The next day, Cheng Lin arrived at the innovation park and noticed the door connecting the office to the break room was locked. While he was out the day before, Yuan Jiaming had been in charge of cheering as Jin Li, along with some volunteers from the park, had managed to capture the stray cats and bring them inside.
“Everyone needs to use the back door today,” Jin Li reminded them repeatedly, “If you want to see the cats, go to the front door and look through the glass. Don’t scare them. It took a lot of effort to catch them, and we can’t risk them escaping.”
Cheng Lin asked, “How many are there?”
Yuan Jiaming walked over and replied, “Just four—one female and three males. Luckily, they’ve all been neutered. The volunteers said they know each other, so they shouldn’t fight.”
He scratched his hand and wondered, “Why is the back of my hand already itching? I better take a couple of allergy pills.”
The company was set to go on holiday the next day, so with nothing better to do, a bunch of people wandered over to the front door, forming a line to watch the cats through the glass.
The break room had been cleared out. The bean bags, small tables, and other furniture were pushed into a corner of the office. Now, the empty room was covered with waterproof mats and filled with various cat supplies.
The four stray cats, each with a different coat pattern, were temporarily housed there. The female was a calico1
, while two of the males were orange cats, and the last one was a Chinese Li Hua cat2This breed is sometimes translated as Dragon Li
.
Wearing a mask, Yuan Jiaming tried to play with the cats through the glass. Pointing at the calico slowly approaching, he said, “What a quiet little girl. She’s got to be driving those three boys wild.”
Cheng Lin suddenly became alert. Who knew if Maimai found calicos attractive?
Yuan Jiaming turned his attention to the two orange cats and nudged Cheng Lin. “Hey, they’re Maimai’s doppelgangers.”
“They’re different,” Cheng Lin replied. “This one has white gloves on its paws, and that one’s orange and white.”
“They’re still orange cats. You should get another one,” Yuan Jiaming urged. “The volunteers want these strays adopted if possible. These four have been here forever because they’re older.”
“Yeah, if Maimai is a friendly kitten, it wouldn’t hurt to keep another one,” Jin Li agreed. “They could keep each other company during the day. It’s sad for a cat to be home alone waiting for you.”
Cheng Lin: “We’ll see.”
Later that evening, Yuan Jiaming hosted a dinner to celebrate the company’s annual review.
There wasn’t much to review. The company was a small group, mostly made up of Cheng Lin and Yuan Jiaming’s classmates and friends. Cheng Lin and Yuan Jiaming were the least ambitious second-generation rich kids in their social circle. Their parents had ridden the wave of good fortune to build up some wealth, but the industry had long since entered its twilight, with nothing substantial left to pass on to their sons.
The parents were already pleased that their sons had finished school, were running a modest, low-cost business, had hobbies, and lived without spending extravagantly. Keeping a healthy routine by going to work every day was the best retirement plan they could ask for.
In past years, the group of friends usually took a trip together during the New Year or spring break. However, Cheng Lin had skipped out for two years in a row, using the excuse, “I’ve got a cat at home, so I can’t leave.” Everyone was displeased with him and kept making him drink all night.
“Wait—” Cheng Lin couldn’t keep up and blocked the glass with his phone. “Let me make a call first.”
“Make a call, my ass,” someone said. “All the client daddies are on holiday for the New Year too—”
“It’s for home,” Cheng Lin said, “I’ll just say I’ll be back late.”
No one had heard that someone new had moved into Cheng Lin’s place. Jin Li shouted, “Got yourself a wife and didn’t even tell us?!”
Yuan Jiaming yelled, “Showing off, huh! Bragging on purpose!” Then he paused, realizing something. “No, it’s not a wife! He’s got a little cousin staying over for winter break!”
Cheng Lin dialed his phone, motioning for them to quiet down.
The alcohol was already making his face flushed, and his tone softened unexpectedly. “Hey, Ma…”
Wait, no.
He corrected himself, “Do you want McDonald’s3the Chinese word for Mcdonald’s starts with “Mai”? I’ll order you something. I’ll be home late; I’m eating out right now.”
Maimai, who had already finished dinner, replied, “Okay, got it.” After hanging up, he decided to wait for the promised McDonald’s while continuing to work on his online courses, trying to fill in his obvious knowledge gaps.
He sighed. Learning all the Chinese characters was one thing, but his lack of math skills was a real problem. Life would be difficult to manage without it. Too bad TV shows didn’t teach how to solve linear equations.
But the McDonald’s never arrived. The clock on his phone showed it was already 11 PM.
Maimai was getting sleepy. Cheng Lin usually had him in bed by this time.
