Chapter 2: First Night as a Feline

The car was so quiet it was unnerving; any tiny sound could be captured.

Duan Yan opened the car window, letting the outside air flow in to cool the suspicious flush that had appeared on her fair face.

Fortunately, the car’s interior was dim, otherwise her manager, Yang Jun, would have noticed something was amiss long ago, and then there would have been one more person in an awkward situation.

She had no experience raising cats and didn’t know why a cat would knead that particular spot. She would have to wait until tomorrow to make an appointment with a pet doctor and ask.

Thankfully, after she had pulled its paw away, the cat didn’t knead there anymore. Duan Yan calmed her emotions and saw the cat in her arms looking listless, so she soothed its back with her fingers.

As her cool fingertips lightly brushed across Song Jin’s fur, it sent a wave of gentle sensations, a mere touch.

Song Jin felt a tingling current dart across her face, and she fought the urge to move away from Duan Yan.

But she was still mortified by her earlier actions, so she lay obediently in her embrace, letting her pet her.

Just then, a “click” broke the silence. The driver had returned. The car started up again, driving smoothly.

Duan Yan placed the cat from her arms onto her lap, petting it intermittently while holding her phone, her activity unknown.

Song Jin silently gave herself a pep talk and remained still, lying lazily on Duan Yan’s lap.

With the gentle rocking of the vehicle and Duan Yan’s warmth, she gradually began to feel a wave of drowsiness. She was half-asleep until Duan Yan picked her up, only then realizing they had reached their destination.

Song Jin recognized this place; it was an extremely private villa district in Shanghai. It was within her expectations that Duan Yan would live here.

The door slowly opened, and a kind-faced, middle-aged woman came to greet them, taking the items from Duan Yan’s hands.

“Xiao Yan, you’re back. Was the awards ceremony tiring? Hurry and take a shower and rest…” she chattered on, every word filled with concern for Duan Yan.

[TL Note: “Xiao Yan” is an affectionate nickname; “Xiao” means “little” and is often used before given names.]

“Thank you, Auntie Lian. I’m fine. What’s so tiring about going up to accept a trophy? You, on the other hand, just had the family doctor find something a few days ago. You should rest early and take care of your health.”

Duan Yan visibly relaxed, her tone familiar. Then, she excitedly pointed to the cat in her arms, showing it off, “Look, my cat!”

“So cute! Where did you find such an adorable little kitten!” Duan Lian appraised Song Jin, playing along enthusiastically. “Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, I’ve placed the things that arrived earlier in the living room.”

‘This Auntie Lian must be someone Duan Yan trusts deeply.’

‘She had never seen Duan Yan speak to anyone with such a tone, as if she had let down all her pretenses, revealing her innermost thoughts with simple, direct honesty.’

But Song Jin had no time to ponder this too deeply. She was here to uncover her rival’s secrets to success and dig up some dirt, not to take an interest in Duan Yan’s private life.

The moment she heard the word “things!”

Song Jin’s eyes lit up in a flash. She slid out of Duan Yan’s embrace and, ignoring Duan Yan’s cry of surprise, eagerly trotted on her little legs, looking all around.

The living room’s decor was simple and modern, with almost no extra decorations besides the necessary furniture.

Song Jin’s gaze swept across the room, finally landing on a table piled high with boxes of various sizes.

She struggled to jump onto the table, wanting to dig out the skincare products Duan Yan used. However, when she pawed open a box, she was disappointed to see the words “cat food” and “cat supplies.”

Just then, Duan Yan and Duan Lian also walked into the living room and sat on a nearby sofa.

Seeing the little cat looking so dejected on the table, Duan Yan burst out laughing.

“She’s probably hungry, isn’t she?” Duan Lian chuckled.

“Probably. She ran over so fast,” Duan Yan said as she took out a pair of scissors, preparing to open the cat food box.

‘She’s not planning to feed me cat food, is she!’

‘Anything but that!’

Song Jin screamed internally, starting to regret tricking Duan Yan into bringing her home. But regret was useless now; Duan Yan had already poured the cat food into her palm and was holding it out to her.

