Chapter 2
“It was a dark and stormy night, the wind howled fiercely, and flies swarmed the mountain of garbage.”
“I, with a pa, unleashed a swift left kick, and then with another pa, a right roundhouse kick! That scoundrel, Sang Biao, was beaten back steadily by me, and finally fled in defeat. And so, I snatched this sausage from the jaws of a cat!”
In a narrow alley, in the innermost corner, a few grayish pieces of cardboard were haphazardly laid out. The eaves above barely blocked the drizzling rain.
Jiang Heng circled the perimeter of the cardboard, pushing the half-eaten sausage inwards. “This is the spoils of war that I fought so hard for. The remaining half is all yours.” The kitten looked up, exceptionally generous.
After speaking, he dragged out the biscuit box he’d been carrying. “This biscuit is also what I found. Clean and not expired, just tastes a bit strange.”
In the corner, a thin orange cat lay on the cardboard, its slightly cloudy eyes fixed on Jiang Heng. After confirming that he had no injuries, it lowered its head and took a bite of the sausage.
Kittens of this age are typically full of energy. Even when the old orange cat remained silent, he could chatter to himself for a long time.
But today, for some unknown reason, Jiang Heng’s voice gradually trailed off after a while.
The orange cat looked at him and saw the dirty little kitten lying beside it, looking listless.
The orange cat stopped eating and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Jiang Heng stared at the raindrops falling from the eaves, flicked his tail, and then, seeing the singed half of his tail fur, tucked his tail under his bottom in disgust.
“Nothing…”
He rested his head on the floor, his ears drooping slowly with a sigh.
“Let me tell you the truth. There was actually no epic battle between Jiang Heng and Sang Biao. A kind man gave me the sausage, and I dug the biscuits out of the garbage.”
“Big Yellow, I’m so useless. You broke your leg saving me, but I can’t even take care of you.”
The orange cat didn’t speak, but turned its head and licked the kitten’s fur. But it didn’t know how the kitten had gotten so dirty; after licking for a long time, it didn’t get cleaner, but instead became even darker.
The orange cat fell silent.
Jiang Heng: Hehe.
He backed away a little embarrassedly.
He wasn’t this dirty when he first arrived. Those mischievous kids burned his tail with a lighter, and he was luckily saved by the orange cat.
Later, those mischievous kids held a grudge against him.
However, he learned his lesson and ran away whenever he saw them. He was small, and he could squeeze into any hole, where no one could find him.
But those nasty kids also learned their lesson and started using food to lure him.
Jiang Heng wasn’t that stupid, and he knew it was a trap, but he couldn’t find any food during that time.
Even though he knew it was a trap, he still couldn’t resist taking the risk.
Fortunately, he escaped the kids’ siege, but he was splashed with some unknown mixture of dirty water that he couldn’t wash off no matter how hard he tried.
He instantly became the dirtiest kitten in the urban village.
His sudden low mood vanished as quickly as it came. Jiang Heng flipped over and got up, stepping into a nearby puddle, trying to clean his dirty paws.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
The rain gradually subsided. Darkness spread, and the alley was pitch black, with only occasional light leaking from the residential buildings in the distance.
The orange cat finished the sausage, ate a biscuit, went to the puddle to drink some water, and then lay back down in its original spot.
It needed a lot of time to rest and recover from its injury.
The weaned kitten regained its energy and started pawing at pebbles beside the orange cat.
While playing, it painted a picture for the orange cat.
“When I find my family, I’ll take you to live in a villa. We’ll have endless freeze-dried food and canned food, and you can eat whatever you want, sleep in whatever size cat bed you want.”
Since being rescued, the kitten had been saying these things every day, and the orange cat had gotten used to it.
It flicked its tail in the darkness and asked Jiang Heng, “Who are your family members? Your mother? Isn’t she a stray cat?”
Jiang Heng paused his pebble-pawing, his voice still cheerful.
“No, let me tell you a secret. Actually, I’m not a cat…”
The kitten perked up its ears, its eyes wide and round in the darkness.
“I’m a human!”
The orange cat stopped flicking its tail and lowered its head to lick its injured leg, unfazed by this claim.
“I really am a human! I was sitting in the car just fine, and then a big truck came from the opposite direction, and splat, I was crushed into a meat patty.”
“I thought I was completely dead, but when I opened my eyes, I had become a cat.”
After licking its leg, the orange cat pushed the uneaten biscuits towards Jiang Heng.
