Regardless, chatting casually with Ye Zhen had indeed eased Jiang Xiaoyi’s fear. Before she knew it, Jiang Xiaoyi had reached a room and dug out a candle.
To be precise, it wasn’t actually a candle, but a scented aromatherapy sachet. Though using it felt a bit extravagant, Jiang Xiaoyi quickly and carelessly tore open the packaging, and after finding a lighter with Ye Zhen and lighting it, they finally had a limited source of light, along with a rather novel scent.
Ye Zhen immediately frowned. “What is this incense? Why does it smell so strange?” He fiddled with the label on the sachet. “What unbranded knockoff product is this? Never even heard of it—how did such a low-end scent end up in my house?”
Jiang Xiaoyi didn’t even bother reminding Ye Zhen that this wasn’t his house anymore.
She took the sachet from Ye Zhen’s hand and glanced it over, finally remembering where it had come from: “Last time I was walking down the street, someone in front of me was handing out free samples for promotion, and I saw it looked pretty—pink—so I took one.”
In the candlelight, Ye Zhen’s face wore a rather speechless expression: “You dare take something handed out free on the street? Anything that can be given away free is bound to be inferior quality!”
“What’s inferior about an aromatherapy sachet?” Jiang Xiaoyi wasn’t pleased. “Anyway, thanks to it we have light now—the aromatherapy sachet is burning itself to light our way. What’s wrong with that?”
Just as Jiang Xiaoyi’s heart hadn’t quite had time to relax over this bit of light, a sound from the corner of the room made her clutch Ye Zhen’s clothing hem tighter again in fright.
Amid the wind, rain, and thunder outside, from inside the room came that same sound like a baby crying from before, accompanied by rustling movement sounds, extremely unsettling.
Jiang Xiaoyi was scared to death: “Ye Zhen, looks like you’re not that yang after all—you really can’t suppress it!”
Though Ye Zhen had just claimed he’d disappear if he couldn’t suppress it, he didn’t actually run off. The man was quite calm, and, carrying the lit sachet, walked toward the sound, over to the corner of the sofa—
“Has no one ever told you to believe in science?”
The moment Ye Zhen’s words fell, in the faint candlelight, Jiang Xiaoyi finally saw clearly.
Curled up in the corner under the sofa was a soaking-wet little kitten.
“It’s a cat?”
“What did you think it was?” Ye Zhen glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi. “A kitten’s cry sounds very close to a baby’s.” He finished speaking and moved the candlelight closer.
This kitten, cornered by the candlelight and the two of them closing in with no escape, was clearly trying to flee, but one of its hind legs was obviously injured—at the slightest movement, an unidentified liquid mixed with blood and rainwater dripped down, splashing right onto the expensive wool rug beside the sofa. And, apparently frightened, on top of everything else, the cat had even wet itself, and a suspicious yellow liquid began spreading with a pungent stench.
Ye Zhen nearly leapt in an instant to dodge that puddle of urine, his face immediately souring: “My little brother would never make such a mess! He’d never trespass into someone else’s home! And he’d never relieve himself just anywhere! He’s an absolutely noble purebred cat!”
He said, unable to bear it any longer: “Only a stray cat outside would have such no manners! This rug I had flown in from Turkey!”
Jiang Xiaoyi was speechless—his rug? It was hers now!
But Ye Zhen didn’t seem to notice the flaw in his own logic. Having said this, he covered his nose and reached for a blanket from the sofa, then, with an expression of both extreme caution and disgust, as if wishing he could touch the blanket with only the very least amount of fingertip skin possible, wrapped the kitten in the blanket and lifted it up.
With one hand carrying the cat and the other pinching his own nose, though he tried to keep his arm as straight as possible to keep his nose as far from the cat as he could, his whole face was full of resentment at how he wished his arms were longer: “This cat belongs in a trash can. I’ve never in my life seen such a filthy, smelly cat. Its presence here is simply an insult to my little brother.”
“I need to go find something to deal with it.” Because he was holding his nose, Ye Zhen’s voice sounded a bit muffled, and his face wore an expression of pure disgust.
Jiang Xiaoyi almost instinctively stopped Ye Zhen: “What are you going to do? You’re not really going to throw the cat in the trash, are you?”
“How could that be?” Ye Zhen frowned. “This cat has no manners, but I have manners. Didn’t you see its hind leg is injured?”
“There’s still kindness left in this world—what am I going to do? I’m going to get the first-aid kit to treat its wound.”
Ye Zhen’s expression, though showing plenty of disgust for the cat, also carried a rather righteous sense of duty: “You watch the cat for a moment. I’ll go prepare.”
