Chapter 42
Cheng Ke asked, “Allergies acting up again?”
Shao Sui was grading papers: “No, just heaty.”
“Grading papers can be infuriating.” Cheng Ke shook her head. “They still make mistakes on concepts I’ve explained countless times, sometimes I just want to crack open their heads and see what’s inside.”
Shao Sui wasn’t angry about that, but about his cat.
After Mimi’s words last night, he was about to explode. If he could just disregard all moral constraints, he could take the little cat spirit right then and there, no strings attached.
Didn’t Mimi imply he was willing, just not as a partner?
“Little rascal…” He marked a heavy 59 on the test paper, then, seeing the student’s name, became even angrier. “What’s going on with Ma Jia? He actually failed?”
Cheng Ke sighed while drinking water, “His English grades have also dropped significantly. There are rumors in class that he’s dating.”
Shao Sui said, “Talk to him?”
Cheng Ke retorted, “How? You know how sensitive teenagers are at this age. There’s no concrete proof, and we don’t even know who he’s dating.”
Shao Sui was incredibly frustrated.
At work, he had to prevent his students from dating, at home, he had to prevent his cat spirit from falling for anyone, human or feline.
During lunch break, Shao Sui called Mimi on his way to the cafeteria, “The luosifen will be delivered soon, remember to open the windows for ventilation, and don’t chase the birds.”
Mimi replied, “This is the seventh floor, I’m not stupid.”
Shao Sui chuckled, “Did you drink your water?”
“Yes.”
“Another glass this afternoon.” Shao Sui waited.
“Okay, Shao Sui, goodbye.” Mimi said.
Shao Sui looked at his phone’s darkened screen, noticing his slightly swollen lips and the red spots on his chin, probably from the pent-up frustration.
Okay, now he doesn’t even ask “Do you miss me?” anymore, just hangs up.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t done anything last night. Angered and aroused by Mimi’s words, he had kissed Mimi forcefully, biting and teasing him, even… going a bit further, asking, “Is this okay too?”
Mimi, after careful consideration, thought there was nothing wrong with it, just opening his mouth during the kiss, unlike their usual kisses.
The little cat spirit didn’t breathe or close his eyes, staring intently at Shao Sui with his hazel eyes throughout the kiss, instantly extinguishing any desire.
Shao Sui could only comfort himself that education wasn’t a one-time thing, neither was sex education or relationship education.
Mimi had already promised not to seek out female cats, how far was he from accepting a human-cat relationship?
“Teacher Shao, what are you thinking about! Your expressions are all over the place.” Director Cao, lowering his voice, called out to Shao Sui. “Come here.”
Shao Sui saw the stack of photos in his hand, “More of them?”
“I’ve been on edge these past few days, patrolling the entrance, and I finally caught him!” Director Cao slapped the photos on his desk. “He must have gotten impatient after seeing no reaction from the school. These photos aren’t that explicit, just hugging and holding hands, it could be explained as showing affection to a younger relative, but I’m afraid he’ll escalate and spread them around the school!”
“Can the security guards even let him in?”
“The school isn’t a prison, can we really keep out determined intruders? He could climb over the wall!” Director Cao had considered all possibilities. “Or he could find someone to hand them out at the school gate during dismissal, spreading rumors, how can we prevent that!?”
This wasn’t even illegal, just sending some photos, no blackmailing or public announcements, even the police couldn’t do anything.
Shao Sui asked, “Still a delivery person? When did he come?”
Director Cao responded with an “mm-hmm,” “During your last class, I didn’t want to interrupt you. I asked the delivery person, and he didn’t even see the sender, just picked up the photos from a designated locker. I think it’s either Wu Xiao or his parents, always resorting to these underhanded tactics!”
Shao Sui didn’t comment, “I’ll think of something.”
Director Cao scoffed, “What can you possibly do?”
Shao Sui suddenly said, using a flattering tone, “You’ve worked and lived here for so many years, you must have connections, don’t you know any police officers?”
“Of course I do!” Director Cao said defensively, “But they have procedures, they can’t just help with anything.”
Shao Sui took the photos and waved his hand dismissively, “Let me borrow these, this is definitely something they can handle.”
Director Cao was puzzled, “Where are you going? Not eating lunch?”
Shao Sui left the school. The street was quiet, only bustling during school hours, lined with parked cars. He took out an unfamiliar car key and unlocked a black car.