The early spring chill deepened, and the later the night, the lower the temperature dropped.
Jiang Heng huddled next to the orange cat for warmth and opened his mouth to take a bite of the biscuit.
With one bite, the wasabi flavor shot straight up to his head. His eyes watered from the spiciness, but he was still reluctant to spit it out.
This was clean!
Not a rotten apple, not fly-infested meat, not expired bread…
A real man should be able to handle a little wasabi.
To distract himself, he started to chatter to the orange cat about his past.
Anyway, he was a cat now, and his listener was also a cat. No one would question whether what he said was true or false.
“I have a mom and dad, and a brother. Mom and dad were very good to me. The room I lived in before was wider and bigger than this alley, with big glass windows, and it was kept so clean.”
“The housekeeper’s cooking was also delicious. She could make Dongpo Pork, Mock Crab, Eight Treasure Pig, Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, Braised Prawns in Oil, Mapo Tofu, Braised Eggplant, Hongshao Pork…”
Jiang Heng started reciting dishes, and the more he talked, the worse the biscuit in his mouth tasted.
Wuwuwu… he hated wasabi!
The orange cat licked him comfortingly.
“So, can you go back once you find them?”
Jiang Heng stopped chewing.
The orange cat added, “You can eat all those things when you go back.”
Jiang Heng swallowed the biscuit and scratched the box with his paw, making a scraping sound.
“I can’t go back.”
The kitten’s voice was low. “I can’t go back.”
The orange cat didn’t quite understand. “Why can’t you go back? Can’t you find the way?”
Jiang Heng organized his words so that the orange cat could understand.
“The reason they were so good to me is because I was their child. But now I’m a cat, not their child, so they can’t treat me the way they used to.”
The orange cat still didn’t quite get it.
“Wouldn’t it be okay if you became a two-legged creature again?”
Jiang Heng pawed at the ground, his round eyes drooping, losing their usual sparkle.
“No, because…”
He paused for a few seconds before continuing, “Because even if I become human again, I won’t be their child anymore.”
He was a thief, stealing another person’s happy eighteen years.
The orange cat still didn’t quite understand, but it sensed the kitten’s low spirits, so it started licking his fur again.
There’s no sadness that licking fur can’t solve.
If there is, then it’s not being licked properly.
This time it licked with a bit too much force. Jiang Heng was licked so hard he had to stretch his neck and was almost pushed out of the cardboard box.
He dodged the orange cat’s heavy affection and comforted it, “But it’s okay. Even without mom, dad, and brother, I still have a good friend.”
Speaking of his good friend, he tapped his paws on the floor, his tail involuntarily lifting.
“Have I told you about him?”
The orange cat hesitantly shook its head.
Jiang Heng immediately sat up straight, his eyes shining.
“He’s my best, best friend. We grew up together and only separated when he went to university.”
“His name is Lu Yichuan. He’s tall and handsome, has a great personality, and is gentle to everyone. If I go to him, he will definitely take care of me!”
“But he’s too kind. I don’t know if anyone will bully him after I die, and I don’t know…”
If he would be sad.
“So, are you going to look for him?”
The orange cat asked.
Jiang Heng’s raised tail slowly drooped. He looked down at his dirty paws and averted his eyes in embarrassment.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
His death was too sudden, and turning into a cat was also too sudden, so sudden that he didn’t even know how to face them.
Face his death, face the fact that he had become a cat, and…
His identity.
The orange cat tried to understand his feelings.
“You said you were a two-legged creature before and now you’ve become a cat. Are you afraid to look for him because you’re afraid he’ll be scared of you?”
After all, if Jiang Heng told other cats he was a two-legged creature, they would also be afraid of him.
“He wouldn’t!” Jiang Heng insisted. “Lu Yichuan is gentle and kind, and has such a good temper. How could he be afraid of me?”
“Besides…”
The cardboard underneath was almost shredded by Jiang Heng’s claws.
“We’re best, best friends.”
Zhao Shuo came out of the tutor’s office with Lu Yichuan.
After a week of continuous rain, it finally cleared up today. The sun shone obliquely into the corridor, cut into pieces of light and shadow by the railings.
They met a junior female student in the corridor who was looking for Lu Yichuan.
The junior student had excellent grades and was directly recommended for postgraduate studies under Lu Yichuan’s tutor. If nothing unexpected happened, she would be his junior sister in a few months.
