051: Sleep On Your Head!
When Sang Zhao was in the middle of doubting his entire cat life, the delivery Tang Yu had ordered showed up.
No surprise, it was a flash courier and it was really fast. Tang Yu quietly opened the door and brought the package in, but he did not open it.
He just kept it wrapped in the plastic bag in his hand, head lowered, not sure what he was thinking.
Sang Zhao circled around his ankles once, brushing his furry head against him.
Tang Yu was still lost in thought.
What was he thinking about? Were there really that many things worth thinking about? What exactly was he thinking? Why did humans have so many things to mentally chew on every single day?
He ignored all that and let out a sweet, soft meow to get Tang Yu’s attention.
Sure enough, Tang Yu looked down.
He bent over, stroked the little orange cat with his fingertips, scratched his chin, and in the face of this much cuteness, could not resist picking the cat up.
He sat back down at the dining table. Tang Yu zoned out for a bit, staring up vacantly at the ceiling while absentmindedly scratching the cat’s head.
Sang Zhao turned around in his lap and stared straight at him. His pupils were perfectly round, which made his little cat face look even rounder.
When Tang Yu snapped back to himself and looked down, that was exactly what he saw. He could not help snorting with laughter.
No helping it. A little cat who looked like he was seriously thinking about life… was just too cute.
Holding the cat close, Tang Yu leaned toward his ear and murmured softly.
“It’s alright. I’m just testing the waters. We’re not going to do anything in front of you. If we did, that’d be such a huge blow to your tender little heart…”
This was a loft apartment. The upstairs was an open bedroom with no door.
The only doors in the whole place were on the bathrooms.
So if they wanted to do it, he would have to lock the cat in the bathroom to make sure he did not see anything?
That would be way too cruel to the cat. The thought alone wiped out any excitement about doing it. It was all guilt about the kitty instead.
He really was a kind person, to be fair.
Meanwhile, Sang Zhao had no idea what Tang Yu was struggling over.
Whose tender little heart? What tender little heart? Who were you going to hurt that tender little heart with, or which cat were you planning to traumatize together?
Seriously, Corn Bean, what exactly did you plan to do?
Tang Yu, at least, was not planning to put his new purchase to use right away. He just wanted to be prepared. After all, you never knew.
Of course, the minute you said “just in case,” that meant the other nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine cases out of ten thousand were “nope, not happening.”
Even so, dropping a little hint to Sang Zhao did not sound bad.
He was still talking in the cat’s ear, and the little ears kept twitching, flick flick flick.
Tang Yu got distracted all over again by how cute they were.
“You definitely won’t see anything,” he muttered, rubbing the orange paws and the soft strawberry-pink pads. “You’re so tiny. How old are you, eight months? Six?”
He held the cat’s front paws and lifted him up, like holding Simba up over Pride Rock.
After a careful inspection, he still thought the cat looked quite small.
Sure, he was solid. Every part looked firm and well-muscled, a little muscle-cat. But he really was not big. Fluffy and orange and curled into a ball, he was a mini golden sun.
Tang Yu came to a conclusion. “Eight months at most, no more. You’re a baby kitty. Your fluff hasn’t even finished growing out yet, has it, little dandelion?”
He was teasing him.
His hand slid from the cat’s head down his back, movements gentle, and Sang Zhao let out a loud motorcycle purr.
“You’re such a good little kitty. How do you not have a name?”
Tang Yu murmured, obvious affection in his voice.
Sang Zhao had said before that he had not named the cat; he just called him “Cat.”
Tang Yu did not understand why anyone would not name their pet. But he respected Sang Zhao’s choice. If he did not want to name him, they would leave it at that.
Still, he truly adored this little orange cat.
He was the first cat ever to actively rub on him, to happily let him pick him up and cuddle him, to purr in his arms and even show off little tricks.
How could a cat like that not have a name?
On a whim, Tang Yu secretly gave the little orange cat one. “I’ll call you Little Orange Bean. How about that?”
