Chapter 6: Even More Beautiful Than the Blossoms

By the time Liang Zhecheng and Lu Nan were both cleaned up and ready, it was already late in the morning. Liang Zhecheng picked up his phone and called Yan Anqing.

"Well, well, my young master. So you do answer my calls after all." Yan Anqing's voice sounded crisp and clear.

Liang Zhecheng chuckled. "I got up late. The little cat at home is just too clingy. My sleep quality has gone through the roof. Can't be helped."

Lu Nan, harness already on, was sitting nearby with his ears pricked, eavesdropping. At this he whipped out a slap without mercy. What kind of talk was that? Cats could be made scapegoats now? Your Grandpa Lu wasn't going to spoil you.

"Hss. Mimi, don't fuss. Be good." Liang Zhecheng gave his little head a couple of pats.

On the other end, Yan Anqing gave a soft laugh. "You should stop making him take the blame. Even the cat can't stand listening to you."

"Right. Did you pass along what I told you about yesterday?" Liang Zhecheng sighed—finally, some actual business.

Yan Anqing made a quiet sound of agreement. Then came a burst of noisy shuffling, as if the phone was being carried off and brought back, and another voice came through.

"Brother Liang, just come over with the kitten whenever you're free." It was Xu Zhiyang.

"You got it! Look at that, our little Xu is the sensible one. I'll head over right now—you two haven't eaten yet, have you? Lunch is on me." Holding Lu Nan in one arm, head tilted to clamp the phone against his shoulder, Liang Zhecheng fished out a pair of very cool sunglasses and put them on.

"Ah..." Xu Zhiyang went silent for two seconds, apparently still deciding how to phrase whatever he wanted to say, before the phone was snatched away again. As a sworn brother of many years, Yan Anqing cut straight to it: "Eat what eat? You two can eat by yourselves. Just come in the afternoon. Don't get in the way of our date."

"Tch." Liang Zhecheng pursed his lips. "Fine, seeing as you two finally found each other again, I'll reluctantly play the Good Samaritan this once."

After hanging up, Liang Zhecheng carried Lu Nan out to the car. A faint, clean scent of cologne still hung inside. Lu Nan tsked and delivered his verdict: f-boy cologne.

He took Lu Nan to the restaurant he owned, Spring Returns.

It was a rather tasteful place. The little wooden door stood open, and the unnamed tree by the entrance was climbed over with pink blossoms, their faint sweetness drifting through the air and setting a romantic mood. The lawn in the courtyard was glossy green, and wildflowers nobody had bothered to tame cocked their heads to curiously watch the guests come and go. A few butterflies settled on the petals, fluttered their wings, and danced away. Soft music seemed to arrive on the light breeze. Everything was romantic and lovely. Lu Nan, held in Liang Zhecheng's arms like a baby, stared at it all wide-eyed with excitement. So this was the world of the rich?

They were all human, so how come some people lived in houses like that and drove cars like that, while he could barely make rent and had to ride shared bikes? Disgraceful. In grief and indignation, Lu Nan raised his little paws and started tugging at the human clothes draped over his body, rumpling them as if that would settle the score.

The girl at the front desk nearly melted on the spot, stars about to pop out of her eyes. Lu Nan, for his part, obligingly stretched his neck forward and rubbed his cheek against her hand, impossibly well-behaved.

Rule One of the Cat Survival Code: a good little cat knows how to win humans over—especially the kind-hearted sort who looked ready to shower him in premium treats.

Liang Zhecheng, on the other hand, was seized by jealousy and muttered, "How can this little cat be so heartless? I'm so good to him and all I get is bites and kicks, but she's known him five minutes and he turns on the charm for her?"

Lu Nan glanced at him. A wicked idea popped up, and he promptly bit down on Liang Zhecheng's hand again.

"Holy shit." Liang Zhecheng winced at the pain, brows knitting, his expression one of colossal, world-ending grievance.

Liang Zhecheng was the type who ran his mouth and rarely acted serious. He looked frivolous, but one thing about him never changed: that face was too flawless. Standing next to a movie star he wouldn't lose by a hair. And when a man like that frowned and swallowed his hurt right in front of you, it was very hard not to be moved.

Even knowing he was faking it, it was hard not to soften. So Lu Nan, quite naturally, went a little soft. Was this young master going to end up crying from being bullied by a cat? Flustered, he licked the spot he'd just bitten a couple of times, by way of making peace.

