How Could You Touch Me There?

The first thing you said was that I wasn't even enough to get stuck between your teeth. How could you think I'm not scared of you?

Who knows whether you were telling the truth? Some people may look perfectly respectable, but when they do perverted things, they can be even scarier than ordinary people.

While Xue Yao's thoughts were running wild, the man holding her gently spoke to himself.

"Do you want a cuddle?" Lu Linyuan placed the kitten in the crook of his arm and unhurriedly stroked her fur. Not bad, quite soft. "You're so soft. Let's name you Ruanruan." His offhand tone made the name sound particularly casual.

Xue Yao frowned. Are you kidding me? I'm this cute and fluffy, and you're fobbing me off with a random name? Shouldn't you think of a few more before deciding? Is that any way to do it?

"Meow!" I object! I strongly object!

She didn't know where she found the courage, but at that moment, she looked up at the man, raised a paw, and meowed.

She tried to express her displeasure with the name through a series of tiny, babyish meows.

She wanted to sound fierce, but to anyone who heard her, those babyish meows would sound like she was acting cute and seeking affection.

"It's settled, then."

"Meow-" Raising one paw hadn't worked, so Xue Yao raised both fluffy paws in protest, putting on a "baring her fangs and brandishing her claws" performance. In truth, she couldn't quite keep her balance in that position and nearly toppled backward.

"So excited... Looks like you really like it." Lu Linyuan held a hand behind her head to support it.

"?"

This guy looks pretty smart, but his eyesight is awful. He can't even tell that this super-fierce kitten is protesting. What part of this looks like I like it?

Am I not frowning hard enough?!

Xue Yao tried her best to open her eyes wide, putting on a meme-worthy expression of a super-fierce kitten defying authority.

Then she heard the man say, "Are you acting cute for me?"

"..."

Well, that one sentence took the fight right out of Xue Yao. She went limp as a puddle of mud in Lu Linyuan's arms.

Whatever. This man is my owner. He can call me whatever he wants; what say do I have? Actually, after hearing it a few times, Ruanruan is a pretty good name.

It was gentle and suited her ladylike temperament. The miniature version of Xue Yao in her mind propped up her chin and slowly convinced herself.

My name is Ruanruan now. Since I'm starting a new life, I shouldn't cling to anything from my last one. Let my name scatter in the wind too. Ruanruan rested her little chin on her paw as she thought this.

Actually, being a cat is pretty great. I don't have to worry about any of the things humans run themselves ragged over.

Seeing the kitten grow very quiet in his arms, Lu Linyuan turned around in satisfaction and carried her toward the study.

A nearby maid asked, "Do you need me to bring the cat bed over?"

"Mm."

Before long, the maid brought a cat bed about half the size to the study. Lu Linyuan told her to put it on the desk. After she left, he placed Ruanruan in the cat bed on the desktop and rubbed her head with his fingers. Though he didn't say a word, the look on his face as he rubbed her head made it clear that Ruanruan's fur was irresistible to pet.

Ruanruan thought that if her owner liked it, she was at least somewhat useful. A kitten whose owner didn't like her would be super pitiful, okay?

She was happily imagining her wonderful future when she heard the man across from her say something merciless.

"I never expected a cat's fur to feel this good..." Lu Linyuan made the remark casually, but it sent the kitten's thoughts running wild.

She couldn't shake the feeling that this stern-faced man might say the very next second, "Let's just skin her and make her into a fur coat."

What kind of horror movie plot is this?!

Having frightened herself, Ruanruan silently edged toward the other side of the cat bed. Stop petting me, stop it! Don't really pick me up and make me into a fur coat. Whatever rich people want to do is as easy as picking something up-they can do it on a whim.

Lu Linyuan had things to do. After petting Ruanruan for a while, he withdrew his hand and began working at his computer.

Only...

He had only been working for a few minutes when he heard a strange, somewhat peculiar sound.

The sound caught the kitten off guard and frightened her into trying to spring upright like a carp. She didn't make it up, but she did roll over.

