Chapter 29
Pei Huai froze for a moment.
Thanks to this moment of surprise, Zhuangzhuang had already hung half of his body on his clothes. He kicked his short hind legs, but failed to pounce. He began to scratch hard with his front paws, but could never hook Pei Huai's collarbone.
The mug was swept into a corner, and he freed his hands to try to carry the cat further away. But Zhuangzhuang's weight gave him a perfect advantage. The giant remained motionless, as steady as a rock.
"Well, I've never even crawled into his clothes. What do you want to do, you disgusting fat guy?" Xiang Mingqi folded up his sleeves and ran over to help.
Whether he was helping or deliberately causing trouble remains to be verified: after all, the first thing this kid did when he came over was to grab Pei Huai's waist and put his hand towards his collar.
How could the man possibly grant his wish? With a flick of his wrist, he slammed the back of his hand back onto the table, refusing to budge. Zhuangzhuang took the opportunity to bury his head into his chest, leaving his short legs kicking in the air. Pei Huai had nowhere to retreat, and he let out a slightly startled snort.
Xiang Mingqi was irritated by his panting, his lower abdomen tightening. When the electric current rushed to his groin, he pushed his senior's shoulders, put his hands on the side of his head, and was about to throw himself on him.
He gritted his teeth and leaned close to Pei Huai's ear, his Adam's apple moving up and down: "I'll help you get out, brother, don't breathe."
Just when their faces were close to each other for a few seconds, Xiang Mingqi's body shook as if he had caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye, and his face instantly turned red to the base of his neck.
They were very close, too close even.
From a higher angle, it formed a standard bird's-eye view. Pei Huai's front was half-ripped open, revealing a large area of his shoulders and neck.
On his streamlined skin, scratches from his collarbone dotted the space, shattering his neat and orderly demeanor. He didn't know what had provoked him, but the more Xiang Mingqi looked at him, the more he felt the contours from his lips to his eyebrows held an indescribable sensuality.
An inexplicable thought occurred to him: Perhaps Pei Huai wasn't just a handsome guy to be admired from afar. If he could see him up close, he would understand what genetic superiority meant.
Unfortunately for Zhuangzhuang, the story wasn't over yet. With its feet dangling in the air, pupils dilated to the edges of its eyeballs, it pressed its pink paws twice against Pei Huai's abdominal muscles. Perhaps satisfied with their softness, it narrowed its eyes, pressed its paws, and its snoring grew louder.
This time, the latter did not indulge it. He reached down and grabbed the cat's armpits, letting it stand upright on its dangling belly.
Zhuangzhuang, being held up by his arms and swung, was even more unruly. He twisted his body into a perfect C-shape, tilted his head, and raised his foot to kick him. Xiang Mingqi countered this move, scooping him up and hugging him, forcing him to lie on his arms, his short legs swinging helplessly. Pei Huai straightened his wrinkled collar and looked up, suddenly meeting a burning face.
"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment's pause.
It was like a hint, or a warning. A reminder for someone to get off, or a warning to keep their hands away and keep their distance. But from Pei Huai's deep, bottomless eyes, Xiang Mingqi read more of calmness.
Do something.
So he swallowed.
"Brother, give me a kiss." His voice was shaking so much that he couldn't even speak, but he still managed to piece together the whole sentence. "We are dating, so you, you have to pay more attention to me - just like you treat this fat, lazy, and lustful cat."
He was too close.
Or maybe it was because his expression at the moment looked like a puppy drenched in rain. Pei Huai was a beat late in raising his elbow to nudge him.
They stared at each other again. Xiang Mingqi couldn't stand the sexually seductive gaze these deep eyes cast at him. His breathing became rapid and his heart rate gradually accelerated.
Pei Huai seemed unaware that whenever he stared at someone like this, even without smiling, he was enough to lead them by the nose. He was too cold, so cold that it was hard to get close to him, and it was easy for others to stare at him closely. By the time others noticed, their hearts had already been shattered by his aloofness.
