Chapter 10
Shao Sui painstakingly played the role of an “expectant father.” Of course, it wasn’t as arduous as actual pregnancy, but tucking his shirt into his waistband, carrying a five-jin cat while washing dishes and cleaning, and constantly supporting it with his hand to prevent it from falling out was quite tiring.
Better than going to the gym.
Besides his own bowl, he also had to wash the cat’s bowls and put them away in the cupboard until the next meal.
“Mimi?”
Shao Sui patted his “belly.” This shirt was definitely going to be stretched out of shape, but it couldn’t be helped. The kitten was too delicate.
It had been a stray, looking so proud in those photos, yet it was afraid of rain and thunder.
If he sent it back to the area near Little Wu’s Chinese medicine clinic, would Mimi be frightened every time it rained, its legs giving way as it scurried around in a panic?
He was in a bind.
Teacher Shao, who didn’t like small animals, sat on the sofa for a while and realized Mimi had already fallen asleep.
The little creature was indeed quite beautiful, its face adorned with a striking calico pattern, its nose and mouth pink. Its paws were pressed against Shao Sui’s abs, warm, and it occasionally let out soft snores.
Kittens also purred and dreamt.
And tonight, it was sure to have sweet dreams.
Shao Sui looked down at the tiny creature through his collar, criticizing, “Just a few days, and all your vigilance is gone.”
He couldn’t shower like this, and going straight to bed was even more impossible. He was covered in sweat and holding a cat.
Who would let a cat onto their bed?
Certainly not Teacher Shao.
Shao Sui found a sofa blanket, placed it on the sofa, and lay down on his side facing the backrest. The kitten immediately sprawled out inside his shirt, finding a comfortable position and continuing to sleep.
Shao Sui played on his phone for a while, but the cat didn’t wake up. He decided to sleep on the sofa tonight. He had his first class tomorrow morning and needed to rest. Fortunately, he had already prepared his lessons.
He reached out and picked up the small ball the cat had been playing with and threw it at the light switch.
Outside, thunder rumbled and rain poured. Inside, the room was dimly lit, the man and cat nestled together, warm and cozy.
In the middle of the night, Shao Sui drifted in and out of consciousness. He first felt a bit cold, remembering he had left a window open, but he was too lazy to get up, so he hugged the cat closer and continued to sleep.
A moment later, he felt too hot, as if holding a small furnace.
Shao Sui mumbled in his drowsiness, “Can cats get fevers too…”
He reached out to find the cat, and as soon as he did, he felt something in his arms… something much larger than a cat. He instinctively reached down and grasped a soft, warm mass.
Shao Sui instinctively squeezed, and heard a sound unlike a meow, more like a soft gasp as if startled from a nightmare.
It must be a dream.
The cat had grown bigger.
But where was its fur…
Intense drowsiness clouded Shao Sui’s mind. After another ten minutes of sleep, Teacher Shao’s mind snapped awake. He sat up abruptly, fumbled for his phone on the coffee table, turned on the flashlight, and checked his surroundings in a daze—
Besides the sprawled-out cat, there was nothing else beside him.
Mimi opened its eyes and stretched: “Meow?”
Had a bad dream?
Shao Sui was still unsure. The sensation from earlier felt too real, as if he had been holding a person. But Teacher Shao, single his entire life, almost thirty years, wasn’t sure what holding a person actually felt like.
“It’s nothing.” Shao Sui placed the cat in his arm, pulled the blanket over them, and lay back down. “Go to sleep.”
“Boom!”
A perfectly timed clap of thunder startled Mimi into bumping against Shao Sui’s chest, leaving a long scratch mark.
“Hiss… it’s okay.” Shao Sui, incredibly sleepy, patted Mimi’s body soothingly. “Don’t be afraid, Daddy’s here, no one can hurt our Mimi…”
A moment later, a thought suddenly occurred to Shao Sui.
Hmm?
What did he just call himself?
It must be Dr. Ren constantly calling him “Mimi’s dad” that had brainwashed him.
He wouldn’t go to that hospital again, even if they offered a discount on neutering.
…
Early the next morning, Shao Sui was woken up by the cat.
