rokumi’s note : I forgot to explain in the previous chapter, but in this novel, the MC (the kitten) considers herself as the master/owner and the ML (the ori villain) as the human pet she raises (in an affectionate meaning, not an arrogant one), hence the title.
Chi Yan’s gaze suddenly fell back on the kitten.
She1 was a soft, fragile living creature—something that could be killed with just a squeeze.
Her fur felt like fluffy clouds, and the two triangular ears atop her head twitched back slightly at his touch, as if uncomfortable. She quickly gave a shake, producing a faint flutter sound, like the trembling of butterfly wings.
Just from that tiny bit of contact, it felt as though he could already touch the little thing’s healthy, faintly beating heart.
Weak and tender.
Chi Yan could feel it clearly.
His expression gradually turned strange.
He didn’t like these soft, squishy creatures that attacked people as though they were acting spoiled. If not for this variety show featuring Du Qingqing, the actress Fu Shilin liked, he wouldn’t have accepted it at all.
His gaze was cold and hard, while the sharp ringing in his ears felt like it was going to tear him apart. His patience had run out, and the fingers that had been brushed against pulled away indifferently.
He knew the kitten had been cleaned when she was brought over. Still, stray cats carried plenty of bacteria and shed fur.
Dirty.
Chi Yan didn’t like such little animals. From the moment the crew delivered her, his only thought was that giving her food and shelter would be enough.
He too had once wandered. He knew that for strays, simply having a place to eat their fill and hide from the wind and rain was already a luxury.
He wasn’t mistreating her.
They didn’t like each other, but Chi Yan was generous enough. Keeping their distance and living under the same roof was manageable.
He and this little soft thing simply didn’t match.
Like now.
The kitten stood in the dim moonlight, looking for all the world like she had stumbled into a monster’s alien realm.
Li Wan froze for a moment.
The kitten blinked, gave a soft *meow*, lifted her head, and gazed at him with clear, round, heterochromatic eyes.
As if asking what was wrong.
Chi Yan ignored her.
Such little creatures, if you didn’t pay them attention, they’d leave soon enough.
But against his expectations—
When she got no response, the kitten twitched her fur and came closer again.
Chi Yan finally frowned.
After a moment of silence, his low, hoarse, impatient voice said: “Get lost.”
“Meow, meow.”
The kitten pretended not to understand.
Slowly, Chi Yan realized he must be out of his mind.
How could a cat understand human speech?
He hesitated, wondering whether he should endure the pain and throw the clueless creature out, or put up with the foreign scent invading his territory for now.
Human thoughts jump around, and suddenly Chi Yan sensed something off.
When he returned to his room, he had clearly shut the door. How had she gotten inside?
His peach-blossom-shaped eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the kitten.
Of course Li Wan noticed his gaze. She slowly blinked at him, whiskers twitching, then padded leisurely to the door. With a sudden jump, she easily demonstrated how to open it.
After pushing it shut again with her furry head, she returned to stand in front of the man.
“Meow.” She tilted her head innocently.
—”See? That’s how cats open doors.”
“…”
For no reason at all, Chi Yan actually felt he understood the words in the cat’s eyes.
For a moment, he even wondered if his splitting headache had made him hallucinate.
Otherwise, how could he feel this cat was actually communicating with him?
But soon he ‘woke up’ a bit.
She was only opening a door. Cats had the intelligence of a two- or three-year-old child. Opening a door wasn’t strange.
Li Wan didn’t care what he was thinking. She only felt that right now, this man seemed to be suffering.
Well then.
The great Master Cat decided to show mercy and comfort this pitiful human just a little.
She rubbed against him again, then leapt lightly onto his bed. From that height, it was just right—she stretched out a paw and patted the top of his head.
Chi Yan : “…”
His gaze fixed oddly on the little kitten.
Slowly, he picked up on the meaning. The kitten seemed to be trying to comfort him.
Chi Yan found it absurd.
A soft kitten had wandered into a monster’s lair. She didn’t understand that her life and death rested entirely in his whim, and yet she stubbornly thought the monster was unhappy and needed consoling.
In truth, the monster could swallow her whole in an instant.
Li Wan truly didn’t understand. Her ears flicked as she softly murmured : “Meow, meow.”
—”Don’t hurt, don’t hurt.”
Chi Yan’s mind went blank for a second.
Such a laughable comfort.
It felt like after so many years, he had finally stumbled on something amusing.
The monster lowered his eyes, bestowing the kitten half a glance. “Are you… comforting me?”
His voice was hoarse, as if sandpaper had scraped over it, making it itch in one’s ears.
The kitten met his gaze and gave a small nod. “Meow.”
—”That’s right, that’s right.”
A couple seconds later, a low laugh slipped out in the still darkness.
How amusing.
He abandoned the idea of throwing the thing out, deciding instead to use her to kill a little of his unbearable boredom.
Li Wan had no idea what he was thinking, and began pawing softly at his hand with her pink, cushiony pads.
Chi Yan : “You want to come into my arms?”
“Meow~”
Li Wan nodded again.
The man’s gaze deepened, but he loosened his grip as the little creature moved.
The kitten was delighted, bobbing her head and padding across his knee before burrowing her soft, warm body into Chi Yan’s arms.
