with the main group, exploring the surrounding area after learning how to use the tools.

Mimi had a natural advantage when it came to tide pooling, a cat spirit’s senses far superior to a human’s. While others were letting their prey escape, Mimi’s bucket was already filling up.
He could spot all the hidden fish, shrimp, and crabs, accurately predicting their escape routes.

“Shao Sui, there’s a huge crab over here!”

Shao Sui responded, “Keep your voice down, don’t let it hear you!”

“Okay!” Mimi held his breath, carefully approached the crab, and then swiftly grabbed it. “I got it!”

It seemed to be a bread crab. Shao Sui rarely ate seafood and couldn’t identify it accurately.

“Mimi Da Wang, so impressive.”

“I’ll give you one.” The little cat said magnanimously.

A child nearby, his eyes full of envy, asked, “We had a water gun fight this afternoon, can you give me one too?”

Mimi said, “I’m only giving it to him because he’s my wife.”

“Isn’t he a man?”
“Can’t he be my wife?”
“Okay.”

Mimi glanced at the child’s empty bucket and generously gave him a tiny crab the size of his finger. “You’re welcome.”

The child, not minding its size, was overjoyed, running back to his parents and exclaiming, “Mommy, I caught one!”

Shao Sui said, “How can I receive the same treatment as an outsider? He got one, I should get two.”

Mimi was incredulous, “The crab I gave him was tiny, yours is bigger than my hand.”

The unreasonable human said, “I don’t care.”

“Honestly…” Mimi, while complaining, still carefully chose a large conch from his bucket and gave it to Shao Sui.
What else could he do with his own human? Spoil him, of course.

Shao Sui wasn’t as skilled at hunting as Mimi. Even if he saw a crab, he couldn’t catch it. The hard shell was surprisingly agile, scuttling away quickly.

“Your Majesty, teach me?”

“Like this, this, then this.” Mimi swiftly poked the water and grabbed a struggling mantis shrimp. “Fast, accurate, ruthless.”

“Got it.”

Shao Sui understood in theory, but not in practice, repeatedly missing his target.

Mimi suddenly realized, “I understand now, you’re here for charity. We only paid two hundred yuan, the guide will lose money if we take too much seafood.”

The guide wasn’t losing anything, the ocean wasn’t his.
Mimi’s insults were getting more sophisticated.

Teacher Shao gritted his teeth.

After a while, Mimi yelled again, “Shao Sui, this thorn is moving!”

Teacher Shao finally felt a sense of superiority. “That’s a sea urchin, it’s also edible.”

Mimi was curious, “Is it a plant, or an animal?”

“An animal, it can move.”

“So fascinating.” Mimi exclaimed. “Being human is great, you can see so many interesting things, if you’re a kitten, you’d break your legs before even leaving the province.”

Shao Sui hinted, “You also need money.”

Mimi kissed Shao Sui’s cheek, “Thank you for your money.”

“…”

Mimi threw the sea urchin into Shao Sui’s bucket, “I don’t want it to poke my fish and shrimp.”

“…”

There were indeed many fascinating things at the beach, some Shao Sui didn’t even recognize. He secretly used his phone to look them up while Mimi wasn’t looking, pretending to be all-knowing.

Mimi Da Wang saw through the human’s little act, but he was being considerate of his pride.

Relationship experts said that for a relationship to last, you couldn’t damage your partner’s ego.

“I know this one, it’s a starfish.” Mimi said. “So chubby, can you eat it?”

“Yes, but I don’t know if it tastes good.”

Mimi didn’t care, picking it up anyway.

Shao Sui couldn’t resist being a jerk, “Kitten farts cause global warming, kittens eating seafood cause ecological imbalance, kittens bathing in the Atlantic Ocean cause all marine life to cough up furballs~”

Mimi was stunned, staring at Shao Sui.
What a huge accusation.

“Can’t catch anything so you resort to slandering me?”

“These are all things online experts said.” Shao Sui presented video evidence.

The little cat spirit was silent, poking a dead crab in the water, “…Experts aren’t always right.”

Then, he had an epiphany, “They’re probably jealous of me, I’m so good at catching seafood!”

“What about me?” Shao Sui deliberately poked the crab Mimi was holding, and the crab, coming back to life, scuttled away, “I’m also very good at… providing financial support!”

“Is financial support an advantage?” Mimi pondered for a long time before understanding. “They must be those people who destroy what they can’t have.”

