Chapter – 07
Admittedly, Shao Sui was startled when he was first bittenâafter all, the abdominal muscles were a sensitive area.
But soon he realized Mi Mi hadn’t actually bitten downâit only seemed fierce, but she was controlling her force. To protect her own balls, Mi Mi reluctantly released her teeth.
Shao Sui looked down. Although the skin wasn’t broken, the teeth marks were deepâMi Mi had controlled it perfectly. He deliberately said, “That hurt so much.”
Mi Mi’s body stiffened. She slightly raised her head to peek at the human’s expression. From this angle looking up, his face looked completely distorted, enormous, with his brows knitted together as if he really was in pain.
Mi Mi felt a bit guilty and, in an attempt to cover it up, licked the spot she had bitten twice.
*Don’t say it hurts anymore.*
Shao Sui felt a ticklish prickling sensation from the licks.
A cat’s tongue has barbsâno wonder she could comb her fur so smoothly every day.
Shao Sui didn’t like having any liquid on his skin outside of bathing timeâit was very uncomfortable.
Fortunately, with this little interlude, Mi Mi became very cooperative. He sped up and brushed her teeth.
The kitten’s teeth were very healthy, though on the day she was brought to the hospital, her mouth was full of blood. Luckily, treatment was timely, and now she had recovered wellârosy gums and neat teeth.
After brushing, Shao Sui wrapped his finger in a disposable cotton towel and wiped away the remaining cat toothpaste around her teeth.
The seller said the toothpaste could be swallowed directly, but Shao Sui wasn’t convinced.
Mi Mi, who had just started licking halfway, kicked Shao Sui and let out a dissatisfied “mrow.”
Shao Sui scared her: “You can’t eat thisâit’s poisonous.”
Mi Mi froze abruptly, clearly traumatized by her previous experience.
Shao Sui added: “A tiny bit is fine.”
Only then did Mi Mi relax, resting her broken leg on Shao Sui’s palm to support her balance. Shao Sui didn’t know what she was trying to do, so he held her with one hand while cleaning the cat hair off the sink with the other.
When Shao Sui wasn’t paying attention, Mi Mi quickly shook her body left and right, sending fur flying everywhere, with fine droplets of water splashing all over him.
“…” Shao Sui’s face was expressionless as he wiped his upper body with a tissue. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you.”
“Meow.”
*What are you talking about? This Majesty doesn’t understand.*
“Stop licking.” He scruffed her by the nape. “You’re even drinking bathwaterâreally not picky.”
“…” *Male humans deserve to be bitten to death.*
Mi Mi chomped at the air to vent her fury.
At this moment, Shao Sui finally understood a little why so many people liked cats even though they had low obedience and bad tempersâthey were indeed quite interesting.
One reason was that they were a bit cute. Another was that humans loved to be mischievous and enjoyed teasing these proud, tsundere little creatures.
After Shao Sui turned on the hairdryer, Mi Mi became very docile, shrinking her neck and staying completely still. The hairdryer couldn’t be too close, or she’d start struggling, so Shao Sui had to keep his distance. Luckily, he’d only wiped her with a damp towel without actually wetting her through, so she dried quickly.
“Mraow.”
“Such a mess of meows. Don’t you cats have a unified language?” Shao Sui flicked Mi Mi’s forehead. “Don’t move yet.”
Then he went into the bathroom, cleaned the carrier thoroughly, put on gloves, placed the freshly washed cat inside, and carried her to the floor-to-ceiling window in the study.
“Stay in there for a while. I’ll let you out after I’m done cleaning.”
As soon as Shao Sui left the study, he heard the cat howling inside, as if accusing him of breaking his word.
When he went back in, Mi Mi shut up.
When he closed the door, she started howling again.
Shao Sui laughed in exasperation: “Have I been too lenient with you?”
On the first day, she only dared to huddle like a quail in the bookshelf cubby. Now she not only hit him and bit him but also threw tantrums all the time.
Shao Sui: “You really are…”
The moment he turned around and left without closing the door, Mi Mi shrank into the corner of the carrier, convinced that Shao Sui would come back with a stick or a hanger, his face twisted in fury, and start beating her.
Mi Mi trembled at her own imagination. Just as she was starting to calculate the odds of surviving a jump through the screen window, Shao Sui came back in.
He wasn’t holding any torture instrumentsâjust a can of cat food.
*Was he going to hit her with the can?*
“The previous one’s all gone. This is a new flavor that arrived today.” Shao Sui crouched in front of the carrier, opened the can in front of the cat, and placed it inside.
Mi Mi didn’t move or meow for a long while.