However, she was currently worried about her graduation thesis and came to Lu Yichuan for help.
The man wore a white shirt today. Sunlight fell on his side profile, his long eyelashes casting shadows. His slender fingertips flipped through the freshly printed thesis.
He was looking at the thesis; the junior student was looking at him.
Lu Yichuan was very famous at A University. He came from a wealthy family, had excellent grades, was handsome, and had no airs. Even his temper was unbelievably good.
It was hard to imagine such a perfect man, but Lu Yichuan met all these standards. Even men couldn’t find any fault with him.
She met Lu Yichuan thanks to her thesis advisor.
Her teacher was nearing retirement age and wasn’t in good health, often taking leave. When he was on leave, Lu Yichuan substituted for him.
Naturally, most of the students he taught went to him to review their theses.
Faced with so much tedious work, Lu Yichuan wasn’t annoyed and patiently reviewed everyone’s thesis.
In Zhao Shuo’s words: Even a beast of burden had a better life than him.
Lu Yichuan scanned through the thesis and asked the student a few questions.
Flustered by his impactful presence, the student stammered through her answers.
While she was answering, Lu Yichuan looked into her eyes.
The noisy sounds echoed around him; he seemed to be listening, but also not.
The student had large, round eyes. Because she was meeting her senior, she wore light makeup and false eyelashes.
The man’s fingertips slowly traced across the ink-scented pages, his eyes lowered, focused only on her eyes.
A little bigger would be better.
He thought absently.
A little bigger, a little rounder, preferably with brown pupils, a glassy brown that would gleam in the sun.
Her eyelashes weren’t as curled, though they were long, and they would tremble slightly when his fingertips brushed past.
He didn’t think the girl’s eyes resembled the ones he was thinking of. It was just that seeing a flower outside made him think of the one he had at home.
“Senior?”
Lu Yichuan returned to his senses, closed the thesis in his hand, and handed it back to the student, smiling gently. “There are no major problems, but the evidence for your second point is too weak. I suggest you go back and collect more relevant data.”
Seeing his gaze still on her, the girl blushed.
She looked at Lu Yichuan and, summoning her courage, took a ticket out of her bag.
“Thank you, Senior, for your help recently. I heard you like musicals, and there’s a famous musical this weekend. Can I invite you to go?”
Lu Yichuan looked away. The sunlight fell on him, making him appear clean and almost translucent.
“Sorry,” he smiled, “I have a part-time job this weekend.”
The girl bit her lip. “But…”
Before she could finish, the man had already walked past her.
His clean white shirt brushed against her, and a faint jasmine scent lingered in the air.
The first thing Lu Yichuan did when he returned to his dormitory was to disinfect and wash his hands. The wind ruffled the pages of the “Mathematical Logic” book on his desk.
As he finished washing his hands, his phone rang.
The man wiped the water droplets from his fingertips and answered the call.
“Lu…Lu-ge, A-Chen, he…he went gambling again.”
Lu Yichuan threw the paper towel into the trash can, picked up a glass, and filled it with water. The watch on his left wrist glittered in the sunlight.
“How much did he lose?”
The person on the other end of the phone gulped.
“T-twelve…twelve thousand. The debt collectors are blocking the club, saying they’ll trash the place if we don’t pay up.”
The man took a sip of water, the corners of his lips curving into a smile.
“Quite fierce. But I have a question I’m very curious about. Criminals are blocking your place of business, and you’re not calling the police, but calling me? Are you hoping I’ll pay the twelve thousand for him?”
His speech was unhurried, his tone gentle, but the person on the other end seemed to have heard something terrifying, trembling involuntarily with fear.
“S-sorry, I also thought about calling the police, but Lin Chen wouldn’t let me. He told me to call you, saying that you have such a good temper, you’d help him.”
Lu Yichuan slowly said, “Is my temper really that good?”
The manager was stunned. Hearing his gentle retort, he felt his scalp tingle.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but before he could speak, Lu Yichuan interrupted him.
His tone was slightly exasperated, as if dealing with an unreasonable request, and even though he wasn’t happy, he still offered a solution.
“Since Mr. Lin is unwilling to call the police and unwilling to pay back the money, and is so eager to gamble, have him cut off two fingers and apologize to the debt collectors. Such a sincere apology, I think they’ll be understanding.”
“Oh, and…”
He placed the glass on the table, making a crisp clinking sound.
“Make sure he doesn’t dirty the club’s floor.”
