Editor: SleepyMango123
Proofreader: Lore
Xia Rong felt (that if that were the case)1The raws here were directly: “Xia Rong felt, he would be embarrassed.” Based on the context, it would seem to imply, referring back to ‘being intimate’, that if that was the case, he would feel embarrassed., he would be embarrassed. But at least 90% of the responsibility belonged to what Su Chi had just said— What ‘If you want to change back quickly, I’m afraid, as intimate as you can manage… Is how intimate we need to be’? It would be difficult for any normal adult to not think askew, right?!
However, Xia Rong then immediately realized that his thoughts really were off-center. After all, given their current forms, whether it was to have the cat come onto the person or for the person to come onto the cat, both would be too deranged and perverse! Humans and cats both walk a different path; let alone an adult human male and an unsterilized male cat, their paths were even further apart!
…Wait. He was a male cat now, right?
Xia Rong hurriedly sat down on the top of the camera, spread open his two cat legs, and lowered his head to confirm— great, the eggs were still there!
Having been anxious to see whether his eggs still existed, Xia Rong had, for the moment, forgotten that there was still an onlooker to the side. And it wasn’t until he heard the light laughter from above his head that his face suddenly became hot. Because the spot he was sitting on was too cramped to move around, he could only lean his body forward and place his two fluffy arms in front of him to hurriedly block the scenery between his legs.
“What’s so good about cat eggs? It’s not like I don’t have any,” Su Chi laughed and taunted when suddenly his attention shifted to Xia Rong’s ear. Su Chi gently touched it with his fingertips, “Why is there a piece missing from your ear here?”
“Hm?” Xia Rong flicked his ears.
“A small piece is missing.” Su Chi’s expression became serious. “Why do you think this is? Is the transformation based on the person themself or, as you mentioned before, that it is possible we are changing places with a real cat?”
“What’s the missing shape like?” Xia Rong also became curious, and as if he had thought of something, he stretched out his ‘hand’ to touch his ears. However, the cat’s paw pad was round and soft, so given that he wasn’t used to the form yet, he couldn’t feel anything at all. Soon, he became discouraged. “Forget it, there are also no mirrors here. We can talk about it later. Right now, we should hurry up, er…”
After a rare stutter, he finally continued, “Then, that… What kind of intimate?”
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“Based on my own experience…” Su Chi was really mindful in making use of the time, even having the mind to pet Xia Rong’s fluffy back during the interval of his ‘explanation’. “Skin contact has the most common effect, but the larger the area of the contact, the larger the effect will be. Next, there is the contact of bodily fluids, which should go both-ways… At present, I’ve only tried it with saliva. Compared with skin contact, the effect was almost a geometric increase2So… In mathematics, we have an arithmetic increase and a geometric increase. An arithmetic increase is where there is a fixed difference from one term to the next, e.g. this might be the skin contact, where for every one cm sq of pure skin contact is equivalent to taking off 10 minutes until transforming back and this exchange rate doesn’t change even as the area increases – an arithmetic increase of 10. On the other hand, geometric increase is multiplicative, e.g. with the saliva, if the saliva was applied to only one cm sq, you might still get 10 minutes off, but the second 1 cm sq (so 2 total) would give you 20 minutes off (for 30 minutes total), then the next cm sq (3 total) would give 40 minutes off (for 70 minutes total) – a geometric increase of 2.. According to this idea, the best effect should be exchanging saliva or, directly, of bodily fluids. Although I have not tried it and it is still in the conjecturing stage— Theoretically and logically, I personally think this would be the case.”
Su Chi’s narration was clear, concise, and orderly, completely as if he was giving a presentation at some academic conference… However, Xia Rong still managed to catch onto the main point that flashed by. “…Wait a minute. At what time did you try saliva?”
Su Chi: “…”
Su Chi felt choked for a moment and then smoothly answered, “What do you mean ‘at what time’? It goes without saying that I’ve licked you many times already. Like this.” Su Chi stretched out his hand and placed his fingertips next to Xia Rong’s cat mouth. This helped Xia Rong remember that Su Chi really had licked his fingers many times when the latter was in his cat form. At that time, he didn’t think it was strange at all. Where was the problem in letting a cat lick a few times?
But in the final analysis, the reason why Xia Rong would think askance all the way to somewhere unknown at the thought of “saliva contact,” wasn’t that just because of Su Chi’s ‘intimacy theory’!?