Fluffy.
Chi Yan carefully savored the sensation.
Strange, somehow.
The kitten was still small, only three months old. Curled up, she was just a tiny ball—but impossible to ignore.
This closeness let Chi Yan feel clearly her faint yet unending heartbeat.
He reached out, wanting to feel it more, but the kitten seemed to misunderstand. Her damp, soft tongue began licking him, one swipe at a time.
Li Wan : Sigh, this two-legger2 is so troublesome, even acting spoiled to ask me to help groom his fur.
Since ‘licking the villain’s fur’ was quite the stimulating task—and cats did love to dance along the edge of danger—Li Wan was more than happy to keep licking.
Chi Yan’s expression grew darker and harder to read.
The kitten let out another soft “Meow,” then started kneading him with her tiny paws.
Kneading.
Chi Yan knew what that meant.
He didn’t like cats, but ever since the show’s crew had sent one over, he’d read up quite a bit.
This meant… the kitten felt relaxed with him.
…Relaxed?
Chi Yan’s expression turned even stranger.
Two seconds later.
He was certain: this was a rather silly little kitten.
All the more entertaining.
His attention stayed on her, his eyes tinged unconsciously with curiosity.
Somehow, he found himself settling into quiet. Without realizing it, he noticed the headache that had been pressing at him was slowly easing.
When the room grew silent, he finally heard the kitten’s soft purring from his arms.
Another sign she felt comfortable.
Though her antics were amusing, they seemed to have some real effect.
Sleep crept up from the darkness, engulfing Chi Yan. He didn’t resist, simply let his eyes close.
He didn’t even know when exactly he drifted off.
Only when his breathing had evened out, deep and steady, did Li Wan lift her head, struggling out of his embrace.
He was asleep.
Great. And his headache seemed much better too.
Kittens truly were the greatest beings in the world!!!
Li Wan swayed her little head as she strutted a few steps on his bed, her movements proud and faintly comical.
Realizing it, her face grew hot. She scrubbed her cheeks with her paws, gave a tiny “Meow,” then tucked her paws close and sat on the bed, quietly watching the sleeping man.
No wonder he was the male lead’s foil, his looks were flawless.
His facial lines were sharp, carrying a chill in the night’s shadows. Yet with those peach blossom eyes, when he smiled, it was as if he was born brimming with tenderness. No wonder his fans said he was ‘as gentle as jade.’
It was just… too tragic.
Thinking of his ending in the original plot, the kitten shook her head, whiskers trembling as she sighed.
Forget it.
Li Wan thought: since he was now the two-legger she was raising, there was no way she’d let her own human end up bullied like in the novel!
With the blessing of Master Cat’s aura, her two-legger would not meet the same early, tragic end!!
Her heterochromatic eyes shone brightly in the dark. She flicked her tail, remembering her two-legger had no fur for warmth. Carefully, she dragged the blanket over him.
Then, rummaging around, she found the medicine he usually took when having an episode, and placed it where he’d see it upon waking.
Once all was done, the kitten returned to his bedside, curled up, and lay down.
Sleepy, meow.
But before drifting off, she saw him frowning in his sleep. She purred and purred until his rest grew steadier, then finally closed her eyes with peace of mind.
Cats are light sleepers.
Li Wan was awakened by the doorbell.
She frowned in annoyance, opening her eyes. Seeing the man’s tranquil sleeping face startled her so much her tail puffed up. Instinctively, she bared her teeth, ready to hiss.
The posture was already set before she belatedly remembered—she was in another world now.
—Ugh.
Awkward, she slowly dropped the pose. Cat instincts took over, and after a full round of stretches—pressing hips, arching back, pressing shoulders, arching again—she leapt lightly off the bed, landing silently. Then padded downstairs to answer the door.
If she remembered right, the crew from the variety show <A Family of Furry Friends> had agreed to come today.
Sure enough, it was them. A whole group in identical black T-shirts, looking a bit like a gang.
The show was broadcast live. And it was precisely on this show that Chi Yan’s ‘foil’ character setting became increasingly obvious.
He wasn’t fond of the kitten, and on camera, always kept his distance. The kitten, sensing his indifference, rarely approached him either.
He wasn’t cruel, but compared to people like Fu Shilin, who adored pets extravagantly, Chi Yan’s attitude stood out all the more.
Viewers had already thought he was out of place. Dissatisfaction with him grew. Later, when the kitten was killed by a dog and he risked himself to save it, audiences dismissed it as mere acting for sympathy, trying to frame Fu Shilin. His negative reputation online worsened.
Bit by bit, after more incidents, people decided his ‘ as gentle as jade’ image was just a facade. His standing in the industry sank until he could no longer survive.
It was under the double blow of career collapse and his mother’s pressure that he met his tragic end.
But now that Chi Yan was her human, there was no way the kitten would let him end up like that!
- As we know our MC was a ‘human’, I’m using ‘she/her’ to refer to the MC. I’ll still use ‘it’ for other pets later. ↩︎
- 两脚兽 (liǎng jiǎo shòu) literally means “two-legged beast.” It’s a humorous and very common Chinese internet slang term used by cats (in online writing) to refer to their human owner. It shows the cat’s perspective as the owner while the human as the (animal) pet. ↩︎