I was approached by a cat-eared girl.

"What about these few...?"

"Wait a moment."

Chen Shuo sighed, took his hands off the keyboard, stood up and walked into the living room. When he came back, he had a cat toy in his hand, the one he had bought that morning.

The cat toy is about a meter long, with a colorful, multicolored tuft of feathers woven from some kind of bird at the top, somewhat resembling a shuttlecock.

There's a switch on the handle; pressing it makes the whole cat toy light up, sparkling and flashy.

"Come on, look this way."

As he spoke, Chen Shuo took the cat toy and began waving it left and right on the ground. The feathers fluttered up and down, like a little bird in flight, and with the colorful lights, it was truly beautiful.

Not to mention the cat, even he himself couldn't resist wanting to chase after it and play with it for a while after seeing it.

"See, isn't it interesting?"

He asked the question while waving his arms wildly, but his arms got sore and the cat-eared girl didn't react at all.

Bai Xiaoqi stared at Chen Shuo, her beautiful eyes unconsciously following the cat toy in his hand. Then, her delicate eyebrows gradually furrowed, and after a long silence, she asked, "What are you doing?"

She feels that this person seems a bit abnormal.

"Oh, nothing much, just getting some exercise."

Chen Shuo tossed the cat toy aside expressionlessly and sat back down in front of the computer. His original intention was to play with the cat girl, who had many questions, for a while to tire her out and prevent her from asking a barrage of questions like a walking encyclopedia.

But now it seems like I bought a fake.

Damn it, I'm going to file a complaint with 315 tomorrow.

The room was quiet for a moment. Bai Xiaoqi glanced at the cat toy lying on the floor, bent down to pick it up, and tried shaking it a couple of times before asking, "What is this?"

"Ah, the DouDou stick, its main purpose is to exercise." After thinking for a moment, Chen Shuo added, "We humans all like to use this to exercise."

After spending a morning with her, though it wasn't a long time, he had already discovered the cat's characteristics. For example, anything related to humans could pique her interest.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi's eyes lit up, and she immediately imitated Chen Shuo's movements, asking, "Is this how you train?"

"Yes, that's right. You learn very quickly. This is how you train. Just keep swinging like this, yes, yes, don't stop. You need to train for an hour, and you absolutely cannot talk during this time, otherwise you'll easily get discouraged."

"Uh-huh."

Seeing her waving the cat toy so enthusiastically, Chen Shuo felt that the scene was a bit strange. The cat toy he bought seemed to have no effect on her, yet it also seemed to have an effect on her.

A cat-eared girl is swinging a cat toy; that's hilarious!

Chen Shuo breathed a sigh of relief as long as she calmed down, and turned around to concentrate on writing.

He used to write suspense novels, but due to content restrictions, one and a half of his previous two books were banned. So he jumped into the new pit of slice-of-life stories. To be honest, this is the first time he has ever written slice-of-life stories.

The book had only been published for a short time, and he had only written about forty chapters, including the drafts. The next part he was going to write was the plot of the first date between the male and female protagonists. He had just had some inspiration, but now it was all gone.

After looking at what he had written on the computer for a while and letting it simmer for a moment, Chen Shuo suddenly felt confident again. To say that his inspiration flowed freely would be a bit arrogant; it was more like a sudden burst of urine.

The streets were bustling with people, and across the traffic, Chen Qiufeng spotted a slender figure on the other side of the road. It was late May, when spring was fading, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the sun was shining warmly...

The male protagonist of this book is named Chen Qiufeng, and the female protagonist is named Bai Lu.

The names seem ordinary at first glance, even a bit common, but they actually have a story behind them, which comes from the phrase "The autumn wind is so cold, and the white dew is like morning frost."

An autumn wind and a white dew: the autumn wind comes at night, and the morning dew is white; when the autumn wind rises, the white dew naturally follows. The two rely on each other and accompany each other, expressing the author's homesickness.

Okay, forcing an explanation won't work; it's just something I made up randomly.

Chen Shuo has always been bad at naming things, but he's strong in theory and can force an explanation for anything, regardless of whether it's reasonable or not, as long as it fits.

A common problem among liberal arts students.

Once you get into writing, it gets smoother and smoother. Chen Shuo's fingers flew across the keyboard, making a clattering sound. Just as he was getting into it, there was another slap, but this time it wasn't the keyboard that made the sound, but his face.

The tuft of bird feathers at the tip of the cat toy struck his face squarely, burning and stinging.

What the hell is going on...?

Chen Shuo turned his head aggressively, about to explode in anger, when he saw Bai Xiaoqi shrinking her neck, even her cat ears on her head standing up nervously. When she saw him turn his head suddenly, she subconsciously took a half step back.

Were you serious about taking half a step back?

Staring at her delicate and lovely face, Chen Shuo suddenly felt angry but couldn't vent it. He was filled with anger but couldn't let it out, feeling stuck in a rut.

"Does it hurt?"

Looking at the red marks on Chen Shuo's face from her slap, Bai Xiaoqi hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuo almost laughed out of anger. What a question! My mouth is twitching uncontrollably right now. Do you think it hurts?

"It doesn't hurt, it's actually quite comfortable."

"Comfortable?"

