The sour-faced Director Bo did not receive a kiss from Boss Pei. Instead, Pei Shiyi mercilessly pressed a hand to his forehead and pushed him away.
The cats didn’t linger in their affectionate antics for long. By the time the director finished discussing the first scene with Wei Lan, the MV shoot began.
There were some similarities between shooting an MV and filming an advertisement. The cats that had come today were already seasoned professionals. Who could be overly strict with little kittens? Even if the director had initially been full of opinions, when faced with the kittens’ large, glistening eyes, he couldn’t bring himself to scold them and could only pat each one on the head.
As long as they didn’t cause trouble, stayed in their designated spots at the right times, and interacted with Wei Lan, it was enough.
However, just a few minutes into the official shoot, the director had a thought: These cats… could they actually be spirits?
They responded when called by name, willingly snuggled into the arms of the lonely resident, rubbed against the lonely resident after a tiring day, and even proactively asked for a goodnight kiss before bed.
There was a scene in the script where Wei Lan, playing the lonely resident, played the guitar in his rented room. The sleeping cats sensed his loneliness and gathered around him one by one. When he finished playing, they gave him the warmest rubs.
This scene was one of the most emotionally impactful moments in the entire MV. While the cats’ emotions might not be perfectly conveyed, Wei Lan’s performance had to be captivating enough.
Pei Shiyi beckoned the furry little ones over and, while the director was explaining the scene to Wei Lan, whispered the script to them as he stroked their heads. The cats listened with utmost seriousness.
Song Gao wore a stern little expression, nodding from time to time. The kittens, following their big brother’s lead, imitated him. Whether they understood or not, they nodded first and asked questions later.
Dan Huang watched the furry little ones with affectionate eyes, occasionally giving them loving licks.
Nearby, Du Ran watched in stunned silence. One dares to teach, and the others dare to learn, huh?
Finally, Pei Shiyi whispered, “Can you cooperate, my darlings?”
Dan Huang puffed out his chest and meowed, “Meow!”
No problem, Boss!
Pei Shiyi smiled. “You’ve worked hard. Tonight, let Bo Jin make something delicious.”
Bo Jin: “…”
He was beginning to realize that he was probably just a tool dragon.
After the director finished explaining the scene, the cats, as instructed by Pei Shiyi, found suitable spots in the rented room to settle down. Wei Lan sat on the bed with his guitar. When the director called “action”, both the cats and the actor entered their roles.
Pei Shiyi and Bo Jin stood behind the director, watching the rented room through the camera lens—
The lonely resident began strumming his guitar. As the light, cheerful notes filled the air, Dan Huang poked his head out of the cat bed, seemingly drawn by the music. After listening for a moment in a daze, he walked over to the lonely resident and curled up beside him.
Next came Song Gao, Xia Zhi, Ling Ze, and Shang Qiu.
The furry little ones moved silently. The lonely resident was immersed in his music until he finished the piece. When he looked down, he met the eyes of the cats.
Their eyes held a light.
It was as if, despite the language barrier, they could understand the music, or perhaps the emotions behind it.
Not only Wei Lan, who was in character, but even the director, who was watching through the lens, was moved by that gaze. He hadn’t seen the cat café’s videos before, but in that moment, he understood what people online meant by “I like you the most in the whole world”.
No, to be more precise, the cats’ eyes looked as if they were gazing at the entire world.
Unbeknownst to him, the pile of kittens on the bed had already mentally projected their boss onto Wei Lan’s face.
The kittens thought: As long as we imagine the person holding us is the boss, we’re totally fine with kisses, licks, snuggles, and kneading! We’re all for it!
In the Scene
The lonely man stroked the orange cat’s head, smiled, and asked softly, “Do you like it?”
The gentle orange cat nestled against the arm holding the guitar, half-closing its eyes while enjoying the petting, and let out a soft “Meow.”
As if answering him.
The lonely man paused for a moment before suddenly leaning down to hug the orange cat tightly. The cat rubbed its face against his cheek in response, while the other kittens quietly snuggled closer.
In that moment, Wei Lan, fully immersed in the scene, almost thought of the phrase “relying on each other for survival”. What started as just acting, with that gentle nudge, made him feel as though he had merged with the lonely man in the script who had drifted for years, finding solace in the midst of a freezing, snowy winter.
Wei Lan held the kittens close. It was true. If he hadn’t met Dai Dai and Mao Mao, he might still be struggling in his old company, trapped in various variety shows and reality programs, without even time to write songs.
So these fluffy little beings truly were the “noble cats” of his life.
How fortunate he was. Just like the lonely man in the script, he’s blessed to encounter such beauty in the world.
As a bì’àn, Song Gao didn’t possess the ability to read minds, but he was highly sensitive to shifts in emotions.
He sat upright for a moment before gently touching Wei Lan’s cheek with his cool nose: “Meow.”
He wouldn’t kiss anyone other than Mr. Pei and Director Bo, but… just this once, he’d offer comfort. Don’t be sad.
…
The first day of filming wrapped up quickly. Bo Jin received an urgent notice from the Supernatural Management Bureau and rushed off to handle an emergency.
Pei Shiyi was lazily busy wiping the paws of the kittens who had been frolicking all day. “Go ahead then. Since Bai Jue called you over, it must be something he can’t handle on his own.”
Bo Jin nodded.
Before leaving, Xia Zhi clung reluctantly to Bo Jin’s sleeve.
Bo Jin’s heart softened. He crouched down, holding Xia Zhi’s little paw. “Does Xia Zhi not want me to go?”
Xia Zhi pulled back his paw. “Meow.”
It’s not that I don’t want you to go. It’s just that you won’t let me kiss the boss.
