Chapter 63
Jiang Heng was a living embodiment of the phrase “all bark and no bite.” While complaining about the spiciness, he kept urging Lu Yichuan to give him more food.
Finally, Lu Yichuan couldn’t bear to watch any longer and put down his chopsticks. “Should we get a mild broth instead?”
Jiang Heng vehemently defended the spicy broth. “No! If we change it, it will lose its soul!”
He smacked his lips. “I think I’m used to it now. Another meatball, please.”
Lu Yichuan gave him a meatball and touched his belly. “Little Jiang Heng, don’t you think you’ve eaten a bit too much tonight?”
Too much? Jiang Heng considered this, looking at the half-empty dishes with a puzzled expression. “But I’m still hungry.”
Lu Yichuan looked him over, his brow slightly furrowed. “Do you feel unwell anywhere?”
Jiang Heng shook his head. “No, just hungry.”
The kind of hungry where he could devour two bowls of rice in one go.
Seeing Lu Yichuan’s worried expression, Jiang Heng reassured him, “I’m fine. Maybe the spiciness made me…lose control of my stomach.”
Jiang Heng had only meant it as a casual remark, but Lu Yichuan actually changed the broth.
The bland, clear soup, like his studies, was utterly tasteless, and Jiang Heng only ate a couple of bites before feeling full.
It was drizzling when they left the restaurant, the cold wind and rain seeping into their collars. The plane trees lining the street were bare, their leaves withered, the streetlights casting long, distorted shadows.
Jiang Heng huddled inside Lu Yichuan’s black windbreaker, shielded from the wind and rain, his belly pressed against the man’s waist, their body heat mingling through his sweater.
He fell asleep in his arms.
He didn’t know what time it was when he woke up. The rain was still falling, a soft bedside lamp illuminated the dormitory, and Lu Yichuan was sitting at his desk, reading something.
The black coat he had worn to the restaurant was hanging by the door, a few white cat hairs clinging to it. He was wearing a beige turtleneck sweater, his back straight, his head slightly lowered, his neck long and slender, his profile handsome.
Jiang Heng was momentarily captivated, until the man looked up and met his gaze.
He shyly tucked his head in, revealing his large, round eyes.
Lu Yichuan closed the file he was reading, his gentle voice carrying a comforting warmth in the cold, rainy night. “Why are you awake?”
Jiang Heng reached out a paw and scratched at the bedsheets, then guiltily retracted it when he realized he had snagged a thread. “A little hungry.”
Lu Yichuan opened a can of cat food for him, his cool fingertips tapping the kitten’s forehead. “Is Rongrong a pig?”
Jiang Heng, munching on the canned food, flicked his head and turned his back to Lu Yichuan, refusing to answer the question.
The man wasn’t offended. Seeing him energetic, he planned to take him to the vet for a check-up tomorrow. He tidied up his desk and, after showering, found Jiang Heng had finished his late-night snack.
He took the kitten to brush his teeth.
Jiang Heng, drowsy, leaned against Lu Yichuan, letting him brush his teeth. He had been so energetic just moments ago, but now he could barely keep his eyes open. “Wh-what time is it?”
Lu Yichuan wiped the wet fur from his mouth, stroked his soft head, and carried him to the bed.
“Almost one o’clock…”
He got into bed, carrying the cat, the thick blankets shutting out the wind and rain, creating a warm, safe haven.
Lu Yichuan gently patted the kitten’s back. “Go to sleep.”
Jiang Heng closed his eyes, nestled against his chest.
Pain, a boundless, all-consuming pain.
Jiang Heng felt like every bone in his body was being shattered, then crushed and pulled, a pain that made his soul tremble, yet he was trapped in an endless nightmare, unable to wake up.
He was like a fish out of water, unable to even struggle, only endure, feeling his bones being broken and then reformed, his body reshaped into a different form.
The pain was so intense that he lost consciousness, fainting from the agony within the nightmare.
…
Lu Yichuan was awakened by a burning heat.
He opened his eyes, his mind still hazy, and instinctively reached out a hand, his fingers closing around something incredibly hot.
He was instantly jolted awake and turned on the bedside lamp.
In the dim light, the long-haired kitten’s eyes were tightly closed, soft whimpers escaping its lips, its body trembling, as if in great pain.
“Jiang Heng? Jiang Heng!” Lu Yichuan shook the kitten, which arched its back in pain, but didn’t wake up.
Lu Yichuan bit his tongue, forcing himself to calm down, and jumped out of bed, grabbing a jacket to wrap the cat in and take it to the hospital.
But as he turned, he witnessed an unbelievable sight:
The long-haired kitten on the bed was slowly elongating, transforming into a human right before his eyes.