His voice was soft, his tone even softer. “We’ll keep it a secret. We won’t tell your owner.”
Stretched out on Tang Yu’s thighs, Sang Zhao lifted one paw and rested it on his knee.
He opened his paw and his claws bloomed out.
Alright then. Little Orange Bean it was. This was a name only Corn Bean was allowed to use anyway.
But… Corn Bean was so uncreative. Or maybe he was doing it on purpose?
Staring at his blooming paw, Sang Zhao silently thought it over.
He called Tang Yu Corn Bean, and Tang Yu turned around and named his cat Little Orange Bean; this had to be on purpose.
While he was spacing out, Tang Yu wrapped his fingers gently around that paw.
In Tang Yu’s palm, the bloomed little paw kept opening and closing, open and close, like a tiny flower.
“Oh my god, I’m so happy,” Tang Yu sighed dreamily. “I have a cat kneading my hand. I really…”
He could not help praising him. “You’re seriously the best, sweetest, cutest kitty in the world.”
“Meow,” Sang Zhao replied.
Well, obviously.
He also noticed that the way Tang Yu talked to cat-him was way more babyish and soft than the way he talked to Ye Ye. Just absolutely syrupy.
That made him very satisfied.
And just to be clear, he was not jealous of the dog. He just had strong possessiveness. Cats were like that.
This was his Corn Bean. Why was he always doting on dogs?
Of course, Tang Yu really did like him more than any dog.
Holding the little paw, he spoke firmly, more to himself than to the cat.
“I just wanted to give him a bit of a push,” he muttered. “If not, do twenty-year-old guys really only have games and snacks in their heads? That’s ridiculous. Think about something serious once in a while.”
After grumbling, he actually steeled himself.
Taking a deep breath and bracing his nerves, Tang Yu raised his hand and properly opened the elegant gift box. From a furtive peek, he upgraded to an upright, open-and-honest reveal.
He took the collar out and, under the cat’s wide-eyed, stunned gaze, silently fastened it around his own neck.
Sang Zhao opened his mouth. Not even a meow came out.
…Ye Ye, someone stole your birthday present.
Words failed him. This human was beyond words.
And it was not over.
After Tang Yu did up the buckle, he unbuttoned his shirt collar and looked down, then tugged his collar looser and wider.
Collar on, cat in his arms, he tiptoed upstairs.
Once there, he sat gently on Sang Zhao’s bed, plastic bag of “supplies” still in hand.
“Meow,” Sang Zhao said weakly.
His fluffy cat face was a tangle of complicated emotions.
Seriously? Invite a human over, and the human sits on the cat’s bed.
He could not handle this anymore. As a cat, there were some things he simply could not deal with. Let go of him. He needed to be human for this.
The little orange cat hopped out of his arms, thumped down the stairs, and ran. Tang Yu blinked but did not follow.
Not even two minutes later, the sound of water from the bathroom stopped.
Then Sang Zhao came upstairs with a towel on his head and wearing loungewear, still damp all over.
The instant he stepped onto the landing, Tang Yu gathered his courage and lunged forward to pull him into a hug, tilting his head up to kiss him.
Their breaths tangled. Tang Yu caught and squeezed his hand, guiding it, until Sang Zhao’s fingertips brushed the leather strap at his throat.
Tang Yu drew back a little, chest heaving, his voice even huskier than normal beneath the usual warmth.
“Thank you for my present,” he said.
Downstairs, Ye Ye the Samoyed was not doing his homework at all. It was late at night and he had grouped up with his classmates to play games online. “Ah-choo! Wow, who’s thinking about Ye Ye? Heehee, someone must miss me.”
Upstairs, the air was heating up fast.
Tang Yu wished he could cut his heart open and let Sang Zhao taste every inch of it.
He leaned in close, coaxing him, soothing him, reassuring him like a real big brother, promising to always stand on his side.
