Ch12 - You Are Really do Need a Bath This Time

If you don’t take a bath, you won’t keep your magnificent image

Editor: Vez 

As soon as Sparta opened his eyes the next day, he was not tempted to wake Miwu up. He yawned and jumped out of bed, merrily hopping down the stairs to find his study handbook. Keeping in mind Dai Mochi’s instructions from yesterday, its content did not seem so foreign anymore. He gradually understood the true meaning of the decomposition diagrams on the graffiti-like claw marks. As expected of learning courses specially designed for cats. 

Before Miwu could wake, Sparta excitedly dug out the tablet from the sofa pillows and stepped on the small caving for the circular button. This was indeed not easy. Cats were better at clawing things. It wasn’t a comfortable experience, using paws for such delicate handling. But what the study handbook said was to think of it as stepping on mother’s udder with their paw pads. Meow, it seemed he got it! So far, everything had gone smoothly which boosted his confidence as well as his excitement in his upcoming first class.

Then at this time, he heard the sound of his human coming downstairs. His ears twitched as he quickly slapped away the tablet into the pillow pile. He then jumped off the sofa and scurried to the bottom of the stairs, sitting upright to welcome his human.

Xin Qin did not wake up naturally. Today was a rare day when Sparta did not disturb him so he slept in. Whilst he was fast asleep in his blanket nest, he received a phone call from the delivery person. The things he bought for Sparta had finally arrived. He crawled out of his bed, put on a random set of clothes and prepared to head down to accept his packages. Yawning, he walked down the stairs and found Sparta quietly waiting for him down the stairs, with his head tilted and wide green eyes upon openinghis eyes. On seeing him, the Dragon Li cat stood up, meowed, scurried over and rubbed against his trouser legs, as if in greeting. 

Miwu! You’re up! I promise I did nothing!

“Good morning, Sparta.” Xin Qin bent down and scratched from the cat’s chin down to his neck. “Be good and stay at the house for a while, I need to get your things.”

There were many packages, most of which were large boxes. Thankfully, Xin Qin was not weak and quickly finished moving them over with the help of the delivery person. He thanked the man before unlocking and opening the door to enter. Sparta, who had been keeping watch by the door, suddenly rushed out from the gap, startling Xin Qin. Fortunately, Sparta was not looking to escape, instead, he approached Xin Qin with his head raised, crying out loudly, as if asking why he had suddenly disappeared. Xin Qin put down the box in his hand, squatted down, grabbed the Dragon Li cat with both of his hands and gently raised them and put the cat into his arms.

“I am sorry. There, there. I did not notice you. I did not leave, I just went down the building.”

Miwu, why did you suddenly run out! You made me very worried about you! Achoo—you smell like someone else! And I do not like this bad smell! I am going to be angry!

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Wlc Hlc ygbeuta atf gjaaifv Ggjubc Ol mja lcab atf tberf jcv rqfca rbwf alwf delfais mbwobgalcu tlw. Ycmf atf mja kjr mjiw, tf teoofv ogbw vlragfrr, “Lbk jw P reqqbrfv ab wbnf atlcur lo sbe milcuf ab wf ilxf atlr?” 

Sparta did not know about the human’s current mental predicament and fixed his gaze on his human, afraid the human would disappear the moment he took his eyes off of him. Meow, you are really making this cat full of worries.

Ktlcur kfgf ralii qlifv ja atf fcagjcmf bo atf mbgglvbg jcv Hlc Wlc mbeiv cba ifjnf atfw rmjaafgfv jgbecv atfgf. Coafg rbwf atbeutar, tf gfjmtfv bea tlr tjcv ab atf mja. “Lbk jybea sbe mbwf klat wf? Dea sbe yfaafg cba mjerf agbeyif. Po sbe kjcvfg boo jcv ufa ibra, P wjs cba yf jyif ab olcv sbe jujlc.” 

What is Miwu saying? Sparta looked at him with his head tilted. 

