Looking at the black cat on the sofa, Wang Luan’s mind was caught in a tug-of-war between “this is too ridiculous, it’s completely impossible” and “the facts are right in front of me, it really is possible,” leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
She squatted in front of the sofa, staring at the black cat that Yan Qiongyu had turned into with a cracked expression, and asked in a daze, “You—can you still speak human language now?”
Black cat: “Meow.”
Wang Luan: “You can’t… then do you still know your name is Yan Qiongyu? Do you know who I am?”
Black cat: “Meow.”
In despair, Wang Luan placed a pen under the black cat’s fluffy paw and tried asking, “See if you can write to communicate?”
With one swipe, the black cat knocked the pen flying away, the poor pen rolling far off with a clatter.
Its green eyes glanced to the side. It got up and made a motion of jumping down. Halfway through the jump, it was quickly grabbed by Wang Luan, who caught its belly and lifted it back.
“Wait, don’t go! If you don’t have your rationality right now, it’s very easy to get caught if you go out!” The living environment for animals in the chaotic district was extremely harsh—even rats would be caught and eaten by vagrants, let alone a cat that looked sturdy.
Speaking of which, Yan Qiongyu looked slender as a person, but after turning into a cat he was quite heavy in the arms—just look at the fat on him. And he actually turned into a black cat; she had thought it would be something like a nimble tabby, or an elegant long-haired cat like a prince.
The black cat didn’t care at all about a human’s breakdown. It struggled free from her hands and leapt down again, only to be caught in midair by Wang Luan once more.
Sensing that the situation was serious, Wang Luan grabbed the cat and put it into her arms, holding down one of its fluffy paws, and once again tried to reason with it and communicate.
While Wang Luan rambled on, the black cat only twitched its ears, then twitched its whiskers.
Seeing that it had stopped struggling, Wang Luan loosened the hand restraining it. The black cat licked the fur that Wang Luan had messed up, then suddenly stretched out its body and pressed against Wang Luan’s chest.
Wang Luan silently watched the black cat move its paws. Mm, it was perfectly normal for a kitten to knead milk—what wasn’t normal was that this kitten was Yan Qiongyu. Once she substituted that into the scene, it immediately became subtle.
“No, this won’t do, no horny behavior.” Wang Luan grabbed the black cat’s two fluffy paws and lifted them up. “At a time like this, don’t play hooligan. Clear your head and hurry up and recover your memories as a human!”
As Wang Luan said this, she faintly heard some strange sound coming from upstairs and glanced upward in confusion.
Taking advantage of her distraction, the black cat suddenly broke free from her hands. It darted like a bolt of black lightning right before Wang Luan’s eyes, shifting and dodging as it ran toward the second floor.
Wang Luan didn’t have time to think about the noise just now and hurriedly got up to chase after it. “Yan Qiongyu! Stop! Don’t run!”
Chasing the black cat up to the second floor, Wang Luan heard a sound from the bedroom that was like someone falling off the bed. Just as the black cat also ran into the bedroom, Wang Luan followed and at a glance saw a familiar back running toward the balcony, trying to climb down.
Wasn’t it exactly Yan Qiongyu, the one who had left a note saying he had turned into a cat because of an experimental mishap?
Wang Luan: “…………”
Yan Qiongyu, who had just moments ago laughed so hard he’d been pounding the bed, had reached the end of his fun. The balcony ultimately wasn’t flipped over after all. Caught red-handed, he turned his head and greeted her as if nothing had happened: “Miss Wang Luan, you’re back.”
Wang Luan flew into a rage, shouting as she pounced on him: “Yan! Qiong! Yu! Are! You! An! Asshole!”
Yan Qiongyu: “Wait, I can explain!”
Wang Luan didn’t restrain her expression, glaring at him in fury and embarrassment, grinding her teeth. “Get over here and explain!”
Yan Qiongyu obediently walked back into the room, thinking of saying something to soothe the Miss Wang Luan who had been teased too far. But when he reached the bedside and saw her expression, he remembered the scene just now where she had earnestly pried the cat’s paw off her chest and said it wasn’t allowed.
At the worst possible moment, he couldn’t hold it in and let out another snort of laughter, all the words he’d prepared to argue his case failing to come out.
Wang Luan couldn’t take it anymore. Screaming “ah ah,” she bared her teeth and claws and tackled him onto the bed. The black cat that had already jumped onto the bed was startled by their kindergarten-style fighting and hopped up to the head of the bed, looking down at them.