“You don’t have to be nervous. I’m your boyfriend. I’ll accept everything about you. So what if you have some unusual hobbies? I… because it’s you, I really like it.”
Like what, exactly.
Did he mean he wanted to be a Samoyed too?
Sang Zhao had no idea what to say. He could not understand a word Tang Yu was saying, but he absolutely could not admit that.
Especially since Tang Yu’s face was flushed, his eyes hazy, breath quick, having gone so far as to prepare his own supplies. He really did… look every inch like a human in heat at any time, any place.
He was afraid that interrupting him would be bad for his health.
So he just kissed Tang Yu twice at random, resting his hand against Tang Yu’s neck, fingertips slipping into the vulnerable gap between skin and collar.
With a light hook, he pulled Tang Yu toward him and kissed him again.
His fingers skimmed down from his jaw, lingering along his collarbone.
He watched with interest as Tang Yu’s gaze unfocused, his eyes turning blurry.
Honestly, if humans could drop into a heat cycle anywhere, anytime, was that really healthy?
Deep in thought, he still whispered to Tang Yu, “If you like it, then it’s yours.”
Which meant he would just have to buy Ye Ye another one later.
What dog. What Samoyed. That strange request really had led to something strange. His gentle, patient Corn Bean was now desperate to pop into popcorn.
Tang Yu’s shirt was gaping open as he held him, pulling and guiding him down onto the edge of the bed.
Face bright red, he reached for the box of “condoms” he had bought.
“Baby,” he murmured, using the sticky, clinging address he knew Sang Zhao loved most.
He said it again and again. He wanted to lay all his feelings out clearly in front of him.
They did not have to do anything. Just kissing and holding him was already good enough. He only wanted Sang Zhao to know that he was always there, always ready.
Staring at him, Sang Zhao watched as Tang Yu opened the outer box and dug inside.
Then his expression stalled.
This was Tang Yu’s first time ever buying this kind of thing.
Still, even with no experience, he knew something felt off when he squeezed it in his hand. A bad feeling shot through him. He pulled one packet out, ripped it open, and looked down.
…Huh.
What he pulled free was a white, fluffy square.
Condoms were… white? Puffed up like this?
He had never used them, but he had a vague secondhand understanding. Weren’t they at least supposed to be clear?
He squeezed it again, staring at the square of white fluff, mind completely blanking out.
That was when Sang Zhao spoke up.
“Cotton candy,” he said, recognizing it.
Tang Yu sat there on his boyfriend’s bed with his shirt open, mouth flushed pink, a leather collar buckled at his throat.
And in his hand?
A sheet of cotton candy.
Sang Zhao examined the flat cotton candy and then Tang Yu’s pale, ashen face.
Could this thing prevent pregnancy? He had never heard of cotton candy having that effect.
If it did, the giant piece of cotton candy downstairs would be in high demand.
Tang Yu scrambled to his feet, bolting out to grab his phone. He furiously opened the delivery app and double-checked the product listing he had only glanced at earlier in his embarrassment.
What had he ordered? What had they sent? What a scammer. This was a condom? In what universe was cotton candy a condom?
He zoomed in on the title.
【Funny condom prank cotton candy, gag gift for guys and girls, perfect for besties and April Fools’ birthdays】
He had been feeling guilty when he ordered. He saw the words “condom,” panicked, and slammed that place-order button full of anticipation.
Tang Yu sucked in a harsh, deep breath, as if he meant to inhale every bit of oxygen in the room, suffocate Sang Zhao, and erase his memory of everything that had just happened.
Unfortunately, Sang Zhao remembered all of it and, what was more, licked his lips and asked, “So… can I still eat it?”
How he wished that “eat” referred to love, to taking a little bite out of their romance.
Of course, he was talking about cotton candy.
None of this had been in Tang Yu’s plans. It was ridiculous. Two people in the middle of a hot-and-heavy moment, clothes half undone, in bed together… eating cotton candy.
He watched Sang Zhao eat three pieces and reach for a fourth.
