After Turning Into a Kitten, I Was Adopted by My Father-Figure Childhood Friend - Chapter 14

Meow Meow. The kitten meowed a few times.

The kitten meowed a few times, tilting his head in confusion at the empty balcony.

He thought for a moment, aimed at the small latch mounted high up, and wiggled his round butt as he backed up. One, two, three, jump!

Click.

The small mechanism on the glass door was pressed down by his paw. He landed on the floor, his two pointed ears twitching flexibly. He spun around, lifting his head majestically, and proudly twitched his whiskers while letting out a cheerful hum.

“Meow meow.” Kitty!

The little calico cocked his tail and leaned against the glass. His fluffy self pressed flat against the pane as he used a combination of pushing and clawing to slide the glass door open just enough to create a gap.

A black shadow flashed out like a ghost: “Sir.”

“Meow meow.” Song the Cat paused his effort to “clean” the glass. The fur on his chest had become extremely messy from rubbing against the door. He poked his messy head through the gap and beckoned to the black cat.

“Kitty, come here. I’m treating you to a salmon can!”

Song the Cat patted the salmon can, stroking his whiskers with immense pride while his eyes crinkled into smiles. He looked like a messy ball of glutinous rice mochi, with his mismatched “blush” further tinting his snowy white fur.

The black cat tilted its head in confusion: “No, no. I’m not here for some salmon. I…”

Before the black cat could finish, the impatient little calico excitedly raised a paw and pressed down on the black cat’s head, forcing it toward the can.

“Don’t be polite! Eat up, kitty!”

Song Xingyou waved a paw generously, unable to resist spreading his arms to give the black cat a big hug.

The black cat was a standard adult, more than a size larger than him. Song the Cat’s restless little paws couldn’t help but stroke the black cat’s back over and over. His eyes crinkled even more as he buried his face in the fur, rubbing side to side.

“I’m not. Mhm, wait…”

Every time the black cat tried to speak, it was pressed down by a paw. This “monstrous-strength” calico was exceptionally dominant, and the salmon can offered at its mouth was simply too fragrant for a cat to refuse.

The black cat let out two muffled sounds to prove its resolve not to yield, and then “reluctantly” buried its face in the can, munching away.

Hiss this fish meat, hiss hiss, how can it be… so fragrant. Munch munch munch…

The black cat gobbled up the meal, letting out a long, deep purr that radiated pleasure and comfort.

Huddled in the fur and surrounded by the “car engine” purr, the little calico couldn’t help but rub the tips of his ears, then smoothed them down to scratch inside. His beautiful amber eyes re-evaluated the black cat once more.

The black cat was long and sturdy, moving like a shadow. It was clearly agile, with a small notch missing from one of its pointed ears. It looked like a neutered adult cat in its prime.

While thinking, Song Xingyou couldn’t resist stroking the black cat again. Having eaten its fill, the black cat sat outside on the balcony, licking its mouth and paws. Seeing the kitten’s serious little face, it couldn’t help but lick the kitten’s forehead with affection.

The black cat’s tone was friendly: “Little Meow, you treated a cat to something good, so a cat will protect you. You’ll hang out with our Cat Gang from now on, meow.”

A damp sensation landed on his forehead, leaving behind a cat-scent that didn’t belong to him. Song the Cat couldn’t help but use both paws to scratch at his head.

He rubbed for a long time but couldn’t get rid of the scent. The industrious black cat poked its head over and used its tongue to help groom his chin fur.

Song Xingyou: …

Thank you, kitty. You did a great job. Don’t do it again.

He raised a paw and politely pushed the black cat’s head away.

“What is the Cat Gang?”

The black cat groomed its fur elegantly. At the mention of the Cat Gang, even he puffed out his chest with a sense of shared glory: “It’s the big family of house cats established by the Boss, meow!”

“Even if we choose humans, we cannot forget our original freedom!” The black cat recited the family philosophy and nodded seriously.

“The Boss is a good Boss, brave and smart. Not only did he lead us to take our current territory, making Boss Sang from the neighboring territory afraid to offend us, but he also reached a mutual aid agreement with the dog families in the area. Even if Little Meow doesn’t join, you must go see the Boss to pay your respects, or else, meow.”

The black cat licked its paw, its green eyes staring at the little calico, suddenly curving into an arc.

Song the Cat’s fur stood on end at that look. A cold sweat broke out as he instinctively backed up: “Or else…?”

The black cat’s eyes crinkled with laughter as it answered slowly: “When a cat is inside a person’s house, a cat can’t interfere. But once you’re outside, it’s the Boss’s territory, meow.”

Meow meow meow, you’re still acting cute! You cursed underworld cat! Bad kitty!

Song Xingyou instantly wore a “grumpy cat” face: “Then I want to be the Boss too!”

The black cat stopped licking its paw. Its deep green eyes stared at Song the Cat. Song the Cat felt prickles under the scrutiny. Just as he was about to explode, the black cat finally spoke slowly.

It maintained that cheerful yet polite attitude; sometimes a bit wicked, like now, speaking with a smiling demeanor: “That’s possible, meow. This year’s Boss title defense has already ended, but since Little Meow is new, newcomers always have some privileges.”

Privileges? The privilege of getting beaten up?

Song the Cat felt suspicious. These pitch-black guys were the hardest to deal with. Getting beaten up is getting beaten up; calling it a privilege was going too far!

