After Becoming Pregnant With The Empress Cat's Cub - Chapter 16.1

Ju Rin: “Hm?”

The response was silence.

After a moment, a string of snoring sounds came through the phone.

Ju Rin let out a soft laugh.

She actually fell asleep just like that.

Listening to the rhythmic, melody-like snores, Ju Rin pinched the bridge of her nose. What a liar.

She clearly snores.

Lan Ye woke up at nine the next morning.

A dreamless night.

Lan Ye sat on the bed in surprise for a long while.

Surprised that she fell asleep mid-conversation last night, surprised that she slept in until this hour and finally, surprised that she didn’t have that dream full of pink bubbles again.

She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling almost unaccustomed to it.

Was it because I finally met the person from the dream, so I don’t need to dream it anymore?

Wait, no. I had the dream the night before last, and I had already seen Rin yesterday.

How mysterious. After dreaming it for a month, it just stops…

She didn’t know if it was just for one day or if it was gone for good.

She’d have to wait until tonight to find out.

Lan Ye got up to wash. It was late, if she didn’t get up, Rin would be at the door.

Once Lan Ye finished washing and went downstairs, she was hit with another wave of surprise.

She looked around. Did I time travel somewhere else during the night?

Hearing the commotion, Lan Shan came out of the kitchen. Seeing Lan Ye standing at the top of the stairs, she quickly beckoned her.

“Xiao Ye, what are you standing there for? Come eat breakfast, I’ve kept it warm for you.”

Seeing Lan Shan, Lan Ye breathed a sigh of relief. No time travel.

“Auntie, what happened to the house?”

Everywhere her eyes could see was spotless. All the furniture looked as new as if it had just been bought. The sofa had changed color, it seemed a new cover had been put on and even the curtains in the back were a different style.

And… Lan Ye looked at the exaggerated hat on Lan Shan’s head and the ornate long dress she was wearing. Her eyes were full of confusion. Why are you dressed like this?

Before she could ask, she saw Yao Li walk out from behind her, wearing an equally complex and ornate long dress and a wide-brimmed, exaggerated hat.

“Xiao Ye, come and eat.”

Yao Li placed the breakfast on the dining table.

Lan Ye walked forward hesitantly. “What’s going on with you two?”

Lan Shan saw her surprise and gave a teasing smile. “It’s all for you. It’s the first time your marriage partner is visiting. We have to show some importance.”

“Isn’t this a bit too much?”

Lan Shan looked at her own clothes, they seemed normal to her. Then she remembered Lan Ye’s “specialness.” It was natural she didn’t know these customs. There were no beastmen in her family, and her mother. Lan Shan’s sister, wasn’t a social person. No one had taught Lan Ye these things.

“It’s not too much. This is beastman etiquette. Wait, we prepared a hat for you too.”

As she spoke, she picked up a hat from a nearby chair and walked over to Lan Ye. Ignoring Lan Ye’s refusal, she placed it directly on her head.

The wide silk ribbon was tied into a bow under Lan Ye’s chin. Lan Ye caught a glimpse of herself in the glass door of the kitchen… Uh, she looked like a single, gift-wrapped winter date…

Lan Shan: “Our Xiao Ye is just so beautiful. A-Li, look. How does Xiao Ye look in this hat? Is it the kind of ‘vibe’ you beastmen like?”

Yao Li studied her seriously and nodded. “Simply captivating to any beastman.”

Lan Ye: “…” You beastmen are truly strange creatures.

“Sit down and eat.”

Lan Shan pushed Lan Ye into a seat. Lan Ye wanted to take off the hat, but Yao Li stopped her. “Don’t take it off. When beastmen host guests at home now, they wear hats. They don’t even take them off while eating. This etiquette came from the palace, apparently, all the nobles do it.”

Are these beastmen sick in the head? Wearing such a big hat while eating… Lan Ye looked at the dangling ribbon. This would easily get stained with sauce.

Lan Ye complained inwardly but ultimately didn’t take it off. She thanked Lan Shan and Yao Li for preparing the hat.

And for everything they had done.

“You child, you’re always so polite. We’re family, no need for thanks. Eat quickly.”

While Lan Ye was eating, Lan Shan went over the already clean sofa with a lint roller again.

It was only then that Lan Ye noticed the cat sitting on the chair next to the sofa, it was Xiao Xiao, wearing a hat.

The wide hat almost covered her entire body.

Xiao Xiao saw her and let out a soft “Meow.”

Lan Shan: “Good girl. The sofa is for the guest today. You sit on the chair.”

“Meow~”

Lan Ye: “…” An educated cat is indeed different.

She now knew that cats like Xiao Xiao, who had measured mental energy but were slow to evolve into beastmen, could go to school to learn how to communicate with humans.

The tuition for such schools was very expensive and required high parental cooperation, like parent-teacher meetings at least twice a month and various interaction days.