Bai Xiaoqi was taken aback, then looked at the red mark on Chen Shuo's face and asked, "It's all red, how can it feel comfortable? It must hurt a lot, right?"

"You know it hurts, yet you're still holding that piece of junk in your hand..."

Chen Shuo wanted to tell him to go outside and play, but then felt it wasn't appropriate. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and said, "Could you please take your cat toy and play in the living room?"

"okay."

Bai Xiaoqi responded and was about to go out in her slippers when she suddenly stopped.

Cat teaser?

She glanced down at the cat toy in her hand, then turned to look at Chen Shuo. "So this thing was originally meant to amuse me?"

Realizing he had misspoke, Chen Shuo paused for two seconds, then his expression changed to one of righteous indignation, "How could you think like that? You're a human, not a cat."

Chapter Ten: I'll Teach You How to Be a Person

Bai Xiaoqi held the cat toy in her hand, staring at Chen Shuo with her clear eyes. She realized she had been tricked and was a little angry.

But since he had just slapped Chen Shuo's face, he was too embarrassed to question him loudly, so he could only vent his anger on the cat toy.

Right now, the plastic handle was making a cracking sound as she squeezed it.

Hearing the clicking sound, Chen Shuo's eyes twitched involuntarily. If he remembered correctly, the handle of this cat toy was made of composite material, which was quite sturdy.

As for how sturdy it is, well, my own bones aren't much harder than this thing.

And now, the handle is about to give way under the strain and break down in her hands.

"Stop pinching it, it didn't do anything to you."

"But you lied to me."

She looked a little aggrieved. This person spoke so convincingly that she believed his nonsense and diligently practiced for a long time.

Thinking about this, she felt a little foolish; otherwise, how could she have been so easily deceived?

But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she instinctively shook her head. She was the smartest cat in the mountains, and there was no cat smarter than her in the entire mountain.

It must be because this human is too evil and too good at lying.

I was caught off guard, that's why I was tricked.

Yes, that's it.

Chen Shuo sighed, "Okay, I admit I lied to you. This thing isn't called a 'teasing stick,' it's called a 'cat teaser stick.'"

"besides."

"What else?"

Hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi squeezed the cat toy in her hand even louder. "You said it's for exercise, but it's not at all. This thing is for teasing cats. You were just trying to tease me with this. You don't treat me like a human being at all."

"Do you even consider yourself a human being?"

"I, I..."

This soul-searching question left Bai Xiaoqi speechless for a moment, so she simply shouted at the top of her lungs, "I don't know!"

"Look, even you say you don't know, so how could I possibly tell the difference? That's why I thought of teasing the cat..."

Chen Shuo was interrupted before he could finish speaking. Bai Xiaoqi's cheeks puffed out as she shouted, "But you clearly said before that I was human!"

As he spoke, his eyes welled up with tears. This person is a big liar.

Seeing this, Chen Shuo fell silent. At that moment, he suddenly felt that he might have unintentionally caused great harm to this girl.

This unintentionality stemmed from the difference in their thoughts. He was born a human being and felt that being a human was nothing special, and even thought that being a human was not good. But for her, being a human seemed to have a special meaning.

After a long pause, he finally asked, "You... really want to be human?"

"Humph!"

With a snort, Bai Xiaoqi turned her head away, her eyes red, ignoring him.

Seeing this, Chen Shuo thought for a moment and slowly said, "Actually, being a human is not good. The endless daily necessities of life, the pursuit of fame and fortune throughout one's life, the inescapable social obligations, and the inescapable duties and responsibilities are all heavy constraints imposed on people, which cannot be shaken off or escaped."

Everyone feels tired of living; the rich feel they are mentally exhausted, while the poor feel they are physically exhausted.

You want to be a human, but many people want to be cats. How wonderful it would be to be a cat or a dog! No worries, no labor, just eat and sleep all day, and wake up whenever you want…

"I didn't eat and sleep all the time. I'm often hungry." Hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi couldn't help but turn around and retort loudly.

I'm not like what he said. I'm living a miserable life. I often went hungry in the mountains, and I still go hungry after coming to human society. I have nowhere to live and many people drive me away, telling me to get out.

Hearing this, Chen Shuo couldn't help but chuckle, but then felt that laughing was inappropriate at this moment, so he pursed his lips and asked, "So you want to be human just so you won't go hungry, simply so you can eat?"

"I'm not like that. People have houses to live in, beautiful clothes to wear, and don't have to worry about being bullied, or being cold or hungry."

At this point, Bai Xiaoqi paused, then looked to the side and added in a weak voice, "There are still many delicious things to eat."

"Is this what you consider the advantages of being human?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Xiaoqi murmured a few times, then raised her head and said, "Not only that, I can't remember the others right now."

"Okay, then tell me what you remember. You used to live in the mountains, and after you came to human society, you were always wandering. You were a stray cat."

So you probably don't know how well domesticated cats live. Humans act as their litter box cleaners, call them "cat masters," and refer to themselves as "cat slaves," serving them the best food and drink every day. If the cat masters would even deign to let them hold them for a while, the humans could be happy all day long.

"I know what you're talking about; I've seen it."

Chen Shuo was somewhat puzzled, "Since you've seen it, aren't you envious?"

"I'm not envious at all. No matter how well they live, they're still just human..."