A little dumpling with four big noses, Li Mao Mao...

Sophomore year.

As winter approaches, temperatures in Beijing are gradually decreasing.

After returning to the dormitory after class one day, Liang Yixuan suggested that everyone should have hot pot together.

“Great! Let’s have hot pot! Should we eat out or at home?” Li Miao’s eyes lit up at the mention of food, and he gave it his all.

“I’m fine with either, but the quality of meat and vegetables might not be that good if we eat out? How about we prepare our own food at home?” Li Hang looked at Pei Huai and Li Miao.

Pei Huai was tall and slender. Standing next to Li Miao, he could easily put his long arm on Li Miao's shoulder with a simple gesture. He turned to Li Miao and asked what she thought of Li Hang's suggestion.

“Eating at home is perfectly fine!” Li Miao thought for a moment and agreed.

Anyway, the house is spacious, and if I buy groceries myself, I can buy a lot of better quality meat.

The people in dormitory 304 immediately agreed.

We've arranged to have hot pot this Saturday.

On Saturday morning, the group agreed to go to the supermarket or farmers' market together to buy groceries.

When it was time, Pei Huai got up, put on his clothes and socks, and turned his head to see that the little lazy cat was still lying in bed, seemingly with no intention of getting up at all.

Pei Huai sat down, leaning his upper body forward, and lifted the blanket to get close to Li Miao's delicate and languid face, asking him in a low voice, "Didn't you promise last night that we would go grocery shopping together this morning?"

Sleeping soundly, his mind still hazy, Li Miao had no desire to get up. He curled up tightly in the blanket and pressed himself under his fluffy tail.

"The cat isn't awake yet, the cat isn't going." Li Miao rolled over, turning her back to Pei Huai, her whole body screaming protest to get up.

Looking at the big tail behind the boy's round buttocks, Pei Huai felt itchy and directly grabbed it and rubbed it two or three times.

"It's so warm," Pei Huai commented contentedly, then asked again, "Really not going?"

Pei Huai was answered by a series of deep, peaceful breathing sounds.

Li Miao: (。-ω-)zzz

"Okay, then I'll represent Miaomiao and go shopping with everyone." Pei Huai stroked the cat's head a couple of times before leaving.

Disturbed from her sleep, Li Miao rolled herself up tighter in the blanket and nudged Pei Huai's hand with her back.

"Lazy cat." Pei Huai's lips curled into a slight smile.

***

We arrived at the agreed time and place.

Liang Yixuan and Li Hang were surprised to see that only Pei Huai had come, and wondered why Li Miao hadn't come.

"Didn't you say yesterday that Li Miao would be coming too?" Liang Yixuan suddenly smiled meaningfully, looking at Pei Huai and saying, "Could it be that you acted inappropriately yesterday?"

Pei Huai: "..."

He twitched the corner of his lips and said calmly, "How could that be? Li Miao is just lazy."

"Hahaha~ You actually said that about him? I'll come upstairs and tell on you later." Liang Yixuan laughed loudly.

"I was just telling the truth." Pei Huai had no reply.

"Let's go," Li Hang said with a smile.

Everyone has similar tastes; they like meat dishes and vegetables are just for garnish. So, meat dishes made up a large part of the ingredients we bought this time.

On the way back, Pei Huai also called his cousin and Li Xuan, inviting them to have hot pot together.

When Li Xuan and Pei Qingsong went downstairs, Pei Huai and the others had not yet returned.

Li Xuan had a key to Li Miao's house and opened the door directly.

Upon smelling Li Miao's scent and entering the bedroom, Li Xuan transformed into a cat and jumped onto her younger brother's bed, acting as a wake-up call.

Li Miao vaguely saw the black cat, and with a big hug, pulled her brother into her arms.

"Brother, stop fooling around, sleep for another five minutes," Li Miao said softly and coquettishly.

What could Li Xuan do? Faced with her adorable younger brother's adorable charm, Li Xuan could only snuggle in his arms and diligently act as a warm hand warmer for him.

