8 Chapter 8

Upon hearing the news that he had slept for a whole day, Dazai Osamu did not show too much surprise. He looked at the white porridge in front of him with a gloomy expression, stirring it with a spoon from time to time. The warm water mist emitted by the white porridge slowly dissipated with the ups and downs of the spoon, and gradually calmed down.

As Bailibian finished tending to the potted plants in the living room, he saw Dazai Osamu sitting in a daze, staring blankly at a bowl of porridge. The warm sunlight cast a gentle glow on every object in the room. Ignoring the discordant bandages, Dazai curled up on the soft sofa, staring at the tasteless porridge with a pout, looking no different from a child in a tantrum.

"Don't you like it that much?" Bailibian, who was amused, said jokingly with a smile, "Do you want to... add some sugar?" Bailibian asked tentatively, recalling the experience of his grandfather coaxing him to drink white porridge when he was a child.

Bailibian was an easy child to coax, or so he thought. Whenever his grandfather used the sugar-adding trick, he would eagerly agree. However, Bailibian's tried-and-true sugar-adding trick didn't work well with Dazai Osamu. Bailibian even received a cold stare for suggesting it.

"You actually have to add sugar? Is Baili still in kindergarten?" Dazai Osamu sneered disdainfully.

Oh, I forgot cats and humans have different diets. To soothe a cat, should I open a can? But eating canned crab meat so early in the morning doesn't seem good for the stomach. "How about adding canned crab meat to your meal next time?"

Next time, say something nice. With Dazai Osamu's salary, does he really have to eat canned crab meat from Bailibian? Looking at Bailibian, who was smiling and acting like he was coaxing a child, Dazai Osamu turned his head away in disdain. Did he think he was playing some kind of nurturing game?

Bailibian, having lost the game, didn't seem to get stronger. Instead, he seemed completely devastated, no longer fighting for Dazai Osamu and Baizhou. Since the other party had already decided not to eat, he could just let him go. Bailibian thought without hesitation, judging by his appearance, he'd been refusing to eat for a while. The next time he collapsed in front of Mr. Mori, he'd definitely give him an IV. He, the Cloud's owner, wouldn't have to worry about it.

Today's weather was exceptionally good, sunny and cloudless—perfect for drying quilts. Bailibian worked all morning, finishing all the quilts in the second-floor bedroom before lunch. When he entered the kitchen, he found a small black cat still curled up on the sofa—an unusual sight. According to his usual habits, Dazai Osamu would have left long ago. While he had no intention of sending him away, Bailibian realized that the vegetables he had stored in the kitchen weren't enough for two people.

The meaningless face was vulnerable in the face of reality, so Bailibian boldly tested: "It's almost noon, why don't you go back for lunch?" Dazai Osamu seemed to be oblivious, as if he had taken root on the sofa.

Well, it looked like I'd have to go grocery shopping again this afternoon. Bailibian had originally planned to go shopping again tomorrow morning, but if Dazai insisted on staying for lunch, he'd have to prepare dinner in advance. Although Dazai's appetite was roughly half his own, considering he was a patient and had slept all day and all night, Bailibian didn't give him any extra meals.

However, when he brought the food out of the kitchen, he found that there was no one on the sofa. Oh my god, he was going to eat the leftovers.

But just as Bailibian was about to put the extra food in the refrigerator, he saw through the living room window a pair of legs nestled among the neatly arranged blankets in the courtyard. Looking out at the increasingly bright sunlight, Bailibian couldn't help but wonder what could compel an animal that prefers to dwell in the dark to venture out into the sun and roast.

Although Bailibian did not reject the idea of ​​"each family sweeping the snow in front of their own door", the venue for hide-and-seek was, after all, his own yard, and leaving it alone was clearly not something the owner should do. So, under the scorching sun, he grabbed Dazai Osamu, who was hiding under the shadow of the quilt, and brought him back into the house.

"Don't you have any questions, Baili?" Just when Baili thought Dazai would continue to eat in silence, he took the initiative to say, "If you ask now, maybe I'll be willing to answer you."

Is it really okay to ask? Bailibian was a little unsure. But the opportunity was rare, so he asked carefully, "Where did you change your bandages?" He had been curious about this for a long time, especially now. Bailibian had spent the entire morning going back and forth between the second floor and the garden in front of the first floor to dry his quilt. How on earth had Dazai Osamu managed to change his bandages without anyone noticing?

"What a silly question!" Dazai curled his lips. This was his biggest secret. "Don't you want to ask something else? Now that no one knows we're together, don't you have any other questions?" Like the distress message, why he's still here, what exactly Mr. Mori is planning to do. Dazai looked at Bailibian openly, his eyes filled with malice. Was he too stupid to notice, or did he really think he could get away with it, or did he think he could rest easy with his protection?

