059: Petting the Cat
So Tang Yu had discovered something new to play with.
He no longer wanted to know how the animal puns, the handstand walking, or the raw meat in the elevator were supposed to make sense.
If something stayed weird long enough, it stopped feeling weird.
No matter what, he still had to make PPTs, look over proposals, draft bids, attend academic-style meetings, and go to work.
So he decided to leave it all alone for now.
He gave up, he did not care.
What was he thinking about with all his free mental space now?
He was thinking about how to poke at Sang Zhao in just the right way so that Sang Zhao would kiss him more.
So very soon, Sang Zhao realized that his Corn Bean was getting more and more suspicious and twitchy.
Every time he talked to him, he would say something that made his heart jump into his throat.
“Xiao Ye’s profile picture is a little fluffy white dog,” Tang Yu said, like he had only just noticed Ye Ye’s avatar, and even came over to say it directly to Sang Zhao.
What could Sang Zhao say?
All he could do was laugh awkwardly.
“Ha… ha… yeah.”
After that, it happened more and more often, so often that he was on guard every single day.
Tang Yu: “I once picked up a big white dog before. Felt about the same size as this one.”
Sang Zhao: “Ha… well, ha ha!”
Tang Yu: “Come to think of it, the name Xia Moye is really nice. It has the same naming style as An Tihu’s, huh…”
Sang Zhao: “Mm? Really?”
He just played dumb.
He kept that up so long that even his patience ran out.
Weird. Did Tang Yu think he was some good-tempered, easygoing little cat? That was wishful thinking. He could be pretty fierce.
He could not stand Tang Yu asking things he couldn’t answer.
After thinking and thinking, he came up with a solution.
Every time Tang Yu said something, he kissed him.
Tang Yu said something, he kissed.
Tang Yu: “Bei Jixiong…”
Sang Zhao: “Smooch smooch.”
Tang Yu: “That Director Li who brought you over before…”
Sang Zhao: “Mua!”
As a result, Tang Yu had been walking with a bounce in his step lately.
He was over the moon.
Wasn’t this the perfect life? Go to work, smooch a bit, go to work, smooch a bit.
He was more motivated than he had ever been.
Even when he ran into a bullheaded client whose comprehension ability was the size of a sesame seed, he no longer got mad.
Xiao Hengmiao stared at him, stunned, like he was looking at some sort of immortal.
“You’re this patient now? Where did your old ‘half-dead, ready-to-die’ attitude go? How come that’s all gone?”
Tang Yu said directly, “I don’t feel like dying at all now. I’m really happy to be alive.”
His boyfriend was gorgeous and full of life, and life as an overworked CEO suddenly had flavor again. What was there left to be depressed about?
Even the last bit of heaviness in his heart had vanished.
He had been completely soothed by Sang Zhao.
But although he no longer felt troubled, he did have one regret.
Such a pity.
He really wanted to see that little cat-ear headband on Sang Zhao again, yet Sang Zhao just would not show it to him.
He knew it wasn’t any ordinary cat-ear headband. There was definitely something strange going on there, so he really wanted to touch Sang Zhao’s ears once more.
But whenever he brought it up, Sang Zhao would give him that “I’m very happy you’re praising me but there’s no way you’re fooling me so easily” tsundere face.
He could just tell something was different there.
And Sang Zhao kept insisting it was “high-tech,” yet whenever he asked him to take it out and show him, he could never produce it.
Plus, those ears had been so cute.
Hidden in his hair, trembling lightly, soft and springy to the touch, the feel of them was not like anything else.
Ever since he had failed to touch them again, Tang Yu’s heart had been itching nonstop.
He had no choice but to go buy a few different cat-ear headbands on the market to test them.
None of them felt like Sang Zhao’s.
Until one day, he parked in the underground garage below his office building, then walked around to the side entrance to buy coffee from a newly opened café.
And he met a white cat on the sidewalk.
The white cat came over like a little charmer, rubbing its head all over his ankle.
Tang Yu liked cats, of course.
