Cheng Lin was in the kitchen when he got the call from Shi Jing.
He had placed a bowl of water and a pair of scissors on the stove1I looked this up and apparently it’s a viral ritual for summoning a lost cat back
, surrounding them with Maimai’s favorite blanket and teddy bear. Now, he was working on the outermost arrangement—setting up offerings for the stove cat god.
Even though Shi Jing had told him not to follow, she hadn’t said he couldn’t search on his own.
Cheng Lin hadn’t slept all night. By 4:30 in the morning, he was out in the neighborhood with a flashlight, harassing every stray cat he came across, but his efforts were in vain.
After all, the cat wasn’t lost.
The cat was heartbroken and had chosen to run away on his own.
The cat didn’t want him anymore.
Out of options, Cheng Lin was now relying on some supernatural force to bring Maimai back to him.
“Hello? We found the cat,” Shi Jing said over the phone. “I—”
The cat treats he was holding as an offering slipped from his hand, rolling onto the floor.
Cheng Lin didn’t care about his composure and cut her off urgently, “Where? I’ll come right now.”
But the voice on the other end said, “Don’t get too worked up. We have some questions for Maimai first. But you can come and listen in.”
Jiang Lili had given them a spot in a quiet corner by a large window. No other cats wanted to come near, and there were no other customers around. Only Rongrong was wandering aimlessly nearby, as carefree as ever.
Maimai, being so small, was placed on the table.
Shi Jing opened an app on her phone and said, “Maimai, I’m going to register you in the organization’s system and get you a membership card.”
“Hey, little brother, don’t be nervous! The registration is just about entering some basic info. Just tell the truth.” Rongrong placed his front paws on the edge of the table, standing on his hind legs to give instructions. “Having this card comes with perks. You get a 20% discount on cat food in the organization’s mini online store with your membership number.”
Maimai nodded. Shi Jing asked, “Name?”
Rongrong: “Maimai. ‘Mai’ like wheat.”
“Gender?”
Rongrong: “It’s obvious. Male. A tomcat.”
“Age?”
“Just over a year old. Still a kid,” Rongrong answered again.
“Are you Maimai, or is he?” Shi Ting was annoyed by Rongrong’s constant chatter. She couldn’t take it anymore and ordered a can of cat food. “Go eat outside. Stop talking.”
Wang Derong was quick to comply. “Yes, boss.”
As he devoured his meal, Cheng Lin arrived.
The moment Cheng Lin stepped into the room, he saw the orange cat he had been thinking about day and night, sitting on the small table. The sunlight highlighted the round back of his head.
Cheng Lin felt a lump in his throat. But, following Shi Jing’s instructions, he forced himself to suppress the intense emotions swirling inside him and quietly sat down behind Maimai.
Maimai sat upright, letting Shi Jing take his membership photo, completely unaware that someone had entered the room. Once all the information was entered, he let out a “meow,” meaning, “What’s next?”
“We’re done with the formalities.” Shi Jing put her phone away. “Now, let’s get back to our earlier question. Since you ran away from home…”
She asked, “Just to confirm, do you still want to see Cheng Lin?”
Without warning, Cheng Lin’s heart felt like it was suspended in mid-air, and every second without a reply stretched into an eternity.
Maimai lay down, thought seriously for a moment, and softly said, “I do, but I guess I shouldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Rongrong was right. If I turn into a human, I might scare him. I’ve already caused him a lot of trouble,” Maimai said, “And I really did smell other cats on him. More than one.”
“So, you want to see him, but you think he has other cats,” Shi Jing repeated, “And you don’t want to cause him more trouble, right?”
“Mm,” Maimai responded.
Cheng Lin couldn’t understand what Maimai was meowing about, so he tried to piece things together from Shi Jing’s occasional words.
His hands unconsciously clenched on his knees as he silently protested.
No, you are my only cat.
He realized he was more upset than he had imagined. His heart ached, and he felt the urge to break down and cry.
Cats have complex feelings too. To avoid causing him trouble, Maimai would rather choose not to see him.
“So why did you come back to see Cheng Lin last night?” Shi Jing smiled and patted the cat’s head. “You still want to see him, don’t you?”
Maimai felt embarrassed and started wiping his face, pretending to be busy.
Cheng Lin couldn’t stay seated any longer. Just then, Shi Jing said, “Maimai, look behind you.”
Startled at being mentioned, Cheng Lin stood up clumsily.
After a sleepless night, he looked disheveled—his eyes red, his beard unshaven, and his face pale.
Cheng Lin managed a smile and asked shakily, “Do you still want me as your master?”
Maimai froze for a moment, then quickly meowed and leaped into his arms.
Since Cheng Lin had already seen Maimai transform from a cat into a human, Shi Jing briefly introduced herself and her sister, explaining their identities and sharing some details about the Kitty People Alliance after he signed a confidentiality agreement.