Song Xingyou shook his head, not wanting to challenge a cat that sounded like it could really fight: “So, how many cats are in your Cat Gang?”

The black cat let out a hum.

Song Xingyou patted the empty can: “I’ll treat you to more cat food!”

Hearing there was more food, the black cat’s eyes lit up. “There are seven cats in our Cat Gang. With Little Meow, that makes eight, meow.”

Seven. Song Xingyou thought about the cats he had seen over the past two days. Counting the black cat and the unseen Boss, there were exactly seven.

His face fell into a “grumpy cat” expression again as he grumbled unhappily, “Are you guys spying on me?”

“Mhm-hm.” The black cat played dumb.

It pitifully buried its head to lick the empty cat can, its tongue making a “scritch-scratch” sound against the hollow metal.

Song Xingyou couldn’t stand seeing a cat go hungry. He patted the black cat on the head and cocked his tail as a signal: “Follow me.”

He walked forward a few steps and looked back. The black cat followed him as naturally as a guest, behaving with full entitlement. The two cats, one following the other, hopped down to the first floor and leaped easily onto the small table.

“You-you.”

Just as Song Xingyou jumped onto the table, he came face-to-face with Lu Jingchuan, who was holding a sandwich.

Lu Jingchuan was wearing blue-light-blocking glasses; ugly black-framed square ones that hid some of his sharp features, revealing a softer, scholarly air. He held a laptop, and the dense lines of code on the screen made the cat’s eyes spin.

He had changed into a solid-colored wool sweater. Song Xingyou’s gaze was momentarily drawn to the vaguely visible curves of his chest, and he nearly knocked the following black cat off the table with his butt.

The black cat protested: “Meow meow!”

Lu Jingchuan looked at the black cat calmly: “You-you, your friend?”

According to the rules of hospitality, Lu Jingchuan should have entertained You-you’s little guest. However, the foreign language coming through his Bluetooth earphones was becoming more urgent. Lu Jingchuan thought for a moment and proactively took a step back.

“The automatic feeder has food. Help yourselves.”

When he had set up the machines yesterday, the kitten had circled the water fountain and feeder with his tail held high, wearing a sour face as if dissatisfied.

It wasn’t until Lu Jingchuan moved the water fountain onto the table that the kitten condescended to take a few sips.

Lu Jingchuan added, “It’s on the table, right next to your water bowl.”

“Meow!” Song Xingyou gave the man a look of approval. Cocking his tail like a victorious general, he enthusiastically led the black cat away.

The black cat meowed politely at the human and couldn’t help but marvel to the kitten, “Your human is so generous, meow.”

Another bite of cat food: “Your house food is also so delicious, meow!”

Meow-my-god! What kind of heaven is this! Why is everything in this house so tasty!

The black cat, who had never tasted such high-quality goods, buried its head and gobbled up the food. The freeze-dried bits in the food tasted different from anything the black cat usually ate.

While eating, the black cat hummed and nudged aside to make room: “Little Meow, you eat too, meow.”

“I don’t eat this, meow.” Song Xingyou blurted out, his tail uncontrollably pressing the food release button hard. Food piled up in the bowl with a loud rattle.

Song the Cat was greatly annoyed. It was all this bad kitty’s fault with its “meow this” and “meow that”—he had been infected with the “meows”!

Stop meowing, meow!

“Mhm… the Boss, meow? The Boss is a house cat, meow. We are all house cats. Number Two is a very old black-and-white cat. It always says weird things. Humans call it ‘Alzheimer’s’? But cats just get like that when they’re old, meow.

Number Three was a boss outside for many years but decided to wash his paws and come ashore. He’s retiring here with us, meow.

Blueberry? That blue guy is a cat the humans love. He used to have many lovers, meow. It’s his fault for not being careful and getting kidnapped by bad people when he went out. His human finally rescued him, but he came back missing two balls, meow. But the Boss says that was all a ‘self-directed act’ by the human? What is a ‘self-directed act’, meow?”

…

The black cat rambled on, introducing the members of the Cat Gang to Song Xingyou while eating. Suddenly, it turned its head, its deep green eyes reflecting a smile: “I’ve said so much, what about you, Little Meow? Are you called You-you, meow? I’m called Little White. I’m fifth in the gang. You can call me White Five.”

“I am not called You-you.” Standing atop the feeder, the little calico cast a look down from his high vantage point. “My name is Song Xingyou.”

A name like You-you is only used by that annoying guy! I won’t listen to anyone else call me by that silly name, hmph.

“Three characters?” The black cat scratched its ear in confusion. Suddenly, its eyes lit up: “You have a surname?”

Having a human surname seemed to be a shock to the cat. The black cat stood up in disbelief, circling the little calico a few times with a look of pure envy.

Song Xingyou didn’t know how to place his limbs under such a gaze. He couldn’t help but puff out his chest, feeling an inexplicable surge of pride. Yet, he also found it strange, what was there to be so smug about? He couldn’t help but ask out of confusion.

The black cat sat back down and meowed its answer: “When a human gives a surname to a cat, the cat can become the human’s child and continue to stay with them.”

Song Xingyou had seen this theory online before, but he never expected to hear it from a cat. He couldn’t help but be curious: “Where did you hear that?”

“The humans all say it, and the cats say it too.” Little White the black cat looked at Song Xingyou, its eyes full of envy. “A cat died before, and its human gave it their surname so it could become their child.”

“Your human must really like you.”

Song Xingyou: “…Not necessarily.”

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