He bent down to pet it and kept murmuring,
“What’s a little one like you doing here?”
The cat had a good temper and looked well-fed and round.
It started purring like a tiny motorcycle.
Smiling, he stroked the white cat’s ears.
…And as he stroked them, a familiar feeling came back.
He realized this was the exact same feeling.
This was the same hand feel as that so-called “high-tech little cat ears” headband on Sang Zhao.
His hand froze above the white cat’s head, his whole body bent over and stuck there.
He could not come up with any rational explanation, but his hand could not be fooled.
This was exactly that fluffy, soft-yet-firm, bouncy sensation.
The ear tips trembled slightly against his palm, both pitiful and cute.
While he was spacing out, the white cat, seeing he had nothing to feed it, scampered off.
He was left bent over by himself like a broken statue, lost in thought.
He returned to the office in a daze.
The moment he stepped inside, Sang Zhao came in too.
On a normal day, he remembered very clearly that “the cat is in a secret relationship with the boss,” so he would never march straight into the CEO office like this.
At the very least, he would grab some documents to serve as an excuse.
But today he had skipped that entirely.
He had hurried in without a second thought.
Corn Bean was wrong.
Corn Bean smelled wrong.
At first he acted reserved, sniffing carefully at the air around Tang Yu.
But once he picked up something, he stopped holding back.
He leaned in, following Tang Yu around, sniffing.
Suspicion shone in his eyes. He stared hard at Tang Yu and twitched his nose twice.
Once he had confirmed it, he started complaining.
“This is off. This is so off. You smell like a cat.”
His nose never made mistakes.
That scent had to be a cat.
And not a pretty calico, not a war-god tabby, not a people-loving orange cat, and not a slightly unstable black-and-white “cow” cat…
It was an ugly big white cat.
They had been out together plenty of times before.
They had even visited a cat café together.
But at that time he hadn’t thought anything of it.
Now he was unhappy.
He was more than unhappy.
Head tilted, he stared fiercely at Tang Yu.
“You touched a cat. You touched a cat.”
“You touched a cat right before you came to see me!”
Tang Yu admitted it.
He did not see what there was not to admit.
He even thought it was completely normal.
Who could resist petting a cat they ran into on the street?
Who could resist a cat’s cuteness?
Tang Yu certainly could not.
He had petted it, finished petting it, and even told Sang Zhao,
“Wow, your nose is really sharp. Is that a little dog nose?”
Sang Zhao: …
Outrage. This was absolutely outrageous.
Calling a little cat a little dog was an insult.
Too much.
Watching him puff his cheeks in silent anger, Tang Yu was puzzled.
“What’s wrong?”
“Are you mad just because I petted a cat?
“How are your upset points so weird, little Sang Zhao, baby?”
He deliberately softened his voice as he called his name and his pet name.
Smiling, he said, “Only a little cat would get upset because I touched another little cat, right?
“Are you a little cat, Sang Zhao?”
“If you aren’t, then how come you’re upset?”
Silently, Sang Zhao reached for the breakfast bag Tang Yu had brought from home.
Tang Yu watched him with a quiet smile and kept calling his little nicknames.
Once he had finished “Sang Zhao” and “baby,” he ran out of ideas and stared at Sang Zhao’s orange hair.
That bright, golden orange suddenly reminded him of that red classic tabby cat, with the same color fur.
“Say something, little Sang Zhao, baby.”
On a whim, he added, out of nowhere,
“…Little Orange Bean?”
Busy rummaging through the breakfast bag, Sang Zhao paused and answered.
Then, in the same instant, they both realized something was off.
Turning his head, Sang Zhao met Tang Yu’s eyes.
They stared at each other, and Tang Yu pressed a hand to his chest.
Looking at that hair color, a terrifying thought surged up.
Sang Zhao’s schooling was questionable.
He barely recognized all the characters he needed, and he was basically hopeless with a computer.
The main use he had for a laptop was to rest his head on it for naps.
A person like this really did not make sense.
Unless, unless…
Stealing a glance at Tang Yu, Sang Zhao realized that he had deliberately steered the topic away and was not going to say anything more about it.