“Alright, what should I do next?” Cheng Lin asked sincerely, still stunned by everything he had just heard.
“We’ll need you to bring Maimai to the organization for registration. We’ll set up his ID and household information,” Shi Jing explained as she stood up. “Also, Maimai is still very young, so his transformations between human and cat form aren’t stable yet. We’ll help him with that gradually.”
“Okay, thank you.” Cheng Lin supported Maimai’s butt with one hand while wrapping the other around his body. The weight in his arms felt precious—a reminder of what he had almost lost.
He was so grateful that he wanted to bow, but as he looked down, he noticed a tuxedo cat sniffing around him.
Now hyper-aware of any interaction involving other cats, Cheng Lin was determined to guard his own chastity.
He quickly stepped back, nervously watching the expression of the cat in his arms.
Maimai meowed twice, and Shi Jing translated, “Maimai is introducing you. This is Rongrong, his friend who helped him a lot last night. In fact, it was Rongrong who led him back to you.”
“Making friends so quickly.” Cheng Lin glanced down at the tuxedo cat. Unsure of what else to say, he simply offered, “Thank you, Rongrong.”
While Cheng Lin went to settle the bill, Maimai wriggled out of his arms to say goodbye to Rongrong.
“You’re still young with a bright future ahead. Go back and live well. He’s a good guy,” Rongrong said. “Look at how haggard he is—it’s obvious he didn’t sleep all night looking for you. It was all just a misunderstanding.”
Maimai: “I know, Rongrong.”
Shi Jing crouched down to snap a picture of the two cats, gathering material for the “Doing Good for the People” section of the organization’s internal newsletter.
Rongrong asked again about Shi Meilin’s situation, so Shi Jing showed him her mom’s travel updates from WeChat Moments and handed him a survey the organization was conducting on poverty alleviation.
Maimai found it all very interesting, and the two cats crowded together to look at the phone screen.
Meanwhile, Shi Ting stood beside Cheng Lin.
They were almost the same height, though no one would guess that she had originally been a strikingly handsome Maine Coon.
“Kitty people’s love is very pure,” Shi Ting began. “You should cherish it.”
“It takes a strong desire to become human at such a young age,” she continued. “Maimai genuinely wanted to transform just to be with you, even though he feared you might not need him.”
“Don’t say things that will hurt him. He’ll take them to heart.”
Cheng Lin glanced over at the orange cat, who was having his face rubbed by Shi Jing.
The cutest, most beloved kitten in the world.
Cheng Lin admitted to himself that sometimes he acted like the most annoying boy in school. Even though he really liked Maimai, he couldn’t help but say things that would upset him, just to get his attention. And unfortunately, this cat took every word to heart.
“I know,” Cheng Lin said, his voice strained. “I do need him. I was wrong. I’ll take good care of him.”
Staying any longer would just disrupt the cafe’s business, so to show his sincerity, Cheng Lin paid for an entire box of canned cat food, specifically for the cafe’s tuxedo cat.
As the saying goes, when one cat attains enlightenment, others ascend to heaven with it.2This is a Chinese proverb where instead of the “cat” it’s “person”. It is a metaphor for a person who has become successful, and those who have relations with them have followed suit
Wang Derong was overwhelmed with gratitude, tearfully escorting them to the door while meowing non-stop, “Thank you both bosses for your care and concern! And thank you, Boss Cheng! You’re so generous. Bless your kind heart! Little brother Mai, drop by sometime for a chat, alright? Goodbye, goodbye!”
Goodbye, goodbye.
Cheng Lin had rushed over on his motorcycle, only managing to bring a cat carrier.
The cat didn’t seem picky or resistant. As soon as Cheng Lin opened the carrier, he obediently crawled inside.
By the time Cheng Lin sped home with the carrier on his back, Maimai had already curled up inside and fallen asleep.
Cheng Lin carefully lifted Maimai out. The movement stirred the cat, but after catching Cheng Lin’s scent, he relaxed again, resting his head against Cheng Lin’s arm and drifting back to sleep.
Without hesitation, Cheng Lin placed the cat on his bed and tucked him in.
After a sleepless night, Cheng Lin quickly showered, crawled into bed as quietly as possible, and lay down beside the cat, finally falling into a deep sleep.
He slept soundly through the day and woke up in the evening. When Cheng Lin finally woke up, he instinctively reached out to the side, only to find it empty.
He quickly sat up, only to see Maimai at the head of the bed, intently grooming the fur on his back.
Hearing the movement, the cat looked up, noticing that the human was awake and watching him, causing his movements to freeze mid-motion.
Before Cheng Lin could say anything, Maimai flipped over and jumped off the bed.
Now he was just a cat again, only able to meow. Unfortunately, Cheng Lin hadn’t taken a course in this foreign language, so they couldn’t communicate well. He had no idea what Maimai was trying to convey, but it seemed like Maimai wasn’t interested in talking to him either.
