Did I Succeed in Redeeming the Villain Today? - Chapter 43

Chapter 43: “Mu Qiuyu Belongs To Me Alone, It’s So…”

Lu Ning was not afraid of water. But the Lu Ning who had turned into a cat was terrified of it.

The moment she heard Mu Qiuyu wanted to give her a bath, the fur all over Lu Ning’s body stood on end. The feline instinct of fear made her grasp at straws, asking hopefully, “Host, are you planning to transform me into something else again?”

“No,” Mu Qiuyu told her ruthlessly, picking her up and heading straight for the bathroom.

Receiving this desperate answer, Lu Ning struggled in Mu Qiuyu’s arms, attempting to flee. “Host, can we do literally anything else besides a bath? I think I’m actually quite clean.”

“That’s just what you think,” Mu Qiuyu replied coldly. She pinched the scruff of Lu Ning’s neck with one hand—neat and decisive—leaving Lu Ning no chance to escape.

“Meow~ (Host, kitty is begging you.)” Lu Ning really didn’t want to face this, so she looked at Mu Qiuyu with wide, shimmering eyes.

However, this time, the “cute offensive” that usually worked every time on Mu Qiuyu failed. Though the kitten looked soft, vulnerable, and pitiable, Mu Qiuyu remained unmoved, even quickening her pace.

Mu Qiuyu looked down at the cat in her hands and spoke reasonably: “Lu Ling, I spend my days explaining problems to my classmates and my nights doing homework. I only have time to listen to your ‘things’ while I’m bathing you. Do you understand?”

“Ugh…”

Hearing this, Lu Ning lost all reason to resist. Her eyes and tail drooped simultaneously—a picture of total defeat and resignation.

Steam blurred the bright lights, and the bathtub was soon filled with water. As the hot vapor brushed against her fur, the sensation of being soaked felt bizarre to Lu Ning. Even though the water was flowing, her fur felt like it was being glued to her skin. Her sensory organs were covered by a layer of water; she felt like a warrior who had lost her weapons, forced to cling desperately to the only safe spot available: Mu Qiuyu’s arm.

Lu Ning clung to Mu Qiuyu’s arm for dear life, her movements looking almost human. The warm, flowing water made the cat tense, but this “two-legged beast” made her feel safe, so she didn’t care if her actions were giving her away.

Mu Qiuyu unhurriedly lowered Lu Ning into the tub, noticing from the corner of her eye the way the little thing’s paws clutched her arm. The cat was afraid, yet she was even more afraid of hurting her owner—her claws remained retracted. This made Mu Qiuyu feel an odd sense of comfort.

She tapped Lu Ning’s forehead with a wet finger, kindly reminding the nervous cat: “Aren’t you going to start?”

The girl’s cold voice cut through the damp heat, triggering Lu Ning’s conditioned response. A system’s worry about a host dating far outweighed a cat’s fear of water.

“Starting now!”

“First, a system should maintain a stance of ‘not supporting but not opposing’ toward a minor host’s early dating,” Lu Ning lied, making it up based on “system data” she claimed to have seen. “Based on data from 135,290,000,000,000 small worlds, the failure rate of early dating is 89%.”

“What if I’m part of the 11%?” Mu Qiuyu asked calmly, splashing water over Lu Ning’s back.

Lu Ning hadn’t expected Mu Qiuyu to challenge her. She immediately raised her guard, warning her: “Every host in an early relationship thinks that way. You should look at this more rationally.”

Hearing the latter half of the sentence, Mu Qiuyu shifted her gaze to the little creature she held with one hand. After spending time with her, this little thing had learned her tricks; she was now using her owner’s own logic against her. Mu Qiuyu’s lips curled into a slight smile, though it was hard to tell if she was amused or proud.

She stroked Lu Ning’s currently rat-like black tail and said, “I see. Continue.”

Her voice was emotionless as usual. Lu Ning had been worried her words would annoy Mu Qiuyu, but now it seemed she wasn’t bothered at all. Emboldened, Lu Ning continued her planned speech: “Secondly, a host cannot have intimate or excessive—glub glub glub…”

Before the kitten could finish, her list of precautions was replaced by the sound of drowning. For some reason, Mu Qiuyu had suddenly pulled her arm away, letting Lu Ning sink.

Lu Ning had been a “landlubber” who couldn’t swim since she was a human. In her panic, her paws flailed wildly in the water. Water splashed everywhere in the bathroom, soaking half of Mu Qiuyu’s hair until it clung damply to the side of her face.

Mu Qiuyu had never seen Lu Ning so flustered. She immediately fished the kitten out and placed her safely on the sliding bath board. The kitten had swallowed quite a bit of water and lay limply on the board. Soaked to the bone, her body trembled with every breath. Under the warm light, she looked tiny, helpless, and pitiable.

