Maimai Chapter 20

Even though Maimai had promised Rongrong he’d be content, he couldn’t stop worrying about Cheng Lin’s potential marriage and his own household registration process. Feeling down, he fell silent.

When Maimai was happy, he was talkative, but when something weighed on his mind, he grew quiet. The difference was striking. As Cheng Lin drove, he carefully analyzed the situation. Today, it couldn’t have been something he did—he had just been a proper driver, not stepping out of line.

Besides, Maimai had been in a good mood in the morning. It had to be because of the tuxedo cat. Had the tuxedo cat taken a dislike to Maimai? Was their friendship over? But that didn’t make sense—there was no reason for Maimai to be disliked.

After running through these thoughts, Cheng Lin asked cautiously, “How did the chat go? Did Rongrong say something that upset you?”

Maimai immediately denied it. “No, Rongrong is really nice.”

Hearing this, Cheng Lin felt a pang of jealousy. “Of course, who could be better than your good friend? So charming, making Maimai think about him all the time, even sneaking off to the cat cafe for secret chats.”

The more Cheng Lin thought about it, the more something felt off. Even though Shi Jing and Shi Ting had only mentioned that Rongrong was Maimai’s friend and never revealed his true identity, could an ordinary cat really be that smart? Smart enough to guide Maimai back to the neighborhood in the middle of the night?

Then it hit him. He suddenly recalled the photo he had seen on the LED screen of Rongrong and Maimai together. Would an ordinary cat pose for a picture like that?

“Is the tuxedo cat a kitty person too?” Cheng Lin asked, now on high alert.

But no one had ever bothered to tell him that Rongrong was actually 53 years old and named Wang Derong. He really didn’t need to worry so much.

“Yeah, Rongrong’s a kitty person too,” Maimai answered. “He knows everything and has taught me a lot.”

“What’s he been teaching you?” Cheng Lin grumbled, though he had no real reason to be upset. “Don’t believe everything he says. Maybe he thinks you’re easy to fool.”

Maimai replied irritably, “The only one who’s ever fooled me is you.”

Cheng Lin was at a loss for words, realizing he was on the losing end of the conversation. Quickly, he tried to change the subject to smooth things over. “Are you hungry? How about we grab something to eat and then go get a haircut?”

Remembering when Maimai had complained about being bored, Cheng Lin drove to a shopping district. After enjoying some seafood, they stopped by his usual barber shop.

The haircut was entirely under Cheng Lin’s direction—just a trim, keeping everything else the same.

It was Maimai’s first time tilting his head back for a wash. Afterward, he sat down in the chair as the suave stylist, Vincent, took out a fine-toothed comb and placed his index finger on the crown of Maimai’s head. “Okay, keep your head still.”

Maimai obediently stayed still, his big round eyes fixed on the mirror. For some reason, he still looked like a confused little animal.

Maimai’s slightly curly hair straightened when wet. Vincent neatly sectioned it and combed his bangs forward, much like smoothing down a pony’s mane.

Maimai, lacking sleep, couldn’t stay awake for long and dozed off mid-haircut. When he opened his eyes, it was all done.

Vincent squeezed some essential oil onto his palms and worked it into Maimai’s freshly trimmed hair. “This style suits you, little brother. Is Mr. Cheng your boyfriend? Go show him.”

The cheap boyfriend was signing the receipt at the front desk.

Maimai didn’t bother correcting Vincent’s assumption. Instead, he walked over and eagerly asked, “How does it look? Do I look good?”

Lately, the kitty person had started to care more about his appearance, whether consciously or unconsciously. After seeing more of the outside world, he was beginning to understand that even cats could be seen as beautiful or ugly. The purebred cats were beautiful, and calico cats were pretty too. But a mixed-breed cat like him was just an orange cat.

As for his appearance, the only one who had ever complimented him was Rongrong, who had once said, “You look stunning!” Cheng Lin had never offered any comment.

Cheng Lin met Maimai’s round, curious eyes. He didn’t say anything about whether he looked good or not. He just averted his gaze and asked, “Your bangs don’t poke your eyes anymore, right?”

“They don’t,” Maimai replied.

“That’s good.” Cheng Lin led him out.

When they arrived back at their apartment complex, Cheng Lin parked the car in the garage, and the two of them prepared to head upstairs. As they passed by some greenery, they heard a cat meowing.

Translator Mai stopped and listened intently, then explained, “The cat is saying it’s hungry!”

“Let’s get something to feed it,” Cheng Lin said, “We still have those cat treats and canned food you didn’t like in the cabinet.”

A lot of the food was imported, and they had to order it in bulk. Even though the orange cat wasn’t too picky and would eat most things, his preferences were clear. He ate slowly when he didn’t like something.

Cheng Lin understood this and would store the rest in another cabinet. Over time, their stash had grown considerably.

