The Best Actress Is a Cat - Chapter 5

Lin Duanduan sat to the side and waited, looking up eagerly in an especially obedient manner.

She really was a little surprised, because today’s soup base was actually spicy…

Ji Lan controlled how much spicy food she ate quite strictly. If she could make her eat less, then she would make her eat less. So what was going on tonight? If Ji Lan had not been possessed by something dirty, then there was only one other possibility…

Did she want to eat cat tonight?

Cats were so cute. You couldn’t eat cats! And when Lin Duanduan was little, she had been a stray cat, so she counted as wild game. You couldn’t eat wild game!

Ji Lan had raised Lin Duanduan for quite some time now. Many of this cat’s emotions were written directly on her face, and Ji Lan could see through them with one glance. For a moment, she did not even know where to begin complaining. After all, she was not naturally the type to make snarky remarks.

Ji Lan patted Lin Duanduan’s head. “Don’t think nonsense.”

At first, she had not let Lin Duanduan eat spicy food because cats really could not eat spicy things. Later, after discovering that Lin Duanduan was not quite the same as an ordinary cat and could eat a little spice, she still controlled the amount because eating too much would make Lin Duanduan feel unwell.

Lin Duanduan had not eaten spicy food in a long time. Letting her have one meal was not a big deal.

After Lin Duanduan confirmed that Ji Lan did not want to eat cat, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Resting her chin in her hands, she began waiting for the soup base to boil. The numbing, spicy, fresh, and fragrant hot pot broth gradually released its aroma as it came to a boil.

The little cat was almost unable to restrain herself. She twisted back and forth on her chair, staring eagerly at the pot. She even wanted to reach out and touch it.

Many cats were like this. Ji Lan calmly tapped her little hand from the side to keep her from burning herself. Although a cat demon probably could not be burned by this bit of heat, cats were naturally very afraid of hot things. Who knew whether cat demons were the same?

But very soon, the soup base began boiling. Ji Lan started adding the ingredients one by one, while Lin Duanduan directed her from the side. “Shrimp first! I want shrimp!”

“You can also put in a little fish! That cooks super quickly!”

So Ji Lan put in the things she liked first and let Lin Duanduan pick them out to eat. Lin Duanduan ate very happily. The tender white fish and sweet shrimp were placed into the hot broth, rolled around a couple of times, and then fished out once they changed color. Then, dipped into the sauce she had mixed herself, they were so delicious that the cat was practically bubbling with joy.

Lin Duanduan loved vinegar very much. When making dipping sauce, she usually added sesame paste, vinegar, chili oil, sesame oil, chopped scallions, and a little oyster sauce.

She could eat a whole shrimp in one bite! In any case, she ate very happily.

While eating, she also told Ji Lan about what had happened on set today, just like a child coming home from school and telling her mother stories about what happened during the day.

Ji Lan had heard her talk about ghosts before. Since cat demons existed, wasn’t it only natural for ghosts to exist too?

However, Lin Duanduan had once said that there were very few demons in this world, while there were many ghosts.

There were few demons because of two problems. First, the process of becoming a spirit was already extremely difficult. Most animals had limited lifespans. For example, cats and dogs that could live to twenty years old were already considered very long-lived.

Within such a limited life, wanting to awaken spiritual intelligence, step onto the path of cultivation, and successfully become a spirit before death was far too difficult.

Second, of course, was because there seemed to be a gap among demons. For some unknown reason, everyone could discover traces left behind by the demons of the past, but could no longer find a single living, very old demon. The demons that currently existed were all little demons. In demon terms, being over a hundred years old counted as a junior among juniors.

Some demons speculated that perhaps the demons of the past had experienced an extinction-level disaster. However, no one had found any clues, and gradually, no one paid attention to the matter anymore.

So there were very few existing demons. Lin Duanduan had seen a few before. Back then, they had not been doing very well. Some would pretend to be gods and ghosts in small mountain villages to get a little offering. Some simply changed back to their original forms, pretended to be ordinary animals, and became pets in human households to freeload food and drink.

Later, as the times gradually developed, some smarter demons kept up with the times and began doing quite well. As for some who were both weak and stupid, hmmm…

Here was an example. There was a mouse spirit with very poor cultivation who was still in prison now, locked up for fraud and theft.

And because he was too weak, he could not even escape. Lin Duanduan heard that he had been digging a tunnel the whole time with a single spoon. She thought that maybe after digging for a few hundred years, he would be able to get out.

Too pitiful.

But she was different! She had Ji Lan!

This two-legged beast offered delicious food to her every day. She herself also had a job now, and in the future, she would earn money to support the two-legged beast at home!

“Do you want to eat this?” Ji Lan cooked a little beef tripe for her.

Lin Duanduan quite liked beef tripe because it had a nice texture when bitten. She ate while talking about Tang Lili’s situation. After finishing, she smacked her lips. “But it has nothing to do with me.”

