Chapter 53
Suddenly, a flash of orange darted out from Lu Yichuan’s arms. His heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively reached out, but he missed.
The next second, Li Xingyue’s shriek pierced the air.
The usually clumsy kitten was now incredibly agile. Within seconds, Li Xingyue’s face was covered in bloody scratches, deep and gruesome, clearly inflicted with a great deal of force.
Lin Chen froze in terror, then was kicked by Li Xingyue. He covered his face with his hands, blood seeping through his fingers. “You idiot! What are you standing there for?! Catch that little beast!”
Lin Chen stumbled, and just as he looked up to find the cat, Lu Yichuan bent down and picked it up from the table.
The man’s movements were calm and unhurried. Dressed in black, his figure tall and slender, but not muscular, even rather thin, his pale complexion giving him a fragile air, like a delicate scholar from ancient times.
But his presence was enough to make Lin Chen freeze, not daring to approach.
Seeing this, Li Xingyue delivered another vicious kick, sending Lin Chen sprawling onto the floor. “Useless! You’re useless!”
He clutched his face and glared at Lu Yichuan. “Lu Yichuan, just you wait!”
Lu Yichuan held the kitten’s paw, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Alright, I’ll wait.”
It’s a pity…he thought nonchalantly…that he would probably never see that day.
Leaving the restaurant, Zhao Shuo kept his head down, pretending to be invisible, acting as if he hadn’t heard anything. This kind of thing, as a weak and ordinary student, he was better off not getting involved in.
Song Zhang, familiar with Lu Yichuan, was worried, seeing his expression.
Worried for Li Xingyue.
This young master of the Li family had always disliked Lu Yichuan. Back in high school, he had even used a megaphone to announce that Lu Yichuan’s mother was a mistress, causing a major rift between their families.
The situation had only calmed down after Li Xingyue went abroad. He hadn’t expected that just a few years later, upon returning, he would immediately resume his antagonism towards Lu Yichuan, a living testament to the saying that hate lasts longer than love.
Lu Yichuan’s heart was dark. When he smiled like this, Song Zhang knew it was time to say goodbye to Li Xingyue.
“Are…are you alright?” Song Zhang asked hesitantly.
Lu Yichuan perfectly portrayed the magnanimity of an adult, his face slightly pale, his voice slow and deliberate, seemingly unaffected by Song Zhang’s concern. “I’m fine. Just a few insults, they can’t hurt me.”
“…”
Song Zhang looked constipated.
The man coughed slightly, covering his mouth with his hand. “I’m sorry. I intended to treat you to dinner, but I didn’t expect this to happen.”
“Don’t worry about it…” Zhao Shuo quickly said. “How could this be your fault? It was clearly them looking for trouble. You’re so good-tempered, Lu-ge. If someone insulted me like that, I would definitely fight back.”
Lu Yichuan smiled gently. “Violence doesn’t solve problems.”
Song Zhang’s face turned green.
Just as he was about to lose his temper, Lu Yichuan turned to him. “We’re not going the same way, you can head back on your own.”
As they were about to leave, Song Zhang couldn’t help but take a step forward and call out to Lu Yichuan, “What are you planning to do?”
Under the streetlight, the man tilted his head, looking at Song Zhang quizzically, his lips a bright red against his pale face.
“What can I do? I’m just a discarded young master, kicked out of the Lu family, weak and helpless. Even if I wanted to do something, I wouldn’t have the means, would I?”
Song Zhang opened his mouth…
The man’s eyes curved into a smile. “Song Zhang, you worry too much.”
Lu Yichuan poured some water, took a small towel, and carefully wiped the blood off Jiang Heng’s paws.
The kitten wasn’t injured, but its claws were split and stained with blood.
Jiang Heng sat obediently, letting him clean his paws, chattering non-stop. “Lu Yichuan, did you see my heroic moves just now? I was so awesome! I pounced on him before he could even react! I’ve disliked him for a long time, finally got my revenge!”
Lu Yichuan trimmed his broken claws without saying a word.
Jiang Heng looked at him. “Lu Yichuan, don’t be upset, I avenged you.”
The man’s hand paused. “I’m not upset.”
“That’s your ‘I’m upset’ face.”
Lu Yichuan pinched his paw. “What face?”
After his claws were trimmed, Jiang Heng immediately rubbed against him. “That face! It’s okay not to smile if you’re not happy. We’re alone here.”
The smile on Lu Yichuan’s lips slowly faded, his face cold and somber.
Jiang Heng continued, “You seemed…off during dinner. Was it because I gave you the cigarette? If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again.”
The short-haired kitten looked up at him, its cute and innocent appearance belying its earlier ferocity. “Lu Yichuan, you have to tell me if you don’t like something, or if you’re uncomfortable. I’m not a mind reader. You can’t expect me to guess.”
Lu Yichuan was silent for a long moment, then picked up Jiang Heng.
The kitten, which he used to be able to hold with one hand, now required both. He averted his gaze, as if afraid to meet those clear, innocent eyes.
“Do…do you think…I’m a terrible person?” he asked hesitantly.
“No.”