At this moment, Zhuangzhuang raised his back and nudged Pei Huai's chin with his head. His hair brushed against the back of his neck, which was a little itchy. When it licked his face, Senior turned his face away inadvertently, as if he wanted to pat someone's head.
But when his hand moved and fell, it happened to touch Xiang Mingqi's head.
A fleeting tenderness inadvertently flowed out from those breathtaking black eyes.
It was like the starry sky was winking at him.
"good."
-
For nearly three hours, Xiang Mingqi was as excited as a chicken, holding a golden tabby cat back and forth, even kissing it on the forehead without any conscience, making the cat's face wrinkled with anger.
Of course, the new part-time student didn't say anything to stop him. He was very quiet, so quiet that he seemed to not even exist in that corner.
Perhaps this person hadn't slept well the night before; dark circles formed under his eyes, and his face had a sickly sallow hue. His wandering gaze occasionally lingered on the customers, only to return to the counter for a moment before he resumed playing with his phone.
The cats ignored him and gathered around Pei Huai. Judging from the way a few of them were wiggling their hindquarters, they were eager to jump onto his lap, but they had no confidence that they could defeat Zhuang Zhuang.
The fat tabby cat was lying on its back on Pei Huai's legs, sucking its lips in sleep.
In the afternoon, the cats, having eaten and drunk their fill, began to feel sleepy, falling asleep unconsciously on the floor, in corners, and in their nests. It wasn't long before Xiang Mingqi's drink was empty.
The former picked up the straw from the cross, rubbed his fingertips, and began to make some unrealistic dinner plans.
"Brother, how about we go to that home-style restaurant on the first floor tonight? They've got a seafood set and desserts; they're on special today. Wow, the eel there looks so tender, the kind you can almost suck the meat off the bones." He scrolled through the buffet menu on the official account and put on an interested tone, "It's my treat! Just come with me, come with me..."
From the moment he started fiddling with the straw, Pei Huai's attitude was indifferent, neither refusing nor agreeing.
"It's up to you," he said.
Zhuangzhuang was fast asleep on my lap, snoring loudly. When I put him back on the sofa, he hadn't opened his eyes once, as if he had been drugged.
Xiang Mingqi raised his hand and ordered a cookie. When the oven dinged, ushering the part-time worker from the kitchen to the lounge area, the cats under the table arched their backs and fled, their fur fluffing. The man said nothing, but curled his lips in a displeased smile.
"...Do you like cats?" There was a hoarse resonance in his lungs.
Pei Huai raised his eyes and realized that he was asking about him.
"generally."
"They all like you. Come visit often." The part-time student's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his forearms, where he held the tray steady, were covered in fine scratches. "Please have some."
Sitting across from him, Xiang Mingqi interlaced his fingers, resting his cheek in the dimple formed by his hands, glancing at the scars. The straw continued to bob between his teeth, and when he finished biting it, he wrinkled his nose like a hound sniffing disinfectant.
They were leaving the cafe at 3 p.m. when a mother and son passed by. Seeing a few cats stretching and smacking their lips, the boy let out a scream of surprise and jumped up at the window, pointing and talking.
We had dinner until the restaurant closed: both the lobster rice and the grilled eel were typical restaurant dishes, nothing to write home about. Unfortunately, Xiang Mingqi got so chatty during the meal that it was almost night by the time we got home.
To extend their date, Xiang Mingqi deliberately took a longer route, crossing Central Park. Thanks to his unrealistic confidence and poor sense of direction, an hour later, he finally realized he was going in circles.
He turned around hesitantly and found Pei Huai standing at the entrance of the roundabout with his elbows folded, waiting patiently for him to realize the Möbius strip.
"Brother, you already knew I was being stupid..."
"Um."
His hands were shaking: "Then why didn't you remind me."
“Because you’re confident.”
"But this is our precious first date, and I'm going around in circles endlessly like a lunatic?" Xiang Mingqi was so embarrassed that he covered his face and stamped his feet. "Help me! Oh my god! If I'm going to be socially dead, I want you, brother, to be responsible for me! Ugh..."
But what he didn't understand was that Pei Huai was just thinking about when to tell him about the company's decision. However, to the right, there was a movement coming from the direction of the green belt.