‘Does she really have to eat cat food?’

‘If I don’t eat, will it seem too strange?’

Song Jin hesitated. She nudged the cat food with her paw and sniffed it. The aroma of the kibble filled her nose, but she was a person, not a cat.

Song Jin squeezed her eyes shut in anguish.

“Why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like it?” Duan Yan wondered.

“Stray cats might not be used to cat food. I’ll go get a ham sausage from the fridge and see if it’ll eat that,” Duan Lian, having raised cats before, suggested knowledgeably.

‘I don’t have to eat cat food! Ham sausage is amazing!’

Song Jin’s eyes brightened as if she’d seen her savior. She looked at Duan Yan with expectant eyes, even letting out a couple of “meow meow meows.”

After finishing her first freeloaded meal at Duan Yan’s place, Duan Yan opened the other boxes and took out a pile of cat toys to tease her with.

Song Jin glanced disdainfully at the toy Duan Yan was brandishing in front of her. ‘How could a grown adult be attracted to such a childish, mindless game? What’s so fun about chasing a furball.’

“You don’t like it?” Duan Yan shook the toy in her hand, then switched to another one.

“A little kitten like this has a small brain capacity. If you go too fast, she can’t keep up. No, slow it down a bit.”

“True, that was too fast. She probably can’t handle it.” Duan Yan thought about it carefully. With such a slender body, she probably got this hungry because her hunting speed was too slow.

She couldn’t make things difficult for a little cat. If she wanted the kitten to play with her, she had to go at a pace the kitten could accept.

Song Jin was instantly provoked by this!

‘She can’t do it? How can she not do it? She must!’

Duan Yan chose a rod with a yarn ball hanging from it, which also had a few bells attached.

Song Jin fixed her gaze on the yarn ball swinging in the air. Timing it perfectly, she slowly arched her body, front paws slightly bent, and then lunged forward, accurately catching the yarn ball.

Then she lifted her chin, glancing triumphantly at Duan Yan—‘How about that? I dare you to say I can’t do it.’

“Wow, amazing!” Duan Yan exclaimed, completely smitten by such a charmingly spirited kitten.

Having received Duan Yan’s approval, Song Jin held her head even higher, her tail secretly perking up. The entire cat was ecstatic.

She released the yarn ball, and Duan Yan gradually increased the difficulty.

But who was she, Song Jin? She had to catch them all!

She pushed off powerfully with her hind legs, her body tracing an elegant arc through the air. With a light thud and the sound of bells clinking against the floor, Song Jin expertly caught the yarn ball.

Song Jin became lost in Duan Yan’s chorus of praises like “amazing” and “that’s great,” finding the game more and more interesting. She played with increasing vigor, not noticing that Duan Yan had quietly gone upstairs to the second floor, and the one playing with her had been replaced by Duan Lian.

She caught another difficult ball but didn’t hear Duan Yan’s gasp of wonder and praise.

Song Jin looked up, and Duan Yan’s figure was gone. In her place was Auntie Lian, the one who had brought her the ham sausage. She was instantly angry and let out a furious sound.

“Meow meow meow!”

‘Where did she go? Pet me and then run off, is that it!’

‘So Duan Yan didn’t even see my performance just now? Then why am I still playing this boring game?’

“She went to take a shower. She’ll be down in a bit.” Duan Lian, seeing that the cat had bonded with its owner, picked the kitten up, trying to soothe it, but it had the opposite effect.

Song Jin tilted her head. ‘A shower?’

‘I remember people in this circle usually apply face masks while showering to maintain their skin’s glow. This is perfect. I can find out the secret to Duan Yan’s ageless skin!’

She pretended as if she was about to scratch, successfully making Duan Lian let go of her, and then quickly scampered up the stairs to the second floor.

The sound of water was coming from a bathroom not far away. Song Jin followed the sound and ran over.

But the door was closed, so she crouched in front of it, lying in wait.

Seeing that she was just crouching by the door, Duan Lian didn’t pay her any more mind. She informed Duan Yan inside, then turned to tidy up other areas.

An unknown amount of time passed.

With a “click,” the door opened.

