After Death, I Became My Childhood Friend’s Cat 55

Chapter 55

Three days later, Li An came to the villa to see Lu Yichuan.

It was already May, and the sun was hot and bright. The man was sitting on a bench in the garden, reading, three cats perched on a nearby tree.

The white cat was at the bottom, a black cat and a small white kitten lying on its belly.

When Li An entered, only the black cat glanced at him; the other two continued to sleep, their heads buried in their fur.

The wind rustled the leaves, and Lu Yichuan turned a page in his book.

Li An lowered his voice. “Li Xingyue has been dealt with. He had already offended many people with his personality, and after being sent abroad, he only became worse, even getting involved with drugs. The police found him high as a kite. Two other people with him overdosed and died. Since he supplied the drugs, he’s unlikely to ever get out.”

“The commotion at the hospital the other day was quite significant. The Li family found out, and Li Xingyue’s father went to the Lu residence this morning. He’ll probably make a move soon.”

“Boss, should we…”

Lu Yichuan’s fingers traced the corner of the page, unconsciously curling it, then smoothing it out, repeating the action twice before turning the page. “Go and make the necessary preparations.”

Li An’s eyes lit up, and he immediately agreed.

He adjusted his cuffs, his long-dormant assistant spirit rekindled. This time, he would take back everything they had lost!

The three cats in the tree shifted their positions and continued to sleep.

Li An, looking at Lu Yichuan engrossed in his book, hesitated.

Just as he was about to speak, the man leaned back. “Say what you want to say.”

“I heard your parents are getting a divorce. And…your father was planning to acknowledge you as his heir again, but with the Li family incident, he might have changed his mind.”

Lu Yichuan didn’t say anything. It wasn’t Li An’s place to comment on such matters; he was just reporting the information. Seeing that Lu Yichuan had heard him, he left the villa.

As he left, he glanced at the title of the book Lu Yichuan was reading:

A Beginner’s Guide to Cat Care

Li An: “…”

He looked up at the three cats in the tree, who had shifted their positions again. The white cat, which had been at the bottom, was now on top, its considerable weight pressing down on the other two. Li An was slightly concerned for their breathing.

…

More time passed, and Jiang Heng’s fur grew thicker and longer, the silver tips more prominent, finally looking like a normal short-haired cat.

He had been well taken care of and, except for his still-short legs, was much bigger than before, his face rounder, no longer the tiny, easily overlooked kitten he had been.

After returning to the university, Lu Yichuan took on a project with his tutor, but halfway through, his tutor called him in.

“Yichuan, due to some decisions made by the university administration, this project…”

The elderly professor looked at his most outstanding student, finding it difficult to deliver the news, but as an academic, he was powerless against the pressure from above.

“I’m sorry.”

Lu Yichuan seemed to have anticipated this and handed him the compiled research data. “It’s okay, I understand.”

Looking at the meticulously organized data, the professor’s eyes reddened. “It’s my fault. As your tutor, I couldn’t even protect you.”

“Did…did you offend someone?”

Lu Yichuan knew who was responsible without having to ask. “I know who it is. It’s just a project, it doesn’t matter.”

“It’s not just the project,” the professor said. “From what I heard, your entire academic career might be affected.”

“Is that so…” Lu Yichuan smiled faintly. “How…unoriginal.”

He comforted his elderly tutor, “Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. I might be a bit busy lately and unable to attend some of the less important meetings.”

Leaving his tutor’s office, Lu Yichuan received an unexpected call.

He stared at the caller ID, “Big Brother,” and after a moment of hesitation, answered the call.

“Yichuan…it’s…it’s me…”

Lu Yichuan leaned against a tree, watching the students passing by. “What is it?”

“I…” Even though they were brothers, Lu Yizhou still felt nervous talking to Lu Yichuan. “I’m outside the university. Can I see you?”

Seeing him hesitate, Lu Yizhou quickly added, “I’m alone. No one’s with me.”

The university café was almost empty at this hour, only a few couples sitting in the corner.

Lu Yizhou resembled Lu Yichuan somewhat. They were about the same height, but Lu Yizhou had inherited more of Lu Cheng’s rugged features and was more heavily built. Despite his suit, he still looked rather simple and unassuming.

The two brothers sat across from each other. Lu Yizhou seemed nervous and took a sip of his coffee before speaking. “H-how are you doing?”

Lu Yichuan leaned back in his chair, his voice languid. “Thanks to the Li family, I’ve been quite free lately.”

Lu Yizhou clearly didn’t know how to respond and, after a few seconds of silence, said weakly, “Li Xingyue has always been like that, because of his aunt… You shouldn’t have antagonized him.”

Lu Yichuan raised an eyebrow. “Are you here to plead his case?”

“N-no…”

“Yichuan, I’ve been begging Father, and he finally agreed to take you back, but then this incident happened. The Li family came knocking, demanding an explanation, and Father, he…”

Lu Yichuan chuckled. “He gave up on me, right?”

Lu Yizhou remained silent.

“That’s normal. Capitalists only care about profit. Why offend the Li family for my sake? Not worth it.”

“But…” Lu Yizhou leaned forward, his anxiety evident. “You know what the Li family is capable of. You’ve ruined their youngest son; they won’t let you go! It won’t just be your academic career they target.”