Mimi first nuzzled its nose against his, sniffing around. Shao Sui, his eyes still closed, covered his face with his hand: “I can’t give my first kiss to a cat.”
Mimi struggled free and started kneading his left pectoral muscle.
Shao Sui had to open his eyes, picking up his phone to check the time. It was 6 AM.
He usually got up around this time, but today he felt a little dizzy and just wanted to stay in bed.
“What are you doing?” Shao Sui stroked the cat’s fur. “Kitten masseuses don’t make much money, can’t afford gold, maybe a cat treat at most.”
His nose was a bit stuffy, his voice different. Teacher Shao self-diagnosed a cold.
“Purr—”
Mimi, emboldened, stood on Shao Sui, facing him, its hind legs pushing against his abs, its front paws kneading his chest muscles, sometimes tightening, sometimes relaxing, left and right, purring rhythmically.
His relaxed muscles were soft, sinking under the pressure of the kitten’s warm paws.
But when the paws tightened, its claws would come out, a slightly painful prickle.
Still, Shao Sui couldn’t bring himself to push it away, stroking Mimi’s back.
After a while, Shao Sui suddenly realized something, pinching Mimi’s left front paw to check: “Your fracture is healed?”
Hadn’t the doctor said it would take at least seven days to recover?
Shao Sui quickly messaged the doctor, who replied that it might be a case of exceptional healing ability, that kneading meant it had recovered, and if he was worried, he could bring it in for an X-ray.
“Really healed?” Shao Sui was surprised, gently massaging the kitten’s leg from thigh to paw. “Doesn’t it hurt?”
The Great Meow King, proudly: “Meow!”
Shao Sui felt a pang of complex emotions.
He had promised himself to send Mimi away after it recovered, even if the owner didn’t show up.
The little creature, oblivious, continued purring and kneading.
Shao Sui searched online for why cats do this. Netizens said kittens knead to stimulate milk production from their mothers. If they continued doing it as adults, it was likely because they were separated from their mothers too early and missed them.
“Treating me like your mother? I’ll spank your butt!”
Shao Sui scooped up Mimi, cradling her into a ball in his arms, and said teasingly, “Mimi is so pitiful. No mommy since you were little. Want me to take you to find her? Which community was she wandering in?”
“Meow? Meow!”
Mimi struggled, unable to understand this male human’s sudden outburst. It was simply kneading because it felt good, it was happy.
After a while, Shao Sui had to get up. He took a hot shower, changed his clothes, and made himself a cup of cold medicine.
Breakfast was simple, two steamed buns, two eggs, the yolks mixed into Mimi’s homemade food.
Fish and shrimp flavor this morning.
Perhaps knowing that no one would fight it for food anymore, and that there was plenty to eat, Mimi ate slowly and savored each bite.
Shao Sui, munching on a steamed bun, thought he should buy a raised food bowl stand.
The current bowls were too low, it didn’t seem good for the cat’s spine.
But…
Shao Sui glanced at his WeChat. Little Wu had sent him more pictures of Mimi from before, sometimes squatting in front of the braised food shop begging for food, sometimes lying lazily in the grass basking in the sun.
Occasionally climbing trees, dozing off on the branches.
Little Wu: Beautiful, isn’t he?
Little Wu: We don’t mind that he’s a male. Don’t feel pressured, if you really can’t keep him, bring him back to us, or we can come pick him up. Everyone is willing to chip in for the medical expenses.
Shao Sui pretended not to see the messages.
He washed the cat bowl: “Stay home and be good. If you’re scared, find a place to hide. I’ve closed the balcony door too, the thunder won’t get you, okay?”
Mimi rubbed against his leg: “Meow~”
The rain had lessened, but the forecast predicted another heavy downpour in the afternoon. Shao Sui hesitated, then messaged Cheng Ke, asking if they could switch classes.
After Cheng Ke agreed, Shao Sui rubbed the back of Mimi’s neck: “I’ll be back at 1 PM, don’t be afraid.”
He took his umbrella and mask and left, passing the small flowerbed where he had found Mimi. There was a new resident now, a tiny ginger kitten.
It was huddled up, using the bushes to shield itself from the rain.
There had always been stray cats in the community, but Shao Sui had never paid attention to them before.
