CAT - 24

Chapter 24

The private message was from a currently popular actress. Her profile picture also appeared to be a kitten, so Tan Xu clicked on it.

As soon as the image enlarged, Tan Xu recognized the kitten—it was Yun Xing. Even the black patches on his ears were in the exact same spot. The photo seemed to have been taken on a mountain. Back then, Yun Xing was barely half the size of Tan Xu's hand, a tiny little thing lying on a bed of leaves, exposing his fluffy belly.

The actress had debuted quite early and was famous primarily for her stunning looks. However, her lack of education was a widely known secret and a constant subject of public ridicule.

Her husband was a prominent and wealthy businessman online. The public often labeled him as nouveau riche because both husband and wife were perceived as rather uncultured.

Tan Xu opened the message she had sent him. It read:

[Hello! Your cat looks exactly like my son! His grandfather told us he sneaked out on his own a long time ago, and we've been so worried about him! Could you please provide your address so we can come and confirm? Thank you so much! 🙏]

"Xingxing," Tan Xu called out to the little cat beside him, who was currently puffing his chest out proudly as he basked in the netizens' praises.

Noticing that Tan Xu had stopped reading the comments aloud, Yun Xing leaned over to take a look. "Why did you stop reading?"

As soon as he peeked at the screen, Yun Xing saw a tiny kitten on Tan Xu’s phone.

"Who is that?" Yun Xing rubbed his fluffy head affectionately against Tan Xu's chin. "Why are you looking at other kitties behind my back?"

Tan Xu zoomed in on the picture. "Look closely."

Yun Xing stared at it for a moment. "Is that me?"

Tan Xu gave an affirmative hum. Surprised, Yun Xing jerked his head up, accidentally headbutting Tan Xu right in the chin.

The impact made Tan Xu’s head snap back slightly. He reached out and gently rubbed the spot where the little calico had hit him. "Did that hurt?"

Yun Xing shook his head. "Where did you get a picture of me from when I was little?"

Tan Xu tapped into the actress's profile and played one of her videos. "Do you recognize her?"

Yun Xing watched it and found her very familiar, but he had never actually seen his parents in their human forms. "Are there any pictures of them as cats?"

Tan Xu scrolled through her page and actually managed to find one. However, it was a photo of an orange cat. The orange cat was rather massive; many people in the comments joked that the goddess had parked a semi-truck in her living room.

"That's my dad!" Yun Xing told Tan Xu.

Tan Xu nodded. "Then this lady must be your mom?"

It quickly dawned on Tan Xu. Yun Xing had once mentioned that without incense offerings, they had to rely on fame and public recognition to accumulate spiritual power. That explained why one of his parents was a massive star and the other was a highly prominent businessman.

Thrilled to have found his parents, Yun Xing happily zoomed around the sofa in circles. "Then hurry up and arrange a meetup with them!"

---

After refreshing her inbox for the eighty one time, He Mi finally lost her patience and smacked Yun Hao, who was sitting next to her. "Did you tell Dad yet? That we found Xingxing?"

Yun Hao scratched his head, then turned around and yelled, "Dad!"

An old orange cat trotted out from the back of the room. "Is there news about Xingxing?"

He Mi pushed her wavy hair back over her shoulder. "Yes, I just sent that young man a private message. I have no idea when he'll reply, though."

Yun Liang, slightly skeptical of the intelligence of these two felines, hopped onto the sofa. "Pull up the message you sent. Let me see it."

He Mi opened the chat log with Tan Xu. Seeing the phrase 'your cat is my son', Yun Liang's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You can't just talk to humans like that! They're going to think you're insane!"

He Mi looked shocked, her beautiful eyes widening. "But Xingxing is my son!"

Giving up all hope for his son and daughter-in-law's intellect, Yun Liang sighed. "I'll dictate, you type."

He Mi awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "Well... I can only send one message until the other person replies."

Yun Liang nearly fainted from exasperation. Just as Yun Hao was about to pull out his own phone, a video call request popped up from the other side.

Initially, Tan Xu felt it was a bit presumptuous to video call directly, especially since the other party was a public figure. However, Yun Xing was adamant about doing it. To compromise, Tan Xu leaned back, leaving the entire frame to Yun Xing.

The moment the call connected, a giant kitten face filled the entire screen. He Mi quickly said, "Baby, back up a little bit, Mommy can't see you."

Yun Xing recognized the voice instantly. Lifting his chin, he cried out, "Mom!"

Yun Liang hurriedly squeezed into the frame as well. Upon seeing his grandfather's face, Yun Xing’s tail started swishing excitedly. "Grandpa, why are you a cat?!"

Seeing that he was being left out, Yun Hao quickly wedged himself into the shot. "Xingxing, how have you been?"

"I've been doing great! Tan Xu treats me so well!" Yun Xing moved out of the frame to pat Tan Xu's hand. "Come say hi with me!"

Hearing this, it suddenly dawned on He Mi that there was an actual human on the other end. She immediately sat up straight, quickly adjusted her hair and posture, and sneakily smacked Yun Hao on the side.

Tan Xu adjusted the tablet, and Yun Xing naturally curled up on his lap.

"Hello, Auntie, Uncle," Tan Xu greeted politely, stroking the little cat's head.