Xin Qin picked up the Dragon Li cat and carried the cat with one hand. The cat’s four limbs seemed to be burdened with heavy weights and he ended up stretching the cat’s soft body into an elongated U. Sparta was suddenly airborne and he was not used to the feeling. He looked at Xin Qin  with a puzzled face and gave a gentle meow. Xin Qin patted the Dragon Li cat’s head. Judging with his hand, the cat got some weight on him, like a dumbbell. He would not be able to hold the cat in one hand and move the packages with the other. 

Sparta was completely unaware of the predicament Xin Qin was in, seeing no immediate danger was upon him, he gave up his initial struggle and instead, used his claws to pull on the drawstring of Xin Qin’s hoodie with interest. He even managed to pull on the drawstring and disturb the hood. 

This gave Xin Qin an idea, what if he put Sparta in his hood? He tried to carry the cat up with one hand and use the other hand to widen his hood, putting the cat inside. The hood was elastic and could fit the cat. However, the weight of about four kilograms was too heavy as the hood was suddenly expanded before dropping down. Xin Qin almost lost his grip. Even the Dragon Li cat was ill at ease.  

When Sparta was put into the hood, he suddenly fluttered his limbs at a loss, which made the hood feel heavier. 

Xin Qin laughed at his decision while trying to remove his hoodie to prevent himself from being choked to death. Sure enough, without much experience in keeping cats, he misjudged how heavy a cat really was. 

Sparta finally found the exit, breaking free from the mass of cloth, he immediately jumped down and ran a few metres away, turning back and yowling in grievance. 

Now Xin Qin was finally able to breathe, he took a deep breath, rotated his shoulders and looked in the cat’s direction. “Why are you so heavy when you look so thin?” 

Miwu…Sparta trilled in distress. What was wrong with his Miwu? Why did he stuff him in such an uncomfortable place? 

Xin Qin walked over, squatted down and apologised to the cat, caressing its round fluffy head fondly. 

Sparta stared at the human’s shoulder. He bent his hind legs and suddenly propelled himself off the ground, sprinting along the human’s limb he quickly climbed atop his shoulder. Hmph, I have the high ground, there is no way that Miwu can catch me now. There was limited space on the shoulders so Sparta had to carefully coil his body around Miwu’s neck. Once he found a comfortable position, he lay down, putting his head in the crook of Miwu’s neck and squinted his eyes in contentment. 

It took some time for Xin Qin to react. Sparta’s weight was evened out, but it was still stressing his shoulders. The cat seemed to like this. Fine, it must be his punishment for his earlier action. Fortunately, it wouldn’t affect him much while working. He raised his hand and patted Sparta on the head. Once he was sure the cat would not fall down, he began to move all the boxes with ease. 

Unpacking boxes was another big task. When he was halfway through, the cat went berserk. Sparta leapt from his shoulders and plunged into the sea of foam paper and plastic tape. He bent, he dashed, and he pounced, playing to his heart’s content. Xin Qin let him be and methodically arranged all his purchases aside.

When he opened the last small package, a devilish smile suddenly appeared on his lips. “Sparta, come here.” 

He beckoned towards the cat. He did not expect the cat who had lost his marbles over packaging would respond to him. After hearing his call, the cat actually stopped and stared at him motionless, as if to confirm whether he was really being called or not. “Sparta, come here.” Xin Qin insisted.

Sparta slowly released his claws from the foam paper, shook his head, and trotted along on his tippy toes. Miwu, what are you calling me for? 

There was still some foam debris on his head, making him look absolutely ridiculous. Xin Qin waited for the cat to approach before he leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Big guy, it is time for you to take a bath.”

Sparta put his forelegs on Xin Qin’s knees, stood upright, stretched his body and put his nose against Xin Qin’s mouth, as if returning the kiss.

“You are not allowed to rebel.”

