049: Will You Give Ye Ye a Present?
Sang Zhao felt a little unconvinced and started, “But my mom…”
Tang Yu could not take it anymore. “Stop.”
No more my mom your mom at a time like this. Who talks about their mom when things are getting all ambiguous with their boyfriend?! All the seven random kinds of thoughts in Tang Yu’s head had now turned into a complete mess.
What kind of person was this? How could someone be this outrageously off-topic at this exact timing?
Tang Yu was stuffed full of irritation. He coughed lightly, cleared out at least some of the chaos in his head, and finally regained a bit of reason. After all, the moment his brain had started to fog, someone had stomped hard on the brakes. He had not let himself sink into Sang Zhao’s Makka Pakka trap.
He rubbed the spot on his collarbone where a little cat head had been drawn. Both his fingertips and his collarbone still tingled and itched.
Tang Yu stared at Sang Zhao, his gaze a little dark, full of wounded indignation. “…You are not allowed to say it.”
Sang Zhao gave a soft huff. If they were not talking about it, then they were not talking about it.
Inwardly, he grumbled. Wow, Corn Bean was really good at getting jealous. He would not even allow him to mention his mom? So what, in front of him you could only talk about your boyfriend, and you could not even bring up your mom?
He had not expected Corn Bean’s possessiveness to be this strong.
They were quiet for a while, and his attention drifted back to the kiss from just now. Only then did Sang Zhao, in full show-off mode, point to the little cat head and ask, “Kissing here feels more like dating than kissing the forehead, right?”
His expression was full of smug pride.
Clearly, in his mind, kissing Tang Yu’s collarbone was way more clever and grown-up than Tang Yu kissing his forehead earlier.
Looking at Sang Zhao’s clueless, leaning-in face, Tang Yu raised a hand and touched his cheek, studying his bright, beautiful smile. He answered in a low murmur, “Mm.”
But then he pressed his lips together, dropped his gaze, and seemed to think about something for a bit. After a moment, he looked up again and gazed deep into Sang Zhao’s eyes.
“But, but…” His hand slid down, closing around Sang Zhao’s wrist, tugging him closer. His voice dropped, thick with want. “Kiss me one more time.”
Frowning, Sang Zhao exclaimed, “Wow, you are so greedy. One kiss was not enough? You want more?”
Tang Yu: ??
Enough. Please, just shut up. Not a single word was getting through to him anymore.
He did not let Sang Zhao keep talking. Instead, he tipped his head up and chased forward, pressing his mouth firmly against Sang Zhao’s.
Tang Yu’s lashes trembled and his heart pounded. He wrapped his arms around Sang Zhao, sliding one hand around to his back, fingertips tracing up and down along his spine.
Now this was a kiss, Tang Yu thought.
At first, as Tang Yu leaned in to kiss him, Sang Zhao was a little dazed. But it was not like Sang Zhao was some clueless fool. He was a little cat full of bad ideas, one after another.
The moment he sensed that soft coolness pressing against him, he got excited. It was like biting into fresh salmon sashimi. He went after it, nibbling and licking.
It had just been lips pressed together, a simple kiss. But once he started enjoying himself, Sang Zhao practically went at him like he was stripping a fish to the bone.
In his head, it was simple. He just thought it was fun. Since it was fun, he took away the other person’s ability to breathe, chasing after his lips again and again.
Tang Yu gave up all control without a fight, letting himself be held by the waist like a teddy bear, letting that embrace tighten until it felt like they were trying to fit into each other’s bodies.
By the time it ended, Tang Yu’s breathing was slow and uneven, like he was a little out of breath. Meanwhile, Sang Zhao happily burrowed his head into the hollow of Tang Yu’s neck.
He pressed his forehead against Tang Yu’s chest, thought for a bit, then grumbled, “Corn Bean doesn’t taste like corn.”
For a second, Tang Yu felt like even his hair was about to catch fire.
But Sang Zhao was not done. After sighing over that, he added, satisfied, “But Corn Bean still tastes sweet.”
Tang Yu’s embarrassment went through the roof.
On the one hand, he felt like he was using his age and experience to trick a kid. On the other hand, every way he looked at Sang Zhao, he just liked him more.
