Bad Cat
The camera flashes kept going off, mixed with the noisy chatter of the crowd, but Yun Jin felt like everything was going black.
She mechanically posed as the photographer instructed, but her tail remained limp and drooping.
That person's surname is Qin.
Isn't it a bit too much of a coincidence that all these things are happening?
Nightmare, a short-haired student, and a staff member surnamed Qin.
"Xiaoyun, why do you look so listless?" By the time Yun Jin came to her senses, a group of staff members had already gathered around her.
"The performances of animal actors are hard to control, but these promotional photos are already acceptable." The photographer flipped through the finished products, quite satisfied.
"That's enough for today, she's too tired." Shen Yi'an said, then took out his phone. "Yun Chen? Could you please come and pick up Xiao Yun?"
Yun Jin's familiar voice came from the other end of the phone: "Okay, I'll be right there. What happened?"
"It's nothing, she's just tired." Shen Yi'an's eyes narrowed slightly. "She's a little homesick."
Half an hour later, Yun Chen rushed into the film set and took Yun Jin away.
——
"Are you alright?" Yun Chen looked at Yun Jin with a serious expression, holding a cup of freshly heated milk, the steam swirling around the rim.
Silence lingered in the room.
"I think I might have run into Qin Yi," Yun Jin finally managed to say after a long pause.
"Who?" Yun Chen tilted his head. "Do I know them?"
“No, you forgot…” Yun Jin gave a bitter smile, her hand unconsciously picking at a loose thread on the quilt, “The time I argued with my mother when I was a child.”
"Oh, I remember now." Yun Chen sighed. "But I must have fooled her back then."
The room gradually quieted down, with only the hum of the old refrigerator remaining.
"What, she recognized you?" Yun Chen's voice unconsciously lowered, as if he was worried that someone might overhear him.
“It shouldn’t be…” Yun Jin shook her head, paused, “but she said she’s a long-time fan of mine, and I’m worried she might discover something if she watches for too long…”
Just then, a burst of cheerful laughter pierced through the glass, breaking the silence in the room. Yun Jin subconsciously looked out the window.
The setting sun painted the windows orange-red, and the elementary school students with their backpacks chattered noisily like a flock of sparrows.
A girl with pigtails was running around holding a cotton candy, pink strands of candy scattering in the wind, while several boys pushed and shoved each other as they chased after the girl running ahead.
"No matter what happens, we'll be together." Yun Chen held Yun Jin's hand. "I'll keep an eye on these comments online. Once you've finished filming the variety show and drama, we'll gradually withdraw from the internet."
Yun Jin smiled and pulled her hand away. "It's not that serious. I was just saying it casually."
The aroma of fried fish wafted in from the neighbor's house outside the window. Yun Jin sniffed and changed the subject: "So, what are we having for dinner tonight?"
Yun Chen's released hand hung in mid-air. She stared at her sister for two seconds, then sighed, "The same as always."
Before she could finish speaking, Yun Jin had already nimbly rolled over, her fluffy tail sweeping away the phone that was charging on the bedside table.
The sound of pots and pans clattering came from the kitchen. Yun Chen's figure swayed behind the frosted glass. The old range hood hummed, swirling the pungent smell of chili peppers frying out the window.
The moon slowly replaced the sun, and the small rented room gradually quieted down, merging into the night.
——
As the morning light streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Shen Yi'an's villa, Yun Jin sat motionless on the windowsill, watching the flowing fountain in the courtyard.
"Ring ring—" Shen Yi'an's phone rang.
"Okay, I understand." His voice came from the other end of the living room, a little hoarse. "A last-minute adjustment, right?"
Yun Jin turned her ears toward the sound source, her tail twitching almost imperceptibly. She had been brought here today to continue filming "Secrets in Spring," so it seemed she could slack off again today.
Why did she say "again"?
A hurried explanation could be faintly heard from the other end of the phone, interspersed with words like "the director insisted," "the male lead's arrangement," and "the animal actor's schedule."
"Okay, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Shen Yi'an said briefly and then hung up.
Xiao Hua darted out from the side, "Then Xiao Yun can play with me."
She waved a feather cat toy, and the silver bell rang crisply.
"Xiaoyun, look here."
Yun Jin clearly found these childish toys boring, but when the cat toy swept past her eyes, her hind legs still involuntarily tensed up.
"Whoosh—"
Yun Jin missed her target and fell flat on her face, sliding half a meter across the floor.
Xiao Hua burst out laughing, and Yu Guangzhong and Shen Yi'an also chuckled a few times.
"Meow!" Yun Jin shook her head in annoyance, and deliberately slowed down a beat when the cat toy swung over again, so as to miss again in a seemingly unintentional manner.
"Xiaoyun, you're so silly," Xiaohua mocked her from the side.
"Meow meow meow meow—I'm not stupid."
"Where did you get to in your memorized text..."
Shen Yi'an's voice came from the corner of the sofa. He frowned, a thick script spread out on his lap.
"Xiaohua." He suddenly closed the script, his voice lower than usual, "It's time to do your homework."
The way the little girl pouted and put away her cat toy reminded Yun Jin of herself having her snacks confiscated—what a spoilsport!