Ever since receiving the first set of photos, Shao Sui had rented a car with a dashcam every day, parking it near the school entrance, hoping to capture footage of the entire street.
He didn’t think stalking and taking secret photos was something a student could do, and if Wu Xiao’s parents were that extreme, they wouldn’t have just asked for him to be transferred, they would have demanded the school fire him.
So Shao Sui believed there was someone else.
He had a suspect in mind. Based on his first impression, even if that person didn’t deliver the photos himself, he would likely be there to witness the results of his scheme.
The dashcam did indeed capture something—
The person who delivered the photos was indeed a delivery person, an unfamiliar face, and Director Cao also said the two delivery people looked different. After zooming in on the footage, Shao Sui saw someone standing under the shade of a tree across the street while the delivery person was at the school, wearing a black mask.
As expected, Shao Sui’s expression turned cold, “Hu Yuan.”
Mimi had been studying very diligently recently, his Chinese level having reached the second semester of seventh grade. Of course, he hadn’t learned everything thoroughly, he couldn’t write essays or comprehend reading passages, just reading texts, memorizing ancient poems, and occasionally quoting them dramatically.
He particularly enjoyed poems about cats, for example, “The pampered cat achieves military merit, the general’s family maintains traditions.” (A line from a poem by Lu You, a famous Chinese poet.)
What did this mean?
It meant cats had been brave warriors since ancient times! Not lazy and useless pets like humans claimed nowadays.
“Welcoming the little cat with a sprinkle of salt, it diligently protects the ten thousand books in the mountain dwelling. Ashamed of my poverty and meager rewards, no warm rug to sit on, no fish to eat.” (A poem by Lu You.) The poem mentioned “li,” the Chinese character for a wild cat or lynx, often used in ancient poems to refer to cats in general, and Mimi was dissatisfied. “Why only praise tabby cats?”
“Knock, knock—”
The delivery arrived.
Mimi immediately put down his book of poems and tiptoed to the door, peeking through the peephole. After confirming it was the delivery person, he opened the door a crack. But before he could take the bag, the door was forced open, and a man barged in, pushing the delivery person aside and searching the apartment, “Mimi? Mimi… come out!”
Mimi froze, standing motionless at the entrance—
It was the man who had abused him.
The delivery person hesitated, “Do you know him?”
Mimi, visibly terrified, couldn’t speak.
The delivery person didn’t dare to leave, “Should I call the police?”
“Si, Siri.” Mimi clutched his phone, his voice trembling, “C-call Shao Sui…”
Siri didn’t respond, probably because his voice was too soft.
The intruder, not finding the cat, strode to the door, telling the delivery person, “I’m here for my cat, it has nothing to do with you,” and slammed the door shut before Mimi could escape.
“I’m just here for my cat, understand?” Hu Yuan said menacingly. “Give me the cat, and I’ll leave immediately!”
Mimi swallowed hard, finally managing to say, “N-no cat, he threw him away.”
Hu Yuan’s expression darkened, but he sensed the boy wasn’t lying. The cat toys were piled on the cat tree, seemingly untouched, there wasn’t a single cat hair in sight, nor a litter box.
Hu Yuan smiled threateningly, “You’re dead if you’re lying to me, understand?”
Just as he reached for the doorknob, about to leave, he turned back to look at Mimi. He had noticed while taking pictures before, Teacher Shao had good taste.
…
“Yes, someone broke into your apartment while I was delivering food! Your younger brother kept saying ‘Call Shao Sui,’ and the name on the order slip was also Shao Sui, so I thought it might be a family emergency… what!?” The delivery person was frantic. “I’ve already called the police, the door is locked now, I can’t go in even if you give me the password!”
Shao Sui pleaded while driving, “Just open the door and run, I beg you, please help me.”
“But…”
“I’ll be there soon, you’ll be fine if you just open the door and run, even if you get hurt, I’ll take full responsibility!”
He heard the sound of the password being entered. He had reached the community gate. He abandoned the car on the main road and rushed into the building.
The elevator was stuck on the higher floors, so he ran up the stairs, three steps at a time, reaching the seventh floor.
The delivery person was peeking nervously, “Are you Shao Sui? There seems to be no one inside…”
Shao Sui pushed past him and rushed in. The living room, kitchen, and bathroom were all empty. The study door was open, no movement inside. He rushed into the bedroom and saw Hu Yuan looking out the bay window.
Hu Yuan turned around at the sound of footsteps, his expression puzzled.