They hurried upstairs to grab the food, and luckily, the stray cat was still there, not having moved much. Cheng Lin tore open a cat treat and handed it to Maimai, encouraging him to socialize with the cat.

As a kitty person who had been pampered in luxury all year, Maimai didn’t have much experience interacting with regular stray cats. Though he had visited the cat cafe a few times, the experienced auras of Shi Jing, Shi Ting, and Rongrong often kept ordinary cats at a distance.

Now, without that influence, Maimai surprisingly exuded approachability. The calico cat he was feeding began to eat, and soon a Li Hua cat joined in.

When the first treat was gone, Maimai turned to Cheng Lin and asked, “Cheng Lin, give me another one.”

Using the light from a lamppost, Cheng Lin unwrapped another treat and handed it to him. The Li Hua hadn’t paid much attention initially, but when it realized who was offering the treat, it immediately started howling.

Before Cheng Lin could react, Maimai fired back with lightning speed.

“You’re not allowed to insult my master like that!” Maimai shouted at the Li Hua.

Although the cat wasn’t a kitty person and couldn’t fully understand Maimai’s words, it could sense his emotions. The Li Hua took a few steps back, hissed one last insult, and then bolted into the bushes without even finishing its snack. It darted past another building and disappeared into the distance.

Cheng Lin felt warm inside, knowing Maimai had defended him, but he was still curious. “What happened? What did it say about me?”

“It said you’re annoying and disgusting.” Maimai replied righteously, “What a bunch of nonsense!”

Cheng Lin tried to act nonchalant, pursing his lips in a slight smile without saying anything.

He figured the cat had been disturbed by his attempts to find Maimai and, considering the circumstances felt it wasn’t entirely unwarranted. He felt a bit sorry for that.

He pretended to be magnanimous. “It’s fine, let it say what it wants.”

“But why did it insult you? Do you know each other?” Maimai suddenly became suspicious. “Do you take care of it too?”

As the saying goes, “Once bitten by a snake, afraid of ropes for ten years.” Even though the snake had been fake, the expression on the kitty person’s face started to change.

Maimai pressed on, “How many cats are you actually taking care of?”

“I’m not! Don’t get the wrong idea! I only have one cat!” Cheng Lin, with nowhere to voice his grievances, responded cautiously. “That cat recognizes me because when you ran away, I was out looking for you. I must’ve disturbed these stray cats that night.”

In the past few days, neither of them had mentioned Maimai’s attempt to run away from home. Now that it had come up, Maimai felt a bit embarrassed and lowered his head. “Oh, you were looking for me.”

Cheng Lin said calmly, “No need to stress. My reputation around here is already pretty bad. No cat wants anything to do with me.”

“I do.” Maimai crouched down, thinking the human might be feeling down, and tried to comfort him, “Don’t worry. I’ll tell them you’re a good person.”

Maybe it was because he was a cat, but Maimai’s eyes shone brightly in the darkness. His features were soft and round, just like when he was in his cat form—completely non-threatening.

Cheng Lin couldn’t help but take a longer look, his heart softening. “Want me to take a picture of you?”

“Sure,” Maimai blinked in surprise, then quickly lit up with excitement. “Is it because of my new haircut? Or because I fed the other cats?”

Cheng Lin raised his phone. The cat immediately clutched the wrapper from the finished cat treat in his hand and stared at the camera, holding still for a few seconds. “Tell me when you’re done.”

But Cheng Lin had set the camera to video mode and didn’t respond. Maimai waited a few more seconds, then asked, “Did you take it?”

When Cheng Lin finally felt he had enough footage, he switched to photo mode and smoothly snapped a few pictures to show Maimai as proof. “Look, all done.”

Maimai admired the photos, satisfied. “This is the first time you’ve taken pictures of me as a human.”

Cheng Lin: “The scenery was nice, so I thought I’d take a couple of shots.”

“Okay,” Maimai agreed, though he had thought it was because he looked good today. Still, having pictures was better than not. Maybe Cheng Lin was slowly starting to accept his human form.

After feeding the cats, they headed home to shower and sleep. Maimai stood at the door to the master bedroom, hugging his blanket. “Can we sleep together like last night?”

Cheng Lin put on an act. “Fine, just don’t kick me in your sleep.”

Maimai quickly got into bed, wrapping himself up in the quilt. He sniffed at it, catching Cheng Lin’s scent. Feeling a gentle tug on the back of his head, he turned around and asked, “What’s up?”

Cheng Lin didn’t really have anything in mind; he was just propping up his head, wanting to chat. Talking to the cat was always fun. “Smell that. Your hair smells like essential oil.”

Maimai’s short hair was fluffy and spread out on the pillow, looking soft. “Vincent put it on me.”

Cheng Lin burst out laughing. “You sound so serious when you say it in English.”

