Dinner was two little silver fish and a whole lot of cat grass.

It seemed cat grass was an essential part of Aileen’s diet.

The little silver fish had been carefully fried, but there were so few of them that it was practically like eating cat food.

“But now that you mention it, I really am eating cat food, aren’t I?”

That was what Liao Luo thought as he filled up on carbs.

“If we’re talking about going to bed, you have to take a bath first! You did really well yesterday, so don’t squirm around today, meow!”

Aileen reminded him as she carried Liao Luo into the bathroom and ran a bath.

She tested the temperature and decided it felt about right. Then she took off Liao Luo’s outer clothes and lowered him naked into the tub.

Having someone of the opposite sex stare so openly at his body still felt strange, of course. But since this wasn’t the first time it had happened, Liao Luo shamefully decided to just accept it—and stared right back at Aileen.

From the way she moved, it was obvious she’d never done anything like this before—not even helped someone wash up. Her movements were clumsy, too.

“You have to get all nice and clean before bed!”

Aileen urged him on as she scrubbed away with gusto. Apparently, she thought Humans couldn’t bathe by themselves and needed a catgirl to look after them.

Her gaze shifted and landed on Liao Luo.

That’s… a human bell!

What an interesting shape.

Flick!

Ping!

“Ow…”

Liao Luo curled into a ball in an instant, his eyes and nose scrunching up.

That hurt so much! It hurt so much!

He looked at Aileen with a wounded expression.

Don’t touch that!

“I swear, from now on, when I bathe a cat, I’ll never flick its bell again!”

Liao Luo struggled in the full bathtub for a while before finally calming down little by little.

That hurt so much… That hurt so much…

Water had splashed everywhere, even soaking Aileen’s clothes, but she didn’t seem to mind. She just thought it was funny.

“You’re way too cute, meow! I can’t take it anymore—I have to give you a kiss… Mwah!”

She pulled Liao Luo over without giving him a chance to object and kissed him on the forehead.

“Humans are just the best! If I had one at home, all my exhaustion would disappear!”

Aileen hugged Liao Luo and pressed her face against him, cuddling him for a good while before finally letting go.

“All right, that’s enough bathing for today. Now I’ll dry your hair, and we need to dry you off too, or you’ll catch a cold.”

She carried Liao Luo over to a low stool, then carefully dried him with a hair dryer. She really was very attentive.

Liao Luo didn’t want to admit it, but he shamefully accepted this parasite-like life of being taken care of.

In the mirror, Aileen’s happiness was written all over her face.

She stayed happy for quite a while, and finally finished drying Liao Luo.

“All right! Go play. But don’t knock anything over, or I’ll get mad!”

She gave Liao Luo a warning with absolutely no force behind it, then turned away.

Liao Luo wrapped a bath towel around himself and muttered, “Why would I knock anything over? I’m not an actual pet. But you… Wait a second! What are you doing?!”

Aileen had already taken off her outer clothes, perfectly naturally, and was getting ready to bathe. The fact that there was now another person in the already cramped bathroom didn’t seem to bother her at all.

“Wait a minute. This is pretty weird, isn’t it? Sure, nobody takes a bath with a cat watching, but I’m not a cat. I’m a Human!”

He was having a bit of a reaction, shamefully enough.

Even though he’d only seen her back, Aileen tossed all her clothes aside and happily climbed into the tub.

Once she’d worked up a bath full of bubbles, he couldn’t see a thing. Only her wet hair hung loose around her.

“I…”

Liao Luo felt his throat go a little dry.

How was he supposed to handle this? Especially when catgirls were more than ten times as strong as Humans.

Perhaps she’d finally noticed that Liao Luo still hadn’t left. Aileen lifted her head a little, looking puzzled.

“What is it? It’s just a bath. What’s there to see? Well, I suppose you’re only a little Human, after all.”

She chuckled and began to explain. “You know, cats actually like keeping themselves clean. People often think cats don’t like being clean because cats hate being forced to bathe. When I was little, I hated it most when Auntie took me to have a bath! If nobody bothers me, I actually like getting all nice and clean.”

Liao Luo felt enlightened. “Well, that’s something new. So that’s why… But why do I need to know this?! There’s a catgirl bathing right in front of me, and she’s going to hold me while we sleep tonight. What am I supposed to do with my self-control?!”

As usual, Aileen didn’t understand a word he was saying.

“Ah, but speaking of Auntie…”

Aileen leaned back against the tub and gazed up at the ceiling, looking a little regretful.

“Actually, my mother passed away when I was very young. Auntie raised me, so to me, she’s just like a mother.”

“But Auntie’s really old-fashioned and conservative. She won’t allow any male cats in the house, and she doesn’t like keeping Humans, either. So adopting a Human—especially a man—is a first for me. If she found out, it’d be a real problem. She’d definitely start yelling and angrily grab you by the bell and throw you out…”

Liao Luo knew exactly how she felt.

Not every family is okay with having a pet. Some people assume that if they just bring one home, their family will naturally accept it—but in the end, they still wind up setting the pet loose in the wild.

But grabbing him by the bell and throwing him out sounded a little too scary. That would really hurt!

“Ugh, whatever! I have class tomorrow, and I don’t want to think about all that. Anyway, if Cat Mom doesn’t like it, I won’t agree to it either. I’m an adult cat now. I have the right to decide whether I want to keep a Human!”

She gave herself a pep talk, then lifted one leg out of the tub and carefully wiped it down.

Her smooth, pale skin was mostly hidden by the bubbles.

When she saw Liao Luo still hadn’t left, she started shooing him away, half annoyed and half amused. “All right, what’s so interesting to look at? Go on, get out. You’re not going to watch me use the toilet too, are you? Humans are so weird.”

Liao Luo could only shake his head, caught between laughter and tears, and leave the bathroom.

As if he’d watch her use the toilet. He wasn’t an actual pet.

Besides…

“It’s fine if I miss one little peek! We’ve got plenty of time ahead of us.”

That was what he told himself.

A while later, Aileen finally came out of the bathroom, her hair dry and hanging loose. She shuffled across the floor in soft slippers, pattering along as she walked.

“You know?” She picked Liao Luo up and kissed his earlobe. “Lu You, a poet from the Southern Song, once wrote a poem that goes, ‘A bath, then bed—what bliss!’ It means that going to bed after a bath makes you really happy! In other words, once you’re all nice and clean, it’s time to go night-night!”

She happily carried Liao Luo to bed, lay down with him, and rolled around.

“And I’m not allergic to Human hair!”

She whispered right by his ear. “So now we can go to sleep!”