I Really Want to Pet My Wife's Cat Ears - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Thirteen Cats

The fact that classic styles are “all over the place” only proves they have a wide audience; they are styles that the general public can universally accept and like.

The ideas Meng Xu proposed might seem high-impact at first glance, but they couldn’t withstand the test of time. It was highly likely they’d be trendy this month and out of style the next. One can’t exactly change the entire renovation every month.

On the way here, Shuoyu and Shen Zhiyin had discussed how converting an abandoned art gallery into a commercial photography studio was theoretically feasible. However, the studio styles in Yunxi City were quite mature, and most had long-term contracts with photographers. It would be an uphill battle for them to rush in and try to grab a piece of the pie.

But they hadn’t expected Meng Xu’s vision to be even more “sky-high” she wanted a utopian world detached from reality.

Shuoyu and Shen Zhiyin exchanged a look, reading the same helplessness in each other’s eyes. Not wanting to watch their friend jump into a fire pit and toss her money into the Huangpu River, Shen Zhiyin leaned forward and said earnestly: “Xuxu, you really need to think this through.

If we make a studio in the style we personally like, magazines and advertisements basically won’t be able to use it. This isn’t Shibuya. During renovation, every bit of decor would have to be custom-designed. You might even have to find someone to hand-make a single ornament. The initial investment will be very, very expensive.”

Meng Xu clearly wasn’t worried about that.

She toyed with her teacup and smiled brightly: “No need to worry about that. My family gave me startup capital. I just want to do what I like!”

A newborn calf does not fear the tiger. But since this was a project Shuoyu had taken an interest in, she had to make the stubborn “Party A” change her mind.

Shuoyu lowered her eyes in deep thought, a layer of dazzling reflection at the base of her long eyelashes. After a moment, she lightly bit her red lips and tapped her fingernail on the tabletop.

She said in a lazy voice: “If you want to do the style you like, you might as well forget the photography studio and build a niche cultural trend district instead.”

The Meng family was one of the top artistic families in Yunxi; the younger generation were either painters or curators. This abandoned gallery was the first project Meng Xu had taken on independently after reaching adulthood. She was eager to show her parents some results. Hearing this, her interest was piqued instantly, and she signaled Shuoyu to continue.

While Shuoyu, with her hands in her coat pockets, walked toward the abandoned gallery over fallen leaves while seriously researching with the other two how a cultural district could quickly break even…

Ji Mianmian suddenly heard a strange sound.

She looked up and saw a dazzling halo of light appear before her window in the hazy twilight. This was the third floor, seven or eight meters off the ground!

Ji Mianmian was startled instantly; the fur on her tail puffed out until it was very fluffy. She hurriedly turned on the ceiling light, only to discover it was No. 001 who had a halo above its head, was unaffected by gravity, and walked while floating with four paws off the ground scratching the window with its paw pads to make noise.

Last night, while Shuoyu was away, No. 001 had popped out from somewhere. Ji Mianmian had seen it from a distance, waving its claws in the air using the same method Shuoyu used to modify the safe zone, and then a trade shop appeared on the ground.

Ji Mianmian couldn’t figure out what it was doing, so she just observed from afar, not daring to get close or let the kittens establish contact with it. As soon as Shuoyu came online, this fellow stayed obediently inside the trade shop. But the moment Shuoyu left, it would promptly close the shop doors and fly all over the island. Sometimes it flew so high that looking from the ground to the sky, it looked like a torn plastic bag blown by the wind.

In the two months before Shuoyu appeared in the sky over Cat Island, Ji Mianmian had never seen No. 001 reveal itself, though she had heard its name from the mouths of many cats. It was said that No. 001 was like a ghost, coming out at night and resting during the day; if it saw a cat in distress, it would take the initiative to be absorbed into the spiritual world by evil spirits to carry out a rescue. It had saved many pitiful cats.

Because of these hearsay stories, and the fact that No. 001 frankly exposed its snowy white belly and pink paws, Ji Mianmian’s impression of No. 001 had been good from the start.

But strictly speaking, this was their first time speaking.

