“What kind of job are you looking for?” Cheng Lin asked, hugging him tightly.
“I haven’t found one yet,” Maimai replied, feeling guilty.
“So, you became human just to get a job?” Cheng Lin teased, “You’ve got quite the ambition.”
“But everyone has a job. You have a job. I feel like I need something of my own too,” Maimai explained, trying to share his theory that building a career might make him more appealing to Cheng Lin and help him win back his master’s affection.
“I work so you don’t have to,” Cheng Lin said, taking off his coat and draping it over Maimai. “Playing is your job.”
They stood facing each other, with the rustling of a stray cat in the grass nearby.
Maimai became alert and subtly shifted to block Cheng Lin’s view.
Stray cats had it tough, sure, but the thought of sharing his master was unbearable. He especially didn’t want to be replaced just because some other orange cat had it all. The thought made him feel ashamed.
Cheng Lin slung Maimai’s bag over his shoulder and led him to the motorcycle.
“You remembered to bring a bag but forgot to wear extra layers?” Cheng Lin asked, “What did you even pack? This thing’s heavy.”
“I was worried I’d get hungry on the road, so I packed three cans of food,” Maimai answered. They were his favorite cans from before, but Cheng Lin didn’t let him eat them anymore. The leftovers had been stacked in the cupboard, forming a little tower.
He’d been thinking about them ever since—he couldn’t quite let them go.
Cheng Lin was at a loss for words. He plopped a helmet onto Maimai’s head, adjusted it, and then lifted the visor. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going out?”
Maimai pressed his lips together and stayed silent.
With his hair and half his face hidden under the helmet, only his round eyes were visible, staring up at Cheng Lin.
This time, Cheng Lin surprisingly didn’t push for an answer. He just snapped the visor shut with a click, letting his frustration fade.
That night, after brushing his teeth, Maimai handed over his smartphone under Cheng Lin’s supervision and prepared to go to bed.
However, Cheng Lin didn’t leave. He leaned on the bedroom door frame and asked, “Can we… talk for a bit?”
Maimai nodded. “Okay.” Cheng Lin walked into the room and sat gently on the edge of the bed.
Now that the moment had arrived, Cheng Lin wasn’t sure how to start the heart-to-heart conversation he had in mind.
Maimai’s solo outing today forced Cheng Lin to confront something he’d been avoiding—
Even though he’d told Maimai that playing was his job, now that Maimai had become human and couldn’t revert to being a cat for the time being, it was clear he needed to integrate into society and engage with the outside world.
Maimai should see more of the world, make friends, and gain experience…
But could he still remain just Cheng Lin’s cat?
This thought left Cheng Lin with a strange mix of sadness and the inevitability of change.
His shifting expression was so obvious that it made Maimai nervously reassure him, “I won’t go out looking for jobs randomly anymore.”
“About your… identity issue, give me some time. I’ll sort it out. Otherwise, even if you wanted a job, you wouldn’t be able to find a decent one,” Cheng Lin said, “But instead of working, would you be interested in… going to school?”
“What would I study?” Maimai asked.
Cheng Lin scratched his head. “You’re only a year old but look like a high schooler. There’s no way you could take the college entrance exam—you haven’t even gone through basic education.”
Maimai felt ashamed. “I’ve just been a lazy good-for-nothing.”
“That’s not true.” Cheng Lin couldn’t stand hearing his cat put himself down like that, so he patted his head. “You’re already amazing. I mean, who would believe… a cat could go out and try to get a job on his own?”
Maimai couldn’t resist leaning into the touch, closing his eyes as he rubbed against Cheng Lin’s palm.
Not only had Cheng Lin hugged him today, but now he was petting his head. It was enough to make a cat purr with happiness.
Cheng Lin’s hand stiffened for a moment before he let it drop. He quickly changed the subject. “It must be boring being home alone. How about I take you out tomorrow?”
After checking with Maimai, Cheng Lin took the day off and brought him to see a movie.
This was the first time Maimai got to go somewhere fun with his master that wasn’t a vet clinic or the neighborhood park. He was excited.
