Four days remained until the end of the month.
“Meow~.”
The ginger kitten named “Garfield” rubbed against the man’s pant leg a few times, then ran to the bowl full of milk.
Its small head dipped in, and it lapped up the milk happily.
On the gleaming mahogany floor were two plastic cat bowls of the same size, both filled with milk.
The cat cage’s bar door opened, and Xu Yinsheng was lifted out by a large hand, like a kitten picked up by the scruff of its neck.
Zhao Yicheng, as usual, released her from the cat cage.
“Xiao Yin, time to drink your milk.”
Xu Yinsheng looked at the small bowl of milk in front of her.
It wasn’t a small amount for a cat, but for a human, it was only a few mouthfuls.
She hadn’t had a full meal these past few days, and her stomach had been rumbling constantly.
If it weren’t for her protagonist-like constitution, she would have fainted from hunger long ago.
Eating cat food, being locked in a cat cage, trapped in a cat cage.
When would these days end?
Xu Yinsheng thought pessimistically, holding up the milk bowl with both hands.
But a large hand stopped her.
Zhao Yicheng looked at Xu Yinsheng’s hands holding the cat bowl, like a parent seeing a child tapping their rice bowl with chopsticks before a meal.
He frowned slightly, took the cat bowl, put it back down, and corrected her, “Learn from Garfield.”
Xu Yinsheng turned her head to look.
Beside them, Garfield was on all fours, body bent, its cat head buried in the cat bowl, lapping up the milk—a perfect image of a ginger cat drinking milk.
Xu Yinsheng didn’t understand.
She pointed at Garfield, half-guessing, half-bluffing, “You mean I need to kneel on the ground and lick it with my tongue?”
“A cat drinking milk should have the proper posture,” Zhao Yicheng said, as if stating the obvious.
This… this was too perverse.
“I’m a human, not a cat! Even if you imprison me, you should give me my basic human rights!”
She suddenly stood up, pointing angrily at Zhao Yicheng.
The rage from days of being locked in a cat cage and forced to eat cat food erupted at this moment.
“I don’t care if you’re crazy or sick, I’m telling you, Zhao, this isn’t over!!”
After a string of threats, Xu Yinsheng lifted her head and stared directly at Zhao Yicheng, full of defiance, not backing down an inch.
Zhao Yicheng stood less than a meter away from her, impeccably dressed in a black suit, perfectly composed, a flawless smile on his face, as if completely unbothered by her transgression.
It was as if a master would never get angry with a misbehaving pet.
They stared at each other for a moment.
Xu Yinsheng wilted, like a deflated balloon, her defiance vanishing.
She drew her head back.
In Zhao Yicheng’s eyes, she saw not a trace of anger, but rather a profound gentleness and tolerance, as if in his eyes, she had truly become a cat.
Do humans care about their pets’ “threats”?
Zhao Yicheng raised his hand.
Xu Yinsheng instinctively closed her eyes, thinking Zhao Yicheng was going to hit her.
Instead of the expected slap, a force came onto her shoulder, making her fall onto the floor.
“Cats cannot stand on two feet,” Zhao Yicheng stated slowly, looking down at her.
“Meow~”
Just then, Garfield, having finished its milk, ran over and rubbed against Zhao Yicheng’s pant leg.
He squatted down and petted Garfield, who rubbed its head against his palm.
“Xiao Yin, you should learn more from Garfield.”
“Learn to be a good cat that makes its master feel at ease.”
Zhao Yicheng looked up at her and said.
As he spoke, he picked up the cat bowl.
The daily feeding time for the cat was fifteen minutes.
Once the time was up, whether she had gone on a hunger strike or hadn’t finished eating, the cat bowl would be removed.
“Wait, put it down.”
Squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth, Xu Yinsheng closed her eyes, overwhelmed with shame!
But her physical hunger didn’t care about her shame.
She already wasn’t getting enough from the cat food, and if she couldn’t even drink the milk, her body would go on strike.
“I… will drink!”
