A thousand yuan is a lot for a cat.
When Jian Xun was a student, his monthly living allowance was three thousand yuan while living on campus. Although it wasn’t as much as his brothers’, it was enough for him, and he could even save up to buy things he liked.
Seeing Xu Tutu’s slightly proud expression, Jian Xun forced himself to hold back his words.
“How’s it going? Not bad, right?” Xu Tutu squinted at him.
Although Jian Xun didn’t know exactly what Tutu’s company did, the salary was ridiculously low.
Even scavenging scrap metal could make more than that.
His gaze grew a little complicated.
“My current salary is just base pay,” Xu Tutu explained. “The boss said there’ll be a raise later. And we even get free lunch in the cafeteria!”
In their line of work, commissions were the real paycheck. Although he hadn’t received any yet, his salary was going to increase starting this month.
“How much is your rent per month?”
“Four hundred.”
“Then there’s not much left.”
Seeing his younger brother’s worried expression, Xu Tutu gently patted his head and reassured him, “Don’t worry, supporting you won’t be a problem.”
At worst, he could just pick up some extra scrap after work to supplement the family income.
“Brother Tutu, you’re so kind.”
Jian Xun’s eyes lit up as he scooted closer, wanting to cling to him…
“Hey, stop being so clingy. Brother Tutu isn’t gay, okay?”
“Gay? What do you mean?”
“It’s when two guys have sex.”
“Can’t men have sex?”
What was the point of being gay? He’d run away precisely because he wanted to be fucked by a perverted shit-shoveler.
To be honest, he still didn’t quite understand.
It was clearly Xu Huai who was upset that he had turned human. He only wanted a cat, not a human glaring at him resentfully every day, complaining that he hadn’t had a chance to pet her fur in ages.
He despised his own incompetence. He would get scolded for eating his favorite instant noodles, ordering takeout, going out alone, and snacking on human food. Worst of all, his phone had even been confiscated—for watching a cat video. As if he didn’t know why men spend so much time in the bathroom at night!
Hmph.
As he wished, after a while, Xu Tutu turned back into a cat, constantly shoving his butt in people’s faces and bringing kittens home to groom whenever he felt like it.
Then the guy asked him to turn human again, still muttering, “Jie Fen.” Xu Tutu lost his patience and slapped him hard across the face. But instead of getting angry, the guy just smiled foolishly…
Xu Tutu fell silent, unpleasant memories surfacing in his mind. He knocked Jian Xun on the head and said angrily, “What are you thinking, kid? Stop thinking about things that aren’t appropriate for children.”
Speaking of which, Xu Tutu remembered the message Jian Xun had sent him a while ago asking for help.
“Have you had a fever?”
Jian Xun blinked, confused. “What do you mean by fever?”
“It’s when you feel uncomfortable—feverish, itchy all over, and everything feels wrong. In the middle of the night, you just want to squat on a wall and meow at a little she-cat. You can’t stand the loneliness…”
“Oh, I used to have that, but it’s gone now.”
“In human terms, that’s called estrus—moaning.”
Jian Xun’s fair face flushed instantly.
“You’re lucky,” Xu Tutu continued after a pause. “Many cats display what their owners consider undesirable behavior before estrus, and then get neutered.”
Jian Xun recalled how he had clung to Shang Xuci constantly during estrus, and his face flushed all the way to his neck.
Xu Tutu glanced at the time and said, “Ahem, before bed, let me tell you something about cat estrus.”
“Don’t worry, Brother Tutu, I haven’t even asked you yet. Didn’t you go home with Xu Huai? Why are you out alone again?”
Xu Tutu sighed. “It’s a long story.”
Although the two had naturally grown closer after resolving their misunderstanding, and he was genuinely fond of Xu Huai, he still couldn’t stand his perverse possessiveness and paranoia.
He wouldn’t let him leave the house or make friends with other cats.
He would lock him up all day and watch the surveillance cameras at work.
His condescending attitude, his insistence that Xu Tutu couldn’t live without him, and the fact that Xu Huai’s entire family bullied him—yet he still defended another cat—were infuriating. The more Xu Tutu thought about it, the angrier he became.
So one night, he sat up in bed, looked at the man sleeping next to him, took the cash and valuables, and ran away to make a living on his own.
