Chapter 42
Outside the door, Jiang Zhuo’s face was etched with fatigue, while Song Zhang looked murderous.
Lu Yichuan calmly put the cat down. “Go back inside, okay? I’ll talk to them.”
Jiang Heng looked at Song Zhang, then at Jiang Zhuo. Sensing the kitten’s gaze, Jiang Zhuo turned his head and, meeting those glassy eyes, instinctively took a step forward.
Lu Yichuan shifted, blocking his view.
Jiang Heng looked away, said nothing, jumped down from Lu Yichuan’s shoulder, and disappeared inside.
Jiang Zhuo’s gaze followed the white cat until it was out of sight. He turned back to find Lu Yichuan staring at him.
The look in his eyes made Jiang Zhuo frown.
Song Zhang banged on the iron gate. “Lu Yichuan, open the door!”
This time, Lu Yichuan obediently opened the door.
Song Zhang entered, grabbed him, and looked him over, only letting go after confirming he was alright. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know how frantic everyone has been looking for you?”
Lu Yichuan’s self-awareness was clear. “Honestly, besides you, no one would search the world for me.”
Song Zhang choked, thinking, he really was his dad.
Lu Yichuan turned his gaze to Jiang Zhuo. “CEO Jiang, so busy and important, and yet you also came looking for me?”
Song Zhang immediately bristled. “What are you talking about? Without CEO Jiang, I wouldn’t even know where to find your corpse after you’re dead!”
Lu Yichuan responded calmly, “I thought after the last incident, CEO Jiang would be hoping for my early demise.”
Hearing this, Song Zhang remembered that chaotic, terrifying night, the eerie room, and the blood-soaked man.
He looked at Jiang Zhuo, whose face darkened at Lu Yichuan’s words.
It had been a while. The once energetic Jiang Zhuo looked much more tired now, his expression weary despite his impeccable attire, looking much older than his age.
When looking at Lu Yichuan, Jiang Zhuo’s gaze instinctively went to his neck. The man was wearing a crew-neck T-shirt today, his neck long and pale, making the red string stand out.
His gaze lingered on it, unable to look away.
Jiang Zhuo opened his mouth. “We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about between us.” Lu Yichuan said, “If you’re here to check on me, I’m fine. I’m not going to die now, and I won’t be dying in the future. As for anything else…” he looked at Jiang Zhuo, “There’s no need for us to talk.”
The atmosphere instantly turned icy.
Song Zhang looked from one to the other, finally understanding why Jiang Zhuo had agreed to help him.
Jiang Zhuo and Lu Yichuan hadn’t seen each other since that day at the hospital, after Lu Yichuan woke up from his coma.
Jiang Zhuo had thought for a long time, and when he finally made up his mind to talk to Lu Yichuan, he had already disappeared.
Lu Yichuan knew what he wanted, so he had rejected him before he could even speak.
Jiang Zhuo clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “Lu Yichuan, that’s my younger brother!”
Lu Yichuan met his gaze calmly. “Your younger brother is Jiang Xingbai.”
His words were like needles, piercing Jiang Zhuo’s heart. He couldn’t help but take a step forward and grab Lu Yichuan by the collar. “Whether or not we’re related by blood, he still lived with the Jiang family for over ten years! I’m not heartless; I have feelings!”
“So?” Lu Yichuan tilted his head slightly.
His indifference clearly infuriated Jiang Zhuo, but then, as if remembering something, he suppressed his anger, his eyes pleading.
“I’m begging you, okay? He’s gone, just let him rest in peace.”
He didn’t even dare to touch the object beneath Lu Yichuan’s shirt, his gaze recoiling as if burned.
“It’s been four years, just let him rest in peace!”
Lu Yichuan grabbed Jiang Zhuo’s hand and pulled it away from his collar. “Jiang Zhuo, it’s not up to you. Whether what I do is excessive or not, he will be the judge, not you.”
Jiang Zhuo said, “I’m his older brother!”
“I’ll say it again. Your younger brother is Jiang Xingbai. From the moment I gave you that spreadsheet, Jiang Heng has nothing to do with your family anymore.”
He said bluntly, “No one in your family cared about Rongrong when he was alive. Now that he’s dead, don’t pretend to be so possessive of his…remains.”
“…”
Jiang Zhuo’s mouth opened and closed, and he stumbled back. After a few seconds, as if unable to bear it any longer, he bent down, clutching his head, the long-suppressed grief finally pouring out.
“What am I supposed to do? Tell me, what am I supposed to do?! Xingbai is lying in the hospital, critically ill, the doctors say the surgery only has a sixty percent success rate… I can’t do anything…I couldn’t even…put all of Jiang Heng’s…remains together… Lu Yichuan, are you trying to drive me to my death?”
Lu Yichuan squatted down beside him, his voice a soft sigh. “When we were young, you found Jiang Heng annoying, always complaining about how talkative he was. You never wanted to take care of him, always leaving him to the nannies and me. When you grew up, you had countless new toys and friends and naturally didn’t pay much attention to your younger brother.”
“I don’t deny that you loved him, but he never got to experience that love. Then Jiang Xingbai came back, and you felt guilty towards him, and towards Jiang Heng, so you showered Jiang Xingbai with all that missing love.”
“But in the end, you realize you couldn’t keep Jiang Heng back then, and now, facing a critically ill Jiang Xingbai, you’re also helpless.”
Jiang Zhuo’s lips trembled, his face pale, unable to speak.
Lu Yichuan stood up and looked down at him. “If I were you, I would stay by my brother’s side at the hospital.”