Ling Ze leaned over and explained in a soft voice: “Meow~”
No, Mr. Bo, we just wanted to ask if you’ll still be coming over to cook dinner tonight?
Bo Jin: “…”
He turned and left silently, without saying whether he’d be back to cook or not.
After wiping Shang Qiu’s paws, Pei Shiyi carried the still-sleeping Song Gao up to the third floor.
Seeing him return, Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. He hoisted his camera and huffed his way upstairs. “Boss, can I interview you about your experience filming the MV all day?”
Pei Shiyi was in the middle of opening a cardboard box. He smiled and said, “Can you wait a bit? While they’re all away, I need to open a package.” The furry kids would be off duty in five minutes. He had to open the box before they arrived.
Zhou Yan curiously leaned in. “What’s this? A gift for Mr. Bo?”
Otherwise, why open it secretly?
Pei Shiyi paused, chuckling. “What nonsense. It’s catnip.”
A while ago, Pei Shiyi had stumbled upon a video online of a cat going crazy over catnip. A silver-shaded British shorthair was utterly enchanted by it. Inspired, he decided to order a box for himself.
That’s right, he bought an entire box of catnip. Transparent plastic bags, each containing a few deep green catnip leaves, were packed into the entire box.
Zhou Yan stared in disbelief, estimating that there were probably thirty to forty catnip leaves in the entire box.
Pei Shiyi opened one of the bags and carefully sniffed it, detecting a faint fragrance. As a member of the winged race, Pei Shiyi couldn’t feel the allure of catnip, but he was certain the scent posed no harm to the body, so it could be safely given to the furry little ones.
Zhou Yan: “This is perfect! Boss, let’s use the cats reacting to catnip for this week’s update! How about we record a complete video today, starting with you unpacking the catnip.”
Pei Shiyi nodded. “But since we bought so much, wouldn’t recording everything take too long?”
Zhou Yan: “I’ll speed it up in post-production!”
Pei Shiyi smiled. “Alright then, I’ll start unpacking now.”
Zhou Yan quickly hoisted the camera onto his shoulder.
Pei Shiyi smiled at the camera. He dragged Dan Huang’s cat bed in front of him, opened a plastic bag, and tossed catnip leaves into the bed, quickly piling them into a small, deep green mountain on the soft bedding.
After placing the last catnip leaf, Pei Shiyi counted a total of forty-nine leaves piled before him.
Beside him lay a neatly stacked pile of plastic bags. “I wonder if this will even work,” he mused.
Catnip doesn’t affect all cats. Some simply aren’t interested. He had never tried it with the cats at the cat café before, so he hoped it would be effective.
As Pei Shiyi was speaking, Bo Jin brought the cats up to the third floor.
Bo Jin had made it back to the cat café just before closing time and brought the fluffy ones who were off duty up to the third floor.
As soon as Tong Qian reached the third floor, he caught the scent of the catnip Pei Shiyi had left there.
Tong Qian froze in place. He took a deep sniff, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter. He took a few steps, leaped into the air, and crashed right in front of Pei Shiyi. The neatly stacked catnip mountain instantly collapsed, sending the leaves rolling all over the floor.
The cats at the staircase caught the scent and immediately went wild, transforming into furry projectiles as they chased the rolling catnip balls.
Mang Zhong and Da Shu both had their eyes on the same catnip ball. The two fluffballs collided head-to-head, each letting out a startled meow. Poor little Mang Zhong, being a size smaller than Da Shu, was knocked back several steps, shaking his head dizzily as he stumbled.
Pei Shiyi quickly stood up and scooped Mang Zhong into his arms, gently stroking the little one’s battered forehead.
Mang Zhong clung to Pei Shiyi’s wrist, looking utterly wronged. “Meow,” he whimpered, wanting the boss to blow on his head.
Pei Shiyi suppressed a laugh and blew two gentle puffs of air onto the little head. Mang Zhong immediately scrambled down to join the fray for the catnip balls. Tong Qian, likely high on catnip, began biting wildly at the swaying tails in front of him. In his excitement, he didn’t control his strength and ended up biting Yin Zhou, Dai Dai, and Dan Huang, earning himself a beating from the three cats.
Bo Jin had never seen the cat café in such chaos. Round catnip balls were scattered everywhere, and the furry little ones were running amok. Mao Mao and Sui Shou seemed particularly sensitive to the catnip, having transformed into liquid cats that wriggled and slid across the floor.
After giving Tong Qian a good beating, Dan Huang felt refreshed. He gathered a pile of catnip balls and settled down with Miss Penny, surrounded by the fragrant leaves. He didn’t bite or lick them. He just rubbed against them and sniffed contentedly.
Pei Shiyi picked up a catnip ball. Yun Chao couldn’t resist snuggling closer, gently rubbing against Pei Shiyi’s hand while letting out an involuntary purr from her throat.
It was the first time Pei Shiyi had seen Yun Chao behave like this. He chuckled softly.
Fondant, holding a catnip ball in her mouth, dashed around wildly before bumping into Bo Jin’s leg. She then flopped down with the momentum, letting out a soft “meow” as if to say, “That hurt Fondant.”
Bo Jin picked up Fondant and walked over to Pei Shiyi, casually picking up another catnip ball and waving it in front of him.
Pei Shiyi: “?” What was this about?
Bo Jin glanced down at Yun Chao, who was purring and rubbing against Pei Shiyi, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation.
Pei Shiyi caught on and slapped Bo Jin’s hand away. “I’m not a cat!”
Did Bo Jin really think he didn’t know what he was up to? He was clearly hoping to see Pei Shiyi act like a cat and rub against him.
Zhou Yan cautiously held the camera, feeling increasingly out of place.
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wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1