Is My Cat Secretly Crushing on Me?! - Chapter 8
Lin Miao, like an ostrich, avoided Lan Shen for a few days.
Lan Shen noticed, but put on his wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing act again, looking harmless and only chatting about irrelevant topics.
Lin Miao slowly recovered.
Mhm, Senior Brother has always been a jerk.
He was just speaking casually.
Mhm, it must be.
Besides, they still had to go to the hospital frequently to take care of the little kitten.
Lan Shen had already pinpointed this fact, so he wasn’t afraid that Lin Miao would keep avoiding him.
He smiled slightly and recorded a video of the kitten.
Lan Shen: [Lin Miao, look, the calico cat has learned to use the litter box to bury its poop (Video)]
Lin Miao, as expected, felt a strong urge: “It’s too cute. I’ll go see it after class this afternoon!”
Lan Shen: Mission Accomplished $sqrt{}$
In the afternoon, before dark, Lin Miao rushed to the hospital.
Lan Shen was still busy with some work, so Lin Miao, with a light heart and familiar with the routine, took out the little long-haired calico cat to play with it himself.
He seized the opportunity to take several beautiful photos of it.
The school’s stray animal rescue department’s public account and the hospital’s Weibo always posted timely updates on adoptable kittens. They would also post some cute cat photos to attract traffic.
Lin Miao flipped through his album, intending to submit a photo.
The calico cat was simply an angel kitten, very clingy. Seeing Lin Miao playing with his phone and ignoring it, it rubbed Lin Miao’s hand frantically in dissatisfaction.
“Meow—meow—” “Play with me, play with me!”
Lin Miao put down his phone. Seeing no one around, he dared to speak to the kitten openly.
“Okay, okay, I’ll play with you.” He scratched the cat’s chin, which made the calico cat purr happily.
“I love Mommy so much!”
Lin Miao suddenly felt a bit wistful: “Alas, I really like you too. If only I could adopt you.”
Kittens are usually adopted out at three or four months old, after they have finished their vaccinations. The long-haired calico cat was only one month old.
“I wonder who will adopt you…” Lin Miao was reluctant, “But since you are so pretty and so well-behaved, you will definitely meet an owner who loves you.”
The kitten seemed to half-understand: “What is adoption?”
“It means you will go to another home and have your own owner.”
The kitten instantly became teary-eyed: “What about Mommy? Doesn’t Mommy want me anymore?”
“Huh?”
“Daddy and Mommy don’t love me anymore and are going to throw me away, wu wu wu”
The little kitten cried in its sweet, childish voice. Normal kittens don’t gradually wean until one and a half to two months old; how could it bear this injustice?
Lin Miao’s heart instantly softened: “Oh, no, no, Mommy doesn’t not want you.”
“Mommy and Daddy love you the most.”
He gently stroked the kitten’s head fur, soothing it softly.
“Mommy and Daddy want you, want you…”
“What are you talking about, Mommy and Daddy?” Lan Shen pushed the door and walked in quickly.
Lin Miao paused and quickly shut up.
“What are you talking about to yourself? Why don’t you tell me too?”
The tips of Lin Miao’s ears were slightly red. He lowered his head and stared at the calico cat’s fur, trying to distract himself.
“I think I heard something about Mommy and Daddy…”
Lin Miao pursed his lips: “I, I was just thinking about the calico cat’s adoption issue.”
Bringing this up, Lan Shen suddenly remembered: “Such a cute little fellow, someone really does want to adopt it.”
Lin Miao widened his eyes and glanced at the kitten.
The kitten, just soothed, seemed to understand something again and was on the verge of tears.
Lin Miao quickly pulled Lan Shen: “Let’s talk outside, don’t say this in front of the child.”
Lan Shen glanced at the cat, a bizarre sense of guilt, like “I can’t afford to raise the child and have to give it to a relative,” arose in him.
He nodded and followed Lin Miao out the door.
“Just put the calico cat’s photos online, and a girl submitted an adoption application.”
Lin Miao was surprised: “That fast? It’s still very small…”
“It’s because it’s so good-looking,” Lan Shen knew what he was worried about and actively explained: “I’ve checked the information. The girl is not a novice; she has two or three other cats at home, all adopted, and she has a lot of experience.”
“She can accept follow-up visits, timely vaccinations, and spaying/neutering. She just wants to take it home as soon as possible.”
Lin Miao opened his mouth, his heart full of reluctance.
Lin Miao knew this was a very lucky cat life for a stray cat, and the pet hospital was willing to let adopters take them home early, which also saved the hospital’s resources.
But… he always thought he could keep it for a few more weeks.
Lan Shen looked at his expression: “If you’re so unwilling, why don’t you adopt it yourself?”
“Speaking of which, since you like cats so much and are willing to take care of them, why don’t you adopt one yourself?” Lan Shen asked the question that had been on his mind.
Lin Miao had already composed himself and smiled casually: “No, I’ll wait until I have a stable source of income. If I adopt one, I have to be responsible.”
Lan Shen nodded.
“Besides, the school dormitories don’t allow pets. Where would I keep it if I adopted one?”
Lan Shen was thoughtful.
Lin Miao suddenly became alert: “Do you know about this school rule? You’re not secretly keeping a cat in the dorm, are you?”
He had observed several times that the orange cat always squeezed out from under the window sill of the outermost room on the first floor of their building, but he had never found a chance to ask Lan Shen whose dorm that was.
Lin Miao looked at him seriously.
Lan Shen blinked: “Of course not. Why would you think that?”
Lin Miao believed him and answered casually: “I thought the orange cat belonged to a student, the outermost room on the first floor of your building.”
