Maimai Chapter 3

“Do you know any masters who perform rituals?” Cheng Lin asked.

“Huh?” Yuan Jiaming, who had been paralyzed, suddenly bolted upright in fear. “What kind of rituals are you talking about?”

The two had been college classmates and had started a studio together in this innovation park after graduating.

Four years later, their creator team had grown to six people. On busy weekdays, they were swamped with projects. But when things slowed down, they had more time to explore their individual interests and hobbies.

Cheng Lin carefully considered how to explain, then finally said, “Why don’t you take a look first?”

He took out his phone, opened the surveillance app, and said in a serious tone, “Tell me honestly what you see.”

What was there to see? Yuan Jiaming, feeling uneasy, leaned in and took a closer look, then shouted in alarm.

“There’s someone in your house!” He said anxiously, “Why is there someone in your house? A-a man, he’s watching TV!”

Since the security camera had caught it and Yuan Jiaming could see it too, it wasn’t just Cheng Lin losing his mind. Maimai had really turned into a human.

This result brought Cheng Lin some relief. After all, it made the difference between whether he was crazy or the world was. Now that the conclusion was the latter, he felt deeply reassured.

Cheng Lin turned the phone back toward himself and said, “What’s there to be afraid of? It’s my cousin.”

“Oh, damn.” Yuan Jiaming breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he’d been a bit too tense. “You had me going there for a second with how serious you were. I thought I was seeing something I shouldn’t. You never mentioned having a cousin. Is he here for winter break?”

“Yeah, he’s staying for a while,” Cheng Lin lied without batting an eyelid, keeping his eyes on the live feed.

Cheng Lin had installed a security camera in the living room, worried about what might happen if the cat was left alone at home. Whenever he had a spare moment, he’d check in to see what Maimai was up to.

Maimai’s hobbies were simple; he liked to hang out in the living room. When the master wasn’t home, Maimai would use his paws to operate the remote control and watch TV, all while managing to eat, drink, do some parkour, and play with toys.

Cheng Lin had always thought Maimai just wanted some background noise, but it turned out the cat had been diligently attending online classes.

Now, as a human, Maimai hadn’t changed much from when he was a cat. He still loved sitting on the couch, completely absorbed in the TV.

Cheng Lin worried that Maimai might get cold, so he turned on the floor heating throughout the apartment and left a plush blanket on the couch.

Maimai, now too big to snuggle entirely under the blanket, simply hugged it instead. He was still as well-behaved as ever.

“So, that ritual you mentioned—is it for your cousin?” Yuan Jiaming tried to connect the dots. “Oh, are you thinking of getting a master to check his fortune or something?”

Cheng Lin decided to go along with it. “Yeah, but now I think it’s not that complicated. Maybe I’ll just buy him a protective talisman instead.”

“That’s a good call. Leave it up to fate, no need to force things.” With the conversation steering away from the supernatural, Yuan Jiaming relaxed and started chatting casually. “Hey, where’s your Maimai?”

Yuan Jiaming loved cats but was allergic to cat fur. As a result, he could only check in on his friends’ cats from time to time, ask for a few photos, and enjoy the idea of them as a way to soothe his soul.

He knew that Cheng Lin could be quite tough with his words at times, but in reality, he was the most doting when it came to his cat. His behavior was similar to that of someone who indulges a child, with no limits at all.

Especially after finding out that Cheng Lin had even bought a pure gold lock charm for his cat, Yuan Jiaming wanted to tease him but didn’t dare.

Cheng Lin, not wanting to shatter his friend’s understanding of the world, just said, “He’s sleeping in my room.”

“Your cat is so attached to you.” Yuan Jiaming was genuinely envious. “I wish I could have a cat too.”

Attached to me, huh.

Cheng Lin had always been very independent. With his parents living abroad for years, he’d gotten used to handling everything on his own. He had hesitated to get a cat because he didn’t want the responsibility of caring for another life.

At first, Maimai was incredibly clingy and insecure. He was just a little ball of fluff, following Cheng Lin everywhere, practically glued to his heels. Cheng Lin was so afraid of stepping on him that he started carrying Maimai in the pocket of his loungewear.

As the cat grew and eventually outgrew the pocket, Cheng Lin found himself unable to part with him.

Last night, after shutting Maimai out of his room, Cheng Lin lay down in bed but couldn’t sleep. The living room lights were off, and there was no light or sound from outside, making him want to get up and check if Maimai was okay sleeping alone.

He sat up and turned on his bedside lamp, noticing a golden hair on the nightstand. He picked it up and rubbed it between his fingers, unable to tell if it was real.

Looking back on his history of raising cats, Cheng Lin realized he rarely went against Maimai’s wishes. Sure, he’d complain now and then, but he’d always clean up after Maimai without much fuss.

But now that Maimai had become human, everything felt different. Humans are social creatures, and the moment you involve society, things get complicated. Taking responsibility for a cat is one thing, but taking responsibility for a person is a whole different concept.

Cheng Lin decided not to dwell on such a complicated issue for now and closed his eyes to escape from it. He hadn’t slept alone for a long time, and the sudden change in his routine felt strange that night.

Without the breathing hot water bottle in his arms, Cheng Lin felt a sense of emptiness inside.

How was Maimai spending his night?

Cheng Lin opened the surveillance app again and quickly dragged the progress bar, roughly skimming through the entire day’s footage from yesterday.

After the living room lights went out, the camera switched to night vision. For a long while, nothing changed on screen. Then, at around three in the morning, Maimai emerged from his room.

Wearing Cheng Lin’s pajamas, Maimai rubbed his eyes and stood in the living room for a moment before taking a few sips of water from his mug. He then sat for a while in his old cat bed before getting up and standing in front of Cheng Lin’s bedroom door, motionless.

If you didn’t know the backstory, the scene would have been pretty creepy.

Cheng Lin was startled, his mind racing—could it be that Maimai had sneaked into his room while he was asleep in the middle of the night? Had he crawled into bed with him? Shared a pillow?

But that, thankfully, hadn’t happened.

Maimai just stood there like a statue for a while, then slowly made his way back to the living room.

In the darkness, he found his favorite teddy bear in the toy box next to the sofa. After fumbling around in the blind spot of the surveillance camera, he picked up a lump of something black and then returned to his room.

That was where the night’s story ended.

After watching the footage, Cheng Lin was at a loss for words.

Maimai had behaved so well that Cheng Lin felt he was being too inhumane.

But even with his progressive mindset and open views, he couldn’t accept the idea of sharing a bed with a man who was practically a stranger.

Let alone the fact that Maimai was accustomed to cuddling while sleeping. This was fine when it was just one human and one cat, but now that Maimai was neither fully human nor purely a cat—if you called him human, at his core, he was still an innocent kitten. But if you called him a cat, he looked like a young man, not a child from kindergarten.

Cheng Lin was only in his twenties himself. Two men of similar age cuddling together—it changed the meaning entirely. The atmosphere would inevitably turn ambiguous and intimate.

There was no need for that. It felt like they were crossing into something gay.

Cheng Lin had no interest in that, and he couldn’t accept it.