Chapter 26
Even though Shao Sui didn’t believe in traditional spirit lore, he still asked, “Suck how? Do cat spirits also need to absorb human essence?”
Mimi refuted, “I’m not a fox spirit.”
“Fox spirits really exist?”
“How would I know?” Mimi’s speech patterns were basically whatever TV show he had watched most recently. “I’m just an ordinary little cat, I haven’t seen much of the world.”
Few could embody both obedience and rebelliousness; Mimi happened to possess both.
He knelt obediently, holding his hands out for Shao Sui to hit, yet his expression and tone clearly conveyed defiance.
Shao Sui scooped him up: “No ice cream today, and no TV before noon.”
Mimi felt like his world was ending: “Can’t you be absorbed? I kept my distance, I didn’t actually touch you…”
Shao Sui was now curious, “How did you do it? Demonstrate.”
Mimi mumbled, “I can’t do it now.”
Shao Sui asked, “Why?”
Mimi refused to answer: “No reason.”
Teacher Shao offered a bait: “Demonstrate, and you’ll get your ice cream back.”
Mimi was still reluctant, trying to scare Shao Sui instead, “You can’t be late for work, the school will fire you.”
The world had truly turned upside down.
“It’s okay, I’ll beg on the streets to feed you if I have to.” Shao Sui said sternly, “If you give the cat next door any more snacks, it won’t just be your hands I’ll be hitting, understand?”
“So you’re jealous of Milk Tea?” Mimi thought Shao Sui was being petty. “I didn’t kiss her, I didn’t sleep with her, I just felt sorry for her.”
What jealousy, such nonsense.
Shao Sui wanted to tell Mimi not to misuse words, but he couldn’t help but ask, following his logic, “You really don’t want to sleep with her?”
After all, Mimi was in heat, and Milk Tea next door was a female cat. He didn’t know how other cat spirits dealt with their heat cycles. Did they find other cat spirits?
What about cat spirits like Mimi who didn’t know where to find their kind?
Did they find ordinary cats?
…Or humans?
Shao Sui was startled by his own thoughts.
Mimi was truly aggrieved, “What can I do if you insist on putting it that way? Do I really have to spell it out? I only want to sleep with you! Do you have to misunderstand me and break my cat heart?”
Shao Sui, after much restraint, finally snapped: “No TV dramas today, only news.”
Mimi was stunned.
Before watching TV dramas, the news had been interesting, but having tasted the excitement of dramas, the news seemed bland and tasteless.
“Do you have to punish me so much for one mistake?” Mimi couldn’t accept it. “You hit me, confiscated my ice cream, won’t let me watch TV before noon, and now only news, you, you…”
Mimi struggled to find the right word, finally blurting out, “You’re too domineering!”
“Then what?” Shao Sui said deliberately, “You’re my cat, you have to accept my dominance.”
Mimi tried to protest, “Can’t I not accept it?”
“Fine, you can watch TV dramas.” Shao Sui glanced at the time, already late, so he wasn’t in a hurry. “Transform back into a cat and let me hold you.”
Mimi immediately turned his back, “I don’t want to watch anymore.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Shao Sui tested him, “Then I’m leaving?”
Mimi stubbornly said, “Go ahead.”
Shao Sui asked again, “Really leaving?”
Mimi said, “I won’t miss you.”
The door opened and closed behind him, followed by the mechanical voice, “Door locked.”
He really left.
Heartless male human.
“You only like Mimi the cat, not me.” Mimi questioned the cold, unfeeling door. “Don’t you miss me at all?”
Whether he missed him or not, Teacher Shao opened the surveillance app as soon as he left, the only difference between him and a peeping tom being that he was doing it legally.
The camera only captured half of Mimi’s body. He stood at the entrance for a full twenty minutes, looking dejected.
Shao Sui couldn’t bear it and, before entering the office, opened the camera’s speaker and said, “Put the ice cream back in the freezer, eat it this afternoon.”
It was already autumn, the weather no longer hot, eating ice cream first thing in the morning was asking for a stomachache.
During lunch break, Shao Sui skipped his nap and went to a furniture store.
The salesperson followed him, “How old is your child? These single beds on the left are all solid wood, the ones on the right are wrought iron. You can lie down and try them, they’ll last until he’s eighteen, guaranteed sturdy.”
Shao Sui asked, “What about after eighteen?”
“He can still sleep on it!” The salesperson said, “Children spend less time at home after eighteen, it’s still suitable for them to sleep on during summer and winter breaks. It saves space, you can always replace it after he graduates from university.”
University? He should be sent to kindergarten first.
Shao Sui, his expression unchanged, asked, “Do you offer home delivery?”
