"Ahhh!!!"
A sharp, piercing scream suddenly erupted from the bedroom.
Xiao Wang had been working in the study when he heard the commotion. He immediately abandoned his tasks and hurried to the bedroom.
But when he stepped inside, what he saw was—Zhou Zhuofei curled up on the bed, completely wrapped in the blanket like a cocoon.
"What's wrong?"
Zhou Zhuofei didn’t answer. Instead, she wriggled under the blanket, resembling nothing so much as a squirming caterpillar.
Amused by the sight, Xiao Wang couldn’t help but chuckle. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed, patting the blanket-covered lump. "Did you lose a game, or was there an anime plot you didn’t like?"
A muffled voice emerged from beneath the blanket. "Neither. I think I might be dreaming right now."
"Why would you think that? Don’t stay buried like that."
Xiao Wang tried to pull the blanket away, but Zhou Zhuofei resisted fiercely. After a brief tug-of-war, he gave up.
"Can’t you just tell me?"
"Take a deep breath first." Zhou Zhuofei was genuinely worried Xiao Wang might faint—after all, she had nearly done the same earlier.
Hearing this, Xiao Wang’s expression shifted from curiosity to concern. He inhaled deeply, steadying himself. "Okay, I’m ready."
"Then…" Reluctantly, Zhou Zhuofei lifted a corner of the blanket, revealing most of her face.
"Look…"
Xiao Wang’s gaze followed her movement. "Look at wh—"
The last word died in his throat. What was he seeing?
Xiao Wang stared in disbelief at the top of Zhou Zhuofei’s head. There, perched atop her hair, were two fluffy, triangular ears—black on the outside, white on the inside, covered in soft fur. They looked exactly like cat ears.
Suppressing his shock, he forced his voice to remain calm. "How did this happen?"
Zhou Zhuofei’s face crumpled. "I don’t know! I just woke up feeling… off."
In truth, she hadn’t noticed the ears at first. What had tipped her off was something poking uncomfortably beneath her while she slept.
After some fumbling under the covers, she pulled out a black, furry tail and showed it to Xiao Wang. "And there’s this too."
The sight of the tail nearly made Xiao Wang’s mind go blank.
No wonder Zhou Zhuofei had asked if she was dreaming. Who would expect something like this to happen in real life?
But this wasn’t Xiao Wang’s first encounter with the supernatural.
Not long ago, he had inexplicably traveled back in time. Though it had felt like a dream, he later found a keychain with Huanyu’s logo in his drawer—a small gift given only at employee birthday parties.
That had convinced him his experience hadn’t been a dream. He really had gone back three years.
If he could accept time travel, then Zhou Zhuofei suddenly growing cat ears wasn’t entirely unbelievable, right?
Logically, yes. But the visual impact was still overwhelming.
Xiao Wang couldn’t help but study the ears again. The difference between these and costume props was night and day. He could even see the faint outline of veins beneath the fur, and the ears twitched slightly with Zhou Zhuofei’s breathing.
No current technology could replicate something so lifelike.
The ears moved so naturally that Xiao Wang couldn’t resist reaching out to touch one.
The texture was similar to a real cat’s ear—soft, dense fur, cool at the edges but slightly warmer near the base.
"Does this hurt?"
"No, but it feels weird." Having an extra pair of ears was disorienting, to say the least.
"Any other physical sensations? Discomfort anywhere?"
"Not really?"
Xiao Wang insisted on giving her a quick checkup, but Zhou Zhuofei couldn’t shake the feeling they were missing the point.
"Why did I suddenly grow ears?!"
As her agitation rose, her ears flicked outward.
"Is it because I watch too much anime? But I don’t even like catgirls!!!"
"Hey, hey, calm down."
Xiao Wang’s soothing tone helped steady her. While she racked her brain for anything unusual from the day before, she followed his instructions, raising her arms and turning in place.
She hadn’t met any strange strangers, picked up odd objects, or insulted any artists. So why had she turned into a catgirl?
Had some novelist suddenly decided to switch genres from CEO romances to urban fantasy?
As Zhou Zhuofei’s thoughts spiraled, a tingling sensation shot up from her tailbone, spreading like an electric current. She let out a small gasp.
Snatching her tail back from Xiao Wang’s grasp, she hugged it protectively. "Stop touching it!"
By now, Xiao Wang had confirmed that aside from the ears and tail, Zhou Zhuofei seemed perfectly healthy. He relaxed slightly.
"At least there’s no health issue."
"No health issue?! This is the biggest issue possible!" Zhou Zhuofei waved her tail in distress. "What about work the day after tomorrow?"
It was late summer, early autumn—many people were still in summer clothes. There was no hiding ears and a tail.
Huanyu wasn’t like Du Yu’s anime-centric company, where she could pass it off as cosplay. If she tried that excuse here, she’d be reported for "bizarre attire" by the next day.
Xiao Wang thought for a moment. "Take a few days off? Rest at home?"
"But I can’t stay home forever! What if this is permanent? What then?"
After serious consideration, Xiao Wang said, "If it really doesn’t reverse, you might need a career change. Going outside would be difficult too—only during colder months, maybe."
"I hate going out, but I still want the option!" Zhou Zhuofei’s ears drooped as she slumped dejectedly. "I used to fantasize about stuff like this as a kid. It seemed fun. But now that it’s real, it’s terrifying."