They picked a movie because it was similar to watching TV together.
At the mall’s top-floor cinema, Cheng Lin was at the kiosk getting their tickets when he noticed Maimai sitting at a small round table, completely focused on the popcorn at the concession stand.
Just then, a fresh batch came out, filling the air with the sweet smell of caramel.
Cheng Lin asked, “Do you want some popcorn?”
Maimai hesitated. He didn’t nod or shake his head but pointed at the sign under the counter and asked, “Does this mean the popcorn combo is 68 yuan?”
“Yeah, it’s a large popcorn and two colas,” Cheng Lin replied. “It’s a couple’s… I mean, a combo for two. I’ll get it for you.”
Maimai asked cautiously, “Do we have enough money for it?”
Considering how little TV taught him about basic math, it wasn’t surprising that Maimai was clueless about this.
What Maimai didn’t know was that his daily meals cost twice that amount.
Cheng Lin couldn’t resist teasing him. “I can’t afford it, but if I sold you, I could.”
Maimai believed him. “Then let’s skip it.”
Cheng Lin tugged at the red string on Maimai’s wrist. “Do you have any idea how much this pendant cost?”
“No,” Maimai replied, still tense. “Is it expensive?”
Forget it, Cheng Lin thought. “Not really, but don’t just toss it aside.”
Maimai carefully touched the heavy, solid gold lock charm and said, “I won’t throw it away. You gave it to me.”
With the cashier giving him a knowing smile, Cheng Lin ended up ordering the couple’s combo. Along with the popcorn and colas, they also got a tiny bear keychain.
Even after they sat down, the cat couldn’t stop thinking about the cost. Hugging the bucket of popcorn, he turned and asked, “Cheng Lin, how much do you make at your job?”
Finally, his chance had come. Cheng Lin gave him an impressive number and straightened up, curious to see the cat’s reaction.
Maimai thought for a moment, but he had no frame of reference. How did it compare to 68 yuan? So, he asked, “Who makes more, you or Duanmu Ze?”
“Who’s Duanmu Ze?”
“Duanmu Ze, the president of Ruize Group. He’s a billionaire who takes a helicopter to work every day.”
“Which TV show is this from?”
Maimai proudly announced, “Young Master Ze’s—”
Cheng Lin quickly covered Maimai’s mouth. “TV shows are heavily dramatized. There’s a lot of exaggeration. You can’t believe everything you see.”
Maimai nodded.
“In the real world, the richest guy isn’t Duanmu Ze. It’s a bald guy named Bezos,” Cheng Lin continued. “There’s also a guy named Musk, but neither of them are Chinese.”
“Got it.” Maimai said earnestly, “Cheng Lin, can you afford a helicopter?”
He could, but what would he even do with a helicopter?
“No, it’s too expensive.” Cheng Lin replied sulkily, “Why don’t you go live with Duanmu Ze?”
“I want to stay with you,” Maimai said, “If you can’t buy one, then forget it.”
During the movie, Maimai finished the caramel popcorn and drank all the cola. Once he was full, he copied the girl sitting in front of them and rested his head on Cheng Lin’s shoulder. Cheng Lin stiffened slightly but eventually didn’t push him away.
After the movie, they turned left out of the mall and headed to a country park. It was quiet and scenic, exactly the kind of place Cheng Lin thought was perfect for Maimai’s first real outing. He didn’t want to take the cat somewhere crowded and enclosed, so he picked the earliest movie showing to avoid people.
Thankfully, the cat handled it well, showing nothing but intense curiosity. He didn’t seem out of place at all.
Cheng Lin started to realize that Maimai might be braver and stronger than he’d given him credit for. After all, he had the guts to leave the house on his own and look for a job. Was this even a cat? More like a tiger in disguise.
The “tiger” then fixed his gaze on a cotton candy stand not too far away, so Cheng Lin ended up buying him one.
Maimai watched the vendor intently as he spun the fluffy candy around a long stick in the machine, the white sugar threads growing bigger and bigger.
