Maimai Chapter 6

That night.

“Maimai!” Cheng Lin jolted awake, his heart racing. It felt like a nightmare. The last time he’d been this panicked was back in school when he dreamed he’d forgotten his exam admission ticket.

He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand. It was four minutes past three in the morning.

In his dream, Maimai had run off alone, burrowing into the bushes like a drop of water vanishing into the sea, impossible to find.

Still half-asleep, Cheng Lin instinctively reached out beside him, but the space was empty.

He was about to panic when he remembered that Maimai had mysteriously turned into a human. The human and cat now slept in separate rooms.

The sense of unease was difficult to dispel, and the ominous nature of the dream only fueled Cheng Lin’s overthinking.

After pausing for a few seconds, he got out of bed and walked out of his room.

Standing in front of the guest room door, Cheng Lin hesitated. Ever since Maimai started sleeping there, he had mentally marked it as Maimai’s domain. Out of respect for his privacy, Cheng Lin hadn’t entered that room in days.

But he knew he should check on him. After all, who knew if a one-year-old human might kick off the quilt while sleeping.

Rationalizing his reasons for entering at 3 AM, Cheng Lin gently turned the doorknob.

The room was quiet. Maimai was asleep.

The curtains were open, and the moonlight softly illuminated the room.

It looked almost the same as when it was unoccupied, except for a smartphone charging on the nightstand and a messily wrapped quilt on the bed.

Cheng Lin silently stepped closer and noticed something was wrong—the pillow was empty.

Where was he?

Panic set in. Without thinking, Cheng Lin quickly yanked the goose-down comforter off the bed.

There, curled up and fast asleep, was the orange cat.

Bathed in moonlight, Maimai’s fluffy outline looked like something out of a beautiful dream.

He really was the cat. He’d turned back.

Cheng Lin held his breath and slowly crouched down by the bed. He tentatively reached out with his hand and felt the familiar warmth and fur.

It was unmistakably his cat.

A sudden wave of emotion swept over him, softening his heart.

Even though the human Maimai had acted just like his cat, Cheng Lin had remained skeptical, unable to fully believe something so unscientific.

But now, here was Maimai, back in his cat form, sleeping peacefully.

Maimai was deep in sleep, his front paws tucked under his face, his tail curled around his head, and his body gently rising and falling with each breath.

Cheng Lin didn’t want to wake him but couldn’t bring himself to leave either.

He gave the cat a couple of gentle pats. When Maimai didn’t stir, he decided to pick him up and carry him back to his room.

As Cheng Lin picked up the tiny cat, he couldn’t help but think again about how unscientific it was for a cat to turn into a human. How could such a small creature transform into a full-sized person? It just didn’t follow the laws of nature.

He placed the cat on his bed and carefully tucked him in. Maimai stretched slightly but remained asleep.

The effort made Cheng Lin sleepy again. He leaned down, wrapped his arms around the cat, nuzzled his nose against Maimai’s head, and inhaled the scent of sunshine. Feeling content, he held the cat close and drifted back to sleep.

The next morning, the alarm went off, and Maimai woke up first. He stretched comfortably with his eyes closed, accidentally punching Cheng Lin in the cheek.

Cheng Lin grunted with a frown and woke up too.

When he opened his eyes, he found a boy in his arms staring back at him, wide-eyed.

Once again, Maimai had transformed back into his human form—completely unclothed—and Cheng Lin’s hand was still resting on his waist.

Shock hit Cheng Lin hard. He quickly pulled his hand away and scrambled backward.

“I remember falling asleep in the other room,” Maimai awkwardly, clearly nervous. “I have no idea how I ended up here.”

Cheng Lin kept his expression neutral, quickly thinking of a way to explain the situation.

He hadn’t expected that Maimai would unconsciously revert to his cat form at night and then back into a human by morning.

Deciding to shift the blame, he said, “Maybe you were sleepwalking.”

Maimai took the bait. He sat up, admitting, “Maybe that’s it. I didn’t do it on purpose.” As he spoke, the quilt slid down, revealing his upper body. In his cat form, his fur had a warm wheat color, but in human form, his skin was quite fair, with a small black mole on his collarbone.

Cheng Lin stiffly turned his head away and pointed toward the door. “…Go put on some clothes.”

