Dai Dai completely ignored Huo Yu. Her charming almond-shaped eyes narrowed as she refused to spare him even a single glance. Her tail curled lazily, softly coiling in Xu Ye’s palm.
Comfortably sprawled out, Dai Dai didn’t seem to care about the paw prints on Huo Yu’s T-shirt. After hesitating for a moment, Huo Yu rubbed his hands together and apologized, “Sorry, Sister Xu. My Dai Dai rarely clings to others like this, but she’s shedding a lot lately. You’ll probably have to pick cat hair off your clothes when you get home.”
Xu Ye carefully examined Huo Yu’s face—it didn’t bear much resemblance to Huo Shuyan’s. She then glanced at Huo Yu’s sports jersey, concluding that his choice of short sleeves and shorts in this cold weather must have been because such clothing doesn’t easily collect fur.
She stayed calm, stroking Dai Dai’s head with one hand while lifting her other arm to show Huo Yu her sleeve, already covered in cat hair. “I’m used to it.”
Huo Yu thought for a moment, then suddenly realized, “Sister Xu, are you the person Brother Liu said Dai Dai is especially fond of?”
Xu Ye raised her head proudly. “That’s me.”
Seeing his cat so attached to someone else, Huo Yu wasn’t upset. In fact, he was delighted that Xu Ye didn’t mind Dai Dai’s shedding. He sat down happily and began chatting. “You must really like Dai Dai, huh? Everyone who meets her wants to hold her, but they all get rejected.”
“These lion cats aren’t very expensive—just a few hundred to a thousand yuan. But pure white ones with odd-colored eyes are really rare on the market. I waited forever before a friend gave me one. A lot of people treat lion cats as substitutes for ragdolls, but I think a lion cat is a lion cat. Who needs substitutes, hmph.” Huo Yu pursed his lips, making a dissatisfied sound to defend his cat’s dignity.
“I thought cats like this would cost tens of thousands,” Xu Ye said in surprise.
Dai Dai looked particularly elegant. Xu Ye wasn’t well-versed in cat pricing but assumed that cats like ragdolls, Maine Coons, or lion cats, all of which had beautiful appearances, must start at tens of thousands of yuan.
Huo Yu was stunned by Xu Ye’s perspective on money for several seconds before carefully replying, “I know of a breed called the Ashera cat, which is really rare and can sell for over a hundred thousand. But ragdolls and Maine Coons are common, and their prices aren’t outrageous. After all, how many regular people would spend a hundred thousand yuan on a cat?”
“True,” Xu Ye agreed, recalling a neighbor in her complex who owned a sphynx cat and had a similar income level to hers.
As the two discussed cat prices, a man walked in, greeted Huo Yu, and immediately noticed Huo Yu’s white cat nestled contentedly in another woman’s arms.
The man approached, reaching out to pet Dai Dai’s head, but she turned her head away, burying it in Xu Ye’s sleeve. Her entire body exuded an unapproachable aura.
The man’s hand hung awkwardly in midair before he retracted it with a sheepish laugh. “Huo Yu, this cat just doesn’t bond with people. Look, it doesn’t even like you. No matter how well you treat it, it’s pointless. Cats always prefer strangers. Dogs, on the other hand, are loyal to their owners.”
Xu Ye found his words odd. From what she had observed of Dai Dai’s personality, if her lying still and allowing Huo Yu to pet her endlessly didn’t signify her love, then there was no such thing as pure, unadulterated feline affection in this world.
Huo Yu seemed to realize this too. He proudly lifted his head, exhaling sharply through his nose as he reached out to stroke Dai Dai’s head. She remained docile, without the slightest hint of resistance.
“Buddy, do you understand now after comparing?”
The man admitted defeat. “Okay, I shouldn’t have spoken.”
After the man walked away, Huo Yu snorted, “As if he could ever sow discord in the pure and sacred bond between Dai Dai and I.”
Xu Ye mentally wrote the name “Dai Dai” and finally voiced a question that had piqued her curiosity. “Why did you name her Dai Dai?”
Huo Yu’s face lit up. “Oh, when I was naming her, I thought names like Xiao Bai, Da Bai, or Da Huang were too cliché—everyone uses them. So I wanted something without ‘bai’ in it, but that still sounded white and elegant, something that made people feel the cat was classy.”[mfn]Tl’s note: Little White, Big White, or Big Yellow, respectively[/mfn]
Xu Ye felt as though she’d been insulted and weakly argued, “Actually, Xiao Bai is pretty cute.”
Huo Yu wagged his finger. “Take Xiao Bai for example—our basketball club has twenty dog owners, and ten of their dogs are named Xiao Bai.”
Xu Ye began to consider asking Huo Shuyan to open up the renaming option for her again.
Huo Yu continued, “And then there’s Xiao Hei. Shout that name in the streets, and half the black cats and dogs will turn around. My brother’s dumb cat is called Xiao… What the heck!”[mfn]Tl’s Note: Little Black[/mfn]
He was mid-sentence when he looked down, meeting a pair of yellow eyes staring at him from inside a black drawer. Startled, he recoiled a meter back, clutching himself in a dramatic twist.
Xu Ye followed his gaze and, after a long moment, finally spotted Xiao Hei camouflaged against the drawer. If it hadn’t opened its eyes, it would have won the hide-and-seek championship.
Xiao Hei’s yellow eyes blinked in silent reproach as it surveyed everyone in the room.
Huo Yu awkwardly rubbed his nose, “It’s fine. It doesn’t understand human language.”
Xiao Hei let out a meow of protest.
Huo Yu was about to continue speaking, but Xu Ye, worried Xiao Hei might claw at Huo Yu’s exposed calves, quickly interrupted.