Pei Qingsong didn't go into the bedroom; he just stood at the door, looking at the two brothers on the bed and chuckling.

He turned and went into the kitchen to prepare the pots, pans, and seasonings for the hot pot later, and also ordered some beer and drinks for delivery.

***

Li Miao and Li Xuan got up and tidied everything before everyone else returned.

Everyone prepared lunch together. The room was heated, and the six of us sat around a rectangular dining table.

In the middle was a hot pot that was simmering. They were eating a half-and-half pot, with red dates, mushrooms, tomatoes and other ingredients bubbling in the clear broth, and the spicy broth full of red chilies.

The surrounding area was filled with all kinds of vegetables that had been bought.

Li Miao and Pei Huai sat next to each other. The beef slices in the pot were cooked. Li Miao picked them up with her chopsticks, rinsed them, and put them into her own bowl.

With her cheeks puffing out, Li Miao chewed and chewed, steam rising from her mouth, and commented on how delicious it was as she ate.

Upon hearing what Li Miao said, Pei Huai and Li Xuan immediately put two slices of fatty beef into Li Miao's bowl.

"Thank you, brother. Thank you, husband," Li Miao said naturally.

Liang Yixuan and Li Hang were so shocked that they almost spat out their cola.

This wasn't the first time Li Miao had heard Pei Huai call him "husband."

As two straight men, they were still shocked every time they heard Li Miao call Pei Huai that.

Li Xuan gritted his teeth, feeling utterly displeased with Pei Huai.

Fortunately, Li Miao thanked her brother first, otherwise Li Xuan would have been even angrier.

For the next period of time, Li Xuan and Pei Huai secretly competed with each other, starting a competition between the two of them to see who could put more food into Li Miao's bowl.

Li Miao blinked her eyes, accepted everything without hesitation, and happily took her brother and husband's kindness, chewing and chewing without stopping.

As they continued eating, Li Xuan and Pei Huai exchanged a glance, both sensing that something was amiss.

"Miaomiao, if you can't eat, don't force yourself," Lixuan reminded her younger brother.

“Hmm, if you can’t finish it, I can help you eat it.” In the two years they’ve been together, Pei Huai has always taken care of any snacks that Li Miao couldn’t finish whenever they went out.

"No, I can finish it all, I can still eat more." Li Miao didn't feel full.

Pei Huai looked down at the child's belly, which indeed did not appear to be bulging.

That's probably just because Li Miao is growing and her appetite has increased.

Since Li Miao felt he could still eat, Pei Huai and Li Xuan continued to serve him food.

Feeding Miaomiao is the happiest thing in the world!

Li Xuan also needed to eat, so she served her younger brother some food and then stopped. She ate a couple of bites of meat herself, and when she turned around, she met Pei Qingsong's slightly jealous gaze.

"I want you to serve me food too," Pei Qingsong said quietly, his gaze fixed intently on Li Xuan, his voice tinged with jealousy.

Li Xuan swallowed hard and quickly put some food in Pei Qingsong's bowl. Otherwise, if Pei Qingsong used this as an excuse to bully him in bed again that night, his back would suffer again.

"This is your favorite dish." Li Xuan picked up a piece of beef for her boyfriend and put it in the clear broth to cook. The meat had a very light flavor, so you could taste the original flavor of the food.

Pei Qingsong ate the piece of beef, and his gaze towards Li Xuan became much less intense.

A wife knowing his tastes equals a wife loving him.

Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed he had saved his back tonight.

After finishing most of the hot pot, everyone chatted casually while drinking some wine or beverages.

Liang Yixuan and Li Hang also asked the two seniors about their experiences pursuing master's and doctoral degrees, hoping to gain some insights from their predecessors.

When it came to graduate school, Li Xuan had a lot to say, so he pulled two junior students up with him, while Pei Qingsong listened quietly from the side.

Meanwhile, Pei Huai had finished eating and was still occasionally putting food on Li Miao's plate.

"Still not full?" Pei Huai was surprised himself. He reached out and touched his little belly. It was soft and slightly bulging.