She nuzzled Xiaohua's ankle in a flattering manner, but was gently pushed away: "I'm sorry, I have to do my homework because Uncle is angry."
The living room fell silent again as the pencil scratched across the notebook.
Yun Jin, bored, chased her own tail around twice before finally jumping onto the coffee table in front of Shen Yi'an.
A calico cat was furtively extending its paw, the edge of its paw pad already touching its favorite fountain pen.
“No,” he said, turning a page of the script without looking up, “you naughty cat.”
A bad cat?!
Yun Jin's ears perked up instantly, and her tail straightened. She deliberately slowed down her movements, circling her paws around the pen twice.
"Snap!"
The pen rolled precisely onto the floor, its cap making a crisp echo as it struck the solid wood floor.
The air froze instantly.
Seeing Shen Yi'an slowly raise his head, Yun Jin immediately began to act guilty.
The cat collapsed onto the coffee table with a thud, its belly up, pretending to be asleep, but its eyes remained just a slit, subtly moving with Shen Yi'an's movements.
Are you angry? Or not?
She saw Shen Yi'an pause as he bent down to pick up the pen, his slender fingers stroking the pen.
When he straightened up again, the corner of his mouth seemed to twitch slightly.
“Little Yun, the cat who caused the trouble,” he said with a dangerous calm, “as punishment for you, one can of meat will be taken away today.”
Yun Jin's feigned sleep was instantly exposed, and her left ear twitched involuntarily.
There's no way around it, these things are just irresistibly attractive to cats.
Lost in her thoughts, Yun Jin actually fell asleep. When she woke up, the sun had moved a little further.
Yun Jin yawned and stretched. Shen Yi'an and Xiao Hua were taking a nap in the room.
Bored, Yun Jin wandered around the villa alone. She had rushed to the second floor when she was looking for Xie Xinrou at night, but hadn't had a chance to look at the villa during the day.
The quiet afternoon sunlight slanted through the corridor, casting a long shadow of Yun Jin as she tiptoed past each closed door.
Upon entering the first guest room, a stuffy, dusty smell hit her. The furniture was covered with snow-white dust cloths, which rustled as she jumped onto them. A life-size mirror next to her was veiled, reflecting the blurry silhouette of a cat.
Yun Jin subconsciously let out a threatening hiss, then realized her mistake and twitched her ears sheepishly.
There's nothing we can do about it; it's just in a cat's nature.
The room on the second floor where Xie Xinrou lived had been cleaned. The air was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with the lingering scent of perfume, indicating that she hadn't been there for the past few days.
The suitcase was still leaning to one side, with a few pieces of clothing peeking out from the half-open opening. Yun Jin leaned closer and sniffed, but the pungent smell of alcohol made her back away.
There is also a small garden on the third floor, but the door is locked, with several loops of iron chain wrapped around the handle and the keyhole is rusted.
Yun Jin took a running start and leaped onto the door handle. As her entire body dangled from the handle and swayed, the chain creaked, but the lock remained completely still.
Yun Jin sighed and gave up her curiosity about what was behind the door.
In another room, a slender bottle next to the bookshelf caught Yun Jin's attention; it contained some sparkling pebbles.
Yun Jin took a few steps back, tensed her hind leg muscles, and with a graceful leap, used her front paws to push off the carved bookcase for leverage, soaring to the top floor in one breath, stirring up a cloud of accumulated dust.
"Meow! Ptooey!"
She swished her front paws in disgust, her paw pads covered in a dusty, fluffy substance. As she cautiously approached the bottle, a pleasant scent emanated from it.
Yun Jin stretched out a paw to grab something inside, but she quickly realized that this wouldn't work, and switching from her left paw to her right paw didn't work either.
Yun Jin thought for a moment and then put both of her paws inside.
Good news: You can hook small stones.
Bad news: The claw can get in, but it can't get out.
"Meow?!"
The bottle opening tightly jammed her claws, and Yun Jin knelt on the edge of the bookcase in a comical posture.
"Meow meow meow meow—help! I'm stuck!" She twisted and turned desperately, but the bottle didn't budge.
"Caw! Caw caw!"
Suddenly, a shrill laugh came from outside the window. A completely black crow was tapping on the glass with its beak, its beady eyes gleaming with schadenfreude.
Yun Jin felt that she must have a passive skill: whenever she made a fool of herself, there was always someone or an animal present.
Yun Jin was so angry that the cat exploded into a dandelion ball, and in the struggle, the bottle suddenly tilted.
"Splash!"
The bottle was knocked over by Yun Jin's incredible strength and shattered on the ground. Yun Jin then spun in the air and landed steadily on the ground.
"Caw!" The crow's mocking cawing continued.
Yun Jin arched her back, leaped onto the windowsill, and used her two claws to forcefully grip the window handle and press down.
The rusty metal handle didn't budge when pressed down for the first time. Seeing this, the crow flapped its wings and approached the glass, looking even more smug.
Now!
Yun Jin exerted force with her hind legs, hanging her entire weight on the handle.
"Clang!"
The long-neglected window suddenly burst open, and the crow frantically tried to take flight, but Yun Jin was clearly faster!
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