Maimai quickly dressed himself, picking up his clothes from where they had fallen on the bed. He found it strange that not only was he naked, but he’d also ended up in Cheng Lin’s bed. He regretted sleeping so soundly.

He knew it was crucial to prevent this tragedy from happening again. If Cheng Lin truly got angry and decided to get rid of him, it would be disastrous.

Later, as Cheng Lin was changing his shoes to leave, he noticed Maimai’s slippers approaching in his peripheral vision. Like every morning, the cat was ready to see him off to work.

Cheng Lin straightened up and stared at Maimai for a moment.

He had fully accepted it now: the human was a cat, and the cat was a human. He had resigned himself to this strange reality. He knew he had been a bit harsh that morning, and now guilt gnawed at him, leaving him unsure how to make it right.

Maimai looked at him, a little confused but also hopeful that Cheng Lin might say something.

With an internal sigh, Cheng Lin leaned against the doorframe and said softly, “Be good at home, okay? Don’t spend the whole day on your phone.” It felt like he was talking to a child.

Maimai happily agreed, saw Cheng Lin off, and then returned to exploring his smartphone.

Cheng Lin had been patient while teaching him, especially since Maimai could barely read. He focused on showing him how to use the text-to-speech function, which allowed Maimai to understand the words on the screen, though it took some time.

Since Cheng Lin wasn’t big on replying to messages, Maimai gradually accepted that when Cheng Lin was “hunting”, he was mostly out of contact. So Maimai entertained himself at home, focusing on solving the one problem that occupied his mind.

In the afternoon, after finishing a bowl of salmon poke, Maimai sat on the couch, opened his phone, and continued searching online: How to make your master like you again?

He’d picked up the term “master” from the vet, where the doctors and nurses always referred to Cheng Lin as Maimai’s master.

Maimai was unaware of the more suggestive connotations associated with the term “master,” so he thought there was nothing wrong with using it. Anyway, searching for “how to make Cheng Lin like me again” had been fruitless, so he decided to try this new approach.

The question posed quite a challenge for the family-friendly internet.

Since there wasn’t a perfect match, the algorithm suggested similar questions.

Maimai randomly clicked on one and used the text-to-speech function to have the entire page read aloud:

“Questions Encyclopedia—User: Cool Breeze Blows Gently—”

Finally, something useful. The user wrote: “How do you make someone fall in love with you again? It’s simple! First, you need a career! Whether you’re a man or a woman, the most important thing is to be self-reliant! When you have a career and work hard, you’ll naturally radiate confidence! If you blossom, the butterflies will come!”

A career!

Maimai thought about it and realized it made perfect sense. It seemed like everyone had to work, and Cheng Lin went to work every day. Work was like hunting, and hunting provided the material foundation for life. And as the saying goes, the material foundation determines the superstructure.

Now that he was human, Maimai figured he should probably get a job too. The logic seemed sound.

So, Maimai painstakingly searched for things like “Jobs a cat can do,” “Jobs that don’t require a degree,” “How to quickly find a job,” and “What to prepare for a job hunt.” He felt like he had a solid plan forming in his mind and made a note to ask Cheng Lin when he could start working.

After finishing his “homework,” Maimai happily watched TV. When Cheng Lin returned home that evening and opened the door, Maimai greeted him with an overly formal, “Maimai greets Your Majesty!”

Cheng Lin nearly threw his motorcycle helmet in surprise, but Maimai caught it smoothly. “I’ll put this away for you, little one!”

“What show did you watch today?” Cheng Lin asked.

“Tyrant Emperor and the Lovely Eunuch,” Maimai replied. He figured that learning such flattering techniques might be useful—after all, there wasn’t much difference between currying favor with an emperor or a pet owner.

Cheng Lin choked on his words and said, “Whatever you’re watching… it’s all fake. Don’t imitate it.” He made a mental note to set up a review system later to filter the shows Maimai could watch, ensuring he was exposed to appropriate values.

Maimai let out an “Oh” and put Cheng Lin’s helmet on the rack.

As Cheng Lin took off his jacket, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing. But with all his clothes accounted for, he dismissed it as just his imagination.

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Author’s note:

Maimai makes a comeback