Maimai Chapter 4

Yuan Jiaming woke up late and skipped breakfast. While playing a game nearby, he said, “Let’s head to the cafeteria a bit early today. I’m starving.”

Cheng Lin hesitated for a moment before borrowing Yuan Jiaming’s phone to make a call.

His own phone still had the surveillance app open, allowing him to see Maimai slide off the couch as soon as he heard the phone ring. Maimai knelt in front of the coffee table, studying the landline phone that had never rung before.

His head tilted from side to side. Just before the call would have automatically disconnected, Maimai clumsily picked up the receiver and held it to his ear.

Cheng Lin sighed in relief. “Hello.”

“Hello,” the voice on the other end was cautious. “Uh… my master isn’t home…”

“It’s me, Cheng Lin.”

Cheng Lin saw Maimai immediately prop himself up on the coffee table with his elbows, excitement clear in his voice. “Cheng Lin!”

“Mm.” Cheng Lin replied, “Are you hungry? Don’t eat the cat… I mean, don’t eat your usual food for lunch. I’ll order takeout for you.”

“What’s takeout?” Maimai asked, “Is it the food that gets delivered to the door?”

“Yes,” Cheng Lin said. “I’ll have the delivery person leave the food at the door. When the doorbell rings, don’t open it right away. Wait for my call, then you can open the door and bring the food inside.”

“Okay.” Maimai began to examine the landline, which had never interested him before. He traced his fingers over the raised buttons, recognizing the numbers but only knowing a few of the Chinese characters.

Since he could answer Cheng Lin’s call, could he also dial out?

Cheng Lin couldn’t see exactly what Maimai was doing from his omniscient viewpoint, so he warned, “Don’t press random buttons.”

Maimai pulled his hand back and then, pressing the receiver closer to his ear, asked eagerly, “Can I use this to call you? Like, if I miss you?”

“…Yes.”

Cheng Lin closed his eyes. If he hadn’t been watching the surveillance, it would’ve sounded like a strange man confessing that he missed him over the phone.

Cheng Lin tried to dampen the enthusiasm, saying, “But don’t call unless it’s urgent. I’m really busy.”

Maimai didn’t ask what counted as urgent. “Okay.”

“Don’t go into the kitchen. Don’t touch the open flame on the stove,” Cheng Lin warned earnestly, “And the red button on the water dispenser is for hot water, so be careful not to burn yourself. If the doorbell rings, just ignore it, okay?”

Yuan Jiaming had been listening to the entire conversation. When Cheng Lin finally hung up, he looked over with a complicated expression. “Is he an idiot?”

Defensive about his cat, Cheng Lin responded with displeasure, “I’ve never seen anyone smarter than him.”

“Then why start explaining from the beginning of time?” Yuan Jiaming said, “Today’s kids know a lot more than we did at their age. They’re much more capable. Relax, if you nag too much, he’ll just get annoyed.”

Cheng Lin was left speechless by the rebuke. The situation was so unique that he didn’t even know how to handle it himself.

Originally, Maimai was just a cat. Although he didn’t understand concepts like hierarchy, there was still a sense of subordination. Cheng Lin had taken his role as a caregiver seriously. But now that Maimai had turned into a human, even a few extra words were met with ridicule from others.

Half an hour later, Maimai received Cheng Lin’s call and carefully opened the door to bring the takeout bag inside.

He examined the long receipt attached to the bag, recognizing words like “rice” and “large portion.” There was also a number at the bottom: 128.

Maimai didn’t really care or understand what the number meant. He was too eager to open the bag, already catching a whiff of his favorite scent.

Cheng Lin had ordered salmon poke for him, tailored to his tastes from when he was a cat, even adding an extra serving of caviar.

Maimai clumsily unwrapped the chopsticks but then remembered Cheng Lin’s advice from the call: “Use the utensils. If you can’t manage the chopsticks, just use the spoon.” So, he switched to the spoon to dig into the rice.

He picked out the avocado while continuing to watch the TV show that was playing.

The female lead, Qin Wenwan, dragged a suitcase behind her, taking one last look at the luxurious apartment that had felt like a gilded cage.

She turned off the lights, closed the door, and walked away with resolve.

“Goodbye, Duanmu Ze. Your love has left me covered in scars!”

Maimai watched intently. Regular viewers, long accustomed to such plots, would typically get excited at this point, eagerly anticipating the dramatic “wife chasing crematorium”¹a trope where ML treats the MC badly and then later on regrets their actions. scenes that usually followed.

