Lu Nan was being held in a strange man's arms. He opened his mouth, but not a word came out. All he could do was marvel inwardly: a hero could still make a dazzling entrance without a thunderclap overhead. And clearly, he was that hero!
He squeezed his eyes shut in despair. The man's firm chest pressed against his back, strong arms wrapped snugly around him. Lu Nan drew a deep breath and silently protested the injustice. They were both men! Why did this guy get such a good body?
What a bright sun. What a beautiful summer. Lu Nan had been wearing a white shirt and shorts that stopped at his knees, with a rather stylish little bag slung across his shoulder. He'd even carefully knotted a striped tie around his neck. Come on, who could look at him and not say, “Dude, looking good”? The very picture of a college guy.
Which, to be fair, wasn't far off. Lu Nan. Male. Twenty-three. Fresh out of university that year.
He'd plunged headfirst into preschool education because it was supposed to make finding work easy. Thereafter, his life had consisted of being surrounded by pretty women, becoming unforgettable to every instructor, and getting called on in every class. The more he studied, the more depressing that choice became. After graduation, he discovered that jobs were indeed easy to find. The salaries, however, were considerably less attractive. Once he'd paid for food and rent, he wouldn't have a damn thing left.
So much for that. A capable man could make his mark anywhere. Lu Nan could excel at whatever he did. Every profession had its champions, right?
He spent several days at home scrolling through job apps. Some employers didn't fancy him; some jobs didn't appeal to him. At last, he found something promising: a new cat café was hiring. The pay was twice what he usually saw advertised, and the café had adopted several little strays, all clean and friendly.
For the money alone—no, wait, for this fated connection—Lu Nan decided on the spot. He was going.
And so, on that scorching summer day, he rolled lazily over in bed, got up, washed his face, made himself presentable, and headed out beneath a small pale-blue sun umbrella.
The heat was brutal. There hadn't been rain in ages, and the sun seemed intent on splitting the ground apart. The place wasn't exactly far from where he lived, but it wasn't close either. His old apartment complex was out of the way, and taking the bus meant a transfer. By the time he'd finished all that running around, walking would have been quicker.
Halfway there, he began to regret it. It was too damn hot. He hadn't eaten breakfast, and now the road seemed to be splitting in front of his eyes. His head felt fuzzy. Normally fair-skinned, he was flushed with heat, glaring fiercely—but with that baby face of his, he only looked cuter. He cursed the weather, cursed the road, and muttered encouragement to himself. It was just a little walk! If he couldn't overcome a tiny obstacle like this, how would he make money? Without money, what would he eat? What would he drink? Where would he live?
Leaving aside Lu Nan's talent for bullying himself into action, the fact remained: this particular obstacle was one he really couldn't overcome.
His vision blurred, then darkened. His knees weakened without him noticing. His hands and feet gradually went numb, and every sound around him seemed to recede, as though the whole world had abandoned him. Even then, he found time for one last heartfelt curse. “Fuck. I think my blood sugar really has crashed.”
He went down gracefully. Two hundred meters from the cat café where he'd arranged his interview, on an unnoticed little path beneath a strip of landscaping that offered something almost resembling shade, he quietly collapsed.
He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious or what had woken him. All he knew was that, given the choice, he'd like to wake up again and start over. The situation was simply too complicated. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't believe he was truly awake. He stared at the towering shrubs in front of him, the ground right beneath his nose, the enormous people on the street nearby, and his own snowy white fur. Utterly undone, he swore.
All that came out was a series of meows.
In twenty-three years, Lu Nan had weathered storms, traveled here and there, and reckoned he'd seen a fair share of life's joys, sorrows, and bizarre little surprises. He had never, ever expected the strangest thing of all to happen to him. He was losing it. He was handsome! Charming! A dashing young man! How could he possibly have turned into a cat?
“Mrrrow.”
Lu Nan fell silent. He tried to put a hand to his forehead and laugh bitterly. Instead, he sat up very properly, spread his little paw like a sunflower, and patted his round head twice.
He'd been cute and likable as a human; as a cat, he was even more so. He was small, with snowy fur on his chest and a neat cap of black and gray across his head. Dark stripes ran together along his back, and his tail was evenly mottled gray and black. His glossy coat was genuinely handsome. The small birthmark he'd had on his right calf had become a tuft of black fur on his hind leg. An irresistible little tabby.
He cursed and complained for ages. To everyone else, he was simply meowing sweetly for attention.
While he was still wondering what to do, a child came up beside him. The little boy looked about four or five, chubby and openmouthed, with both front teeth missing. He crouched in front of Lu Nan and studied him curiously. Boy and cat stared at one another as though neither intended to back down. It was quite a sight.
“Mom! There's a kitty here!” His voice was childish but certainly not quiet. He lifted a hand to pet him.
Lu Nan's heart sank. He closed his eyes. Fine, go ahead. What if this was the secret switch that reversed the transformation? Pop! Out came a human. That would give the kid a fright.
The boy's hand had barely descended when his parent's cry split the air. A cat's hearing was extraordinarily sharp. The shout exploded in Lu Nan's ears like a clap of thunder. He ducked his head, hunched his back, and scurried away in disgrace. “Holy shit, you scared me to death!”
