How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

◎ It Should Count as Medical Malpractice ◎

Raven’s casual question was met with Hollis’s sudden silence.

In the quiet environment, the sound of their breathing seemed to break through the limitations of space, blending together.

“Did you forget to take them,” Raven’s lips curved into a smile, though his tone was subtle, “or are you not at home?”

“I took them.”

“Then you aren’t at home.”

Hollis fell silent, which served as a tacit admission of Raven’s guess.

Raven fell silent as well.

He couldn’t quite describe the feeling at this moment; it was as if his palm were squeezing a lemon, followed by a tightness in his jaw, like tasting something tart and astringent.

But it was still early; daylight was clear outside the window, and it was the weekend. What did it matter if Hollis wasn’t at home?

“If it’s inconvenient then…”

Hollis hurriedly interrupted: “It’s not inconvenient. I’m not at home; I’m at your place.”

Raven was startled: “What’s so hard about saying that?”

Yeah, what’s so hard about saying that? Hollis asked himself the same thing.

Previously, he had left the keys to Raven’s rental apartment at his own house. Today, after several detours, he went to the dry cleaners, went home to get the keys, and then came to the apartment.

Right now, he was sitting on the sofa where he had dried Raven’s hair yesterday, and the hair dryer that arrived this morning stood in the gap of the corner nearby.

Traces of them were everywhere here, but the medium-sized living room felt somewhat empty because one person was missing.

“Is the Mr. Councilor taking advantage of my absence to do something bad behind my back?” As soon as Raven’s familiar playful tone came out, the empty room seemed to be filled bit by bit.

Hollis’s heart was also being filled bit by bit: “What bad things can I do while you’re not here?”

“That’s hard to say.” Raven looked up at the ceiling, his hand never stopping as he stroked Niannian from head to tail. “Some things are best handled when someone isn’t around, after all.”

Hollis looked at the ceiling along with Raven and teased: “You speak from experience.”

“I yield to your expertise.”

Hollis burst out laughing: “Who’s yielding to whom?”

The two continued chatting, drifting from one topic to another, talking about anything that came to mind.

They talked until Raven’s throat was dry and he intended to get up for a glass of water, then he heard Hollis ask: “Are you really not coming back tomorrow night?”

His movement to stand up paused, his expression frozen.

At first, it was confusion—why ask the same question again?—and then, linking it to where Hollis was, the confusion turned into something complex.

At a certain moment during that emotional shift, he thought about going back.

Raven suppressed the surprise in his heart. Inadvertently, he applied too much pressure while stroking Niannian, eliciting a shrill cat meow.

“Ah, sorry!” Raven snapped out of his daze, tossed his phone aside, and carefully checked Niannian’s fur. Perhaps this time he hit Niannian’s sweet spot; she lay on Raven’s lap, making a purring sound.

Raven: “…”

Accompanying Niannian’s purring was the sound of the volume constantly rising from the phone.

“Sorry,” Raven picked up the phone and began to apologize, “I just hurt Niannian.”

On the other end of the line, Hollis clearly breathed a sigh of relief, making Raven’s heart tighten again.

“I forgot, you have to look after the child.” Hollis gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Pretend I didn’t ask.”

The lonely emotion traveled through the line, and Raven couldn’t help but explain: “Because it’s Niannian’s first time at my place today. Before, it was just her dad; I’d put out food and water, check if the doors and windows were locked, and I could leave by Sunday night. Laolao would come over to take over on Monday.”

“Her dad? There’s another cat?”

Speaking of this, Raven remembered Niannian’s origins and couldn’t help but share them with Hollis.

Niannian originally lived in another household.

A few years ago, the mother cat gave birth. In the litter of kittens, only Niannian bore no resemblance in either features or coat pattern.

It is perfectly normal for a single litter of kittens to have multiple fathers, so the previous owner didn’t take it to heart.

But who would have thought that as the kittens were gradually weaned and the owner looked for adopters, only Niannian went ignored.

Back then, You Si was a stray cat picked up by You Junyu.

It seems cats are like humans ugly genes are easier to pass down.

Since the kitten was stuck on her hands, raising one cat was raising them, and raising two was the same.

The previous owner raised her until the mother cat died of old age, and until she herself became old and frail. As her life living alone became increasingly difficult to manage, she had to worry about the kitten’s future.

After several inquiries, she actually managed to track down the owner of the kitten’s father.

So she personally brought the kitten to the door and settled the kitten’s future.

Raven’s lazy voice came through the phone.

He had to report work to his superiors daily, so his ability to summarize was top-tier. Such a warm and moving story was summarized in just a few sentences in his mouth.

He didn’t analyze it point by point or list them out, probably because the one listening on the other end wasn’t a boss.

Hollis, on the other hand, often worked with data and tended to strike at the heart of a matter, hitting the logical inconsistencies: “Did you do a DNA test? How can you be sure the two cats are parent and child?”

Raven asked in surprise: “Cats can do paternity tests too?”