***
Zhao Yicheng quietly watched her as he set down the bowl of milk.
Xu Yinsheng took a deep breath and slowly bent her rounded knees.
Her insteps arched as she knelt on the floor, her firm, perky buttocks pressing against her taut calves, creating a tempting curve.
She gently bent her back, her small head drawing close to the bowl of milk on the floor.
Her lips met the rim of the bowl, and her pink tongue darted out, licking away the foam from the edge.
She lapped gently, sipped delicately, her movements soft and focused.
She was like an elegant and noble ginger cat, docile and obedient…
A single tear slipped into the milk bowl, rippling outwards.
Xu Yinsheng closed her eyes, trying desperately not to see this image reflected on the surface of the milk.
In this moment! All that she held dear, Human rights!
Dignity!
Humanity!
Everything Xu Yinsheng championed about being human.
In this instant!
A crack appeared!
Domestication plus one.
Zhao Yicheng smiled.
He squatted down and gently stroked Xu Yinsheng’s dark, shiny long hair.
“This is very good, Xiao Yin. You must listen to your Master. Only by being obedient will you have a good life.”
“And you must remember, you are Master’s. Always.”
Warm fingertips glided through her hair, sending shivers of tingling pleasure through her.
Xu Yinsheng trembled.
Though she didn’t look up, she knew Zhao Yicheng was smiling, a genuine, carefree, childlike smile.
She had rarely seen him smile like that before.
After finishing her midday cat food, Xu Yinsheng curled up in her cage.
For some reason, the malnutrition she had constantly worried about hadn’t occurred.
Despite being caged and eating cat food, she had actually gained a few ounces.
Normally, she would nap at this time, but now she couldn’t suppress her excitement.
Whether by carelessness or design, after taking a phone call, Zhao Yicheng had rushed out after locking the cat cage, leaving the keys hanging on the bolt instead of taking them.
Xu Yinsheng stretched her arm through the cat cage, gently twisted the key, and then slowly pushed the door open.
The cat cage made a sound.
Xu Yinsheng forcibly suppressed her excitement, crawling out of the cat cage as quietly as possible.
She stood up, her legs feeling a momentary weakness.
She looked at the cluster of keys in her hand, her excitement uncontrollable.
Zhao Yicheng’s keys weren’t individual ones, but a whole set.
This meant that the set of keys Xu Yinsheng now held could open all the rooms in the villa, including the main gate outside.
Xu Yinsheng wasn’t sure where Zhao Yicheng was right now, but she had only one thought: escape, escape far away, as far as possible.
If she didn’t escape now, she might not get another chance in the future!
Without any plan, and with no time for hesitation, Xu Yinsheng dashed towards the main gate, taking long strides.
Both Zhao Yicheng’s villa and Xu Yinsheng’s own villa were three-storied, with the living room on the first floor, bedrooms on the second, and storage on the third.
Xu Yinsheng had been here before for parties, so she naturally knew the villa’s layout.
She quickly ran to the first-floor living room, pushed open the living room door, and bolted outside.
Because she had been kept in the cat cage, Zhao Yicheng had taken off her shoes.
Her bare feet landed on the pebble ground outside the villa, her soles tingling.
It was as if fate was on her side; the outer iron gate of the villa was actually open.
This meant she didn’t need to waste time opening the gate to escape the villa.
Zhao Yicheng’s villa wasn’t in the suburbs but in a luxurious downtown area.
As long as she could get out of the villa, the outside world would be bustling with traffic and people.
She could quickly find a passerby to borrow a phone and call her parents abroad.
Almost there, one step, two steps.
Suddenly, the iron gate slammed shut.
Xu Yinsheng quickly inserted the key, but no matter how she twisted it, the iron gate remained motionless, standing firm.
“Xiao Yin, what are you doing?”
I feel like she could take a risk and jump on the key in the door using it as a stepping stool and jumping up the iron gate in a flawless motion with full power and agility and not missing the right foothold position to have one of her foot on the key without falling off.