Cultivating Immortality by Raising a Cat (GL) Chapter 50

A-Bai had not expected Yuan Zhaoyang to put the mush back into the bowl and start eating after one disagreement.
This mush-like cat food looked even more frightening than Qingxin Hall’s many kinds of plain-boiled meat. It had no flavor, no nutrition, and no value in being eaten at all.
“Eh, I was just saying that casually. You should put it away again…” A-Bai could not bear it and transmitted advice.
The calico cat eating mush with her head buried in the bowl did not even look up. She only quickly lifted her tail. The tip of the tail bent strangely, then dropped again.
While A-Bai was trying hard to figure out what this strange silent response meant, the yellow cat on the wall finally received the calico’s hint and obediently let Lin Mianmian catch it down.
“Next time, if you cannot get down, I really will not help you.” Lin Mianmian panted as she set the yellow cat on the ground. She could not help adding, “Eat less. I almost could not hold you.”
The yellow cat successfully landed and shook its fur. It did not care what the human who cooked terrible food was saying. After seriously looking at the calico on the table and confirming there were no new instructions, the yellow cat flicked its tail and leisurely walked away. The next time it was transported to poop, it would get double meat. How happy.
“Why are you eating so slowly today? Is it not good after getting cold?” Lin Mianmian returned to the table and looked first at the calico’s cat bowl. The cat food mush that was usually eaten down to the bottom very quickly still had a lot left.
Yuan Zhaoyang raised her head and looked at Lin Mianmian faintly. Then she lowered her head and cleared the mush in the bowl as fast as possible.
A-Bai, who had transmitted several times telling Yuan Zhaoyang to stop eating, was now shrinking beside the wonton bowl. For some reason, she felt a little guilty and timid. Tch, it was not as if she had smeared the mush all over Yuan Zhaoyang’s face and made her eat it. Why should she feel guilty? A-Bai’s feelings were conflicted, but more than that, she was confused about why Yuan Zhaoyang had to pretend to be a cat to this degree. Could it really be as she had guessed? Was Yuan unwilling to let down Lin Mianmian’s feelings?
A-Bai lowered her head and looked at the wonton wrappers stuck together in her bowl. This kind of feeling was rather hard not to let down.
Seeing the little calico obediently finish the cat food, Lin Mianmian stroked the cat’s head in satisfaction. Only then did she notice that A-Bai’s bowl of wontons had been eaten down to just one piece.
“Are you… full?” Lin Mianmian asked hesitantly.
The little white rabbit nodded hard, quickly spooned the last mouthful of meat filling into her mouth, and pushed the bowl away while speaking unclearly. “Full, full. You can collect them together.”
Lin Mianmian had already seen A-Bai’s appetite back in Yingxian City. This one bowl of wontons, if made by Yuan Zhaoyang, probably would not even be enough to fill the gap between A-Bai’s teeth. Even with the Qiao family’s young man’s cooking skill, this little rabbit could probably eat ten or eight more bowls. But Lin Mianmian knew her own cooking skill was limited. For A-Bai to eat so much was already giving her face. She would not overestimate herself and invite the little rabbit to eat more.
Rice Ball was still better. As Lin Mianmian cleared the bowls, she could not help petting the cat again. Without comparison, there was no hurt. Her cooking was average, but Rice Ball had eaten Senior Sister Yuan’s chicken and was still willing to eat what Lin Mianmian made. She even quickly finished it every time. How warm-hearted.
“Are you two still going to cultivate or not? In this short while, how many times has she touched you?” A-Bai rubbed her eyes and could not help transmitting a complaint.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
For some reason, the days had been passing nicely one by one, and Yuan had not felt anything wrong. But as soon as A-Bai came and pointed things out, everything felt wrong. What did she mean by “in this short while, how many times”? Did the rabbit even know how to speak?
“Cultivating now. Goodbye.” The calico transmitted with a cold face. Without waiting for the little rabbit to answer, she turned, jumped down from the table, and walked to the door.
“…” A-Bai looked at the calico cat and felt hurt. She turned and shouted at Lin Mianmian, who was washing bowls. “Mianmian, I am leaving!”
“Leaving already? You have not come in so long. Why not sit for a while before you go?” Lin Mianmian replied by reflex.
“Sure!” Before Lin Mianmian’s words had even landed, the little rabbit nodded quickly and cheerfully. Then she lifted her head and gave the calico a proud look.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
“What? The courtyard’s owner invited me to stay and sit. As a cat, what opinion do you have?” A-Bai transmitted happily and rolled her eyes.
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…” She truly did not know what was wrong with these two. One casually gave a polite invitation for no reason, and the other took the chance and climbed right up. Could they still cultivate properly or not?
Seeing that the little rabbit seemed determined to fight her on this and would not leave for a while, Yuan Zhaoyang walked back and forth by the house door twice, then finally chose to stand at the doorway.
