Rebirth: Using Love as an Excuse for Cruelty - Chapter 21

Ever since the Hami incident, the atmosphere in Yu Linfei’s house had been like the calm before a massive storm.

Whenever he came home from work and saw Wen Cheng lying on the carpet looking like he’d given up on life, while Hami was chained up five meters away, Yu Linfei would have a strange delusion.

It was as if Wen Cheng were his mistreated daughter, and Hami was the loathsome criminal who had wronged her.

Yu Linfei remained unusually calm about this situation. He prepared food for both Wen Cheng and Hami, then started working in the living room, ignoring the new sparks of friction flying between the two animals.

“Meow meow! Stupid dog, you are so, so, so stupid! I’m going to tell Yu Linfei to have you neutered!” Wen Cheng provoked Hami relentlessly, venting his internal frustration and gloom.

“Neutered? What does that mean?” Hami asked softly, still looking at Wen Cheng with an innocent face.

“It means cutting off your little brother!!” Wen Cheng snapped viciously. Hmph, he didn’t believe for a second that this stupid dog wouldn’t be afraid of that!

“Oh.” Hami froze for a moment, then suddenly looked excited. “Really? Can it be cut off? If it’s cut off, it won’t stand up anymore? That’s wonderful! Little Black Cat is so good to me!!”

“…” Wen Cheng was speechless. Fine, he shouldn’t have bothered talking to this stupid dog from the very start. So stupid! Aaaaah!!

Unaware of the silent screaming in Wen Cheng’s mind, Hami blinked and then spoke hesitantly, “Little Black Cat… um…”

“What?” Wen Cheng’s tone was very nasty.

“That… I…” Hami whispered, “I, I… like you.”

“…” Wen Cheng felt he must be hallucinating. He had to be! Someone, please hit him and wake him up!

“You have a very nice smell on you…” Hami continued his shy confession. “Do you like me?”

“…Hami.” Wen Cheng’s voice was airy and weak. He said with great difficulty, “You are a dog. I am a cat.”

“Mhm, mhm.” Hami wagged his tail and said happily, “I know that.”

“You are a dog. I am a cat,” Wen Cheng repeated once more.

“What’s wrong?” Hami tilted his head, completely missing the point. “Are you saying you like me?”

“I am a cat.” Wen Cheng suddenly had the urge to cry. “Are you sick! I’m a cat! I’ll scratch your face, I’ll pull your fur out, and I’m a cat, dammit! A cat! You’re a dog, okay? You should go find a female dog! Why are you looking for me! Why??”

“It’s okay.” Hami comforted the completely frantic Wen Cheng gently. “My owner won’t disagree. Don’t worry.”

“…” Forget it. Just act like he never said anything. Wen Cheng’s face went blank.

“I don’t mind that you’re a cat.” Hami tried hard to soothe Wen Cheng’s “anxiety.” “I will like you very much. Even though you like to pull my fur and it hurts, I still like you because you smell so good.”

Listening to Hami’s “confession,” Wen Cheng thought very calmly: perhaps he shouldn’t communicate with this dog. What he really should do is go find Yu Linfei and have the dog neutered as soon as possible. That was the only way to truly solve the problem.

“I’ll give you all my dog food.” Hami had no idea what was going on in Wen Cheng’s head and just kept trying to show his love. “And my bones and my squeaky chicken toy—I can give them all to you.”

Wen Cheng stopped talking and buried his head in the carpet.

“Blacky, why are you ignoring me?” Hami’s tone was wounded. “Do you really dislike me that much, Little Black Cat?”

Wen Cheng still ignored him.

“Okay.” With a look of extreme sadness, Hami sniffed. He looked at the chain around his neck and sat down, feeling low. His current owner was no good at all. He wouldn’t even let him get close to Blacky.

Yu Linfei, unaware of the bizarre vibe between his two pets, was staring at his computer screen. His brow was slightly furrowed, as if he had run into some trouble.

“The Wen family… how interesting,” he murmured to himself. Wearing rimless glasses, Yu Linfei showed no emotion. His fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, searching for the information he needed.

“Jianghao Wen, Xing Wen, Wen Cheng.” The three names Yu Linfei uttered made Wen Cheng, who had his head buried in the carpet, suddenly look up. He stared at Yu Linfei in shock and stood up instantly.

“Very interesting.” Yu Linfei, focused entirely on the data, didn’t see his cat’s abnormal reaction. He rested his chin on his right hand while his left hand tapped rhythmically on the desk. His expression was hidden behind the reflection of his glasses.

…Yu Linfei… our meeting wasn’t an accident? Wen Cheng slowly crawled onto the sofa and looked at the computer on the desk. Just one glance made his entire body go cold.