Letting out a faint, broken whimper, Tang Yu covered his face.
“That’s what I get for calling you baby,” he muttered. “I should’ve called you ancestor.”
Lightly laughing, Sang Zhao shook his head and leaned in close. “Alright, gege, come on. Even with cotton candy, you can’t give birth to kittens.”
“I know that!”
Lowering his head, Sang Zhao gave him a sweet kiss, cotton candy flavor and all, and Tang Yu finally stopped complaining.
“Just one kiss and you stop crying. Gege, you really are…” he muttered.
Tang Yu looked at him expectantly. Wow, was Sang Zhao about to say something spicy? Hehe.
Was he about to say something smooth and romantic?
“You’re just like one of those flip-top trash cans,” Sang Zhao said. “You know, the ones where you step on the pedal and the lid pops up? You’re the same. One kiss and your lid pops open and you stop making noise, isn’t that right?”
Tang Yu looked around. “Got any extra pillows or blankets? Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?”
They had not actually done anything, but they did end up sleeping together.
The next morning, Tang Yu drifted awake feeling unbearably hot.
Something on his head was itchy too.
He reached up to scratch and realized there was a little orange cat sleeping on top of his head.
Stretched across his skull, the cat lay there with perfect innocence, pressing his warm belly onto Tang Yu’s hair, front and back paws wrapped around his head.
No wonder he had overheated awake.
What kind of cat was this? He was basically a wool hat.
Tang Yu pulled the cat down and held him to his chest. Half-asleep, he instinctively assumed Sang Zhao was lying next to him and did not check, just cuddled the cat and shut his eyes again.
Right before he dropped back off, he suddenly remembered something Sang Zhao had said.
What was it again… oh, right.
“Sleep on your head.”
Tang Yu chuckled. Still half-dreaming, he stroked the cat’s head, once, twice, over and over, until he fell completely asleep.
When he woke up again, there was no cat on his head and no Sang Zhao by his side.
Thinking back, he suddenly realized that when the cat had woken him up from the heat earlier, there had not been anyone lying beside him then either.
He had just been too sleepy at the time, assumed Sang Zhao was there, and drifted off again.
Last night when they went to sleep, Sang Zhao had been on his left and the cat had gone downstairs to do heaven-knows-what. No matter how much Tang Yu called, the cat would not budge.
Tang Yu’s head was full of fuzz.
He went downstairs and saw Sang Zhao in the kitchen, making pizza in the air fryer.
Looking at him standing there fiddling with the fryer, Tang Yu was suddenly struck by a thought.
Sure, it made sense that the cat might be afraid of him. Cats could be skittish. That was normal.
But was the cat afraid of Sang Zhao too?
Wasn’t Sang Zhao supposed to be his owner? Shouldn’t the cat not be afraid of him?
Then why had he never seen the cat and Sang Zhao appear in front of him at the same time…
–
Later, Sang Zhao ordered another custom dog collar for the Samoyed.
This time he didn’t rush to get it as soon as it was ready. If you’re impatient, not only do you not get to eat hot tofu, you also cause trouble for yourself.
He decided to just wait for everything to be finished. Once the tag engraved with the messy little Samoyed doodle and the birthday date was done, they would ship it all together.
By the time the courier arrived, Ye Ye’s birthday party was here.
The black panther had booked the venue, invited all the cats, and the cats had all come. A few birds showed up too. And then there were Xia Moye’s classmates, a whole swarm of them.
When Sang Zhao and Tang Yu walked into the villa, the first thing they saw was a sea of children.
Being a dog, Ye Ye somehow had incredibly good kid karma.
He did not have any dog friends, but he had tons of elementary school friends.
No such thing as “no good dog, no bad human” in his worldview.
It was not just kids either. Some parents were not comfortable leaving their children alone, so they had come along too.
As the president, Tang Yu never let a networking opportunity pass him by. After greeting Sang Zhao, he went over to chat and mingle with some of the parents.