"Hmph." Liang Zhecheng recovered fast—talk about soothing himself in record time. "See, you do have a conscience. I'll let it go. A bite is a kiss, a scolding is love—I always knew you bit me because you like me."

"Right, Xiao Ting?" He looked over at the girl from his restaurant.

The girl called Xiao Ting smiled, awkward yet polite. "Haha, sure, Boss Liang, whatever you say."

"Mm." Liang Zhecheng didn't linger. "I'll have lunch here today. And have the kitchen fix something a cat can eat. Not too much."

"Got it." Xiao Ting hurried off.

"Come on, time for lunchy-wunch." Liang Zhecheng carried Lu Nan up to his office on the second floor. More space up there—room for Lu Nan to run around.

Lu Nan trotted around sniffing everything like he was inspecting his own territory. He had to admit: since turning into a cat, his hearing and sense of smell really were miles better than before. Liang Zhecheng's office carried a cool, crisp scent too—Lu Nan didn't know how to describe it, only that it smelled good, and he liked it.

Broke for over twenty years, and now that he'd become a cat he was actually getting a taste of the rich-kid life.

Much as he hated to admit that Liang Zhecheng was his daddy, the arrangement wasn't bad: food and board guaranteed, free to bounce around this office like a lunatic with nobody calling him naughty, nothing but Liang Zhecheng's doting praise about how lively he was. Before long someone brought the food up, and Liang Zhecheng ate holding Lu Nan—and discovered, to his surprise, that Lu Nan actually liked human food.

At first he didn't want to let him eat much. Human food was bound to be heavier on oil and salt, hardly good for a kitten. But Lu Nan was drooling, and of all things, he had to covet Liang Zhecheng's favorite: sweet-and-sour ribs.

The little guy planted both hind paws hard on Liang Zhecheng's thigh. Because he really, really wanted some ribs, his little feet stamped down a couple more times in his excitement, tickling Liang Zhecheng until he laughed. He ruffled the fuzzy little head. "Whose greedy little glutton is this? How did you get this food-crazy?"

Liang Zhecheng couldn't outlast him. The cat insisted: no ribs, and it'd be scratches, slaps, and bites. A nightmare to deal with. In the end Liang Zhecheng rinsed the meat in water and fed it to him.

Water-rinsed meat lost most of its flavor, but Liang Zhecheng flatly refused to give any more, so Lu Nan gave up and dutifully savored the delicacy held to his lips.

It was a deeply satisfying meal. Half-asleep from the food coma, Lu Nan was carried drowsily back to the car by Liang Zhecheng. He fluttered his eyelids, couldn't be bothered to think about anything else, shifted his body, and went back to sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, another cat was staring at him.

Lu Nan glanced over, then closed his eyes again. Still groggy, he chuckled sleepily. "Heh. Cute little cat."

The next second he bolted upright. "Holy shit—a cat? Did every human on Earth turn into cat siblings overnight?"

Before the shock could finish landing, a familiar voice sounded by his ear. "You're awake."

"Quite the sleeper, this little one." Xu Zhiyang smiled. "Shall we go now?"

"Sure." Liang Zhecheng nodded.

This shop was Xu Zhiyang's—a cat café, stylishly done up. Unlike the cafés stocked with expensive pedigreed breeds, Xu Zhiyang's place had plenty of rescues and strays. The moment Liang Zhecheng had taken Lu Nan home, the first person he thought of was Xu Zhiyang; having him along to shop for cat supplies was the most natural choice.

And as it happened, there was an unfinished story between Xu Zhiyang and his dear brother Yan Anqing. As an outsider, Liang Zhecheng had watched the two of them awkward, conflicted, pulling and tugging—yet never once wavering in how they felt about each other.

Frankly, Liang Zhecheng had never understood that kind of achy, tangled affection. His own view of love was simple: if you like someone, say it out loud; if you like them, get them; if you like them, stay together forever.

Luckily, people in love always find their way back to each other. The world turns and turns, and they were still them. After years apart, Yan Anqing and Xu Zhiyang had met again, and Liang Zhecheng was genuinely delighted—who wanted to see his buddy get to this age and strike out for good? Now, watching the two of them, neither willing to let go of the other—well then, that was easy. As long as there was love, everything was negotiable.

He watched little Lu Nan, wedged in the middle of a pile of cats and wearing a face like a thundercloud, and felt that the day he'd met him must have been one of those once-in-a-century lucky days. His buddy's love had finally come into bloom—and he himself was even more beautiful than the blossoms.