CH 24

Luo Wencheng had never had a pet, and he didn’t have much love for animals, but this big cat struck a chord with him. Even though he was pounced on and scratched as soon as they met, he wasn’t angry at all. It was probably because he didn’t feel any hostility from the big girl.

Seeing the cat’s pitiful appearance, Luo Wencheng couldn’t bear it. He asked Lu Chong, “Why does she keep looking at me?”

Lu Chong glanced back at the big cat, “Ignore her. Every time she does something wrong, she pretends to be pitiful.” Lu Chong was a little angry in his heart. Ribs was like his child; although she had always been a little arrogant and wayward, she was still good and kind by nature, and no parent would be happy to witness such aggressive behaviour.

But at the same time, he also wondered: the girl was getting lazier and lazier as she got older. She always ignored people when she saw them. Why did she react so much today?

“Mee…” The big cat with a black and yellow back and white belly let out a low, delicate cry at Lu Chong and rubbed her furry head against his calf, as if begging for mercy. The big tail was sweeping around Lu Chong’s feet. Lu Chong hadn’t seen her so coquettish for a long time. He rubbed the cat’s back with a hint of helplessness and doting, even though his face was stern. “What’s the matter with you today? Are you dissatisfied with my guest? Don’t be coquettish with me, apologise to him yourself.”

It didn’t look like Ribs hated Luo Wencheng, otherwise she wouldn’t behave like this after scratching him, but Lu Chong wasn’t completely sure yet. He was going to take another look. If Ribs really didn’t get along with Luo Wencheng, then he definitely couldn’t let them stay together.

He had an inexplicable urge to take care of Luo Wencheng, but in any case, this young man he hadn’t known for a long time was far less important to him than his stupid cat.

However, the next scene made it difficult for Lu Chong to maintain a calm look. After hearing his words, Ribs abandoned Lu Chong without hesitation and rushed towards Luo Wencheng in a single leap. Then she stood up and hugged Luo Wencheng’s calf, sticking to it with her whole body and rubbing herself against it hard, meowing non-stop, very happy.

Luo Wencheng was taken aback; but seeing the cat’s intoxicated expression, he couldn’t help but smile, stretch out his hand and gently stroke the furry head: “Hello, my name is Luo Wencheng. Is your name Ribs?”

The cat was very big. She was taller than Luo Wencheng’s calf when she stood up, so she could easily rest her head on Luo Wencheng’s knee. Hearing Luo Wencheng’s voice, the cat opened her eyes and suddenly stopped meowing. A pair of cat’s eyes just stared at Luo Wencheng.

The cat’s eyes were bright yellow, and Luo Wencheng’s eyes were light amber. They looked at each other from a short distance, only having each other in their eyes. Luo Wencheng suddenly felt shocked, as if he was not looking at an animal, but at a relative whom he hadn’t seen for a long time…

Suddenly there was an urge to cry.

His heart surged, and something very cold and hard in it softened.

“Meow.” The big cat looked at Luo Wencheng gently, affectionately and dependently, crying delicately, her eyes incredibly clear. Luo Wencheng’s eyelashes trembled, and he even forgot Lu Chong, who was still by his side. He bent down, hugged the big cat’s belly and picked her up, holding her carefully like a child in his arms: “Little girl, do you like me? I like you too.”

“Meow.” The big cat craned her neck, gently bit Luo Wencheng’s chin twice, then curled herself into a ball, buried herself in his arms and closed her eyes.

She was getting older; after all the fuss just now she was tired.

She liked the smell of this person so much. She was so happy; she remembered she was hugged like this when she was very, very young…

Lu Chong’s movements with the cotton swab in his hand became stiff, his eyes filled with shock. His stupid cat was so arrogant that she was never willing to be touched, not to mention hugged by a stranger. Except for being held by him, she preferred to lie in her cage and be carried like that.

He looked at the young man sitting on the sofa holding the cat. Luo Wencheng’s movements were very careful, but his posture was not stiff. There was a natural gentle aura coming from him. He looked at the big cat in his arms with a smile and stroked the cat’s fur with his palm. Lu Chong suddenly felt that the young man at this moment was better looking than ever before, even if he was dressed in ordinary clothes and had scratches on his face.

Lu Chong recovered, suppressed his strange thoughts and asked Luo Wencheng with a smile: “Have you ever had a cat before?”

Advertisements

Luo Wencheng shook his head and glanced at the big cat with a real smile in his eyes: “No, I don’t have any affinity with animals and I don’t particularly like small animals. But I like this baby very much. She also likes me very much. It’s love at first sight, I guess.”

