After Turning Into a Kitten, I Was Adopted by My Father-Figure Childhood Friend - Chapter 39

“Lu Xiaochuan.”

“Lu Xiaochuan.”

“Lu Xiaochuan.”

The familiar voice carried a syrupy, lingering mirth. It laughed even as it called out, the sound rippling through the air like a stone cast into a stream, stirring up unprovoked waves of emotion.

Lu Jingchuan felt an uncontrollable urge to seek out the source, but he felt as though he had fallen into a dense fog. His surroundings were draped in a hazy mist; only the weight of a hand patting his shoulder remained startlingly clear.

He froze abruptly as a bright, smiling face crowded into his field of vision. The youth had exquisite features; his ice-pale skin was flushed with a delicate pink, and his innocent, rounded amber eyes suddenly curved into crescent moons of laughter.

“What are you dazing off for, Lu Xiaochuan?”

The boy drew closer. He seemed to have just finished some strawberry milk, as Lu Jingchuan caught the scent of an incredibly sweet, milky fragrance. It drifted from the boy’s breath and his words, steaming into a cloud of sweetness before fluttering away like a fading dream a second later.

Lu Jingchuan lunged forward and grabbed the boy’s wrist. The youth turned back suddenly, raising the camera in his hand with a sharp click.

“You look so out of it, hahaha!”

Song Xingyou laughed so hard his whole body shook. The camera in his hand wobbled precariously for a long while before he finally calmed down. He leaned against Lu Jingchuan’s shoulder, his soft cheek pressed against Lu Jingchuan’s face, rubbing against him in a sticky, affectionate manner that suggested total intimacy.

“Come on, say eggplant!”

Lu Jingchuan stared dizzily into the lens. A powerful sense of déjà vu made his heart constrict, urging and forcing him until he could not stop himself from tightening his grip on Song Xingyou’s wrist.

Song Xingyou turned to look at him, a vivid pink blooming across his brow and eyes, while fragmented starlight danced with laughter in his gaze.

“Lu Xiaochuan, happy graduation.”

Graduation?

The slender wrist in his hand dissolved into a void of mist. Lu Jingchuan tried to fish through the air, but he could only watch helplessly as Song Xingyou, dressed in a school uniform, withdrew from his sight inch by inch.

Yet the boy was still smiling, as if oblivious to everything, innocently pointing the camera at Lu Jingchuan. “Question: Lu Xiaochuan, how many dishes can you cook now?”

The camera flickered as it recorded the DVD footage. He talked and laughed simultaneously, causing the frame to shake.

“This is your bread and butter, Lu Xiaochuan. Once we go abroad, whether we can survive as the top dogs of the international students depends entirely on your cooking. And another thing, I play the cello, so my hands are very important. I am only studying abroad because of you, so you have to take good care of me, okay? Lu Xiaochuan, you better not get a big head just because you are going overseas. Quick, tell me, who is your best friend? Who is the person you are going to love for a lifetime?”

It is you! It is you!

I learned. I learned how to cook. I can make the strawberry mochi you like.

Xingxing, Xingxing.

Anxious and panicked, Lu Jingchuan kept trying to pull the boy back from the fog. His palm passed right through the boy’s fading figure. The youth’s lighthearted laughter still wound around his ears, but he had already slipped through his palms and through his fingers.

He caught nothing but air, and the shock jolted him awake.

“Xingxing!” The man sat up, drenched in sweat. He ripped off his sleep mask, wet strands of hair falling over his eyes, unable to hide the gloom and ferocity within them.

He reached up to brush his hair back, revealing a smooth forehead and somber eyes. As he moved, his tensed back muscles surged, pulling at the defined lines of his physique. Sexy veins snaked along his arms, pulsing with a hidden, savage energy in the darkness.

His throat bobbed as he got out of bed. With one hand, he pulled his shirt up; as he exerted force, his back muscles tightened and his abdominal definition became starkly clear. Once the pajamas were removed, the solid muscle hidden beneath was a rare sight, not a single trace of excess fat, featuring deep waist dimples and a powerful build.

