026: Save the Little Cat!
Sang Zhao’s neck stiffened as he let out a raspy “ah.”
His voice was hoarse and stubborn, like a duck. A sick duck. One that tried to warm itself by a fire and ended up cooked halfway through, simmering miserably like a stewed oven duck.
He was extremely good at playing dumb, and under Tang Yu’s complicated stare, he acted like the purest, dumbest, sweetest little date fruit. “What cat? What are you talking about?”
Tang Yu lifted the curtain and stepped inside. He set the freeze-dried cat treats on the table, crossed his arms, and stood in front of Sang Zhao, looking down at him slightly.
“You said it yourself. I didn’t catch the whole thing but somewhere in between you said you’re a cat.” Tang Yu repeated it slowly.
Sang Zhao wasn’t panicking. Really. Not even a little!
He hadn’t sprouted furry ears or an orange tail, and Tang Yu wasn’t grabbing him by the ears or tail on the spot, so what was there to panic about?
He was righteous!
“If I said I’m a cat, then I’m a cat. Did I say it? Yes, I did!” he insisted.
Sure, he was nervous, but he tried very hard not to show it.
Humans liked evidence, and the fact that he was actually a cat challenged the human worldview too much. No normal person hears “I’m a cat” and immediately believes “oh, I see, he’s a cat.”
So Tang Yu had no proof! Tang Yu couldn’t expose him!
Otherwise humans would be discovering yaoguai everywhere. Even Tang Yu wouldn’t be a CEO but a pale-yellow ear of corn!
Indeed, Tang Yu didn’t think about yaoguai at all.
He did think it was strange though, because the tone Sang Zhao used made it sound… kind of real.
But ultimately, he thought Sang Zhao was just being cute and dramatic.
The kind of person who would look at a kitten and scream:
“Who said this isn’t my biological child?”
“God above, I knew from the start this is my kid!”
“Who says it’s just meowing, it’s clearly calling me mom!”
Shouting things like that while charging in with stars in his eyes about soft fur and tiny paws.
Tang Yu wasn’t doubting reality. He simply studied Sang Zhao carefully for a while.
With all his nerves tight and his scalp tingling, Sang Zhao watched as Tang Yu finally voiced his conclusion.
Tang Yu said, “Well… you do look like a little cat.”
Look at him: slightly lifted brow bones, slightly upturned eyes. Classic cat eyes.
His facial contours were firm and youthful, his chin short enough to make him look young. A babyish face.
But his lips were darker, and his gaze sparkled with lively charm. All together, it made him look exactly like a seductive little cat-type person.
Someone like that saying he’s a cat?
Totally reasonable.
Tang Yu even teased him: “So is this a little cat cosplay? Or just a little role-play?”
Seeing that Tang Yu wasn’t terrified or questioning the laws of nature, Sang Zhao instantly realized he was safe.
Right, Tang Yu was a total scaredy-cat. If he really thought along the monster lines, he would’ve already screamed “ghosts! monsters!” and crawled out of here on all fours.
Relieved, Sang Zhao grinned again and reached for the freeze-dried treats.
“What, what? I’ll taste— I mean, I’ll feed. I’ll feed them. I’ll feed them a taste.”
Tang Yu returned to the beanbag chair.
Everything seemed normal again, but as he stared at a napkin on the table, something still nagged at him.
Something didn’t quite add up… something felt off…
Forget it. Tang Yu shook his head. Not now.
The drinks arrived, the desserts arrived, the atmosphere settled. They pulled up a music variety show on the projector.
The singers hadn’t even started yet when Sang Zhao leaned in and quietly tugged Tang Yu’s sleeve.
“Actually… it wasn’t a dream. I knew her already.” He quietly explained the truth about He Sangchi.
His voice dimmed with the telling. He took two large bites of the berry shaved ice, letting the sweet and sour flavor comfort him.
Tang Yu reached out and gently patted his back.
“I know you were trying to be kind,” Tang Yu said while patting his shoulder. “I get it.”
That touch made Sang Zhao feel like he’d gone back to being a small cat having his spine stroked from head to tail.
Right. He was still a small cat… but not entirely a small cat.
Living as a person came with so many inconveniences.
If he were still a cat, he’d simply leap into Tang Yu’s arms, let Tang Yu stroke him from ears to tail, let him smooth his fur.
