Incurable Chapter 1 Part 2

Mu Wan stayed until the rain finally stopped.

When she left the inpatient building, the city felt freshly washed. Two days of rain had soaked the warmth into humidity, and the air clung to the skin. A cool post-rain wind swept over her as she stepped outside, carrying a surprising edge of cold.

Night had begun to gather. The hospital buildings glowed bright, and puddles on the ground reflected the lights like scattered coins. Mu Wan walked through the shallow water, found her car, and climbed in.

Her phone pinged.

A transfer notification lit the screen: her pay for the drama.

Mu Wan had chosen film school for a simple reason. Acting paid fast. Even without fighting for big roles, she could support herself by playing small parts.

She had grown up without a father. After her mother died, she moved out of the Mu family home after graduation. Now she was truly alone, living on her own terms. One mouth to feed, one life to manage.

She texted a quick thank-you to the company accountant, set the phone aside, and reached for the car key. Her foot pressed the clutch.

Before she could turn the key, a dull knock sounded on the window.

A figure stood outside her darkened glass, tall and lean, his face indistinct in the reflection.

Mu Wan paused, then rolled down the window.

The glass slid lower, slow and smooth, like a scene opening.

He had taken off his white coat. Without it, he looked even less like a polished professional and more like someone who moved through the world lightly, as if he did not quite belong to it. He wore a loose linen shirt that should have looked plain, but on him it looked effortless. In his hand was a long, folded umbrella. His fingers were long, clean, the knuckles defined.

Under the thin veil of night, his pale skin seemed to catch the light.

Up close, his features were even more refined than from a distance, especially his eyes.

Black and bright, clear and unfathomably deep, like still water that could swallow a thought whole.

He pointed beneath her car.

“Wait a moment,” he said.

His voice was low and cool, like spring water running over stone.

“There’s a cat under your car.”

Mu Wan’s heartbeat stuttered once, as if her body had recognized him before her mind finished catching up.

It was him.

Daoist Liu.

Liu Qianxiu moved to the back of the car. Soft rustling followed. Mu Wan rested her wrist on the window frame and watched through the rearview mirror.

In that small rectangle of glass, he lowered into a half squat, long legs folding with calm precision. In his right hand was a small snack, biscuit-like. His profile, half in shadow, looked like an unfinished watercolor, gentle edges hiding sharp intent.

He stared beneath the rear tire and called, voice steady and mild, “Come here.”

A moment later, a cat edged out from under the car.

Mu Wan’s eyes sharpened.

A calico, plump and round-bellied, its fur dulled with grime. It lifted its head and meowed at him softly, almost familiarly.

Liu Qianxiu did not hesitate. He leaned down and lifted it into his arms.

Mud clung to the cat’s paws, and it immediately left dirty little prints on his linen shirt—dark blossoms on pale fabric.

He did not care.

Lin Wei had said he kept people at a distance, as if human closeness cost him something. Yet he held the stray with a quiet ease, as if the small creature belonged in his arms.

For a fleeting second, Mu Wan had the ridiculous thought that he looked like someone out of a story. Not because he was perfect, but because he was strangely untouched.

“Is that your cat?” Mu Wan asked, leaning on the window frame and looking up at him.

He turned. The cat turned too, blinking in Mu Wan’s direction.

“No,” he said. “A stray.”

“It seems close to you.”

“I feed it sometimes.”

Simple question. Simple answer. Nothing wasted.

“You like cats?” Mu Wan asked, smiling.

“Mhm.”

Mu Wan’s lips curved. A playful impulse rose, light and bright.

She lifted her shoulders slightly, scrunched her face into a grin, and gave him a soft, sweet sound.

“Meow~.”

The calico’s ears twitched. It opened its eyes wide and looked at Mu Wan.

And behind it, Liu Qianxiu lifted his lashes.

His gaze met hers, quiet and steady, with a depth that made the air feel suddenly thinner.

The author has something to say:
Mu Xiaoxiao: If you feed me something, I will kiss you too.
Liu Daochang: Can you eat lollipops?

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