Cheng Lin didn’t notice Maimai hesitating to speak. After getting into the driver’s seat, he handed over the iced lemonade he had bought on the way. “It’s only been a few days, but why are you getting off work later and later?”
He advised, “When it’s time to leave, just go, even if there are still customers. Working extra minutes for free is just a loss.”
“That won’t do.” The cat said reproachfully, “You have to finish what you start.”
Cheng Lin couldn’t help but wonder how his baby ended up being so morally upright and spoke with such seriousness and propriety.
Though he recognized that Maimai’s morals were superior to his own, he still couldn’t help but worry. He continued to criticize, “Isn’t it too much for a cafe that big to have just one cat? Are you overworked? Are they taking advantage of you? If it’s too exhausting, you should quit.”
“No way. The boss and the old man are really nice to me,” Maimai denied. “It’s just that there were more customers this afternoon.”
Cheng Lin glanced at the kitty person sitting in the front passenger seat, watching his profile as he spoke and sipped his drink. He reached out, intending to pat Maimai’s hair, but Maimai, either intentionally or not, dodged his hand by taking another sip.
Momentarily stunned, Cheng Lin started the car and began driving home.
As they discussed customers, Maimai suddenly remembered something, his face lighting up with excitement. “I have a repeat customer! We even added each other on WeChat.”
Cheng Lin abruptly slammed on the brakes, staring at the cat. His internal alarms went off. “Why on earth would you add someone on WeChat?!” He sat up straighter. “That’s what we call private contact!”
“He said he’d be coming back often, so we added each other to stay in touch,” Maimai explained. “He bought a lot of canned cat food today—such a great customer!”
“A guy or a girl?”
“A guy.”
“How old?”
“He said he’s a college student, about to graduate.”
“Delete him,” Cheng Lin said.
“No,” Maimai responded.
“Aren’t I your master?” Cheng Lin said coldly, “If your master says delete, you delete.”
Maimai was quite displeased. On one hand, he was emotionally frustrated with his estrus approaching, and though he felt a strong affection for Cheng Lin, he had no way to express it, leaving him irritable. On the other hand, his career had suffered a blow. He had accidentally overdosed on catnip and passed out on his first day, scaring Cheng Lin half to death. Since then, the human had been against him working.
Not receiving affirmation felt like being denied, and the lack of praise was the equivalent of distrust.
Maimai reiterated, “I can’t delete him. You may be my master, but he’s a customer!”
“Does he chat with you too?” Cheng Lin pressed further. “Did he ask your age? What you like to do? Whether you have a partner? Trying to see what you’re like?”
Maimai was puzzled. He pulled out his phone and showed it to Cheng Lin. “No, he just told me he’d be coming today and made a reservation on Dianping.”
Cheng Lin took the phone, scrutinizing it with a dark expression. Sure enough, there were only two messages in the chat. He Xin had said he’d be coming and had made a reservation, followed by a cute emoji.
Maimai hadn’t even responded.
The opponent’s skill level was too high, leaving Cheng Lin in an unjust situation.
Left speechless, Cheng Lin nitpicked, “This emoji is a bit too cute.”
“Do you have to control this too!” Maimai grumbled.
Even though he wasn’t entirely convinced, Cheng Lin had to shut his mouth and focus on driving. He let the kitty person roll the window all the way down. How could it still be so hot after buying him an iced drink? The wind at 60 km/h was strong enough to chill his heart.
After dinner, Maimai still had to attend his literacy class. He brought his iPad back to the dining table, and as he reached for his pen and paper, he heard the teacher’s voice from the tablet, “Students, can you hear me?”
Maimai quickly returned to his seat, tapped the unmute button on the screen, and leaned in. “Teacher, I can hear you!”
Cheng Lin, sitting on the sofa, couldn’t help but laugh. When Maimai looked over seriously, Cheng Lin quickly composed himself. “Focus on your class. Why are you looking at me?”
“What are you laughing at?”