Maimai had originally planned to bring up the topic of getting registered in the household registry before bed, but Cheng Lin’s teasing smile threw him off track.

Running his fingers through Maimai’s hair, Cheng Lin asked, “What do you think? If you turned into a cat right now, would your fur get shorter too? And would it have this same scent?”

Maimai took this as another sign that Cheng Lin wanted him to turn back into a cat. He didn’t reply, just turned away and said, “I don’t know.”

–

Even though Maimai had promised not to kick Cheng Lin in his sleep, the sudden, intense sound of firecrackers early in the morning sent something crashing into Cheng Lin’s chest like a missile.

What was that sound? Fireworks and firecrackers had been banned during the New Year for many years, so Maimai had never experienced anything like this. Trembling, he asked, “There’s an explosion somewhere!”

Cheng Lin’s chest ached from the impact, and his heart raced from the shock. Groggily waking up, he said, “Nothing exploded. Someone’s just setting off firecrackers.”

Maimai continued to tremble in his arms. Cheng Lin got out of bed, his hair a mess. Holding Maimai with one arm, he pulled open the curtains with the other, flooding the room with light.

Maimai clung to him tightly, saying, “The noise is even louder now!”

Just as he spoke, the firecrackers stopped.

The bedroom window overlooked the tree-lined avenue of the complex, where they could see the courtyard below filled with people chattering loudly. The ground was covered with red paper, making it easy to spot the culprits.

Maimai hung onto Cheng Lin with his arms around his neck, still shaken and confused. “What are they doing?”

“Huh? Isn’t this the kind of excitement you love to watch?” Cheng Lin adjusted his grip on Maimai. “They’re getting married; that’s why there are firecrackers.” Usually, when there was a commotion outside, Maimai would ask Cheng Lin to hold him up by the window so he could watch.

A fleet of black cars, all part of the wedding procession, was parked impressively along the road. A bride in a bright red traditional wedding dress¹ was being carried out of the courtyard, her feet never touching the ground, and placed into one of the cars decorated with the most flowers. Strings of red wedding symbols² were draped across everything.

A man in a matching outfit, clearly the groom, beamed with happiness as he quickly got into the lead car, flanked by his groomsmen.

Maimai watched quietly for a moment before asking, “Will you get married like this someday?”

Cheng Lin had just woken up, and his mind was completely blank. He responded absentmindedly, “Well… maybe.”

“Okay.” Maimai glanced at the grand wedding procession. He tried to imagine where he would fit in. He couldn’t be the bride or groom; he’d be just another face in the crowd. He started to distinguish the different roles everyone played.

He realized that, at that moment, he couldn’t be a cat. If he were, he’d be blocked by the crowd. Marriage was a big deal, and he would have to stand by, watching Cheng Lin welcome his beautiful bride—the person Cheng Lin would love most in the future. He imagined watching the wedding car drive away as they became husband and wife, united forever.

Cheng Lin held him close, unaware of Maimai’s thoughts. He often wondered why, despite being an orange cat, Maimai never seemed to gain weight. He ate well enough, so Cheng Lin figured it was just a matter of time.

Now that Maimai was in human form, he was still thin, making him easy to hold. His clothes carried the familiar scent of the laundry detergent they used at home—a pleasant fragrance, different from the sunlit, grain-like smell of Maimai’s cat fur.

Maimai always smelled so good that Cheng Lin couldn’t help but cling to him. As he held Maimai, he felt a surge of affection, but his mischievous side kicked in. “Why are you so heavy? My cat was light, so small. Are you really Maimai? Or did Shi Jing take my cat upstairs and swap you in?”

Maimai froze, then believed him. He was already feeling sad, so he couldn’t tell if Cheng Lin was joking. He thought Cheng Lin genuinely didn’t believe he was Maimai.

“My cat”—those words excluded him, cast doubt on him. Cheng Lin was referring to the kitten Maimai, not the kitty person Maimai.

“Why don’t you believe me after all this time?” Maimai looked at him, both incredulous and anxious. “I am Maimai! Didn’t I even get a membership card?”

After saying that, he pushed against Cheng Lin’s shoulders, trying to get down and find his personal ID to prove himself.

“That membership card only has a picture of a cat, not you.” Cheng Lin didn’t let go of him, holding him tightly. He looked up at Maimai’s face. “How am I supposed to connect my cat with you? You’re definitely not Maimai.”

Maimai couldn’t think of how to respond. Feeling both hurt and angry, he said, “But I am Maimai. I am your cat.”

Hearing Maimai’s tone, Cheng Lin suddenly realized he had gone too far with the joke. Panic set in, and he quickly tried to fix it. “I know, I know you’re Maimai. I was just teasing.”

Maimai didn’t respond.

The cat didn’t try to get down anymore, but he also refused to look at Cheng Lin.

A few seconds passed, and suddenly, he started to cry.

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