Mimi had another ambitious goal. After becoming a judge, he would put all these jealous people in jail!

The little cat spirit, his spirits renewed, started hunting again. Learning required energy, so food was the priority.

“Quiet, there’s a big conch…”

“Conches are slow.”

Just as Mimi reached for it, several legs emerged from underneath the conch, and it scurried away.

Shao Sui: “…”
His face hurts from the slap.

Fortunately, Mimi had good eyesight and quickly caught up to it. Picking it up, he saw a small red hermit crab inside.

“So you weren’t lying, they really do live in shells.”

“…You don’t believe anything I say anymore?”

“You always lie to me.” Mimi said matter-of-factly. “One should always maintain a healthy skepticism.”

“You’re a cat.”
“Cats should be skeptical too, otherwise, it’s easy to be tricked by humans.”

While bickering, they continued to gather seafood, their buckets quickly filling up. Mimi had to put his extra catch in Shao Sui’s bucket, feeling slightly heartbroken.

“You can’t claim them as your own.”
“Once they’re in my bucket, they’re mine.”

Mimi was speechless by the human’s logic.
But whatever, his human belonged to him, so his seafood also belonged to him.

The water in front of him suddenly rippled. Mimi cautiously approached, then jumped back in alarm, “Snake!”

Shao Sui was also startled, quickly picking Mimi up. Most sea snakes were venomous, being bitten would be troublesome.

The guide, passing by, calmly picked up the “snake,” “This is a moray eel, a snake’s cousin.”

Mimi, embarrassed by his fear, responded with an “oh.”

“I won’t overreact anymore.”

“It’s okay, being cautious isn’t a bad thing.” Teacher Shao comforted him.

Then Mimi picked up a pufferfish, “This fish is so round and cute.”

Shao Sui glanced at it. “You can use it to polish shoes.”
Mimi was skeptical, “Really?”
Shao Sui nodded, “Try it.”

Mimi rubbed the pufferfish against his shoe, and it puffed up, “…It looks like it’s about to explode.”

Of course it was, minding its own business and suddenly being picked up to polish shoes, who wouldn’t be scared to death?

“Let’s throw it away.” Shao Sui said half-jokingly. “It’s so scared it’s releasing toxins, kittens will die if they eat it.”

Mimi gave him a skeptical look, then asked, confused, “It’s called a river pufferfish, why is it in the ocean?”

“Because there are freshwater and saltwater pufferfish, they look similar, and they’re called the same thing.”

If he had a free hand, Mimi would definitely look it up online to see if Shao Sui was lying.

Before throwing it away, Mimi used it to polish his other shoe, to maintain balance.

Even kittens had OCD.
Poor pufferfish, letting out distressed squeaks.

With a smooth arc, the pufferfish returned to the ocean, and their tide pooling adventure was coming to an end.

Shao Sui took a picture of Mimi with their catch, then coaxed, “Let’s only keep enough for a late-night snack, we’ll release the rest.”

Mimi, empathetic, agreed, keeping one of each kind, the biggest ones, returning the smaller ones to deeper waters.

Mimi said, “We have to release them far away, or they’ll be caught by others.”

A hermit crab was playing dead inside its shell, motionless.

Mimi poked its shell. “Don’t be so stupid next time, be smarter, you have so many legs, can’t you run?”

Shao Sui chuckled, “Its brain is too small, it can’t understand.”

Mimi declared, “Cats are still the smartest.”

Shao Sui recalled Mimi’s experience of being abused, how he hadn’t given up hope even after two months, his strong will to survive. And he was still kind and optimistic afterward, how could he not love him?

Even after releasing most of their catch, Mimi and Shao Sui were still praised by the guide, “You caught so much, very impressive.”

Mimi puffed out his chest proudly.

After everyone else left, Shao Sui also praised, “I owe it all to Your Majesty Mimi’s grace.”

Mimi said, “Don’t mention it, you’re my human, what’s mine is yours.”

Shao Sui kissed Mimi’s cheek.
So adorable.

They found a seemingly clean restaurant to have their seafood cooked, paying a hundred yuan, then took it back to the hotel balcony, enjoying the sea breeze, the ocean view, the fresh seafood, and a movie playing on his laptop.

“Life is good,” the little cat spirit, peeling a mantis shrimp, sighed contentedly.

