Why is This Clingy Snow Leopard Acting So Innocent? - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Like — Take it Down a Notch

Like?

“What does ‘like’ mean?”

“How do you explain that?” Su Wen tilted his head, thinking for a few seconds before giving up. He turned to look at him. “Why are you suddenly asking this?”

“Tell me what it means first.”

“No,” Su Wen propped his head up, staring straight at him. “You tell me why you’re asking first.”

Yun Shu was 14. Su Jian had said he was a fast learner and very studious.

Not only had he learned Mandarin in just a year, but he also loved reading and researching strange things. For example, he wanted to know what “like” meant.

In the human language system, “like” is a pronoun for a certain type of emotion. Books say: Liking is a positive emotional orientation toward a specific object, accompanied by cognitive evaluation and behavioral motivation.

This was harder to understand than the long strings of nonsense Su Wen usually talked about.

Su Jian, the teacher who came to Sare Village to support education, said that liking is a positive emotion you can have for a lover, a relative, a friend, an object, or an animal.

A mean-spirited neighbor said: Your mom and dad have a little brother now, so they won’t like you anymore. They’re going to throw you away because you’re a stray child.

“Like” was a word with a price. His foster parents said: As long as you are obedient, do the housework, take care of your brother, help with the farm work, eat less, and do more, we will like you and won’t kick you out.

“What?!” 16-year-old Su Wen was a cynical teenager. “Who told you that?! You aren’t a stray child!!”

Of course, everyone knew the truth: he was a stray child.

A wild child. When he was first picked up, he was thin and small; now, he was still thin and small. He understood nothing and couldn’t even speak basic words, let alone Mandarin. He would just stare at people with round green eyes that looked like a monster’s transformation—terrifying.

“Tell me who! I’ll go beat him up!!”

Su Wen slammed his fist onto the wooden table. He held it in for a split second, but then couldn’t help it—he started shrieking and jumping around from the pain.

Yun Shu lunged forward to help but accidentally kicked over a chair in the process.

Before he could comfort Su Wen, the people outside heard the commotion. The door was thrown open.

The man who entered didn’t ask questions; he stepped up and slapped Yun Shu. Then, seeing Su Wen, he softened his voice and said in the local dialect: “Keep the young master company quietly! Don’t wake your brother!!”

Su Wen forgot his own pain. He reached out to gently touch Yun Shu’s swollen cheek. “Why did your father hit you?”

Yun Shu didn’t answer. He remained silent for a long time, simply letting Su Wen apply ointment to his face. He didn’t act like a 14-year-old.

The ointment felt icy on his skin. It had a scent—very faint—that smelled like winter entering his nose.

“It’s mint,” Su Wen showed him the packaging. “It has mint in it to reduce swelling.”

“What is mint?”

Su Wen thought for a bit. “It’s a plant. It feels and smells very cool. I’ll bring you some to see next time.”

“Okay,” Yun Shu returned to the original topic. “What does ‘like’ mean?”

Liking wasn’t something rare for Su Wen.

From the moment he was born, countless people liked him—whether because his mother was a double-award-winning Best Actress or because he possessed her face. From his parents and sister to strangers on the internet, everyone treated him like an “online-raised cub” and said they liked him.

Once he started school, because he was as pretty as a girl, he was liked by many. Boys liked him because he was pretty like a girl; girls liked him because he was pretty.

But Su Wen had never truly liked anyone. He could only shallowly use the feelings of those who had liked him: “It probably means wanting to be close, instinctively being affectionate, wanting to be together now and in the future, and spending your life with that person.”

Yun Shu thought silently for a long time before asking: “Then, if I want to be close to you, be affectionate with you, and be with you now and in the future… does that mean I like you?”

Su Wen froze, then let out a “Haha” laugh. “Are you confessing to me right now?”

“What does ‘confessing’ mean?”

Su Wen: “…”

Su Wen: “Yun Shu, you really need to read more books.”

…

Read books? Yun Shu lowered his head. He could barely recognize the basic characters.

The man and woman outside said: Why read books? You’re 14. Stay home and take care of your brother for a few years, then you can go out and work. Why waste that money?

Children in Sare Village either waited to reach adulthood to work and earn money for their families, or they dropped out entirely to herd sheep—or yaks if they were richer—then married and finished their lives in a blur.

Yun Shu was just an adopted son. In his foster parents’ eyes, giving him food was enough to keep him alive.

Su Wen begged his parents to sponsor Yun Shu’s education. Su Jian taught him the primary and middle school curriculum. In just three years, he surpassed everyone and entered the high school in Xiping Town at the correct age.

Now his foster parents were willing to let him study. It was a good deal: the government provided subsidies for orphans, and the Su family promised to give them a sum of money every year until Yun Shu reached adulthood.