Jiang Heng didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“But I…”
Jiang Heng put his paws on Lu Yichuan’s shoulders and sat up, still not quite used to his freshly trimmed claws.
“Lu Yichuan, everyone has a bad temper, you and I both. Let me ask you, if I smoked and drank, would you hate me?”
“No.”
The kitten patted his shoulder. “Good. You’ve learned empathy, a very valuable quality.”
“But Rongrong, I…”
“I know what you’re trying to say. But remember, Lu Yichuan, you are you, your mother is your mother. You are two separate individuals. No matter how bad you are, you won’t become like her.”
“I know you’re trying to show me your best side, but I’m just a little slow, not stupid. We’ve been together for over ten years, I know what you’re like. You’ve always been this way to me, you haven’t changed.”
Jiang Heng, imitating a human gesture, cupped his face with his paws. “Just like you don’t dislike me for being stupid, I don’t think you’re a bad person.”
He looked into Lu Yichuan’s eyes. “Don’t let your mother influence you. Remember, in my eyes, you’re always the best, the most amazing person.”
No cat would reject a caretaker who could make homemade cat food!
To emphasize his point, Jiang Heng jumped down from Lu Yichuan’s lap, jumped onto the table, opened a drawer, and pulled out the cigarettes that had been untouched for a long time.
“Bro, want a smoke? I’m being sincere this time.”
“…”
Lu Yichuan was silent for a couple of seconds, then tossed the cigarettes into the trash can. “I quit.”
Jiang Heng raised a paw, trying to give him a thumbs-up. “As expected of my bro, quitting just like that!”
He asked, “Can I try?”
…
Boop!
“Ow! Lu Yichuan, you hit me again!”
“Because you’re stupid.”
Jiang Heng was furious. He vowed never to comfort him again.
Li Xingyue went to the hospital, accompanied by Lin Chen.
The scratches on his face weren’t deep, and the bleeding had stopped by the time they reached the hospital. The doctor gave him a rabies shot and carefully cleaned his wounds.
His face was contorted in pain and anger, and the sight of Lin Chen cowering beside him only infuriated him further. He grabbed a cup of hot water from the bedside table and threw it at his face.
“Useless! What good are you?!”
Lin Chen didn’t dare to dodge. The hot water splashed over his shoulder, the glass shattering at his feet, a shard cutting his face.
He didn’t even dare to breathe, trembling as he leaned against the wall. “S-sorry, Li-ge, I-I didn’t…”
The nurse cleaning his wound was startled, her hand trembling, and she accidentally pressed down too hard with the cotton swab.
Li Xingyue cried out in pain and pushed the nurse away. “Are you blind?! What kind of crappy hospital is this, hiring incompetent nurses! Get your supervisor!”
The young nurse was about to explain, but seeing his furious glare, she quickly left the room with the tray.
Li Xingyue kicked the cabinet in frustration. “Just you wait, I’ll make Lu Yichuan and that little beast suffer!”
He said with a cruel smile, “I’ll skin that cat alive, rip out its claws, break its bones, and stew it into soup…”
Lin Chen, seeing his vicious expression, lowered his head in fear.
…
Knock, knock—
Two polite knocks came from the door.
Li Xingyue glanced at the door, unable to see who it was, assuming it was the nurse’s supervisor, and yelled, “What the fuck are you knocking for? Are you trying to knock my soul out?!”
After his outburst, the door creaked open, revealing Li An’s ordinary face. He smiled apologetically. “Mr. Li, is it? My boss would like to see you two.”
“Who are you?”
Li An, dressed in a black suit, wearing black-rimmed glasses, adjusted his tie and pushed up his glasses. “Forgive me, I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is also Li, we’re practically family. I’m just a humble assistant, here at my master’s behest. Please excuse my lack of a fruit basket, how impolite of me.”
The more he spoke, the darker Li Xingyue’s face became. “Whose assistant are you?”
Li An said, “You’ll find out when you meet him.”
“I’m not going! Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“I do apologize.” Li An sighed softly, then entered the room and closed the door behind him. “But I can’t disobey my master’s orders, so please excuse my intrusion, Mr. Li.”
“You motherf…”
Before Li Xingyue could finish his sentence, he was lifted into the air.
Li An held him by the neck, his other hand still politely adjusting his glasses, a smile on his face. “My apologies, Mr. Li, but since you seem to enjoy spewing filth from that mouth of yours, I’ll have to ask you to be quiet for a while.”
With a sharp crack, Li Xingyue’s jaw was dislocated.
Li An let go and watched as Li Xingyue collapsed onto the floor like a dead fish. He stepped on his back, bent down, and observed the growing fear in his eyes.
“Don’t worry, my master asked me to deliver you unharmed, so I won’t hurt you. As for your jaw…” Li An touched his own chin. “Don’t worry, Mr. Li, we’ll have it reattached later.”
He stepped off Li Xingyue, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him to the door like a corpse.
Two men were waiting outside. They took Li Xingyue without a word.
Li An dusted his hands and turned to Lin Chen, who was practically paralyzed with fear. “And this…”
He thought for a moment, unable to remember who he was, then said, “Sir, are you coming willingly, or do I have to…persuade you?”