Reaching out, he carried Sparta into his arms and went to the sofa to get his iPad, planning to research how to bathe a cat and things to watch out for. He did not know what was going on lately, but his iPad was always hidden away. Sparta lay on his knees and stuck out his head, watching the human browse through the internet, with interest no less, even with boring and wordy sites. Xin Qin never looked through guides when playing games, but for his cat, he did everything with utmost care, searching and reading through several pages before doing it himself. Bathing cats seemed like a trivial thing, but if he did not do it well the first time, Sparta might dislike bathing in the future. 

And he did not want his cat to be one that reacts badly to bathing. 

Doing this homework took time. Once Xin Qin was finally ready to put it into practice, it was dusk. Before he took Sparta into the bathroom, he built up enough mental preparation for himself. He changed into a long sleeve coat and wrapped a towel around both wrists to protect them from Sparta’s claws, just in case. A washbasin had been prepared in the bathroom, filled with clean water at the appropriate temperature. A small stool sat next to it. The newly purchased cat shower gel and towel were neatly placed aside. Xin Qin placed the iPad at the sink, which was about the right height. He had downloaded cat bathing videos to use as reference later.

When Sparta was carried in by his human, he instantly stiffened up at the sight of the steaming washbasin.

So, the time had finally come! 

He recalled Dai Mochi telling of human’s persistence in bathing cats. As a stray cat, Sparta did not like water the slightest. It reminded him of those troubled days of strong wind and heavy rain. Sometimes, he could not find shelter in time and his fur would be wet from the rain. It was always cold and uncomfortable. No matter how much he licked it clean, it remained wet and dirty. On several occasions, he would fall ill and could not find food for several days, almost starving to death.

Miwu—Sparta raised his head and whispered to the human.

Looking at Sparta’s wet green eyes, a strong sense of guilt suddenly surged into Xin Qin’s heart. He held the Dragon Li cat in his arms tighter and explained to the cat in earnest, “Sorry, but you must take a bath. Your hair is too dirty and it must be uncomfortable. The weather has not turned cold yet and I also turned on the bathroom heater. It is not cold at all. I will also help dry your hair.”

Sparta unhappily swished his tail back and forth. He hooked the human’s coat with his claws, buried his head inside and put his forehead against Miwu’s chest. It seemed that Miwu would not give up on the idea of bathing him. Meow, his hair was going to be wet. It was going to be so annoying, but what could he do? Humans were known to be headstrong, and he did accept the authority over his human so this was his duty. Sometimes, enduring just a little would make family life more harmonious and warm. He must do his job as the cat of the family, meow. 

Xin Qin saw Sparta’s posture through the mirror and almost chuckled out loud. The cat was like a sulky child who made a mistake, with his face hidden, like reflecting his mistake while facing the wall. He scratched the cat’s neck and gently comforted him. 

Sparta believed himself to be a responsible cat, and now he was determined to make his human happy. Although there would be discomfort, he will bear it. Therefore, on entering the water, except for his short initial struggle the moment his paws touched the water from an instinct due to his discomfort, he stayed very quiet in the washbasin. Face down and not moving, keeping a laissez-faire attitude. 

The water in the washbasin did not go above the cat’s hind legs. Xin Qin was fully alert and on fight-mode the whole time he stared at the cat. His both hands were behind Sparta to prevent him from breaking free if he tried to escape. But after Sparta got into the water, he kept to the same posture and there was no struggling or screaming. If it was not for his slightest trembling that exposed his state of mind, Xin Qin would have thought that his cat had fossilised. He waited another moment before he began to move. According to the online cat washing guide, he must first wet the hair at the bottom with warm water, letting the cat adapt first. Sparta remained still, so well-behaved that it was astonishing. He piteously patted Sparta’s trembling back, with soft and steady hands.

Sparta lowered his head, holding back his instinct to jump out of the basin and lick his fur dry in a corner. What brought him the most comfort was knowing his human was not as rough as those other humans from before. His human was very gentle and careful. Meow, although Miwu has this hobby of bathing cats, Miwu is still a good Miwu. For Miwu’s sake, I will persevere! Sparta cheered himself at the bottom of his heart.