Catching sight of the black cat, then looking at Yan Qiongyu who was trying hard to put on an apologetic expression, Wang Luan recalled what had just happened and could only suspect that her brain had been eaten by Yan Qiongyu, that she had actually tried to believe something so outrageous.
In order to placate Wang Luan, Yan Qiongyu was exceptionally diligent today. He made a whole table of troublesome dishes, baked a hometown-style cake for her, and prepared all kinds of snacks and late-night treats for her—practically like a purebred virtuous wife and good mother, nothing like his prankster self at all.
While Yan Qiongyu was busy in the kitchen, Wang Luan sat stiff-faced on the sofa in the living room watching programs, idly petting the cat.
After eating, Yan Qiongyu sat at the sea-stone zither and played for her again. They weren’t those beautiful pieces; it sounded like something Yan Qiongyu was playing casually, the notes jumping, the rhythm light and catchy, very brainwashing.
Yan Qiongyu repeated the tune twice, cleared his throat, and began to sing.
“Miss Wang Luan, dear Miss Wang Luan, please forgive me, beautiful Miss Wang Luan, please don’t be angry, lovely Miss Wang Luan…” As he played and sang, he would glance back at her from time to time, drawing out his voice as he repeated that embarrassing lyric.
Wang Luan: “…………” How could this person even sing something so mushy and idiotic! No, she couldn’t laugh!
But when Yan Qiongyu solemnly sang, “Please smile, Miss Wang Luan,” Wang Luan still couldn’t help but laugh. Even though she quickly put on a straight face again, Yan Qiongyu had already seen it and turned back to smile at her.
Although not long ago this person had deliberately teased her and made her angry, now that she saw him smiling at her, she still couldn’t help wanting to laugh along with him.
“What’s going on with this black cat?” Wang Luan finally remembered to ask this question.
Yan Qiongyu said, “There’s some kind of chip installed in this black cat’s brain. It was originally going to be dealt with, but I wanted to bring it back to see if I could help remove it.”
“And Miss Wang Luan likes cats, doesn’t she? If it can survive, then Miss Wang Luan can raise it.”
When Wang Luan heard him say that a chip had been installed in the black cat’s brain, for a moment she thought of the mental power suppressor that had once been installed in Yan Qiongyu’s brain.
Was it because of this that he had brought this cat back, wanting to save it? Thinking of this, Wang Luan couldn’t bring herself to be angry anymore.
The other issue she cared about instead became: “You’re actually willing to let me keep another cat?”
Yan Qiongyu laughed. “Before, I was just joking with Miss Wang Luan. I wouldn’t really mind a cat. When I’m not around, having a pet to keep you company and relieve your boredom isn’t bad either.”
Wang Luan reenacted a classic line: “‘You only care about the cat.’”
Yan Qiongyu: “…………”
Wang Luan repeated: “‘You only care about the cat.’”
Yan Qiongyu also began chanting: “‘No lewding allowed.’”
The two exchanged a look, then started wrestling on the bed again, pillows and blankets flying everywhere.
ততততততততততত
Yan Qiongyu performed a surgery on that black cat and removed the thing inside its head.
The clever black cat lay recuperating in the cat bed in the living room. From time to time, Wang Luan would prepare some nutritious food for Yan Qiongyu, and would also prepare a portion for the cat; this one person and one cat were always eating similar nutritious meals.
Wang Luan thought the black cat would stay here, but after it had recovered a bit, one morning when she got up, Wang Luan discovered that it had left without saying goodbye.
“If it’s gone, then it’s gone. It probably prefers living alone as a cat,” Yan Qiongyu said.
Although this black cat had been raised by Yan Mu, it always ran around everywhere, appearing in all sorts of strange corners, catching various insects around the laboratory, never staying by its owner’s side all the time. Now that it no longer had an owner, it would probably be even freer.
The next day, Yan Qiongyu brought back a new little milk kitten, which took over the black cat’s former nest.
When Yan Qiongyu placed that fluffy little milk kitten into her hands, Wang Luan suddenly realized something. Yan Qiongyu was probably about to leave.
Her third piece was already more or less learned. Every day she couldn’t help thinking, was today the day Yan Qiongyu was going to leave?
But Yan Qiongyu never showed the slightest sign of anything unusual, only living each day as usual.