But for some reason, Maimai felt a little sad.

Meanwhile, Cheng Lin was staring at the security cameras like a pervert. He really wanted to call and tell Maimai not to be so picky with his food.

But since he’d told Maimai not to call unless it was urgent, he figured he shouldn’t bother him over something so trivial.

He’d spent the entire morning as a peeping tom and had fallen behind on his work.

With the year-end approaching, he knew he had to catch up in the afternoon.

At 5:53, Yuan Jiaming looked at him through the glass door. “Hey, you’re still here?” Ever since Maimai came into his life, Cheng Lin usually left work on time and finished any leftover tasks at home.

Cheng Lin glanced at his phone and responded with a noncommittal “Hmm.”

Maimai was still hugging the blanket while watching TV.

Cheng Lin opened the file the designer had just sent. “You guys head out first. I’ll finish reviewing this.”

“What’s up, don’t wanna go home to see the kid?” Yuan Jiaming switched off the hallway lights on his way out and added, “Didn’t you just tell him earlier not to open the door for strangers? Haha.”

One by one, the team members left, turning off the lights in the large office area as they went.

Cheng Lin stayed at his desk, piling on more work for himself. Suddenly, he remembered something in the project that could use a tweak. Without a second thought, he opened his laptop and dove into the revisions.

An hour later, he checked the surveillance camera again.

When Cheng Lin opened the app, he noticed that Maimai was no longer on the sofa watching TV.

He was near the front door.

Maimai stood still, staring at the closed security door for a few seconds before pacing back and forth. After a while, he leaned back on the sofa, looking bored.

Then, as if he heard something, Maimai suddenly sprang up and rushed back to the front door.

Since the door didn’t open, he pressed his ear against it, listening intently. When he didn’t hear anything, he stood back up and resumed pacing.

He was eagerly waiting for Cheng Lin to come home.

Cheng Lin shot up from his chair.

He had a habit of rushing home as soon as possible, but this was the first time he had been so diligent about checking the camera.

He had never realized that during the time before he got home, the only thing Maimai had left to do was wait for him.

He raced home on his motorcycle, opened the door, and, as expected, Maimai was waiting there.

As soon as Maimai heard the sound of the door, his expression shifted from earlier boredom to happiness. “You’re back!” he exclaimed.

With the cat having turned into a human only a day ago, Cheng Lin was still struggling to adjust. He responded awkwardly, unsure why he couldn’t bring himself to look Maimai in the eye. Instead, he lowered his head and slipped past him to wash his hands.

“You’re late today.” Maimai followed closely behind. It wasn’t a complaint, just a simple observation.

“Mm,” Cheng Lin replied, drying his hands before heading to the bedroom. “Had to work late.”

“That sounds tough,” Maimai said, even though he had no idea what Cheng Lin’s job actually entailed. All he knew was that Cheng Lin had to leave the house every day for “work.”

Maimai trailed Cheng Lin into the bedroom. “Today’s lunch was delicious, a true delicacy!” he echoed a line he’d picked up from a TV drama.

Cheng Lin still didn’t look at him. As he crossed his arms to take off his shirt, he said, “Mm, you can have it again tomorrow.”

Maimai, searching for something to talk about, said, “The doorbell didn’t ring today.”

“Okay.”

“I didn’t go into the kitchen.”

“Yeah.” Cheng Lin rummaged through the closet, looking for something to wear.

Maimai felt a pang of loneliness. Usually, when Cheng Lin got home, he would wash his hands, then pet him, and ask what he’d been up to and whether he’d missed him.

In his orange cat form, Maimai would follow behind, tail held high, expressing his thoughts with a “meow.”

But today, Cheng Lin’s attention felt like a luxury he wasn’t receiving.

When Cheng Lin turned around, he noticed Maimai staring at his bare upper body, not blinking.

At first, Cheng Lin thought about telling him to stop, but then he reconsidered, realizing that Maimai had seen him like this plenty of times when he was a cat. So he decided to let it go.

But then, Maimai gently placed his palm on Cheng Lin’s chest.

Cheng Lin flinched and took a sudden step back. “What are you touching!”

His reaction was intense, harsher than he intended.

Maimai, who had only wanted some attention, was startled and quickly pulled his hand back. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

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  a trope where ML treats the MC badly and then later on regrets their actions.