“Hold on a sec, I’m with a VIP customer.” Rongrong, with his black fur, darted over, meowed twice at Maimai, and quickly dashed back inside.
It was a busy Sunday, and the place was packed. With no available seating inside, Maimai settled on a cushion in the outer area, watching as Rongrong stood on a table, charming an elderly lady who had brought along her granddaughter.
It seemed like he was trying to persuade her to stay.
The elderly lady, holding her bag, was just about to leave. But when Rongrong approached, she hesitated and sat back down. It was clear she was a little afraid of cats, her hand hovering awkwardly in mid-air. However, after some encouragement from Rongrong, she cautiously stroked the cat’s head with her fingertips.
Maimai observed this with great interest until he suddenly felt a weight on his thighs.
With Rongrong away, no longer radiating his cat-repelling aura, a Ragdoll cat had taken the opportunity to rest its head beside Maimai, gazing up at him with big blue eyes.
“Alright, alright, I’ll pet you.” The kitty person eagerly stretched out his legs to make the cat more comfortable.
But the Ragdoll didn’t stay put for long. It suddenly climbed onto Maimai’s lap, wiggling around.
“What are you doing?” Maimai felt something poking his leg and looked down.
Just as confusion set in, Rongrong finished seeing off the customers and rushed over, cursing, “Damn it, you shameless thing, get lost!”
The Ragdoll was afraid of Rongrong and immediately scrambled away in a panic.
“Pervert!” Rongrong chased after it shouting, still unsatisfied. “Shameless!”
Maimai looked down at his pants and noticed a coin-sized wet spot on his thigh where something had poked him.
Rongrong saw it too. “Damn it. Lin Mian should’ve had Master Fatty neutered ages ago.”
Maimai asked, “What’s neutering?” He had heard Cheng Lin mention something similar before. At the time, Cheng Lin had remarked with a shudder that it was a good thing he wasn’t neutered; otherwise, he’d be a eunuch.
Feeling embarrassed, the tuxedo cat licked his front paws and said, “It’s when you go to the hospital to, uh… remove, you know, your reproductive abilities.”
“Oh.” Maimai still didn’t fully understand. “What was the cat just doing?”
Wang Derong certainly couldn’t say that the guy was trying to satisfy his own desires.
He sat up straight on the table, pretended not to hear, washed his face, and stared off into the distance.
After finishing his routine, Rongrong saw Maimai still waiting for an answer and sighed. “Little brother, you’re making this a bit awkward for me.”
Maimai was even more confused. “What do you mean by awkward?”
“Kid. Don’t bring up physical issues in public, okay?” The tuxedo cat glanced at him with a reproachful look and said, “Let me ask you, have you experienced that yet?”
All this vague talk left Maimai puzzled. Unable to decode the cryptic conversation, he asked, “What do you mean by ‘that’?”
Although Rongrong had black fur, a hint of an inexplicable blush seemed to appear. He reached out a paw, pressing it on Maimai’s hand, and meowed softly, “You know, that! You’re at the right age for it. You should’ve felt something by now. It’s spring, after all—haven’t you had any, you know, feelings?”
Maimai was still completely in the dark. “What?”
Rongrong clammed up.
Unlike some of the kitty people who maintained an animal-like openness about such matters, Rongrong was a conservative, abstinent cat.
When he was little, he once saw Granny’s son doing it with his hand at home. Not knowing what he was doing, Rongrong got curious and went closer to look. The son noticed him and gave him a beating.
Ever since then, Rongrong considered this a taboo topic, something never to be discussed.
In the end, he didn’t say much, only hinted, “The organization… should have some educational pamphlets on this. I’ll grab one for you.”
After the topic that made Rongrong uncomfortable, Maimai carefully laid out his documents on the table and asked the tuxedo cat to take a look. “Brother Rong, here are my ID and household registration book.”
“Keep those safe. You don’t want someone getting your ID and taking out a loan in your name.” Wang Derong glanced at the name on the documents. He felt a little regretful but also offered some praise. “Not bad. The character ‘De’ is tough to write. It took me years to master my own name.”
“I’m starting my new job tomorrow!” Maimai said excitedly. “It’s at a cat cafe, just like this one.”
Rongrong nodded approvingly. After grilling him about the insurance policy, location, working hours, opportunities for advancement, and other specifics, he seemed satisfied. He then said, “Little brother, to be honest, this might be the last time you see me here.”
Maimai was taken aback. “Huh?”
“I need to find a job too.” Rongrong sighed. “You can’t get by without money.”
“What do you need money for?” Maimai asked hurriedly. “I have money. I can give it to you.”
“Qingming Festival1also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day; families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean and make offerings is coming up, and I need to visit Granny’s grave,” Rongrong explained. “In the past, I just filled out a form, and Sister Meilin would provide the funds. I thought it was some kind of special support from the organization. But this year, when I asked Shi Ting, I found out it was actually her mom who had been covering the costs all these years.”
“I’ve got hands and feet—I can’t keep relying on everyone’s help. It doesn’t feel right.” The tuxedo cat said, “Granny was always a hard worker. If she saw me like this, she’d be disappointed.”
Wang Derong promised that once he found a job, he’d visit Maimai at his new workplace. Watching Maimai use voice input to reply to a message from Cheng Lin on his phone, he asked, “How are things going between you two? Is he treating you well?”
“Really well!” Maimai had already forgotten about the time Cheng Lin made him cry. “I’m missing him a bit right now.”