A naked young man, curled up on the bed, his hands clutching the corner of the blanket, his eyes tightly closed, as if finally free from the torment, his face covered in sweat, but his breathing even.
Lu Yichuan’s mind went blank for a few seconds, his eyes fixed on the smooth, pale skin, so white it was almost blinding, a tightness in his throat.
He pinched his fingertip, then bit his tongue again, to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.
A few seconds later, he took a step forward and tripped over a slipper by the bed, his body falling forward uncontrollably.
As he fell towards the person on the bed, he instinctively reached out to steady himself, but forgetting he was still holding the jacket, he tripped again, landing face-first on the bed.
The next moment, his face was buried in a soft, warm belly.
Lu Yichuan knelt on the bed, pulling his face away. He touched the skin beneath his fingertips, the smooth, warm texture confirming that what he had just seen wasn’t a hallucination.
He stared at the sleeping figure, its belly exposed, for a long moment, then a soft chuckle escaped his lips.
“Rongrong has finally grown up…”
“Lu Yichuan, I was beaten up in the middle of the night!”
Jiang Heng’s loud voice echoed through the dormitory in the morning.
Lu Yichuan had just returned and was unpacking his breakfast when he heard this. He looked at the cat on the bed. “Who beat you up?”
Jiang Heng turned over, his left side aching, then his right side, also aching. He winced. “Why does my whole body hurt? Like I was beaten up all night! Did you knock me out and beat me up while I was asleep because you’re annoyed with me?”
The man was silent for a moment, then sighed. “Instead of beating you up, I think I should take you to have your head examined.”
Jiang Heng, not only secretly beaten up, but also mocked for being stupid, angrily patted the bed with his paw. “Then tell me, why do I hurt all over?”
Lu Yichuan walked over to the bed, picked up the cat, observing its energetic demeanor, and rubbed its head. “You really don’t remember anything?”
Jiang Heng tilted his head and thought for a moment. “I don’t remember. I vaguely remember a dream, someone was…hammering my bones, and I couldn’t move, I don’t know if it was from the pain or anger, then I fainted.”
He tugged at the man’s sleeve. “There wasn’t really someone hitting my bones, was there?”
Lu Yichuan gently massaged his muscles, then raised an eyebrow. “Not hitting your bones, but Rongrong has grown up.”
Jiang Heng froze. “Huh?”
The man above him smiled, the sunlight illuminating his face. “You turned into a human last night.”
“The pain you feel is because of the…changes in your bone structure. It will stabilize eventually.”
Jiang Heng, having no memory of this, was skeptical. “Really? Why don’t I remember anything?”
“Really.”
The smile in the man’s eyes was so genuine that Jiang Heng couldn’t help but believe him. He still found it hard to believe. “I really turned human? Then why am I still a cat?”
“I asked Little Black, he said that transformations are unstable at first. After a few times, it will stabilize, and you’ll be able to switch forms at will.”
Jiang Heng blinked, and the pain in his body seemed to lessen. “I really…turned human?”
Not like the three-hour illusion from before, but a real, genuine transformation.
He was truly alive again.
“That’s…incredible.”
“Lu Yichuan, did you see what I look like? Am I still the same as before?”
Lu Yichuan, remembering the brief glimpse he had caught last night, his fingers tightening around the kitten’s back,
Even after a whole night, he could still feel the smooth, warm skin beneath his fingertips.
“Similar, but…not the same.”
His mannerisms were similar, but no one who knew Jiang Heng would mistake him for the same person.
The more he said, the more curious Jiang Heng became, eager to transform again.
He waited and waited, and after several days, on a quiet night, the familiar pain returned.
But this time, he opened his eyes.
More than pain, it felt like he was being thrown into a furnace, his body burning, his breath scorching.
The moment he opened his eyes, Lu Yichuan woke up. He sat up and looked at Jiang Heng, wanting to hold him, but afraid of hurting him.
“Are you okay?”
Jiang Heng opened his mouth, unable to speak. A wave of intense pain washed over him, his body trembling as he felt himself changing, shifting.
A minute later, a drop of sweat landed on Jiang Heng’s eyelid. He twitched his fingers and slowly opened his eyes.
He exhaled slowly, the pain subsiding, the burning sensation easing.
Lu Yichuan looked down at him, hesitated for a moment, then moved away, the warmth of their shared blanket now solely on Jiang Heng.
The boy, his mind still hazy, touched the edge of the blanket with his pale fingers, blinked his sweat-drenched eyes, his gaze moving to Lu Yichuan’s arm, exposed to the cool night air, then he lifted the blanket slightly and looked inside.
A flash of white.
Jiang Heng: “…”
Jiang Heng was mortified.
Ahem… now we know the carpet matches the drapes lol