At night, Wang Luan was doing her pre-sleep dental cleaning. Yan Qiongyu passed by her side, glanced at her, and said, “Miss Wang Luan, do you need me to help you clean your teeth?”
Wang Luan was puzzled: “?” Why bring this up all of a sudden?
Yan Qiongyu seemed to say it casually: “Oh right, remember to clean the gland teeth as well, you’ll need them later.”
Wang Luan: “?!” Need them for what?
Recently, Yan Qiongyu had cut his overlong hair, returning to the neat, refreshing short hair from when Wang Luan first met him, revealing a long, slender neck.
Wang Luan felt a bit regretful. Actually, she preferred Yan Qiongyu with slightly longer hair; when tied up, it looked especially reserved and elegant—one could count it as a certain private little preference of hers, but she was embarrassed to say it.
After cutting his hair short, that soft quality about Yan Qiongyu diminished quite a bit, and his temperament leaned more toward cool detachment.
Seeing her come out, Yan Qiongyu extended a hand toward her: “Miss Wang Luan, could you help me with something?”
“What kind of help?”
Yan Qiongyu pressed the back of her head, pushing her against his neck, his hand reaching into her hair to rub gently: “Bite.”
The gland was right by her mouth; what to bite went without saying. But Wang Luan still lifted her head and asked clearly, “You want me to mark you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” Wang Luan didn’t understand. “I’m not quite the same as other alphas; I’m not sensitive to pheromones, and you don’t need my mark to suppress your heat. If it’s just to make me feel at ease, there’s really no need.”
“There’s another reason,” Yan Qiongyu said calmly, his fingers still lightly stroking her hair, ruffling it upward.
Wang Luan looked into his eyes for a while, confirming that he wasn’t joking. “But… that would hurt too much.”
She couldn’t bite.
Yan Qiongyu had already anticipated her reaction. “Mm. If you don’t know how, I’ll demonstrate first, then.”
The palm pressed against the back of her head pushed her forward. Wang Luan only felt warm, soft lips press against her, and a sharp pain burst through her neck.
Yan Qiongyu did not hold back at all. Just moments ago, when he spoke, the expression he had looked at her with was so gentle—now, the force with which he bit her was just as fierce.
Wang Luan suspected that he might have bitten off a chunk of flesh from her neck. She stood stiffly there, hissing as she sucked in air.
Lifting his head with his mouth full of blood, Yan Qiongyu covered her neck with one hand. He calmly licked the blood at the corner of his lips, his tone extremely gentle: “I bit you too. Now, doesn’t that feel fair?”
Wang Luan was startled by his expression at this moment.
Yan Qiongyu saw that even after being bitten so hard all of a sudden, she wasn’t angry, only staring at him with a dazed, uncomprehending look. Helplessly licking away the metallic taste in his mouth, he got up to fetch a hemostatic patch and stuck it onto Wang Luan’s neck.
Once again pressed against Yan Qiongyu’s neck, Wang Luan opened her mouth and then closed it again, touching her own neck. “Biting like this really hurts.”
She heard Yan Qiongyu say, “I’m very sorry. If you’re angry, Miss Wang Luan can bite harder than I did just now.”
Wang Luan: “……But I’m not angry.” Compared to anger, she cared more about the message conveyed behind Yan Qiongyu’s sudden behavior.
Yan Qiongyu was silent for a moment, then stroked the treated wound on her neck and sighed. “Miss Wang Luan really is a ‘gentle haven.’”
“Don’t just learn a bit of my hometown slang and use it randomly.” Wang Luan realized that he had been holding down the back of her head the whole time—if she didn’t bite, this probably wouldn’t end today. She had no choice but to say, “Then… I’m really going to bite?”
Yan Qiongyu: “Please.”
Wang Luan had always been very curious about what exactly an omega’s gland was like. Before she actually bit down with her gland teeth, she thought she would taste the fishy, rusty flavor of blood—but after biting down, she felt as if her teeth had sunk into a piece of honeycomb. It seemed that amber-colored, clear honey seeped out, sweet in her mouth.
Yan Qiongyu felt the pain at the back of his neck gradually intensify, but he didn’t mind. With one hand, he lifted a lock of Wang Luan’s hair and lightly kissed it by his lips.
In a daze, Wang Luan heard Yan Qiongyu say by her ear, “Miss Wang Luan, I’m going to leave.”
