Maimai Chapter 25

At 8 AM, none of the scenarios Cheng Lin had imagined came to pass.

Maimai had set an alarm on his phone and woke up right on time. After breakfast, he changed into his clothes and began urging Cheng Lin at the door, “Come on, we need to get to work!”

Cheng Lin drove him to the building and asked, “Should I go up with you?”

“It’s fine, I can handle it myself.” Maimai was full of sunshine, radiating positivity. “You should head to work early too!”

Cheng Lin, always sensitive, couldn’t help but wonder—did Maimai think he wasn’t presentable enough to be seen with?

But then, Cheng Maimai put his backpack over his back, leaned in, and gave him a kiss. “Let’s have a morning kiss too! I’ve seen it in TV shows.”

As the cat got out of the car, Cheng Lin couldn’t resist giving him a million last-minute warnings, emphasizing the darkness of the world and the cruelty of human beings. It took a full ten minutes before Maimai finally managed to say goodbye, shut the car door, and confidently walk into the building.

Given the tight schedule, limited slots, and the need to consider commuting, the organization placed Cheng Maimai in a cafe that had only been in operation for a few months.

According to Shi Ting, the cafe’s owner was a female human in her early thirties who often rescued stray cats. The owner wasn’t aware of the organization’s true nature, only that it was some kind of bureau. However, she was kind-hearted and frequently collaborated with the organization on cat placements.

As the number of stray cats needing care grew, it became unsustainable. To generate additional revenue, she started the cafe with the organization’s help, selecting over twenty cats from their ranks who were relatively people-friendly and had stable temperaments.

The cats worked on a rotation system, with eight cats on duty each day.

Now, with the addition of the kitty person Maimai, there were nine cats in the cafe.

Holding his phone, Cheng Maimai checked the door number and knew he was in the right place as soon as he caught the strong scent of cats.

Upon entering, he saw an elderly man at the front desk, who looked up and asked, “Who are you?”

Maimai replied nervously, “Hello, Grandpa, I’m Cheng Maimai. I’m here to work.”

The old man: “What, Mama?”

Hearing the doorbell chime, a woman with short hair emerged from the back, looking capable and experienced. “Ah, there you are! You must be Maimai, right?”

Maimai respectfully said, “Hello, Boss.”

“Oh no, don’t call me that.” The female boss, Qin Lu, introduced, “This is my dad. His hearing isn’t great, sorry about that. Dad, it’s Mai—Mai—”

The cafe was small, with just two rooms for customers in addition to the kitchen and bathroom. The floors were covered with cats.

“Here you go. My name’s Qin Lu, but you can just call me Sister Qin.” Qin Lu gave Maimai a name tag, apron, and hat. “I heard from your organization that this is your first job. I hope you have a great time working here.”

Maimai put on the gear and followed the boss into the back kitchen. The space was spotless. Qin Lu pointed out where the ingredients for desserts and drinks were stored, then gestured to a small capsule coffee machine in the corner. “This is the coffee machine. It’s simple to use. Just pour some water in here, press this button, and pop in a coffee capsule. That’s all there is to it.”

“Oh.” Maimai asked, “So no grinding beans, no tamping…”

Qin Lu was overjoyed. “Oh no, we’re not that fancy! This machine does the job just fine. The capsules I use are of pretty good quality, and the customers seem to like them.”

“Did Little Ting mention it to you?” Qin Lu continued as they moved back into the main area, “There are no purebred cats in my cafe. Every single one was rescued from the streets. Even though they all have different personalities, they’re all friendly.”

She introduced each cat: an orange and white one, a calico, and a tuxedo cat that looked more standard compared to Rongrong…

She then paid special attention to the two youngest cats, both under a year old. “This Li Hua cat is Gungun, and the white one is Maomao. Both are little boys. I found them together on the street. I tried to find them homes when they were smaller, but it didn’t work out. Gungun was adopted for a while but got returned…”

Gungun was playfully tussling with a larger cat, while the white cat, Maomao, sat quietly nearby, listening to their conversation with a neutral expression.

Qin Lu said, looking troubled, “Maomao doesn’t seem to be as popular with the other cats, maybe because it’s a white cat. They don’t play with it much, especially Gungun… I’m counting on you to keep an eye on it.”

Maimai, who couldn’t tolerate any form of exclusion, responded earnestly, “Okay.”

He stared at Maomao and Gungun for a while, sniffing the air. Something about the scent made him pause.

“I’m not in the cafe much. My dad usually mans the front desk. He handles the money and keeps an eye on things,” Qin Lu explained, stroking Maomao gently. “You know how it is with older folks—they can’t sit still at home, so we give him something to do. He’s in charge of feeding the cats, so you don’t have to worry about that. Just speak up when you talk to him; his hearing isn’t great.”

As Qin Lu petted Maomao, Gungun suddenly rushed over, nudging her hand away and demanding attention for itself. Maomao didn’t put up a fight, quietly stepping aside and watching Gungun with its eyes.

“Don’t be like that,” Qin Lu chuckled, fending off Gungun before turning to Maimai. “Your main duties are greeting customers when they arrive, handling the redemption of discount coupons, and serving drinks and desserts. It’d be great if you could also learn the rules of the board games in the cabinet so you can explain them to customers.”

