XIII

Mu Mu returned to find the Siamese stirring up trouble yet again, it's paws randomly stepping on the keyboard, leaving a long series of meaningless letters and symbols in the comment section which, luckily, had not been sent.

"You ah," Mu Mu set it on his lap and symbolically patted its bottom, "looks like I have to lock the computer before I leave in the future."

The Ling Mao Er who had just been spanked: ...... (⊙o⊙)(⊙o⊙)(⊙o⊙) I[1] was spanked on the butt by the blockhead!

[1]老子-Arrogant 'I', kind of like ore-sama? Used in contempt or anger. Occasionally translated as 'I, your father"

Mu Mu saw that the Siamese' faintly spiritless expression, "What's wrong? Unhappy?"

Ling Mao Er realized that Mu Mu had moved his face closer, attentively watching it at close range, before slowly blinking once quite a while later.

Ling Mao Er: ...

Mu Mu: There seems to be no reaction? Try again then.

He scooched closer again, pinched the tip of the Siamese's ear and gave it a gentle nip.

Ling Mao Er: ! ! !

"Weird, why didn't it have an effect?"

Bewildered, Mu Mu held his chin and wondered.

Ling Mao Er felt as though he was already thoroughly cooked.

Mu Mu was a bit disappointed: As expected, this method only works on certain cats.

The submitted photos received a high degree of appreciation from the editor-in-chief, designating the cover photo of the special edition on the spot. Those that appeared on the cover of "Minus" have always been people of seniority in the modelling circle; although Ling Mao Er was popular at the moment, he was still considered to be of the younger generation, having just only debuted a short while ago. To appear on the cover of the special edition was already reaching heaven in a single bound [2].

[2]一步登天 – Idiom 'to reach heaven in a single step', meaning instant success.

The company of the perfume ad had heard the news from who knows where, and had exorbitantly brought the advertisement location on the inside back cover of the official edition, directly pushing Ling Mao Er up to first rate. Even the phone app that was released later benefited quite a bit, the still image film was forwarded again and again on Weibo, none of the netizens believed that the man and woman in the picture were the same person.

Ling Mao Er's popularity exploded. Some media outlets used the 3 sets of photos Mu Mu took of him for this publicity period, even appointments for Mu Mu poured in like scraps of paper[3].

[3]纷至沓来 – idiom "to come thick and fast", meaning to come in a continuous stream, to keep pouring in.

In a situation where there's no end to the job offers, Mu Mu could give up the ones that require long distance business trips and to the greatest extent, choose local or close distance photo shoot assignments, subconsciously not wanting a certain someone to wait at home alone for too long.

However, the longer Mu Mu raised the Siamese, the more he could understand its status as the husky of the cat world. Today, the first thing Mu Mu saw when he returned home were the leaves of his hanging orchid scattered all over the floor and the Siamese standing above, whole-heartedly chewing on another.

"Kitty!" Mu Mu was very angry.

As soon as it heard the sound, the Siamese turned to flee, but its paw got tangled on something and the entire cat got pulled back into Mu Mu's arms. An angry Mu Mu pinched it's scruff and struck its butt with two strikes.

The Siamese who just had its butt spanked began to continuously howl in anguish, not stopping even after Mu Mu's hand stilled. Anyone who came across this situation would think that Mu Mu wanted to kill it. The cries of Siamese cats were hoarse to begin with, when it wept and howled like this, it sounded much more miserable, even Mu Mu was a bit worried that he had used too much force.

A bit regretful, Mu Mu picked up the Siamese and earnestly comforted it, "Alright alright, don't shout anymore. Didn't I tell you to not bite those flowers? I forgot that you can't understand though, it was my fault."

The Siamese had received a scare and continued wailing.

Mu Mu's heart ached, giving it a kiss on the nose. This move was actually quite effective, the Siamese immediately stopped wailing, even its gaze was a bit disoriented.

Ling Mao Er's mind was currently running in circles [4]: I was kissed by the blockhead I was kissed by the blockhead I was kissed by the blockhead I was kissed by the blockhead...

[4]跑马灯 – I have no idea, apparently its a running horse lantern (in simpler terms, a merry-go-round). It presumably meaning his thoughts are shifting and revolving in circles?

"Is it a little better?" Mu Mu gently stroked its back, "Let's go, no canned food today, I'll buy a fish as an apology for giving you a shock."

Ling Mao Er didn't think that Mu Mu would actually buy fish for it, and live fish at that. It thought that a vegetarian like Mu Mu would be against killing.

Ling Mao Er jumped onto the fridge, arrogantly looking down [5] as Mu Mu skillfully killed the fish, descaled it, and removed the organs, cleaning an entire fish in the blink of an eye.

[5]居高临下 – Idiom "To live high and look down on", meaning to overlook, occupy a commanding position, arrogance based on status or position.

"What flavour do you like, in brown sauce or sweet and sour [6]?" Mu Mu asked, despite knowing that the Siamese doesn't understand.

[6]酱香 糖醋 – drools….I don't actually like fish all that much but it looks good

Sour[7] sour sour sour sour, Ling Mao Er shouted internally, almost wanting to loudly meow while pointing at the vinegar bottle.