She walked over, opened the window, and invited it in. She gave the snowy white cat fur a stroke and said with a smile: “Hello, No. 001. Do you need something? Next time, could you knock on the door instead of scratching the window?”

The snowy white cat instinctively rubbed against her arm and landed on the windowsill to stretch, then spoke: “The cat grass in the plots behind the small house seems to be ripe. Mianmian, go harvest it, meow.”

Unlike the other cats on the island, No. 001 spoke human language. However, the tone and speech habits were a bit strange one could tell at once that the sound was coming from a cat’s throat.

Hearing its kind reminder, Ji Mianmian said happily: “Thank you! I’ll go get the sickle and the grass basket!”

Shuoyu had opened the permissions for all items in the safe zone to her, so she ran straight for the storage room.

As soon as Shuoyu left, Ji Mianmian had changed out of the heavy water-green gown into a black-and-white maid outfit with an apron; it was much easier to move in. “A woman dresses for the one she loves”—when that woman wasn’t around, there was no need for her to dress up like an exquisite doll in a trade shop. It was better to wear whatever was comfortable.

Ji Mianmian’s appearance on Cat Island was a major mistake made by No. 001. It had been observing her in secret for these two months, and seeing this humanoid cat being so friendly, No. 001 was very satisfied.

The golden halo above its head turned like a steering wheel, and it followed behind Ji Mianmian, flying while instructing: “Cat grass can grow another crop after being cut once. Be careful not to hurt the main stem when you cut it, meow!”

By the time she finished moving the cat grass into the house, the sky over Cat Island had turned pitch black, like spilled ink. Ji Mianmian looked up at the sky; not seeing that beautiful woman, a trace of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Hearing Little White’s angry meow, she ran to the medical station to soothe the three cats’ emotions. Only then did she find out that the female cat formerly called One-Eye but now renamed A-Jin was only a year and a half old, which was why she was so mischievous. Before, seeing her skin-and-bones, deathly appearance, Ji Mianmian had thought she was ten years old or so, perhaps an old cat.

“You two, stop tormenting Little White!” Ji Mianmian hooked her tail and gave Little Flower and A-Jin a light tap on their heads.

She said with a “tough love” tone: “Little Flower, you won’t starve to death if you eat a couple bites less. You aren’t allowed to shout that you’re hungry right after eating! And A-Jin, your previous injuries were so severe and I didn’t see you wailing, but now that Shuoyu spent so much money to cure you, just endure the itching of the healing wounds!”

Although Little White had its principles, it was soft-hearted and lacked patience. The other two cats tormented it tirelessly because they felt their demands might be met. But Ji Mianmian was different; she was firm and unyielding in her convictions, almost a bully.

Seeing that she was truly angry, the small calico and the tortoiseshell cat softened their voices, meowing and acting cute to try and “moe” their way out of trouble. This trick, as expected, was very effective.

Ji Mianmian accepted their submission with a bit of amusement. She rubbed the two cats and took four portions of cat grass from her bamboo basket, laying them out before everyone.

Cat grass looks like thin wheat seedlings, green and tender. Before, it grew scattered among the wild weeds on the island. Occasionally, if their stomachs felt uneasy, the cats would find some to chew on. On one hand, the crude fiber promoted gastrointestinal motility; on the other, it helped cough up hairballs. But they had never seen a cat take such a large plate of cat grass to feast on!

At this moment, even the greediest, Little Flower, looked up with a face full of confusion, meowing with a “sickly” look: “Sister, won’t we get stomach aches if we eat this much grass?”

Now that food was plentiful, Ji Mianmian didn’t want to eat this coarse-textured stuff either. However, she still grabbed a handful of green grass and put it in her mouth, chewing away.

“No. 001 said it took suggestions and improved the cat grass. Now, eating cat grass for three days will unlock the cats’ combat talent! If the evil spirits are absorbed into the spiritual world again, we can attack proactively. I believe we shouldn’t just hide in the safe zone and let the evil spirits harm other cats on the island. So I brought four portions; let’s unlock our talent together!”

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