Ch26.1 - It Likes You Too

The moonlight spilt down like water, coincidentally illuminating the silhouette on the window.

A ghost wasn’t supposed to be fluffy and round right?

As Xu Haoming was thinking this, he saw Lu Xu open the window. The round silhouette immediately wormed its way in, emitting “meow meow” sounds nonstop as it snuck into Lu Xu’s arms.

Song Zhe got out of bed and turned on the lights. It was only then that everyone realized Lu Xu was embracing an orange cat with sleek fur. It had a rotund body shape and a round head, nestling in Lu Xu’s arms like a small child, its watery eyes moving about.

As they observed the cat, the cat observed them.

“Xu ge, is this your family’s Ba Mei?” Even Xu Haoming felt like this was a little unimaginable after asking.

One had to know that Ba Mei was a cat, not a dog. It had never come to the apartment before. It was only a small kitty cat, how could it have come all the way here?

But before he had even figured it out, Lu Xu had already given a resolute answer. “Right, this is my family’s Ba Mei.”

“Ai?” Forget about Xu Haoming, anyone who heard this would feel incredulous.

Han Tianyu scooted over and stared at Ba Mei, then couldn’t resist asking, “Why do you think it showed up at the apartment?”

Lu Xu rubbed Ba Mei’s head and softly placed it on the ground. “Probably saw me on TV at home and missed me.”

Even Song Zhe felt a little overwhelmed by this. “You mean, your cat found its way here by itself?”

Lu Xu nodded. “Mn, probably walked very far.”

Seeing that Ba Mei kept licking its legs, Lu Xu immediately stopped and said, “Come on, wash up first.”

Perhaps those words would have made sense to small children, but Ba Mei was just a cat, it would be strange if it could understand him.

However, what happened next opened Xu Haoming’s eyes to a whole new world.

When Lu Xu finished speaking and walked towards the bathroom, Ba Mei wagged its tail, its butt shaking as it followed him.

“Hm?”

The other three had the same reaction, feeling that this was very novel and strange.

Xu Haoming did not hesitate. Seeing Lu Xu bring his cat into the bathroom, he followed as well, wanting to see how this kitty was going to wash up.

He saw Ba Mei sitting obediently on the floor, tilting its head as it watched Lu Xu take down the showerhead and test the water temperature.

“It’s not afraid of water?” Xu Haoming had never had a cat before. Although he didn’t really understand cats he seemed to remember seeing somewhere that cats didn’t like taking baths.

“Our Ba Mei is a kitty who loves to be clean.” Lu Xu adjusted the water temperature and placed his hand on Ba Mei’s neck. He found the shampoo that he used for himself and lathered Ba Mei until there were soap suds. “You came here all of a sudden, none of your belongings are here. Just use this for now.”

Ba Mei let out a “meow meow” and rubbed Lu Xu’s palm as though it understood.

Miraculous.

Xu Haoming leaned against the doorway. When he saw the water soaking into Ba Mei’s fur, he realised — cats on the internet were all slightly fat, but once they got wet they became very skinny. Only Ba Mei, when soaked, was still as round and chubby as always, and looked pretty cute.

Ba Mei’s arrival had been sudden, and after Lu Xu finished drying Ba Mei it was already getting close to midnight.

But no one felt that Ba Mei was annoying. They even felt quite happy.

Ba Mei sat on the table licking its own fur. The other three people were gathered around and watching the little kitty. They held their phones and took picture after picture of Ba Mei, and occasionally asked Lu Xu Ba Mei related questions, obviously wanting to know where such an adorable cat came from.

When Lu Xu came out of the bathroom and saw this scene, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The entire dormitory seemed to have become a cat-spectating room.

Ba Mei’s face was round and chubby, its two cheeks protruding out adorably. Even Lu Xu liked Ba Mei, so the other three’s reactions were normal.

Ba Mei was rather proud, treating everyone’s passionate attention as though it was deserved. It seemed that to anyone other than Lu Xu, Ba Mei had an air of being reserved and noble.

“Xu ge, how are you planning on dealing with Ba Mei?” The owner was filming a show yet their pet came to visit. This was probably the first time in history this has ever happened.

“I’ll wait until we wake up tomorrow to talk to Director Fan.” Lu Xu picked up Ba Mei and tossed the cat onto his bed, then urged the others to quickly go to sleep. “Hurry and rest. We have to film an MV tomorrow as well, don’t we?”

Song Zhe thought about it, then said, “Let’s set an alarm just in case we get up late.”

Ba Mei sprawled on the bed, its mouth spreading wide as it yawned, then laid its head on its front paws, quietly listening to them talk.

After Lu Xu climbed up into the bed, Ba Mei quickly rolled over to show its belly, its four legs facing the sky as it purred at Lu Xu.

Lu Xu rubbed its soft belly and said warmly, “You’ve worked hard today. Be good and sleep early.”

Ba Mei let out a “meow” of agreement and started to snore not long after.

Lu Xu looked at the sleeping ball beside him, and his heart couldn’t help but feel a little soft –– From the community hospital to here was a distance of a dozen miles. It was natural for Ba Mei to be tired after having walked all the way here.

“Silly child.”

