I Really Want to Pet My Wife's Cat Ears - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Four Cats

Sensing the woman’s gaze lingering on her for a long time, Ji Mianmian looked up and asked, “Shuo Yu, is something the matter?”

Shuo Yu noticed that the girl had stopped calling her “Sister” for the moment and found it quite amusing.

Calls me sister when I’m spending money, but doesn’t recognize me once the shopping is done. The AI in this game is so realistic.

Ji Mianmian was clearly much more fun than those “2D” paper characters in otome games who could only act according to fixed programs. She curled her lips into a smile and said, “Nothing.”

Currently, Ji Mianmian’s favorability had reached 58 points. Unfortunately, she needed 100 points to unlock the outfit change.

Shuo Yu clicked the newly unlocked “Pet” interaction button and discovered that the cooldown (CD) for each interaction was separate. On the phone, the girl suddenly squatted down, covering her belly, and her thought bubble turned into a shy little expression: “Don’t touch me recklessly!”

Simultaneously, a red prompt appeared: [Ji Mianmian Favorability -2].

Shuo Yu finally understood why the camera zoomed in so closely during the petting interaction, allowing her to see the cat-ear girl’s full character art. It turned out that the specific spot being touched mattered…

She had just poked the belly. A cat’s belly is sacred and inviolable; with favorability only in the fifties, it was definitely off-limits. Fortunately, a failed [Pet] attempt did not trigger the cooldown. Shuo Yu clicked the button again and cautiously stroked the cat-ear girl’s head.

Ji Mianmian felt that the intensity and duration of this stroking were deeper than the brief touch of the “Greet” action. She could see the phantom of a hand stroking her small head over and over.

Staring at the screen, Shuo Yu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the text: [Ji Mianmian Favorability +8].

The little cat is so good; she didn’t stay mad just because I was abrupt earlier.

After watching the cat-ear girl eat freeze-dried treats on the screen for a while, Shuo Yu suddenly remembered she hadn’t crafted a torch yet despite unlocking the blueprint. She claimed her daily monthly card stamina, opened the torch page, and re-entered the forest according to the material list.

Ji Mianmian saw the woman’s image in the air suddenly vanish and couldn’t help but frown. She looked back at the three machines standing side-by-side with their flashing colorful lights, and her heart felt much more settled.

She will come back.

Shuo Yu, tireless in her enthusiasm, crafted five torches in one go. Returning to the West Ear Beach, she saw that Ji Mianmian had already fallen asleep leaning against the cat bed. The sight of the girl sleeping soundly was very peaceful; she was curled into a ball on her side, her tail hooked around her calf.

Shuo Yu didn’t have the heart to wake her. She quietly adjusted the angle, took a screenshot, and set it as her lock screen. Then, she took out four torches and the flint and placed them by Mianmian’s side. She also checked the “Allow Use” button for all the items. This way, Mianmian could pick up and use the props—unlike the earlier cat food tin that she couldn’t take with her.

Shuo Yu lit one torch for illumination, then returned to the forest to pick fruit, chop trees, move stones, and dig clay. She collected a lot of materials of unknown utility until her stamina was completely depleted. Once her stamina was empty, she opened the game panel to take a look.

Player: Shuo Yu

Level: 5 (72% exp to next level)

Currency: 5,882 Cat Coins, 12 Cat Diamonds

Materials: Branch x32, Fresh Water x14, Stone x21, Shuyu Leaf x2…

Shuo Yu: “It looks like this game is quite a grind. I wonder if things will improve at higher levels.”

She opened the mall and bought the “Newbie Blueprint Pack” she had been eyeing. The five blueprints inside were all in an uninterpreted state. Interpreting one took half an hour. Shuo Yu added them all to the queue; blueprints interpret automatically even when the game is closed. She would find out what they were when she logged in tomorrow.

After playing Cat Island Diary last night, Shuo Yu had browsed pet videos for a while and didn’t know what time she finally fell asleep. In the morning, hearing a knock on the door, she crawled up and dazedily checked the time: February 10, 10:22 AM.

She then remembered that Shen Zhiyin had said they were going to see a movie—a niche foreign Gothic film with only two screenings a day. They had booked tickets for 2:30 PM. Shen Zhiyin knew the passcode to her door and had already entered; she was now knocking on the bedroom door from a close distance.

“Quick, quick, quick! If you get up now, we can still go eat. The movie is nearly three hours long! We’ll starve to death if we don’t eat!”

Hearing her energetic voice, Shuo Yu felt her headache worsen. “Go sit in the living room for a bit, I’m getting up now!” She mentally thanked her habit of locking the bedroom door, as she preferred sleeping naked.

She crawled out of bed, washed up, changed, and applied makeup. When she finally stepped out of the bedroom, she saw Shen Zhiyin sitting on the sofa watching TV like a boss. Or rather, watching the opening ads, since Shuo Yu had never paid for a TV membership.

Shuo Yu leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, puzzled. “Didn’t you go out singing yesterday? How are you up so early? Didn’t drink last night?”

“Didn’t drink. I had to drive my little sister home.” Because they were going to see a Gothic movie, Shen Zhiyin had dressed up—her foundation was ghostly white, and she was in black from head to toe, looking like she stepped out of the film.

A hint of interest flashed in Shuo Yu’s eyes. “Is it that cat-owning ‘sister’? You’re certainly being attentive.”

Shen Zhiyin scratched her hair, forgetting she had pinned several simulation spider hair clips on her head. The chain on her nail art got caught in a spider leg, and she grimaced, asking Shuo Yu to help untangle it. No matter how careful Shuo Yu was, the hair-pulling hurt. Shen Zhiyin could only wince while saying, “I just met her at a board game meet-up last time, her name is Xiao Ka. She graduates and moves back to Nian City next year. We’re just ordinary friends.”

