Rebirth: Using Love as an Excuse for Cruelty - Chapter 7

In the end, the plan to build the bed failed.

Yu Linfei couldn’t bear to make Blacky sleep in that messy, awkward-looking nest. Feeling a bit defeated, he sat on the sofa and pulled Wen Cheng into his arms. He mumbled, “Oh man, why is this bed so hard to put together? It’s such a pain. Don’t you agree, Blacky?”

…The bed isn’t hard to build, you’re just stupid. Wen Cheng lay still and let Yu Linfei pet him. He felt a little sleepy. In a way, being a cat was actually quite nice—besides eating, all you did was sleep.

“Oh!” Yu Linfei suddenly shouted as if he remembered something important.

“Meow-woo,” Wen Cheng answered lazily, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“Blacky, you haven’t eaten yet, right?” Remembering He Yi’s warning that a kitten shouldn’t go hungry, Yu Linfei carried Wen Cheng to the corner of the living room where the food bowls were.

On the food tray was the expensive cat food Qin Xin had brought, and the cat litter was set up nearby.

Yu Linfei placed Wen Cheng next to the food and knelt down to pet his head. “Blacky needs to start stopping the milk now. Be a good boy and eat. After you eat, big brother will play with you.”

Who wants to eat cat food! With a huff of disgust, Wen Cheng turned his back to the food tray.

“…There’s no need to be so mean,” Yu Linfei said with a wry smile, surprised by the reaction. He moved the tray in front of Wen Cheng again. “Just eat a little.”

“…” Wen Cheng continued to ignore him.

“Alright… we won’t eat the dry food yet. How about an appetizer?” Since he couldn’t do anything with Blacky, Yu Linfei searched through the bag Qin Xin brought for a long time and finally pulled out a can of cat food.

“…Meow.” You think you can buy me with a can? You’re too naive, boy!! Wen Cheng looked at him with a look of pure contempt for trying to tempt him.

“…This one is tuna with baby corn…” Yu Linfei studied the label and looked at Wen Cheng. “Is this one okay?”

“…” Wen Cheng almost rolled his eyes. Did the man really think he could answer?

“…Wow, it smells really good.” Yu Linfei opened the can with an opener and couldn’t help but swallow his saliva… He seemed to have forgotten to eat breakfast.

“Won’t you eat it?” Yu Linfei held the can out to Wen Cheng and thought for a moment. “This should taste pretty good. It smells so nice. Blacky, do you really not want it?”

Am I the kind of person who gives up his dignity for a can? Wen Cheng raised his head high—don’t be ridiculous. To think he would give in for a mere can, Yu Linfei was just too… Wait? What was Yu Linfei doing? When Wen Cheng saw that Yu Linfei was actually trying to eat the cat food, his fur stood up!! Is Yu Linfei an animal!! He won’t even let a cat’s food alone!

“…Wow, the taste is actually great.” Using a fork he found from somewhere, Yu Linfei ate with a happy look on his face. Although he only meant to try a little taste at first, he never expected that cat food wouldn’t taste any worse than human canned food.

“MEOW-WOO MEOW-WOO!!!” Seeing his food being finished by this unreliable owner, Wen Cheng completely lost his temper. He bit down on Yu Linfei’s pant leg, looking like he wanted to rip the fabric right off!

“…Haha.” Yu Linfei, knowing he was wrong, gave a nervous laugh and quickly handed the can to Wen Cheng.

But when he did, Wen Cheng saw that besides a few bits of corn, the tuna was mostly gone. Wen Cheng felt a deep sadness and then, he ran away.

Hiding under the sofa, Wen Cheng felt deeply hurt. Why was the world so unfair? After being killed by this jerk Yu Linfei, he had to be raised by him, and now the man was even eating his canned food. So hateful… Waaaah!!!

As soon as Wen Cheng ran away, Yu Linfei knew he had messed up. He felt a bit silly for not being able to stop himself from eating the cat food. But his sofa wasn’t as easy to move as He Yi’s. If Blacky refused to come out, there was nothing he could do. In his helplessness, Yu Linfei searched through the bag again.

Luckily, Fengyu Teng had bought him another can of the same flavor.

He opened the can and placed it near the gap under the sofa. Like a strange man trying to trick a child, he kept calling to Wen Cheng. “Blacky, Blacky, come out and eat! Big brother opened another one for you. Be good! I won’t steal it this time. Be good! Listen to me.”

But after a long time, Wen Cheng who was determined to stay with the sofa completely ignored him. He thought scornfully, Who cares about your stupid can? His pride was hurt. He swallowed his saliva, patted his empty belly with a paw, and decided to hold out against Yu Linfei until the end!