"Hey, everyone's still here, don't touch." Li Miao's fair ears turned red, and he quickly grabbed Pei Huai's hand and placed it on his thigh, while using his other hand to focus on picking up food and continuing to eat.

Pei Huai found it a bit strange, thinking back on the past two or three months, Li Miao's appetite seemed to have increased a lot.

Normally, I would eat one or two cans of food, but now I need to eat three cans to be satisfied.

Aside from three meals a day, he often snacks, mostly high-calorie foods like cookies and bread.

Despite eating so much, Li Miao's exercise level did not increase significantly, but she also did not gain weight. Her limbs remained slender, and at most, she would sometimes have a little bit of fat on her stomach right after eating.

Pei Huai frowned slightly, worried that something might be wrong with Li Miao's health, since this didn't make sense at all.

Intake far exceeds consumption.

Unless, Li Miao secretly went hunting outside behind his back.

Pei Huai felt a little relieved when he thought about this possibility. As long as Li Miao was healthy, that was all that mattered.

"By the way, it's been a long time since I've seen Miaomiao. Where is Miaomiao?" Liang Yixuan suddenly asked.

The expressions on the faces of the people at the table changed slightly.

Liang Yixuan looked at the cat bed, cat tree, and other items placed on the balcony of the house, but he could only see cat hair and not Miaomiao.

"Speaking of which, it's been several months since I've seen Miaomiao."

"Miaomiao? Meow~?" Liang Yixuan thought Miaomiao was somewhere in the house and tried to summon her.

“Miaomiao…he’s at his brother’s house right now,” Li Miao said.

"Oh, you're playing upstairs. Let's go see Miaomiao after we finish eating. It's been so long since we played with the cat. We miss her so much."

Li Hang also missed Miao Miao, wondering how much she had grown since they last saw each other a few months ago.

Since things have come to this point, we can't just stop them from seeing each other.

So after the dinner, a group of people went upstairs. Li Miao could only say that he was a little sleepy after eating, so he wouldn't accompany everyone upstairs.

Then, she quickly went up the stairs, opened her brother's door, went inside, turned back into a cat, and sat on the sofa armrest.

When Liang Yixuan and his group opened the door, the cat turned its head and meowed at them.

"Miaomiao, my lovely Miaomiao, your brother missed you so much~" Liang Yixuan let out a strange laugh, put on his shoe covers, and even disinfected them with alcohol. After disinfecting, he rushed over to pet the cat.

He and Li Hang were having a great time petting the cat.

Pei Qingsong, Pei Huai, and Li Xuan, the three people in the know, wanted to laugh but dared not laugh too loudly. They sat aside and watched Miaomiao play with the two two-legged creatures.

After seeing Liang Yixuan and Li Hang off, Li Miao slumped on the sofa, staring at the ceiling. He was exhausted, and he had a strange feeling that he was a cat working at a cat cafe.

"Alright, let's head back now." Pei Huai picked up the exhausted Miao Miao and said goodbye to his cousin and Li Xuan.

Pei Qingsong and Li Xuan nodded and saw them to the door.

This interruption made Pei Huai forget that Li Miao's appetite had increased significantly in the past few months.

In the eleventh month, after the exams at Kyoto University, it was time for winter break again.

It was still early before the Lunar New Year, so Li Miao and Pei Huai stayed in their rented apartment instead of going home.

Pei Huai also gradually noticed that in addition to Li Miao's increased appetite, her daily sleep time was also getting longer.

Many times, Li Miao would turn back into a cat and curl up to sleep.

Pei Huai was a little worried. Every time Li Miao woke up, he would ask him if he felt unwell anywhere. Li Miao would rub his sleepy eyes and say blankly, "No, I don't feel unwell anywhere."

Pei Huai was still worried, so he took Li Miao to the hospital. He also had a physical examination, and the results showed that both of them were very healthy.

In the end, Pei Huai could only let Li Miao, like a cat, grow lazier and lazier as winter approached, too lazy to move.

Until one morning a few days later.