Shuo Yu understood. Nian City was nearly 2,000 kilometers from Yunxi City. Shen Zhiyin wasn’t the type to manage long-distance relationships, so she hadn’t planned on pursuing her. However, considering she gave up drinking just to drive the girl home, Shuo Yu thought the chance of her falling for the girl was quite high.

Seeing her thoughtful look, Shen Zhiyin waved her hand dismissively. “I’ll set up a gathering for you to meet Xiao Ka another day. But what about you? Working with so many leggy models every day, you haven’t felt a heartbeat for anyone?”

Shuo Yu smiled and took out her phone, showing the sleeping cat-ear girl on her lock screen. “Let me show you my new wife.”

Shen Zhiyin took one look and curled her lip, mocking her ruthlessly: “I really overestimated you, ‘2D’ Battle God!”

For lunch, the two went for grilled fish. Having not met for a while, Shen Zhiyin was bursting with things to say. Her mouth didn’t stop while eating—gossiping about old classmates, complaining about being forced to work overtime after losing a bet with her boss, and talking about how cute Xiao Ka’s cat was…

This left Shuo Yu with no time to check her phone. Playing games while chatting with someone is rude, especially when it’s your best friend.

They arrived early. While Shen Zhiyin was busy taking a call before the movie started, Shuo Yu finally had a moment to open Cat Island Diary. She swiped left and right all over the screen but couldn’t find a trace of Ji Mianmian or the other cats.

However, while searching the cat bed, she found a small cat woven from bristlegrass.

Grass-Woven Cat: Seems to be a small gift left by Ji Mianmian. Slightly increases luck for 24 hours. Valid when equipped.

This was the first gift Mianmian had ever given her. Shuo Yu couldn’t bear to use it, so she put it in the very last slot of her backpack to prevent any accidental clicks. After catching a few fish in the sea to consume some stamina, the screen suddenly went dark. The movie began, the dragon logo appeared, and she immediately put away her phone to enjoy the film.

Ji Mianmian woke up as soon as it was light. She ate some food and fiddled with the torches but still didn’t see Shuo Yu. Her heart was worried about the kittens; since she had adopted them, this was the first night they hadn’t slept together. Not wanting to show a lonely expression when Shuo Yu appeared, she specifically pulled some bristlegrass to weave a token before leaving.

She cherished this friend who could accompany her, improve her life, and was very generous.

The sand pit where she had spent the previous night was located between the West Ear Beach and the East Ear Beach of Cat Island. It took thirty to forty minutes to walk there. Ji Mianmian’s small back-basket was full of the food Shuo Yu had bought her yesterday. She wanted Little White and Little Flower to taste every kind of food, so she had only eaten the beef freeze-dried treat herself.

Imagining the excitement of the two kittens upon seeing her, Ji Mianmian walked with a light step, feeling much faster than she usually was on this path. Suddenly, Ji Mianmian’s brow furrowed. She realized a faint smell of rust was lingering at the tip of her nose.

Worried that a bloody incident had occurred last night, she quickened her pace.

“One-Eye, One-Eye, wake up… it’s dawn, the evil spirits are gone. Wake up… Sister Mianmian is almost here, don’t be afraid…” The mournful meows of Little White and Little Flower reached Ji Mianmian’s ears.

She looked closely and saw the old cat One-Eye with a bloody mess on its head. Blood—half wet, half dried—flowed over its blind eye. Its wound was different from a normal tear; the blood was mixed with a sticky black liquid. One look told her it was a wound from an evil spirit.

Despite its injuries, One-Eye had protected the kittens well. The two kittens were circling it with plenty of energy.

“How could this happen!” Ji Mianmian couldn’t believe her eyes. She had clearly given up her safe point under the cliff where she had hidden for over a month, yet they had still encountered an evil spirit!

One-Eye was at its last breath, and the two kittens couldn’t organize their words. Ji Mianmian couldn’t figure out how the evil spirit had appeared. However, the priority was to save One-Eye. She tore the hem of her dress with her fingertips and used the cloth dipped in fresh water to wipe away the black liquid from One-Eye’s forehead bit by bit.

Cats don’t understand medicine; wounds rely entirely on self-healing. Ji Mianmian looked up into the air and called Shuo Yu’s name twice, pleading for help. That woman could conjure so many things out of thin air; she must have a way to save One-Eye.

But Shuo Yu was like a god who had accidentally wandered onto Cat Island—she came and went as she pleased. Her appearance was always an unknown.

“One-Eye, get up and eat! Eat your fill, and your body will be healthy so the wound heals faster!” Refusing to sink into self-pity, Ji Mianmian took off her back-basket and opened the cat food packs Shuo Yu had bought her one by one, feeding them to the tortoiseshell cat.

The most important things on Cat Island were a safe point to sleep at night and food to fill the belly. One-Eye had old injuries, making both resources hard to snatch. Poor health made it even harder to evade the torture of evil spirits, creating a closed loop accelerating its path toward death. Now, smelling the nutrient-rich food, its will to survive was immediately triggered. It meowed while eating, thanking the girl for her gift.

Seeing that it still had an appetite, Ji Mianmian felt relieved. She opened a few more packs of food and placed them nearby. “Don’t thank me. This was all given by the woman who appeared yesterday. Eat in peace.”

Ji Mianmian looked up into the air. “I’m worried about the wound festering; I still need to get some medicine. Little White and Little Flower, stay here to protect One-Eye. I’m going to the West Ear Beach to wait for Shuo Yu.”

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