“…That’s just how it is,” Xu Tutu said helplessly.
Jian Xun listened to him talk about possessiveness and swallowed hard. He felt a similar urge—he also wanted to lock Shang Xuci up at home, stop him from going to work, and never see him with Meng Jingxue.
If only I could always be with him, with only him in my eyes.
It turns out that thinking like that is wrong.
Jian Xun silently etched this into his mind.
For a moment, he forgot all the other questions he had wanted to ask.
Xu Tutu saw him dazed and thought he was frightened. Quickly ending that line of conversation, he returned to the original topic: “I’d better teach you some basic information about estrus, just in case you run into it again.”
After half an hour of teaching, sleepiness set in, and Xu Tutu transformed back into a cat. He yawned loudly, then flopped onto his back, belly up and legs in the air.
“Go to sleep. I have to work tomorrow.”
“Okay, good night.”
“Good night.”
A minute later, the cat was snoring beside him. Jian Xun curled up tightly, hugging his dried fish pillow, his eyes lowered, missing someone.
Would the boss suffer from insomnia without a cat to sleep with?
He realized he had run away. Was he angry now?
When he could grow his cat ears and tail back, when he could earn money and become independent, he would go back to see him. Would he then look at him differently?
Or would he still be angry and not want him anymore?
No problem. He could just turn into a cat and follow him around.
Jian Xun found many excuses to convince himself and slowly drifted off to sleep.
…
Shang Xuci’s home.
The man sat on the bed, eyes red, collar unbuttoned, hair messy, stubble on his face, and his expression listless.
He looked utterly dejected.
Since Sui Sui had been gone for a few days, he hadn’t slept at all. He hadn’t touched the sleeping pills on the cabinet, and his white-knuckled fingers clutched the photo frame of his cat.
His cat was gone.
He couldn’t find him.
At first, Shang Xuci still had hope. Sui Sui loved playing outside, and when he was in heat, he’d run to the roadside to look for female cats. He figured he was just out for a few days and would be back soon.
He was so timid—there was no way he’d stray too far. Perhaps he was just somewhere in the neighborhood.
But the autumn wind was bleak, and the weather was turning cold.
Shang Xuci spent money to check every surveillance camera in the neighborhood, including the streets outside.
There was no sign of the cat.
Because the cameras didn’t cover everything, and the upscale neighborhood was so large, there were still many blind spots. Shang Xuci spent the entire day searching every corner he could reach.
The neighborhood park, the gym, the swimming pool, the sports field, the flower beds, the nearby shops, the supermarket…
He searched everywhere, even posting missing cat notices.
As he searched, he called out for Sui Sui.
At nightfall, he saw a shadow in the flowerbed and quietly approached to check if it was him. But the stray cats, startled, let out low groans.
What kind of person is this?
In the day, he calls out “Sui Sui.”
At night, he calls out “Sui Sui.”
If someone’s missing, call the police.
Soon after, the cats in the neighborhood began pointing paws at Shang Xuci.
It was the one who kept calling out “Sui Sui”—he seemed a bit unhinged, nearly overturning the entire neighborhood in his search and seriously disrupting the cats’ lives.
After searching for the cat himself to no avail, he hired a private detective to comb through all of City A. But so much time had passed, and there was still no sign of Sui Sui.
Shang Xuci’s heart sank, his nerves tightening. It felt as if the situation was slipping out of his control.
The little creature who had so carelessly stepped into his world had vanished as if into thin air…
…The candy’s outer coating melted quickly in his mouth, releasing a sweet, refreshing strawberry aroma.
Very sweet.
Bitterly sweet.
Shang Xuci withdrew his hand from the medicine bottle.
His eyes closed slightly, his temples throbbing. He shook off the irritation and opened his phone to search:
#What to do if your cat is lost?#
The scissors technique. The upside-down cat bowl technique…
Shang Xuci tried them all.
At dawn, he took out his phone and sent a cold voice message:
“Bring Fang Xiuyuan to me.”
…
These days, Jian Xun had been staying at Xu Tutu’s house.
Brother Tutu worked late every day, didn’t earn much, and now had another mouth to feed.
Jian Xun secretly calculated that if things kept going like this, they might be sleeping on the streets in a few months.