When Yu Linfei saw that his trick wasn’t working, he got up from the floor, completely out of ideas. Everyone knows that once a cat gets stubborn, it’s a scary thing. He wanted to wait until the cat got hungry and came out on his own, but then he thought about all the dust under the sofa. He worried the weak kitten might get sick. And if He Yi—the cat lover—found out he made the cat angry by stealing its food, he would be laughed at forever!

“It’s the can’s fault for tasting so good.” Yu Linfei sat on the sofa and started seriously thinking about replacing it with a sofa that had no gaps. Then… without thinking… he used the fork to eat the new can of food. He couldn’t help it. He made excuses to comfort himself while he ate. Who told the cat food to taste so good? Besides, he hadn’t eaten breakfast. Hmm, next time he would tell Fengyu Teng to buy more of this flavor. He wondered what the other flavors tasted like…

Under the sofa, Wen Cheng didn’t know his food was being finished by his terrible owner. He lay there, thinking that if Yu Linfei asked him one more time, he would give him some face and go out. But after waiting a long time, Yu Linfei didn’t come back. Feeling annoyed and looking at his empty stomach, he decided to go out and see what was happening.

But when he looked, he nearly exploded with anger!! That jerk Yu Linfei was sitting at the table, happily eating the cat food!! There were several empty cans next to him. It looked like if he didn’t stop him, the man would eat every single can!!

“MEOW-WOO MEOW-WOO!!” A feeling of deep tragedy hit Wen Cheng. At that moment, it was as if he were possessed by a giant dog. He shot forward like a bullet toward—the leg of the chair Yu Linfei was sitting on.

The moment his head hit the chair leg, everything went black. Then, colorful spots appeared before his eyes. The spots spun around and around, and Wen Cheng fell directly onto the floor.

Yu Linfei got scolded. He got scolded very hard by He Yi.

Even with the phone away from his ear, he could hear He Yi’s screaming. He almost felt like He Yi’s spit was coming through the phone. Okay, he deserved to be scolded.

He turned to look at little Blacky, who was lying weakly in the basket, and began to truly reflect on himself. He Yi’s screaming was still in his ears: “Yu Linfei, are you a man!! You actually stole a cat’s canned food!! How old are you, huh? How old are you!!! You even let Blacky hit his head!! I’m telling you, if you can’t raise him well, I’ll do it myself!!! Don’t you know you have to hide from the cat if you’re going to steal its food, otherwise it will get angry!! Pay attention next time!!”

“So you mean I can eat it, but I have to do it secretly?” Yu Linfei was good at finding the main point.

“Yes,” He Yi answered, sounding less confident now. Then he whispered, “Which flavor did you think tasted better?”

“…” Yu Linfei.

After that, the two owners had a deep talk about the different flavors of cat food. As an experienced cat owner, He Yi recommended a few brands he “liked” to Yu Linfei.

In the basket, when Wen Cheng heard the conversation, he started seriously thinking about how to kill Yu Linfei. He couldn’t stand this bastard anymore!!! Meow-woo!! With tears in his eyes, he touched the bump on his head. He really felt like he was going to die of sadness.

“Alright, I have to go. Blacky seems to be awake.” Hearing the tiny meow, Yu Linfei said to He Yi, “He hit his head, but it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”

“Probably not. How much strength can a kitten have?” He Yi didn’t take the worry seriously. To be honest, he felt that instead of worrying about Blacky’s head, Yu Linfei should worry about how to make it up to him. Chinchilla cats have a lot of pride and since Yu Linfei had made him explode with anger. He would probably get many cold looks in the future.

“Oh, that’s good then,” Yu Linfei said. “I’m hanging up.”

“Okay,” He Yi said.

After hanging up, Yu Linfei took the last two cans and walked toward Wen Cheng.

“Little cat, try these! Big brother saved the two best-tasting ones for you.” Yu Linfei gave a nervous laugh, looking very guilty.

“Meow.” Having no energy left to fight, and with his stomach touching his back and a hurting head, a weak Wen Cheng ate the food Yu Linfei gave him. Then he lay in the basket, looking very tired.

Seeing Blacky like this, Yu Linfei felt truly sorry. He carefully avoided the bump on the cat’s head and petted his drooping ears. He comforted him, “Big brother will buy you even more cans later, okay? Blacky, please don’t be angry anymore.”

Like hell I won’t. Wen Cheng rolled his eyes. Yu Linfei, don’t think you’re off the hook. I will definitely get my revenge for this!!