“What is all this? Running off just like that!”

Seeing the message Song Jin had left, her manager, Su Xun, found it very strange.

[Sister Su, I won’t be taking any jobs for the next few months. Something urgent came up. I’ll be back once it’s handled, so don’t worry~]

What’s more, she had found Song Jin’s phone in the nanny van. This didn’t seem like something urgent; it was more like a kidnapping.

But after checking with security, there were indeed no traces of kidnappers, and the surveillance footage showed Song Jin getting into the car.

“Whatever, I’ll call President Song first and report this,” Su Xun frowned.

Song Yu, Song Jin’s older sister, was now the head of the Song family and managed countless affairs daily, so the call only connected on the second try.

After Su Xun explained the situation, the woman on the other end of the line was not as panicked as Su Xun had imagined. Instead, she asked a strange question.

– “Did any animals leave Xiao Jin’s car?” the woman’s clear voice came through the phone.

‘An animal?’

Su Xun suddenly remembered. “Yes, an orange cat that came from who-knows-where jumped out of the car window…”

– “Alright, I understand. Don’t book any jobs for the next few months. We’ll talk after Xiao Jin has handled her business. Also, don’t tell anyone. If anyone asks, just say she’s at a closed training session arranged by the company.” Song Yu’s voice was gentle but carried an air of unquestionable authority.

“But…” Although Su Xun had only been Song Jin’s manager for a year, she cared for her a great deal.

– “Don’t worry, she’ll be back in less than a month. You’ve worked hard too. Thank you for taking care of Xiao Jin this past year. I’ll have my secretary arrange a trip for you soon. Of course, your salary will be paid as usual.”

“Okay.” Su Xun didn’t insist further. She hung up and, following Song Yu’s instructions, canceled all recent jobs.

‘The affairs of rich families are so complicated. She was clearly so concerned about Song Jin before, even calling me to take extra care of her. Now that something so strange has happened, she wants to suppress it instead.’

‘Oh well, it’s not my place as a worker bee to worry. All I can do is silently pray for Song Jin’s safe return.’

“Did something happen at the company?”

The woman lying next to Song Yu asked, rubbing her drowsy eyes.

She was Song Yu’s secretary, Zhou Jiangqi.

Their relationship at work was strictly professional; no one would have ever guessed they were actually lovers.

“Sorry, did I wake you? I’ll take calls outside next time.” Song Yu placed her phone on the bedside table and lay back down. “It’s nothing, Xiao Jin just transformed. She’s become a cat too. But since she left a message, it means she’s safe.”

“We should still look for her, just in case she was taken away by some bad person.” The woman sat up straight, the blanket only covering her from the shoulders down, revealing lotus-white arms and snowy shoulders. Amidst the whiteness, a few red marks were conspicuously suspicious.

“Mm, it’s probably fine. I can feel that Xiao Jin is in no mortal danger.” Song Yu wrapped an arm around her shoulder, caressing her smooth skin with very obvious intent. “Alright, it’s not late yet, let’s go to sleep.”

“Mm.” Zhou Jiangqi smiled and slapped Song Yu’s hand away, rolling up in the blanket to the other side of the bed. “Time for sleep now. Don’t disturb me.”

“Honey~” Song Yu whined pitifully.

Zhou Jiangqi didn’t make a sound, closing her eyes as if she had already fallen asleep. The soft light on her face made her look serene and peaceful.

Song Yu gazed at her sleeping face, not giving up. She wrapped a fluffy, orange-toned tail—just like Song Jin’s—around Zhou Jiangqi’s arm.

Zhou Jiangqi, tickled by the fluffy tail, grabbed the fidgeting appendage and looked at Song Yu with a grin.

“Don’t bother me, I want to sleep.”

“Honey, tomorrow is the weekend, no work…”

The unspoken meaning was that it didn’t matter how late they stayed up, since there was no work anyway.

“Alright then. But tomorrow, you have to let me pet your cat ears and tail.”

Song Yu nodded repeatedly, her head clouded by beauty, completely forgetting how Zhou Jiangqi had petted her until she was almost bald last time.