Wrapped up in that back-and-forth, he lowered his head and brushed the tip of his nose against Sang Zhao’s.
“Baby,” Tang Yu whispered, “you told me to call you that before, didn’t you?”
Sang Zhao’s eyes sparkled. He was instantly moved and reflexively started to say, “M—”
Tang Yu reacted fast, clapping a hand over his mouth.
Forced to swallow the word back down, Sang Zhao held it in for a while and still felt unsatisfied.
Right now he was a little cat without a mom. Tang Yu was right here. The best solution was right here. Why would Tang Yu not let him have it?
Heaven above, he had been without a mom for three whole months.
“Hey, what if…” Sang Zhao suddenly had a new idea and started daydreaming, but he sounded very serious. “You can be my boss, my supervisor, my dear colleague, my close playmate, and my boyfriend. And also my mom.”
One person wearing many hats. All his emotional anchors piled on one single Tang Yu. Wouldn’t that be enough? Then he would have everything all at once.
Tang Yu’s expression was complicated, but his answer was crisp. “…There is absolutely no such possibility.”
Deflated, Sang Zhao let out a long “Oh.”
“Fine.” He muttered under his breath, badmouthing Tang Yu. “Stingy.”
How could anyone treat a little kitty like this? No flexibility at all. Could he not just indulge the little cat a bit?
Tang Yu quietly buttoned his shirt back up, straightened his collar, and went back to his computer screen to wait for his video call.
Sang Zhao went back to playing on his phone.
He waited for Tang Yu to finish working overtime so they could go eat together.
He waited for more than an hour.
Only then did Tang Yu finish and take him out for food. At this point, Sang Zhao was so hungry he could have eaten a whole cow.
“I am so hungry…” In the passenger seat, he leaned weakly against the car window.
“How come no human ever told me that falling in love means going hungry…”
He dragged out his words in a pitiful whine to get the human’s attention.
“Before, I could keep my own belly full. If I keep dating like this, am I really going to end up eating one meal and skipping two…”
Driving, Tang Yu apologized, “I am sorry, I am sorry. The client was too long-winded and refused to wrap things up. I will make sure to order takeaway for you in advance next time.”
“You are making me both heartbroken and regretful,” Tang Yu said.
As soon as Sang Zhao heard him say his heart hurt, he stopped complaining. Deep down, though, he felt a secret, inexplicable little thrill. This was what they called being spoiled and then acting spoiled with confidence, right?
Could he say it like that? The little cat did not really know.
They went to eat Hunan food and sat in a private room. Tang Yu ordered and Sang Zhao focused all his heart and soul on eating.
To keep Tang Yu from noticing that his chopstick skills were mediocre at best, Sang Zhao started off shoveling rice with a spoon.
Watching this, Tang Yu switched to using the serving chopsticks to put food on his plate. He had been sitting opposite him, but reaching over the table was inconvenient, so he moved to sit beside him instead.
Whatever dish Sang Zhao looked at, Tang Yu would pick some up for him.
They had also ordered steamed bass with fermented black beans. Tang Yu was not very hungry. Since he was just sitting there anyway, he patiently picked out the bones bit by bit and placed the tender belly meat in front of Sang Zhao.
“Try this and see if it tastes better than your favorite tuna,” he said.
Scooping it up with his spoon and putting it into his mouth, Sang Zhao tasted soft, juicy fish full of flavor. The broth had soaked right in. It was rich and savory, not overpowering and not greasy, something he had never eaten before but instantly liked.
It felt really lucky to be pretending to be human. He could eat steamed fish with fermented black beans, date a boyfriend, and eat steamed fish with fermented black beans that his boyfriend had deboned for him.
It was so good that as he ate, Sang Zhao suddenly dropped his head and hid his face in his hands.
Amused, Tang Yu asked, “What is wrong?”
Smacking his lips, Sang Zhao pouted, reluctant to stop.
“I like tuna because it tastes like cat food. This fish does not taste like cat food at all, but I really like it too.”
He shook his head. “I am so fickle.”
Tang Yu laughed and coaxed him, “How could that be? People are like this. You just eat what you like. That is not called being fickle.”
“So that is how people are?”
Breathing out in relief, Sang Zhao said, “Then I feel better.”
