XII

"You want me to pose for nude photographs?"

Mu Mu explained hurriedly, "Not fully naked, just your upper body."

"Why?" Ling Mao Er didn't understand.

"I feel that by casting off the restrictions of man-made products and combining it with your gaze, a clean, lucid image could be created- one that wouldn't cause people to have improper thoughts. Of course, this is merely my personal suggestion, it's perfectly fine for you to refuse."

Ling Mao Er considered it, "It doesn't really matter, I'm a male anyways. Even being completely nude is no problem for a dedicated model."

Mu Mu was very happy, "That isn't necessary. Today's shoot will only be from waist up."

"Has the animal model arrived yet?"

"It has arrived."

The worker from the cat shelter brought over the cage, lifting out a large cat with alternating black and grey tiger stripes. Mu Mu, having gotten used to seeing the Siamese, couldn't adjust to this sudden distinction between the cats.

"Her name is Jia Jia. She's a two and a half-year-old female cat, and has a docile temperament," one of the keeper's hands supported Jia Jia's abdomen while the other stroked its fur, "as long as you lift her properly, she won't struggle."

She carefully handed the cat to Ling Mao Er, but before he could receive it, Jia Jia used his arm to jump to Mu Mu's body. Fortunately, Mu Mu reacted quickly and caught her. Jia Jia successfully sat in the crook of his arms, even the tail hung down, curling back and forth.

The crowd: ...

Mu Mu, "Uh, this, sorry about this..."

He wanted to return Jia Jia to Ling Mao Er, but the cat in question was extremely unwilling, using every opportunity to run towards Mu Mu, constantly meowing when forced to separate.

The animal keeper cold sweats, "I don't know what's wrong with her today, could it be that the photographer ate fish this morning?"

"I didn't eat fish," Mu Mu was similarly embarrassed, "I'm vegetarian."

"In that case, teacher might as well come up, I'll go down to take photos for you guys." Ling Mao Er quipped with a cynical tone.

"I think I should withdraw first so you can cultivate some feelings with Jia Jia, maybe feed it something."

"Forget it."

Ling Mao Er lowered his head and whispered a few words to Jia Jia. Miraculously, Jia Jia obediently stood still as Ling Mao Er picked it up, no longer trying to run towards Mu Mu.

"How magical!" This was an eye-opener for the animal keeper, "There's actually someone who can communicate with cats."

"What did you say to it?" Mu Mu was also curious.

"Didn't say anything, I've merely heard that nipping the ears could increase a cat's affections, so I gave it a try."

This is the first time the animal keeper had heard of this, "I've only heard that blinking at cats means kisses."

"You try it then?"

The other declined, "Better not."

Ling Mao Er took off his top in compliance with Mu Mu's request. It was early spring, so the studio was still slightly chilly. His makeup today was still the light and natural type, in order to coordinate with the American Shorthair, he chose an eyeliner that was the same shade as the other's fur colour.

"Come, look at the camera." Mu Mu raised the camera, both the youth and the cat in his arms looked to the lens simultaneously.

Mu Mu liked animals, especially capturing their eyes. Different animals have different eyes——the dogs' were deep, the eagles' were penetrating, the deer's gentle, and cats… Mu Mu had always felt that they had the clearest eyes in the world.

However when two sets of eyes simultaneously stared a him, he was left undecided as to which pair was more bright and clear.

A clean youth and an innocent cat, this was the thought that appeared in Mu Mu's mind when the two lives appeared in the same frame.

This was image he desired, so much so that it was even more beautiful than what he'd imagined.

"Is there a problem?" Ling Mao Er spoke up to ask him.

Mu Mu realized he had been distracted, holding the camera yet not taking a shot.

"No, it's very good." He adjusted the focus and pressed down the shutter.

...

The magazine hadn't actually required so many photos but Mu Mu took a few extra out of selfish motives.

"I have a hunch that I will really like this set of pictures, so I would like to buy their copyright in advance."

"Ah?"

"If I organize a photo gallery or publish a photo album, I would like to include them in my works."

"You want to print my photos in your book?"

"You could put it that way."

"Okay," Ling Mao Er readily agreed, "I give my consent, won't charge you."

"..." Mu Mu replied, "Don't accept so hastily, you may need to ask your manager first, or I could directly discuss it with him."

"As you wish then." Ling Mao Er shrugged indifferently.

Mu Mu couldn't help chuckling, really still a child, not too concerned about this kind of thing. If it was someone else, it was quite likely that they would take advantage, but he didn't want Ling Mao Er to suffer a loss.

He should talk with the latter's manager when he had time after all.

***

From the bedroom, Ling Mao Er used the sound of water in the bathroom as a cover while he gave his manager a call.

"There is a situation."

"Whose phone are you using to call me?"

"Mu Mu might come find you to buy the copyright of my photos, the collab one with the cat."

"Where did you run off to these days? Ke Le said that you stay out all night every day."

"If he contacts you, don't charge him."

"Don't incite a sex scandal ah, even though you aren't in the entertainment circle you should still pay attention."

"Or else I don't accept any jobs in the future."

"You have an outdoor photoshoot in Australia scheduled next month, you'll be there for a week.Prepare in advance and don't run around."