“I just thought of something funny,” Cheng Lin replied. “I’ll tell you after your class.”
However, after class, Maimai went straight to wash up and headed to bed. When Cheng Lin noticed he’d been gone for a while, he pushed open the bedroom door. While he wasn’t paying attention, the kitty person had already changed into his pajamas, was lying on his side, hugging the quilt, and staring at his phone.
Cheng Lin decided to try his usual tactic. He grabbed his laptop and leaned against the headboard, pretending to browse. But he noticed that Maimai was still facing away from him, completely absorbed in his phone and uninterested in his act.
Cheng Lin: “Staring at your phone like that might give you a squint.”
Maimai didn’t budge and simply asked, “What’s a squint?”
“It’s when one eye stays on guard while the other slacks off.” Cheng Lin snapped his laptop shut and said, “Hand over the phone. Time for bed.”
Maimai handed him the phone. Cheng Lin turned off the lamp and, satisfied, rolled over and pulled the cat into his arms.
To the human, it was only natural to think that, even though their relationship wasn’t officially defined, they had already kissed and shared the same bed more than once. If you counted from when he first found the cat, it was practically their paper anniversary1The paper anniversary refers to the first wedding anniversary, during which it is traditional to give gifts made of paper by now. So, it was pretty much like dating.
He sniffed Maimai’s shoulder and then stared at his face. How did he manage to look so beautiful even in human form? Usually, when he smiled, he even had dimples. Right, where were the dimples?
He leaned down and gently pecked the spot where Maimai’s dimples usually appeared. Then, he asked in a soft voice, “How many kisses today?”
But unexpectedly—
“That’s enough.” Maimai turned his face away, raising a hand to cover Cheng Lin’s mouth and gently pushing him back. “One is enough.”
It was the first time Maimai had set a boundary. In the past, he had always been the one eager to get closer.
“Are you tired?” Cheng Lin was taken aback. He still wasn’t satisfied and tried to nuzzle Maimai’s cheek with his nose.
But as he leaned in again, Maimai firmly pressed a hand against his chest. “Mm, I’m sleepy. No more.”
No matter how hard Cheng Lin tried to act cool and composed, the way he backed up—awkward in both posture and speed—betrayed him.
He steadied his breathing and said seemingly open-mindedly, “Alright, let’s sleep early, then.”
In reality, he turned over and lay back on his side of the bed, beginning to struggle internally.
He touched his chin, then his lips.
Had the kissing made Maimai uncomfortable? He had shaved, and his lips weren’t chapped. It shouldn’t be the issue.
Besides, they hadn’t even done anything! Cheng Lin wanted to cry out that he was being wronged. He hadn’t even dared to kiss Maimai’s lips, fearing he wouldn’t understand, and even a few more pecks on the cheek and neck had been denied?!
Had he said something to upset the cat today? He only found Maimai’s serious expression during class endearing. Maybe he shouldn’t have laughed; the cat was already sensitive.
Or was it because of that customer?
Cheng Lin’s mind suddenly seized upon this thought. That had to be it. The cat must’ve felt his views were too biased, but Cheng Lin felt justified—why would a customer need to add a store employee on WeChat? This wasn’t a luxury boutique. What reason could there be for adding Maimai?
Even if nothing had happened yet, what if questions came up later—like whether Maimai had a partner, or what he thought of him?
No… Maybe the customer didn’t have any ulterior motives, and he was just being paranoid?
Staring up at the dark ceiling, Cheng Lin felt a growing restlessness.
Before he could unravel the confusion in his mind, Maimai turned over in the quiet room, facing away from him as if going to sleep.
Maimai pretended to be asleep, but after turning over, he opened his eyes. Even though it had been just a simple kiss, a wave of uncontrollable heat surged through him.
On one hand, his inexperienced desires coursed through his body, igniting his nerves. On the other, Rongrong’s stern scolding and the alarming warnings in the handbook left the cat feeling confused and helpless, unsure of how to navigate these invisible boundaries.