“Hm?” Shao Sui pushed it further in. “Don’t like this flavor? Good thing I only bought two cans…”
Before he finished, the proud one-armed warrior shuffled over to the can, her pink tongue extending and retracting as she licked at the food.
“…” Aside from the egg yolk at noon today, Mi Mi had never eaten in front of Shao Sui. She’d usually sniff the opened can and then urge him away with her eyes.
Shao Sui wanted to reach out and pet her, but stopped halfway.
The cat was clean, but he hadn’t washed himself yet.
Teacher Shao, with his OCD, began diligently cleaning.
He first washed and disinfected his hands, changed into his morning loungewear, disinfected the bedroom, and then started cleaning the kitchen, balcony, and living room.
Thankfully, the apartment was only about seventy square meters, so cleaning wasn’t too exhausting.
Shao Sui had considered hiring a cleaner, but it was hard to find someone who wasn’t sloppy and paid as much attention to detail as he did. Rather than spending money and getting frustrated, he preferred to do it himself.
After finishing the outside areas, he carried the carrier out and placed it on the living room floor, then started cleaning the studyâwiping the desk, dusting books, mopping, disinfecting.
By the time he entered the bathroom again, Shao Sui was drenched in sweat.
He stripped off his clothes, first tidied up the area where he’d washed the cat, then went into the inner bathroom to shower.
The sound of rushing water filled the room as the woody-scented shampoo foam slid down Shao Sui’s long, powerful legs and into the drain.
Refreshed all over.
Shao Sui turned off the shower, dried off, blow-dried his hair, and got dressed before leaving the bathroom. He touched the spot on his skin where he’d been bitten earlier, wondering if Mi Mi had gotten impatientâwhen suddenly, a blur shot across the dining table and quickly shrank into the corner of the sofa.
At that moment, Shao Sui was immensely grateful that there were no dead corners in his homeâotherwise, the cat would have been dirty again.
Shao Sui fished Mi Mi out: “You can open the carrier on your own? How impressive of youâ”
Mi Mi let out a weak “meow.”
Shao Sui narrowed his eyes and pinched her pink paw pad: “Wet?”
Mi Mi ducked her head, trying to bury her face in her belly.
Shao Sui grabbed the cat by the scruff, forcing her to look up, and noticed her mouth was a little wet too.
She’d just finished eating a canâthat was understandable, but…
Shao Sui walked over to the dining table and looked at the cup of hot water he had poured earlier to cool down before his shower. The lid he’d loosely placed on top had been pushed aside at some point, the water level had dropped noticeably, and a few droplets had splashed out beside it.
Shao Sui held the cat up, incredulous: “Not only did you drink from my cup, but you also washed your feet in it?”
Her Majesty the Cat said nothing.
Shao Sui felt dizzy for a moment and ground his teeth: “You didn’t help yourself to the water I left on my desk these past few days too, did you?”
It had never occurred to Shao Sui that a cat would steal a human’s waterâand with her front leg broken, there was no way she could jump onto the desk, so he’d been completely unprepared.
Seeing the cat’s guilty look, he nearly blacked out and seriously considered drinking some disinfectant to sanitize his digestive system.
“No wonder you never drank the water I set out for you and still didn’t die of thirst.” Shao Sui smiled thinly. “So you’ve been drinking *my* water all along?”
“Meow⌔
Mi Mi even had the nerve to tuck her tail, as if it wasn’t her fault but rather the human bullying her.
Shao Sui sat down on the sofa, pinned the cat on his lap, and fumed, looking her over left and right without coming up with any punishment. Finally, he grabbed the ruler from the coffee tableâstartling the cat so much she burrowed straight into his chest.
“…”
All cats were manipulative, weren’t they?
Who could possibly hit such a creature?
âTeacher Shao could.
As a teacher, Shao Sui knew well that mistakes required correctionâotherwise, bad habits would only grow worse. He gripped the ruler and gave Mi Mi’s rear end a few swift *pia pia* smacks.
Mi Mi had no idea what a ruler was. At first, she trembled in fear, but gradually she realized this flat stick didn’t hurt at all. Before she knew it, her butt was lifting higher, and her fluffy tail was pointing to the sky.
“…” Shao Sui looked it upâa cat lifting its rear and tail meant it was feeling comfortable.
He cupped the cat’s little head in one hand: “Are you a masochist?”
Her Majesty didn’t understand what “masochist” meant, but she could tell it wasn’t a compliment, so she gave the human a punch.
The human responded: “Acting all clingy every single day.”
“Meow!” *You’re* the clingy one!