With nothing urgent to do, Sang Zhao headed up to the third-floor terrace, settled into a rocking chair, and looked out over the neighborhood.
The longer he looked, the tighter his brows drew together.
Why did the layout of the roads in this villa complex look… familiar?
He squinted and checked again, carefully studying the surroundings.
It was not his imagination. It really did look familiar.
But how? He had never been here before.
He had never “come” here before, but he had left from here.
Ye Ye came bounding over to him, flopping right into his lap and grinning. “What’s wrong? Why’s Cat playing out here alone?”
“Huh, what are you looking at?”
From the terrace, they had a clear view straight across the walkway to another villa.
After a pause, Sang Zhao still opened his mouth.
“That used to be my home,” he said quietly.
Ye Ye immediately perked up.
“What? That one?” He leaned over to look. From this height, he could see everything clearly.
It was a pretty detached house, with a swing in the front yard swaying gently whenever the breeze passed.
The yard was a bit messy. Many of the flowers had died and turned brown. It did not look great. But the stone path at the entrance was neat and carefully laid, clearly chosen with care back then.
Just as Ye Ye was about to ask another question, Sang Zhao suddenly shot to his feet.
He gripped the terrace railing and leaned almost all the way over, eyes wide, staring unblinking at the villa’s front door.
Ye Ye followed his line of sight.
The door had opened. A woman stepped out into the yard, carrying a watering can and watering the dead flowerbeds.
If that had been his home before, then…
After a moment’s hesitation, Ye Ye asked, “Do you know her?”
Of course he knew her.
It was not just “knowing” her.
She was not only the owner of that house, but also his former owner, his other mom.
The little orange cat had been with He Sangchi from age eight to eighteen, then faked a death-disappearance right before she left home for college and ran away.
Once he left He Sangchi, the little orange cat needed to find a new kind, soft deity to worship.
Back then, he had planned to find someone rich, with a good family situation, willing to spend money on him, ready to buy him a huge cat tree and lots of cat beds so he could live the good life.
She did not fit that plan at all.
She had dropped out of school at eighteen and left the mountains to work.
She had nothing. No money, no connections, only a heart willing to work hard and a tenacity strong as gold.
She found him on the roadside and brought him along to live with her.
In the hardest, most humiliating days, they rented a garage together and endured stifling summers side by side. She used junk mail flyers to fan the cat and cool him down.
Later, they moved into a tiny rooftop shack.
On nights when it rained so hard the ceiling leaked, the little cat would hold a flashlight in his mouth and tell her to climb onto a chair and tape up the cracks.
No matter how bad things got, she never abandoned him.
He stayed with her and watched her slowly build a better life.
He watched her get rid of the old, painful name from her past and choose a new one for herself: Yang Shengzhao.
The little cat accompanied her from eighteen to twenty-eight, all the way from the garage and rooftop shack to this detached villa.
He watched her finally heal the child she had once been and live as a free, grown adult.
But he could only stay with her for ten years.
He could only stay until she turned twenty-eight.
He had left her only about three months ago.
If he counted, it had only been a little over three months since they had last seen each other.
So why did she look so different?
Why had she cut her hair? Why was she so much thinner?
Sang Zhao opened his mouth but no words came out.
He just stared at Yang Shengzhao’s figure the same way he had on that roadside long ago, looking up at the mom who was about to pick him up and take him home.
Ye Ye took one look and knew there was nothing more to ask.
He was not a dumb little dog. He understood perfectly.
“I’ll keep watch for you,” he said at once. “You turn into a cat and go see her, how about that?”
“But Director Li…”
Director Li at the Yao Bureau had already warned him he could not go see his mom on purpose.
“Let Director Li burn,” Ye Ye barked, full of righteous doggy outrage.
“Isn’t it my birthday today? You get to make a wish on your birthday. This is Ye Ye’s wish. Go, hurry, Cat. Help Ye Ye’s wish come true.”
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