Chapter 32
Li Ying'an was thin, with no flesh on his hands, yet his palms were broad. They felt like a thin, warm blanket against his back, no pressure, but painful. He didn't open his eyes, like a person drowning, breathless, just drifting quietly, lying there. Only the upturned smile on his lips suggested he was still alive.
I broke free from his grip and moved up onto his heaving belly, putting all my weight on it.
After a long period of oppression, I could hear how heavy and rough his breathing was. The irregular rise and fall gradually trembled and accelerated, and occasionally stopped a few times, followed by more violent floating. He almost shook me off his body several times, disturbing me so that I could not sleep well when curled up on him and prepared to fall asleep. I would retaliate by deliberately exposing my claws and scratching a few times.
He finally couldn't help but slapped my butt, and scolded me with a smile: "Do you dislike it just because I'm comfortable?"
I groaned and looked up, stretching lazily. My paws naturally reached up to Li Ying'an's neck, the warm pads of my flesh resting against his bony chin. Li Ying'an stopped pretending to sleep and stared down with his eyes open. From my perspective, he looked like he'd just woken up, his eyes squinting, a half-awake look.
From his unstable breathing, I knew that he was not sleeping at all and was just pretending. But now I felt guilty for deliberately disturbing him and couldn't help but get up to please him.
I clung to his shoulders and licked his hair with my tongue.
"Hey, hey, hey—" Li Ying'an tilted his head, the tiredness on his face long gone, replaced by a brighter smile. He pushed my head in disdain, pushing me in the opposite direction, and violently stopped me from licking him, "You ate a mouthful of oily food, and now you lick my head all over it."
The more he resisted, the more he looked like a struggling rat at the end of its road in my eyes. The more excited I became, and because I knew that he was obviously disgusted with me, I couldn't help but raise my paw and punch him!
Li Ying'an groaned in pain from my beating. He grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and lifted me up. No matter how I struggled under his fingers, he refused to let me go. I was so angry that I wanted to show my claws or teeth, but he turned a blind eye and patted me like a naughty child, "Stop it."
I really was like a child, an obedient child. After hearing what he said, I immediately stopped all actions and looked at him calmly.
Li Ying'an lowered his eyes to gaze at my sudden silence. There was no surprise, no wonder, no curiosity that I seemed to understand human speech. He lifted me up, letting me lie on my back like a baby in his arms. A smile spread across his eyes, reflecting my snoring and silent observation.
He straightened his back, shifted his hips, and sighed again.
All his movements were within my sight, and both those I had seen and those I had not seen before were considered rare at this moment.
I could sense his tiredness from his little thing. I was very obedient, scanning him unscrupulously with my two round eyes, and burying my whole body in his arms, waiting for him to complain to me on his own initiative.
In fact, Li Ying'an rarely complains to me, even though I am just a cat in his eyes, who cannot understand human language and cannot give corresponding comfort, but he also rarely nags others.
He always seems to be like this, swallowing all the hardships by himself.
But today the sun is rising from the west, and he is actually willing to chat with me, as if I were a human being.
"You're so clingy to me, are you being bullied outside?" He coaxed me like a baby, biting my body and patting my butt. "Tell me where you've been?"
"Ah..." I meowed, and it sounded no different from being a spoiled child, and my body kept moving in his arms.
Li Ying'an feigned surprise, the smile on his face spreading further and further: "You're still trying to act like a spoiled child, are you really being bullied?"
Just as he guessed, my overly clingy behavior was like being bullied in his eyes. He certainly didn't expect that I would turn into a human, discuss the cat-stealing car with Wen Liangxi this evening, and plan to go alone to rescue Xiaoju.
I stick to him as a comfort before our temporary separation.
On the way home, I had already figured it out. If I succeeded this time, it would naturally be the best outcome. I would bring Xiaoju back to heaven, back to the side of Goddess Wuqing, and then beg her again to let me stay in the world. Even if it was just as a cat, I would be satisfied to accompany Li Ying'an.
If the result is not satisfactory and I fail, then I will be deprived of my human body and punished here in my original cat body. However, I will still follow Li Ying'an without hesitation.
I can't live without him.
Catching such a good person is equivalent to grasping life.
I am not afraid that he will not consider me a friend. I just want to leave my mark in his life, and that will be enough.
"You keep rubbing against me, why are you so cute?" Li Ying'an pinched my face lightly, puffing up my cheeks with me. "Are you curious about what I did today?"
I stopped swinging madly, relaxed my limbs and paws, let my tail hang down, raised my head, and stared at Li Ying'an clearly and intently without blinking, my eyes full of his emotions.
I was waiting for Li Ying'an to tell me about his experience.
As expected, Li Ying'an went to the scrap yard this afternoon.
Also at the scrapyard were the old man's eldest daughter, Sui Yusheng, and his adoptive mother. Their presence made the once seldom-visited place seem more lively than before.
Upon first meeting the old man, his eldest daughter was eager to explain the situation to her father, reiterating the details of the bracelet. Deng Yu remained silent, and Sui Yusheng, the person involved, acted as if she had nothing to do with the matter, even displaying extreme dislike for someone who might be a blood relative.
Sui Yusheng's words and deeds showed that he was unwilling to recognize his ancestors.
He made a few statements, reiterated them several times, his loyalty to Deng Yu evident in his words. He was resolute, claiming that his biological mother was gone, and his maternal relatives hadn't raised him. There was no need to tangle with something as illusory as blood ties, and he could simply pretend it didn't exist.
