I Really Want to Pet My Wife's Cat Ears - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Six Cats

In the real world, Shuo Yu could confidently show photos of Mianmian to Shen Zhiyin and introduce her as her “wife.” However, facing Ji Mianmian one-on-one within the game, she somehow didn’t dare to be so bold.

The AI in Cat Island Diary was highly intelligent. If her inner “pervert” nature were exposed and scared the young girl away from West Ear Beach, it would be a disaster.

Shuo Yu strongly suspected that the artists simply hadn’t animated the changing sequence, which was why Mianmian avoided being seen while changing. After all, players could open the game to observe the cats at any time; if she truly had a concept of shyness, she wouldn’t look so expectant every time she saw Shuo Yu. Being watched so intensely is, in itself, something intimate and private.

While waiting for Ji Mianmian to change, Shuo Yu idly switched to the shovel tool and began digging in the sand. This was how she always played; as long as her stamina wasn’t empty, she couldn’t peacefully stay idle. Wasting stamina and delaying character growth felt like a crime!

Shuo Yu’s camera wasn’t far away. As soon as Ji Mianmian finished changing and looked up from the doorway, she saw Shuo Yu’s image.

“Shuo Yu, I’ve changed into the new dress! It’s beautiful, I love it so much!”

“You carry on with your work, I have to go check on One-Eye!”

As soon as the voice came through the speaker, Shuo Yu put away her shovel and rushed over, not even stopping to pick up the razor clams she had just dug up. But to her surprise, Ji Mianmian ran as fast as a rabbit. Despite Shuo Yu frantically sliding her screen, she only managed to capture a few back-view screenshots at the very edge of West Ear Beach.

Fortunately, Shuo Yu had a good eye for aesthetics; the captured shots were full of atmosphere. The cat-ear maid, carrying her back-basket, ran toward the forest path in her small leather shoes, her tail curving in the air. The girl’s vibrant energy radiated through the screen.

Shuo Yu also had her own insights into composition—a mandatory skill for every model to cooperate with photographers. “The first time changing Mianmian’s outfit deserves a proper commemoration.”

Shuo Yu exited to her gallery and moved all the Cat Island Diary screenshots into a new folder. Then, she returned to the game to collect the seafood she had dug up into her material storage. One of the best things about this game was the lack of durability limits, and food didn’t spoil, allowing Shuo Yu to peacefully play the role of a “hoarder.”

She remembered she hadn’t yet sorted the loot from fighting the evil spirits. She hurriedly opened the several question-mark bundles in her backpack. Inside were: [Cat Diamond x2, Cat Coin x178, Time Fragment: Early Morning, Location Fragment: Seabed, Event Fragment: Pearl Fishing/Treasure Hunt].

No materials dropped, but every evil spirit dropped an interaction fragment. These were much rarer than materials. Shuo Yu studied them carefully: the Time, Location, and Event had to be placed logically for an interaction card to be successfully assembled.

She tried several times but couldn’t fit the [Event Fragment: Bathing] she got from the monthly card. For a cat, taking a bath in the sea in the early morning was a bit too “hardcore”… Luckily, pearl fishing in the early morning was logical. Shuo Yu placed the completed [Pearl Fishing Card] in a prominent spot, planning to take Mianmian there as soon as she was free.

At the same time, she noticed the five previous blueprints had been successfully interpreted: [Carved Road Tiles, Plaza Flooring, Carved Guardrails, Handcart, Exploration Robot].

Currently, Shuo Yu hadn’t discovered any mineral deposits on the island, so the items could only be crafted from the wood and stone she had collected.

“Finally, my favorite part: infrastructure!” Shuo Yu put on some music and happily started crafting materials, building a blueprint for the safe zone in her mind.

The system indicated that by laying road tiles, the cats’ paws wouldn’t sink into the sand, making running much easier. The plaza flooring and guardrails would slow down the destruction of her home by possessed cats and improve her cats’ comfort. The handcart was for the cats to use; with a cushion, it could be disguised as a cat bed—a semi-enclosed environment cats love. Even if they didn’t like it as a bed, it served as storage so Mianmian wouldn’t have to carry everything in her basket.

The only issue was that the handcart required Shuyu Leaves. Thinking about how the leaves she previously farmed were shredded by the evil cats made Shuo Yu a bit annoyed. As for the last item, the Exploration Robot, Shuo Yu couldn’t craft it yet; it required mechanical cores and metal, materials she couldn’t yet obtain.

The medicine Shuo Yu provided was very effective, and One-Eye was a cooperative patient. Soon, the wound on its head was cleaned and stopped bleeding.

Ji Mianmian was ecstatic: “Great, the medicine works! There’s a medical station at West Ear Beach, let’s go there for a check-up!”

The life of a wild animal is like a fish in the sea, drifting with the waves and surviving by fate; an injury is often a death sentence. Now that the spirits’ powers were growing while the cats remained as helpless as fish on a chopping board, she had to cling to Shuo Yu as her lifeline.

Once out of immediate danger, One-Eye raised its healthy right front leg and poked Mianmian’s arm. “This place isn’t safe anymore. Even companion cats can be possessed… I’ve been attacked, and I’m not sure if I’ll turn into one of them. Take Little White and Little Flower and run, as far as you can…”

Ji Mianmian knelt down and began pulling things out of her basket, stubbornly saying: “We don’t know how the half-cat-half-ghosts appear, but you’re still a good cat now. You don’t have to tell me—the moment mist appears on you, I’ll take the kittens and run far away.”

