After Death, I Became My Childhood Friend’s Cat 11

Chapter 11

Jiang Heng didn’t know when he fell asleep.

The scent of jasmine filled his dreams.

It wasn’t a scent Lu Yichuan usually wore; he preferred bitter and astringent fragrances. Jasmine was what he liked.

When he was little, Lu Yichuan gave him a jasmine plant. However, his gardening skills weren’t very good, and after two years, not only did it not bloom, but its leaves also became increasingly wilted. He was afraid the jasmine plant would wither away resentfully in his care, so he had no choice but to take it to Lu Yichuan.

At that time, Lu Yichuan was in his first year of high school, tall and thin. His already loose-fitting home clothes made him look even thinner.

Jiang Heng was just a little sprout in middle school, constantly being fed by Lu Yichuan in various ways, focused only on growing horizontally, round and chubby. When he came in carrying the pot, he looked like a clumsy penguin.

Lu Yichuan took the pot from him, placed a hand on his waist, and easily lifted him into his arms.

Their bodies, one big and one small, nestled together naturally, and no one would find this way of interacting strange. They had embraced like this for years.

Jiang Heng leaned back, feeling the bony press of Lu Yichuan’s chest, so he shifted his position and pointed at the plant, complaining to Lu Yichuan.

“Look at the flower you gave me, it won’t bloom at all. You lied to me, saying it was jasmine.”

The afternoon sun was bright, and the young man’s laughter was lazy and pleasant. “The flower is almost dead because of you, and you’re blaming it for not blooming?”

Jiang Heng pouted. “It’s too delicate. I water it every day, and it still looks like this. What can I do?”

Lu Yichuan wrapped his arms around his waist, rested his head on his shoulder, and gently touched the wilted leaves of the jasmine plant. His warm breath tickled Jiang Heng’s ear as he spoke.

“By ‘watering it every day,’ do you mean not watering it for ten days or half a month, and then drenching it all at once?”

Jiang Heng: “…”

Lu Yichuan continued, “Now that it’s almost dead, you bring it over for me to clean up your mess, right?”

Jiang Heng kicked his leg with a sullen face. “Is it my fault? If you hadn’t given me this flower, I wouldn’t have to take care of it.”

The young man caught his leg and squeezed it playfully. “Little Jiang Heng, I’ve noticed you’re quite good at shifting blame. Who was it who saw this flower at the flower market and refused to leave? You dragged me there and insisted on buying it, saying it was an early birthday present. Now it sounds like I begged you to take it.”

Jiang Heng puffed out his cheeks. “Lu Yichuan, you’re so annoying.”

A slight vibration came from the chest behind him, followed by laughter, gradually increasing in volume, until Jiang Heng couldn’t help but poke him in the back.

Lu Yichuan caught his hand, his slender fingers wrapping around his soft palm, his tone both exasperated and indulgent. “I think this endangered jasmine can still be saved. Rongrong has kindly moved it to a new home. Come back in a few months and see if it blooms.”

Jiang Heng, hearing the teasing in his words, puffed out his cheeks again. “Lu Yichuan, you’re really annoying!”

“Should I apologize then?”

“Is this your way of apologizing?”

Jiang Heng, still held around the waist, was turned around in Lu Yichuan’s lap, so they were now face to face. His back pressed against the table, the young man’s face close to his, sunlight streaming through the window and reflecting in his dark, smiling eyes.

“Then what constitutes a sincere apology? Kneeling down and begging Lord Rongrong for forgiveness? Or perhaps, making Lord Rongrong comfortable first? How about making something delicious?”

Jiang Heng tilted his head and thought for a moment.

“I want sweet and sour spareribs.”

And so dinner was decided. With nothing to do, Jiang Heng lay in Lu Yichuan’s arms, watching him do his homework. After a while, he tilted his head and sniffed at the young man’s neck.

“What’s that smell on you?”

Lu Yichuan stopped writing and pushed his furry head away. “I went to an event with my dad this morning. It must be the perfume.”

“What is that scent? I’ve never smelled it before.”

The young man, afraid he was bored, broke off a piece of biscuit and put it in his mouth, answering casually, “Bitter orange.”

Lu Yichuan rarely changed the things he liked. Later, this scent lingered on his clothes, accompanying Jiang Heng for several years.

He hadn’t expected that after years apart, the first scent to fill his nostrils would be the sweet fragrance of jasmine.

…

Jiang Heng was still in a daze when he woke up. The jasmine scent had dissipated, replaced by the faint smell of disinfectant.

A bright fluorescent light shone above him, and he heard snippets of conversation.

He turned his head and saw Lu Yichuan standing in the light.

The man wore a black jacket, his skin pale. He was looking down, signing something with a pen. He handed the paper to the doctor in a white coat and said emotionlessly, “Thank you for your trouble.”

The doctor took the paper, glanced at Jiang Heng, and hesitated. “Its condition isn’t very good. We can’t guarantee we can cure it…”

“It’s okay,” Lu Yichuan said gently. “Just do your best.”