"That's all, I'm hanging up."

"Bye."

After the chicken and duck [1] finished the call, the sound of water in the washroom also stopped.

[1]鸡同鸭 – a conversation between a chicken and a duck, doesn't quite match up and doesn't seem like they are speaking the same language.

Wearing a bathrobe, Mu Mu walked out of the bathroom while wiping his hair with a towel. After walking into the room, he saw the Siamese nudging the landline telephone over and was treating it as if it were moving prey, using both paws [2] to bat it around.

[2]左右开弓 – Idiom meaning "to shoot from both sides", refers to displaying ambidexterity, generally used to describe attacking with both hands in quick succession (ie. slapping someone first with left and then the right :D) This isn't a face slapping novel though so Mao Er's just hitting it back and forth.

"Why are you so mischievous ah." Mu Mu walked over helplessly, lifting the Siamese onto his knees after returning the telephone. Water droplets fell from his hair onto the Siamese's face and it shook its head like a spinning top trying to shake the water off.

"Do you like photos?" Mu Mu asked.

"Meow?"

Mu Mu found a piece of cloth and placed it over the stool, setting the Siamese down on it.

"Obediently sit here and don't move, persevere for 5 minutes and I'll feed you fish sausages."

Who was Ling Mao Er? As a professional model, he would instinctively pose in front of a camera.

Its cooperation was outside of Mu Mu's expectations, and successively took many pictures.

"Not bad, looks like you are very suitable to be a professional model."

Ling Mao Er thought to himself, Of course, if it wasn't because I didn't want to scare you, I can also do somersaults.

Mu Mu organized the photos he took of the Siamese. Selecting the ones he liked the most, he uploaded them onto the social media account he often used to post photos, he received a lot of praise almost immediately.

——Great [3] Mu's sceneries are beautiful, human portraits are beautiful, never would have thought that cat photos are also so beautiful, lick!

3]大 – means big/great. 穆大 is kind of a nickname for Mu Mu by someone that is probably his fan, it's usually 大大 tho.

——First time seeing you post so many cat [photos], are you changing your profession to an animal photographer?

——Such a beautiful cat, does anyone know what kind of cat this is? Kind of want to raise one.

——Siamese cat, lots of variety, the one in the photo has a seal point colouration.

——I still think blue point colouration looks better, seal point's face is too black, like it hasn't washed its face in ten thousand years.

——The one who wanted to raise a Siamese please prepare your heart in advance, this cat isn't as independent as other cats, very clingy, if you ignore it, it would get depressed, furthermore, it's extraordinary mischievous, extremely energetic, it could be said to be the cat world's husky.

——Cat world's husky 2333 [4], laugh point was stabbed.

[4]2333 – online laughter?

——As a Siamese cat's owner, I must step out and say a few points! Siamese aren't just clingy and mischievous, it also really really likes to eat vinegar [5] {means to be jealous}! I once adopted a kitten to keep it company, it chased and beat the other until it hid under the bed, so spooked that it didn't dare come out for three days and nights! A month after the kitten was sent away, it was still angry! Families with cats should not rashly try this...However, there are lots of delights if the Siamese was raised properly, you can train it to carry things, do somersaults, and can also talk it out on a stroll, basically equivalent to half a dog (excluding the big temper OTZ My family's Siamese ran off once, just because I stopped to play with a stray cat while I was walking it, it was so angry that it ran away and only returned a day later /囧 [6], scared me so badly that I never dared to tease other cats while taking it out again.

[6]/囧 – I have absolutely no idea but 囧 is both a character and an emoji I think, meaning embarrassed, sad :-(, depressed or frustrated (its probs frustrated with hands in head emoticon)

The sharing of photos soon turned into a guide to raising Siamese cats, but Mu Mu didn't mind, and even unexpectedly gained a lot of knowledge on raising cats from the comments.

Ling Mao Er also lay in front of the computer desk, faking interest in the cursor sliding around on the screen to read through the comments one by one, ridiculing them as it looked on.By the end, it almost couldn't resist the urge to post a response.

In the end, it finally found an opportunity when Mu Mu left to pour water and used a guest account to leave a message under the picture:

—— To have such an elegant and docile Siamese cat but still wish to foster other cats, how demanding must humans be?

Someone saw this and responded:

——233333, is upstairs [7] a Siamese cat that ran over to comment?

[7]楼上 – means upstairs, refers to the commenter above

——I give full marks to this COS.

——That's right! You humans are so greedy and insatiable [8]!

[8]贪得无厌 – Idiom meaning "avaricious and insatiable"; greedy and never satisfied

——Elegant and docile? Ah, who gave you Siamese such a big face? Each and every one resembles either Bao Gong or Zhang Fei [9], even ten of the beautifying face masks from the friend group wouldn't be able to save it. By Ragdoll cat....

[9]包公 – Bao Gong, or Justice Bao, is a government official in the Song Dynasty known for his righteousness. An honest and upright official who brought justice, helped peasants overcome corruption. He was supposedly born extremely ugly and dark-skinned, and is often portrayed in opera as a black face with a white crescent shaped birthmark on the forehead. Was a pretty interesting read, I suggest you guys look up his cases~