“Prepare what?”
“Prepare to give it a bath. It needs to be cleaned before we can treat the wound. I need to be fully prepared.”
So that was it!
Jiang Xiaoyi had just glanced over and seen shards of glass embedded in the kitten’s hind leg. On a typhoon night like this, the pet hospital would surely be closed too—they could only do simple first aid for the kitten now and find a professional vet later. Neither she nor Ye Zhen was a professional vet, so to remove the glass from the kitten, they really did need to be fully prepared—things like disinfectant, gauze for bandaging, and tweezers.
Jiang Xiaoyi felt a warmth in her heart—Ye Zhen really was tough on the outside but soft-hearted underneath, clearly kind at heart even while putting on a difficult-to-please front.
Only, five minutes later, when Ye Zhen reappeared, Jiang Xiaoyi found herself a little puzzled—
“What is this…”
Ye Zhen’s hands were in rubber gloves, his body clad in a protective suit, his face covered with a transparent surgical mask…
“This is what being fully prepared looks like!”? ? ?
Ye Zhen explained as though it were only natural: “It’s too filthy, and has no manners besides. What if some of the splashing bathwater gets on me while I’m washing it? Then wouldn’t I get dirty too? Shouldn’t I be fully prepared?”
“Where did you even find all this…”
Ye Zhen said dismissively: “The storage room.”
“When I was in college I threw a cosplay party at home—now that I’ve come to this world, naturally it’s your good fortune to enjoy these things. I tried looking in the storage room, and sure enough, the stuff was still there.”
At this, the man shook his head: “Some people, even with more money now, haven’t kept up their consumption habits and lifestyle. Just this mansion alone—you haven’t even used it to its full potential. You came here and didn’t even know what rooms this place has or what’s in each of them. What a waste of good resources—I’d almost rather spend the money myself on your behalf.”
….
Though Jiang Xiaoyi was fairly speechless, Ye Zhen indeed, equipped with his “fully prepared” gear, cleaned the shards of glass out of the cat’s wound, then carried the cat into the first-floor bathroom, while Jiang Xiaoyi had no choice but to hold the candle to light the way for Ye Zhen.
The kitten seemed somewhat afraid of the stranger and struggled a bit during the bath. The protective suit Ye Zhen was wearing was, after all, just the shoddy kind meant for cosplay parties, and it was quickly torn by the cat’s claws as it struggled, and dirty water inevitably splashed onto him.
Given Ye Zhen’s spoiled-young-master temperament and his cleanliness obsession, Jiang Xiaoyi expected him to fly into a rage. But contrary to her expectations, Ye Zhen didn’t.
He glanced at his own clothes, now “defiled,” his face full of genuine speechlessness, and only his good upbringing finally held back the urge to curse.
Ye Zhen’s face was full of disgust, but his hands never stopped moving. Though he looked reluctant and put-upon, he still kept cleaning the kitten.
This kitten had clearly suffered abuse outside. Once the dirty muddy water was washed off, Jiang Xiaoyi discovered that three or four pieces of chewing gum had been deliberately stuck onto its fur. Once soaked in water, the gum turned sticky and gummy, and just looking at it made Jiang Xiaoyi feel a bit sick.
Ye Zhen looked thoroughly disgusted too, his whole face wearing an expression as though he were about to die on the spot from revulsion. His hands clearly wanted to drop the cat and run, but in the end he didn’t run, and even though his face went pale with disgust, he still kept cleaning the kitten—
“Sticking gum onto a cat—that’s simply trash behavior.”
“Jiang Xiaoyi, we can’t keep this house. If there’s someone in this neighborhood with such low quality, it’s really dragging down the average caliber of the area. We have to move. Hurry up and spend money on a new house.”
Ye Zhen’s expression showed displeasure and fury, but his movements grew increasingly gentle. Even though the cat struggled ungratefully, Ye Zhen didn’t get angry at it, just kept a straight face, holding back his disgust, and finally got the cat thoroughly clean.
Next came drying its fur, then stopping the bleeding, disinfecting, and bandaging the wound.
Ye Zhen finished it all by himself, lips pressed together the whole time.
The originally filthy kitten finally showed its true appearance—a fluffy, adorable little orange cat, now mewing softly, occasionally licking its paws.
“Finally done.” Ye Zhen looked at the cat, also showing a look of relief, and, looking utterly drained, plopped himself down onto the sofa.
Jiang Xiaoyi felt rather touched, and was just about to say something to praise Ye Zhen, when she saw the man glance at the cat again, then say, matter-of-factly: “Now that it’s clean and medicated, we can chase it out.”