“But the cost…”

“Don’t worry about the cost. Contact me if you need anything.”

Seeing this, the doctor didn’t say anything more. He took the paper and assured Lu Yichuan, “Our hospital is the best pet hospital in A City. Don’t worry, we will do everything we can to treat it.”

Lu Yichuan’s expression remained unchanged. He zipped his jacket all the way up, covering half his chin, and turned to leave.

Just as he turned, he paused, glanced at the cage beside him, and met Jiang Heng’s eyes.

The same round eyes, a luxury even in his dreams, unexpectedly found in a cat.

How could a cat’s eyes resemble a human’s? But every time he met those eyes, Lu Yichuan felt a strange sense of familiarity.

Rongrong…

His Rongrong.

His heart clenched sharply, and he turned his head and coughed. After coughing, he reached up and touched his chest, his slightly trembling fingertips feeling the hard outline beneath his clothes.

The sunny weather had changed without him noticing. The sky was overcast, the temperature had dropped, and his body felt cold, the object hanging around his neck icy against his skin.

It wouldn’t warm no matter how hard he tried.

A sweet, metallic taste rose in his throat. Lu Yichuan let go of his hand, stopped looking at the cat in the cage, grabbed his car keys, and left the pet hospital.

Jiang Heng froze, scrambled to his feet, and called out urgently, staring at his retreating figure.

“Meow!”

Lu Yichuan!

The man paused, his head turning almost imperceptibly, but ultimately, he didn’t look back, disappearing from Jiang Heng’s sight.

“…”

Jiang Heng opened his mouth, not understanding why Lu Yichuan had left him.

The doctor comforted him, “Don’t be afraid. He didn’t abandon you. You’re just sick and need to be hospitalized for treatment. Once you’re better, you can go back to him.”

The doctor opened the cage and tentatively touched the kitten with gloved hands. “Don’t be afraid. Shall we give you a bath first? After your bath, we’ll treat your illness, and once you’re better, you can see your owner again.”

The kitten in the cage curled up and lowered its eyes, not reacting to the doctor’s words, but it didn’t resist when the doctor picked it up.

The doctor breathed a sigh of relief and carried the cat to the bathing area.

The assistant was already waiting with the water prepared. Seeing the cat in the doctor’s arms, she frowned sympathetically. “I felt sorry for it when I glanced at it earlier, but now, looking closely, it’s even more pitiful. Good heavens, who could do this to such a small cat?”

The doctor, wearing gloves, ruffled the cat’s fur. “No wonder it’s so dirty. I see glue in it, sticky and gooey. It will probably be very difficult to wash off.”

The assistant asked, “What should we do?”

“Let’s try washing it first. If that doesn’t work, we’ll have to shave its fur.”

The doctor placed the listless kitten into the basin. Whether it was due to illness or something else, the kitten was incredibly docile throughout, not even trying to escape when placed in the water.

The assistant poured water over it. As its fur became wet and matted down, the already small cat looked even more skeletal, the bones on its back protruding. A ladle of water poured over its head immediately turned the water in the basin black.

Jiang Heng flattened his ears, a little embarrassed.

The assistant chuckled. “I thought it was a black cat, but it seems it isn’t.”

She was about to pour a second ladle of water when her eyes suddenly fixed on something. She reached out and parted the fur on Jiang Heng’s back. “Doctor, there’s a wound on its back.”

The doctor came closer and took a look, and indeed, he found a five- or six-centimeter-long cut on the kitten’s back, hidden under its fur. In the warm weather, it was showing signs of infection.

The assistant didn’t dare to bathe it now. She took the cat out of the basin, grabbed a towel, and carefully dried it, not minding the dirt.

“I thought that man looked decent, how could he let the cat get into such a state?”

The doctor said, “This is clearly a stray cat. He was probably just trying to help it. Consider it lucky. With FIP, not even its owner would necessarily save it, let alone a stranger.”

The assistant was silent for a moment, then asked the doctor, “Can it survive?”

The doctor sighed. “I don’t know. It depends on its fate. We can only do our best.”

Now it seemed bathing was out of the question. The doctor found his tools, preparing to shave the kitten’s dirty fur.

But before shaving, he had to inform Lu Yichuan, who had brought the cat in.

The doctor put the call on speakerphone. The phone rang for a long time before it was answered.

When the man’s slightly cold voice came through the phone, Jiang Heng immediately scrambled to his feet.

Seeing him so eager, the doctor held the phone closer to Jiang Heng, who pressed his head against the phone and meowed.

“Meow…”

Lu Yichuan.

The man on the other end paused, his voice colder than Jiang Heng had ever heard it.

“Is something the matter?”

The doctor hurriedly said, “Mr. Lu, we found a wound on the cat’s back. It’s a bit infected, so it’s not suitable for a bath. Do you want us to shave its fur?”

“Oh…” Lu Yichuan said indifferently. “Then shave it.”

Jiang Heng pressed closer to the phone.

“Meow…”

Lu Yichuan…

Beep—

The only response was the dial tone.

The affectionate meow Jiang Heng had been about to make died in his throat.