Maimai tried to slow his breathing, attempting to suppress the overwhelming sensation. He didn’t want Cheng Lin to notice, so he turned to face the edge of the bed, even inching closer to it.
Little did he know, Cheng Lin was also awake and saw everything.
Cheng Lin spent the entire night tossing and turning, trying to make sense of it all. The next morning, while they were in the car, he finally spoke, “Baby, I had a bad attitude yesterday. If you want to stay in touch with that guy, go ahead. Maybe he just wants to hang out at the cat cafe. Don’t be angry, okay?”
This generosity was the result of him talking some sense into himself and conceding a thousand steps in his mind.
Maimai, feeling the breeze on his face, looked puzzled and replied sincerely, “I’m not angry.”
Really not angry?
That night, Cheng Lin was half-asleep when he instinctively reached out to check if the cat had kicked off the quilt. But as his hand roamed, he found the bed empty.
Instantly wide awake, he sprang out of bed to look for the cat.
Just ten minutes earlier, Maimai had quietly slipped out of bed after glancing at his peacefully sleeping master. For some reason, the bed seemed to be filled more and more with Cheng Lin’s scent, to the point where it became almost unbearable.
The cat stealthily grabbed his phone and tiptoed to the guest bedroom. He took this chance to pull out the handbook he had hidden in his backpack, which he hadn’t had the opportunity to finish reading last time.
Burying himself under the covers, Maimai felt his mind clear and his body relax without Cheng Lin’s scent around. Using his phone’s flashlight for light, he propped up his pillow and cautiously opened the handbook.
The section he had read last time about crying behind bars had deeply unsettled him, so he reread it to fortify his moral resolve before moving on.
The next section covered how to engage in sexual activity, broken down into several categories. The first part detailed what to do if you hadn’t yet taken human form. A quick glance at the chapter titles revealed sections on relations with women, men, and even…
Maimai struggled to read through it word by word, barely making it past the introduction when the door suddenly clicked open.
With lightning speed, the cat shoved both his phone and the handbook under the pillow, then lay his head on top, pretending to be asleep.
When Cheng Lin entered the room, he saw only the top of Maimai’s head peeking out from under the quilt, resting on the pillow as if he were fast asleep.
Cheng Lin’s heart sank, feeling a moment of confusion and helplessness.
Over the past few days, whenever Cheng Lin avoided touching the cat, Maimai’s attitude had been excellent. Maimai would respond seriously to everything he said. But the moment Cheng Lin tried to get closer, the cat would become distant, his actions turning resistant.
And now, he didn’t even want to share a bed.
Cheng Lin stepped closer, hesitated for a few seconds, then switched on the bedside lamp, setting it to its dimmest setting. He tentatively called out, “Baby.”
Maimai’s eyes immediately opened and looked straight at him.
Sure enough, he wasn’t asleep. A wave of anxiety washed over Cheng Lin, though he tried to act casual. “Why are you sleeping in here?”
Maimai was still preoccupied with the handbook he might never finish reading and worried that Cheng Lin would discover he’d sneaked away with his phone. All he could think about was how to make Cheng Lin leave quickly. “I just want to sleep alone for a while.”
“Is the bed uncomfortable?” Cheng Lin reached out to touch the cat’s head, but Maimai dodged his hand. The human’s hand hung in mid-air for a moment before he pulled it back. “No kisses tonight?”
The cat’s eyes were bright but evasive. He remained silent, which felt like an admission.
They stayed quiet for what seemed to stretch on. Finally, Cheng Lin asked, “How long is ‘a while’?”
Maimai, uncertain how long this estrus would last, paused before cautiously replying, “Maybe half a month.”
Cheng Lin stayed quiet, then stood up and said, “Got it. If you get too hot, don’t forget to turn on the AC. The remote’s in the drawer.”
A little while later, he knocked softly and re-entered the room, handing the cat a charging cable. “Don’t forget to charge your phone every day.”
