You are a cat demon

You thought the big black dog would stop bothering you, but you underestimated the patience of dogs. To put it bluntly, it was like a leech stuck to your tail that you couldn't shake off!

Is this what people call a "simp"?

The literal meaning of "lick".

This cat always takes advantage of your inattention and uses its rough, dog-like tongue, like a paintbrush, to drool all over you, making you look like you've just been pulled out of the water.

You originally thought that since you'd be living under the same roof for over a decade, you'd just put up with it for the sake of the abundant meals and a long-term meal ticket. You knew in your heart which was better, a full meal or a regular meal, so you decided to endure it if you could.

However, this rabid dog became even more aggressive, following you wherever you went. Especially one time, after you finished using the toilet and were about to bury the dog in the sand, you turned around and bumped into it. You couldn't take it anymore and grabbed it, giving it a good beating. If it weren't for Village Chief Zhang Qingshan stopping you in time, you would have scratched more than just its nose.

However, it did become a bit more restrained after that. At least it would consciously retreat a hundred meters away when it saw you needing to use the toilet, and you also found the best spot to punch it. Whenever you were unhappy, you would unleash a series of punches on its nose, leaving it dizzy and seeing stars.

If you're in a bad mood, even its breathing will be wrong!

Gradually, you rubbed off a layer of skin from the big black dog's nose, turning it from black to pink...

Don't feel sorry for this thing. It really deserves a beating, and it even has a bit of a masochistic tendency. No matter how fiercely you punch it, it won't get angry or upset. Once, you even slapped it so hard that you almost sliced ​​off half of its nose. It just howled and rolled around on the ground a few times. Then, Village Chief Zhang Qingshan applied some good ointment to its wounds for a few days. A few days later, it was wagging its tail and following you around like a sly little devil.

If it weren't for the fact that it didn't practically shove its face in your face and beg you to hit it, you'd probably wonder if you were hitting it the wrong way...

Why is that? Sometimes you really want to grab the fur on the back of its neck, pin it to the ground and ask it what's going on, but unfortunately you don't have the strength, and you can't communicate with it. Not only can you not communicate verbally, but the meanings expressed by body language are also very different.

First, you genuinely find it extremely repulsive to be licked, for two reasons. Firstly, it's utterly disgusting, like a door opened for another door of disgust; secondly, in the world of cat demons, within each small group, it's generally the higher-ranking member who licks the fur of the lower-ranking member, leaving their own scent, essentially saying, "Ah, this is my little brother, I'll protect you from now on."...

Then you suddenly recall some unpleasant memories.

When you were little, your older brother would lick you and your two sisters layer upon layer of saliva, almost licking them bald. You were too young to understand the look of ecstasy and enjoyment on your brother's face back then, and mistakenly thought it was his way of showing affection. You even started enjoying it too, and felt guilty for most of the day for fighting him over the hopping frog toy…

The past events are vivid in your mind, but now they are exceptionally clear, like a slideshow playing in your mind, with no detail overlooked, instantly giving you a feeling of being overwhelmed.

Yes, you know, dogs and cats are complete opposites. In the dog world, the lower-ranking dog licks the fur of the higher-ranking one to express its respect and admiration for the stronger one. In the past, if a family happened to have a cat and a dog, the cat would be the one willing to lick, and the dog would be the one willing to be licked. Both would feel they were the boss, and perhaps they could coexist peacefully. However, this big black dog happened to be the one willing to lick, and that stupid dog, well, you can't blame yourself for that.

Then there's the wagging of the tail.

As we all know, when a dog wags its tail rapidly, it means it's excited and thrilled to see you; wagging its tail is also one of the main ways dogs try to please humans. However, when a cat wags its tail, it indicates impatience and anger, similar to saying, "I hate you, you'd better stay away from me, or I'll beat you up." You might have seen two male cats wagging their tails occasionally while facing off in a mating contest.

Whenever the big black dog happily wags its tail and approaches you, your tail wags unhappily from side to side. You don't know if this thing has any common sense about cat life—it seems to have none at all—so every time it thinks you've accepted it and allowed it to come near, it excitedly runs over, only to be met with a cold shoulder and a few hard punches. Looking at its aggrieved little eyes, you can imagine its underdeveloped brain is thinking: "Didn't we agree not to hit a smiling dog?"

And so it kept bothering you, and you kept dealing with it, until even Village Chief Zhang Qingshan couldn't stand it anymore. Putting everything else aside, those herbs were very precious; no matter how wealthy a family is, they can't just squander them like that! The big black dog was a good hunting dog he'd raised for five years, and you were the poor little stray cat he'd willingly adopted, and also Xiao Ruoye's most beloved companion. He didn't want to show favoritism.

So he chose an auspicious day, pressed down on the scruff of the obediently sitting black dog's neck with one hand, and grabbed one of your legs, which were radiating resistance, with the other, and tried to reason with you, saying things like "Don't fight, don't fight" (in reality, it was only you who was beating the black dog). Finally, you compromised, thinking that for the sake of Village Chief Zhang Qingshan, you'd let bygones be bygones…

The next day, Zhang Qingshan, the village chief, tenderly applied herbs to the big black dog's swollen and bloodied nose. He glanced at you, who was guiltily licking its fur beside him, and, in a fit of anger, slapped you lightly on the head.

You didn't want to either, it's all because your claws had their own ideas.

You are completely baffled by this big black dog, so you start trying to find the reason within yourself, to see what it is about you that attracted it.

Did it really discover that you're a cat demon?

That's clearly impossible, otherwise it wouldn't be reacting this way.

Could it be that it has taken a liking to you?

Stop talking nonsense. You and it are both male. Putting aside gender, you're not even the same species! There's no way it's possible! Besides, it already has a mate, a young and beautiful white dog from next door. She's had two litters of puppies, and you often see those two dogs showing off their affection day and night in front of all the other dogs in the village, being fed dog food again and again. Even other dogs are envious—oh wait, they are dogs, after all.

Does it think of you as its long-lost son?

Get lost! You're still its grandpa!

What exactly is the reason?

Watching the big black dog leap out of the haystack like a lit firecracker, you could no longer contain your curiosity. But at the same time, a sense of unease quietly arose within you. You had a feeling that you were being manipulated and controlled.

The cat demon is an escapist; let's just take it one step at a time.