Just as Yuan Zhaoyang expected, Lin Mianmian quickly finished washing the two bowls. Her next step was to kindly invite the little rabbit inside to sit. Yuan Zhaoyang rejected this in her heart. Unfortunately, her foresight in blocking the door was easily dissolved by one light hug from Lin Mianmian.
Pretending to be a mortal-world cat was truly difficult. She could not even push away someone who had not drawn spiritual energy into her body.
In the end, Lin Mianmian picked up the entire door-blocking cat, put her into the cat pouch, and opened the door.
Looking at A-Bai’s shocked eyes as she entered the room, Yuan Zhaoyang felt she should have resisted more firmly just now.
“This… you… It was not like this before, right?” The little white rabbit entered and saw a pile of strange things.
If A-Bai remembered correctly, the temporary houses for new disciples in the outer valley basically had normal furnishings: a bed, a wardrobe, a table, and several stools. When she had come here last time, Lin Mianmian’s room had only those things. Simple and spacious.
But now… what was all this?
The wardrobe and bed were squeezed tightly together on the right. The table, oh, the table and stools seemed to have been moved to the courtyard. The space opened on the left side of the room held many strange things. There was a large frame made of several platforms at different heights. It looked about the same as the cat climbing frame outside. Uh… all right, this one seemed to have finer workmanship, and the platforms and posts were wrapped in soft cloth. A-Bai could not help walking closer and touching it. Goodness. It was not only soft cloth. There seemed to be cotton padding underneath.
Beside the cat climbing frame was… a large wooden bowl? About the size of two or three calicos put together? Oh, there was a cushion inside, so it seemed to be a strange hard nest.
All right. Those things were not the main point, even though they were the first to enter the rabbit’s eyes. Because of her height, when A-Bai entered, she first noticed the room’s changed layout, then the cat climbing frame and hard nest. But the most shocking thing was when she raised her head and saw that the left wall had many protruding wooden boards. From top to bottom and left to right, long and short boards, broken and continuous, covered the whole wall. Not only that wall, either. On the higher parts of the other three walls, there were many similar shelf-like wooden boards. At the base of the left wall, several trapezoid-shaped wooden boards formed something like a ladder.
Thinking of the low wooden corridor in the courtyard, A-Bai felt she might understand what the wooden boards on the wall were for.
But… no way. Surely not.
“Over these few months, I made some small changes.” Lin Mianmian smiled shyly. “But these can all be removed. When I draw spiritual energy into my body and leave, I will restore everything to how it was.”
Restoring everything was not the main point. The main point was, raising a cat like this, are you sure you still have the mind to draw spiritual energy into your body, little girl?
A-Bai took a deep breath and looked at Lin Mianmian’s bulging cat pouch, though no cat head was showing. The little rabbit forced out a smile. “Did you make all of these? What are they for?” Forgive this rabbit for knowingly asking. Humans were too magical. The rabbit did not dare believe humans could be this magical.
“These? They are all things I casually made when I got tired from cultivating…” Lin Mianmian said casually, but her eyes lit up when she introduced them. “This one on the ground is a cat climbing frame. Cats are vertical animals and like climbing high. When Little Rice Ball was still small, I first made a few low ones. Later, when she grew a little, I added some taller parts. When I designed it, I made it so the kitten could climb and lie down. I wanted to make a little hammock on it before, but after thinking about it, I made one on the outside climbing frame instead, so she could sun herself. But I also made one inside by the window, so Rice Ball can sun herself indoors when the weather is cold.” As Lin Mianmian spoke, she pointed at the cloth hammock by the left window.
A-Bai: “…” Climb high. Sun herself.
“These wooden boards are also for her to climb when she wants to go high. Starting from the lowest board here, she can run and jump along them across the whole wall. But when I made them, I may not have made them wide enough. If Rice Ball gets fat later, I might need to widen them.” As Lin Mianmian spoke, she added with some regret, “Actually, at first, I wanted to make them tube-shaped. That would be safer. But the work was too complicated.”
A-Bai: “…” Gets fat.
“The rest is not much. Oh, this wooden nest was originally meant for Rice Ball to lie in and play while also sharpening her claws, but she does not seem to like claw sharpening.” Lin Mianmian patted her head as she spoke, then smiled and pointed at the bed on the right. “There are also some little toys. Her little cushion, little mouse, little pillow, and little quilt. Oh, and her favorite little ball.” Lin Mianmian specially walked over and patted the small cloth ball hanging above the bed.
Yuan Zhaoyang truly could not bear to listen anymore. From inside the cat pouch, she poked out one paw and slapped Lin Mianmian’s hand that held the ball.
A-Bai’s gaze slowly passed over the small cushion wrapped in soft cloth on the bed, the beige cloth mouse, the pink little pillow, and the little quilt that seemed to be made from the same cloth as the cat pouch. Finally, her gaze fixed on the little blue cloth ball in Lin Mianmian’s hand.
“Her… favorite… little ball?” A-Bai felt her voice drifting a little. Probably everything today, the cat climbing frame, the awful wontons, the cat food mush, and the little ball, were all a dream. Right?