In short, raising such a kitten required a huge investment of both labor and money.

Lan Ye looked down at her belly and thought about her own little kitten. She really needed to earn more money.

Affected by the hat, Lan Ye ate her breakfast very slowly.

Hearing that this was palace etiquette, Lan Ye thought that people in the palace must be very idle. If they were in a rush, they definitely wouldn’t come up with this.

Finally finishing her meal, Lan Ye felt her temperament becoming elegant. She wiped her mouth slowly and was about to help clear the table when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll take care of this. Xiao Ye, go welcome the guest.”

Lan Shan hurriedly grabbed the plates and headed for the kitchen. Yao Li followed to help.

Lan Ye watched their nervous figures, feeling a wave of warmth. If they didn’t value her enough, they wouldn’t value her marriage partner so much out of love for her.

Looking at the time, it seemed Rin also took this meeting seriously; she was quite early.

But then she thought: coming so early, did she have time to prepare a gift?

She went back quite late last night. The malls in this world closed very early, so she probably didn’t have time to buy anything.

The malls would be open now, but she had already arrived…

Did she just buy something from a roadside convenience store?

Lan Ye looked at the changes in the house. Lan Shan and Yao Li must have stayed up all night cleaning, and the hat on her head was probably bought early this morning.

Since they were treating Rin’s visit so seriously, it wouldn’t be appropriate if Rin came empty-handed or just carrying some roadside fruit…

Lan Ye decided that if the gift wasn’t sufficient, she would tell Rin to go buy something else and come back.

She opened the door. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Rin.

“Hakimi? Why are you here?”

Lan Ye looked behind her. A small van was parked in front of the door.

Hakimi looked at Lan Ye, panting heavily.

Lan Ye raised an eyebrow. She drove here, why was she so out of breath?

“Are you looking for Auntie Li? She’s in the kitchen.”

Lan Ye was about to call her when Hakimi stopped her.

“I-I-I… I’m here for you,” Hakimi stuttered breathlessly.

Lan Ye was confused. “For me?”

She thought she had made things clear last night.

Hakimi looked at the hat on Lan Ye’s head. A flash of sadness crossed her eyes, clearly, this wasn’t prepared for her.

She felt a pang in her heart.

“I-I-I… I have something to say.”

In her nervousness, she started stuttering again. Hakimi was frustrated at how useless she always was.

Lan Ye stepped aside. “Come in and talk.”

Hakimi shook her head. “I-I-I’ll just say it here.”

She had thought about it all night. Those words she had prepared, she decided she still had to say them to Lan Ye.

“I… I wanted to say… I like you.”

Once she started, the words became much smoother. After all, she had rehearsed them many times since drafting them yesterday.

“The first time I saw you, I-I-I was very nervous. When I’m nervous, I reveal my beast form.”

Hakimi raised her hand for Lan Ye to see; in her nervousness, it had turned into a cat paw again.

“But you didn’t… you didn’t laugh at me. You smiled at me, a happy smile. You look so beautiful when you smile.”

Because of her low mental energy and tendency to get nervous, she had been mocked since childhood. It was the first time she had seen such a pure smile from Lan Ye in a moment of embarrassment.

She even said she was cute and touched her paw. Everything made her feel so happy.

“Others always laugh at me. It’s my fault too. I’m always, always nervous.”

“Because of my nervousness, I’ve revealed my beast form several times… my hands turned into paws… while cooking… paws aren’t good for holding spice jars. Several times I dumped a whole jar of salt into the dish. If it weren’t for Captain Yao cleaning up after me, I would have probably been given a major demerit.”

“I actually… actually don’t like being a cook.”

Lan Ye had been listening to a confession, but as she listened, it turned into a grievance.

She probably knew why this Hakimi liked her, besides her own natural charm, there were probably some beautiful misunderstandings.

Similar to the trope: “Everyone else looks down on me, but you’re different.”

I am different. Why would I look down on a cat that evolved into a beastman? That’s incredible.

If she brought her back to her world, who knows what kind of sensation she would cause.

Lan Ye pushed aside her wandering thoughts and looked at the distressed Hakimi. “Then what do you like doing?”

Hakimi looked at Lan Ye and, after some hesitation, told her the secret she had never told anyone.

“I-I… I actually like singing… don’t laugh at me…”

Lan Ye smiled. “Why would I laugh? A cook who doesn’t want to be a singer isn’t a good Hakimi.”

“Huh?” Hakimi’s face turned even redder. “I… I can’t be a singer.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t remember lyrics. I forget them when I’m nervous.”

Lan Ye thought of something. She patted Hakimi’s cat paw and smiled. “That’s easy to solve. Just use the simplest, easiest to remember lyrics to sing.”

“Eh?” Hakimi didn’t understand. “Easiest to remember?”