Which only made him more nervous.
Not because of anything else, but because he had finally poured out his biggest worry to the smartest border collie he knew.
Back then, he had explained everything to Border Collie Teacher, and Border Collie had told him his situation could not stay hidden for long.
He had not tried to talk him out of anything.
He only told him to cherish the time before Tang Yu found out.
And to cherish the time before the Yaoguai Administration found out.
And to pray those two things would not happen at the same time.
Border Collie was busy with research and projects, one dog practically needing clones to keep up with everything.
On the subject of Sang Zhao’s love life, he had seriously asked,
“Honestly, I don’t understand why you’re dating a human.”
Sang Zhao had replied, “I asked An Tihu before. Birdie-jie said it was fine.”
“Falling in love is fine.”
“But with our identity, we are not really suited for…” He paused for a moment, arched a brow, then decided to be blunt. “We are not suited for true love.”
“For example, look at you. You have no way forward and no way back.”
“Your nephew, your family, your hobbies, your moms, he is on the verge of knowing all of it.”
“After that, how are you two supposed to break up cleanly?”
In the end, Border Collie had only said, “In any case, good luck.”
Now, under Tang Yu’s gaze, where waves surged under the surface, Sang Zhao took several round, green qingtuan out of the breakfast bag.
But for once, he was not interested in eating.
He had no usual greedy urge, even when faced with something he had never tried before.
Propping his chin on his hand, he wondered if Border Collie was right.
Was what he and Corn Bean had really “true love”?
Corn Bean was his boss, his friend, his lover, and someone very important in his little cat life.
And Bean Bean was such a mom type.
He was always hovering around him, and every happy memory was full of him.
That meant Corn Bean and words like “happiness,” “safety,” and “reliable” had all been joined together.
Even when he was just a little cat braving the big human world alone, pretending to be a person, it didn’t feel as scary anymore.
Because Corn Bean would always leave the passenger seat for him.
And put himself in the driver’s seat.
He would drive to wherever Sang Zhao wanted to go.
Looking out the window, and rubbing his arms, Sang Zhao felt that it was not as hot as before.
The air conditioning could be set to twenty-six degrees now, instead of needing to be set to twenty-two.
Right.
The elementary school kids were going back to school this week.
It was autumn already.
Since it was autumn now, and Border Collie had told him to cherish his time, then… then…
Sang Zhao thought quietly to himself that maybe he would never get to have a springtime with Corn Bean.
No wonder humans were in heat all year round.
Because time was quick to slip away, clouds were quick to disperse, and all you could really do was cherish the present moment.
Some people would never live to see the spring of their lives.
Tang Yu, knowing nothing of this, saw him take out the qingtuan and wanted to feed them to him.
“They’re made of glutinous rice. I thought you’d like them, so I made three kinds: custard, pork floss and egg yolk, and taro paste.”
“Try all three. I got up early to steam them myself.”
“Everyone says these are better than the ready-made ones.”
Tang Yu was truly happy.
He smiled as he peeled open the leaf wrappers for him.
Taking one, Sang Zhao took a bite.
The mugwort scent was long and fresh, the custard soft and sweet.
But his mind was not on the qingtuan at all.
He scooted closer to Tang Yu, tugged on the sleeve of his shirt, and asked curiously,
“Will you break up with me?”
Tang Yu’s eyes darkened.
He fell silent for a moment, then repeated his words.
“You want to break up?”
This came out of nowhere.
He had not been prepared at all.
Faced with such a sudden question, Tang Yu had no idea how to swear his loyalty.
In the end, he could only babble and plead,
“Did I do something wrong…?”
“I won’t pet cats outside anymore, okay?”
He genuinely looked like he was about to cry.
Just a moment ago he had been so bright, handing over qingtuan with a smile.
Now his eyes were misting, as if a single confirming word from Sang Zhao would make him burst into tears.
Inside that little cat head, complicated thoughts were circling.
He wondered whether spring was something that could make you happy and make you cry at the same time.
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