“They can. There are several institutions in San Loria that cover hereditary disease screening, paternity testing, livestock genetic analysis, etc. The price varies depending on the test type and sample complexity, usually ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand.”

Raven hummed a laugh, his voice sounding a bit thick: “That’s so you, Hollis.”

Hollis’s ears burned, and he involuntarily moved the phone further away, yet it was like scratching an itch through a boot; instead, he felt even more uneasy, as if he were plugging his ears while stealing a bell.

“We didn’t do a test, but as for the truth,” Raven tucked away his smile and said with a face full of mystery, “you’ll understand once you see them.”

Hollis guessed the reason instantly: “Are they very alike?”

“They are practically carved from the same mold.” Speaking with a clever person was always pleasant. Raven happily played the mystery card, even though a single photo could have solved it.

Hollis still couldn’t imagine it. No matter how much they were from the “same mold,” they were still kittens; they weren’t exactly going to grow human faces. Just how alike could they be to determine a parental relationship without a test report?

He also knew a photo could solve the puzzle, but he didn’t remind Raven.

He tightened his grip on the delivery slip in his hand, his thumb pressing hard on the address. The surrounding wrinkles rose and fell like a mountain range, much like the distance between him and Raven.

The thought flashed by, and Hollis let go of his hand.

As the phone’s battery hit critical levels, they ended the call.

In the blink of an eye, the weekend’s battery was also precarious. After it hit zero, a new week officially began.

Arriving earlier than the Monday workday was Li Lan.

Raven successfully completed the kitten hand-over, drove his car, and arrived at the office right on time.

Just as he put down his briefcase, another figure followed closely behind.

With a flash of speed and a beautiful tailspin, she flung herself into a workstation.

“Good morning, Ms. Silver.”

Silver, feeling like a survivor of a disaster, slumped in her chair and panted.

She didn’t bother with politeness and just raised a hand as a greeting.

Raven stood beside her, his smile unchanged: “I must trouble you to move; this is my seat.”

“Ah?!” Silver looked left and right, realizing she had indeed misjudged the direction and flung herself into the wrong station. She hurriedly got up to give up the seat, apologizing while getting lost in the small office.

“Sorry, sorry, I looked at it wrong. Eh, where do I sit again?”

Raven wondered if she had been poisoned by wild mushrooms: “Are you alright?”

He observed her carefully, picking up her bag strap to lead her to the workstation beside him without moving his own feet an inch.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Silver said nonchalantly. “I just didn’t get a full night’s sleep last night. I got up as soon as I hit the bed; my head is a bit muddled.”

Raven: “…”

It was hard to say which was more serious: poisoning or staying up all night.

“Painting again?” Raven finally sat down. Mentioning Silver’s habit, the “startling glimpse” from last week immediately surfaced in his mind.

A shiver ran through him; he almost slapped himself.

Talk about opening the wrong pot.

Did he still want to see that kiss presented passionately from eight different camera angles?

“No, I wish I were,” Silver’s spirits sank again. “Binge-watching a show, dealing with jet lag.”

Raven was confused: “You binge-watched a show and went abroad?”

Silver giggled for a while: “Be careful not to report me during the next party discipline and integrity activity.”

Having laughed enough, she explained: “Watching a foreign show—only two episodes a week. It airs there in the afternoon, but here, it’s the middle of the night.”

Raven still couldn’t understand such enthusiasm: “Do you have to watch it at that exact time?”

“Not necessarily.” Silver didn’t know how to express that enthusiasm. “But if I don’t watch it when it airs, I can’t sleep. Even if I go to bed, I have to get up at that time to watch it.”

Raven nodded thoughtfully. In truth, he still didn’t understand, but he gave the proper respect and wanted to end the topic.

Silver suddenly said: “Wait!”

Behind his lenses, Raven’s “peach blossom” eyes rounded slightly.

He thought his respect should be pure respect, with no other meaning mixed in.

“How come you and I arrived at the same time today? Could it be…” Silver narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp, “you went to a bar behind my back, drank too much, and woke up late?”

Raven: “…”

He had no choice but to recount the story of the two cats again.

Hearing this, Silver said excitedly: “Do you have photos? Do you have photos? Quick, let me see. Ah! cats like that, and you actually own two of them simultaneously!”

She marveled: “I never thought a neutered male cat could experience the feeling of being a father; life truly is a miracle.”

Raven said bluntly: “It’s only a miracle after neutering.”

Silver rubbed her chin: “Then it should count as medical malpractice.”

The two looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Until someone came over to inform them to go to the conference room for a meeting.

“Not only can I not get up on Mondays, but there are also especially many meetings.” Silver took out her notebook, the smile on her face fading. “Counting it down, Light and Shadow Art Week seems to be coming up. Will that be discussed at the meeting?”

Light and Shadow Art Week had always been a lucrative assignment, and it never fell to Raven; he assisted at most.

He didn’t care much and brushed it off vaguely: “We’ll know when we get there.”

“I heard it seems a bit different this year.”

Raven shrugged, not taking it to heart at all: “It’s different every year.”

Silver murmured: “It seems especially different this year.”

Support