Song Maomao came rushing back just in time to see this. His feline pupils constricted in shock, his four legs scrambling as if they did not know where to go. His head tilted back in a daze, his cute little face instantly filled with a mix of shock and fascination.

Wow, wow, wow! No matter how many times I see it, I cannot help but say those muscle lines are too gorgeous! Dammit, who is he trying to seduce by getting into such good shape!

Having not changed a bit in build over four years except for getting taller, Song Maomao could not help but stomp his paws. His expression was one of gritted teeth, both jealous and craving, nearly losing himself to his own lecherous heart.

“Youyou.”

Lu Jingchuan did not even need to turn around to know the kitten had run up from downstairs. He took off his sweat-soaked pajamas and glanced back through the gaps in the darkness.

His brow seemed heavy with a deep, indecipherable melancholy, like a dangerous chill beneath a dark glacier, growing more terrifying and frantic under the unyielding ice.

His face was buried in shadow. As he walked toward the kitten, Song Maomao sensed a strong surge of danger, as if a small cat were frantically plucking strings inside his brain.

Song Maomao instinctively recoiled, trying to resist the man’s attempt to pick him up. However, a kitten is no match for a human; as he fell into the man’s arms, he was startled by the scalding heat of the man’s sweat-dampened skin.

The man held him, exhaling a heavy breath of hot air over his head. His deep, husky voice was thick with an unreadable intensity.

He murmured almost like a delirious prayer, “Xingxing.”

The incredibly erotic murmur made Song Maomao’s ears burn. His paws went numb, and a strange sensation shot from his tailbone to his cerebral cortex, making his whole body shudder. He could not quite identify what he was feeling.

The man set him down to go shower. The cat remained slumped on the spot, awkwardly rubbing his ears.

Dammit, dammit! What is going on? Did this guy drug me?

Song Maomao was furious. When the man tried to pick him up again later, the cat irritably swiped a paw at him and, as if throwing a tantrum, leaped to the floor and vanished into the shadows of the furniture.

Lu Jingchuan did not mind. He unhurriedly smeared minced meat onto a small pumpkin and put it in the steamer, then changed his clothes to head out for a morning run.

As he left, someone in the villa’s cat owners group chat asked if anyone had seen her cat, Blueberry. She had gotten up for a drink of water only to find the cat missing from the house.

After sending the message, Shen Zhiqiu searched the house one more time, unwilling to give up. The stylish girl, who usually would not step out without a coordinated outfit, curled hair, and light makeup, had transformed into a desperate cat slave. With messy hair and wearing slippers, she walked along the path, shivering as she called out.

“Blueberry! Blueberry!”

She walked past a row of villas, unaware that two pairs of eyes were watching her back with uncanny synchronicity, flashing with a spark of shrewdness.

Meanwhile, in another house in the villa district, a black and white Border Collie hopped onto a bed and expertly pounced on its owner’s stomach twice.

Yu Nan, a game streamer who had not finished his broadcast until midnight, nearly coughed up blood from his dog’s trampling. He lay on the bed half-dead, his voice faint. “Lele, Lele, Daddy really is not a sheep. Humans die if they go out to walk dogs at six in the morning. They really die!”

He wailed, grabbing the dog’s head and stuffing it under the duvet, trying to make the dog realize how wonderful the bed was.

However, a Border Collie is a very disciplined breed. As a herding dog, once it makes up its mind, not even a pack of wolves could drive it away.

Lele let out two unhappy howls, sighed resignedly, and began systematically dragging the duvet and pillows off the bed. Then, it went to the wardrobe to rummage for its owner’s clothes.

Yu Nan gave in. Wrapped in a parka and muffled by a face mask, he sneakily took his dog out for a walk.

Seeing a man lead a dog out of the villa, the black cat Xiaobai, who had been lying in wait for a long time, saw his eyes flash. He immediately let out a long meow to report.

The agile kitten’s ears flicked. A beautiful calico cat, fluffy as a cloud, licked her paws and shook out her fur, responding with a meow.

House cats, operation start!

“Blueberry? Blueberry?”