[7]醋 – Means sour (as in sweet and sour) and vinegar. I think it's kind of a play on words as vinegar means both sour and….jealousy XD

However, Mu Mu had a tacit understanding with it. As soon as he set the marinated fish into the oil, the charred fragrance of the fish skin wafted out; once both sides of the fish were seventy percent cooked, a big spoonful of mixed soy marinade was poured, simmering with the lid on for a bit, once uncovered, the entire room was filled with the aroma of vinegar.

Remember to add cilantro ah, Dear!

With the raise of Mu Mu's hand, a few spots of green appeared on the golden stomach of the fish.

Without waiting for Mu Mu to call him, Ling Mao Er eagerly jumped from the fridge onto the dining table, waiting in anticipation for the meal to be served, essentially an impatient foodie.

Mu Mu laughed at it, "You're so enthusiastic."

The fish was brought over and, seduced by the fragrance, Ling Mao Er immediately took a bite but was scalded to the point of sticking out its tongue.

"Slow down," Mu Mu poured a bit of cold water into its water bowl, "I've never seen a cat that burnt itself."

Having suffered a loss, Ling Mao Er was more careful, cautiously licking a few times before swallowing the piece of fish. A bout of a special fragrance filled its mouth, the taste very similar to the milk it drank the first time it had come over.

Ling Mao Er had never eaten such delicious fish, so delicious that it almost wanted to cry.

While eating, purrs flooded from the Siamese's throat and the tail that was lifted upright trembled from excitement.

Brushing it from neck to the tip of its tail, it would shake every time Mu Mu stroked its body. Despite loathing being touched while eating, Ling Mao Er earnestly longed for his gentle caress.

Devouring the majority of the fish in one go, Ling Mao Er excitedly ran circles around the room, from right to left and then from left to right, with its tail puffed up, pretending that it was being chased by an enemy.

The small space of Mu Mu's house was completely not enough for Ling Mao Er to express itself, it flit about the sofa, bar stool, shelves and other furniture, leaping up and jumping down. Mu Mu heard the continuous sounds of ringing and clangs from behind him as he washed the dishes, but not only did he not put a stop to it, with the indulgent 'the family raised a little brat but the little brat is my family's' way of thinking, he even dotingly raised the corner of his lips.

When Mu Mu had tidied up the kitchen, the Siamese flew over and clung to his leg, nimbly climbing up to his shoulder in a few steps and abruptly licked Mu Mu's lips.

"..." The Mu Mu who had been surprise attacked, "I didn't eat fish, does the corner of my mouth taste like fish?"

Having already gone berserk, Ling Mao Er was left only feeling that the taste of that lick was quite amazing, and unthinkingly licked three or four more times before Mu Mu pushed it away.

"You're too excited, calm down a bit."

How could Ling Mao Er pay attention to what he was saying now? Mu Mu wouldn't let it lick his lips so it buried its head into the hollow of his neck, inhaling Mu Mu's scent to its heart content. The more of the scent it breathed in, the more muddled it's mind became, the hotter its body felt as all the desire accumulating in a single point and yearned to find release.

It clung to Mu Mu's neck, nipping and biting, sharp fangs and claws leaving white marks on his skin. Feeling pain, Mu Mu pried it off, "Should I find you a little female cat?"

Hearing the two words, 'female cat', Ling Mao Er's mind abruptly cleared; he realized that something dangerous may happen if he continued like this; it would be terrible if it lost control, shifted to human form and did something to Mu Mu.

No, even without doing anything, it would be terrible enough just by turning into a human.

Relying on its last shred of rationality, Ling Mao Er borrowed Mu Mu's shoulder as a jump pad and used all of its strength to jump out of the window without giving the other party any time to react and grab him.

"Kitty!" Mu Mu worriedly rushed into the hall but only saw a black tail swing around the fire escape exit.

He quickly ran to the stairway entrance but didn't know if the Siamese was going up or down the stairs. In the time it took for him to hesitate, he had already lost track of Ling Mao Er.

Mu Mu was both anxious and regretful, if he had known that this would happen, he wouldn't have added extra ingredients.

Under the moonlight, a pair of young sweethearts were taking a walk by the lake, They had just began dating not long ago and had not even gone past the stage of holding hands.

Because the ambience was really too beautiful, the boy worked up the courage to hold the girl's hand, "Dear, I..."

A black shadow flashed between the two, flying straight into the lake, raising a spray of water with a splash.

The frightened girl began to scream, "Ah!——"

The equally terrified boy stood in front of her, "What is that!"

The surface of the lake became tranquil again, the reflection of the moon once again became a perfect circle, only a few inconspicuous bubbles floated up to the surface.

After waiting for a while and seeing no movement, the boy turned to pull the girl away by the hand. However, the other stood in place, eyes staring in the direction of the lake.

"What's wrong?"

Dazed, the girl reached out and pointed ahead, "Heavens..."

He turned his head and saw, illuminated by the bright moonlight, in the gleaming crystalline water, there stood a stunning youth in the centre of the lake. Drenched hair still dripping water, under the bangs was a picturesque face, fair chest covered by a few strands of water plants, the lower body was hidden under the water surface, whether human or fish, it could not be seen.

The girl covered her mouth in shock, "I have seen the lake god…"

The youth realized that he had been discovered and turned to dive into the lake, disappearing in an instant.