After Turning Into a Kitten, I Was Adopted by My Father-Figure Childhood Friend - Chapter 26

“Mo Jiang, where is Song Xingyou?”

The question struck like a bolt of thunder. Song the cat reacted violently, jerking his head back. His cat eyes widened into perfect circles, and his furry face wore a look of human-like shock.

Ah, you bastard! What on earth are you doing! Why do you care where I am? Even my father does not dare to control me like this! Did you ever care about me this much before?

Song the cat screamed inwardly. His sensitive, radar-like ears flipped completely back. He nearly toppled over, his limbs splaying out as he collapsed onto the man’s arm. The man’s sturdy arm remained as steady as a mountain. How could a tiny kitten hope to budge it?

Anxious, Song Xingyou meowed incessantly. His high-cocked tail brushed against the man’s chin like a furry feather duster, rubbing back and forth.

Meow, meow, meow! Touch me, hurry up and touch me!

The desperate kitten almost transformed into a seductive stream of liquid, moving from the man’s right side to his left. He wobbled and collapsed onto the keyboard, exposing his furry belly and acting spoiled with his moist, amber-gold eyes.

“Meow-woo.” His snowy-white muzzle opened, and the meow sounded like spoken words, pitifully circling through the air and winding around the man’s ear, gently burrowing inside.

In response, Lu Jingchuan simply raised his free arm and pressed the restless kitten back into the crook of his elbow. What a cold, heartless man!

Song Xingyou was furious. Countless seductive glances had been thrown at a blind man. In a fit of rage, he lashed his tail wildly, trying to act like a furry windshield wiper to brush away the man’s dangerous thoughts.

The person on the other end of the line also seemed shocked. After a long silence, they asked crossly, “Excuse me, who are you?”

“I am Lu Jingchuan.” Lu Jingchuan introduced himself. After a pause, he seemed to realize that Song Xingyou might not have mentioned his existence, so he added, “I am Song Xingyou’s close friend, his childhood friend. Where is he?”

The word “please” seemed to be a mere decoration for someone like Lu Jingchuan. He was perfectly dressed and spoke earnestly, yet his cold voice carried an indisputable dominance.

Watch your attitude, you bastard! Song Xingyou scratched his ear unhappily, waving his claws fiercely as if to scratch him. The man caught both of his paws with one hand and pinned them above the kitten’s head, forcing a surrender.

The kitten was frantic. He meowed loudly and used his tail to slap the man’s face hard.

Such a clingy kitten.

Lu Jingchuan took a moment to glance at the cat, allowing the large, furry tail to tickle his chin. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he narrowed his eyes dangerously. The cold light of the computer screen reflected in his eyes. He spoke with absolute certainty: “He is not with you. Where is he?”

Unexpectedly, Mo Jiang replied, “If he is not with us, who would he be with?”

His tone was almost amused. Through the distorted electronic current, he and several roommates let out a few laughs. “You say you are Xing-zai’s childhood friend, yet you do not know he went on a trip with us? He is right next to me.”

“Is that so?” Lu Jingchuan did not care about the attitude. He said directly, “Please let Song Xingyou answer the phone.”

“What for?”

“I have something to discuss with him. Please let Song Xingyou answer the phone.”

The receiver went silent. Lu Jingchuan waited patiently, glancing at the mechanical watch on his wrist. He said, “It has been one minute. Please let Song Xingyou answer the phone.”

The other person seemed to mutter something, and then their voice grew louder: “Xingyou, Xingyou!”

Lu Jingchuan patiently counted the number of steps the other person took. If they were in a hotel, that many steps were enough to reach the bathroom. If they were at a scenic spot…

Amidst the sound of rushing water, Mo Jiang said, “Xingyou is busy right now. I will have him call you back later.”

Lu Jingchuan repeated, “Please let Song Xingyou answer the phone.”

“I said he is busy! Can you not wait?”

The voice on the other end suddenly spiked. The cat tail slapping Lu’s face paused for a moment. Lu Jingchuan chose that moment to shoo the kitten off the table. He finally softened his tone and agreed calmly, “Three hours.”

If Song Xingyou did not reply to any of his messages within three hours, he would buy a ticket and go find him directly. No, he did not need three hours. He could not wait three hours.

Lu Jingchuan hung up and immediately dialed his friend’s number. “Gu Yingming, help me pull all the surveillance footage along this road for this time frame.” He sent the time and route via email, copying it directly.

Song the cat, who was currently scratching at the man’s trouser leg, was horrified. What? How did we get to pulling surveillance footage already?

Are you not supposed to wait three hours like an honest person? I was going to use those three hours to think of a plan, try my best to fool you, and then you would continue to raise me as a cat while knowing nothing! What are you doing, you big idiot!

The friend on the other end of the line was also shocked. “Huh? Who? Me?”

“Good lord, is being a Brahmin abroad that enjoyable? I am sorry, but back here in the country, you can only be an outlaw.”

Lu Jingchuan was silent. The man hung up the phone without a word. The anxious Song Xingyou immediately went limp and collapsed onto the man’s foot, letting out a series of meows in a sigh of relief.

