Chapter 37
Jiang Heng woke up to find Lu Yichuan gone.
He stretched languidly on the bed, his paws kneading the sheets, and he couldn’t resist scratching, pulling a few threads loose.
He guiltily retracted his claws, still feeling restless. He jumped down, attacked the scratching post with gusto, then chased the electric mouse toy around the room for a few laps. Finally, having expended his excess energy, he sat down to eat his breakfast contentedly.
After a few bites, a rustling sound from the balcony caught his attention.
He turned and saw the calico cat jumping down from the plane tree.
Jiang Heng ran to open the door for it. “Didn’t you escape from the pet hospital? How did you get back?”
The calico cat, seeing the luxurious meal in Jiang Heng’s bowl, pushed him aside and started eating.
Jiang Heng wasn’t possessive of his food and, seeing the calico cat’s dusty fur, pushed the bowl closer to it.
After eating its fill, the calico cat finally spoke. “I didn’t like it there, so I came back.”
It spoke casually, but Jiang Heng was stunned. “But the hospital is a half-hour bus ride away from the university.”
“So I walked for two days.”
“…”
Jiang Heng mentally gave the goddess a thumbs-up.
The calico cat carried the half-grown kitten outside to bask in the sun.
The sunlight was warm. Without the cat-snatching villain, several cats were scattered around the woods behind the university.
The calico cat carried Jiang Heng up a tree.
Jiang Heng lay down on a branch, motionless.
Being a cat was great. Eat, sleep, bask in the sun, no studying, no work.
The calico cat beside him rolled over and asked, “Do you think Big Orange and the others will come back?”
The wind rustled the leaves, the sharp edges tickling Jiang Heng’s nose, and he sneezed. “They probably will. After all, if no one adopts them, this is still their home.”
Thinking of Big Orange’s missing testicles and looking at the oblivious calico cat, Jiang Heng asked tentatively, “So…what do you think of Big Orange?”
The calico cat’s injuries hadn’t fully healed, but its every movement was still graceful, its eyes glancing at him with disdain. “Vulgar, uncouth, annoying.”
The bald kitten was stunned. “Then why did you save him?”
The calico cat swatted him. “I saved him because I wanted to.”
Jiang Heng, clutching his head, shrank his neck, and after a moment of consideration, unable to bear telling the calico the cruel truth, said tactfully, “You might find him a bit different when he comes back.”
“Why?”
Jiang Heng gave it a sympathetic look.
Because he’s a she now.
The morning sun was warm and gentle, and the air was filled with the sound of purring. Jiang Heng, despite having just woken up, couldn’t resist the soothing white noise and fell asleep along with the other cats.
He didn’t wake up until noon.
He drowsily heard meows, as if something had disturbed the peaceful atmosphere. Before he could fully wake up, he felt a familiar grip on his scruff.
The calico cat had picked him up again.
The next moment, a gentle voice came from below.
“Come down.”
Jiang Heng opened his eyes and saw Lu Yichuan standing under the tree.
His mind was hazy, wondering how he had found him.
Lu Yichuan continued to stare at him and repeated, “Come down.”
Jiang Heng struggled slightly. “Let me go! Lu Yichuan is here!”
The calico cat narrowed its eyes at the man for a few seconds, then released Jiang Heng. “I sense a…disturbing aura from him.”
Jiang Heng clung to the tree trunk, confused. “Huh?”
“He seems angry.”
Jiang Heng looked down at Lu Yichuan. “No, he’s smiling.”
As soon as he said that, the smile on Lu Yichuan’s face widened. “Come down, I’ll catch you.”
He looked at the man’s outstretched hands and jumped without hesitation, landing in a warm embrace.
Only after holding the cat in his arms did the tension in Lu Yichuan’s stiff fingers ease, his anxiety replaced by a deep unease.
Whether it was a person or a cat…
Something was always drawing his attention, and if he wasn’t careful, it would slip through his fingers.
He could never hold on to him.
Jiang Heng was saying goodbye to the calico cat when his head was turned forcefully.
The man’s eyes were dark, as if they could absorb everything, filled with an intense emotion.
Why can’t you only look at me?
Lu Yichuan’s fingertips brushed against the kitten’s round eyes. He closed his eyes, then opened them, the intensity replaced by gentleness.
“Don’t wander off without telling me. I’ll be worried.”
Jiang Heng snuggled against him, smelling the bitter aroma of coffee on his sleeve.
[But I always go out like this.]
Why was he suddenly concerned about his safety?
After thinking about it, Jiang Heng assumed it was because of the incident with the young man.
[Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid. I can tell the difference between good and bad people.]
Lu Yichuan didn’t respond. After walking for a while, he stopped and said abruptly,
“I’m sorry.”
