Mao Mao started speaking much later than Dai Dai. Ever since Dai Dai was first stimulated by Tong Qian’s singing, her speech had become increasingly fluent. Half a month after Dai Dai began talking, Mao Mao still hadn’t uttered a word. Initially, the cat café staff didn’t think much of it. Mao Mao was Dai Dai’s little shadow, but she was always half a beat slower and often failed to react in time.
It was like this when she was still nursing, and it was the same with her pranks as she grew up.
However, after nearly half a year, Mao Mao still couldn’t speak. Even Fondant, whose cultivation was relatively weak, had started talking under Yun Chao’s patient guidance, becoming a happy little chatterbox every day after work.
Pei Shiyi vaguely felt that something was wrong. Yet after checking Mao Mao’s body, there were no issues with her cultivation. She remained lively and energetic every day, maintaining the same carefree look.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Pei Shiyi watched Mao Mao playing wildly with Dai Dai, his brows furrowing slightly.
Bo Jin, having just changed into his suit, hugged Pei Shiyi from behind and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Why are you frowning so early in the morning?”
It was still early, only 6:30 AM. Logically, it should have been the time when the “fur-kids” were sleeping most soundly, so why were Dai Dai and Mao Mao already downstairs? And why did Shiyi look so preoccupied?
Pei Shiyi rested his hand against his chin. “I just feel like something isn’t right.”
Bo Jin was focused intently on studying his boyfriend’s profile. Even after looking for so long, he felt he could never see enough. From the corners of the eyes to the tip of the nose and the curve of the lips, every feature was exquisite.
Deeply enamored, Bo Jin leaned in and gave him several more kisses.
Mao Mao, who happened to bounce right in front of Pei Shiyi, stared blankly at the two of them. Dai Dai, catching up, hurriedly covered her younger sister’s eyes with her paws. As a result, she lost her balance and tumbled onto the carpet along with Mao Mao.
Pei Shiyi: “…” He pressed a palm against Bo Jin’s face, pushing him a step away, then leaned down to pick up the twins.
Bo Jin lowered his head to press his forehead against Dai Dai’s. “See how fierce he is?” Having said that, he discreetly took a few steps back. “I’m going to an early meeting. I should be able to get back early this afternoon. Oh, right. One of the hands-off members over on Bi’an’s side has come out of seclusion. They’ve been clamoring to see Song Gao for the past couple of days. Shall we head over together in a few days?”
With Dai Dai and Mao Mao draped over his left and right shoulders respectively, Pei Shiyi said, “Of course, we’ll go together. Now get to work. I’m going to go get breakfast ready.”
Director Bo was the picture of a dutiful partner: “I’ve already made it. It’s in the warming box. You can just take it out.”
Pei Shiyi waved him off, and only then did Bo Jin turn to head downstairs.
Dai Dai pressed against Pei Shiyi’s cheek, giving him several loud smacking kisses while muttering, “I want to kiss, too.”
Mao Mao hesitated for a moment, then leaned in as well.
Pei Shiyi smiled and let the two little things cling to him for a while, asking, “Why did you get up so early today?”
Dai Dai froze, instinctively kneading Pei Shiyi’s shoulder with her paws as she mumbled, “Just… wanted to play.”
Pei Shiyi narrowed his eyes, meeting the little rascal’s gaze. Both Dai Dai and Mao Mao had a habit. Whenever they were nervous, they would start kneading or treading. It’s not the typical “making biscuits” kind of kneading, but a restless shifting of their little paws.
Dai Dai leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
Pei Shiyi sighed helplessly. “Alright then.”
He set the two little ones down, noticing that Mao Mao seemed a bit dazed. Pei Shiyi lowered his head to plant a kiss on the tip of Mao Mao’s ear, thinking silently: What is bothering you, my dear little Mao Mao? Why won’t you tell me?
Reflecting on Mao Mao’s recent unusual behavior, Pei Shiyi had originally intended to give her the day off and take her out for a stroll. To his surprise, the usually lazy little fellow was unexpectedly insistent on “going to work”.
It was a real headache for Pei Shiyi. Come to think of it, Mao Mao had been putting in an extraordinary amount of effort during business hours lately. He was acting just like Dan Huang, proactively interacting with customers and even sleeping less than before. It was as if Mao Mao were trying to imitate Dan Huang.
Something was definitely wrong. Even though he was physically already a big cat, mentally, he was still an underage child. Such a sudden burst of diligence definitely pointed to an underlying issue. Pei Shiyi simply couldn’t fathom what kind of “dead end” the child had wandered into. It was worrying him to death.