“You’ve already broken one brother’s heart, Jiang Zhuo.”
…
After a long silence, Jiang Zhuo wiped his face and stood up.
Lu Yichuan, facing the light, a flicker of warmth returning to his eyes, said, “Rongrong is kind. No matter what happened in the past, he wants you to be happy, more than anyone.”
After Jiang Zhuo left, it took Song Zhang a few seconds to recover from the scene he had just witnessed. He turned to speak to Lu Yichuan, but the man simply smiled faintly.
He asked Song Zhang, “Do you think he genuinely wanted to retrieve Jiang Heng’s remains?”
Song Zhang was taken aback. “Wh-what?”
“He just wants an outlet for his guilt, and now I’ve given him a more convenient excuse to appease his conscience.”
He didn’t deny Jiang Zhuo’s feelings, but he also didn’t overestimate them.
Human nature was what it was; Lu Yichuan didn’t feel sad. On the contrary, he was happy.
Even his connection with Jiang Heng had been severed; now Jiang Heng was truly his, and his alone.
Song Zhang didn’t quite understand what Lu Yichuan meant, but looking at his smile, a chill ran down his spine.
Lu Yichuan returned, bathed in sunlight, to find Jiang Heng trying to reach something under the cabinet with his paws, his butt sticking up in the air.
The man picked him up, examined his dusty paws, and asked, “What are you doing?”
Jiang Heng turned to look under the cabinet. “My mouse ran under there.”
The space under the cabinet was too narrow, even Lu Yichuan couldn’t reach his toy mouse. “It’s dirty under there. I’ll buy you a new one.”
Jiang Heng looked disappointed. “But I’ve bonded with this one.”
Lu Yichuan, thinking of the way he would bite the toy mouse fiercely, said casually, “If the little mouse could think, I don’t think it would appreciate hearing that.”
Jiang Heng: “…”
He raised his paw and, in retaliation, placed it on the man’s shirt. “It’s my only toy, Lu Yichuan, you’re so annoying!”
Lu Yichuan seemed not to notice the dirty paw print on his shirt. “My fault. I’ll take you to buy a new one tomorrow.” He held the cat and observed him for a moment. “Rongrong needs a bath.”
Early in the morning, Jiang Heng was dog-paddling in a basin.
Lu Yichuan, ever the sentimentalist, had prepared rose petals, rubber duckies, and a swimming ring for the cat’s bath. The basin was rather large, and Jiang Heng looked like he was swimming in a pool.
His fur, when wet, flattened against his skin, making him look even smaller, his face still pointed, but his eyes always large.
While Lu Yichuan was searching for the cat shampoo, Jiang Heng paddled to the edge of the basin, his ears drooping, and looked up at him. “Um…this morning, I…” he hesitated, “Why did Jiang Zhuo come to see you?”
Lu Yichuan, having found the shampoo, sat down on a small stool in front of him.
He scooped up some water with a small ladle and poured it over Jiang Heng’s back. “Nothing much. He hadn’t seen me for a while, so he came to check on me.”
“Oh…” Jiang Heng lowered his eyes, then asked, “Then why haven’t you been going out?”
This time, it was Lu Yichuan’s turn to be momentarily stunned. He accidentally poured water over Jiang Heng’s head.
Soaked, Jiang Heng froze, then meowed indignantly and shook his head furiously at the culprit.
Lu Yichuan closed his eyes. His clean clothes were wet again. Seeing the cat still shaking its head, he held its head still.
“Little Jiang Heng, I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Jiang Heng pushed against his hand with his head, trying to escape, then, seeing that he was trapped, looked at him with innocent eyes.
“Meow…”
I didn’t do it on purpose either.
Lu Yichuan: “…”
The man withdrew his hand and said, “You’re so petty.”
Jiang Heng: “?!”
Seeing him about to retaliate, Lu Yichuan quickly held him down. “Alright, alright, time for shampoo.”
The impending war was averted by ocean-scented cat shampoo.
As a human turned cat, Jiang Heng enjoyed baths, and after their reunion, he was even more unrestrained.
The wet kitten climbed into the swimming ring, placed his paws on the sides in a very human-like way, and looked up at his caretaker. “You haven’t washed my back yet! More shampoo!”
The caretaker dutifully obliged.
He flipped over with a giggle. “Wash my paws too! There’s still mud between my toes!”
The caretaker picked up his paw.
…
Little Jiang Heng’s fur was short and dried quickly, not becoming very fluffy even after being blow-dried.
Lu Yichuan placed the cat on the scale, and the scale…didn’t register.
The man frowned and, after searching for a while, found a baby scale and finally got a reading.
1.3 jin.
He recorded the number.
Jiang Heng peered at the scale. “I only weigh this much?”
Lu Yichuan checked online. The number was on the lower end, but still within the normal range. The kitten had suffered a lot before; it would take time for him to gain weight.
He put away his phone, took out a measuring tape, and answered Jiang Heng’s question, “Yes, you’re so small, I could accidentally sit on you and crush you.”
Jiang Heng meowed at him indignantly.
Lu Yichuan squatted down, holding the measuring tape. “Come on, Your Majesty the Cat, extend your leg.”
Jiang Heng extended his leg.
The man looked at his leg. “Done stretching?”
Jiang Heng: “…”
The man measured his leg, then recorded the number in his notebook.
Leg length: 4 cm.
Jiang Heng was horrified. “Impossible!”
Lu Yichuan picked up the cat and measured again. “My mistake, not 4 centimeters.”
He said, “It’s 3.5.”
Jiang Heng: “…”
The world was ending.
