Chapter 475 - 474: What-If Storyline: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 43

Chapter 475: Chapter 474: What-If Storyline: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 43

Shi Lan felt that the noise and chaos were on par with a dozen crying babies.

Ye Ming watched the cat in his arms look left and right, its ears twitching vigilantly like sound detectors. He chuckled helplessly and gently covered its ears with both hands. "There, there, Fei Mo. It’s a little noisy. Just be patient a little longer."

He had just booked a spot in the VIP queue. It would be their turn in about ten more minutes.

Normally, the pet hospital’s VIP queue was useless. Even if someone chose it, they would get in immediately. But who knew what kind of stray cat event the superstar Yan Huoshui had started? The pet hospital had been packed lately.

It was hectic, but it also meant they were making more money.

Next to Ye Ming sat a man holding a calico cat. A short while ago, the calico had been meowing nonstop, but not long after Ye Ming had let Shi Lan out of her carrier, it fell silent. Its golden eyes were fixed on Shi Lan, sizing her up with curiosity.

The man, who had been looking miserable over his cat’s cries and unable to soothe it, now looked over in Shi Lan’s direction, a surprised expression on his face. His cat had stopped meowing and seemed to have quieted down.

He first sized up Ye Ming for a moment. After all, the other man was refined and handsome, looking scholarly and giving off the impression of a very busy person. It was a surprise to see he also had a cat.

But his gaze soon shifted to Shi Lan in Ye Ming’s arms, and his eyes instantly lit up. "Hey, man, is that a stray you picked up? Those big eyes look so alert. She looks really smart."

Ye Ming loved it when people complimented his Fei Mo. He smiled. "Yeah, I just found her a few days ago. She is really smart. When she’s done playing with her toys, she even quietly puts them away to one side."

He rarely bragged about anything. In the past, winning awards for his papers or getting published in SCI journals hadn’t stirred much emotion in him; they seemed like ordinary events. Only Fei Mo was a challenging surprise, one that had brought him many pleasant discoveries in such a short time.

"Can she roll her eyes?"

The man asked in amazement. He had never seen a cat that would put its own toys away.

"Roll her eyes? Can cats even do that?"

Ye Ming asked with the earnest air of a student. "To be honest, this is my first time owning a cat, so there’s a lot I don’t know."

The man waved a hand sheepishly. "Me too. I just found this calico today. The ’search for the smartest stray cat’ thing online is so popular right now that all the strays in my neighborhood were getting snapped up. I had to wait around all night to finally catch this little one."

"He’s still too dirty, though. I figured I’d take him for a bath first."

"Hey, buddy, I gotta tell you, your cat really did me a huge favor. This calico I found was making a huge fuss earlier, but now that he’s seen your cat, he’s actually quieted down. It’s amazing. Looks like he really wants to be friends with your cat."

Ye Ming hesitated for a moment. "Is your cat a male?"

The man nodded. "He is."

Hearing this, Ye Ming didn’t even wait to ask Shi Lan’s opinion before quietly picking up his cat and finding a seat further away. He’d heard that tomcats could be trouble, and his Fei Mo seemed to be a little female. She was just a kitten; he couldn’t let her get bullied.

With that in mind, he warily scanned the surroundings again, then put the cat back in her carrier. He left the flap open just enough for her head to poke out, hiding the rest of her body.

The man with the calico awkwardly rubbed his nose and didn’t push his luck by following him.

Shi Lan breathed a secret sigh of relief. ’I don’t want to play with a tomcat either. Besides, in this tiny kitten body, I’d lose any fight. If I still had my old Pumpkin body, I wouldn’t have to worry about cat-world bullying.’

’Still, that "smartest stray cat" event the man mentioned, and the whole eye-rolling thing... I seem to fit the criteria pretty well. Especially the eye-rolling. In the past, Shi Lan had rolled her eyes at several previous keepers, and she had shown her disdain in front of Yan Huoshui more than a few times.’

’But Ye Ming is currently flawless. I’m very satisfied with my current caretaker and haven’t glared at him once. The only downside is that Ye Ming almost never takes me out, so I’m stuck at home every day.’

’But one shouldn’t be too greedy. A cat is already very lucky to find a good owner.’

Ye Ming held his cat, his gaze ever-watchful. He didn’t dare let his attention wander, nor did he care about any online events. He was afraid other cats might get near Fei Mo. At least by size, Fei Mo was the smallest one here. He had to protect her well.

Thankfully, ten-some minutes passed, and it was soon their turn.

Since Fei Mo was still very young, the examination was only a preliminary checkup. As for vaccinations, those would have to wait until she was two months old.

Ye Ming was relieved to confirm she was healthy. He went ahead and scheduled her vaccination appointment for two months later, asking the vet to send him a reminder. He was afraid he might forget while busy with his doctoral studies.

The veterinarian nodded in agreement and added with a compliment, "Your cat is a rare one today, not making a fuss at all. She’s so well-behaved."

Ye Ming smiled. "Yes, she is."

As he spoke, he stroked the kitten’s head, casually wiping away the spot the vet had just touched.

Soon, Ye Ming was heading home with the cat. He had wanted to pick out some canned treats for Fei Mo at the pet hospital, but she just sniffed them and turned away. He had no choice but to continue his duty of diligently preparing her homemade meals.

’Given the choice, I would never eat commercial cat food. Besides, the cat treats at this pet hospital smelled a little weird. They were nothing like the creamy treat sticks Yan Huoshui used to buy for me, which didn’t give me that strange feeling of a human eating animal food.’

After returning home, Ye Ming immediately placed the cat on a spacious, comfortable spot on the sofa. In a short time, the sofa had already collected some cat fur, and quite a bit had clung to Ye Ming’s clothes as well.

However, he was less concerned about cat fur messing up his appearance and more concerned with how to stop Fei Mo from shedding and make her coat smoother. After learning online about fish oil and foods that could supplement it, he had consciously started adding them to her meals.

Ye Ming put away the cat carrier and sat down on the sofa. Thinking about the packed pet hospital, he grew curious and searched for the "smartest stray cat" event the man had mentioned.

But before he could even search, it was recommended on his video feed. He’d probably been researching a lot of cat-related content lately, so the algorithm automatically pushed it to him.

Shi Lan usually wasn’t interested in the videos Ye Ming scrolled through. She’d had the "privilege" of watching a few times, and they were often academic. She had graduated so long ago that she’d forgotten most of her knowledge, and her major was worlds apart from Ye Ming’s. She couldn’t understand any of it, so it was incredibly boring.

This time, however, she heard meowing. Thinking it might be a video about raising cats, she proactively snuggled into Ye Ming’s lap and craned her neck to watch with him.

Ye Ming just thought Fei Mo was being clingy. He chuckled and stroked her little head. Seeing her eyes fixed on his phone, he lowered it to give her a better view.

Shi Lan seized the opportunity to shift into an even more comfortable lounging position, her tail swishing contentedly.

In perfect sync, Ye Ming lowered the phone a little more.

And so, man and cat began to harmoniously scroll through cat videos together.