"Don’t be scared." Xiao Wang immediately pulled her into a hug, stroking her back gently. "I’m here. We’ll figure it out."
"Really?"
"Of course. Take the day off, and we’ll research solutions together."
"Okay!"
Getting leave was surprisingly easy. With no urgent tasks lately, Zhou Zhuofei simply notified Ye Ru, and her Monday off was approved.
Soon, she and Xiao Wang sat side by side, each on a laptop, scouring the internet for answers.
Unsurprisingly, the web offered no direct solutions. But by searching terms like "cat transformation," Zhou Zhuofei stumbled upon plenty of bizarre anecdotes and urban legends.
For example, there was someone abroad who desperately wanted to become a cat, so they spent money on cosmetic surgery to make themselves look as much like a cat as possible. The end result could only be described as both bizarre and horrifying.
But Zhou Zhuofei found some comfort in this. She showed the photo to Xiao Wang and said, "Well, at least my situation isn’t the worst."
Xiao Wang replied, "Actually, you look quite cute like this."
"Cute is cute, but it’s still weird!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Zhuofei felt something brush against her tail. She turned around and saw that the director had appeared out of nowhere, completely captivated by her tail, chasing after it in an attempt to catch it.
Strangely, Zhou Zhuofei’s tail seemed to have a mind of its own, deftly evading the director’s grasp without her needing to control it at all.
"What a silly cat," Zhou Zhuofei sighed helplessly after watching for a while. "Doesn’t it realize its owner isn’t normal anymore?"
"Animals identify things by scent, so it knows you’re still you," Xiao Wang reassured her.
Zhou Zhuofei pouted at this. Though she didn’t say anything, her drooping ears betrayed her low spirits.
If she were still eighteen, she might have been thrilled, feeling like she’d been chosen by fate.
But now, at nearly twenty-eight, her life was supposed to be stable. Everything had been going so well—until this absurd twist. No matter how optimistic a person was, it was impossible to stay cheerful in such a situation.
All she could think was that her life kept getting disrupted.
She hated this feeling so much!
Xiao Wang noticed her unhappiness and set his laptop aside, turning to her seriously. "Honestly, have you ever thought about a backup plan?"
"What backup plan?"
"Like, aside from your job at Huanyu, do you have any other ideas? Or did you decide right after graduation that you wanted to stick with administrative work?"
"Of course not. At first, I wanted to stay in the world of anime and make a difference, just like Du Yu. But then I got the offer from Huanyu, and that was that."
"Either way, it shows you have aspirations."
"I guess so. But it’s not like we should romanticize the paths we didn’t take. Even Du Yu complains about her job sometimes."
"I’ve thought about it too—if it weren’t for General Manager Ling, I might’ve gone into technical work."
"Technical work would suit you well. You’ve always been full of ideas and see things from angles most people don’t. Administrative work is something you can handle, but your strengths don’t really get to shine there. Maybe this is a chance for you to try something new. There are plenty of jobs now that can be done remotely, right?"
"That’s true. But finding the right fit isn’t easy."
"No one’s born knowing what they’re meant to do. Before, you didn’t have the luxury of choice, but that doesn’t mean you don’t now. I’m not saying you have to do anything, but given the circumstances, this might be a good opportunity. And I can support you through it."
After years of working, Zhou Zhuofei had some savings, plus the compensation from earlier and Xiao Wang’s help with investments, so she wasn’t exactly struggling financially.
Money wasn’t her biggest worry, though. What really bothered her was…
She looked at Xiao Wang, who showed no discomfort with her new appearance. Instead, he kept comforting her and helping her figure things out.
Without a word, Zhou Zhuofei buried her face against his chest. "Why use your money? I have my own."
"I know, but there’s no need to draw such a clear line between yours and mine."
Xiao Wang patted her head, inevitably brushing against her cat ears again. "Besides, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. You never liked going out for work anyway—maybe this is fate’s way of letting you live life on your own terms."
Zhou Zhuofei felt herself almost convinced. But could things really be resolved so easily?
"If you ever want to go outside, we could move somewhere remote. I have a friend who’s planning to buy a farm for retirement."
Zhou Zhuofei was stunned. "Wait, are you serious?"
Xiao Wang’s tone was so calm that she began to suspect he’d been thinking about this for a long time and was only bringing it up now.
But it was precisely his attitude that gave her a sense of security. "Whatever happens, don’t be afraid or panic. No matter what, you’re still you."
When you find someone you love, you hold onto them—how could these problems ever stand in the way?
After discussing things all day, Xiao Wang pulled Zhou Zhuofei into playing her favorite game that night to cheer her up. They played until midnight before finally falling asleep.
The next morning, the first thing Zhou Zhuofei did upon waking was touch her head.
The cat ears were gone!!!
She immediately reached for her tail—nothing there either. Had she really turned back?
Just to be sure, she rushed to the mirror. Sure enough, everything was back to normal!
Returning to normal instantly lifted her mood. She even regretted not taking photos to commemorate the experience—though, given how she’d felt yesterday, she probably wouldn’t have been in the mood anyway.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door. Zhou Zhuofei couldn’t wait to share the good news with Xiao Wang.
"Great news! We don’t have to move—"
Her words died in her throat as she pointed at Xiao Wang’s head in shock. Standing upright there were a pair of gray ears.
"You… how did you…?"
Xiao Wang gave her a wry smile. "Seems like it’s my turn now."