Shao Sui, remembering Mimi’s behavior in bed, said solemnly, “Why should we fight amongst ourselves when we’re made of the same stuff.” (A line from a famous Chinese poem.)

Mimi didn’t understand, “Why are you suddenly being so poetic?”

Shao Sui suddenly said, “Is there something over there?”

While Mimi turned to look, Shao Sui quickly snatched a shrimp from his plate.

Mimi said, heartbroken, “Why are you copying James! Just tell me if you want to eat it, don’t trick me.”

“I’m sorry.” Shao Sui readily apologized, then just as Mimi finished peeling another shrimp, said, “Baby, I want to eat it.”

“…” Mimi’s lips trembled, feeling aggrieved.

“Oh, my bad.” Shao Sui, afraid of making Mimi cry, quickly pulled him onto his lap and coaxed, “I’ll peel them all for you.”

“But I haven’t even tasted it yet.” Mimi, also learning to play dirty, put the shrimp in his mouth, licked it, then generously said, “You can have it.”

Shao Sui: “…”

Mimi accused, “You’re disliking me.”

“We kiss every day, how could I possibly dislike you?” Shao Sui said, his expression unchanged, “It’s my fault for not knowing my place, Mimi caught all the seafood tonight, it should all belong to Mimi Da Wang.”

“…Hmph.”

Mimi Da Wang, magnanimous, still shared half with Shao Sui.

That night, Mimi posted on his WeChat Moments, documenting his first trip.

[Crabs are delicious, but their shells are too hard. Mantis shrimp are also delicious, but peeling them takes five minutes and there’s barely any meat. Conch is the easiest to eat, but there aren’t many. Starfish taste weird, sea urchin steamed egg is fragrant… avoid moray eels, they’re terrifying! Also avoid pufferfish, they puff up and release poison, they can kill cats.]

Guan Jiu: Pufferfish are poisonous even if you don’t rub them on your shoes, they can kill anyone.

Mimi put down his phone, straddled Shao Sui, grabbed his ears, and shook them angrily, “You lied to me again!”

Shao Sui couldn’t stop laughing, “This is the importance of education, you’re less likely to be tricked by villains.”

Mimi: “You’re the villain!”
Shao Sui: “You’re the villain’s wife.”

And so, the next day, the third day… Mimi continued to update his WeChat Moments, making all the other little cat spirits jealous.

[Went deep-sea fishing today! The fish were so strong, I couldn’t reel them in, my human did all the work! Praise him!]

[Beautiful sunset!]

[Jet skiing! So exciting! So fun! I was flying on the ocean!]

Each post had nine pictures, mostly of Mimi, taken by Shao Sui, or pictures of them together, taken by passersby.
The little cat spirit in the photos was no longer as serious as before, smiling happily in every picture, full of life and energy.

On the last day, Mimi, now familiar with the ocean, finally agreed to go diving.

Before leaving, Mimi was still a bit worried, “My human body hasn’t learned how to swim, are you sure it’s okay?”

“There’s oxygen equipment and a professional instructor, it’s fine.”

“Then you have to watch me closely, don’t leave me in the ocean.”

“Mm-hmm, littering isn’t good.”

Mimi took a couple of steps, then realized what Shao Sui meant, turning around and punching him, “I’m not trash!”

Shao Sui chuckled and left the room, “Humans and kittens are both pollutants to the ocean.”

“Liar.”

“Humans produce trash, kittens produce fur that makes marine life sick…”

“Stop talking nonsense, you live with me every day and you haven’t coughed up any hairballs.”

Shao Sui burst into laughter, unable to resist teasing the kitten.

“So mean.” Mimi scoffed. “May a shark eat you.”

“You’d be willing to let that happen?”

“Of course, then I’ll inherit your apartment.” Mimi put on an evil expression.

“Our apartment.” Shao Sui reminded him. “We have mortgage payments of over six thousand yuan every month, for decades.”

Mimi was shocked.
Could he earn over six thousand yuan a month? If not, how could he fulfill the promises he made to Shao Sui?

Mimi’s worries persisted until they boarded the submarine. Just like with the fishing trip, they had to take a submarine to the diving spot, change into diving suits and equipment, and put on flippers.

Mimi stood frozen, not daring to move.

“This is so strange, Shao Sui.”

“It’s okay, you can move them around in the water.” Shao Sui squatted down in front of Mimi and adjusted his slightly crooked pants.

“Will we really encounter sharks?”

The instructor nearby, overhearing them, said reassuringly, “It’s highly unlikely.”