The salesperson beamed, “Free delivery within ten kilometers.”
Shao Sui chose an expensive wrought iron bed, afraid of formaldehyde. Solid wood was also good, but it wouldn’t be convenient to move, since it wasn’t his apartment.
He returned to his community with the delivery person, carrying the bed and mattress to his door.
Shao Sui said, “Thank you for your hard work, you can go now.”
The delivery person hesitated, “We offer free installation, are you sure you can handle it yourself?”
“Yes.” Shao Sui said, “My cat is timid, I don’t want to scare him.”
The delivery person, also wanting to save time and effort, readily agreed, “I understand. Call us if you have any problems.”
Shao Sui nodded, waiting for the delivery person to enter the elevator before unlocking the door with his face.
Mimi, who had been peeking curiously, was startled by the sudden opening of the door and quickly ducked back, pretending to be indifferent.
Shao Sui initiated conversation: “Did you drink your water?”
Mimi reluctantly replied, “Yes.”
Shao Sui walked into the bathroom to wash his hands, saying casually, “Come here, let me check.”
Mimi didn’t know how this “check” would work. Couldn’t he see it through the surveillance camera? He had already reported, just like yesterday.
Although confused, he still went to the bathroom door.
Seeing Mimi so obedient, Shao Sui couldn’t resist teasing him.
He touched Mimi’s nose: “Too dry, you didn’t drink enough water, go drink another glass.”
Mimi: “Huh?”
Shao Sui said, “A kitten’s nose is wet when it’s properly hydrated.”
“But…”
Mimi, his identity in a state of confusion, felt something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Humans didn’t have wet noses. Shao Sui’s nose was very dry, even burying his face against him wouldn’t dampen his fur, only a puff of warm air.
But he was a cat.
Mimi pondered as he walked to the water dispenser, and while Shao Sui wasn’t looking, poured only a sip of water, then wet his finger and rubbed it on his nose, pretending he had finished the whole glass.
He turned around and walked to Shao Sui, who was assembling the bed, smugly saying, “Check.”
Seeing Mimi’s wet nose, Shao Sui knew what had happened. But Teacher Shao didn’t want to repeat his mother’s oppressive educational style and didn’t expose Mimi’s trickery, “Good, you get a bed as a reward.”
Mimi didn’t feel good about this: “There’s no space for a bed in the bedroom.”
“It’s for the study.”
Shao Sui carried the bed frame into the study and placed it against the wall, not noticing Mimi’s crestfallen expression.
Before, he just couldn’t sleep in the same bed, now he couldn’t even sleep in the same room.
Shao Sui said, “Want to try it out?”
Mimi wasn’t enthusiastic, “Maybe later.”
For Shao Sui, who had always craved personal space, he couldn’t quite grasp Mimi’s desire to sleep with him even in his human form.
He wasn’t forbidding Mimi from entering the master bedroom, just giving him another option.
Shao Sui said, “You can watch TV dramas this afternoon, but on one condition.”
Mimi asked listlessly, “What is it?”
“One hour of online lessons.”
Shao Sui originally intended to say two hours, but seeing Mimi’s expression, he reduced it by half.
Mimi asked, “What are online lessons?”
Shao Sui took out the tablet, told Mimi the password, and taught him how to open the app, showing him the phonics and character recognition lessons he had downloaded.
“You can watch TV after finishing the first lesson.”
“Okay.”
Mimi still seemed unhappy. Teacher Shao wondered if he simply didn’t want to study? No one liked studying, he didn’t either.
But he was human now, he had to learn to read, right?
Otherwise, how would Mimi, who so enjoyed being human, survive in society?
Shao Sui wasn’t trying to drive Mimi away, he just thought Mimi, who loved being human, would want to go out and explore. Otherwise, what was the point of transforming?
Just to change TV channels more easily?
Lost in his thoughts, Teacher Shao said, “I’m going to work now.”
Mimi said, “Goodbye.”
Teacher Shao felt a pang of unease.
When Mimi was a cat, although he didn’t see him off to work, he could forcefully cuddle and kiss him. But Mimi in his human form was much clingier, always looking at him expectantly before he left, hoping for a hug.
Today, before Shao Sui even left, Mimi turned and went to the living room, looking lonely.
Shao Sui didn’t know what to do. If it was an ordinary cat, getting a second cat as a playmate might solve the problem, but for Mimi, he would need to find another cat spirit.
Where would he find one?
This continued for two days, until the seven-day National Day holiday arrived.
Shao Sui went to the supermarket and stocked up, buying towels, bath towels, and warm slippers with kitten designs. Then he picked up his deliveries, almost all of them for Mimi.
