As soon as Zhao Yesi walked into the veterinary hospital, he heard Tao Qiaosheng's devastated cry: "I can barely afford to take care of you, and you're still going to give me six babies?!"
He was responded with a sweet and delicate meow.
Tao Qiaosheng caught a glimpse of Zhao Yesi from the corner of his eye, and as if he had seen a blood bag when his health was low, he quickly ran towards the door.
"Xizi! Wuwuwu, are you here to witness me becoming a grandfather? No, it should be grandpa - wait, grandfather seems to make sense too..." Tao Qiaosheng was halfway through his words when he saw the boy following behind Zhao Yesi and almost bit his tongue, "Ah!"
Lu Huangzhi said: "Would you like to introduce yourself?"
Zhao Yesi's face was expressionless. "My childhood friend Tao Qiaosheng, this is Lu Huangzhi."
Tao Qiaosheng crowed excitedly: "Oh oh oh oh oh oh!"
Lu Huangzhi was a little surprised, "You know me?"
"I know him. He's the campus hunk at CUHK," Tao Qiaosheng said enthusiastically. "Xizi often mentions you to me."
Zhao Yesi had a bad feeling, "Shut your mouth."
Lu Huangzhi became interested, "What did he mention?"
Tao Qiaosheng smiled and said, "They said you are handsome."
Zhao Yesi was anxious: "You fart!"
Lu Huangzhi smiled and said, "You can bring up this kind of thing in person in the future. Don't be shy."
Zhao Yesi was simply convinced: "Lu Huangzhi, do you not care about your dignity anymore?"
"No, I want you to give it to me." Lu Huangzhi looked up and said, "Where is the cat?"
Zhao Yesi hadn't originally planned to bring Lu Huangzhi with him, but the pet hospital was a bit far from the school, and taxis were hard to come by during rush hour. Lu Huangzhi's car happened to be parked at the school. After a struggle, Zhao Yesi reluctantly got into Lu Huangzhi's car.
In the examination room, Tao Qiaosheng's Ragdoll cat was pressed on the table by a nurse, revealing its snow-white belly. Its expression was gentle but a little dull; a doctor wearing glasses was moving an ultrasound probe over its belly.
Tao Qiaosheng asked, "What happened?"
"Six indeed," said the doctor. "Let me count them for you. Here is one, and here is another..."
Zhao Yesi frowned, "That's not the point."
Lu Huangzhi said, "Can I hold it?"
Tao Qiaosheng was very generous: "As long as he's a good-looking little brother, you can hug him."
Lu Huangzhi took the ragdoll cat from the nurse's hand, picked up its tail, and saw two fluffy little balls. "Zhao Yesi, come and see the hammer."
Zhao Yesi didn't give up. He gently pinched the little ball of wool, and thousands of words came together into one sentence: "Fuck."
"It's hard to believe," the doctor said, speaking with the air of a man who had seen through the mundane world and was aloof from the world. "To be honest, the first time I saw a rabbit, it was a pregnant male. I was so scared that I called the police."
Tao Qiaosheng asked: "And then?"
"Then the police came down from the sky with researchers in white coats and took the rabbit away."
Tao Qiaosheng said in horror: "Take him away for autopsy? Then my son will be killed too!"
The doctor comforted him: "They should have enough samples, it won't be his turn."
Zhao Yesi couldn't understand, "No...you just accepted it like that? It's a male, the pregnant one is a male!"
Lu Huangzhi said: "We have already been shocked."
Tao Qiaosheng echoed, "Don't worry, kid. When I saw the news, my reaction was even more exaggerated than yours now."
Zhao Yesi recalled the trending search he had seen before and trembled, "Wait, can this virus be transmitted to humans? Shit, I just touched the cat's eggs!"
"Experts have debunked the rumor. The emergence of a second gender is due to a gene mutation and has nothing to do with the virus, nor is it contagious."