“Yes. Rice Ball loves playing with this little ball the most.” Lin Mianmian smiled gently. “She, every day…”
Who loves playing with that little ball the most?
Back then, who was it? Who was it that could not make the cloth ball round, made it and took it apart, took it apart and made it again, fussed with it for half a day, and pricked her fingers three times? Two of those times even bled.
Back then, who was it? Who was it that was so short she stood on the bed tying the string for half a day, and after tying it, her arms were sore as if useless, making her whimper for quite a while?
Back then, who was it? Who, when Yuan Zhaoyang refused to touch that cloth ball, looked at her as if about to cry and said, sob sob, I am so sad?
Who was it, who was it, who was it? Who always held up the ball with an expectant and pitiful tone while looking at her?
Where was your conscience? Could you not say this is your favorite little ball?
Yuan Zhaoyang heard A-Bai’s voice almost change from the question, then heard Lin Mianmian’s slightly proud answer. She truly could not bear it anymore. She crawled out of the cat pouch, stretched out her paw, and tried to cover Lin Mianmian’s mouth before she finished speaking.
“Mm… mm…” Lin Mianmian’s lips were softly patted several times by the cat paw. She smiled and took the chance to grab the cat paw, kissing it several times. “All right, all right. I will not say it, I will not say it. My little Rice Ball is shy again.”
Shy, my foot! Little calico Yuan’s whole body heated up after her paw was grabbed and kissed again and again, and her fur nearly puffed out.
Little calico Yuan worked hard to pull free from Lin Mianmian’s hand, only to accidentally see the little white rabbit’s eyes, so stunned they had gone blank. In an instant, the whole cat felt unwell.
“It is not what you think!” Yuan Zhaoyang transmitted, full of embarrassment and anger she could not control.
The little white rabbit nodded stiffly. Her little paw slowly lifted and covered her rabbit eyes. She silently transmitted back, “All right. That is my favorite little cloth ball, not your favorite little cloth ball.”
“…” Yuan Zhaoyang was so angry she lost control of her paw and stepped on Lin Mianmian’s face. “I told you, it is not what you think. She worked hard to make it, so I played with it a little. It is not my favorite!”
The little white rabbit moved her paw away and looked around. She sighed. “Right. She worked hard to make mush that is not tasty at all and looks like eating it would kill you, so you finished it. She worked hard to make a very silly little cloth ball, so you happily played with it. And all these strange things… judging from her expression when she introduced them, even if they are not your favorites, you often play with them or use them, right?”
Yuan Zhaoyang: “…”
The little white rabbit was silent for a moment, then smiled and waved a paw at Lin Mianmian. “Mianmian, I am going back to cultivate. You should work hard too!”
“Why so suddenly?” Lin Mianmian froze.
It was not sudden. A-Bai felt as if her eyes were about to be blinded by the two of them. Having received far too much shock, A-Bai tiredly waved a paw, refused Lin Mianmian’s attempts to keep her, and left.
Lin Mianmian kindly walked the little white rabbit out.
The calico cat, however, curled on the small cushion on the bed, thinking about the last transmission the little white rabbit had sent before leaving.
“It is pretty good. Happily be a little cat.”
A-Bai’s serious and sincere tone made Yuan Zhaoyang unable to treat it as sarcasm. But why? Hadn’t A-Bai spent all day criticizing her for moving closer to an ordinary mortal-world cat and not cultivating properly? Why would she suddenly say that?
Yuan Zhaoyang could not quite understand it. Even A-Bai herself did not quite understand why she had suddenly said such a thing. It made it sound like some strange but sincere blessing.
A-Bai returned alone to Hengshui Peak. In the quiet courtyard, she lay silently from daylight until dark.
At first, A-Bai really had felt that everything Lin Mianmian did for the calico cat was troublesome and useless. Aside from wasting time, delaying cultivation, and adding to the cat demon’s burden, it was completely unnecessary and had no benefit at all. But the longer A-Bai watched and the more she saw, the more she began to feel that this focused tenderness truly held an irresistible temptation.
Those things made only for the calico cat looked foolish and a little rough. But if one thought carefully about the care inside them… All right, A-Bai did not quite dare think carefully. It made the rabbit feel an inexplicable jealousy.
Even a watching rabbit felt this way. Then what about Yuan Zhaoyang, who stayed day after day beside Lin Mianmian and was treated like this? Facing Lin Mianmian, who gave cats such gentle, focused love… even if some methods of love were truly foolish, it would still be hard to resist.
Especially because the one soaking in that gentle love was Yuan Zhaoyang. Yuan Zhaoyang, who as a child had never received the love and care she should have had.
In the night, A-Bai unconsciously remembered her first meeting with Yuan Zhaoyang a hundred years ago.
Back then, A-Bai had still been a little rabbit demon. And Yuan Zhaoyang back then… was probably the world’s stupidest little cat demon.