Catnip Trap

[Rain-Scented, Fluffy-Haired Cat-Like Omega x Catnip-Scented, Coolheaded Cat Lover Alpha]

Dong Qi has a secret: he turns into a cat whenever it rains.

*

Recently, he unilaterally made an enemy of an alpha named Shen Mai. The reason was simple: a pretty girl he liked had a crush on Shen Mai.

One day, a sudden downpour caught him while he was watering the plants on his balcony. He slipped just as he turned into a cat and fell straight onto the balcony below.

The moment he got back on his feet, he came face-to-face with Shen Mai, who was taking in the laundry.

Shen Mai: “...?”

Dong Qi: “???”

Dong Qi thought he was seeing a ghost.

*

After turning into a cat, Dong Qi’s sense of smell became incredibly sharp, and he discovered something terrifying.

He found Shen Mai’s scent utterly intoxicating.

“What does your pheromone smell like?” he asked tentatively after turning back into a person.

“Catnip,” Shen Mai replied.

“What kind of catnip?” Dong Qi asked, completely baffled.

“It’s also called catmint.” Shen Mai asked coolly, “Does it smell good?”

“...”

Damn!

After that, Dong Qi quietly opened Taobao and bought a pile of catnip sachets, incense, perfume, and even live catnip plants.

Then he discovered something even more terrifying.

None of them smelled as good as Shen Mai.

*

Shen Mai recently adopted a cat. He thought it was very cute.

But it was strange. It only showed up on rainy days, and it had a bit of a temper.

He figured it just needed time to get used to him. If he kept it for a while, they’d become close.

Until one day, he found the cat gone and a boy who looked just like it lying in his bed.

(All intimate scenes take place when everyone is an adult! Also, the protagonist only liked that girl because she was pretty, and he soon lost interest. There is no romance involving her.)

*Some original worldbuilding. A sweet, relationship-focused slice-of-life story, perfect as a bedtime read.

*The complete novel costs only 4 RMB. The text has been revised; pirated versions are inaccurate, and only the official edition is supported. Pirated copies on any site and paid bundles are unauthorized, so please be careful. Comments from people who read pirated copies will be deleted, and the commenters blocked.

Upcoming Novel Teaser

"What Does Your Highness Intend?": [A fake stepmother who just wants to stay alive, a laid-back beauty enthusiast bottom x A taciturn, gloomy, obsessive, and utterly unfilial prince top]

During the holidays, Lin Yizhou’s younger cousin got him hooked on a palace-intrigue game.

At first, he thought it was beneath him. But once he started raising his stats, he got more and more addicted, playing through the night without even realizing it.

Then he closed his eyes and opened them again to find himself lying in an unfamiliar room.

Lin Yizhou: ?

“You’re awake.”

Before he could react, an electronic voice suddenly rang out ominously in his mind.

“ "Palace Heart" login complete. Enjoy your game.”

Lin Yizhou: ???!

*

To avoid being summoned to the emperor’s bed, raise his favorability, and keep himself alive, Lin Yizhou spent every day focused on making money. Invitations from consorts and trips out to escape the summer heat could all wait. He took frugality to the absolute extreme.

A eunuch came to report that a consort had died after a long illness, leaving behind a prince who was just over ten years old. He asked whether Lin Yizhou wanted to adopt him.

Lin Yizhou shook his head.

Raising a child took too many resources. No thanks.

...Then he saw the child, and that very night Lin Yizhou began taking inventory of his storehouses.

*

By earning rewards, Lin Yizhou made a fortune in the palace. He got carried away and failed to notice that the child he had adopted had now grown taller than him.

He had also become more and more taciturn, increasingly impossible to read.

At first, Lin Yizhou thought it was just a rebellious phase.

Until one day, he opened his door and saw Xie Ji sitting at his desk.

A half-empty jug of wine sat beside him, and his eyes were still red.

“Imperial Mother.” The man who usually insisted on calling him Yizhou suddenly used this unfamiliar title, making Lin Yizhou’s scalp prickle.

Xie Ji stepped closer, pinning him against the door.

A strange sense of foreboding rose in Lin Yizhou. He could tell something was terribly wrong.

“Imperial Mother.” Xie Ji called him again in a low voice, his brows tightly furrowed.

They were so close that this time Lin Yizhou could finally see his eyes clearly.

They held an unfamiliar, overwhelming obsession.

“Why are you my imperial mother?”

Lin Yizhou: ...

Wasn’t this going in the wrong direction?

[Bonus Scene]

Whenever that man came to see him, he brought a gift.

Sometimes a brush, sometimes an inkstone, sometimes a book, sometimes an inkstone...

...Wait, hadn’t he given him this one already?

Xie Ji looked at the young man across from him with a complicated expression.

But when he saw him smiling at him with his face in his hands, eagerly asking whether he liked it, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

He had probably given gifts to too many people and lost track.

Xie Ji thought with a sullen expression.

...So afterward, he received inkstones for three or four days in a row.

“...”

Looking at the three identical brushes and four inkstones lined up on the table, Xie Ji thought, This man really is strange.

Theme: Care for small animals