When he said these words, he had no idea of presenting himself in front of Lu Chong in some particular way. Because of the appearance of this cat, he suddenly didn’t want to pretend at this moment. He chatted freely with Lu Chong: “I didn’t expect you, sir, to have a cat. Is she always so enthusiastic when she sees guests?”

“No, she is usually lazy and arrogant, she doesn’t bother to look at anyone. So her behaviour towards you surprised me,” Lu Chong said meaningfully.

Luo Wencheng was taken aback; but he really had nothing to be ashamed of in this regard. He didn’t know that Lu Chong had a cat at home, let alone making preparations in advance so that the cat would treat him differently.

Lu Chong said again: “But she’s not a baby anymore, she is not much younger than you.”

Luo Wencheng said in surprise: “Really?”

Lu Chong stretched out his hand and touched the big cat; his eyes were warm and worried: “Well, she will be sixteen years old this winter. It is very old for a cat.”

Luo Wencheng stared in disbelief: “I really can’t tell.”

The girl in his arms was chubby, her fur was thick and shiny, her claws were powerful and her meowing was loud. And that leap on the stairs was pretty athletic. Was this what an old cat could do?

How many years can a cat live? Let’s say more than ten years. Lu Chong must have taken good care of this cat for so long, but no matter how good the material conditions were, the life couldn’t be extended indefinitely. When Luo Wencheng thought that the life of this little thing in his arms was coming to an end, his heart hurt inexplicably.

He lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against the warm cat’s fur, already feeling reluctant to part.

Lu Chong’s eyes suddenly softened like spring water. He thought that even if he didn’t feel the inexplicable pity for Luo Wencheng, he would never treat Luo Wencheng badly for the rest of his life just for being able to make Ribs so happy.

Because of the obvious affection of the old fat cat, Luo Wencheng’s stay in the villa became extremely natural and warm. The big cat slept in Luo Wencheng’s arms all afternoon, until his arms were numb. She also wanted to sneak into his bed at night, but Lu Chong dragged her away with a cold face.

Luo Wencheng lay on the bed lit under the lamp light, feeling very at ease in his heart.

He obviously came here with an unspeakable purpose, feeling that he was full of a dirty stench, but what he gained here far exceeded his expectations.

The more he got to know Lu Jiuye, the more he realised that he didn’t know him, and the big cat who would meow and be coquettish with him made his heart soft.

After one afternoon, a weakness had actually grown in him, and he wished it could just go on like this forever.

He couldn’t restrain his excitement and rolled on the bed twice. The quilt was crumpled into a ball by him and the right side of his face was buried in the quilt. His lips were squeezed and looked plumper and softer. His skin was glowing in the lamp light, and his body was casually stretched, slender and flexible, with the kind of beauty of jade bones and fragrant sweetness.

Oh, he really wanted to hug Ribs and pet her, rub against her and sleep with her.

And what the hell was going on with Lu Chong? He really didn’t seem all that unbearable…

Luo Wencheng was thinking about it for a while, until he started feeling sleepy. He rubbed his face against the pillow and closed his eyes to prepare to sleep. But suddenly his eyes opened; he bounced up on the bed, covered his stomach and instantly turned pale with pain.

He forgot about it again… He got up from the bed painstakingly and stumbled into the toilet holding onto the wall. Walking a short distance took him several minutes. A sweaty mark was left from every step of his feet. Finally, he entered the toilet and locked the door. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief and fell to the floor…

At the same time, in a room in the opposite end of the corridor, under the yellow light of the bedside lamp, a tall and strong man was lying on his side with his head propped up, pressing his big palm against the big cat who was about to run away: “Stay here obediently tonight. People just came here. Do you want to scare him away with your enthusiasm? Do you know that his arms were about to be crushed by you?”

“Mrrr…” The big cat crawled from under his hand, aggrieved, swept her big tail around and turned her head away not to look at Lu Chong.

Lu Chong smiled and scratched her pointed ears: “But why do you like him? In fact, I also have a good impression of him, I can’t say why. It’s really because he looks too similar to that person, I guess.”

Actually, he had forgotten what that person looked like. He obviously tried so hard to remember, but day by day he helplessly found that his memory was blurred, as if there was a pair of invisible ruthless hands that stripped that person out of his life.

Was it because it had been too long?

Yes, this stupid cat had grown to be so big, so fat and so old. They had been separated for long enough.

Lu Chong closed his eyes. There was no longer any obvious heartache; but the empty, barren, dead feeling of nothingness underneath seemed even harder to bear.