Baili Bian was no stranger to this. Before he traveled through time, he would often see men in suits with red eyes asking young ladies in white dresses, "Woman, this is your last chance..." when passing through less crowded alleys. Whenever he saw this, his parents would always take him away at a quick pace. Afterwards, they would tell him at home never to pay attention to such people, let alone ask them questions. If he really couldn't escape, they would give him a universal answer -

"I believe you." Because at this point, what the other person really wants you to ask is a standard answer they've hidden in their heart, a solution you can't come up with no matter how hard you try. To solve the problem, you have to address the root cause—give the other person enough sense of security. Whether you believe them or not, you must trust them with your words.

"Believe?" What an incredible answer! How could anyone dare to believe him? Dazai Osamu looked at the confident young man before him. Even the Hong Kong black brain, always known as a worrier, couldn't figure out what kind of brain he had to have such an idea. He suddenly didn't want to ask any more questions. Regardless of whether the other party gave such a response out of stupidity or naiveté, he couldn't expect him to ask any interesting questions.

However, in order to satisfy Mr. Mori's expectations, it is better not to let him know about this matter. It must be very painful for Mr. Mori to know that the diamond he has been thinking about is a fool.

Bailibian breathed a sigh of relief when he realized Dazai had given up talking and returned to his struggle with food. As expected, the wisdom of the ancients can be passed down, and the teachings of parents are universal.

After dinner, Dazai Osamu unceremoniously went to the bedroom on the first floor to rest. However, the host, Bailibian, had to make do with the sofa due to lack of a quilt. At this time, the small blanket that Dazai Osamu never cared about came into play. With the addition of the pillow, no one could tell the difference between the sofa and the bed.

It wasn't until Bailibian returned from his afternoon grocery shopping and happened upon Dazai Osamu yawning out of his bedroom that he finally thought he should give Mori Ogai a call. Although the other person hadn't shown any concern for Dazai Osamu's situation the previous time he called, he absolutely refused to believe they hadn't made an appointment beforehand. But now that he hadn't contacted Mori Ogai, and Dazai Osamu didn't have his phone with him, the prank had morphed into a missing person case, which wasn't exactly amusing.

Although Dazai's cat is indeed very cute, and although it won't be petted or held, it doesn't destroy the house or fight, but it is definitely not his ideal cat. Feeding it occasionally is fine, but he really doesn't want to be labeled a cat thief.

But the other person looked so relaxed, even showing a rare interest in the dinner menu, that Baili Bian couldn't bear to ask him to leave. "Never mind, I'll just let him go after dinner," Baili Bian thought, his heart softening once again.

But dinner has to be finished eventually, and looking at the energetic Dazai Osamu, Bailibian couldn't think of any reason not to return him. After thinking it over again and again, he decided to find an excuse so that Dazai and Cat wouldn't feel that they were being disliked. "Dazai, have you seen the quilts drying in my yard? All the beds in the bedrooms on the second floor have been dried." Bailibian felt that his hint was very obvious. Since the quilts on the second floor were dried, the quilts on the first floor should be dried tomorrow, so there was no way that Cat, who loved to stay in bed, would be allowed to sleep in tonight.

But Dazai Osamu was obviously not a cat that understood human nature. He looked at the smiling Bailibian with an expression as if he had caught a pervert, and said vigilantly: "I will never sleep with a man!" He hugged his shoulders with both hands, like a good woman who was determined to defend her chastity in front of a bully.

Uh, how is this not a signal to insist on staying overnight?

Bailibian, whose reputation was inexplicably ruined, did not care too much about it. He just used practical actions to prove that he had no intention of taking advantage - he took the quilt that had been dried in the sun back to the bedroom.

"I'm going to dry the quilts on the first floor tomorrow. If you insist on spending the night here, remember to get up early." In order to show his firm attitude, Bailibian went straight to the second floor without giving Dazai Osamu a chance to respond.

His plan to dry the quilt out in the sun was abandoned the moment Bailibian woke up to the sound of rain. He had thought that with the bright sunshine yesterday, it wouldn't rain today. But Dazai Osamu would probably be happy because his sleep wouldn't be disturbed.

However, in order to show his consideration for the patient, even though Dazai Osamu did not finish his porridge yesterday, he still decided to open a can of crab meat for him as a reward for not making trouble last night.

But when Bailibian walked down the stairs and saw the cans scattered on the ground and the quilts being drenched in the rain in the yard, he realized that he was not a particularly considerate person. For example, right now, he didn't want to do anything except hang Dazai Osamu on the quilt outside.

What was disappointing was that Dazai, who couldn't be driven away yesterday, disappeared without a trace.

【Author’s words】

I really want, really want, really want a bottle of nutrient solution!! QAQ