“And of course, whenever you have some free time, try to play with the cats a little,” she added.

Despite the scattered nature of the tasks, Maimai had trained himself before starting, so he didn’t feel overwhelmed. Business wasn’t brisk on weekdays, and after seeing off a small group of customers in the morning, no new patrons came in during the afternoon. Qin Lu had left for the day, leaving just Maimai and the old man to hold down the fort.

As a new employee, Maimai was full of enthusiasm. He sat in the back room, fully absorbed in learning how to play UNO. Since he hadn’t yet had a chance to use the “Welcome” he’d practiced so diligently, he decided to expand his skill set.

Sunlight streamed through the windows, lighting up the cats sprawled lazily across the room. The scene was serene.

As closing time approached, Maimai set down the UNO instructions and crouched next to the white cat. Maomao was completely white without a single stray hair, a pure and quiet kitten.

The cat looked up at him and then hesitantly nudged his hand with its head. Sensing Maomao’s approach, Maimai rubbed the cat’s head in an understanding way. “I’m a cat sniffer too.”

To confirm his earlier suspicion, he continued petting the white cat, leaning in closer to catch the cat’s scent. Was it the scent of a kitty person?

But within a few seconds, a low, threatening “meow” came from nearby. Gungun, with a hostile expression, made it clear that it wanted both Maimai and Maomao to leave.

Maomao turned and this time let out its own “meow” at Gungun.

The atmosphere grew tense as the two cats squared off against each other.

“Hey, what’s going on? No fighting!” Maimai panicked, trying to separate the two and push them away from each other. But the other cats merely watched indifferently, and a few even egged them on with casual “meows,” suggesting that Maomao wasn’t good-looking enough.

Maimai noticed that none of the other cats were paying attention to him, and his attempts to speak up were futile. Feeling anxious, he scanned the room. The old man at the front desk was completely engrossed in his phone, scrolling through short videos with the volume cranked up. Maimai made a decision, and in an instant, his clothes fell to the floor.

With some effort, the orange cat managed to wriggle out of the collar of his sweater and squeezed himself between Maomao and Gungun, offering them a tuft of his own fur. “Let’s not fight, okay? We should all just get along.”

Realizing his words weren’t having the desired effect, Maimai glanced around the room in desperation and noticed a basket nearby. A lightbulb went off in his head as he suddenly remembered there were cat toys inside that could serve as a distraction.

“Let’s play with some toys!” He leaped into the basket using all four limbs and randomly grabbed a toy mouse with his mouth.

Just as he was about to jump out of the basket, an unfamiliar, sharp scent hit his nose, shooting straight to his brain.

What was the smell—

So comfortable.

With the catnip-filled mouse dangling from his mouth, Maimai was overcome with bliss. For a moment, he completely forgot what he was doing or why Maomao and Gungun had been fighting. The scent was so intoxicating that he just kept sniffing, taking deep breaths—

Then, everything went black.

 

Downstairs, Cheng Lin had parked his car and sent Maimai a message to come down. But there was no reply.

Actually, every time Cheng Lin had messaged Maimai that day, he’d received the same voice response: “I’m busy.” Cheng Lin had some strong opinions about that.

After waiting downstairs for three minutes, his patience wore thin. He unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, and decided to check on things himself.

As a human who shared a household register with Cheng Maimai, Cheng Lin found it odd that Maimai had told him not to come upstairs.

The cafe was on the third floor, and not wanting to wait for the elevator, Cheng Lin took the stairs, grumbling about the less-than-ideal environment. He couldn’t help but worry whether the cat’s first day at work was going smoothly.

Following the door numbers, Cheng Lin found the cafe. He hoped that when he rang the doorbell, Maimai would be the one to answer. But it was an old man at the front desk who greeted him.

Cheng Lin asked politely, “Hello, I’m looking for Maimai. Is he here?”

The old man: “Mama?”

Cheng Lin: “Mai—Mai!”

The old man: “Oh! He’s inside. You can go in.”

Cheng Lin’s suspicion deepened. He had called out quite loudly—why hadn’t Maimai come out to greet him? Didn’t he recognize his voice? Was their bond weakening?

He walked into the back room, only to find it empty, except for a bunch of cats lounging on the floor.

Eight cats were circling a basket, but a few scattered when they saw Cheng Lin, quickly leaping onto nearby cat trees.

The only cat that responded was the little white one, Maomao, who had been isolated by the others. With a serious expression, Maomao tilted its head up and meowed, then walked over to the basket, glancing back at Cheng Lin and meowing again.

If Cheng Lin had understood another foreign language, he might have realized that Maomao was trying to say, “Maimai is here.”

Though Cheng Lin was eager to find his cat, he couldn’t ignore the fact that this white cat seemed to be trying to tell him something. So he took a few steps closer to the basket to see what was going on.

Inside the basket was a sweater that Maomao had earlier carried in its mouth.

A chill ran down Cheng Lin’s spine as he instantly recognized the sweater; it was the one he had personally picked out for the kitty person.

Pinned to the front of the sweater was a name tag that read “Maimai.”

Thankfully, he noticed a fluffy orange tail faintly visible at the back of the sweater.

Cheng Lin quickly lifted the sweater and found an unconscious orange cat lying in the basket.