He could even lick Tang Yu’s wrist with his rough, barbed tongue.
Thinking about it made him sigh. “Ahhh…”
Too bad he was a person now. All those fun, comforting, “being loved” cat privileges were impossible.
Fortunately, Sang Zhao was optimistic by nature.
He sulked for a while, then cheered up again. He climbed off the beanbag, grabbed passing cats for photos, and pet every single cat in the café before secretly comparing them to his own fur.
Hehe. He still liked his own fur the most.
After a good while, Tang Yu suggested dinner at a Hunan restaurant, and Sang Zhao refused in agony.
Cutlery he could handle, but chopsticks? Still in training.
A few more minutes and he’d expose himself.
Little cats didn’t learn that fast.
So he declined and let Tang Yu drive him home.
When he arrived, Sang Zhao joyfully rushed to the apartment lobby.
There was a row of locker boxes for deliveries so yaoguai could pick up their packages. Yes, yaoguai also online-shop. And Sang Zhao, newly addicted to online shopping, had bought a lot.
He carried two boxes upstairs and extended his hand. His fingers shifted slightly, selectively cat-ifying as he summoned his claws.
Ha! These things were perfect for opening packages!
The first was a cat grass grow box. He added water and placed it on the balcony to grow his own cat grass. He still needed it; he couldn’t just chew grass on the streets.
The second was a jumbo pack of chips. He plopped into a chair and happily munched.
Chips were happiness. But between crunches, he still felt uneasy.
He pulled out his phone and called Li Director.
No matter what, he had to probe the situation first!
He rambled for a while before finally reaching the point.
“Li Director, I just wanted to ask… if a yaoguai, uh… fails at pretending to be human and gets found out… what happens?”
What came through the receiver was a chilly, disdainful laugh.
For the record, Sang Zhao wasn’t timid. As a cat or as a human, he was bold.
He could even insist with confidence that 3+3+5=10, because that’s what the little cat decided!
But Li Director’s quiet, icy, contemptuous laugh, the kind that implied “one mistake and you’re dead,” made Sang Zhao’s back arch defensively.
If he were in cat form, he’d be puffed up already.
He scratched his face and rubbed his hair anxiously while listening to her stern answer.
After hanging up, he collapsed onto the bed with a wail.
No, no! Tang Yu hadn’t suspected anything this time, but what about next time?
Didn’t little cats have allies?! Didn’t he need backup in the human world?!
Which was why, on Monday morning, he dragged himself to find An Tihu.
She was busy, running back and forth between HR and finance. She returned with an iced Americano and blinked in confusion when Sang Zhao waved her over.
She lifted her cup. “What? Say it. I’ve got a few minutes.”
Unexpectedly, Sang Zhao snuck her into the supply closet.
An Tihu: “...?”
What was this? Suspicious!
She followed, clutching her cup, brows knit tight the whole time.
Inside the camera-free closet, Sang Zhao took a deep breath, grabbed her hand, and shook it vigorously like rowing a boat.
He clung to this giant bird like a drowning man to driftwood.
Look at this massive bird! Living like a normal human, blending in flawlessly! A successful example of pretending to be human! He desperately needed to learn from her!
Even if he couldn’t learn, he still had one escape route.
And that escape route required a bird.
So he needed her.
“Little An-jie, if I get caught, please grab me with your big beak and fly me away!”
An Tihu’s chest trembled. “Huh?!”
“You know, that thing! That thing you do!” He gestured wildly.
“Tihu enlightenment! Pelican-lifting! Scoop me up and run!”
Silence.
Wow???
She made two strangled noises and stood there questioning her entire bird life.
So when she secretly judged him as a stupid little cat, had he ALREADY figured out her identity?!
Well then…
Who was the stupid cat now?
Surely not her, right?!
An Tihu quietly pulled her hand away, lifted her cup, and downed the entire iced Americano in a single, painful gulp.
The bitterness stabbed her soul.
If the timing weren’t inappropriate, she would’ve let out a long, birdlike WuuAaaa scream.
She thought she hadn’t slipped up anywhere!
She hadn’t grabbed him with her beak, hadn’t lifted him with anything, she hadn’t—
She finally sighed, defeated.
“…When did you find out?”
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