Chapter 39

A crisp sound exploded beside my ear, and I was so scared that I jumped up and ran to the back. Then, I suddenly looked up and met Li Ying'an's eyes, who had faint dark circles under his eyes, for a long time.

Li Ying'an didn't say a word, didn't even call my name, simply letting his gaze hold me captivated. In those brief seconds, perhaps even longer, his eyes slowly welled up, piercing tears welling in their sockets, restrained yet surging, wrapped in an inexpressible longing and joy that enveloped me, paralyzed.

I really wanted to speak, even if it was just something casual, so I opened my mouth and squeezed out a meow with difficulty from my throat.

My cry opened Li Ying'an's mouth. He looked up to the sky and breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly hugged me in his arms.

The long-lost scent lingered at the tip of my nose, and I felt a sudden pain in my heart. I couldn't help but move closer, fearing that this smell full of memories would be like a dream that would disappear as soon as I opened my eyes.

"Li Youzhi, are you finally willing to go home?"

He forced his voice to be tense, his tone was unstable, his throat was choked and hoarse, and occasionally suppressed trembling and grief would overflow. He was a very strong man, but now he was broken.

It turns out that this is how I made him miss me.

I raised my paws and placed them on Li Ying'an's shoulders, attempting to increase my height and get closer. Just like last time, I leaned in to kiss his face. He didn't flinch, remaining lost in his sorrow. It wasn't until my furry muzzle touched his, my long whiskers brushing his chin and lips, that he regained consciousness and looked at me intently.

He and I continued to look into each other's eyes. This time, there were long speeches hidden in each other's eyes. I wished I could become Li Feng right now. I had so many things I wanted to say to him, and I could understand his eyes. Like me, he had a throat full of words, but he was ashamed that he didn't know how to express them.

Maybe my gaze was too direct and too intense, and finally he lowered his eyes, without saying a word, and carried me into the house.

At first glance, I saw that the house was still the one in Li Ying'an's style. It was cleaned spotlessly by the owner, and the air was filled with the smell of laundry detergent.

In the past, I would have stopped clinging to him and acting coquettishly after entering the house, but today I just wanted him to hold me in this warm space for a while longer, and I didn't want to let go.

Similarly, Li Ying'an was reluctant to let me go.

"Li Youzhi, are you hungry?" He lowered his head, looked into my eyes, and said softly, "What do you want to eat?"

For a moment, I couldn't bear to escape from his eyes, which were as gentle as the dawn rising from the morning mist. I would rather drown in his tears that had already receded, and I was willing to do so.

I didn't feel hungry at all, and I didn't want him to waste any more food because of me. I turned my head away, stretched my neck, and put my chin on his shoulder, silently refusing him.

"Aren't you hungry?" He teased me, a rare occasion. "Did you sneak out and eat some good food from someone else's house?"

I twisted my body in protest, tilting my head so that only the back of my head was visible to Li Ying'an.

I carried him on my back and refused to be teased.

"You've been playing outside for so long, I thought you wouldn't come again..."

He was still nagging, carrying me around like he was coaxing a child, his hands constantly patting my back. "It's been three days now, and I don't know how you've been out there, whether you've found food to eat properly, or a place to sleep. I don't know your situation, so I can only worry. Go get some sleep."

He carried me up the stairs. I was so full of sleep that I immediately raised my head and was about to break free from him and jump down.

He suddenly attacked me and grabbed me, not letting me escape from his hands: "If you don't sleep, you will turn into a clown cat. Stay home and sleep well today."

I heard the hidden meaning in his words. He was telling me that I was not allowed to go out for a walk today.

Yes, in his eyes, I have been out having fun for three days, so it’s time for me to have a good time.

But I'm not an ordinary cat, so I'll take a leave until today.

I rejected Li Ying'an's request and rushed to the door like an arrow, saying that I still wanted to go out and play today.

Li Ying'an walked down the stairs slowly. He looked at me seriously and earnestly, as if he had no doubts about the decision he had just made and he would most likely not allow me to leave home again.

He looked terrified of me leaving.

But the name he called out next scared me.

"Li Feng, you should also have a good rest."

I was suddenly struck by lightning, my pupils contracted sharply, my back straightened unconsciously, and it was as if an invisible thread was hanging on my neck, hanging from the roof, strangling me so hard that I couldn't breathe. I could only stare at the man in front of me like a wooden chicken, who had no idea when he had seen through my current identity.

The blood in my body was roaring and boiling, and the surroundings seemed to be connected to electricity. My hair was fluffy and stood up for a long time. My breathing gradually calmed down under forced control. Although there was still a sense of uncontrolled disorder, compared to before, I looked a little alive and not too stiff.

I slowly shifted my gaze, not daring to meet Li Ying'an's eyes again.

Ever since he frankly broke the shocking news, his eyes seemed magical to a timid and suspicious person like me.

I don't want him to see me so clearly anymore. I want to cover myself up so that I can maintain some dignity.

The sound of soft footsteps treaded on my heart, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him squatting in front of me. I heard him sigh softly, a sigh filled with helplessness.

He hooked my ear with his index finger, teasing me with his laughter: "Why are you hiding it? Are you so afraid that I will see that you are still a magical kitten that can transform into a human?"