It was a faint rustling sound, and if you listened closely, you could hear the wailing of a kitten.
Pei Huai walked over, parted the grass, and squatted to take a look. Lying in the soft, muddy pit was a dirty little orange cat, its belly twitching and contracting. It was small, looking like it had only recently grown teeth, and was incredibly skinny.
He had a vague feeling something was amiss, so he shone his flashlight and instantly saw the bloody mess of the kitten's back half. Insects and ants were lingering and gathering around its hind legs, waiting for it to die so they could feast on it.
The kitten's eyes were covered with pus and it couldn't open. It cried weakly and its tongue was curled out.
But the moment it caught a ray of light, it suddenly howled loudly, flapped its claws towards the light source, held its head high, and used all its strength to get closer to the light.
Pei Huai scanned the area with his flashlight. There was no female cat, nor any signs of care. The wounds were deep and thin, symmetrical on both sides, and closely spaced. They were likely caused by human intervention.
These wounds, which were enough to attract maggots, were now lying on such a young and weak body, which was shocking to see.
Without thinking much, he walked over, gently wrapped it in a towel, and took it to the nearest pet hospital.
As soon as I walked into the front desk and spread out a towel, even the doctor on duty wiped his sweat. I made an emergency appointment and asked them to take the cat for a check-up immediately.
During the process, the two waited outside the laboratory.
The hospital receptionist also saw the kitten's plight and came to complain, terrified, saying that this kind of thing has been happening frequently in the area lately. Most of the abused kittens are young, and it's hard to tell if they've been weaned yet, let alone any signs of female cats nearby.
A female college student had brought a kitten to her house. Unfortunately, both of the kitten's legs had been strangled, and it could not be saved. Before it died, it was still sucking on her index finger, desperately trying to suck milk.
As they were chatting, the receptionist became excited and wanted to continue, but was hurriedly called into the laboratory by the doctor.
For a moment, there were only two people left in the corridor.
"Brother, I thought you wouldn't care about it." Xiang Mingqi glanced at the room out of the corner of his eye, trying to break the illusion of silence.
A strip of privacy tape was applied across the glass, obscuring the scene on the examination table. All that could be seen was a few doctors chatting in front of a blood tester. Xiang Mingqi sighed, "It's too small. There's almost no chance of survival. It could die at any moment during the examination."
While saying these words, Pei Huai stared at the qualification certificate in the promotional frame for a long time, his hands rubbing on his knees.
Seeing his attitude, Xiang Mingqi leaned over to look at him, a kind of flattering tone creeping into his words: "But it screamed so loudly just now, even I was scared. Is this what's called... a last gasp of life? But if you think it can be saved based on this alone, brother, be prepared to be heartbroken."
"That's the reason."
"ah?"
"It doesn't want to die." Pei Huai said, "That's all."
"Even so, it's too..."
"Xiang Mingqi." He didn't look at anyone, but spoke calmly and slowly. "I know what it feels like to want to live, and I know what it feels like to want someone passing by to help me. But I know even better, knowing that no one will lend a hand, but still wanting to live... that feeling."
A suffocating pressure built up in his throat. Xiang Mingqi stared at him for a long moment, his heart aching. He opened his mouth, trying to make some excuse, but his phone rang.
He picked it up without even looking at it.
"Hello." Three seconds. After just three seconds, the corner of his right eye twitched. He smiled and pretended to hang up. "Are you done? If there's nothing else, I'll hang up first. I'm busy here."
——Just half a second after his index finger pressed the hang-up button, Pei Huai's hearing also caught the intermittent crying sound coming from the speaker hole.
The voice sounded familiar, reminding him of the female college student who was on duty at the cat cafe today.
He snatched the phone away and put it to his ear.
"Zhuangzhuang is missing." The other party was still sobbing, not realizing that someone else had answered the phone. "I, I, I'm really sorry. This number is the one you left when you reserved a seat. I know I shouldn't call you now. But I'm at school, and there's access control. There's no one in the store, and the intern can't contact him. Please, can you tell me where Zhuangzhuang was before you left, and where he was in the store?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com