“So, this fish is nothing compared to what you had at the reservoir, right?” Tang Yu asked casually. “The fish at the reservoir must be fresher, isn’t it?”
He kept his head down while he spoke, eyes fixed on the fish in front of him instead of on Sang Zhao.
Sang Zhao was busy.
He was scooping a trembling chunk of braised pork knuckle with his spoon and sliding it into his bowl.
Hearing Tang Yu ask, he answered without really thinking, “It was okay. It was really noisy and chaotic. I was kind of tired by the end.”
“But running around everywhere was really fun,” he concluded.
Thinking of that, he felt regret all over again that Tang Yu had not been able to come. Tang Yu had wanted to go, hadn’t he? It was a shame he had not gone. Sang Zhao felt like playing with Tang Yu would have been really fun too.
“I want to play with you next time,” he said, sticky and clingy.
Hearing himself mentioned, Tang Yu felt smug and satisfied. He thought, those friends were just relying on having known him longer so they could steal him away for a while. They were nothing compared to him. He had only known Sang Zhao for three months and had already become his boyfriend.
He could not be bothered to be jealous of them. Hmph.
But one thing he did not get was what exactly “running around everywhere is fun” meant.
“Running around everywhere is fun?” he echoed.
“Yeah!” Brightening, Sang Zhao raised his spoon and started chattering happily. “Did I not tell you, gege, I dreamed about you last night!”
Tang Yu froze for a second and let out a soft laugh.
“I have dreamed about you too.”
His gaze went clear and bright. He started to murmur like he was about to share all his hazy, smoky, suggestive dreams with Sang Zhao in detail.
But then Sang Zhao spoke first. “I had a really great dream. The weather was cool, no sun, and we were in a yard.”
Tang Yu covered one cheek with his hand.
“In a yard, huh?” He rubbed the spot behind his ear and covered the flush creeping up the back of his ear with the back of his hand.
Softly, he said, “I have not thought about a yard.”
Describing the dream, Sang Zhao went on, “The yard had really long grass, all fluffy, as tall as a dog. No bugs, the blades were long and tough, and it smelled like fresh grass.”
Tang Yu muttered, “Lying under the sky, rolling on the grass, that must be romantic.”
“Right in that yard…” Under Tang Yu’s expectant gaze, Sang Zhao announced with absolute confidence, “I chased you. When I caught you, you chased me. Then you caught me. We played chase the whole entire day! So romantic, right?”
Tang Yu: …
Raising his brows, Sang Zhao met Tang Yu’s incredulous stare and nodded firmly.
Are you happy, Corn Bean? The little cat is inviting you to play chase!
This was a chase game between cats. Only really good friends got invited. Casual acquaintances never did.
He wanted to play with Corn Bean. Corn Bean should be thrilled, right?
But what he saw instead was Tang Yu’s expression, like he had just swallowed back mouthfuls of blood.
“What kind of face is that?” Sang Zhao was puzzled.
Closing his eyes in pained surrender, Tang Yu said, “Even though I am already twenty-six and I am supposed to be a grown-up, if you want to, then fine.”
“Why do you sound so reluctant?” Sang Zhao protested. “You should feel honored.”
Tang Yu just squeezed out a dry, wrinkled little smile.
Still full of anticipation, Sang Zhao asked, “So when are we going to play?”
“I do not know. I need to eat first. Do something adult, then we can do kid stuff,” Tang Yu mumbled.
Instantly, Sang Zhao perked up. “What? You have not eaten enough? I thought you were done.”
“If you are not full, hurry up and eat. You do not have to look after me, I can look after myself.”
He scooped up a spoonful of pork knuckle and, very considerate, said, “Here, eat.”
“I… was not talking about this kind of eating. But it does not matter anymore.”
Tang Yu gnawed on the pork knuckle in silence, putting some effort into it like he was mourning some fantasy that had just died.
In a matter of a few sentences, he seemed to age years. Whatever he was so tired about, emotionally speaking, Sang Zhao could not tell. He just thought, Maybe being a president really is exhausting.
—
Two days later, when Sang Zhao headed out to his part-time job that evening, he did not walk home with his boyfriend.
After his shift, he got a WeChat from the Samoyed, so he went over to Ye Ye’s place to eat wontons.