Lu Xu said in his heart, then took out his phone to send a message to Xie An. “Ba Mei has already arrived, don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

Although he knew that Ba Mei was no ordinary cat, Xie An couldn’t help but worry after it ran out on its own. After replying to Lu Xu, he continued to be busy with his work. Ever since Lu Xu had gone on his mission, all the business in the area had basically become Xie An’s responsibility.

The higher-ups thought that Xie An working on his own would be too difficult, and had considered sending someone over, but Xie An had refused, saying that he could handle it on his own and that there was no need to expend other people’s energy.

After Xie An had collated all of the client’s information and sent it out, he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye that small yellow file under the table, and couldn’t help but reach over to pull it out.

Nowadays, all client information was in an online database, but this file was on paper. On it, written in pencil, was the date 1970-02-27, more than 50 years ago.

One look and it was obvious that this document should have been submitted a long time ago, but Xie An had put it off.

“It’s already been so many years, it can be sent immediately, it probably won’t be noticed…” Xie An thought about it, then put the file back down. He didn’t know why, but he felt a little bit unsettled.

He just hoped that the time would come soon, to prevent any unnecessary troubles.

The sunlight filtered in through the curtains and into the room. It was clear that a new day had come.

Xu Haoming groped around for his phone and opened his eyes to squint at the time, only to realise that he had woken up before the alarm. He saw that everyone else was holding and playing with their phones. He yawned as he got up and rolled out of bed to put on his slippers, sleepily walking into the bathroom.

“Eh?”

He saw a round, orange cat squatting on the toilet, its tail high in the air, obviously doing its business.

Only then did Xu Haoming remember that Lu Xu’s Ba Mei had come to the dorm yesterday. So, this cat was using the toilet?

“Meow…” Ba Mei didn’t like other people watching it do its business, and let out a couple of meows when it saw Xu Haoming enter. After it had finished, it jumped up and raised its paw to press down on the toilet flush, then landed on the ground, marching out of the bathroom with proud steps.

The entire process had been smooth beyond compare. It was clear that it wasn’t the cat’s first time using the toilet.

Xu Haoming was completely awake now. It had even remembered to flush the toilet. He immediately jumped out of the bathroom to share his discovery with everyone. “Do you know, Ba Mei knows how to use the toilet!”

Han Tianyu swiftly sat up. “My god, really?”

“Really, I saw it with my own eyes!” Xu Haoming pointed towards the bathroom, then pointed at Ba Mei, even mimicking Ba Mei’s actions from earlier as he continued to say, “Ba Mei even knows how to flush the toilet!”

Even that was possible?

Xu Haoming couldn’t help but ask Lu Xu, “Xu ge, how did you train this?”

Lu Xu glanced at Ba Mei who was sprawled on the bed, busy licking its fur. His eyes glinted with a smile. “I didn’t train, Ba Mei had no teacher.”

“Wow! As expected of my Ba Mei, so smart and so cute!”

Han Tianyu frowned at Xu Haoming when he heard those words, and said a little unhappily, “Lao Xu, what’s up with you? You’ve been babbling all cutely like a child since yesterday, my goosebumps have all risen.” He turned his head and saw the fluffy Ba Mei, and couldn’t help but soften his voice. “But our Ba Mei really is very cute and very smart!”

Song Zhe laughed softly. “You said all that about Hao Ming, but what about yourself.”

Growl…

A few of them followed the noise and saw Ba Mei pressing on its belly with its paws, watching Lu Xu with wide eyes and a pitiful look.

Xu Haoming’s heart ached when he saw this. “Is my Ba Mei hungry?”

“Mn.” Ba Mei’s appetite had always been big. After walking such a long distance last night, it should be hungry by now. “Let’s go, I’ll bring you to eat breakfast.”

There were no cats in the apartment, so naturally, there would be no cat food. Luckily, there was meat in the cafeteria, so Lu Xu prepared to take Ba Mei to the canteen.

As a result, the other three immediately said, “I can give my share of today’s meat to Ba Mei, we can’t let the little baby starve.”

Lu Xu looked at the three grown men all surrounding Ba Mei, and couldn’t help but shake his head, laughing.

The canteen was filled with a lot of trainees who had come to eat. Their eyes lit up when they saw Lu Xu enter, carrying a cat––

“Fuck, what is this? Little kitty!”

“Aaa, Xu ge, is this the Ba Mei that you mentioned on the show?”

“Gosh, this is way too cute. Can I pat it?”

Not long after, dozens of trainees had gathered around, wanting to pat Ba Mei.

Xu Lele took out his phone to take a picture with Ba Mei. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it –– Look at that perfectly round body, that silky smooth-to-the-touch fur, that soft yet squishy little belly, those chubby little legs and pink paws…

Aaaa, how can there be creatures as cute as cats in this world!!!

the Official Alien Bureau is announcing a new project! head over to beyond the outline for a fluffy, (mostly) wholesome high school story about finding yourself, with a fantasy twist. this novel is so so so cute and heartwarming and we’ve been screaming over it for weeks. we promise it’s nearly as cute as ba mei :3

first chapter will be up on monday (16th), and we’ll update weekly! hope to see you there