“Meow, meow, meow, meow!”
Hearing sounds that bore no resemblance to what he meant to say, Lu Nan sighed helplessly and shut up.
The parent lectured the child. Stray cats were vicious. What if it bit him? Next time he saw one, he should chase it away...
On and on. Lu Nan pressed closer to the wall as he walked. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. As a human, he'd never realized how hard cats had it. As a cat, he genuinely had to figure out how to survive.
News reports of cat abuse he'd once glanced past, videos of children swinging cats by their tails, strays he'd seen perched on garbage bins searching for food—all of it hit home at once. He almost wanted to cry.
He trudged along dejectedly for a while, then suddenly lifted his head and puffed out his chest. Hold on. He was really a human! Before Heaven entrusted a man with greatness, didn't it test his spirit, starve him, and wear him out? What if these trials were preparing him to become the God of Cats, revered by thousands upon thousands of felines?
Fired up by his own ridiculous fantasy, Lu Nan bounded toward home. The journey was an epic adventure through narrow paths, around dirty puddles that might soil his paws, and away from cars many times his size. At last, he stood at the entrance to his familiar old apartment complex.
“Your boy is back!”
“Meow!”
Security wasn't particularly strict. The guard was dozing. After a cheerful little run outside, Lu Nan hopped through a gap in the railings. He was going home! His tail stood tall, his little chest thrust out. He looked so pleased with himself that anyone who didn't know better might have mistaken him for a tiny tiger.
A cloud covered half the sun, softening the light that fell to the ground. Tiny purple flowers grew between the paving stones and swayed gently in the breeze. No one was using the exercise equipment. Someone had draped a freshly washed blanket over the horizontal bar, and a small cat slept in its shade. At the sight of Lu Nan, it lifted its eyelids, stretched, rolled over, and went back to sleep.
Lu Nan clicked his tongue inwardly. What are you looking at? I may be your big cat brother now, but in a minute I could be your human dad. Once I get home and turn back, I'll take care of you.
Apparently, this sort of overbearing-rich-guy thinking could travel by brainwave. The little cat looked at him again, distinctly unimpressed, as if to say: Neither of us is human. Who are you trying to fool?
Lu Nan couldn't be bothered with that. He trotted back to his building. It was only six stories high, and he lived on the fifth, so he scampered straight up. Shabby though it looked, this place had been his home for years.
Only when he reached his door did he realize things weren't quite that simple.
The apartment still had an old-fashioned lock. To guard against forgetting his keys, he'd left a spare beneath the doormat. With considerable effort, he dug it out.
However...
“Damn it. How am I supposed to get this in?” Exhausted and panting, he sat outside the door, caught between laughter and tears. He could spread his tiny paw as wide as a sunflower and still not get the key into the lock. He was a little cat, not a human!
He pawed helplessly at his own door. Now he truly understood what it meant to have a home he couldn't return to. Frustration mounted until he wanted to kick the already flimsy door clean open.
Of course, he couldn't. And while he was thinking about kicking the door, someone else was thinking about kicking him.
A woman of around fifty lived on the sixth floor. She was just returning with her groceries. In all her years, this was a first: a cat trying to open a door like a person?
“What are you doing? What's all this?” she bellowed. “Where did this little stray come from, making a mess here? Shoo! Get lost! Don't make me skin you!”
Lu Nan shrank back. With hearing this sensitive, that voice nearly deafened him. He secretly clenched his tiny fists and tried to look as adorable as possible, tilting his head at her. “Ma'am, don't you remember me? It's me! Little Nannan!”
“Meow!”
Naturally, she didn't recognize him. Seeing the exposed key and shredded doormat only made her angrier. “The young man's not home, so you've come here to cause trouble, have you? Just you wait. Sweetie, go get the broom. I'll beat this little beast to death!”
His charm offensive had failed. Lu Nan had no choice but to run. He'd arrived with his tail held high and left with it tucked down. Not his finest moment.
After two and a half days on the streets, Lu Nan finally understood the hardships of stray animals. He couldn't find food or water. As a noble human being, he naturally couldn't rummage through garbage bins. As a proud human being, he certainly couldn't drink from a drain. But he was so hungry.
Despite speaking only cat, he still couldn't understand other cats. He wandered into some stray's territory and got thoroughly beaten up. Cars looming enormous in his new perspective hurtled past, their horns magnified who knew how many times. The racket drove him mad. Then rain arrived without warning and soaked him through.
His fur was no longer sleek or tidy, but his eyes were still bright. Was he still cocky? No. Did he still want a good life? Of course.
He was Lu Nan, after all. Lu Nan, who could keep his spirits up in any situation.
He shook the water from his coat and resolutely set off down the road he'd traveled before—the road that had turned him into a cat.
Hidden behind the shrubs, he gazed at the café where he had originally intended to work. He licked his fur. He looked a real mess. Would they even want him like this?
Oh, Lu Nan. As a human, you'd had to work like a beast of burden. As a cat, you still had to go out and earn your dinner.