He thought of Mimi. If he sent it back to the area near the Chinese medicine clinic, would Mimi also be like this little ginger kitten?
Kittens couldn’t understand the unpredictable nature of weather, only fear and apprehension, not knowing when the storm would pass. With luck, Mimi would find a small passage for shelter. Without luck, it would be like this ginger kitten, trembling in the bushes.
And Mimi had long fur, which would take a long time to dry after getting wet. It might catch a cold and get sick.
Hadn’t that article said male calico cats had weak constitutions? With all that hardship, it might not even survive.
Shao Sui pinched the bridge of his nose, took out a mask from his bag, gently held the little ginger kitten by the scruff of its neck, and placed it under the eaves of the building entrance, where it could at least have some shelter from the wind and rain.
“Meow! Meow—”
Mimi, standing by the floor-to-ceiling window on the balcony, witnessed the whole thing.
Although it was a kitten, and pitiful, Mimi didn’t want it near its male human. Even if it was just temporary shelter, that was its male human! How dare another cat lay claim!
Would Shao Sui bring it home too, make it cat food, and hold it while sleeping?
Absolutely not.
The Great Meow King’s alarm bells rang. Its male human was already poor. If he brought home another cat, its food would definitely be shared, and perhaps even its kneading spot would have to be split.
How terrifying, meow.
Anxious, Mimi ran to the bathroom, grabbed Shao Sui’s white T-shirt that he had changed out of that morning and hadn’t washed yet, brought it to the sofa, and lay on it, waiting for the male human to return.
If he really brought back another cat, it would bite him to death and then leave this heartbreaking place.
Agitated, Mimi chewed on the shirt, already feeling distressed by its own hypothetical scenario.
Time ticked by. Mimi yawned, burrowed into Shao Sui’s shirt, enveloped by the human’s scent, and fell asleep, until a clap of thunder startled it awake.
“Boom!”
Mimi instinctively jumped up, but bumped into the table, clutching its leg and blowing on it in pain, until it saw its own round toes, just like the human’s.
“?”
Mimi instinctively tried to meow, but a human voice came out instead.
It could turn into a human!
Just like that gold-stealing tabby!
But why?
Mimi remembered the tabby saying that if you wanted to become human, wait until you’re an adult, find a human whose pheromones you like, inhale deeply, and maybe one day you’ll transform.
Did it turn human because of Shao Sui?
Mimi wanted to go to the bathroom to see what it looked like, but it stumbled as it walked, constantly falling. It tried to crawl like it did as a cat, using both hands and feet, but human legs were longer than arms; being a quadruped wasn’t useful at all.
Mimi could only slowly recall how Shao Sui walked and imitate him.
After some time, Mimi finally reached the bathroom.
The mirror reflected an unfamiliar human teenager, naked, with bruises on his waist and legs from learning to walk.
It’s all the coffee table’s fault! And that corner of the dining table!
Shao Sui must saw them off when he gets back!
After venting internally, Mimi became happy again. Now that it was human, the human wouldn’t be able to bully it so easily, right?
But… I’m so ugly.
Mimi was dissatisfied. Its beautiful fur was gone, replaced by black hair. It was shorter than Shao Sui, its body not as strong, everything soft to the touch, not firm and powerful like Shao Sui’s.
If Shao Sui chased and hit it like yesterday morning, it might not be able to outrun him. It had also lost its sharp teeth and claws, unable to fight back readily.
Thinking about it, perhaps being a cat was better.
Mimi reached towards the mirror, wanting to touch its reflection, but the mirror blocked it.
It poked several times without success, so it gave up and started making human expressions in the mirror, like smiling, crying, and even the occasional eyebrow raise Shao Sui did when he spoke.
Mimi couldn’t raise its eyebrows.
It tried to lift them with its fingers, but they wouldn’t budge. Frustrated, Mimi started pinching its eyebrows: “—Ow! That hurts.”
Mimi quickly shut its mouth.
It had just spoken human language.
So strange.
Mimi imitated Shao Sui’s tone and said again, “That hurts.”
It would say this to Shao Sui later, many times.
Make Shao Sui saw off the hateful table corner and coffee table, and also fix its eyebrows.