“Just come home with me and apologize to Father. You’re different from me, you’re so smart and capable, if you just ask him nicely, he’ll definitely protect you.”

“Brother.”

It was the first time Lu Yichuan had called him “brother” in their conversation.

“I thought you knew, compared to the outside world, the Lu family is hell.”

“…”

Lu Yizhou’s mouth opened and closed, and he finally lowered his head dejectedly.

Of course, he knew. Even he, the unfavored eldest son, felt suffocated in that family; he could only imagine what kind of life Lu Yichuan had lived.

Seeing his reaction, a hint of warmth appeared in Lu Yichuan’s eyes. He stood up, walked over to Lu Yizhou, and patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. The Li family is nothing; I can handle them.”

“Yichuan…” Lu Yizhou gripped his cup tightly, then after a moment of hesitation, looked up at him. “Did you know…Mom and Dad are getting a divorce?”

Lu Yichuan showed no reaction, neither happy nor sad, his face indifferent.

“He…he had an affair. The mistress is pregnant. He thinks Mother is…mentally unstable, and that you…also have problems because of her… so he’s planning to raise a new…”

Qian Lu, who had schemed her way to the top, was now facing the consequences of her actions.

Lu Yichuan didn’t feel any sense of schadenfreude, only sadness. Because the true culprit, the man responsible for all this, was still enjoying the company of his mistresses, while Qian Lu bore all the blame.

And she didn’t even realize the root of the problem, only blaming herself for not controlling Lu Cheng. Even Lu Yizhou was caught in the delusion.

“Yichuan, why don’t you come home with me? The Lu family is in chaos. I’m not as capable as you. If that child is born, we’ll lose everything.”

Lu Yichuan removed his hand from his brother’s shoulder. “I won’t go back.”

“Things obtained through begging will always be held over your head. You’ll always be inferior.”

“And I…refuse to bow down to Lu Cheng.”

…

The caretaker, after a busy morning, returned to the dormitory and couldn’t find the cat.

Lu Yichuan checked the tracker on his phone and followed the signal to the lake on campus.

The sun shimmered on the water’s surface. The area near the back hills was deserted, and a group of cats was gathered by the reeds at the edge of the lake.

The furry creatures sat in a neat row, a small silver-tipped Munchkin cat in the center, its face almost hidden by the surrounding cats.

The wind rustled the reeds, and ripples spread across the lake.

Lu Yichuan approached, and amidst the chorus of meows, finally heard what his cat was saying.

“I died, died the day I received my university acceptance letter.”

“In my past life, I was betrayed and lost everything.”

“In this life, I will take back everything that was taken from me.”

“Want to hear my revenge plan?”

A group of cats stared at him.

Jiang Heng said importantly, “Give me a small dried fish, and you can hear my revenge plan, witness how I reclaim everything that belongs to me!”

The beautiful calico cat emerged from the reeds with a fish in its mouth, dropped the fish at Jiang Heng’s feet, and asked,

“Is this enough?”

Jiang Heng looked down at the crucian carp, larger than himself.

Just as he lowered his head, the seemingly lifeless fish on the ground suddenly sprang to life, its tail flicking up and slapping Jiang Heng across the face.

Jiang Heng landed on the ground with a thud, stunned, until a pair of large hands lifted him up.

The man wiped his wet face. “Did that knock you silly?”

Jiang Heng, snapping back to reality, clung to Lu Yichuan’s sleeve and stared at the still-flailing fish on the ground, incredulous. “It hit me? A fish! It dared to hit me?!”

The calico cat stepped forward and smacked the fish on the head, knocking it unconscious.

“…”

Jiang Heng looked at his paws, silent.

Hearing the man’s chuckle, he defended himself, “I’m still small.”

The calico cat, on the other hand, could fight a human single-handedly.

Lu Yichuan didn’t argue, just said, “Divine Cat Lord, you’ve received your tribute, now what about your revenge plan?”

Jiang Heng’s paws dug into the ground. “Hey, why were you eavesdropping?!”

“All those cats were listening, why can’t I? Besides, I was standing right there. You didn’t see me.”

“…”

Jiang Heng bit his hand. Having lost so much face already, he no longer cared. After gnawing on his finger for a while, he calmed down.

He asked Lu Yichuan, “Are we going back to the dormitory or the villa today?”

“The villa. Why?”

Jiang Heng rubbed against him. “I played with them all morning, and I…want to treat them to dinner.”

He was a little embarrassed, feeling like he was imposing on Lu Yichuan. “I can write you an IOU. I’ll pay you back when I become human again and earn money, okay?”

Lu Yichuan glanced at the cats hiding in the reeds. There weren’t that many, five or six, some about the same size as Jiang Heng, most of them looking thin and underfed.

No matter how cat-friendly the university was, it couldn’t ensure that every stray cat had enough to eat.

He placed Jiang Heng on the ground. “How about dinner at the villa? It’s more convenient to cook there. They can stay the night, and I’ll bring them back tomorrow. If they agree, you can let them know, and I’ll go get the car.”

“As for the money…” he poked the kitten’s head. “No need for an IOU, just let me keep the cat as collateral.”