Fortunately, though Dai Dai loved her pranks, she was a truly good older sister. That afternoon, taking advantage of the moment Mao Mao finally succumbed to sleepiness, she went to find Pei Shiyi.
“Boss.”
Dai Dai burrowed into Pei Shiyi’s arms.
Pei Shiyi was in the middle of carving a new small plaque for Tong Qian. He freed up one hand to stroke Dai Dai. “What’s the matter?”
Dai Dai asked in a small voice, “Can you make Mao Mao speak?”
Pei Shiyi’s grip on the plaque tightened slightly as the reason for Mao Mao’s unusual behavior clicked into place like a bolt of lightning. Mao Mao was the only one among the nine big cats who still couldn’t talk. Even several of the kittens who had joined the cat café later were already able to speak.
So, she must have been getting anxious lately.
Nestling against Pei Shiyi, Dai Dai murmured, “I want him to be happy every day, but not by pretending like this. I can feel it. She’s definitely not happy.”
Pei Shiyi: “I’ve already checked. It’s not an issue with his cultivation. Since Mao Mao still can’t speak, it’s likely a psychological block.”
Dai Dai paused, confused. “Why?”
Pei Shiyi tapped her damp little nose and smiled. “I think I know why.”
Dai Dai tilted her head, her eyes full of bewilderment.
…
Pei Shiyi made a special trip to a nearby department store to buy a small whiteboard along with several boxes of colored markers. He planned to clear out a space in the cat activity room on the second floor of the café to set everything up.
However, while His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was quite adept at the finer things in life—poetry, wine, and painting—he was utterly hopeless at housework. After tidying for a while, he fell into deep thought as he stared at the increasingly chaotic activity room. How is it that the more I clean, the more stuff there is?
Clearly, when Bo Jin and the staff cleaned, everything seemed effortless.
Pei Shiyi gathered all the teaser wands with bells into one box, only to realize he was now surrounded by a pile of teaser wands with feathers. He fell silent for a moment and gave up on the tidying.
Forget it. He understood the theory well but struggled with execution. Even a Crown Prince wasn’t perfect.
Fortunately, Bo Jin skipped out on work that afternoon and returned early around three o’clock.
He stood at the door of the activity room, momentarily stunned. “What’s… spring cleaning?” Why did it look like every single item had been pulled out?
Pei Shiyi shook his head. “No, I just wanted to reorganize.”
Bo Jin: “…”
His “ancestor” of a boyfriend had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Considering how meticulously he wanted to categorize everything down to the specific charms on the teaser wands, the original storage space was naturally insufficient.
Dressed in a sharp suit, Bo Jin had no choice but to take off his jacket and roll up his sleeves for his boyfriend, whose storage skills were essentially zero. “You step out first. I’ll have this finished in a bit.”
Clutching his newly purchased whiteboard and various markers, Pei Shiyi stood outside the door. Looking around listlessly to pass the time, his gaze happened to collide with Mao Mao’s eyes.
Realizing she had been spotted, the tortoiseshell cat’s head immediately ducked back and vanished from sight.
Pei Shiyi wasn’t in a hurry. He just tapped his fingertips cheerfully against the whiteboard.
As Bo Jin tidied the activity room, he asked, “Why did you buy a whiteboard? Is the little blackboard over by the counter broken?” That little propped-up blackboard had been with the cat café for over two years and was still working diligently on the front lines.
Pei Shiyi replied, “No, it’s for Boss Pei’s ‘Cat Classroom’. From now on, daily tasks like reading comments will be moved here.”
He wanted to teach the cats some common knowledge about the human world. Tonight, he also intended to resolve Mao Mao’s issue.
Bo Jin glanced at him sideways. “That’s a good idea. Bai Jue will definitely be moved to tears of gratitude.”
Pei Shiyi remarked, “According to you, Bai Jue is moved to tears several times a day.”
…
Boss Pei’s “Cat Classroom” didn’t exactly get off to a smooth start. Dan Huang and Miss Penny had made plans to head to the boarding shop in the back to take care of the cats there. Tong Qian and Yin Zhou had taken the afternoon off, while Mang Zhong, Xia Zhi, and Gu Yu had skipped class to nap downstairs.
Pei Shiyi surveyed the room. “Alright, since this was short notice, I’ll let those few slide.”
Today’s lesson was primarily meant to untie the knot in Mao Mao’s heart. Dan Huang and Miss Penny were already “big cats”, and the others were more or less airheads who didn’t really need a lecture like this anyway.