“?” Jiang Xiaoyi thought she’d misheard. “What did you say?”
“Chase it out,” Ye Zhen said as though it were obvious. “Once the rain stops.”
“Aren’t you going to give it a home?”
Ye Zhen shook his head: “I’ve already done my charity by washing it and treating its wound. Am I supposed to keep it too? I’m a very loyal person—when I first took in my little brother, I swore to have only one cat in this life. My little brother is the only cat I’ll ever have. I absolutely won’t keep another cat outside of him. I’m not that kind of unprincipled man.”
At this, Ye Zhen looked at the kitten with disdain: “Besides, I don’t keep this kind of mongrel cat—not even a purebred. It’s likely been living outside for a long time, so its habits probably aren’t good either. Look, it even relieves itself wherever it likes—that would really lower my caliber.”
“…” Jiang Xiaoyi was thoroughly speechless. “Ye Zhen, I really misjudged you. Seeing your warm-hearted actions just now, I thought you’d turned over a new leaf. If you’re going to save a cat, save it properly! How can you be like this?!”
“Do you know how serious global warming is right now?”
Jiang Xiaoyi was stunned: “Pretty serious, but what does that have to do with anything?”
This topic jump was too much. What did global warming have to do with a cat?
Ye Zhen glanced at Jiang Xiaoyi: “So you know it’s serious too? Then what if my continuing to do warm-hearted things makes global warming even worse? I’m an environmentalist. If I save this cat all the way through, that’s too warm-hearted—global warming gets worse, the icebergs melt, and the polar bears die. The cat is pitiful, sure, but aren’t polar bears pitiful too?”
“…” Jiang Xiaoyi was rendered speechless. She really had been defeated by Ye Zhen’s sophistry.
She looked at the cat and decided to protect it and not let Ye Zhen chase it out—after all, this mansion was hers now! She should be the one who got the final say!
With this thought, Jiang Xiaoyi immediately reached out her hand: “Kitty, come here.”
The kitten meowed a few times, but instead of paying attention to Jiang Xiaoyi, it went and rubbed up against Ye Zhen ingratiatingly.
But Ye Zhen acted as if facing a great enemy: “Don’t come near me, I’m warning you, don’t get any closer to me, don’t rub against me! Don’t! I’ll kick you away if you rub against me again!”
Unfortunately, the kitten paid no mind to Ye Zhen’s warning and still doggedly rubbed against his leg.
Though he’d threatened to kick the kitten away, Ye Zhen ended up just sitting there frozen stiff, not moving at all, letting the cat meow and rub around by his leg.
Jiang Xiaoyi knew Ye Zhen was hard to get along with, but the cat had no idea—on the contrary, it seemed quite fond of him. After rubbing against his leg for a while, this rather sociable kitten actually jumped up onto Ye Zhen’s lap, then found a comfortable position on his leg and settled down without moving.
A moment later, the sound of small, even breathing came from Ye Zhen’s lap.
This kitten had actually fallen asleep on Ye Zhen’s leg.
Ye Zhen acted as though facing a great enemy, but showed no sign whatsoever of standing up, only looking at Jiang Xiaoyi with a grim expression, lowering his voice: “Quick, get it away.”
Unfortunately, before Jiang Xiaoyi could get the kitten away, a “meow” sounded, and following the light of the incense, Jiang Xiaoyi saw the smooth-furred, purebred, noble chinchilla cat sauntering over slowly.
“Get it away quick, get it away!” Ye Zhen frantically lowered his voice, urging Jiang Xiaoyi. “If my little brother sees this, my innocence is done for! There’ll be no explaining this away!!!”
Unfortunately, good things never come easy while bad things do—the moment Ye Zhen finished speaking, the chinchilla spotted Ye Zhen and the little orange cat curled up on his lap.
Ye Zhen’s face fell into genuine despair: “It’s over.”
“?”
He looked at Jiang Xiaoyi with an “ignorance is bliss” gaze: “You don’t understand my little brother—he’s especially jealous, a cat who can’t stand there being a second cat in his sight. I once went to a friend’s house and petted their cat a few times, and maybe I picked up the scent, but when I got home, my little brother found out and clawed me twice, just like that.”
This… if Ye Zhen had been merely suspected of having a cat outside before and already been clawed for it, then this time it was completely caught red-handed, bringing an outside cat straight home—practically like being caught in the act…
Though the chinchilla was nominally Jiang Xiaoyi’s cat now, Ye Zhen understood its diet and habits far better, and in daily life it was mostly Ye Zhen who took care of it—essentially its primary caretaker and guardian.