On the screen was a complete profile of the Wen family—including his father, his brother, and himself.

So, from that “unplanned” first meeting, there was never any “fate” between him and Yu Linfei. It was a calculated conspiracy from start to finish. The man who had smiled at him so gently had, from the very beginning, built a beautiful dream to drown him in. He had never realized that this so-called dream was filled with deadly poison.

“Oh, Blacky?” Yu Linfei noticed Wen Cheng beside him and raised an eyebrow. “Done fighting with Hami?”

Wen Cheng gave Yu Linfei a cold look, turned around, and ran away. Perhaps heaven had turned him into a cat just so he could watch Yu Linfei’s schemes with his own eyes and finally give up on him completely.

Obsession is a terrifying thing, Wen Cheng could only smile bitterly.

“…Moody again.” Yu Linfei watched Wen Cheng run off and felt helpless. Looking back at the screen, he seemed to reach a decision. He picked up his phone and called Fengyu Teng.

“Fengyu Teng.” Yu Linfei looked elegant and refined behind his glasses, his voice smooth. “I don’t want to take the Wen family case anymore. Find someone else.”

“Why?” Fengyu Teng sounded completely baffled.

“I’m bored with it,” Yu Linfei said lazily. “I have a cat to raise. I don’t have time to play games with my old man.”

“My dear Young Master… please stop joking with me.” Fengyu Teng was almost laughing from frustration. “How am I supposed to explain this to your father? Tell him you have a family to feed, so you’ve decided to stop managing the family business?”

“You can tell him exactly that.” Yu Linfei glanced toward the bedroom where Wen Cheng had fled and smiled brightly. “Of course, don’t forget your ‘son’ is in my hands. He tried to threaten my baby again. So… if you say anything that lacks ‘finesse’… don’t blame me for being heartless.”

“Yu Linfei, you are a real bastard,” Fengyu Teng snapped.

“Insult me all you want, just get the job done.” Yu Linfei took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, his tone shifting. “Fengyu Teng, how exactly did you raise your dog? He won’t even leave male cats alone. Is he trying to defy the laws of nature?”

“…How should I know?” Mentioning his “son” made Fengyu Teng lose his edge. He knew Hami was a bit dim, but he hadn’t expected him to be this confused.

“I’m telling you, if Hami makes another move on my Blacky, don’t blame me for being ruthless,” Yu Linfei sneered. “I’ll send you back a ‘daughter’ when you come to pick him up.”

“Yu Linfei…” For the first time, Fengyu Teng regretted letting Yu Linfei watch his dog. This overprotective jerk! He’s even holding a grudge against a dog!!

“Anyway, that’s that. Do a good job, I’m counting on you.” Yu Linfei was all smiles.

“…” Fengyu Teng hung up the phone abruptly.

“Gosh… you can’t blame me, right?” Yu Linfei looked at the innocent Hami and thought helplessly. He couldn’t exactly let Hami actually “do” Wen Cheng.

Thinking this, Yu Linfei stood up and went into the bedroom. He pulled Wen Cheng out from under the covers.

“Blacky, you shouldn’t be so stingy,” Yu Linfei advised. “Hami doesn’t understand anything.”

Wen Cheng felt physically and mentally exhausted. He couldn’t be bothered to deal with Yu Linfei.

“Let me tell you a story.” Yu Linfei pulled Wen Cheng into his arms and said gently, “Once upon a time, a dog asked a cat: ‘Guess how many candies I have in my hand? If you guess right, I’ll let you eat them.’ The cat said, ‘I guess five.’ The dog said, ‘Well, I owe you two,’ and handed the cat the candy. See? What a heartwarming story. It shows that cats and dogs should actually be best friends…”

A heartwarming story? Wen Cheng listened with a face full of dark lines. Why did he remember the rest of that story being: the cat ate the candy (which was drugged) and then got “done” by the dog?

Dammit, Yu Linfei, what the hell are you trying to imply?

Yu Linfei, of course, didn’t know about Wen Cheng’s internal additions. He was still immersed in the cozy atmosphere he had created. Stroking Wen Cheng’s soft fur, Yu Linfei smiled. “Blacky, big brother is taking you to get your vaccines tomorrow.”

Meow? What was he saying? Vaccines? Wen Cheng froze.

“Don’t worry.” Yu Linfei patted Wen Cheng’s little butt, his tone turning eerie. “It won’t hurt.”

…YU LINFEI YOU BASTARD LET ME GO AAAAAAH!!!! Wen Cheng let out a blood-curdling scream, sounding just as desperate as if he were actually being violated by Hami!

Well, to some extent, a pet’s level of silliness is always proportional to the owner. How can a ridiculous owner save a ridiculous pet?

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