He sincerely praised, “Wow—that’s amazing—”
Fortunately, he still looked young enough that he didn’t come off as someone with a mental problem.
The vendor, receiving considerable emotional support, silently made a huge cotton candy cloud and handed it over. “Here you go.”
Maimai held it up and asked, “Cheng Lin, do you want some?”
Cheng Lin declined, so Maimai started munching on it with full concentration. So much concentration, in fact, that he stopped watching where he was going. Thinking this was extremely dangerous, Cheng Lin guided him over to a nearby bench to sit down.
The weather was perfect. The sunshine warmed them up, chasing away the chill and adding a touch of coziness. Nearby, the branches were decorated with red lanterns, signaling that people were gearing up to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival.
The bench faced a lake where a few elderly couples, clearly retired, were taking turns posing for photos.
Maimai suddenly remembered something and clumsily pulled his phone from his pocket. “Last time, I found a lot of photos of me in the gallery.”
He showed the phone to Cheng Lin.
This phone had originally been Cheng Lin’s backup, synced with his main one. Besides a few work-related screenshots, it had an album titled “Maimai,” filled with photos of the cat doing everything.
Maimai eating, Maimai sleeping, Maimai sunbathing, Maimai watching TV on the sofa.
There were even plenty of close-ups.
Maimai sniffing the camera lens, the pads on Maimai’s paws, Maimai’s round eyes.
Cheng Lin instructed him, “Keep all of them. Don’t delete any of the photos.”
“I won’t delete them,” Maimai promised as he scrolled to the beginning of the album.
In the first picture, a tiny kitten, barely the size of a palm, had its eyes half-closed, looking weak as it was fed from a bottle.
Maimai said, “Look, I was so ugly back then.”
“Do you remember any of this?”
“Just a little bit,” Maimai replied seriously, “Last winter was so cold. I was nearly frozen to death. You found me in the bushes and even rubbed me to warm me up.”
Cheng Lin’s expression softened. “You remember all that.”
Maimai turned off the phone and asked, “Why did you keep taking pictures of me?”
“Just because,” Cheng Lin paused, then added, unusually straightforward, “I thought you were really cute.”
“But since I turned into a human, you stopped taking photos,” Maimai pointed out.
The album’s last update was from a day in January, right before Maimai transformed. The photo showed Maimai curled up on Cheng Lin’s bed, hugging his favorite teddy bear and sleeping peacefully.
Cheng Lin glanced at him. Maimai’s expression was calm, without a hint of blame or anger—nor any signs of trying to be cute.
After hesitating for two seconds, Cheng Lin raised his phone. “Let me take a couple of pictures.”
Maimai had sugar strands stuck around his lips, making him look fluffy. He happily licked his lips, straightened his back, and looked at Cheng Lin.
A breeze blew past, and the sunlight that had been blocked finally poured down freely.
Cheng Lin looked over the phone at Maimai. The light made his pupils appear a lighter shade, like amber.
Cheng Lin thought how strange it was. Maimai’s skin, once a warm wheat color, was now so pale. His hair had turned brown with a slight curl, like a sculpted Cupid—an indescribable angel.
Maimai wasn’t looking at the camera. He was focused entirely on Cheng Lin.
As their eyes met, Cheng Lin’s mind suddenly went blank, leaving only one clear thought: Maimai liked him.
But this feeling was so pure, so untainted by any specific category of love—romantic, platonic, or familial. It wasn’t because of Cheng Lin’s looks, wealth, or personality.
It was simply because he was Cheng Lin.
He felt undeserving of it.
His heart raced, overwhelmed by a strange, indescribable emotion. He couldn’t bring himself to meet Maimai’s gaze, let alone press the shutter button.
“Is it done?” Maimai leaned forward, reading Cheng Lin’s body language and eagerly looking at the camera in his hands. “Let me see!”
Cheng Lin mumbled, “I didn’t take any.”
Maimai was momentarily stunned. “You’re the one who said you wanted to take pictures.”
“Alright.” After a few seconds, Cheng Lin stood up, saying, “Let’s not take pictures.”