Wang Derong still had his reservations. It was clear that this family structure was fragile—a single guy with a younger single guy. He worried about what would happen to Maimai in the future. “Do you remember what I said last time?”
“Cheng Lin said he’s not getting married,” Maimai replied. “Now, he kisses me goodnight every night.”
The conservative Rongrong found it odd, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. After all, Granny had never kissed him or shared a bed with him. But it wasn’t really his place to comment on this, so he let it go. “Alright, but now that you’ve got a job, make sure you save some money. You’ll want to have something to fall back on.”
–
Meanwhile, Yuan Jiaming asked, “May I be so bold as to ask you a question?”
Cheng Lin, lounging in his computer chair and looking at his chat with Maimai, replied, “If you think it’s too bold, then don’t ask.”
CL: Call me when you’re done. I’ll come pick you up.
CL: You’re starting work tomorrow, so finish up early and get to bed early.
Cheng Maimai: OK [spin] [kiss]
Cheng Lin savored the messages for a few extra seconds, smiling slightly, before finally sending a restrained [hug].
Cheng Lin’s smug yet subtly sweet expression made Yuan Jiaming feel nauseous. His own loneliness was bad enough, but seeing his friend’s happiness only made it worse.
“Are you dating someone?” Yuan Jiaming asked, his voice tinged with jealousy. “You’ve started driving everywhere, always in a rush to pick someone up. And you’re constantly on your phone, looking like you’re chatting with your significant other.”
Cheng Lin’s smile faded for a moment. After a pause, he replied, “We’re not in that kind of relationship.”
“Then what is it?” Yuan Jiaming asked, more confused than ever. “Are you pursuing her?”
Cheng Lin wasn’t sure how to define his relationship with Maimai.
—Master and cat? That didn’t feel right. In modern China, everyone was equal, and Maimai was no ordinary pet cat.
Friends, lovers, married…
None of those labels fit either.
There was no doubt that Maimai liked Cheng Lin, but it was a pure, innocent affection that tugged at his heartstrings.
Maimai enjoyed it when Cheng Lin kissed him, petted him, and talked to him. At night, he wanted to sleep together, though sleeping was all that ever happened.
The kitty person often kicked the quilt off. Whenever Cheng Lin noticed in the middle of the night, he’d pull it back over him. Occasionally, when he got impatient, he’d press his arm down on top to keep the cat from pushing the quilt off again.
The cat didn’t mind and would nuzzle up to Cheng Lin’s arm or stick his nose up to sniff it.
The goodnight kiss was a nightly ritual, the last thing they did before turning off the lights. After tucking in the quilt, Maimai would look up at the human expectantly. Cheng Lin would lean down to kiss his forehead.
Just the forehead—nothing more. That was the boundary of their intimacy.
Cheng Lin still remembered waking up one morning to find Maimai, in his kitten form, curled up in his arms.
Cheng Maimai had just gotten his ID the day before, but that morning, he was still in his little orange cat form.
Curled up like a warm water bottle, he was snuggled close, eyes closed, lost in a sweet dream.
Cheng Lin gently stroked the cat’s face with his fingertip, then leaned in to kiss him.
The cat woke up, letting out a “meow.” Suddenly, the sensation against Cheng Lin’s lips changed.
The furry texture was gone. When Cheng Lin came to his senses, his hand was resting on Maimai’s waist, his lips pressed against the smooth curve of a human shoulder.
Beneath his palm, it felt as though the ambiguity was entirely under control.
Yet there lay Maimai, completely naked on the bed with no sense of shame, even nudging his head closer, wanting Cheng Lin to keep kissing him.
Cheng Lin almost felt himself react.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed the oblivious Maimai away and got out of bed. First thing in the morning, he stood under a cold shower for a good twenty minutes, as if meditating under a waterfall.
When he got out, Cheng Lin had to explain to the sensitive kitty person why he had pushed him away. “I wasn’t feeling well just now, so I took a shower.”
After saying that, he tossed some clothes onto the cat’s head. “Be careful not to catch a cold. Put these on. The first thing you should do when you turn into a human is get dressed.”
Maimai was incredibly trusting, so much so that it seemed like he would forgive anything, no matter how overboard things went.
But what the cat didn’t understand, the human had to. If Cheng Lin ever crossed that line, taking advantage of the cat’s innocence, it would be no different from deception or coercion. He might as well be struck by lightning.
Cheng Lin denied it. “I’m not pursuing him2he/she sounds the same in Chinese .”
Yuan Jiaming looked puzzled. “Is something holding you back? What does she like?”
“He likes me,” Cheng Lin replied.
“What the—?” Jin Li, who happened to be passing by, couldn’t help but look disgusted. “Who likes you? She must have terrible taste.”
Being both a bad friend and a coworker was one thing, but Jin Li believed there was no value for a girl to choose someone like Cheng Lin as a partner.
He was the typical rich second-generation kid—carefree and irresponsible. Whether or not someone could tie him down was one thing, but he didn’t seem like the type who would care for others or be attentive.
She figured he was probably cold and unresponsive in private, not saying much nor showing much emotion. How boring.
Jin Li: “What kind of girl is she? You should be counting your blessings.”
“Yeah, what kind?” Yuan Jiaming was curious too.
Cheng Lin had never shown the slightest interest in love or romance, so it was surprising to see him suddenly caught up in it.
Cheng Lin leaned back and exited the chat screen on WeChat.
Who knew he used to think that two men should keep a certain distance. Now, he wished he could keep Maimai close at all times.
“He’s a guy,” Cheng Lin said as he looked at a photo of Maimai sleeping in his photo album, “And silly.”