She ignored its protests and put One-Eye into her basket. The cat had a crippled leg, frequently lacked food, and despite being an adult, weighed only about five pounds. Moreover, Mianmian knew in her heart that if she had slept in that sand pit last night, she would have been the one injured…

One-Eye was her savior. She had raised the two abandoned kittens; she could manage one more cat. The cat food wasn’t heavy, so she packed the remaining food without wasting a scrap. Finally, she picked up the frightened kittens and faced the sand pit: “Even though this place is no longer safe, remember this was our first home.”

Since waking up on the island, Ji Mianmian always felt out of place. She was the only humanoid cat, different from everyone else. Many cats on the island hated humans and avoided her. It wasn’t until she found the kittens and began hiding at night like the others that she felt a sense of truly being alive. The sand pit held many memories she didn’t want to forget.

Ji Mianmian migrated toward West Ear Beach with her family. Along the way, she encountered two groups of cats. Although their habitats overlapped, they rarely interacted beyond frequent sightings.

Still, she called out to the nocturnal cats watching from a safe distance: “The island isn’t safe anymore. Spirits will possess cats to move in the daylight. If you get hurt, remember to come to West Ear Beach; a new medical station has opened there.” To make her words more credible, she left two opened packs of food on the ground. They were all cats, after all; even if they weren’t close, she didn’t want to hear news of them dying in the streets.

When Ji Mianmian returned to West Ear Beach, she almost thought she had the wrong place. Originally, there was only natural beach and forest, with a few vending machines and a clinic. But in just over an hour, civilization and order had been established.

Winding, convenient stone paths led everywhere; her leather shoes made pleasant tapping sounds on the pavement. A wide, flat plaza sat in front of the medical room. The original three machines had been moved to the right side of the clinic, with handcarts and newly crafted cat beds nearby. Everything looked orderly and full of life. The bonfire had been moved to a spot near the beach that would never be flooded by the tide; Shuo Yu seemed unconcerned about wasting wood, keeping it burning warmly even in the day. Scented wooden guardrails enclosed this little world, separating Shuo Yu’s sanctuary from the wild beach.

Ji Mianmian looked around but didn’t see the beautiful woman. She really wanted to share what had happened with Shuo Yu, but she wasn’t there.

The talkative Little White didn’t notice Mianmian’s sense of loss, squirming in her arms to get down. “Sister, it’s so beautiful here, let’s go see everything!”

The kitten’s excitement rubbed off on Mianmian, and her disappointment faded. “Yes, Shuo Yu is so good to us. She built all of this and can’t even enjoy it herself; it’s all for the cats.”

Ji Mianmian put the kittens down. The two little things ran fast, leaving trails of cute paw prints on the plaza. But after a few steps, Mianmian felt an invisible force pushing her back.

One-Eye’s raspy voice spoke: “Mianmian, put me down. I don’t have permission to enter the safe zone.”

After the plaza was built, Shuo Yu had set it to only allow cats with a positive favorability rating to enter. Having seen the malice of the feral cats, she didn’t want her home destroyed again. It was this system-level shackle that kept One-Eye out. It was happy to see West Ear Beach become so beautiful, but as Mianmian approached with it on her back, a prompt appeared saying that one must destroy the fence or tear up a tile to force entry.

This place had finally become so good—the most beautiful and vast safe zone One-Eye had ever seen. It didn’t want to—and its frail, sickly body wouldn’t allow it to—cause any damage.

Ji Mianmian pursed her lips and leaned her basket against a nearby coconut tree. “Wait here for a bit. Shuo Yu is very easy to talk to. Once she comes back, you’ll be able to enter…”

Midway through her sentence, she reflexively looked up at the sky and saw a stunning sight.

Shuo Yu had exited the game after finishing the safe zone and running out of stamina. Worried about missing news, she specifically turned on push notifications for Cat Island Diary. Shuo Yu liked a simple life and usually kept all notifications off except for a few essential apps. No previous game had ever received this treatment, but the immersion in this one was too strong; she was genuinely worried that Little White or Mianmian would be the next ones hurt.

Cat Island Diary: Hello dear player, the cat you follow has returned to the safe zone. Go say hello!

Since she had been lazy and eating for several days during her vacation, Shuo Yu was currently on her exercise bike at home when she received the notification. She wasn’t strictly controlling her diet, but as a model, she had to stay in shape for shoots, which meant putting more effort into exercise.

Sweating from the workout, Shuo Yu decided it was time to rest. She stopped the bike and walked to her yoga mat to stretch while opening the game.

Previously, the Shuo Yu that Mianmian saw was either barefaced or in light makeup, mostly looking down at her phone with a calm, confident expression. But today, having just finished exercising, her face and body were covered in a thin, intimate layer of sweat. She was wearing only a sports bra, her neck and shoulder lines—praised by countless professional photographers—were bare and smooth. Her face was slightly flushed, and because she knew Mianmian was back, she was in an excellent mood.

When Shuo Yu allowed her emotions to show, her gaze was incredibly gentle.

Ji Mianmian’s throat moved. She subconsciously raised her hand to cover the eyes of Little White and Little Flower. She’s too beautiful; kittens shouldn’t look too much…

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