Zhao Yesi breathed a sigh of relief.
The doctor added, "But this gene mutation might also occur in humans."
The three boys' eyes immediately focused on the doctor.
The doctor quickly waved his hands, "That's not what I said, that's what the experts said."
"Which expert?" Zhao Yesi said disdainfully. "That doesn't sound reliable."
The doctor picked up the tablet on the table, opened a video, and said, "Please watch."
A familiar face appeared on the screen, and Zhao Yexi almost gasped: "——Dad?"
Lu Huangzhi said: "Yes."
Zhao Yesi finally couldn't hold back his middle finger, which had been urging him to move for a long time. He raised it quickly and ruthlessly in front of Lu Huangzhi's eyes, "You really don't fucking want to do anything that has anything to do with people."
Tao Qiaosheng leaned closer to the screen. "It really is Uncle Zhao. Hey, your dad is actually an expert on the second gender."
"But the last time I saw him, he was just an ordinary, slightly overweight middle-aged man."
Tao Qiaosheng said sourly, "The director of the Seventh Research Institute in Suicheng is mediocre... so what am I?"
Zhao Yexi said: "To be honest, I have always regarded you as illiterate."
The doctor was shocked: "It turned out to be Mr. Zhao! My apologies."
Lu Huangzhi asked: "How long has it been since you last saw your father?"
"Just a week." As soon as Zhao Yexi graduated from college, his family bought him an apartment in the university town. He usually lives in his own house and only goes home on weekends.
In the video, Zhao Dad, resembling a sophisticated intellectual, methodically explained the development of a second sex in mammals, urging the public to remain calm and avoid rumors. When asked if humans might experience similar symptoms, Zhao Dad replied matter-of-factly, "It's not ruled out. Currently, mammals known to have a second sex include common species like dogs, cats, rabbits, and mice, as well as less common species like dolphins, giant pandas, and even chimpanzees. There are two possible paths: masculinization and feminization, with probabilities of approximately 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively..."
At the end of the interview, the reporter expressed his gratitude to Zhao's father: "Professor Zhao Guangyao's team is sequencing and studying the mutated gene. We will continue to follow up and ensure that the information is shared with everyone as soon as possible."
After watching the video, everyone fell silent. Finally, Tao Qiaosheng spoke first: "If humans had a second gender, would we also be able to get pregnant?"
Zhao Yesi's scalp tingled, "What's with that expectant look on your face?"
Lu Huangzhi said: "Unfortunately, these are all sexual reproduction."
Zhao Yesi didn't react for a moment, "What do you mean?"
"It means that if a human male is not the one who undergoes homosexual intercourse, he or she will not become pregnant even if he or she undergoes differentiation."
"That's right!" Tao Qiaosheng said regretfully, "My son got pregnant because he was raped by another male cat. As long as we're not raped by men, it's okay even if we break up."
Lu Huangzhi asked meaningfully, "So, Senior Zhao Yesi, what are you worried about?"
Zhao Yesi couldn't find any words to refute. His skin was whiter than many girls, his cheeks were slightly red when he was angry, his eyes were large and dark, and his eyelashes were a little wet.
You forced me to do this.
Zhao Yesi took out his mobile phone, opened WeChat, quickly found Lu Huangzhi's profile picture, and deleted it with one click in front of Lu Huangzhi himself.
Lu Huangzhi was stunned for a moment, raised his hands to cover his face, slowly lowered his head, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he was trying to hold back laughter.
Tao Qiaosheng has known Zhao Yexi for twenty years. Every time he sees him angry, he'll commentate and voice over: "It appears! Xizi's ultimate move, with its angry face and childish blocking behavior, reduces the opponent's health bar and causes a brief stun effect."
Lu Huangzhi raised his eyes and smiled: "This move is quite powerful. I'm already low on health."
Zhao Yexi looked at him like an idiot and asked, "Do you think you're funny?"