Ruanruan saw Lu Linyuan stop what he was doing and looked at him warily. He must have heard the strange sound too.

What was that sound? Could there be some secret hidden in this study?

She turned her head, her eyes darting everywhere as she looked around. The large study, the large bookcase, the dark red solid-wood desk-everything seemed strange.

Lu Linyuan looked at the kitten, who seemed not to know where the sound had come from and had even been startled by her own stomach growling. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

This cat seemed unusually daft.

Lu Linyuan picked up the landline and called the butler, Uncle Chen.

"Send someone up. Have them get some food suitable for a kitten from the cat room and bring it to the study."

"Yes."

After giving his brief instructions, Lu Linyuan hung up.

Ruanruan didn't immediately understand when she heard that. What did he need someone to bring something for?

Then her stomach growled again, accompanied by a slight vibration. Her paw was resting on her belly, and she understood at once.

Ruanruan was rather embarrassed. So it was my stomach growling. I didn't notice at all just now...

Oh, right. I seem to have slept for a long time, and I haven't eaten anything since I got up. No wonder my stomach's growling...

At the pet shop, the kittens were usually fed at set times and were full before their stomachs ever growled. It wasn't her fault she hadn't recognized the sound, since she had never heard her own stomach growl before... It was so loud that it hadn't even occurred to her that the sound was coming from her own belly.

So embarrassing, so embarrassing. Ruanruan buried her little round face in her paws and pretended nothing had happened.

Lu Linyuan had never imagined he would one day see "embarrassment" on a cat's face. It seemed that, aside from being a little daft, this kitten had quite a range of little expressions.

"So you know how to be embarrassed?" Then again, watching the kitten get scared by her own growling stomach and look all around had been rather amusing.

Before long, a maid brought a tray of prepared kitten food. When she was about to put the kitten on the floor to feed her, Lu Linyuan glanced over and said, "There's no need to put her on the floor. Just put her on the desk."

The solid-wood desk was big enough. Forget one kitten eating on it-even five or six, or seven or eight, would have plenty of room.

"All right." The maid placed the small, shallow dish from the tray on the desk.

"That'll do. I'll take it from here." He sent the maid away.

Dairy had been added to the kitten food, so there was no need to give her extra water. Lu Linyuan reached into the cat bed and lifted out Ruanruan, who was staring longingly at the little dish. She was really hungry and had caught the delicious scent from a distance. Her body remained fairly calm, and she didn't rush over to eat, but her swishing tail had already betrayed how eager she was for the food.

"Meow-" Hurry up!

Lu Linyuan put Ruanruan in front of the little dish, only to find that the kitten didn't immediately lower her head and gobble it up. Instead, she looked at him with her big eyes rolling, as though waiting for his permission.

"All right, don't look at me like that. Eat."

"Meow-" The difference in tone between the two meows was unmistakable.

The first meow had been anxious, as if urging him on. The second was noticeably cheerful and happy.

This little one was quite the drama queen.

As that thought crossed his mind, Lu Linyuan suddenly noticed the fluffy tail swishing leisurely back and forth. The way it swished... it made his hand itch.

As Ruanruan smacked her lips and curled her tongue around the food, her tail was suddenly seized.

"!" How could you grab my tail?!

She instinctively tried to pull her tail free and turned to look at Lu Linyuan.

A few drops of milk clung to her mouth. She licked them once, then twice with her little tongue, blinking her big eyes at Lu Linyuan as if to say, "What the heck are you doing? Can't you see I'm eating?"

Lu Linyuan held her tail and stroked it again and again. When he saw the kitten look over, his eyes flicked toward her.

He hadn't said a word, but Ruanruan's little heart trembled. She timidly looked away, pretended nothing had happened, and lowered her head to continue frantically inhaling her food.

All right, all right. If my owner wants to play with my tail, what's wrong with that?

When you're under someone else's eaves, you bow your head when you have to. I need to eat; there's no shame in that.