Chapter 65
Jiang Heng instinctively reached back and felt a fluffy tail and a pair of pants about to fall off.
He pulled up the pants, his voice rising. “Lu Yichuan!”
Lu Yichuan reminded him gently, “It’s 2:30 in the morning.”
If he spoke any louder, their neighbors would come knocking.
The transformed cat stood by the bathroom counter, holding up his pants, the light casting long shadows, his eyes bright as stars in the darkness.
This star had accompanied him for sixteen years, then vanished for four. A star’s single twinkle takes eons to reach us, but thankfully, he hadn’t had to wait that long.
He didn’t know how many more “four years” he had, but Jiang Heng had only made him wait for one.
Jiang Heng didn’t know what was going through his mind; he was contemplating the possibility of headbutting Lu Yichuan to death. But before he could formulate a plan, someone grabbed his waistband. “Let’s go, time to eat.”
Jiang Heng, pulled along by him, his feet slapping against the floor in the oversized slippers, complained, “Lu Yichuan, stop pulling on my waistband! It’s rude!”
More importantly, it made him feel like he had no dignity.
The man walking in front of him stopped, and Jiang Heng, caught off guard, bumped into his broad back.
He clutched his forehead and looked up, thinking Lu Yichuan had finally realized his rudeness, but the man just glanced back at him, his voice casual. “I’m also going to take your pants off later, isn’t that even more rude?”
Jiang Heng: “!!?”
“You! You! You…”
And so, Lu Yichuan witnessed the full spectacle of a cat’s tail exploding. He let go of Jiang Heng’s waistband, picked up the long tail, and gently smoothed down the bristling fur, completely oblivious to the shocking nature of his words, his tone as casual as if discussing the weather.
“Not yet,” he said, his eyes crinkling with amusement. “But there will be a day, I hope Rongrong won’t call me rude then.”
“After all, I’ve already given you fair warning.”
Jiang Heng didn’t appreciate this “fair warning.”
As Lu Yichuan stroked his tail, then his ears, Jiang Heng, still retaining his feline instincts, purred and rubbed against him, his eyes closing contentedly, his tail wrapping around Lu Yichuan’s neck, momentarily forgetting his fear and indignation.
Lu Yichuan, stroking the long tail, looked down and noticed a small, black mole at the corner of Jiang Heng’s eye, like a stray ink drop, adding a touch of unexpected allure to his innocent features.
He raised his hand and gently traced the mole, his fingertips burning.
The air conditioner was on in the dormitory, but the steak he had cooked earlier had already gone cold. Not wanting to waste food, Lu Yichuan reheated it. It looked less like steak now and more like well-done grilled beef.
But neither of them minded.
Jiang Heng, holding up his pants, walked past Lu Yichuan. “Is my fried chicken here yet?”
The man ignored him.
He walked past him again, still holding up his pants. “Is my fried chicken here yet?”
Lu Yichuan handed him his phone.
Jiang Heng looked at the screen. “Ah…my beloved fried chicken is two kilometers away.”
Lu Yichuan turned off the stove, took out the steak, and cut it into small pieces. “If my memory serves me right, I almost suspect I’m abusing you.”
While studying, Jiang Heng’s meals had always been delivered by the family chef, the ingredients and cooking methods meticulously selected, nutritious, healthy, and delicious. But these expensive organic ingredients were, of course, free of additives, artificial flavorings, and coloring.
“You don’t understand…” Jiang Heng said. “This is a…pursuit.”
“A pursuit of…additives?”
Jiang Heng opened his mouth, revealing his slightly sharper canines. “I’ll bite you!”
Lu Yichuan popped a piece of beef into his mouth.
Little Jiang Heng was easily appeased, happily munching on the well-done beef.
He chewed on the beef while showing Lu Yichuan his phone. “My fried chicken is only one kilometer away now.”
Lu Yichuan glanced at the phone as he continued feeding him.
On the map, a small yellow figure wearing a helmet moved slowly through the cold winter night. With every meter it advanced, Jiang Heng’s tail swished a little faster, a heartwarming display of mutual longing, in a way.
“Five hundred meters…”
When the fried chicken was a hundred meters away, Jiang Heng started urging Lu Yichuan to go get it.
Lu Yichuan was pushed to the door, watching as Jiang Heng eagerly helped him put on his jacket. “I can’t go out looking like this. I entrust this important mission to you! Get it for me, and I’ll share a drumstick with you!”
Lu Yichuan wasn’t particularly interested in the coveted fried chicken drumstick.
Seeing him hesitate, Jiang Heng said through gritted teeth, “A drumstick and a wing! The best parts!”
“…”
The man was silent for a few seconds, then ruffled Jiang Heng’s silver-gray hair.
“Finish your steak before I get back, or no fried chicken.”
The dormitory had security access; Lu Yichuan climbed out the window. A light drizzle was falling, and the cold wind blew against his face as he reached the entrance just as the delivery driver arrived.
He took the bag of fried chicken, Jiang Heng’s object of pursuit, and returned to his warm haven, his body chilled.
But when he opened the door, the room was empty, only a pile of discarded clothes on the floor.
As he watched, the white shirt stirred, and a long-haired cat slowly emerged.
The kitten, its fur messy, looked up at him. “Meow?”
