Chapter 18: Even your tail

Under the careful care of Mu Jingyi and Aunt Chen, Ning Jiu’s body gradually recovered from its frailty, his energy growing better day by day, and the sunken cheeks on his face finally gained a little flesh.

He loved lying by the window basking in the sun, so Mu Jingyi specially set up a comfortable hammock for him and hung a layer of sheer gauze curtains over the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

The winter sunlight wasn’t too harsh; filtered through the thin gauze, it came in at just the right warmth.

Today, Mu Jingyi didn’t get his usual “welcome home” from the kitty either. His little cat was lying in the hammock, sleeping soundly and peacefully.

Mei Qiu (Coal Ball) was curled up in Ning Jiu’s arms, with one of Ning Jiu’s hands resting gently on its head. The big cat’s white tail draped over the kitten like a warm quilt, gleaming under the sunlight.

The sleeping Ning Jiu looked utterly serene. His faintly trembling lashes cast soft shadows beneath his eyes, and his steady breathing caused his chest to rise and fall rhythmically. The silver-white cat fur and hair were turned half-transparent golden by the sun, as if a layer of delicate golden gauze had been laid over him.

In the warm winter sunlight, tiny dust motes drifted slowly through the air, and time itself seemed to slow down.

Mu Jingyi stood beside the hammock, tilting his head to trace Ning Jiu’s face bit by bit with his gaze.

A warmth called happiness took concrete shape in that moment.

Right at dinnertime, Ning Jiu woke up from hunger. He opened his eyes and turned his head—meeting Mu Jingyi’s gaze perfectly.

“Sir, you’re back…”

Still a bit dazed from sleep, Ning Jiu’s voice came out husky. The eyes he opened reflected the glow of the setting sun, making them even brighter and more translucent.

His mind restarted slowly from the dream. He blinked in confusion. Once he gradually came to, the little cat didn’t forget to reach both arms toward Mu Jingyi:

“Sir, welcome home.”

Mu Jingyi leaned in, wrapped his arms around him, and buried his face in the kitty’s silver-white hair.

He took a deep breath of cat—the scent of sunshine.

The kitty’s body had been warmed thoroughly by the sun too. Mu Jingyi’s palm rested against Ning Jiu’s waist, the warm body heat passing through a layer of clothing to his hand.

He held Ning Jiu tightly and refused to let go. The closeness woke Mei Qiu from its light doze. It squeezed its head out from between the two of them, meowed twice in quiet protest, then jumped down from Ning Jiu’s body to the floor.

It glanced back at its boss and the human—only to find the two of them so wrapped up in sweet affection that they completely ignored its existence. They didn’t even notice when it jumped away.

The little kitten meowed indignantly: “Wa‘ao wuii, wii miao wau!” (Bad human, stealing my boss!)

It bit onto Mu Jingyi’s trouser leg and tried to drag him outward, but in the face of such a hopeless size difference, it ultimately failed to pull the cat-obsessed human away.

Mei Qiu trotted over to Aunt Chen.

Tonight it was going to eat an extra can of cat food—as punishment for the human who stole its boss!

The young kitten licked at the can, curling the soft meat paste into its mouth.

All the human’s fault!

…Definitely not because the kitten was just greedy.

Ning Jiu leaned into the embrace, petted until he felt comfortable, soft little hums escaping his throat.

His tail lifted, draping across Mu Jingyi’s waist like a belt, wrapping around him in a full circle.

Lately he’d become a bit sleepy—probably because sunbathing in winter felt so excessively cozy and lazy.

After dinner, Mei Qiu busied itself grooming its fur and washing its face.

It looked up at its boss sitting on the sofa. The other was using a comb to smooth out the tangled fur on his tail.

Winter was the season for growing long fur; Mei Qiu always felt its boss’s tail had gotten even bigger than before.

It jumped onto the sofa and stretched out its tongue to lick the long fur on Ning Jiu’s tail.

Ning Jiu scratched the top of its head with a fingertip: “wao?” (What are you doing?)

Mei Qiu was too busy working to answer Ning Jiu’s question.

The soft fine fur caught on the barbs of its tongue; when it raised its head, the fur was pulled back and smoothed. But Ning Jiu was far from an ordinary long-haired cat—his tail fur was especially fine and long.

Mei Qiu strained its neck backward, eventually toppling over, belly up, head smacking the sofa.

Even so, it still hadn’t managed to smooth out the long fur on Ning Jiu’s tail.

Mei Qiu lay on the sofa with all four paws in the air, Ning Jiu’s cat fur still hanging from the barbs on its tongue.

Ning Jiu burst out laughing. Taking the chance, he rubbed the kitten’s soft belly, rolling the little ball of fluff back and forth on the sofa.

He pulled his own cat fur out of Mei Qiu’s mouth, poked its tummy, and teased: “ma, mi yi mii?” (Little kitty, do you even know how to lick properly?)

The teased kitten immediately got upset. It flipped over, crouched low in an attacking stance, and yowled loudly:

“Wau! Wa‘ao ma!” (Boss! Not a good cat!)

Seeing Ning Jiu just smiling without speaking made it even angrier. It swatted at Ning Jiu’s big cat tail with its front paws.

The little kitten had no real strength. Its two front paws scratching back and forth at the big tail didn’t cause the slightest pain. Rather than furiously beating the big cat’s tail, it looked more like it was giving Ning Jiu a nice scratch.

Ning Jiu grabbed the scruff of its neck with one hand and lifted it up to eye level.