“Host, you can’t bully me like that,” Lu Ning looked at Mu Qiuyu reproachfully, her blue eyes looking like she was about to cry.

Mu Qiuyu hadn’t expected her unintentional slip to cause such distress. She offered a rare apology: “Sorry. I went to get the soap and forgot.”

“Were you even listening to me?” Lu Ning, feeling a bit grumpy, looked at her skeptically.

“Of course,” Mu Qiuyu nodded, lying to Lu Ning without batting an eye. She didn’t know why Lu Ning was spinning these lies, but she really didn’t have the patience to listen to a lecture. All she was thinking about was how to scrub the scent of tobacco and perfume off this little cat.

Being a master actress, she calmly moved Lu Ning closer. She skillfully cupped her palms to create a lather and began rubbing it into Lu Ning’s wet body.

Accepting the soapy service, Lu Ning tilted her head up, her mouth still busy: “Then tell me, what did I just say?”

“System rules state that minors are not allowed to engage in sexual behavior,” Mu Qiuyu replied, her fingers carefully massaging Lu Ning’s ears.

Such a concise summary captured the essence of everything Lu Ning hadn’t finished saying. Moreover, Mu Qiuyu spoke of that “taboo” topic so casually that it made the “old-fashioned teacher” Lu Ning feel her face flush. The kitten buried half her head in the foam, her black fur acting as a disguise.

Actually, Mu Qiuyu’s attitude proved she was entirely uninterested in such things. From a results perspective, her statement was a good sign. After calming down, Lu Ning felt satisfied with the answer. As the girl’s slender fingers moved through her fur with professional massage techniques, Lu Ning gradually forgot the earlier mishap and began to purr contentedly.

Hearing this, Mu Qiuyu arched an eyebrow. Watching Lu Ning squint in enjoyment, she scratched her neck: “Feels good?”

“Mhm.” Lu Ning lay happily in Mu Qiuyu’s palm, turning over to show her belly. “Can you rub more, Host?”

The kitten’s head, which wasn’t fully soaked, was still somewhat fluffy, making her bright eyes stand out. She tucked her paws in obediently, exposing her belly without any defense—a picture of submissive innocence. The light traced Mu Qiuyu’s increasingly refined profile, casting a slight curve at her neck.

Mu Qiuyu swallowed imperceptibly, finding it hard to refuse the request. In silence, she gave Lu Ning a full-body massage. White foam gradually covered the girl’s long fingers, tangling her with the kitten’s fur. Eventually, Lu Ning flattened out into a “cat pancake” under Mu Qiuyu’s hands, muttering happily, “So comfortable…”

“My Host is the best Host in the world.”

“Host, you’re so great.”

“Thank you, Host. Kitty loves Host the most~”

Lu Ning felt that while she was enjoying the massage, she was also providing “emotional value” to Mu Qiuyu. She was truly the best assistant system in the world! While she was busy flattering her, Lu Ning noticed a bit of foam on Mu Qiuyu’s head. The light reflected off the fluffy bubbles as they occasionally brushed Mu Qiuyu’s face, the soft white color making her features look gentle.

“Host,” Lu Ning said, standing up.

“Hm?” Mu Qiuyu didn’t expect her to move and looked up, following her gaze.

Lu Ning told her, “Don’t move.”

Staying still was easy—or it would have been if the wet kitten hadn’t leaned in with her damp nose. Moonlight was hazy, and the shadow of the cat’s head on the wall moved visibly toward the human’s shadow. Mu Qiuyu seemed frozen. Her slightly lowered neck remained steady, yet in the details where the moon couldn’t see, she tensed up.

She lowered her eyelashes, watching the cat’s nose approach her face. Moist heat puffed out slowly, making one’s heart feel restless and beat abnormally. Yet the cat seemed entirely unaware of how provocative her actions were, raising her paw without inhibition.

Thump, thump.

Mu Qiuyu’s heart hammered against her chest as the cat’s paw touched her forehead. Lu Ning brushed back the hair on her forehead bit by bit, as if white foam were floating down. In Mu Qiuyu’s vision, the removed foam turned into a white blur. In this black-and-white world, she saw a pair of serious eyes. The crystal-blue pupils were slightly dilated, and the only thing reflected in those gemstones was her own face.

“There.” Lu Ning finished what she wanted to do, showing Mu Qiuyu the foam on her paw. “Am I impressive?”

“Lu Ling.”

The kitten was gloating, but was interrupted by Mu Qiuyu’s flat tone.

“Hm?” Lu Ning moved her gaze from the foam on her paw to Mu Qiuyu’s face. She thought she was about to be praised and looked over defenselessly.

Instead, Mu Qiuyu’s lips parted slightly as she informed her nonchalantly: “Do you know that animals usually use their tongues to lick and clean themselves?”