Shao Sui grabbed Hu Yuan by the collar, pinned him to the floor, and without a word, started punching him.
The thudding sounds made the delivery person wince. Only when the police arrived did he breathe a sigh of relief, quickly explaining the situation. The two police officers rushed towards the source of the sound and pulled Shao Sui away, “What are you doing! Stop fighting, this is the police!”
Shao Sui reluctantly stopped, “Sorry, I thought he had a knife.”
The male officer asked, “Who trespassed?”
Shao Sui said, “Him.”
The female officer recognized Shao Sui, “You also reported a burglary at your apartment last time.”
“Yes.” Shao Sui took a deep breath, “Didn’t I withdraw the report? The thief was actually my cousin, very mischievous, just playing a prank.”
The male officer apprehended Hu Yuan, whose mouth was bleeding, “This is not your cousin, is he?”
“No, I don’t know him.”
“You beat him up pretty badly.”
“Badly? A stranger broke into my apartment, how would I know if he had a knife, whether he wanted to rob or kill me?”
Hu Yuan, finally recovering, spat out some blood, “Don’t pretend, we’ve met before, you stole my cat!”
The male officer asked, “What’s going on?”
Shao Sui said as if just recognizing him, “It’s you? You actually found my apartment? Stalking me? Who could recognize you sneaking around outside my window with your back turned? You met me once and now you think you’re a godsend?”
The female officer interrupted, “Wait, what’s this about stealing a cat?”
Shao Sui opened his phone’s photo album, saying sarcastically, “I rescued an injured calico cat in my community a while ago, I asked the security guard to check the surveillance footage to find its owner, and it turns out the ‘owner’ is an animal abuser.”
His phone also contained chat logs with the veterinarian, receipts for the medical expenses, and confirmation from Little Wu at the Chinese medicine clinic that the calico had always been a stray, taken in by someone for two months.
Hu Yuan yelled, “Show me the proof of abuse!”
“Whether there was abuse or not, can you even call this cat yours?” The female officer said to Hu Yuan, “The cat was a stray, you took it in, didn’t even secure your doors and windows properly, and it ran away and got injured after two months. Someone else paid for its treatment, and now you’re trespassing! ”
Hu Yuan’s face darkened, “Didn’t it cost me money to take care of it? It’s my cat!”
The male officer said, “Whether it’s your cat or not, we’ll discuss that at the station.”
The female officer said to Shao Sui, “You’ll also have to come with us.”
“My cat might have run away because of him, I have to find him first, can I go later?”
“Yes, you can look for your cat and change your clothes, we also need to take this man to the clinic for his injuries.”
After the police left, Shao Sui heard a soft meow. He looked out the window and saw Mimi, transformed back into a cat, hiding behind the air conditioner unit, trembling.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, can you jump back in?”
Mimi took a few tentative steps, his gait unsteady.
Shao Sui’s heart clenched, “Stop, don’t jump, I’ll get you!”
He climbed onto the windowsill, reaching for Mimi, “Give me your paw—”
Grabbing the soft paw pad, he scooped Mimi into his arms, quickly climbed back inside, and closed the door, carefully checking the cat, “Are you hurt?”
Its thick fur made it hard to see clearly.
Shao Sui was anxious, “Transform back into a human so I can check.”
Mimi, nestled in Shao Sui’s arms, his body burning hot, his heart racing, didn’t transform.
He was too scared, his first attempt unsuccessful.
Shao Sui misunderstood, “It’s okay if you don’t want to, but tell me if you’re feeling unwell.”
There was a surveillance camera in the living room. Afraid the police would check it later, Shao Sui carried the cat into the bedroom, ignoring his OCD and sitting on the bed. Feeling the warmth in his arms, his tense nerves finally relaxed.
“It’s my fault, I thought he would just cause trouble at school, I didn’t think he would find my apartment…”
The cat in his arms suddenly disappeared, replaced by a naked human.
Mimi burrowed into Shao Sui’s arms, his voice still trembling, “Kiss me.”
“Okay.”
Whatever Mimi said, Shao Sui would do. He kissed his forehead, his eyes, his nose, then his soft, warm lips, a purely comforting gesture.
Shao Sui soothed softly, “Don’t be afraid, the bad man has been taken away by the police.”
Mimi sniffled and called out, “Shao Sui.”
“Yes?”
“I didn’t pee myself this time, you can check.”