Having successfully shaken off the pot in his heart, Xia Rong also tried his best to return to his normal tone, “Oh, oh… So it was like that? Then saliva exchange is what, kissing? If we don’t kiss, instead if I spit some saliva and you spit some, then mix them together… Would that work?”
“That wouldn’t be considered exchanging saliva. That would be called polluting the environment.” Su Chi couldn’t help but laugh. “If you want to do it like this, that can also be done. Then either I swallow your saliva or you can swallow my saliva. But I have to mention in advance, I have slight mysophobia. So unless it was under special circumstances, I won’t swallow your saliva.”
…So disgusting! Xia Rong thought about it from another angle and immediately felt disgusted just from his imagination. Sure enough, it was still best to give up this plan!
Due to Xia Rong’s straightforward focus on his pondering, he did not notice the meaning behind Su Chi’s ‘under special circumstances’, the deep implication that was hidden inside.
“Time is also pressing. We should hurry up.” Su Chi took out the moist towelette that he had asked a staff member for just now and wiped his hands. Then with all seriousness, he stretched the hand out for Xia Rong. “At this moment, neither saliva nor bodily fluid exchange would be realistic. It’s also not very convenient for me to do it with so much fluff on your body. With efficiency being paramount, let’s start now.”
After much deliberation, it really seemed that this was the only solution!
Just like this, the orange cat version of Xia Rong opened his mouth. Without quite knowing what he was doing, he held a finger of the two-legged beast in front of him and started to foolishly lick it.
By the time that about half of Su Chi’s finger was licked ‘til it was rather damp, Xia Rong felt that his mouth was a bit dry…
That was strange, why was it that while Su Chi had licked his fingers so many times before, he could still be so frank about it and not feel anything at all… Yet now that it was his turn, he felt that his head was emitting smoke while his face was also burning? Fortunately, the fur on his face was rather thick now that he was a cat and it couldn’t be seen whether or not he was blushing.
Right! It must be because of how he was holding Su Chi’s finger and how his posture was as he was puffing and licking up and down! Something like this was just too easy for others’ imagination to run wild!
In his heart, Xia Rong had tears streaming down his face as he prayed… Hurry up and take effect, quickly let me change back to human form… And let this shame play end soon!
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Su Chi had been particularly quiet since he contributed his fingers and just allowed the little orange cat to hold it and lick lick lick. And only a while later did he raise his other hand to open Xia Rong’s mouth and feel his teeth with his fingertips.
Xia Rong was about to turn his head when he heard the other say, “Judging from the degree of wear on your lower incisors, your body should be between one and a half years to two years old. Strange, it’s almost the same as the degree of wear of my own… Could it be that the two cats we changed into were actually related? Siblings from the same litter…3The actual raw term used here is ‘twins’… And translated as thus for the obvious reason.?”
Xia Rong finally got the opportunity to express some scorn towards Su Chi, so while the other’s fingertip was still in his mouth, he didn’t resist and muffledly ridiculed, “A silver gradient British Shorthair and a common Chinese orange cat in the same litter? Are you stupid4Random information: This was in a Sichuan accent.?”
Su Chi looked completely serious. “It could be that we’re just not familiar with cat breeds enough. You’re also not completely orange, but a light orange with some milky white. Maybe, you’re a cream Scottish folded-ear with some white? Japanese shorthair? A rather poor-looking British shorthair…?”
That last sentence successfully provoked Xia Rong to puff his fur up, and a paw slapped straight onto Su Chi’s hand. “Scram! Laozi’s handsomeness can break the heavens, okay5‘Laozi’ is equivalent to an arrogant ‘I’ like “ore-sama’ in Japanese or a rather disrespectful way to address one’s father, which this latter explanation is not relevant here.!?”
…Although he currently had no way to see what he looked like after the transformation, Xia Rong still firmly believed that even after he became a cat, he was still the most handsome and flashiest one among the cats!
Su Chi laughed in spite of himself and kneaded Xia Rong’s paw pad. “I’m sorry, I’m not saying you’re not good-looking, just that you don’t quite look like a British shorthair… For now, let’s disregard discussing whether they’re from the same litter or if they’re brothers6The raws were ‘twins or siblings’.. I still feel that there must be some connection between the two cats that we’ve transformed into. Otherwise, I wouldn’t happen to be able to sense only you out of everyone after changing into a cat. Moreover, only we can understand each other’s words as cats. This should have also been some kind of hint towards the requirement of intimate contact.”
