CAT - 35

Chapter 35

Still unaccustomed to his human form, Yun Xing opened his eyes very early. Remembering that he had successfully transformed, he paced around the bedroom a couple of times in excitement.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he ran over to the bathroom mirror and slowly lifted the hem of his shirt.

No eight-pack abs. He turned left and right, inspecting himself in the mirror.

This was the exact scene Tan Xu walked in on when he pushed the door open: the young man lifting his shirt, exposing a stretch of pale, slender waist.

"What are you doing?"

Startled by the voice, Yun Xing spun around to face Tan Xu. "Look."

He was pulling the shirt up quite high. From the side, Tan Xu hadn't been able to see it clearly, but now that Yun Xing was facing him head-on, Tan Xu realized the boy had lifted the shirt almost all the way to his chest.

"Look at what?" Feigning composure, Tan Xu grabbed his wrist and pulled the shirt back down.

"I don't have those things you have." Yun Xing thought for a moment, not sure how to describe them. "Those things that look like a cob of corn, piece by piece."

Tan Xu’s eye twitched. "What corn? Those aren't called corn."

Ignoring him, Yun Xing sank into the despair of realizing he wasn't a muscular cat. I clearly exercised at home every single day!

"Alright, go change your clothes, then brush your teeth and wash your face. We're going out later." Tan Xu issued an order to the un-muscular cat.

"But I don't have any clothes!" Yun Xing said, tugging at the hem of the pajama top he was wearing.

Tan Xu led him into the bedroom and opened the wardrobe. "Which one do you want to wear?"

This was exactly what Yun Xing was waiting to hear. He instantly broke into a wide grin, squeezed in next to Tan Xu, and began digging through the wardrobe.

Seeing him settle in as if he planned to browse for half an hour, Tan Xu said softly, "I'm going to go wash up first. Call me when you've picked something out, and I'll teach you how to put it on."

Yun Xing gave a distracted hum of agreement before burying his head back into the closet to continue his selection. Tan Xu's footsteps gradually faded away.

In reality, most of Tan Xu's clothes were of the exact same style with nothing particularly special about them. So, Yun Xing resorted to holding each piece under his nose and taking a whiff. After picking out a few pieces that smelled the most like Tan Xu, he clapped his hands. "Tan Xu!"

Tan Xu had just finished washing up. Hearing Yun Xing call for him, he walked back into the room and saw several articles of clothing lined up on the bed like troops in formation. "Which one are you wearing today?"

Yun Xing poked his own cheek with his index finger, then pointed at a white T-shirt among the lineup. "This one!"

Tan Xu folded up the rest of the clothes, walked over to the window, and pulled the curtains completely shut. "Are you taking that off yourself, or should I?"

Yun Xing spread his arms wide, looking very much like an emperor expecting his servants to dress him. "You do it."

Tan Xu unfastened the pajama buttons one by one. Like unwrapping a piece of milk candy, every downward flick of his fingers revealed another patch of pale skin.

After taking off the pajama top, Yun Xing remained very docile, following Tan Xu's instructions and movements to put on the T-shirt.

"Did you learn how to do it?" Tan Xu asked.

He hadn't actually used his brain to memorize the steps, but he figured putting on clothes just meant shoving his arms and head through the holes. "I got it."

Tan Xu picked out a pair of jeans from the wardrobe and handed them over. "Put these on."

Yun Xing took them. Pants were simple enough—you just had to stick your legs down the pant legs. However, he believed himself to be the little emperor of this household, which meant he shouldn't have to lift a finger.

"You put them on for me," Little Emperor Yun Xing declared.

Tan Xu knew full well that Yun Xing knew how to put on pants, considering he had put on his pajama pants all by himself the night before. He grabbed Yun Xing's hand and shoved the jeans right back into it.

Realizing his plan had failed, Yun Xing had no choice but to do it himself. He kicked off his pajama bottoms, quickly shoved his legs into the jeans, and mimicked how Tan Xu had fastened his buttons last night to button them up. Then, he called out to Tan Xu, who had turned his back to give him privacy. "Done."

Tan Xu turned around to inspect his work. He grabbed a belt from a nearby drawer, threaded it around the boy's waist, and casually pulled the zipper up for him. "Next time, don't just button it and call it a day."

Yun Xing looked down and gave a muffled, "Oh."

Tan Xu had him sit on the edge of the bed while he crouched down. Taking the excessively long pant legs that were bunching up under Yun Xing's feet, he rolled them up a few times until they sat neatly at his ankles.

He then grabbed the socks he had prepared from the bed. "Lift your foot."

Obediently, Yun Xing rested his foot on Tan Xu's knee, letting the man slowly slip the socks onto his feet.

"Go wash up." Tan Xu instinctively went to pat Yun Xing, but now that he was human, too much physical contact felt strange, so he stopped himself.

Yun Xing immediately scuffed off in his slippers, pitter-pattering into the bathroom. Tan Xu had already squeezed toothpaste onto a toothbrush for him, so he mimicked how Tan Xu usually brushed his teeth and shoved the brush into his mouth.

Seeing him just stick the toothbrush in his mouth and hold it completely still, Tan Xu found it amusing. "That's not an electric toothbrush. You have to move your hand."

Yun Xing blinked. With something in his mouth, he couldn't speak. Tan Xu reached out, wrapped his hand around Yun Xing's, and guided the brush up and down. "Like this. Make sure you brush every single tooth clean."

Yun Xing nodded to show he understood. Mimicking Tan Xu's movements, he began moving the toothbrush around his mouth like a patrol guard.

After about two or three minutes of brushing, Tan Xu told him to rinse his mouth. "I don't have a spare rinsing cup, so use mine for now. I'll take you to buy one today."