Lu Huangzhi had probably had enough fun, so he smiled and said, "If there's nothing else, I'll take you back to school?"
Zhao Yesi tried to put on a fierce expression, "Do you think you can drive for me?"
Lu Huangzhi actually thought about it for a moment and said, "I think I'm quite worthy."
Zhao Yesi completely lost his temper, "The door is over there, please get out."
This time, Zhao Yesi held his ground and didn't try to get into Lu Huangzhi's car. Tao Qiaosheng watched Lu Huangzhi get into the car and sighed, "Lu Huangzhi is so handsome."
Tao Qiaosheng is a narcissistic, sophisticated boy with a naturally beautiful face. He spends half an hour getting his hair done every day, always applies a face mask before bed, and wears designer-designed clothes. But the title of "male god" he worked so hard to achieve is simply not enough for Lu Huangzhi. Lu Huangzhi can instantly stun him with just a casual outfit and a hat.
"Damn it, I would have forgotten if you hadn't told me," Zhao Yesi began to settle accounts, "When did I ever call Lu Huangzhi handsome?"
"At the beginning of last year, you told me that a handsome guy had come to your school and even showed me his photo. Have you forgotten?"
It seems to be the case.
Zhao Yexi tried to save his dignity: "At that time, I hadn't seen his true face clearly, so I said such outrageous words. You don't know, I have been worried since I said it, always feeling that I was going to be punished by God."
"You said it more than once, and you said it again later."
"impossible!"
"Your original words were that Lu Huangzhi is useless except for his face."
Zhao Yesi immediately changed his words: "Oh, then I was right."
"But I think he has a good personality, quite interesting." Tao Qiaosheng said, "Xizi, why do you feel so good about it? Is there something wrong with his character?"
Zhao Yesi didn't have the habit of slandering others behind their backs, so he reluctantly said, "That's not the case."
Tao Qiaosheng snapped his fingers, "I know, a handsome guy like him must be a sea king. You are angry about the girls."
"Not really." According to his observation, Lu Huangzhi was quite gentlemanly and polite to girls, and never made jokes that crossed the line. He was completely two different people in front of him.
"Is it really just because your mentors don't get along and have different political views?"
"Political differences mean different worldviews, okay? That's serious." Zhao Yesi said coldly, "Besides, don't you see that he likes to play with me?"
"Play...? That was just a joke between buddies." Tao Qiaosheng said, "Haven't you always wanted to be my dad?"
"How long have you known him and you're already whitewashing him?" Zhao Yexi chuckled. "He's a light of righteousness in front of others, but he only targets me. But it doesn't matter, I've remembered it all. I'll definitely pay him back, tooth for tooth, a hundredfold!"
Tao Qiaosheng looked at his childhood friend, who was half a head shorter than him, and said lovingly, "As long as our little one is happy."
After separating from Tao Qiaosheng, Zhao Yesi went back home. As expected, Zhao's father was not at home, and only the nanny was at home. Zhao Yesi asked the nanny, "Auntie, do you know where my dad is?"
The nanny said, "I know. He's studying the second gender thing."
"Did you watch the news, too?"
"He told me this before he left. He said he would be very busy and would be living and eating at the institute, so he asked me not to prepare his meals."
Even the nanny knew it, but he didn't know it. He must have taken the wrong baby.
Zhao Yexi called his parents twice. No one answered Zhao's father's phone, and Zhao's mother's phone was simply turned off.
Zhao's father and mother often participated in some confidential research tasks and disappeared for several months or half a year. Zhao Yesi was used to it. At least this time he knew what they were doing.
After finishing his meal, Zhao Yesi was lying on the sofa playing with his mobile phone when he received a WeChat friend request.
【Huang requests to add you as a friend】
【Verification information: Where? And a good one?】
Zhao Yesi was so angry that the back of his neck felt hot. How could a quarrel between sworn enemies be called "reconciliation"?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