Ji Lan was not the sort of person who liked meddling in other people’s business either, so she would not encourage Lin Duanduan to help. After all, in her heart, Lin Duanduan was still a little cat. What if she could not win?

No matter how Ji Lan thought about it, her own cat was more important.

Lin Duanduan ate a lot, a lot. In the end, her little belly became round from eating. After eating and drinking her fill, she was very unwilling to slump around in human form, so she finally turned herself into a super huge big cat and lay on the soft carpet, entering sage mode.

Ji Lan did not have any particular love for hot pot, so she did not eat much. At the very least, she was not as uncontrolled as this cat.

There was also another very important reason she did not like eating hot pot. After eating hot pot, the smell of hot pot would linger in the room for a long time and would not disperse no matter what.

She also did not like things like air fresheners. She always felt that those scents were unnatural, and they were not comfortable to smell either.

Ji Lan diligently cleaned the room. When she returned and looked over, the big cat was lying on the carpet with her belly facing upward, her four limbs stretched out, and her tail sweeping back and forth like a broom.

The big cat was spread out in the shape of the character “太.” Occasionally, she would even make sweet little mewing sounds like a milk kitten. The whole cat looked relaxed and happy. Clearly, she had eaten to her heart’s content.

What could be done? A cat raised at home could only be spoiled!

Because she had eaten hot pot the day before, Lin Duanduan was still in an excellent mood the next day. This was probably what people meant by a lingering aftertaste. However, as soon as she arrived at the crew, before she had even filmed two scenes, she received some unfortunate news from the director.

After filming the morning scenes, they would get off work early and go to the hospital to visit Tang Lili.

Tang Lili’s injury could be considered serious, yet not that serious. It was not to the point where everyone needed to visit her together, but her mental state seemed very poor. After thinking it over, the director decided they should still go see her as a group.

In fact, not many people were going. It was just a few of the main actors, and naturally, Lin Duanduan was included.

Lin Duanduan had absolutely no interest in visiting someone at the hospital. Then the director added that after visiting Tang Lili, he would treat everyone to a meal.

The director was treating!

Lin Duanduan immediately became happy again. There was also another very important reason why she became happy. Their director was also an old gourmet. He had treated them to meals twice before, and each time, the place he chose had been excellent. In any case, the food had been delicious.

The happiness of being able to eat delicious food canceled out her displeasure at having to visit Tang Lili, so Lin Duanduan’s mood was still pretty good.

Their group went to the hospital. They had just gone upstairs and reached the ward door when, before they even entered, they heard Tang Lili’s collapsing voice.

“There’s something that’s been haunting me the whole time! It wants to kill me! It’s definitely not my imagination!”

“I’m not crazy. I’ve been having nightmares all this time! And I can feel it. It’s been following me all along… I’m going to die… I really am going to die!”

“Is someone trying to hurt me? Someone must be trying to hurt me!”

Her voice was sharp and piercing, and one could even hear a hint of breakdown in it.

Clearly, she had indeed been deeply troubled during this period.

As she spoke, she began crying aloud, sobbing as she said, “If this goes on, I really will die! Who exactly is trying to hurt me… Who is it?”

At this moment, the director had already knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a woman came over and opened it. The woman who opened the door wore glasses and a proper professional outfit. She seemed to be Tang Lili’s manager.

There was still a faint crease between her brows. Clearly, she was worrying over Tang Lili’s situation. There was no helping it. Tang Lili was one of the most popular artists under her management. Popularity meant money, and if something happened to Tang Lili, her interests would be damaged too.

Moreover, Tang Lili’s current mental state was truly very poor. If something really happened next… it would not be easy for her to handle either.

But after seeing the director, she still forced a smile. “Please come in. You’re here to see Lili, right? The doctor said Lili’s injuries aren’t very serious. She’ll be able to return to work after some time. I’m truly sorry for troubling you and wasting so much of everyone’s time.”

The director hurriedly waved his hand. “This happened on set in the first place, so I also bear some responsibility. It’s good that it isn’t serious.”

Everyone had brought some gifts, such as fruit baskets and supplements. Lin Duanduan blended in among them, keeping an extremely low profile.

After entering the room, she kept looking at Tang Lili. The black energy around Tang Lili was still about as serious as before. It had even become more turbulent as her mental state worsened.

This was very normal. The worse a person’s mental state was, the worse their physical condition would become. It was just like how, after one’s physical condition worsened, the immune system would decline. When a person’s mental state was poor, they were more easily affected by things like ghosts.

She must have still been having nightmares, so her mental state was deteriorating day by day. Coupled with what had happened in the past two days, she was now already on the verge of collapse.

She looked a little pitiful. Lin Duanduan thought, Fine, I’ll temporarily forgive her.

Who would have known that at this moment, Tang Lili would suddenly look at Lin Duanduan with a ferocious expression.

“Earlier, you were the one staring at me the whole time. Are you the one trying to hurt me?”