Before dawn, Li Miao, who was sleeping in Pei Huai's arms, suddenly opened her eyes as if she sensed something.

The bedroom was dark, with the lights off.

Li Miao, who had just opened her eyes, immediately shook Pei Huai awake.

“Pei Huai, Pei Huai, wake up…” Li Miao swallowed hard and called out to him.

Pei Huai quickly woke up and reflexively hugged Li Miao, asking him in a hoarse voice, "What happened?"

"It's not that anything happened, no, something did happen."

Pei Huai: "?" His sharp black eyes stared intently at Li Miao, waiting quietly for him to speak.

“You must calm down after I’ve finished speaking,” Li Miao said.

Pei Huai's breathing slowed down because he was really puzzled as to what Li Miao was going to say with such a formal and cautious attitude, and why she had told him to calm down in advance.

"That's right, it's because I gave birth to Bao—"

Before Li Miao could finish speaking, a soft, very subtle "meow" came from inside their blankets.

"Meow~ Aww~" the little kitten tried its best to make a sound.

"I had a baby." Li Miao finished speaking as Pei Huai looked on in surprise. "It's me and your baby."

"..."

"…………"

Pei Huai sat on the bed, feeling utterly bewildered.

Did you have a baby?

Who gave birth?

Whose baby?

Wait, isn't Li Miao a male cat?

Within 0.1 seconds, countless chaotic thoughts flashed through Pei Huai's mind.

However, his first action was to lift the blanket, listen to the kitten's meows, and find the little kitten lying on the bed.

Lying there, it was a tiny kitten, barely hairy and smaller than Pei Huai's palm.

"A kitten?" Pei Huai nervously licked his dry lips. "What's wrong with him? Is he hungry? What do kittens eat? We need to feed him milk."

"Breastfeeding?" Pei Huai subconsciously looked at Li Miao.

Li Miao's expression changed, and she said shyly, "Why are you looking at me? I'm a male cat, I don't produce milk."

"..." Pei Huai's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, and he said nervously, "It seems like we need to feed them goat milk powder. We don't have any at home. I'll order takeout first to see if they have any. If not, I'll go downstairs to the pet store to buy some."

"No, we still need to go downstairs to buy them, and we also need to buy baby bottles." Pei Huai quickly sat up in bed, got out of bed, quickly dressed, and prepared to go downstairs to the nearest pet store.

"You take good care of... the baby first?" Pei Huai said to Li Miao, stammering as he spoke.

"Okay, then I'll watch the baby. You go downstairs to buy some food." Li Miao hugged the meowing kitten and carefully observed the kitten that had suddenly appeared on his and Pei Huai's bed.

Its color is exactly the same as his; its nose, paws, and tail are all pink, making it difficult for it to even open its eyes.

"Baby." Li Miao held the kitten in her hands and tried calling out.

"Meow~ Meow~!" the kitten responded earnestly.

Li Miao was dumbfounded. He didn't know where the kitten came from, but he felt a connection with it.

The kitten is his and Pei Huai's baby.

Oh my god, things have suddenly become supernatural.

Yes, yes, he needs to ask his grandmother how this could be.

He's a male cat, how could he have babies, especially with Pei Huai?

"What are you standing there for? Didn't you say you were going to buy goat milk powder?" Li Miao asked, noticing Pei Huai still standing there in a daze.

"Oh, right, I'll go buy it now." Pei Huai turned and left to ask the pet store if they had anything for kittens to eat.

A cold wind blew through the street, and Pei Huai finally felt a bit more real.

I can't help but think that Li Miao just said that the kitten was his baby, the baby of both of them.

If cats can turn into humans, then it doesn't seem impossible for male cats to have babies.

Pei Huai took a deep breath and went to the nearest pet store.

***

Upstairs in the bedroom, Li Miao carefully held the kitten.

The room had air conditioning on, but Li Miao was still a little worried that the kittens would get cold, so she turned into a cat herself and stayed with the kittens.

The kitten was meowing happily.

Li Miao couldn't resist licking the kitten's fur once, then licked it again.