It did not count as dinner, since he had already eaten. This was clearly supper.
Ye Ye the dog had invited him very warmly, telling him he had bought a really delicious brand of frozen wontons, preserved egg with fresh pork filling.
They were some internet-famous wontons that everyone said were delicious, and he wanted to cook them and share with Sang Zhao.
After his shift, when he got to the Samoyed’s house, the little cat had a droopy dog face, lazing around with zero energy.
Curled up in Ye Ye’s dog bed eating Ye Ye’s new snacks, he watched Ye Ye rummage around and was generous with his praise.
“You really are my best dog friend. What good stuff are you feeding me today?” he said eagerly.
Ye Ye only started cooking the wontons once he arrived. He stood on a little stool in the kitchen to reach the stove. The moment he opened the package, the preserved egg smell rushed out.
Originally, Sang Zhao had been half-dozing as he snacked. The second the Samoyed ripped open the wrapper, he snapped awake.
He shivered, and before his brain could react, his mouth already had.
“Ugh! blegh! Yue—what are you doing?!”
Clapping a hand over his mouth, he bounced away toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, putting as much distance as he could between himself and the kitchen and the pot full of mysterious smells.
Ye Ye loved it.
He poured all the wontons out, then could not bear to throw away the bag. Holding on to the plastic, he inhaled deeply with a blissful look on his face. “Ah, smells so good! Wow, it is really so good! So fragrant!”
Hand over his nose, expression complicated, Sang Zhao let out a heartfelt sigh.
“Little dog Ye, you were right before. If I like a little dog, I cannot just like little dogs being cute. I have to like little dogs barking and little dogs digging in the mud and doggy paddling too.”
He pointed at the pot and stared at the Samoyed’s intoxicated expression.
“But I definitely do not like little dogs pooping, or little dogs eating poop, or little dogs pooping and then eating it, and eating poop and then pooping…”
Ye Ye yelped, “No! No! That is slander!”
He was about to puff up and transform into a giant, wronged white bear.
“Lots of humans like this stuff online, that is why I bought it! Cat should try it, cat should eat it. They say it is super tasty!”
When they were done cooking, he brought the bowl out. The hot wontons bobbed in the soup like little pillows.
The preserved egg smell was not as strong anymore, just smooth, pale pieces floating in clear broth. Even with a faint grey-green tint, it was at least tolerable-looking.
Kitty’s nose said, “This is poop.” Kitty’s brain said, “Eat it.”
He had no choice. Greed was greed, and greed could crush all bad premonitions.
Pinching his nose, Sang Zhao ate one.
The preserved egg flavor was a bit strong, and the texture was bizarre. It was like the last wild party before going bad, a chaotic, neutral-evil flavor beating his taste buds up.
The whites and yolk had totally different textures. The whites were bouncy, and after boiling they squeaked faintly between his teeth. The yolk had melted into the meat filling, adding a distinct extra note to the flavor.
Stretching his neck, he swallowed and went still.
Wow. It was actually kind of good.
Sincerely, Sang Zhao apologized to both Ye Ye and the preserved-egg-pork wontons, then slurped down the entire bowl.
They ate while watching a movie on Sang Zhao’s phone, snacking, drinking, and chatting about everything and nothing.
“So you are really still not doing your homework?”
“What is the rush? Ye Ye checked. There is a lot of time and not much homework. Ye Ye can play for ages!”
“I cannot beat this level. How do I get through this stage?”
“Let Ye Ye see… Oh, you do this first, then buy this equipment, and then…”
Casually, Ye Ye asked, “Oh right, Cat never told Ye Ye. Does Corn Bean like the birthday present you gave him?”
“Of course he likes it.” With great dignity, Sang Zhao said, “He is Corn Bean who now has a mini Corn Kitty wool felt doll.”
Hearing that, Ye Ye was full of envy.
Thinking the envy was for the wool felt doll, Sang Zhao had been about to grandly offer to make one for him too. But that was not what the Samoyed was jealous of.
Staring off into space, Ye Ye sighed. “Must be nice, getting to have birthdays and birthday presents. Ye Ye does not have a birthday.”
Startled, Sang Zhao said, “What? You don’t have a birthday?”