“Ma, mi wa miao.” (Little kitty, you’re hitting me.)

“Miao wa’ao!” (I didn’t!)

Mei Qiu flailed its four limbs, trying to wriggle free from Ning Jiu’s grip. Its front paws brushed Ning Jiu’s nose tip. Since it was still a young kitten that hadn’t learned to extend its claws, the pads were soft and plush, feeling especially gentle against skin.

Ning Jiu’s beautiful blue eyes narrowed slightly, a low “grrr” rumbling in his throat. In cat society, this was a senior warning a junior.

Boss was still boss…

The little kitten immediately chickened out, tail flicking back and forth as it dangled in Ning Jiu’s hand.

“Wau, miao wyi…” (Boss, I was wrong…)

Those tightly furrowed blue eyes relaxed into bright, sunny smiles.

Ning Jiu had discovered the joy of teasing cats—and for the first time realized how fun it was to tease his own kind.

…No wonder Sir liked teasing cats so much.

“Ma, miao yi mi.” (Little kitty, it should be me grooming you.)

In cat society, higher-ranking cats groom lower-ranking ones—it was the rule of Cat Country. Mei Qiu rushing over to conquer Ning Jiu’s fluffy big tail was, in the eyes of Cat Country, a declaration of challenge to authority.

Of course, that challenge had been issued to Ning Jiu—and promptly defeated.

Ning Jiu held the kitten in his arms and leaned in to gently lick the black fur on its head.

His size was practically gigantic in the entire cat world, and the barbs on his tongue were thick and broad, almost comparable to a tiger’s. Fortunately, his genes were still those of a long-haired white cat, so the barbs were relatively soft—more like human fingernails than razor-sharp blades.

He was very careful, lightly licking over Mei Qiu’s head. The barbs gently scraped through the kitten’s soft, short fur and quickly smoothed it.

Mei Qiu’s head was now damp with saliva, looking wet and shiny.

Pinned in Ning Jiu’s palm, it couldn’t move and could only obediently let the big cat’s tongue pass over its head.

“What are you two doing?”

Mu Jingyi curiously leaned over.

Several black fluff strands were caught on the barbs of Ning Jiu’s tongue. Before he could spit them out, he turned and met Mu Jingyi’s gaze.

“Don’t move—there’s fur on your tongue. Let me pull it off.”

Ning Jiu scooted forward obediently and stuck his tongue out for Mu Jingyi to see.

The barbs were neatly arranged along his tongue, the loose hairs stuck by saliva and clinging to the scarlet surface.

Unlike a human tongue, Mu Jingyi looked curiously at this novel thing and poked the kitty’s tongue with a fingertip.

“wu…!”

The kitty’s tongue instantly retracted. He turned his head to avoid Mu Jingyi’s gaze, a blush slowly spreading across his face.

How could this person just poke a cat’s tongue like that!

Ning Jiu swallowed, his tail sweeping restlessly across the sofa, fingers nervously squeezing the little kitten’s body.

“Wuii yi wau…” (Humans should groom the boss.)

The meowing cut off abruptly.

Ning Jiu clapped a hand over Mei Qiu’s mouth, stopping its outrageous words. He shook his tail urgently and said sternly:

“Ma’ao miiu!” (Don’t talk nonsense!)

Mei Qiu blinked in confusion, its muffled meows unclear but clearly puzzled.

It thought the human looked tall and imposing—he should be the higher-ranking cat and thus the one to groom the boss. To a cat, this was only natural.

Mu Jingyi couldn’t understand and was extremely curious why Ning Jiu reacted so strongly.

He leaned closer and turned Ning Jiu, who had turned away, back to face him: “What did it say?”

“Nothing…” Ning Jiu’s face flushed crimson, the words slipping hoarsely from his dry throat.

He’d meant to refuse outright, but the cat paused. His gaze lingered on Mu Jingyi’s lips. In that dazed instant, his voice spoke faster than his brain: “Mei Qiu said that, according to the rules of Cat Country, Sir is the superior one, so you should groom me.”

The air froze for a second.

In the quiet, Ning Jiu saw Sir’s eyes deepen, turning dangerous—like he was about to devour him. Terrified, he shrank back, feet drawing up onto the sofa to form a barrier between them.

Regretting that he’d blurted out his true thoughts, his face burned to the roots of his ears. He waved his hands frantically: “No, that’s not—”

“Alright. I should follow the rules of Cat Country too, so the kitty will acknowledge me, right?”

Mu Jingyi’s hand rested on Ning Jiu’s knee and gently pried his legs apart with just a little force.

He leaned in close, almost pressing against the kitty, reaching to tug at Ning Jiu’s pants—only for the cat to jerk backward and dodge.

Ning Jiu hugged his own tail protectively to his chest, voice trembling with nerves.

“No, no need, Sir… Sir’s tongue doesn’t have barbs. How could you groom a cat…”

Mu Jingyi froze in place.

“Groom?”

“Use a comb, Sir. Just comb it smooth and it’ll be fine.”

Ning Jiu hurriedly picked up the fallen comb from the floor and stuffed it into Mu Jingyi’s hand.

Mu Jingyi turned his head away, quickly replaying the conversation in his mind.

Realizing what had happened, he lowered his head to hide his embarrassment and let out a soft laugh.

He picked up the kitty’s tail, used the comb to smooth the tangled spots, and neatened the fur.

If he’d really lunged forward just now, he probably would have scared the kitty half to death.

“Kitty, even just your tail… I still can’t groom it with my tongue?”