With a mouthful of water, Yun Xing swished it from the left side of his cheeks to the right, puffing up his cheeks in the process. Tan Xu reached out and poked his bulging cheek.

Yun Xing spat the water into the sink and looked up at him. "Why isn't my toothbrush automatic?"

Tan Xu grabbed a fresh towel he had set aside and handed it to Yun Xing. "Because I haven't bought you one yet. I'll buy you one later. Wash your face first."

Yun Xing completely soaked the towel under the faucet, rubbed it over his face, and then shoved it back into Tan Xu's hands. "You promised, okay?"

Tan Xu placed the towel back under the running water to scrub it clean. "Close your eyes."

Yun Xing shut his eyes. Tan Xu wiped his face two more times with the towel, carefully washed it out again, and hung it back up.

It wasn't until they were about to head out the door that Tan Xu encountered a real problem: Yun Xing didn't have any suitable shoes.

Yun Xing, on the other hand, didn't seem to care. He kicked his feet, wiggling the slippers he was currently wearing. "Can't I just wear these out?"

"I guess that works," Tan Xu said after a moment's thought. "We'll just buy you a new pair of slippers later."

---

Once they were at the shopping mall, they noticed quite a few university students wandering around, given its proximity to the university district.

Yun Xing observed the clothes everyone around him was wearing, trying to imagine what he would look like in them. Ultimately, he decided all these outfits were pretty mediocre.

That was, until a girl brushed past him. She was wearing a shirt featuring a red panda donning an emperor's crown, looking incredibly solemn and dignified. Yun Xing's eyes followed her until she was far away.

"What are you looking at?" Following his gaze, Tan Xu noticed he was staring intently at a girl buying ice cream.

Suddenly, Yun Xing let out a loud, "Wow," leaving Tan Xu utterly bewildered. "What exactly are you staring at?"

Tan Xu glanced at the girl again. She wasn't holding any food that would typically attract a cat. Does he want ice cream?

The girl seemed to notice them staring. She frowned and muttered something to the friend beside her.

"Do you want some ice cream?" Tan Xu looked down and asked.

Yun Xing shook his head. "Her shirt is so majestic."

Hearing this, Tan Xu nearly choked on his own spit. "You like that kind of stuff?"

Hearing Tan Xu's inquiry, Yun Xing looked at him with eyes full of anticipation. "Can you buy me one?"

You could find a dime a dozen of those meme shirts online, but actually taking a human Yun Xing out in public wearing one was going to be a bit challenging. "I can buy it."

"Tan Xu, you're the best! You're the number one..." Yun Xing hopped in place a few times in excitement.

"But—"

Yun Xing swallowed the word "person" back down. Why are there conditions? Dear heavens, I take it back. Tan Xu is not the number one best person in the world.

"You can only wear it at home," Tan Xu finished.

Yun Xing thought about it. So he just couldn't wear it outside? That was acceptable. "Okay, deal."

The two of them bought quite a few clothes and daily necessities at the mall. Right before they headed home, Yun Xing spotted a baseball cap identical to the one he used to wear as a kitten. Seeing how much he liked it, Tan Xu bought it for him. Currently, it was sitting snugly on the head of the human-shaped cat.

Yun Xing practically skipped to the front door. Just as he was about to open it, the elderly neighbor from next door happened to return home as well. Seeing the two of them, he greeted them, "Good afternoon, Xiao Tan. Who is this?"

"My younger cousin," Tan Xu introduced.

Yun Xing offered a smile and said sweetly, "Hello, Grandpa."

The old man nodded at him, waved his hand, and went inside his own apartment.

Once they were inside and the door was shut, Yun Xing said slowly, "I remember him."

Tan Xu thought for a second, realizing Yun Xing was referring to the time he got hung on the door handle. A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes. "Which little cat got hung on a door handle again?"

"Tan Xu!" Hearing him bring up that old embarrassing story, Yun Xing punched him lightly on the arm. But he didn't dwell on it; as a Mountain God, he naturally had to forgive his believers for their minor transgressions. He pulled his newly acquired phone out of his pocket. "How do you play with this?"

Tan Xu pulled him over to the sofa and began a tutorial on how to use a smartphone. Yun Xing picked it up very quickly. The interface was simple, and even though he couldn't read, he navigated it fluidly.

Seeing him sitting on the sofa, happily tapping and swiping away on the screen, Tan Xu's lips curved into a smile. He pulled out his own phone and checked his messages. He Mi had sent him two texts.

She said that since Yun Xing had already transformed into a human, she wanted to enroll him in a nearby literacy class and asked if Tan Xu had any recommendations.

Tan Xu thought it over. Yun Xing was a human now. It was fine for a kitten to be illiterate, but if he couldn't read as a human, he might end up getting sold off and still help the buyer count the money.

"Xingxing," Tan Xu called out.

Yun Xing looked up at him. Tan Xu continued, "Do you want to go to school?"

Yun Xing blinked. "Like you?"

Tan Xu nodded. "I'd drop you off at class, someone would teach you how to read every day, and then you'd come home in the evening."

"But don't you get to come home at noon every day? And you don't even go every day," Yun Xing pointed out suspiciously.

"I'm already in university," Tan Xu explained. "Besides, you're still an illiterate little cat. There are a lot of things you don't know."

Hearing the word "illiterate" was like triggering a piece of core code. He knew "illiterate" meant having no culture or education, and he instantly grew indignant. "I am not illiterate! I know a lot of words."

"Oh—" Tan Xu purposely dragged out the syllable, leaning in close to Yun Xing. "So, does this smart little cat know how to write his own name?"

To his surprise, Yun Xing nodded and said, "I do."