…

“Are you still in Linzhou?”

The man’s voice on the phone sounded kind, but it was laced with undeniable calculation. “I’m getting out soon. Get me a nice place to stay.”

“I’m not there. I’m hanging up.”

“How dare you talk to me like that?! If it weren’t for me back then, you’d be dead! Who would want a monster like you, looking neither like a human nor a ghost?”

“Mhm.”

“Fine. Get me a place to live and put twenty thousand yuan in my card, and I won’t bother you anymore.”

“I don’t have money.”

The furious voice on the other end almost shattered the phone: “No money! That celebrity has money, doesn’t he?! Aren’t you friends or something?”

“If you hadn’t lost contact with them, would I be stuck without even twenty thousand yuan?!”

“I’m hanging up.”

The man panicked and started playing the family card: “Son, son, Dad only needs twenty thousand. I’ll be out in a few months.”

“In Linzhou, I only have you, son.”

“Then go back to Xiping.”

“I don’t have money for a train ticket, son! Dad is locked up in Linzhou and has no money!”

“Son, son, I’ve behaved well, I’m getting out soon. You have to give me the money…”

Yun Shu hung up the phone.

The surroundings were pitch black. The massive mountain nearby emitted a strange glow. Yun Shu turned off his screen, ignoring the notifications popping up.

The cigarette cherry glowed and faded, burning through the last of the tobacco.

…

In the room, the window was opened just a crack. Bright light leaked through, as if guiding his way.

He put his front paws on the sill and used his head to push the window. Before he could, the window was thrown open.

The curtain was pulled back. Su Wen stood in the bright light, his eyes filled with infinite tenderness. He reached out to rub the leopard’s head, his voice full of joyful certainty: “You really came.”

The leopard nuzzled his palm. Su Wen withdrew his hand and stepped back to make room.

With a kick of its hind legs, it stood on the windowsill. Instead of jumping to the floor, it saw Su Wen sitting on the edge of the bed. Its ears flattened back, its eyes darted around, and it pounced straight forward.

Su Wen was stunned. He was just sitting there waiting for it to come in so he could close the window. Before he could react, a giant snow leopard was flying toward him in a “spread-eagle” position.

“Holy—?!” He squeezed his eyes shut in fear.

But the pain of being torn apart by a predator never came. Instead, he felt a ticklish sensation, especially on his neck.

He opened one eye and looked down.

“…”

The snow leopard was vigorously nuzzling his neck, its limbs pinning him to the bed. Its head rubbed against his neck and then his face.

This was too much.

He didn’t care if it was a wild beast or if it couldn’t understand him; he slapped it away.

“No kittens on the bed!”

“Wu-wu, ow-woo, ow-woo…”

The leopard rolled onto the floor, eventually curling into a ball at his feet. Its tail—nearly as long as its body—swished on the floor before being tucked forward and bitten by the leopard.

Then, he looked down at the scene.

The “poor little kitty” was biting its fluffy tail, looking up with bright, watery, grey-green eyes, blinking occasionally.

Su Wen: “…”

Sometimes, he really felt this snow leopard was a transformed human. Would a normal leopard know exactly how to manipulate a human? What was the difference between this and his sister’s fat ginger cat at home?

“Sigh.” He sighed and gave in. It was just a “little kitty,” how could it be wrong?

But he still refused to let it on the bed. Su Wen climbed down, closed the window, and sat on the floor beside it.

The leopard was very clever. With the tail still in its mouth, it lunged into his lap. The massive leopard head pushed into his chest, nuzzling and prodding.

Su Wen wrapped his arms around it, finding it impossible to hold the entire thing. The huge body squirmed in his arms—he couldn’t tell if it was acting spoiled or doing something else.

It was a pity he hadn’t brought any snacks or chew toys; otherwise, he might have been able to bribe the “big cat” into coming home with him.

But then he looked down and met its eyes. The “cat,” which had just quieted down, got excited again and started nuzzling.

He now felt that even without a bribe, he could take it with him.

Animals are like humans: if they like someone, they want to be close to them. But unlike the reserved nature of humans, an animal’s expression of liking is intense. They do everything possible to get close, to touch, and to leave their scent on the person.

Like the one in his arms.

It wanted nothing more than to be glued to him, constantly pushing its head against him and licking everywhere. Its raspy tongue caused a slight sting against his skin.

Fine, Su Wen told himself, let it be. It was just a little kitty that liked him. What was wrong with that?

But the “liking” went too far. With a thud, Su Wen was knocked flat on his back. He stared at the ceiling in despair, his head resting on that fluffy tail.

“Take it down a notch.”

He didn’t know if the leopard truly didn’t understand or was just pretending, because as soon as he finished speaking, that massive head buried itself into the crook of his neck.

Sigh.