Jiang Heng froze.
“Meow?”
[Why are you apologizing to me?]
Because I lost my cat and let him suffer so much outside.
Lu Yichuan thought to himself.
He had been there, in that place, shared the rain and the same air with him, but just because he had turned his back for a moment, he had missed him.
A wave of regret washed over Lu Yichuan, making the words “I’m sorry” seem so hollow.
He clenched his fingers, suppressing the emotions surging within him, taking several deep breaths to control the darkness in his eyes.
“I was negligent. I didn’t play with Mimi and let you wander off alone. It was my fault.”
Hearing this, Jiang Heng felt embarrassed.
[It’s my fault for not telling you when I went out. I’ll remember to tell you next time.]
Lu Yichuan rubbed the kitten’s ears and said nothing.
Two days passed like this. Then Li An arrived.
Lu Yichuan had canceled all his activities and spent almost all his time with the cat in his dormitory, only leaving when Li An came.
Li An’s hair seemed thinner from the stress of the past few days.
He hadn’t expected to be tasked with investigating a cat’s past.
If it had been a human, there would have been a trail to follow, but a cat…
Thinking of the hours of surveillance footage he had reviewed, Li An felt his face turning green.
It was the first time he had seen Lu Yichuan care so much about something. The last time he had been this devoted was with Jiang Heng.
Remembering the kitten’s glassy eyes, Li An fell silent.
He dismissed the absurd thought, regained his usual professional composure, and handed Lu Yichuan the information he had gathered.
“The area you mentioned in the city center is very chaotic, and with so many unemployed people, many places don’t have surveillance cameras. I had a hard time, but I finally found those three brats.”
He showed Lu Yichuan the pictures on his phone. “It’s these three.”
He paused. “Do you want to see them?”
Lu Yichuan lit a cigarette, his face obscured by the smoke.
“Yes.”
…
Lu Yichuan left again. Before leaving, he poured cat food for Jiang Heng, his warm hand gently stroking the kitten’s furry face, his voice soft.
“I have to go out for a while. Be good and wait for me at home, okay?”
Jiang Heng looked outside. It was already dark, so he dismissed the thought of going out to play.
Lu Yichuan locked the balcony door, grabbed a black jacket, and disappeared into the night.
He returned in the middle of the night, smelling of dew, soot, and glue, his white shoes covered in black spots.
The bed was empty, but a small white lump was nestled in the cat bed, a bit of silvery fur peeking out.
Lu Yichuan stood at the door for a few seconds, then took off his jacket.
He tossed the soiled jacket into the trash can, picked up the cat, his eyes unnaturally red.
Seemingly oblivious to the redness in his eyes, Lu Yichuan carried the cat to the bed.
The cat was sleeping, and he watched it sleep.
He remained in this position for a long time, until the bright dormitory light made the white kitten stir uncomfortably.
Click!
The small room was plunged into darkness.
The faint glow of the streetlight outside filtered in. The tall man sat on the bed, his head lowered slightly, like a statue.
After a long while, he blinked and slowly reached out a hand, covering the soft, furry body.
The children’s laughter seemed to echo in his ears.
“We just thought it looked fun and wanted to play with it, we didn’t intend to burn it to death. But it dared to bite us! So we swore we would kill it…”
A stronger, more intense surge of bloodlust rose in Lu Yichuan, his eyes reddening further.
His hand on the kitten was gentle, afraid of hurting it, but his other hand, gripping the edge of the bed, tightened until a sharp crack echoed in the room, the sudden pain bringing him back to his senses.
Lu Yichuan turned his head and saw that his fingernails had broken against the hard edge of the bed.
Blood trickled down his fingers. He clenched his hand, the redness in his eyes receding slightly.
He didn’t bother bandaging the wound, just rubbed his broken nails repeatedly, as if only a more intense, sharper pain could suppress the ache in his heart.
The night deepened, and soft purrs filled the room.
Lu Yichuan looked at the bed, sometimes seeing a cat, sometimes seeing a person, sometimes seeing nothing at all.
He often had these hallucinations.
The joy of having him back was accompanied by a deep-seated fear.
He had tried to ignore the fear, but with the passage of time, with the gradual uncovering of the unknown past, the fear finally consumed him.
Had Jiang Heng truly returned to him?
Had the gods, taking pity on him, finally returned his treasure?
Was all of this real, not just a dream?
Blood dripped from his fingertips, the stinging pain jolting his mind, but then he was pulled back into the abyss by an invisible hand.
He was supposed to be dead. Perhaps all of this was just a beautiful dream conjured by that strange man.
Thinking of this, Lu Yichuan chuckled darkly and, his blood-stained body bent over the kitten, gently kissed its fur.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
Nothing could separate them again.