As he reviewed what he’d learned that day, he patiently wondered when Cheng Lin would return.
—Although his first job interview had ended in failure, Maimai hadn’t lost hope.
The two most important tasks before him pointed to different paths. The first was trying to turn back into a cat every day, though progress on that front had been minimal. The second was to study hard and improve his knowledge, hoping to land a legitimate job in human form.
Both goals, however, led to the same ultimate purpose.
As for why Cheng Lin had stopped taking photos of him, Maimai decided not to dwell on it for now.
Then the doorbell rang.
Maimai felt a surge of nervousness. Cheng Lin had warned him multiple times to ignore the doorbell and never open the door to strangers.
But then a man outside shouted, “Is Cheng Lin’s little brother there? Come help me get him inside—”
The cat cautiously approached the door and peeked through the peephole. He saw Cheng Lin with his head hanging down, unsure if he was alive or dead. Maimai quickly fumbled to open the door.
Yuan Jiaming and a designer were on either side of the drunk Cheng Lin, holding him up. Yuan Jiaming was overjoyed, “Here, he’s all yours!”
Maimai asked anxiously, “What happened to Cheng Lin?”
“He just drank too much.” Yuan Jiaming remembered that this cousin wasn’t exactly the brightest and added an extra explanation, “Nothing serious, he’ll be fine after some sleep.”
Maimai readily said, “Okay!” He leaned Cheng Lin on his shoulder and shut the door after bidding farewell to the two.
Maimai felt motivated, his steps firm. He was convinced that turning into a human was wise. After all, he could never have handled this in his cat form.
If he hadn’t become human, tonight’s outcome would’ve been unthinkable.
Maimai carefully laid Cheng Lin down on the bed. Cheng Lin, still barely conscious, managed to spread out on the bed himself. But the alcohol was making him feel uncomfortable—his head was spinning, his face felt hot, and his mouth was dry.
The room’s lights were too bright, so Cheng Lin lifted an arm to cover his eyes and instructed, “Maimai, get me some water.”
Taking the order seriously, Maimai dashed to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, and filled it to the brim with mineral water.
Cheng Lin sat up just enough to take a sip, accidentally spilling some on his face. He coughed twice, and Maimai immediately ran to get a towel, wiping Cheng Lin’s face like he was scrubbing the floor.
What a good cat, even helping to wipe his face. Cheng Lin stopped fussing and tried to fall asleep.
Maimai had thought he’d be saving Cheng Lin tonight, but in the end, all he did was bring him a glass of water.
The hunting instinct in his genes was awakened. He assessed that his master was completely defenseless and at the mercy of others. Maimai quickly crawled to the other side of the bed.
He snuggled up next to Cheng Lin, pressing his nose against Cheng Lin’s chin, sniffing cautiously, then sniffing again. “Cheng Lin, you stink.”
Cheng Lin felt a chill on his chin and the weight of half his body being pressed down, making it hard to breathe. He groaned, weakly waving the arm that was covering his eyes. “…Get away from me…”
Maimai didn’t like such orders. He dodged the flailing hand and said, “I learned some math today.” Cheng Lin didn’t respond.
“McDonald’s hasn’t come yet.”
But Cheng Lin was already fast asleep.
Maimai lay close to him for a while, imagining himself much smaller than he was now.
Being able to lie on this bed again and smell the scent of Cheng Lin in the bedding—though mixed with the strong odor of alcohol—gave him a sense of comfort and affection.
After a while, Maimai rolled over onto his stomach, playing with Cheng Lin’s fingers. He even tried nibbling lightly on the tips with his teeth.
He wanted to stay by Cheng Lin’s side, but he knew he couldn’t, so he didn’t linger for long. Quietly, he climbed down from the bed and went back to his own room.
Maimai thought about the reason Cheng Lin arranged for them to sleep in separate rooms. Cheng Lin had said that one bed wasn’t big enough for two people.
But after Maimai had once accidentally slept in his human form, he realized the bed was actually quite spacious, more than enough for two.
It wasn’t about the space. Cheng Lin just didn’t want to be too close to him in his human form, so they couldn’t share a bed.
Still, Maimai wished he could wake up as a cat again, with the secure feeling of four paws on the ground. Then he could spend his days bouncing around, watching TV, eating some cat food when he was hungry, and licking water when he was thirsty.
Every day when Cheng Lin came home from work, the first thing he’d do was call out, “Maimai.” Then Maimai would perk up his tail and dash over without hesitation, only to be scooped up by Cheng Lin’s freshly washed hands and kissed on the forehead. But now, things were different.