The remaining cats nodded one after another, looking up curiously at the whiteboard. Sitting in the very back row was an extra-large “cat”. Director Bo had lugged a small round stool up from the first floor and was waiting for class to begin alongside the row of seated cats.
Pei Shiyi struggled to suppress a smile as he opened his makeshift lesson plan. On the A4 paper, he had listed several keywords. It was the traits, or rather, the personalities of the café cats.
Under the banner of helping the “cats understand each other better”, Boss Pei explicitly pointed out each cat’s unique personality.
The kittens, who had been busy scratching their tails or nibbling their paws, gradually became engrossed. They were surprised to discover that every cat’s personality was different, unique, and irreplaceable. Whether it was a strength or a flaw, it was all part of who that “cat” was.
The fur-kids looked at one another as Pei Shiyi said slowly, “Don’t force yourselves to become like someone else.”
He leaned down to stroke Mao Mao, who was closest to him, and said with a smile, “I like you all to grow freely, as long as it’s within the bounds of being kind.”
It didn’t matter what they grew up to be like. Whether they were as ethereal as clouds and snow, sweet and clingy, or gentle and steady, everything was perfectly fine.
Suddenly, Mao Mao let out a few whimpering cries and buried herself in Pei Shiyi’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her identical twin sister was more talented and more mischievous. Even if Dai Dai made other people or cats angry, she could always smooth things over with a funny face, earning nothing more than a playful “you little rascal”. In comparison, Mao Mao, who was always half a beat behind and couldn’t keep up with her sister’s rhythm, felt like she was just her sister’s shadow.
Her sister could already speak. The other big cats taught her sister how to pronounce words and would proactively come to teach her as well. Even Mr. Pei had been subtly showing her how to make human sounds.
She had tried, but the harder she tried, the more afraid she became, and the less she knew how to open her mouth. She loves her sister. It was just that she was too stupid, so she could never catch up. Thus, she had clumsily tried to imitate Dan Huang, wanting to be as outstanding and trusted by the other cats as the store manager.
But she couldn’t even get the imitation right.
The other cats didn’t understand why Mao Mao had suddenly burst into tears, but they all silently gathered around, huddling close to her in hopes of offering some comfort.
Dai Dai pressed herself gently against Mao Mao. “My younger sister is the most well-behaved and cutest.”
…
A few days later, Pei Huang came by Pei Shiyi’s place for a visit, arriving right during the cats’ lesson time. He listened in for a bit, and after class ended, while the cats were discussing the lesson, Mao Mao sat in Pei Huang’s lap. Under the encouraging gazes of the other cats, she used stumbling, unpracticed human speech to describe their first class.
Mao Mao finally stuttered out, “In the future… I want to grow up to be… an omnipotent big cat… just like the Boss.”
Bo Jin felt a bit helpless listening to this: Shiyi isn’t actually a cat, you know.
Pei Huang couldn’t stop laughing after hearing that. “No, no, that’s not right. Your Boss isn’t actually omnipotent.”
Mao Mao’s big eyes went wide. “Meow?”
Out of habit, she still slipped into cat-talk first sometimes.
Pei Huang said with a laugh, “Well… let me think. Your Boss is actually quite tone-deaf. You guys haven’t heard him sing, have you?”
The cats were stunned. Mao Mao turned her head and joined the chorus of meows with the others, everyone absolutely shocked.
Their Boss wrote with beautiful calligraphy, was a skilled painter, and could quote countless classical allusions off the top of his head. How could someone like that not be able to sing? That… that was amazing!
Miss Penny tilted her head and suddenly said with a smile, “Come to think of it, that’s actually quite cute.”
Yun Chao nodded in agreement.
Bo Jin was even more surprised than the cats. The Phoenix clan, much like the Merfolk, was born with voices beautiful enough to intoxicate the sun and moon. Every one of them was a master of melody. Could Shiyi really be unable to sing?
Pei Huang lowered his voice: “You should consider yourself lucky he can’t sing. After all, at his coming-of-age ceremony, His Royal Highness was publicly confessed to by a Honghu bird. But because he didn’t understand music, he never responded to the call.”
Pei Shiyi—Boss Pei—was the Phoenix clan’s first “oddity” in tens of thousands of years to have rejected every single admirer simply because he couldn’t sing. Because of this, despite being a dignified Crown Prince, Pei Shiyi hadn’t had a single romantic confidant before he met Bo Jin.
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GhostCloudd On WBICDPH Chapter 93