Ye Ye nodded. “Back when we were in Siberia pulling sleds and growing potatoes, none of the dogs had birthdays.”
“Later, when the Yaoguai Administration Bureau caught me and asked my date of birth, nobody had ever told Ye Ye, so I had to say I did not have one. They just made one up for me. Hmph. That is not my birthday.”
He was a little dog with no birthday.
But back when he had been a pet cat, humans had always celebrated birthdays for Sang Zhao.
Those birthdays were not his real date of birth either. Humans would just pick the day they found him as his birthday.
The difference was that a dog who never got picked up by humans would never get a human-given birthday.
For yaoguai like them, birthdays were never “the day we were born.” They did not remember that.
Instead, a birthday was more like “the day someone started loving you.”
The little cat had one. The little dog did not.
The little dog did not have a human-style date of birth, and he did not have a little cat’s “date that proves someone loved you” either.
Before this, Ye Ye had been too busy being happily dumb to think much. But once he did, the Samoyed stopped being Ye Ye and turned into a deflated “Ye Ai,” lying in his dog bed, pouting like a wilted marshmallow.
Seeing a silly dog turn unsilly, Sang Zhao could not stand it.
Could he not just keep using that silly dog brain to think silly dog thoughts, grinning as he ate silly dog snacks and letting out silly dog laughs? Was that not exactly how a Samoyed should be? Huge, clumsy, small ears, big paws.
Little dogs were supposed to be dopey. He had always been dopey, so what was he doing looking all melancholy now?
Sang Zhao absolutely could not stand it.
Without hesitation, he said, “Then pick a day and make that your birthday, okay? From then on, that day will always be your birthday, and then you will have a birthday.”
“When the time comes, I will throw you a birthday party. I will invite the cats, invite Corn Bean. Every year you will celebrate your birthday on that day.”
Repeating the idea, Ye Ye said, “Picking my own birthday… Wow, that is so cool.”
Brightening, he asked, “Then can I have presents?”
“Of course you can!” Sang Zhao thumped his chest. He had saved up some money now. It would be more than enough to buy a really good present.
Who knew what a dog might want. A game console? A new phone? In-game skins? A giant snack pack?
It was none of those.
The way a Samoyed’s brain worked was something the little orange cat could not predict, and absolutely could not understand.
“For Ye Ye’s birthday, can Cat buy Ye Ye a dog collar?”
Mouth opening, Ye Ye spilled out his doggy happiness.
“Before, I really envied dogs who had collars. Ye Ye wants to know what it feels like to wear one. It would make me feel loved.”
“A collar cannot be something Ye Ye buys himself. It has to be a gift. It only counts as a collar if someone gives it to me.” He was stubborn about this. What he wanted was a dog collar that existed as a present.
Looking at him strangely, Sang Zhao thought, wow, what kind of deeply doggy, deeply suspicious request was this?
“But you are a kid now. A little kid dog. I mean, not just a dog… Either way, if you wear a collar, is that not weird?”
Ye Ye did not hear any of that.
He was lost in his fantasy. “I want a leather one, brown, with silver buckles and rings. And a little gold dog tag hanging from it, with a dog engraved on it.”
“Right, Ye Ye does not want a normal one. I want a custom one. With my big dog head and my birthday on it.”
Silently, Sang Zhao thought this was one very bad, very suspicious little dog.
Looking at him hopefully, Ye Ye asked, “Will Cat buy it for me?”
“Of course,” said Sang Zhao with great dignity.
So what if it was weird, or looked suspicious, or absolutely did not match human social norms in the slightest?
A good cat friend would buy a good dog friend the birthday present he really wanted. Buy it.
Author’s Note:
Today is a pretty meaningful day!
On this day last year, Juanjuan finished Lu Cheng’s story. In this one year, Lu Cheng, Bai Xu, Chi Li, and Sang Zhao, four stories and four people. The cat’s story is still ongoing, but the other three have all reached “end.” I hope that, in the worlds after their stories end, they are all living the lives they dream of.
And I hope you, my little boss, and I, Juanjuan, both move steadily toward our own ideal lives!
Oh, cats are different, of course. Cats do not chase an ideal human life. They chase an ideal cat life, hahahahaha~
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