Lan Shen acted completely innocent: “Ah? That’s my dorm, but I really haven’t kept a cat.”
Lin Miao glanced at him and said nothing more.
The girl who wanted to adopt was impatient and arranged to come to see the cat and sign the contract the following weekend.
Lin Miao and Lan Shen waited for her together in the rescue department.
The girl, Xiao Yao, squatted in front of the cage looking at the calico cat: “Oh my goodness, it’s even cuter than in the photos.”
Lin Miao helped her open the cage and carried out the calico cat: “Come, come, meet this older sister.”
The calico cat twitched its nose and gently touched Xiao Yao’s fingertip: “The older sister has a nice smell!”
Lin Miao secretly breathed a sigh of relief: “This Miss will take care of you from now on.”
The kitten meowed, seeming to half-understand.
With her superb cat-petting skills, Xiao Yao quickly captured the heart of the long-haired calico cat.
“I’m very satisfied, and I’m willing to adopt it.” Xiao Yao mainly checked its mental state and medical report. After confirming there were no illnesses, she loved it even more.
“By the way, does it have a name?”
Lin Miao shook his head: “Usually the owner names it after taking it home.”
Xiao Yao’s eyes darted around as she watched the kitten play with the feather wand. Suddenly, she put down the wand and waved: “Come here, Meow-meow, come here—”
The kitten tilted its head and ran over, wagging its tail. It seemed to have some dog-like traits.
Xiao Yao clapped her hands: “I know! Its name is Yao Weiba!” (Yao Tail)
Lin Miao’s eyes widened. This was the first time he met someone whose naming was even more casual than his own: “Wagging Tail?”
“Yao, not ‘wagging,’ it shares my surname.” Xiao Yao gestured in the air to explain.
“That’s a very good name,” Lan Shen said.
He walked in from outside with the contract, holding a cup of water in his other hand. The disposable paper cup held water at a comfortable temperature.
Lan Shen handed the contract to Xiao Yao. Xiao Yao subconsciously reached out to take the water too, but Lan Shen changed direction and handed it to Lin Miao.
Lin Miao habitually took it. “You’ve been busy all afternoon and never drink water.”
Lin Miao quickly took two big gulps.
Lan Shen scolded him while taking the cat toy from Lin Miao’s hand and putting it away. Then he tidied up Lin Miao’s messy belongings and put the kitten back in the cage.
Xiao Yao blinked, her gaze flickering between the two handsome guys. One was sharp and handsome, the other was gentle and refined.
Does this hospital hire people based on looks? If she had met either one of them alone, she would have rushed up to ask for their WeChat.
But, the current atmosphere between these two…
Since same-s3x marriage has been liberalized, she needed to confirm before making a move.
Xiao Yao asked very politely: “Excuse me, are you two an item?” She said this while making fists and touching her thumbs together.
Lin Miao’s eyes rounded: “What?!” He quickly waved his hands, explaining incoherently: “No, no, we’re classmates, um, he’s interning at the hospital, and I also have some work here…”
The girl’s eyes lit up: “Eh, you’re not?”
Lin Miao nodded heavily.
Lan Shen stood behind him but shook his head with a helpless smile: “Yes, you misunderstood. We are only good friends for now.” He emphasized the word “now.”
Lin Miao didn’t notice the double meaning in Lan Shen’s words.
But Xiao Yao suddenly understood something. She looked up at Lan Shen.
She saw Lan Shen casually rest his hand on Lin Miao’s shoulder. Lin Miao was used to it and didn’t even notice.
Lan Shen looked at Xiao Yao, winked, and gave a meaningful smile. He placed his index finger vertically in front of his lips.
The girl realized, nodded, and covered her mouth, giggling.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I was being presumptuous.”
Oh my god! Is this a drama I can ship right here and now?!
Her eyes filled with a smile, and she gave Lin Miao an auntie-style smile, making Lin Miao feel chills.
But when Lin Miao looked back, Lan Shen had already put his hand down and dropped his smile: “What’s wrong?”
Lin Miao could only attribute the feeling to social anxiety.
In the end, Xiao Yao happily took Yao Weiba home after signing the contract that day.
“Take good care of it. If there are any problems, contact us immediately,” Lin Miao instructed.
The girl nodded sincerely and waved goodbye.
Since Lan Shen denied it, Lin Miao had to check if the orange cat belonged to another classmate.
Speak of the devil.
Lin Miao was walking downstairs in the dorm building when he was intercepted by the orange cat dashing out.
“Just thinking about my baby,” Lin Miao crouched down and petted the cat, “Are you hungry? It’s rare to see you out at this time.”
He took out a cat treat from his backpack and sat down, patting his leg: “Come, get up here.”
The orange cat cleverly climbed onto his lap.
After finishing the cat treat, the orange cat strutted away. It looked back a few steps later, seemingly afraid Lin Miao wouldn’t notice.
The orange cat deliberately revealed its movements to Lin Miao, and Lin Miao followed, as expected.
Lin Miao crept stealthily, wanting to see where the orange cat ran off to.
He saw the orange cat squeeze into the bushes. Lin Miao quietly waited for two seconds behind, then cautiously peered his head over to look.
He looked up and saw the orange cat squatting on the window sill of Lan Shen’s dorm, seemingly trying to scratch the window to get in.
“Baby, what are you doing!” Lin Miao whispered sharply.
The orange cat seemed startled, not expecting to be discovered by Lin Miao. It immediately jumped down from the window sill and scampered away.
It only left Lin Miao with a view of its back.
Lin Miao took a picture of everything with his phone, puffing out his cheeks: “Let’s see how Lan Shen can explain this now.”
He completely missed the orange cat narrowing its eyes, its gaze full of a triumphant smile.