Lan Ye gave a mysterious smile. “For you, they’ll definitely be easy to remember.”

As she spoke, she cleared her throat. “Listen, I’ll sing one for you.”

Sunlight spilled over the tea tree bonsai on the steps. In the gentle breeze, her voice rang out softly.

“Hakimi oh~ Nanbei lvdou~ Yakunailu~ Oh majili~ Dabuye daya~ Damanbo~ Hakimi~~ Axiga ha yakunailu~ Nanbei lvdoudou~ Dabuyedayeda~~ Damanbo~ Hakimi~ oh~ Hakimi~ oh oh~ Oh majili~ majili~~” (1)

Lan Ye didn’t know how she managed to finish the song without laughing. Seeing Hakimi’s eyes sparkling, Lan Ye gave a slight cough. “Something like that.”

Hakimi snapped out of it, excitedly tapping her cat paws together.

Since her paw pads didn’t make much noise, she used her tail which had popped out in her excitement to go thwack-thwack-thwack against the ground.

“That was so beautiful!”

And… the song was about her…

Lan Ye actually wrote a song about her.

“Does this song have a name?” Hakimi looked at Lan Ye with excitement.

Lan Ye nodded. “Yes, it’s called ‘123 Hakimi’.”

Pop! Two furry ears sprouted from Hakimi’s head, making Lan Ye’s eyes light up.

She reached out and rubbed the furry ears. “If you can’t remember lyrics, just use these few lines for every song. It’ll be your signature style.”

Hakimi was surprised that Lan Ye touched her ears. Generally, only intimate partners could touch a beastman’s ears.

She was quite happy to be touched and leaned in a bit more while thanking Lan Ye: “I understand now. Thank you.”

Lan Ye let go of Hakimi’s ears and patted her shoulder. “Someone who likes you will like you regardless of how you are. Nervousness and revealing your beast form is very cute in my eyes. You don’t need to care too much about what others say.”

“Also, since you have something you love, go ahead and try it bravely. Even if there’s no big reward in the end, you’ve done what you love.”

Hakimi nodded vigorously.

Encouraged by Lan Ye, she spoke the most important line she had drafted throughout the journey.

“I know you’re married. If, I mean if… if you ever get divorced, could you… could you consider me?”

Lan Ye blinked. She really hadn’t expected this shy Hakimi to say something so wild.

For a moment, she didn’t know if she was trying to “dig a corner” (steal her away) or just quietly wait as a backup.

Either way, Lan Ye shook her head, her hat drawing an elegant arc.

Her damn charm.

It hasn’t decreased even after marriage.

Lan Ye didn’t yet know that the divorce rate among beastmen was staggering. To them, this kind of talk was quite normal, a bit like saying, “If you’re not eating this meal here, consider me for the next.”

She looked into those large eyes full of sincerity and nodded. “Okay.”

Lan Ye smiled and made a gesture of grabbing something from the air. “Hold out your hand.”

Hakimi complied.

Lan Ye placed her palm up and made a motion of putting something in it. “This is for you.”

Hakimi looked at her empty palm. “Eh? What is it?”

Lan Ye: “You’re holding a number for the line for my love. You’re Number 1. If I ever divorce, I’ll consider you first.”

Hakimi didn’t expect to succeed!

Her confession actually worked! She couldn’t make a cat paw, so she used her other paw to cover the hand where Lan Ye had “placed” the number.

“I-I-I’ve got it! I won’t bother you anymore. I’m leaving!”

With that, Hakimi turned and ran, still clutching her empty palm.

Lan Ye stepped forward a couple of paces, watching her receding figure. That speed, truly a beastman.

But she had seen faster. Yesterday at the bus stop, when she was robbed, Rin had charged out like she was teleporting.

Much faster than Hakimi.

Once she was out of sight, Lan Ye retracted her gaze and then realized something was wrong.

The van!

She forgot the van!

Lan Ye was about to call Hakimi back when suddenly, she heard the sound of a car door opening.

She looked at the small van parked in front of the house. Because it was parked sideways, she could only see the side of the body. The windows were tinted, so she couldn’t see the interior.

Someone’s inside?

Amidst her confusion, a head of pink hair appeared in the sunlight, shimmering with golden light.

Lan Ye was stunned. “Rin?”

She looked back at the spot where Hakimi had vanished. This van isn’t hers?

Watching Rin, who, thanks to her long legs, reached the bottom of the steps in just a few strides. Lan Ye said in surprise, “Why are you driving a van?”

Meeting those amber eyes, which were deeper and more intense than usual, Lan Ye realized something.

“Just now… you heard everything we said?”

Ju Rin looked at the person standing one step above her, now at the same eye level. She spoke in a low, heavy voice.

“If you mean the love song, the ‘love number,’ and the promise to consider her first if you divorce…”

Ju Rin paused, her expression stern.

“I heard it all.”