Hearing this, Lu Ning’s boasting gesture froze. She realized belatedly that she had used her “hands” to wipe the foam from Mu Qiuyu’s hair. She was a human who was used to doing everything with her hands.

Lu Ning looked into Mu Qiuyu’s eyes. The girl’s cold, dark pupils reflected the overhead light like a layer of beeswax over a glacier. With just a few words, she had seemingly seen through everything.

How… There shouldn’t have been any flaws.

As she thought this, a notification popped up in Lu Ning’s vision. Her request to retrieve memories from her “blackout” period had finally received a response—unnecessarily late. The system cruelly informed her that the memories of her drunken state could not be recovered.

Looking at the floating blue text, Lu Ning felt the notification was mocking her: Stupid, told you not to drink, now you can’t remember anything!

Lu Ning felt a headache coming on. But she held onto a sliver of hope; as long as Mu Qiuyu wasn’t certain, she hadn’t been exposed. As long as she didn’t admit to being human, she was “Schrödinger’s Cat” to Mu Qiuyu!

The kitten steadied her nerves and used data to prove her behavior wasn’t human: “But in videos on social media, many animals use their hands sometimes.”

“…I was removing foam from your head, not cleaning myself.”

Listening to the cat’s excuses, Mu Qiuyu replied thoughtfully, “I see.”

“Of course,” Lu Ning insisted with a forced calm. But she didn’t know that when she lacked confidence, her eyes would wander noticeably. Mu Qiuyu always thought this “coal ball’s” combination of stubbornness and guilt was quite cute.

With that in mind, Mu Qiuyu picked up the showerhead. She didn’t want this interesting topic to end today, so she let it go and reminded Lu Ning, “Hold on, I’m going to rinse the foam off.”

“Then I’ll keep talking!” Lu Ning took the chance to distract her.

But before she could speak, Mu Qiuyu cut her off: “I know what you mean.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t date anyone.”

Whoosh…

The girl’s cold voice was drowned out by the shower, falling onto the kitten along with the water. Lu Ning raised her head blankly. For some reason, she felt Mu Qiuyu had known her intention from the start. But why would she let her have her way? Didn’t Mu Qiuyu hate being used? Did she just do this to take the opportunity to give her a bath?

Lu Ning was puzzled, but her tiny heart settled back into her narrow chest with a sense of relief. All her schemes and plans weren’t as reassuring as Mu Qiuyu’s actual promise.

For a moment, Lu Ning had so much she wanted to say. She looked at the girl carefully rinsing the foam and opened her mouth: “Ho—glub glub glub…”

Her urge to express herself was ruthlessly extinguished by the shower. A hint of helplessness appeared in Mu Qiuyu’s eyes: “I told you, I’m rinsing you off.”

At this point, Mu Qiuyu could have just finished her work. But then she raised her hand and carefully brushed the water from Lu Ning’s face. Whether it was the bright moonlight of the night or the soft bathroom lights, Mu Qiuyu’s expression was exceptionally gentle.

“Don’t speak anymore, do you hear me?”

Lu Ning felt that what Mu Qiuyu brushed wasn’t just her cheek, but something else entirely. The kitten truly became obedient, answering softly in the mental channel only she and Mu Qiuyu shared: “Mhm.”

The bright moon hung high, and night blanketed the world. After her bath, the kitten was as fluffy as a black ball of fur, leaning against Mu Qiuyu’s chest without a gap. A faint floral scent wafted between their bodies—it was Mu Qiuyu’s scent, and also Lu Ning’s.

“So good…” the kitten muttered, smacking her small lips.

Mu Qiuyu slowly opened her eyes and looked at the sleeping companion in her arms. This wasn’t the first time Lu Ning had said this. Then she heard her say it again: “So good.”

The sound was a bit disruptive for sleep. Mu Qiuyu reached out and tugged gently on Lu Ning’s whiskers: “What is so good?”

“Mu Qiuyu.”

Lu Ning was exhausted after the bath. She was responsive to every call, raising her paw as she spoke. It looked like she wanted to hug Mu Qiuyu, but because her limbs were too short, she ended up just pressing it against Mu Qiuyu’s waist.

But Lu Ning was satisfied. She rubbed her head against Mu Qiuyu’s chest, stopping at the spot closest to her heart.

“Mu Qiuyu belongs to me alone, it’s so good,” Lu Ning muttered, her voice full of satisfied desire, yet also so innocent that it was impossible to feel repulsed.

Mu Qiuyu’s expression was complex as she watched the little thing that had squeezed into her arms. Between the hints, the blunt statements, and even the fabricated system notifications, Lu Ning was warning her not to form intimate relationships with anyone else.

Was she really that important to her?

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