The punishment had turned into a reward. Unable to stand seeing her so comfortable, Shao Sui put the ruler away: “If you drink from my cup again, I’ll confiscate your canned food and make you eat kibble.”
That bag of kibble had cost him over two hundred yuan, and this damn cat refused to touch it.
*Knock knockâ*
Someone suddenly knocked at the door.
Startled, Mi Mi shot straight up and clung tightly to Shao Sui’s neck.
“Ouch!” That hurt for real. Shao Sui’s face twisted. “Let go of your clawsâthey’re digging into my skin!”
Mi Mi reluctantly released her claws but still clung tightly to Shao Sui’s neck.
Admittedly, Teacher Shao was quite pleased by this.
He endured the pain and patted the cat’s back: “Alright, it’s okay. It’s just my delivery.”
As soon as he got up to move, Mi Mi leaped off him, limped into the study, and with surprising cleverness, kicked the door shut behind her.
“…”
Shao Sui shook his head, opened the door, and said to the delivery person: “Just leave it on the floor, thanks.”
Delivery person: “You’re welcome.”
The moment Shao Sui turned around to grab the disinfectant spray, another package arrivedâhe’d ordered a vacuum cleaner from a nearby vendor at noon, and they’d promised door-to-door delivery.
The courier said: “There’s a warranty card and instruction manual inside. Just contact us directly if you have any issuesâafter-sales support is included.”
“Okay, thanks.”
After disinfecting the outer packaging, Shao Sui brought everything into the entryway, closed the door, and unboxed the items.
Meanwhile, once she realized the stranger had left, Mi Mi started scratching at the study door, meowing nonstop, desperate to get out.
“Can close the door but can’t open it?” Shao Sui went over and opened it for her. “Don’t scratch. This isn’t my houseâif it gets damaged, we’ll have to pay for it.”
No sooner had he spoken than the damn cat deliberately gave the door two *bang bang* thumpsâthough without extending her claws.
Somehow, it carried a distinctly mischievous vibe.
Shao Sui pulled out his phone, confirmed receipt of the vacuum cleaner, and noticed Cheng Ke had sent another message: *Oh, forgot to mentionâeven though male calicos are infertile, they still need to be neutered. Otherwise, during heat, they might spray urine everywhere to mark territory.*
*Cheng Ke: In case you decide to keep him long-term, just giving you a heads-up.*
Shao Sui paused, then replied: *No “in case.” Something as important as neutering should be decided by his real owner.*
Cheng Ke’s reply was very perfunctory: *Mmhmm hmm.*
“…” Why didn’t she believe him?
Shao Sui ignored Cheng Ke and started unboxing the deliveries with the cat.
He did the unpacking; the cat did the quality inspection.
“This is a scratching boardâfor sharpening claws.” Shao Sui reached out and scraped it a few times as a demonstration. “Like this. You were raised by someone before, so you should know how to use it, right?”
Mi Mi lowered her head and scraped along with him a few times.
Shao Sui wasn’t too pleased: “Why is it shedding crumbs?”
Having never owned a cat before, Teacher Shao had no idea that scratching boards came in different qualities. But seeing Mi Mi having fun, he didn’t put it awayâjust made a mental note to buy a better-quality one later.
The next package was a small ball. After unboxing it, Shao Sui tossed it toward the balcony. Mi Mi instinctively stood up, excitement flashing in her eyesâeven with only three usable legs, she arched her back and hopped after it, her pupils dilating wide. She finally managed to grab the ball in her mouth, only to turn around and find the human holding up his phone, secretly taking pictures of her.
Caught in the act, Shao Sui showed no guilt. He beckoned: “Come here, give me the ball.”
She gave the ballâbut not into Shao Sui’s hand.
It was as if Mi Mi had deliberately calculated the distance, dropping it just out of his reachâclose enough that he’d have to stand up and take a couple of steps.
Mi Mi sat primly, staring intently at Shao Sui.
“Looks like your owner never played this game with youâ”
Thinking she didn’t know how to play, Shao Sui bent down, picked up the ball, and tossed it farther away, waiting in place for the cat to bring it back. Mi Mi dashed over, grabbed it in her mouth, and on her return, once again stopped exactly where Shao Sui couldn’t quite reach.
She opened her mouth and let the ball drop to the floor.
“…”
Shao Sui had no choice but to stand up, take two steps, and bend over to pick it up.
Just as he was about to touch it, Mimi stretched out her paw and swatted the ball farther away.
After this happened a few times, Shao Sui narrowed his eyes with dawning realization: Wait a minute… am I being played by this damn cat? Like training a dog or something.