"Hello, hello," He Mi said, her brain working in overdrive. "So, here's the thing... Xingxing is our pet cat."

Tan Xu nodded. Before he could even say a word, He Mi hastily tried to cover her tracks, "I bought him from a pet store! I definitely didn't give birth to him or anything."

Tan Xu's eyebrow twitched. "Is that so?"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Yun Xing immediately stood up, his four paws firmly planted on Tan Xu's thighs.

He Mi and the others were completely unaware that Tan Xu now possessed a portion of Yun Xing's spiritual power and could understand cat speech. "Look," He Mi chuckled awkwardly, "Xingxing says he recognizes me."

Yun Xing stomped his front paws indignantly. "Mom! That's not what I said! How could you say you bought me?!"

Unable to blow her cover and show she understood cat language, He Mi pretended she hadn't heard a thing. "Sir, when would be a convenient time for us to come and bring Yun Xing home?"

"I'm not going back!" Yun Xing suddenly yelled. "Tan Xu is sick, I need to stay and help him!"

He Mi gently scolded him. "Xingxing, behave."

Tan Xu patted the distressed kitten in his arms. "Auntie, there's no need to hide it from me. I know Xingxing isn't an ordinary cat."

He Mi froze. So she had been putting on this elaborate act the whole time, and he already knew their secret?

Didn't that mean she had just been making a total fool of herself?!

"Hello... I don't believe I caught your name," He Mi said, carefully choosing her words. "Well, since you've put it all out there, we won't beat around the bush either."

"Xingxing is indeed my son. He's been missing for several months now, and his father, his grandfather, and I have been sick with worry. A while ago, we came across that viral video of Wenchang Temple and went to visit. The abbot there told us that Xingxing had been taken in by someone."

"Yes, young man. You know how it is—what parent wouldn't be frantic when their child goes missing? I've barely been to the office lately; I've just been posting missing cat notices online every single day," Yun Hao chimed in, leaning closer to the screen. "And Xingxing's mother hasn't taken any jobs in ages. We've been solely focused on finding our boy. She only found this video because a fan sent it to her via Weibo."

Tan Xu nodded in understanding. Earlier, when Yun Xing said he didn't want to leave, a part of him had desperately wanted the kitten to stay. But Yun Xing's parents were absolutely right; any parent would be beside themselves if they lost their child.

It would be incredibly selfish of him to forcefully keep Yun Xing here.

Yun Xing slapped his paws against Tan Xu's leg, his mind racing as he tried to figure out a way to convince his parents to let him stay.

But before he could speak, Tan Xu beat him to it. "Okay."

Yun Xing whipped his head around to glare at Tan Xu. "Tan Xu! Not okay!"

He reached out a paw and unceremoniously hung up the video call. Glaring fiercely at Tan Xu, he demanded, "Why did you say okay?!"

"Do you not want me anymore?"

Tan Xu fell silent for a moment before wrapping his arms around the kitten standing in his lap. "How could that be? But your mom and dad miss you very much."

Yun Xing didn't even need a full second to come up with a solution. "We can just go to their house and stay for a couple of days together, and then come back!"

Tan Xu lowered his head and kissed Yun Xing’s little forehead. "I've never even met your parents before. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to just crash at their house."

Having never left Mingwu Mountain prior to this, Yun Xing had very little understanding of human social norms and etiquette. "But the very first time I met you, I went to your house."

"That’s different," Tan Xu explained gently.

Yun Xing was full of questions. "How is it different?"

"At the time, I thought you were just an ordinary kitten."

That upset Yun Xing again. "So you only like ordinary kittens?"

Seeing that Yun Xing was stubbornly twisting his words, Tan Xu honestly wondered what went on inside that little feline brain. Still, he patiently explained, "If you were a stray kitten, I could adopt you. But since you have a family, it wouldn't be right for me to keep you away from them."

Tan Xu paused for a beat before adding, "But if you really don't want to go, then you don't have to."

Yun Xing squirmed slightly, leaping out of Tan Xu's arms to stand on the coffee table. "I am going back."

It would be a lie to say Tan Xu wasn't sad, but he masked it by simply brushing off his sleeves. "Okay, I'll talk to your mom."

Yun Xing tilted his head. "Can you really not come back with me?"

"It really wouldn't be proper. How about we wait until we all know each other a bit better?" Tan Xu offered with a smile.

Yun Xing paced two circles on the coffee table with his four white-gloved paws. "Alright! Then I'll come back and find you in a couple of days. You have to wait for me at home!"

Tan Xu nodded. "I'll be waiting for you right here."

"You promise," Yun Xing stressed again. "Don't worry, even if my mom doesn't let me leave the house, I'll sneak out! I know how to open doors!"

Tan Xu certainly knew he could open doors—the last time he tried, he ended up dangling from the doorknob and had to be rescued by the elderly neighbor. 

But Tan Xu had no idea where He Mi lived. Regardless of whether it was close or far, it would be far too dangerous for a little kitten like Yun Xing to make the trip alone.

"If your family won't bring you back, just give me a call, and I'll come pick you up."

Yun Xing slammed a front paw down, sealing the deal. "Okay! Then you have to wait for my call!"

A moment later, he asked tentatively, his voice softening. "So... does that mean I get to take the tablet with me too?"