Mimi mumbled softly, “There’s still a ‘highly unlikely’ though.”

Although he had joked about letting Shao Sui be eaten by a shark, he kept reminding Shao Sui, “Don’t go too far, I’ll be worried about you.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be heartbroken if you’re eaten.” Mimi hugged Shao Sui. “I was just joking before, don’t take it seriously.”

“Neither of us will be eaten.” Shao Sui’s heart softened, it was just diving, Mimi was acting like it was a life-or-death situation.

Cats were naturally afraid of water, even if they knew it was safe, they still hesitated. Thankfully, Shao Sui had paid a lot of money, and the instructor was very patient.

But no amount of words could compare to Shao Sui’s actions.
Mimi immediately followed when Shao Sui entered the water, afraid he would be eaten by a shark without him knowing.

Once underwater, Mimi’s mind went blank, it was far more terrifying than he had imagined. The instructor, seeing his anxiety, made hand signals, reminding him to breathe through his mouth, even through the mask, he could see Mimi’s reddening eyes.

Shao Sui quickly swam over and pulled Mimi to the surface.

He removed his mouthpiece and smoothed Mimi’s wet hair, “Baby, I’m here.”

Mimi almost cried, “I can’t see you!”

“I’m right beside you, don’t be afraid.” Shao Sui gently touched Mimi’s ear. “If you’re really scared, we won’t dive, we can do other things.”

Mimi sniffled, “But you already paid.”

Shao Sui chuckled, “We can’t let our Mimi suffer just because of money.”

The brave kitten decided to try again.
He floated on the surface for a while, then let Shao Sui pull him along, gradually getting used to it. But he couldn’t look at the vast expanse of ocean around him, or the feeling of helplessness would return.

Shao Sui encouraged him, “You’re doing great, want to try going down?”

Mimi, wearing his mouthpiece, nodded.

Shao Sui said, “Remember to breathe through your mouth.”

Mimi nodded again.

Shao Sui and the instructor took Mimi underwater, a reassuring presence on either side. Gradually, Mimi was captivated by the underwater scenery, his fear subsiding.
The water wasn’t clear, a bit murky, but Mimi had good eyesight, able to see quite far.

He unconsciously drifted away from Shao Sui and the instructor, swimming on his own.

He turned around excitedly and let out a string of garbled noises through his mouthpiece.

Although unintelligible, Shao Sui understood: I’m like a fish!

The little fish-cat darted among the corals, surrounded by colorful fish of all shapes and sizes, completely unafraid of him, curiously swimming around him, their scales shimmering.

Mimi wanted to catch one and taste it, but transforming now would mean drowning.

He decided against it.

Led by Shao Sui, he saw more starfish, an octopus with eight legs, soft sea anemones, signs of life everywhere.
They swam through underwater caves, closer to the dappled sunlight, capturing these moments with the camera.

After surfacing, the first thing Mimi said after removing his mouthpiece was, “Why don’t we cats have bioluminescent fur?”

Thankfully, the instructor was still underwater filming, he didn’t hear it.

Shao Sui didn’t know either, saying casually, “Maybe because cats don’t live in the ocean? Humans don’t have bioluminescent skin either, neither do freshwater fish.”
Mimi thought this made sense, “Those little fish are as brave as they are beautiful.”

For the little cat spirit, the ocean was still a terrifying place, the creatures living in it truly courageous.

“Was diving fun?”
“Yes.”
“Will we come back again?”

“No.” Mimi shook his head vigorously. “Once is enough for this kind of experience.”

Their seven-day trip came to an end. Before boarding their return flight, since the instructor hadn’t sent them the pictures yet, Mimi posted a simple update on his WeChat Moments—

[I’m a cat who’s been to the ocean now!]

Teacher Guo Guo: ?
Jiaojiao: ?
He Yonggan: What kind of “been to the ocean”?
Guan Jiu: Shao Sui took you into the ocean??
James: That’s insane!

Shao Sui, completely unaware, boarded the plane with Mimi. The sleepy little cat spirit had lost interest in the city lights, leaning against Shao Sui and falling asleep.

The weight on his shoulder was comforting, the warmth seeping into his skin and flesh, flowing through his veins and warming his heart.
Shao Sui carefully adjusted Mimi’s head, kissed his eyes, and closed his own, drifting off to sleep.

He thought, for the umpteenth time, I’m so happy.