After licking the cat several times, Li Miao remembered that she hadn't asked her grandmother what was going on.

He turned back into a human and called his grandmother, even showing her his and Pei Huaisheng's kittens in a video call.

"The kitten really appeared out of thin air, it just suddenly appeared in my and Pei Huai's bed. Grandma, I'm a male cat, how can I have kittens?"

“I feel like the kitten is Pei Huai and my baby,” Li Miao told her grandmother.

Grandma was also surprised, but then she thought about it again, "They're civets, after all, if a male cat has kittens..."

That means Li Miao spends all her time with Pei Huai, going to school together, sleeping together every day, and being with Pei Huai during her fevers.

The transformation of a spirit cat into a human was achieved by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, combined with its own enlightenment.

The appearance of kittens is mostly due to the abundant spiritual energy of the civet cat, so abundant that it overflows, resulting in kittens.

Or perhaps when Li Miao was a child, she accidentally ate some rare and precious herbs on Lingmao Mountain that could make male cats have kittens, but Li Miao herself doesn't remember this incident.

As for Li Miao saying that she could sense that the baby belonged to both him and Pei Huai, that means that the kitten is related to both Li Miao and Pei Huai by blood.

Grandma Li speculated about the reason, and Li Miao was also confused. Anyway, it seemed that he and Pei Huai were having a baby.

"Can babies turn into humans too?" Li Miao asked her grandmother.

Grandma shook her head; she didn't know either. She would have to ask the chief of the Spirit Cat Clan about it.

“Okay, then Pei Huai and I will take good care of the cat. It’s winter break now, so we don’t have to go to class. Pei Huai and I have plenty of time.”

Li Miao hung up the phone with her grandmother and stared at the kitten.

"Meow~" the little kitten meowed at Li Miao.

"You want me to kiss you? Did I hear that right? Oh, I heard you right, you just want me to lick your fur."

"You're so clingy."

Li Miao transformed back into a cat, curled up into a ball to warm the kitten's body, and licked the kitten's fur again and again.

When Pei Huai returned home and saw this scene, his heart melted.

He prepared the goat milk powder and fed the kitten warm goat milk as instructed by the pet store employee.

The little kitten's pink lips were biting the bottle nipple, making sucking noises.

"Drink slowly, there's still plenty left," Li Miao said with concern, holding the kitten.

Pei Huai sat to one side, still shaken. He asked cautiously, "Is it really your baby? Or is it your baby with me?"

"We had... a cat?" Pei Huai asked softly.

Li Miao nodded: "That's right, isn't he cute? The colors are exactly the same as mine. It must have been formed from the spiritual energy in my body, and it's also related to you."

Let's give him a name.

"What name should I give it?" Li Miao was troubled.

The little kitten is still suckling at its goat's milk; the tiny thing with its tiny nose is incredibly cute.

Pei Huai wanted to touch it, so he went to the bathroom to wash his hands and dry them before daring to touch them.

It has a very light layer of hair, very short, and feels smooth to the touch, like silk.

“I don’t know what to name him, so let’s just call him Li Mao Mao,” Li Miao said.

"Li Maomao," Pei Huai called out, "but I sometimes call you Li Maomao too."

“From now on, the baby will be Li Maomao, and I will be Li Miaomiao.”

"Just make sure you don't call me by the wrong name."

"Li Mao Mao is his nickname; we'll think of his formal name later."

"Because Grandma said that she doesn't know if kittens can turn into humans, how they can turn into humans, or when they can turn into humans."

"Li Mao Mao," Pei Huai called softly to the kitten.

"Meow~! Hiccup~" Li Mao Mao let out a small burp.

I'm full, I can't drink anymore.

Li Mao Mao's short legs pushed the bottle, and Pei Huai put the bottle away and placed it on the bedside table.

Li Mao Mao lay on the bed, found a comfortable position, closed her eyes, and prepared to continue sleeping.

Pei Huai stared at the little kitten, too afraid to lie down and sleep again, lest he crush the tiny bundle.