“I have a conjecture.” He pondered for a moment then continued, “I think when we are engaged in intimate contact, we are actually absorbing, or replenishing, some sort of energy? As for why different types of contact would yield different effects, that is because the energy is in the other person’s body. So the closer the contact was with the body, the greater the energy concentration that gets taken in would be. So in this way, the effect of skin contact would be less than saliva contact, while bodily fluid contact would be less than bodily fluid exchange… And once there is sufficient accumulated energy, it would allow us to shift between a cat’s body and a human’s. This, probably, would be because a cat’s body consumes less energy than a human body, so it was more difficult to change from a cat to a human?”
He said up to here, then suddenly paused before continuing, “If that was the case, will the effect of blood also be very significant? How about I…”
Xia Rong found that Su Chi was really astoundingly proactive. While his mouth had just said ‘how about…’, he had already decisively pulled out the fingertip that was gnawed until wet by Xia Rong and was about to deliver it to his mouth— Wasn’t this the action of bloodsetting without a hint of hesitation right as he thought of it!?
Xia Rong hurriedly kept hold of Su Chi and used his two paws to firmly cling onto his finger. “Stop causing trouble! I won’t drink your blood! Don’t you move!”
Su Chi lowered his eyes to look at him, as if to confirm whether Xia Rong felt disdain or distressed. A moment later, he softly sighed and returned his finger to the little orange cat’s mouth. “…Up to you.”
Xia Rong had actually understood the implications of Su Chi’s conjecture. But now, he just skillfully continued to suck on Su Chi’s finger as he analyzed, “Do you think that this could be like that common setting in novels and anime where when certain people overexert themselves, then in order to conserve the remaining energy, they would turn smaller or revert to a younger body?” He looked at the loose robe with broad sleeves that Su Chi was wearing, and soon recalled a similar wuxia character. “—Just like Tianshan Tonglao7A character in the wuxia novel ‘Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils’, who maintains the form of a young girl due to the martial arts she practices. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Demi-Gods_and_Semi-Devils_characters#Lingjiu_Palace, but while she becomes a little girl, we become cats?”
Although he said it himself, very soon, Xia Rong couldn’t help but doubt himself and muttered, “…But Tianshan Tonglao practiced a godly technique that allowed her to revert back to a child, while we haven’t? Er… You haven’t, right? “
Su Chi bemusedly pinched his chubby cat face. “How could I have. Forget it, let’s not get into why it happened and just focus on how to solve it first. That jade pendant that Yu Lao gave could be a clue, we can try and test him later or we can also find another expert. Another clue is the two cats that we have changed into and how they are related to each other. Maybe we can find a way to stabilize the transformation between cat and human by confirming their relationship.”
“My father also knows a lot of masters and people like that, we can try and ask them first.” Perhaps Yu Lao’s “miraculous” performance had left a shadow on Xia Rong’s heart, but either way, he didn’t really want to explore that first clue. Instead, he dedicated more attention to the second clue. “There are only those few kinds of relationships that require intimacy. If they’re not family, then they are probably lovers? What do you think, these two cats are similar in age but aren’t twins or brothers8I can’t save this anymore…, then it is highly likely that they are childhood friends who are…9Here Xia Rong says ‘could they be 青梅竹马的…’ where ‘青梅竹马’ means childhood friends (in particular, refers to a boy and a girl). And he broke off the ‘lovers’ parts, the implied full thought is: ‘could they be childhood friends who are also lovers’ or ‘could they be childhood sweethearts’. Ah, no, aren’t they two male cats?”
“What’s wrong with being male cats?” Su Chi had an expression where he wanted to put on a smile but couldn’t smile, “What were you saying? ‘Childhood friends who are’ what?”
“…Gay?” Xia Rong still felt that it was a little unbelievable. “Cats can also be gay? They can’t, right? The one you’ve changed into was so beautiful, wasn’t mine too plain-looking?”
“Who said you are plain-looking?” Su Chi’s eyes slightly curved, and the early summer warm wind blew in from outside the heavy curtain, lifting up the light gauze.
A gentle kiss, like how a dragonfly would skim across the water’s surface, fell on the top of Xia Rong’s head.
“Cute is crying10I’ll come back to this once I read the next chapter. This might be: “what Xia Rong just said had made ‘cute’ cry because he’s actually cute that sort of thing… TT_TT”, you know?”
2 thoughts on “Chapter 24 – What kind of intimate?”
wow look at SC propositioning hahaha very skillful!
very good SC hahahaha thank u for the chapter~