First were the new toys, but since Mimi didn’t want to be a cat, they wouldn’t be used for now, so he didn’t unpack them.
Then, a set of small-sized pajamas and an electric toothbrush for adults, all in Mimi’s favorite green.
Shao Sui said, “You can wear these after I wash and dry them tomorrow.”
Mimi followed him around, silent.
Shao Sui asked, “Don’t you like them?”
Mimi didn’t even look, “I like them.”
Shao Sui sighed internally. A cat’s mind was also hard to read.
He should have taken Mimi to the mall and let him choose his own clothes, but Mimi wasn’t quite ready to pass as a flawless human yet. Taking him out might lead to exposure.
And Mimi was still a bit shy around strangers.
He needed to start Mimi’s social training soon.
Tomorrow, he would start with bathing, brushing teeth, and using the toilet.
Shao Sui, having planned everything, fell asleep peacefully.
Mimi, however, sitting on the single bed in the study, couldn’t sleep.
Shao Sui was truly awful.
First, he didn’t let him wear his shoes, now he didn’t let him wear his clothes. Would he buy a new apartment next and not let him live in this one?
Mimi didn’t want a new apartment, or new slippers and clothes, he just wanted to be with Shao Sui, surrounded by his scent.
Mimi truly loved Shao Sui, but Shao Sui didn’t truly love him.
True love, like on TV, meant loving him no matter what form he took.
Late at night, a dark figure crept through the hallway and living room, reaching the master bedroom door. It was unlocked.
The figure walked in, stopping by the bed, clutching a pillow, looking like a would-be murderer.
He stood there for a long time, then couldn’t help but murmur, “It’s been seven days since you kissed me, hugged me, nibbled my ears. Don’t you want to… ravage me anymore?”
“You used to love spanking my butt, but now you only hit my hands.”
“You used to hug me as soon as you got home from work and washed your hands, now you only check if I drank water and if I ate the right amount of ice cream.”
“You used to hold me while we slept, now we sleep separately. The TV said sleeping in separate rooms is the beginning of the end for a relationship.”
“You even used to flick my balls, now you won’t even look at them, and you sternly tell me to put on pants.”
Mimi finished his reminiscing, saying with a hint of confusion, “Even though I’m human now, I’m still your cat. Even if you don’t kiss me, you shouldn’t stop me from kissing you, so petty.”
“I don’t want to be human anymore, forget about it, I’ll just be a cat from now on.”
Shao Sui, pretending to be asleep, almost lost his composure. Anyone would find it hard to sleep with a figure lurking by their bed, muttering incessantly.
He opened his eyes and saw Mimi’s shadow on the wall suddenly lean down, overlapping with his own, and heard Mimi’s soft inhale.
…So that’s how he sucked human essence. Sucking nothing.
Shao Sui turned on the light, and as he turned to look at Mimi, he only saw a cat jumping onto the bed, arching its back in fright.
“Meow!”
Pretending to be asleep again!
Although only a week had passed, Shao Sui felt like a lifetime had gone by.
His cat was back.
He should be happy, but after hearing Mimi’s litany of complaints, his feelings were complex.
Someone tell him how a straight man was supposed to cuddle, kiss, and nibble on the ears of a male human without batting an eye.
Flicking cat Mimi’s balls was just being playful, flicking human Mimi’s balls, however, was molestation, a minimum five-day detention.
Seeing Shao Sui’s lack of reaction, Mimi felt even more heartbroken.
Shao Sui didn’t even love Mimi the cat anymore.
It was about to jump off the bed when Shao Sui quickly scooped it into his arms, “Where are you going?”
“Meow!”
Mimi delivered a cat punch, jumped out of the human’s embrace, and ran off.
Shao Sui quickly followed and found the cat had run into the study and kicked the door shut.
Although the door was locked, Shao Sui still knocked: “Can I come in?”
No response.
“I’m coming in if you don’t answer.”
Shao Sui turned the key, opened the door, and found Mimi completely buried under the covers, only a small section of its tail visible.
He walked in, sat down, and asked deliberately, “Whose little tail is this?”
Mimi pulled its tail under the covers, refusing to be touched.
Shao Sui lifted the covers and slipped under, meeting two laser-sharp glares.
The Great Meow King sat regally in the bed, staring at Shao Sui, who had only poked his head in.
“Are you really angry?”
Yes, inconsolable.
Mimi raised its paw and placed it on Shao Sui’s forehead, preventing him from getting closer.
But realizing Shao Sui liked its paws, it immediately felt this gesture was a reward for the human. So it turned around, presenting its backside to Shao Sui, tucking all four paws underneath itself.