Cheng Lin realized his standing in Maimai’s heart was hanging by a thread.
Cats understand everything. Ignoring him meant Maimai didn’t want to deal with him anymore, which, in turn, meant he didn’t care. Their bond had cooled, his heart was no longer in it, the love was gone, and there seemed to be no fixing it now. It was over.
After all, Cheng Lin was the guy who wouldn’t let his cat sleep with him, came home smelling like four different cats, watched videos of other cats, and joked around too much—jokes that Maimai unfortunately believed.
A man who was cold-hearted, fickle, unfaithful, and unreliable.
Cheng Lin desperately needed a chance to explain everything to the cat and clear up the misunderstandings.
“Maimai, are you hungry? Want me to get you some food?” Flustered, Cheng Lin grabbed an old food bowl from the cupboard and opened a can of Maimai’s favorite cat food. Then he turned on the water fountain, filling it with fresh water.
Maimai stood nearby and finally let out a “meow,” though Cheng Lin couldn’t tell if it was a yes or a no.
But after Cheng Lin had added nutritional supplements like fish oil and probiotics to the food and mixed it well, Maimai buried his head in the bowl and started eating.
Cheng Lin watched from the side. When Maimai finished eating, Cheng Lin gently wiped his mouth and thought about turning on the TV. “Baby, don’t you love that CEO drama with Duanmu? How about I put it on for you?”
As the human followed, the cat seemed to be on patrol, inspecting the living room, the master bedroom, and the guest bedroom before finally heading into the kitchen. There, he quickly jumped onto the stove and retrieved his teddy bear.
Maimai couldn’t figure out why his teddy bear and blanket were on the stove.
The stove could have a fire—was Cheng Lin planning to burn them?
As if waking from a dream, Cheng Lin suddenly realized what he had forgotten. His body stiffened, and he rushed to explain, holding the blanket as he trailed behind the cat. “This morning, I tried making an offering to the stove cat god, hoping you’d come home. That’s why I put your favorite things on the stove.”
Carrying the toy bear in his mouth, Maimai waddled back to the guest bedroom and turned to stare at Cheng Lin.
Cheng Lin immediately understood and quickly returned the blanket.
Maimai was getting sleepy again. He hadn’t slept much last night, and although he had napped quite a bit in the afternoon, kittens always needed more rest.
With the intense events of the day behind them, it was just the cat and the human alone now. Maimai wasn’t quite sure how to act around him.
It was true that Cheng Lin had watched cat videos and come home smelling like other cats. Maimai had run away voluntarily, only to be found and brought back, leaving him feeling uneasy and awkward.
Fortunately, he had finally transformed back into a cat.
The cat felt relieved, thinking Cheng Lin probably preferred him this way.
Maimai didn’t dare push his luck like before and just planned to sleep quietly in the guest room.
After retrieving his teddy bear and blanket, he started arranging his bed.
Without hands like a human, he had to painstakingly use his mouth to move the blanket. He scurried around on the bed, smoothing it out and trying to shape it into something satisfactory.
But before Cheng Lin could offer any help, Maimai hopped off the bed. After a while, he returned with one of Cheng Lin’s shirts from the laundry basket in the bathroom.
“Hey, that shirt’s dirty.” Cheng Lin chased after him to retrieve his dirty clothes. “Maimai, Maimai… baby!”
Maimai turned a deaf ear, speeding off with the shirt in his mouth.
But the shirt was too big and long, and he tripped over it, the whole cat slipping in the process.
Seeing his chance, Cheng Lin grabbed the shirt back.
The cat froze, wide eyes staring at him, letting out a “meow,” like he was disappointed or hurt.
Cheng Lin stammered, “I-it’s not that I don’t want to give it to you. I’ve worn it outside; it’s too filthy.”
The cat wasn’t buying the excuse. He turned away and leaped back onto the bed, ignoring him.
A wave of anxiety washed over Cheng Lin. He gathered up some clean clothes from the wardrobe and brought them over, standing by the bed and looking at the cat. Summoning his courage, he asked, “Maimai, can I sleep with you?”
The cat didn’t turn around, but his ears twitched.
Cheng Lin pressed on gently, “I can help you make the bed. It’s not convenient for you right now, right? Plus, this bed is pretty big. I won’t take up much space, I promise.”
The cat turned to look at him, tilting his head as if to ask, why?
Of course, Cheng Lin wasn’t going to mention that he had seen Maimai’s phone or that he had cried. Instead, he awkwardly said, “…I can’t sleep without you.”
By saying this, it implied that if Maimai didn’t sleep with him, it would be his fault and too cruel. The cat didn’t hesitate long. He grabbed the corner of the blanket in his mouth and shuffled over, leaving enough space beside him. Then he looked up at Cheng Lin and meowed.
Meaning: Go ahead.