Just as Shen Zhiqiu was shivering from the early morning wind, her eyes suddenly lit up. She lunged across the green belt and dove into a small thicket, her mouth spewing urgent and angry curses. “You mother! You are not sleeping in your warm bed; you are out here being a stray? You rebellious son! Just wait until I take you down!”

Crash! Shen Zhiqiu猛地冲撞出去, and collided with someone. She tumbled backward and landed on the ground with a splat. Her hand, originally reaching for Blueberry, accidentally slapped right onto the chest of the person opposite her.

Yu Nan was also dazed by the impact. He let go of the leash, finally freed from being dragged by the Border Collie, and sat hard on the ground.

Both were dizzy. The British Shorthair blue cat, Blueberry, who was biting a toy bird, looked left and right. His cat eyes were full of innocence; he sat down right where he was, meowing as if he were part of a faked accident scam.

Song Xingyou, who had rushed over to see this, felt his vision go dark for a moment. He immediately patted the calico cat, Nuomi, next to him. After a moment of thought, Nuomi gave a meow that she considered very helpful.

Lele the Border Collie had been timidly nudging his owner with his snout. Upon receiving the signal, he immediately acted like a herding dog receiving an order. He let out a long howl, then broke into an excited sprint toward the blue cat.

Blueberry’s stout frame looked like a tiny puppy in front of the Border Collie. Shen Zhiqiu and Yu Nan turned pale with fright simultaneously. “Blueberry! Lele!”

Woof!

The cheerful Border Collie wagged its tail, opened its mouth wide, and dipped its head toward the seemingly stunned kitten. It snatched the bird toy right out from beside the cat before running off.

Yu Nan collapsed. “Lele, don’t!”

Lele flopped down with the bird in his mouth, his furry paws hugging the toy. With a flick of his head, feathers flew everywhere, and the internal parts of the toy spilled out across the ground.

At the same time, Shen Zhiqiu scooped up her fat cat with unexpected speed, raised her hand, and gave the cat a direct swat.

“Meow meow meow!” Blueberry was horrified, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Human! How could you return kindness with enmity! The cat found a male human for you, and you hit the cat!

Yu Nan took off his mask and looked around for a handy tool to discipline his dog. He grabbed the Border Collie by the scruff of the neck, remaining expressionless even as the smiling dog tried to act cute by rubbing against him.

The cat mom and dog dad finished scolding their rebellious children and apologized profusely to each other. “I am so sorry. Just tell me how much the bird cost; I will pay you back.”

“No need, no need. Were you hurt when I bumped into you just now?”

Both were stern disciplinarians toward their pets, but faced with the victim, they were awkward and restless. After a few hundred small, nervous movements, they added each other as friends on their phones.

The cats watched the two from a distance. Feeling that they had done a great job, they proudly cocked their tails and, one by one, crowded around the little calico, eager for some cuddle time.

The warm, fluffy kittens flicked their ears and tails. Their sweet, soft voices sounded like the most wonderful praise in the world. Song Maomao scratched his chin in satisfaction; his originally suspicious expression melted under the cats’ flattery.

His mood soared. He could not help but lift his chin and puff out his chest with pride.

“Heh, finding a mate for a human is not that hard, meow. It is all thanks to Youyou.”

“Youyou! Youyou!”

Lu Jingchuan returned from his run. He took the small pumpkin out of the steamer. The rolling heat hit his face, seemingly softening his cold, hard facial lines; even his voice became damp and low.

Holding the pumpkin, he called for the kitten a few times, his voice extremely gentle as if afraid of startling him.

However, after walking from downstairs to upstairs, the lively kitten who usually came running at the first scent of an opening pot was nowhere to be seen. Lu Jingchuan checked several cat beds but could not find a single stray hair.

He could not help but frown. He pulled out his phone and began scrolling through the security footage.

The first camera was pointed directly at the front of the walk-in closet. He dragged the timeline, his movements so hurried that the time skipped back to the previous day.

Just as he was about to drag it back, he saw a round, beautiful kitten pushing a tablet and dragging a small blanket, wobbling as it disappeared into the entrance of the walk-in closet. A long shadow was cast from the entrance.

Lu Jingchuan’s breath hitched. He instinctively dragged the progress bar forward.

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