The old man burst into tears after hearing this. Deng Yu, who was beside him, also thought that this was too much and forced him to apologize respectfully.
Sui Yusheng refused to budge. He took off the bracelet from his wrist, held it in his hand, and said calmly, "I've been wearing this since I was in the orphanage. I don't know my mother's name or my father's name, so I'm not sure the name on the bracelet is my biological mother's. What if someone gave me this bracelet?"
This was said quite clearly; Sui Yusheng made it clear that she didn't want to have anything to do with the old man in the scrap yard.
He would rather say that the bracelet he had worn for many years was not his.
But there is no suitable reason to refute this.
Without the biological mother present, a paternity test cannot be performed. No one can prove that the old man’s daughter is Sui Yusheng’s mother, or that Sui Yusheng’s mother is the old man’s daughter. An inexplicable and unbridgeable gap has arisen between the two generations.
"If that doesn't work, we can do a kinship test."
Just when the atmosphere became tense, the silent Deng Yu spoke.
"Although the probability is not as high as a paternity test and the certainty will be affected, but since my uncle and Xiaosheng are both male, the accuracy of the Y chromosome test will probably be much higher."
Sui Yusheng reluctantly whispered hoarsely: "Mom."
To be honest, from a selfish point of view, Deng Yu was reluctant to let the child she had raised for many years recognize other people as his parents. Even though blood ties seemed to have no effect here, it was something that could not be erased after all. She believed that people should not be too selfish. When someone came to her, the relationship was laid out in front of her. If it was her biological grandson, she had to recognize him. If not, it would be a misunderstanding.
She didn't express dissatisfaction with Sui Yusheng's attitude, nor did she think it was correct. She was simply stating a fact: "With the advancement of technology these days, whether we're a family or not will soon be clear. Besides, even if you find your biological family, how can I, as your mother, abandon you? I'm afraid that after raising you for so many years, you'll abandon me."
Under Deng Yu's teasing, Sui Yusheng obeyed obediently.
"We'll know the results in a week."
When it was over, Li Ying'an took a deep breath, feeling a sense of relief as if everything had been settled.
He was really tired. Such a description could penetrate his physical strength. As soon as he finished speaking, he slowly leaned back, stroking my fur from time to time with his hand, and stared blankly at the swirling halo on the ceiling above his head.
He closed his eyes, and I could no longer read the obscure emotions in his eyes. I could only sigh that a family reunion did not exhaust the protagonist, but instead cost an outsider half his life.
I think I shouldn't bother him anymore, I need to let him rest.
The arms he was holding around me gradually loosened as he leaned back, and I could easily break free, turn over, stand up, and then return to my own little nest.
"Li Youzhi."
I suddenly stopped, turned around and looked back.
This was the first time Li Ying'an called me like this. He usually called me by my nickname, and he had never been so formal.
He opened his eyes and looked straight at me. His pale grey pupils were now filled with power, as if burning like a raging fire.
"Let's be good friends forever, okay?"
good friend……?
Is this what I understand as man’s best friend?
I stood there motionless, my eyes fixed on Li Ying'an.
I still remember the question I thought about my friend on the way back tonight. His answer gave me the exact answer. Now even my breathing has become very slight, for fear that too rough breathing will disturb the silence.
"I've never had any friends since I was born. I thought I wasn't meant to have friends, that I wasn't meant to live in this world." He spoke with a touch of pessimism, his brows hanging like a crescent, dim moon, a pointed corner of sadness. "But since I came here, I've suddenly made two friends... well, two friends, really. One is a girl named Li Lan, and the other is a boy named Li Feng."
I actually heard the sound of my heart stopping with a thump.
"Childish ghost," he called my name and asked me softly, "Will you be my third friend?"
Of course I do. I can't wait to say yes.
But at the same time, I was a little reluctant.
As the saying goes, the more friends you have, the easier your life will be. Having a friend who shares the same values as you is even more useful than family. I know very well that Li Feng and I are the same kind of people. I cannot be Li Ying'an's third friend. From the beginning to the end, including me, he only has two friends. He does not have a third friend now.
But after careful consideration, what could he do? Li Ying'an was still young and had a long way to go. In the years to come, he would meet more like-minded people and become friends.
I don't care because I am already his good friend.
I jumped over, stretched out my front paws, placed them on his arms, and looked at him firmly: I want to be friends with you.
He grabbed my hand and held it, his beautiful eyes following me: "Childish boy, my friend."
I lowered my head, stood on his hands with both feet, and unconsciously stepped on my breasts. At the same time, I leaned over, looking at the long, alternating lines on his broad, rough palm, smelling the special smell on it, and tried to move closer to press a kiss on it.
Then I put my front paws on his wrist again, climbed up his arm, and used the support to straighten my body, trying to make myself flush with his cheek or be able to look at him at eye level.
Li Ying'an and I looked into each other's eyes, our big eyes looking into each other's small eyes.
"Childish boy, have I ever told you that your eyes are very beautiful, especially like the earth?" he said to me.
I blinked and didn't take it seriously. I never thought that there was anything wrong with me being beautiful, and that a pair of eyes were not worth mentioning.
"It's like the eyes of the earth turned to me," he murmured to himself, "It's as if the earth has discovered my existence and begun to accept me."
"So my life is going to be happy too?"
His voice was light and slow, like a floating duckweed.
Yes. Li Ying'an, embrace the daily happiness that lies ahead. I thrust my head forward, leaning closer. The fur on my beak brushed against Li Ying'an's cheek like a light feather.
Li Ying'an, I hope you will be happy in this life.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