He decided to wait until he had fully readjusted to his human body and obtained an ID card before looking for work. Jian Xun had been human before, but never a wage slave. He searched online for “job” and “recruitment,” and began checking job listings and requirements.
That was when he realized just how dire the job market had become in recent years—many university graduates couldn’t even find work after graduation.
Forget his lack of education; even finding a dishwashing job would be difficult.
Was it really as easy as some netizens claimed—working in cat cafés or shops run by monsters?
He had heard that monster-run companies also imitated human workplaces, complete with unscrupulous bosses.
The work schedule was “7:00–7:00,” they didn’t provide social security, and the pay was low.
Brother Tutu had said: Don’t work illegally unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Xu Tutu’s first job as a cat had been pressing paw prints. He had worked diligently for nearly half a month, with just one week left before earning a full-attendance bonus. But Xu Huai caught him and docked his pay for missing a single day, nearly making him explode in anger.
His current job, however, provided social security, two days off a week, no overtime, and free lunch.
Xu Tutu seemed quite content.
After some thought, Jian Xun decided that if all else failed, he’d just work at a cat café.
For now, he would do what he could to repay Brother Tutu.
Jian Xun cleaned the entire house from top to bottom until it was spotless, the sheets neatly made, and dinner cooked to perfection.
Soon, he knew the entire place by heart—every nook, cranny, and rat hole.
…
Weekend.
Jian Xun put on his freshly dried clothes, tucked his long cat tail into his pocket, pulled on a hat and mask, and sat quietly on the sofa, waiting.
Xu Tutu was taking him to get an ID card today.
The ID card handler was also a monster. Seeing the two cats, he asked for their basic information, as usual.
“Name?”
“Jian Xun.”
“Age?” The clerk pointed to a chart nearby. “Converted to monster years.”
“Eighteen,” Jian Xun answered without hesitation.
He had just reached adulthood as a human, and now, as a cat, he was past puberty—so he was considered an adult.
He filled out the form, had his photo taken, and stamped his paw print.
Click.
Seal pressed.
The clerk smiled professionally. “One thousand yuan handling fee.”
Jian Xun’s eyes widened. “So expensive!”
The other staff members glanced over.
Xu Tutu sighed, covering his forehead with one hand, and quickly pulled out his card.
“What’s the fuss? It’s just a small amount.”
Jian Xun: ???
Brother, that’s your monthly salary!!
Xu Tutu shot him a look, and Jian Xun instantly shut up.
After paying, the clerk said, “Come back in two to three months. We’ll text you when it’s ready.”
“Thank you,” Jian Xun replied.
Once they left the office building, Xu Tutu explained, “Only the Monster Management Bureau can issue ID cards to monsters. The procedures are complicated, and the inspection process takes a long time. The place I brought you to is off the record—if you want it quickly, you have to pay. A thousand yuan is already very cheap, and it’s like taking responsibility for you.”
“It’s easy to get into trouble if you don’t have money for food. Whether you’re broke or not, you need to look confident when applying for this ID, so you won’t be suspected or looked down upon.”
Xu Tutu spoke patiently—wisdom gained from personal experience.
“So that’s how it is.” Jian Xun nodded, his tone earnest. “Brother Tutu, thank you. Consider this a thousand-yuan loan from me. I’ll pay you back when I make some money.”
“No need.” Xu Tutu shook his head. “When I was wandering around, you gave me canned cat food. You even gave me your master’s pants. You helped me a lot—this is nothing. Come on, I’ll treat you to dinner.”
After dinner, Xu Tutu took him to buy a phone card.
“Can you memorize my phone number?”
Jian Xun nodded.
He already knew Shang Xuci’s and Xu Tutu’s numbers by heart.
“Good. Keep them saved—we can contact each other if anything happens.”
Jian Xun smiled and said, “Alright.”
On the way home, they ran into the landlady.
The elderly woman, smiling kindly, looked Xu Tutu and the young man behind him up and down. Beaming, she said, “Xiao Tu, the old residential complex is being renovated. Our building is getting an elevator, so the rent will be going up. It’ll take effect next month, but since I ran into you today, I thought I’d let you know in advance.”
Xu Tutu swallowed nervously and asked, “How much is the increase?”
“Not much—just an extra hundred.”