I am ticklish, and my ears became like a lively fish under his fingertips, swinging back and forth. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I slowly raised my head and looked at him like a guilty thief.

"If you think it's okay, then we can talk."

He wanted me to turn back into a human, and I hesitated for a moment before agreeing.

For the first time, I transformed from a cat into a human under human gaze.

The moment he saw my real body, Li Ying'an suddenly couldn't help but smile. He lowered his eyelids, and his drooping eyelashes covered his gray eyes. I couldn't understand the emotions he was deliberately hiding.

Out of curiosity, I should have asked him how he knew that I was Li Youzhi and that Li Youzhi was mine, but the current situation was rather awkward for me and I couldn't speak for a while.

"You must be wondering how I know that."

I saw Li Ying'an take out a stack of opened envelopes from the cabinet next to him. I recognized it. It was the money I gave him.

At the beginning, I took great pains to bring the money home quietly under Li Ying'an's nose. I knew he would find out one day and he might be surprised and curious, but I didn't expect that this money would involve me. This forced me to admit it and be honest with Li Ying'an.

Li Ying'an found the money in the envelope when he was making the bed yesterday.

He is a very clean person and he would take time to clean the house almost every week, so the place where I hid the money was relatively hidden, stuck in a dead corner, but he still accidentally found it during the cleaning yesterday.

I asked him with a depressed face: Is it just because of this money?

Unexpectedly, he actually shook his head at me: "It's not just because of this money, but also because of your various previous behaviors. I have some doubts that my Li Youzhi may not be just a cat."

The seed of doubt was planted when Li Lan picked up the mobile phone from the trash can, and it grew on the night he revealed it.

Apart from some small details in life, what made Li Ying'an most intuitively feel that I was not a cat was that I could not make my true body meet the human body at the same time.

Like the time when Old Man Song celebrated his birthday, I came to Li Ying'an's house as Li Feng. Naturally, Li Youzhi could not coexist with my human body, so it disappeared for one night. The next day, after I separated from Li Ying'an as Li Feng, it suddenly appeared in Li Ying'an's eyes again; and it disappeared for three days without a trace. Not only did Li Youzhi disappear from Li Ying'an's side, but the human body Li Feng also took three days of leave from work. During this time, Li Ying'an went to the supermarket to inquire about me. When he learned that I had suddenly taken leave, he didn't understand the reason, just like Li Youzhi, he had evaporated from the face of the earth.

Li Feng and Li Youzhi, either one of them appears, or the cat appears, or neither of them appears. In short, they cannot coexist.

Li Ying'an is poor, but not stupid. He knows that this is where the problem lies, and he also guesses the relationship between Li Feng and Li Youzhi.

Now my performance has verified his idea.

From the moment he spoke until now, I hadn't moved from where I was standing, frozen in place like a statue. Nothing of this mattered to me, nothing felt like belonging to me. Li Ying'an's words and actions had easily stripped me clean. I had nowhere to go, nowhere else to go. I could only stand here obediently.

I am a little worried that Li Ying'an will no longer like me after knowing the truth. He will let me wander around and no longer care about me.

It seems that my current situation is very embarrassing.

But I have to take this step, I have to ask bravely: So can I still live with you in the future?

He was stunned for only a second before he laughed and said, "I don't mean to kick you out. Besides, you've already given me so much for sharing the rent, how could I possibly kick my own financial sponsor out?"

I actually wanted to laugh along, but when I thought about the fact that I might not pay Li Ying'an any salary tomorrow, I would be worthless and Li Ying'an might even kick me out.

Thinking of this, my brows, which had just relaxed, frowned again.

Li Ying'an noticed my unhappiness and came closer to me, asking, "What's wrong? Why do you look unhappy?"

I was confused: I might not become a human being next year.

Li Ying'an didn't quite understand this: "Why?"

I thought, since he already knew my identity, there was no need for me to hide what I was going to say next from him.

I truthfully explained that I was a spirit cat serving beside the Goddess Wuqing, and that I had come to the human world on my own initiative in search of a friend. Here I had the right to become a human, but only for five years. Once the five-year period was up and I had not found Xiaoju, I would be detained in the human world and would never be able to become a human again.

I told Li Ying'an everything about where I had been in the past three days. Xiaoju's disappearance forced me to admit the difficulty of this task and I was afraid that I could not complete it.

By then I won’t be able to earn money to support Li Ying’an.

"It doesn't matter," he told me, "When the time comes, you follow me and I will just treat you as a pure and innocent kitten. You don't need to worry about other human affairs anymore."

I stared at him in amazement.

He met my eyes and smiled even brighter, like the morning glow that gradually spread across half the sky, so bright red that it dazzled my eyes.

"Didn't you say you wanted to find your friend Xiaoju and rescue the other little friends? I'll accompany you then. Although I don't have great abilities, I will definitely do my best."

"Childish ghost, I've told you before, we are friends. No matter who you are, we are friends." His words, coupled with the smile on his face, did not look hypocritical at all, and did not sound insincere at all. "You are the kitten who has been with me through thick and thin, and a friend I am willing to help."

I am his kitten, but also his closest friend.