“So, what’s the connection between ‘not having bai,’ ‘elegant,’ and the name Dai Dai? Is it ‘a beauty without rouge’ or ‘the shadow falls on the lake, a touch of indigo’?”
Huo Yu smirked mischievously, “It’s not that highbrow. I originally wanted to call her ‘Tai Tai’ because it sounded cool—like a monkey king declaration. But my brother said that wasn’t a good name for a female cat, so I used a homophone and named her Dai Dai instead.”
Xu Ye genuinely criticized, “Tai Tai is worse than Xiao Bai, honestly.”
Huo Shuyan truly deserved praise. He saved the reputation of a beautiful young cat. Xu Ye gave him a mental thumbs-up.
She held a brush in her right hand, realizing Huo Yu was easygoing, and finally voiced her real reason for visiting the pet shop. “Hey, can I brush Dai Dai’s fur?”
Huo Yu generously waved his hand. “As long as she doesn’t mind, then I don’t mind.”
“And, Sister Xu, just call me by my name. ‘Little brother’ reminds me of unpleasant memories.” Huo Yu twisted his fingers awkwardly.
Xu Ye carefully brushed Dai Dai, and after a few strokes, she pressed a button. Instead of a dense pile of fur, only a thin layer appeared—smaller than Dai Dai’s ears.
She put the comb back on the table. Even with Dai Dai, the shedding expert, only a little fur could be brushed out. Those videos of making cat fur cookies were clearly misleading.
After a while, Huo Yu said he was taking Dai Dai for a checkup. Xu Ye handed the cat back to him and asked, “Is she sick?”
Huo Yu thought for a moment and replied, “Not really. She used to sleep 16 hours a day, but recently it’s only been about 12. I’m just wondering if it might have something to do with a bit of insomnia.”
Huo Yu carried the insomniac Dai Dai out with another store employee accompanying him. Xu Ye had intended to leave as well, but since Liu Shuo hadn’t returned yet, she decided it would be more polite to say goodbye first.
Xu Ye peeked into the desk drawer and saw Xiao Hei glancing up at her. She pulled her out and placed her somewhere easier to pet, then opened a forum on her phone to scroll through posts.
Just a minute earlier, David had sent her a private message. Surprisingly, it wasn’t about gaming or discussions of domineering CEO novels but a serious inquiry regarding the Four Great Classical Novels.
[David: Hey, the Journey to the West you mentioned—I read a bit of it. Someone in the comments section asked, “Since the monkey is so powerful, why not just carry the master to the Western Heaven directly? Why go through all the trouble?” I have some thoughts on this. Tell me if I’m right.]
[Xiao Bai: Go ahead, David.]
[David: Both the journey and the outcome matter equally. It’s only by experiencing the journey that one can grow. We can’t just skip to the result. It’s like how, as cats, we know we’ll sleep forever one day, but that doesn’t mean we skip life itself. We have to enjoy the process.]
Xu Ye took a deep breath. In such a short time, David’s philosophical understanding had already surpassed 99% of cats.
But his next message left her feeling that his insights had now surpassed 100%.
[David: During their journey, Tang Sanzang and his disciples matured both mentally and physically by subduing demons and overcoming challenges. That’s a meaningful process. On the other hand, in some domineering CEO novels, the protagonists could resolve everything right away, but because of secondary love interests or misunderstandings (and their inability to communicate), the story drags on for 100 chapters of painful drama before the happy ending. I think that’s an example of an ineffective process.]
Xu Ye carefully read through David’s entire message and touched her now-shrinking brain. She was convinced that if David continued studying like this, he could absolutely publish a book one day.
[Xiao Bai: I think your perspective is excellent. Would you be interested in writing a paper on this topic? I’ve already come up with the title for you.]
[David: A paper? You mean the kind of article humans write to research a specific field?]
David’s vocabulary was so advanced that Xu Ye suddenly wanted to buy him a set of academic practice books. It would be a waste not to send this cat to take the college entrance exam.
[Xiao Bai: Exactly. The title is “Analyzing Contemporary Domineering CEO Literature Through the Lens of Journey to the West.” How does that sound?]
[David: Sure, we’ll discuss it later. The brat is taking me out now. Let’s chat more later.]
Xu Ye pondered David’s profound remarks for a moment before closing the private message. She randomly entered a forum section to distract herself.
David’s philosophical musings nearly pulled her back to her university days. She needed the clarity of lighthearted posts from the forum’s netizens to cleanse her mind.
After many days, she finally stumbled upon another help post in the cat section.
[Someone help me! I’m stuck in the store’s toilet and can’t get out!]
Sensing an opportunity for action, Xu Ye immediately shot to her feet. But she moved too quickly, and her vision darkened, causing her to collapse back onto the sofa.
Once her vision cleared, she calmed herself and clicked into the post.
[F2: Is anyone near the pet store run by the human guy? I’m stuck in the toilet on the first floor. I’m fine for now, but it really stinks in here!]
[F3: I’m at home, so I can’t help. But since you’re okay for now, may I ask why you got stuck in the first place?]
[F4: I saw online videos claiming that cats are liquid creatures. I didn’t believe it, so I wanted to test it myself.]
Xu Ye walked to the bathroom, opened the door, and found herself staring directly into the round face of a cat emerging from the toilet.
Human and cat locked eyes for a long moment. For the first time, Xu Ye saw “embarrassment” reflected in a cat’s gaze.
Author’s Note:
The cat stuck in the toilet has now carved out a cozy three-bedroom apartment.
P.S. This toilet isn’t your ordinary toilet! Stay tuned for the next chapter to uncover the mystery.
You can support the translator here for faster updates! _(:3 」∠)_