However, his crisis was far from over. Song Xingyou knew in his heart that if he did not give the man any response within three hours, Lu would definitely buy a plane ticket and fly over to find him. No, he might even call the police!

As a child of a wealthy family, the possibility of kidnapping was small but not non-existent. Song Xingyou vaguely remembered being kidnapped once along with Lu Jingchuan when they were young. Though it only happened once in his life, it had left a deep impression on him. After all, the sky full of helicopters and the wailing police cars had made the young Song Xingyou, who loved toy cars back then, incredibly happy. His parents even bought him the singing toy airplane he had always wanted.

Three hours… How was he supposed to turn back into a person in three hours? He did not even know why he had turned into a cat, let alone how to reply to Lu Jingchuan’s messages. When the time came, Lu Jingchuan would definitely call the police, and his family would find out. Once his family knew, they would surely place him under strict control, guarding him and bombarding him with lectures. Just like before.

Whenever Song Xingyou thought of the consequences, he felt a wave of suffocation. He collapsed onto the floor, his tail resting limply on the ground. He covered his face with his paws, meowing softly as he buried his face in his palms to play dead. He should just be an innocent, cute little kitten!

Song Xingyou swung between anxiety and giving up. He could not actually give up, but he was completely out of options. The more he thought, the more he felt it was all Lu Jingchuan’s fault!

It is all his fault! If he had not returned to the country, I would not have gone to that party. If I had not gone to the party, I would not have suddenly turned into a cat. I should be on my way to the trip right now. If I had not turned into a cat, Lu Jingchuan would not have come looking for me!

Anxious, Song the cat ran circles around the floor. He no longer tried to climb onto the man. Instead, he curled his tail and nervously circled around the man’s feet. He looked up, his kitten face appearing both pitiful and adorable, and his soft voice was incredibly faint: “Meow-woo.”

Please do not call the police, okay? I am right here by your side! Other people can recognize their loved ones even if they turn into cockroaches. Why can you not recognize me when I have turned into a cat? Am I not your favorite little kitten?

Song the cat stood on his tiptoes. His entire body, like a liquid, wound around the man’s left foot and then his right. His tail affectionately entwined with the man’s leg, rubbing against him. As he wound around and around, he unknowingly made himself dizzy. His head spun, and he felt as though he were walking on clouds.

Song Xingyou blinked his eyes in confusion. When he regained his senses, he was being held in the man’s palms, brought close to that handsome face. He raised a paw, wanting to scratch this bastard and leave a face full of marks, but the paw landed softly and weightlessly on the man’s cheek.

Song the cat was confused. What is happening? Why can I not use any strength in my claws?

Song the cat blinked in confusion, his milky voice meowing in distress: “Lu Jingchuan, why are you shaking? Why have you turned into two people, meow?”

“Youyou.”

The man lowered his head, his face magnifying in the kitten’s eyes. He pressed his forehead against the kitten’s, their noses touching. Song the cat waved his claws and muttered unhappily, “You guy, do not get so close to me. The cat is getting overheated, you bastard!”

“You have a fever.”

The man’s fingers rhythmically soothed the kitten’s spine. His mature, cold eyes were lowered. Only at this distance did it become clear that his eyes were not pure black, but had a hint of brown bleeding into the edges. It was very unusual.

But what was the use of that! Song the cat was dazed by those eyes for a moment. When he came to, he shook his head and flattened his ears. Instantly, the shaking world spun even more violently. Even Lu Jingchuan’s figure blurred into four shadows. One here, one there—there were Lu Jingchuans everywhere. This was not good at all!

“Meow meow meow.” The kitten lay in the man’s palm, meowing softly and weakly. He flattened into a little cat pancake, his tiny pink tongue thirstily licking the man’s palm over and over. When he could not find any water, a round, pitiful whimper rolled from his throat.

Lu Jingchuan carried the kitten from the second floor down to the first-floor entrance. Seeing the kitten’s dazed state, he turned back, poured some mineral water into a bottle cap, and brought it to the kitten’s mouth. The kitten lapped it up, burying his small head and splashing water everywhere, leaving blurry wet paw prints on the man’s clothes. He was clearly suffering from a significant fever.

Deeply worried, Lu Jingchuan tenderly smoothed the fur on the kitten’s head. Two wisps of smart fur that had not grown long yet were swept across his palm by the twitching, pointed ears. The man visibly stiffened for a moment. He let out a low sigh: “You will feel better soon, Youyou.”

He placed the kitten in the passenger seat. Just then, his phone rang. Lu Jingchuan stepped out to answer a call from a private investigator. He leaned against the car with his back turned, keeping an eye on the interior. The private investigator said: “I checked the surveillance footage at the school entrance as you asked. That person was indeed not seen leaving with the others that day.”

“Meow meow.”

A faint, thin kitten cry sounded behind him. Lu Jingchuan turned around during a gap in the conversation. Through the privacy glass, he vaguely saw a dark, human-shaped shadow suddenly appear.

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