Lu Yichuan put down the fried chicken, picked up the broken collar from the bed, squatted down, and fastened it around the kitten’s neck, then heard Jiang Heng’s frustrated cry:
“Why am I a cat again?!”
He explained, “The transformation is still unstable. It will get better after a few more times.”
He rubbed the kitten’s visibly round belly. “Are you still going to eat your…pursuit?”
The aroma of fried chicken filled the room, and Jiang Heng, sniffing it, let out a soft burp.
He raised his six-centimeter-long paw and smacked Lu Yichuan’s leg.
Clearly taking out his frustration on him.
To avoid startling people with his sudden transformations, and since Lu Yichuan didn’t have much to do at the university lately, they moved back to the villa.
Lu Yichuan, now a multi-millionaire CEO, didn’t live the lavish lifestyle depicted in novels. The villa wasn’t particularly large, and Jiang Heng thought of it more as a cozy cottage, filled with their shared memories.
Besides essential tasks like cleaning and occasional cooking when Lu Yichuan was too busy, there were no other staff at the villa.
Jiang Heng’s transformations were still unstable, and Lu Yichuan couldn’t always be home to watch over him, so the black cat and white cat were called in.
In the mornings, after CEO Lu left for work, a housekeeper would come to prepare breakfast.
The housekeeper was in her fifties, a skilled cook, and more importantly, discreet and trustworthy.
The job at the villa was easy. Her employer was a tall, gentle man who seemed to prefer cooking himself, only calling her when he was too busy.
Usually, she wouldn’t stay for more than two hours, leaving after preparing the meal.
But recently, the man seemed busier than usual, and she had been coming every day to prepare both breakfast and lunch.
The villa was quiet, and her activities were limited to the first floor; she wasn’t allowed to go upstairs.
Sometimes, she would see a beautiful long-haired Munchkin cat, unafraid of humans, even meowing at her feet while she cooked.
The housekeeper couldn’t understand what it was saying, and even though it was adorable, she didn’t dare to touch the employer’s cat.
Sometimes, she would see a beautiful young man.
After the man left for work, she would see the young man coming downstairs, sleepy-eyed.
He always wore an oversized shirt, his slender neck exposed, a delicate leather collar around it, the inscription on the name tag gleaming faintly. His silver-gray hair tousled, his every move exuding a languid grace.
Like a precious cat kept in a luxurious cage.
The housekeeper didn’t dare to stare, just glancing briefly before placing the breakfast on the table and leaving the villa.
Today, the sun was shining for a change.
When the sun was out, the winter in City A didn’t feel like winter at all, the air warm and pleasant, even the clouds seemed to drift lazily.
The housekeeper stood at the entrance of the villa, looking inside.
The villa was well-maintained, even in winter, a few flowers still blooming in the garden. The small, Western-style house nestled amidst the greenery, looking even more like a beautiful cage, a golden oriole kept inside, unaware of the world outside.
…
Jiang Heng had no idea what the quiet housekeeper was imagining.
Carrying a steamed bun in his mouth, he went to the gate, where, as expected, a cat was stuck.
Seeing Jiang Heng, the white cat feebly raised a paw, its eyes pleading for help.
So Jiang Heng, still carrying the bun, tried to pull the cat out, grabbing its front paws, bracing himself against the gate, pulling, pulling…
The white cat didn’t budge.
Jiang Heng dropped the bun. “Have you…gained weight again?”
The white cat denied this. “Your gate has gotten narrower.”
It twitched its nose. “What are you eating? It smells so good! Can I try some?”
Jiang Heng: “…”
Jiang Heng stuffed the bun into its mouth and went around to the other side of the gate to pull, struggling for a while, then turned around to see the white cat happily devouring the bun.
He was silent for a few seconds, then, bracing himself against the gate, kicked it open with his foot, sending the white truck tumbling outside.
The white cat rolled onto its feet, swallowing the last bite of the bun. “Such nice weather today. Let’s bask in the sun.”
Jiang Heng squatted down beside it, his shirt collar gaping open, the exposed skin unnoticed by the cat. “Have you forgotten your mission?”
The white cat said, “I couldn’t control my ears and tail when I first transformed either. Every time I lost control, Little Black would beat me up, and after a while, it stopped happening. Little Black can’t come today, but he can come tomorrow and beat you up.”
Jiang Heng was silent. “Does he really have to beat me up? We’re civilized cats.”
As they were talking, a pair of white ears popped out on Jiang Heng’s head. He didn’t dare to stay outside any longer, afraid passersby would think he had…unusual hobbies, and carried the twenty-jin pig back inside.
The breakfast on the table was still warm. Jiang Heng pettily poured the cheapest cat food into a bowl for the white cat and sat down to enjoy his own breakfast.
The white cat munched on the kibble, crunch, crunch, while Jiang Heng slurped his congee.
Sunlight fell on the boy’s face, as if time had stopped for him.
This was the scene Qian Lu saw when she arrived at the villa.
The boy, wearing realistic cat ears, a smile on his face, bent down and offered a pan-fried bun to the cat at his feet. He wore a loose-fitting shirt, rumpled and slightly askew, a silent testament to intimacy and possession.
He was like a carefree bird, content within the confines of the villa, his delicate features, his every smile and frown, carrying a familiar air.
After disappearing for four years, he had returned.