If this chinchilla really was this possessive…
Jiang Xiaoyi had indeed heard that cats and dogs could feel jealousy and possessiveness too—some pet-owning families, once they unexpectedly welcomed a new baby into their lives and shifted all their attention onto the newborn, neglecting their pets, the pets, in their extreme emotional state, might even do something to harm the newborn.
Now… now the chinchilla really was staring wide-eyed at the orange kitten in Ye Zhen’s lap, its eyes full of disbelief… And Ye Zhen had said it himself, that this chinchilla was naturally the jealous type—wasn’t this the perfect setup for a scene straight out of a soap opera?
Just now, merely petting another cat outside had earned him two claw marks—this time, holding the cat directly, it looked like he was going to get his face scratched off.
Jiang Xiaoyi, putting herself in his shoes, felt this was quite bad, and tactfully backed away a little distance.
The little kitten curled up on Ye Zhen’s knee woke up too. It meowed a couple times, then jumped down off Ye Zhen’s leg and walked toward the chinchilla.
However, unexpectedly, the always-jealous chinchilla, this time, didn’t fight the little orange cat right there on the spot. Instead, after observing for a moment, it meowed ingratiatingly at the orange kitten, then, with a fawning expression, rubbed up against the little orange cat—and instead it was the orange kitten who seemed on guard, mewing lowly a couple times, and stepped away, while the chinchilla kept following, until in the end, it looked exactly like the chinchilla was clinging to the little orange cat trying to win her favor.
So much for the jealous type?
Ye Zhen was stunned too—things weren’t developing quite the way they should.
How could his own noble purebred cat act like such a shameless flatterer?
Ye Zhen stared wide-eyed as the little orange cat mewed curiously and slipped into the chinchilla’s cat bed—this bed was the chinchilla’s lifeline, something even Ye Zhen, its regular caretaker, normally wasn’t allowed to touch casually, considered its one great taboo. Yet now the chinchilla, wearing an utterly fawning expression, watched as the little orange cat walked right in unobstructed, then plopped itself down right outside the bed, gazing longingly at the comfortable little orange cat inside.
“See, you made your little brother sound so terrible, but he’s actually so generous, kind, and friendly!”
Ye Zhen, though, wasn’t as naive as Jiang Xiaoyi. In his mind flashed two words: We’re done for!
Ye Zhen stood up as though facing a great enemy, then pulled the little orange cat out of the cat bed, glanced behind it, and finally noticed the fact he’d been overlooking this whole time—
This was a female cat!!!
One mountain cannot hold two tigers—unless one is male and one is female.
No wonder!
This cat! Was female!
Ye Zhen’s head began to ache. No wonder his little brother was acting like this—turns out he’d been trying to court a female cat, the shameless creature with no self-control!
“This cat has to go.” Ye Zhen glanced out the window at the rain, sounding somewhat impatient. “Why hasn’t it stopped yet. Once it stops, we’re getting rid of the cat.”
Whether it was from emotional agitation or something else, even in the flickering candlelight, Jiang Xiaoyi noticed Ye Zhen’s ears were gradually turning red, and even his usually pale, fair face had taken on a visible flush.
Ye Zhen had been about to launch into a passionate speech, but as he spoke, he seemed to notice something off about his own body, and, frowning, he stopped.
In the quiet night, with only the candlelight as the source of light, Jiang Xiaoyi heard his breathing grow slightly rougher.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Ye Zhen held himself back, as if suppressing something, and glared at Jiang Xiaoyi: “Jiang Xiaoyi, what did you do to me?”
Jiang Xiaoyi was puzzled—what had she done to him?
Ye Zhen used the aromatherapy sachet’s glow to search around, and though he didn’t find anything wrong at first, his gaze finally landed on the aromatherapy packaging that Jiang Xiaoyi had just torn off and tossed into the trash can.
Ye Zhen’s voice came out somewhat through gritted teeth: “Jiang Xiaoyi, you actually drugged me?! Were you trying to take advantage of the situation to force yourself on a man?”
This baseless accusation came so suddenly Jiang Xiaoyi was completely stunned: “What?!”
Ye Zhen pulled out a tissue and, with a rather strained expression, picked up the aromatherapy packaging Jiang Xiaoyi had just torn off and thrown away from the trash can: “This is the evidence.”
“Huh?”
“Look for yourself.”
Jiang Xiaoyi stared at the aromatherapy packaging and was left reeling by the four large characters printed on it—”Aphrodisiac Aromatherapy.”
Ye Zhen, holding back his anger, said word by word, accusingly: “Jiang Xiaoyi, I never expected you to have such ill intentions. And you claimed someone just handed it out for free on the street? Would anyone hand out something like this on the street?”