Incurable Chapter 4 Part 2

Chapter 4 (2/2)

He had only turned one page when a faint rustling sound came from the balcony at the far end of the room.

His eyes lowered slightly.

The corner of his mouth curved.

A moment later, something soft stepped onto his folded legs.

Then the weight increased, and a warm little body settled directly in his lap.

Liu Qianxiu lowered his gaze from the book.

Resting across his knees was a fluffy mass of black. The instant he looked down, it stirred, and a pair of pale golden eyes met his.

“Meow.”

It was a black cat, sleek as ink, with light gold eyes.

Liu Qianxiu did not move. Gradually, the expression around his eyes softened.

The cat’s soft warmth against him made him think of another “cat” he had encountered earlier that day.

“I didn’t go to catch you,” he murmured, stroking it once. “And yet you came to me on your own.”

Then he lifted his eyes and went back to reading.

Mu Wan was woken by a call from Li Nan.

The hangover felt like her skull was splitting open. She had blacked out last night. She remembered stepping out to sober up and running into Liu Qianxiu, but nothing after that. Li Nan started off in a poor mood, demanding to know why she had left without informing Mi Yu. Once he heard that she was in the hospital, however, he stopped pressing the issue and hung up.

Outside the ward, the wheels of a cart rolled past.

Then the door opened.

A young nurse in a cap entered with medicine in hand and said, “Time to treat the wound.”

Mu Wan had already changed into a hospital gown. She undid the buttons and pulled the front down to expose the injury. The nurse came over and began applying medicine directly.

Mu Wan had only half woken up. The sudden sting made her whole body tense. She let out a sharp sound of pain and came fully awake at once.

“Didn’t think about it hurting while you were drinking yesterday, did you?” the nurse said in a cool, no-nonsense tone. “Now the wound’s inflamed, and you’ll have to stay one extra day.”

Mu Wan had snuck out the night before and been caught by Liu Qianxiu, which meant the ward nurses had naturally received a scolding as well.

Mu Wan smiled and apologized. The nurse’s expression softened a little.

“Was it Dr. Liu who brought me back last night?” Mu Wan asked.

“Of course.” The nurse seemed to be replaying the scene in her mind. When she looked back at Mu Wan, there was open admiration on her face. “You’re something else, honestly. So many people chase after Dr. Liu, but you’re the first one I’ve ever seen literally hanging off him and refusing to come down.”

Mu Wan: “...”

“Where is Dr. Liu?” she asked.

“Oh, he’s on leave,” the nurse said. “He won’t be back until next Monday.”

Naturally, once Lin Wei learned Liu Qianxiu had personally taken Mu Wan back, she launched into another round of speculation. Mu Wan, however, remained thoroughly unenthused.

“So Taoist Liu really did bring you back,” Lin Wei said.

“He didn’t bring me back. He arrested me and took me back,” Mu Wan corrected while packing her things. “I was supposed to be hospitalized, and I snuck out drinking. If anything had happened, even if the hospital wasn’t responsible, it still would’ve caused trouble.”

She was being discharged today. Lin Wei, who had gotten out before her, had come to pick her up.

Lin Wei gave a disappointed little “Oh.”

“But I did cause him trouble,” Mu Wan said. “When there’s time, I should treat him to a meal.”

Then she picked up her bag and got to her feet.

“Let’s go.”

The two of them walked one after the other to Lin Wei’s Cadillac.

Lin Wei was petite and sweet-looking, but for some reason, she loved big SUVs. She was also very much a rich second-generation daughter. Her parents ran a real estate business in Jingcheng, and after she graduated from university, they bought her a villa in Xiacheng. Lin Wei had turned it into both a studio and a home—one floor for work, one for living.

Just before Lin Wei got in and started the car, Mu Wan suddenly said, “Wait.”

Lin Wei paused mid-motion.

Mu Wan bent down and looked beneath the car.

There was nothing there.

She straightened up.

“It’s fine.”

“Looking for the cat?” a cleaning lady nearby said in Xiacheng dialect, broom in hand. “That calico got hit by a car on the main road this morning.”

Mu Wan felt a chill go through her.

She thought of that plump little calico in the man’s arms—dirty, yes, but cute all the same. It had crawled under her car that rainy day because it was cold. And in just a few short days, it was dead.

From the car, Lin Wei looked over.

“What died?”

The cleaning lady had already started to walk away, but on hearing the question, she turned back and pointed toward a clump of shrubs in the corner.

“Oh,” she said, “it left a litter of kittens.”

Something stirred in Mu Wan’s eyes.

She remembered the calico’s round belly.

Tang’er was a private hospital, and the people who came there were wealthy. Even the shrubs on the grounds were clipped into neat, careful shapes. Parked in front of them were a Maserati and a Bentley.

Standing between the two cars, Mu Wan bent down into the narrow space.

A moment later, she straightened up and turned around.

Only then did Lin Wei see the three tiny kittens in her arms.

Their eyes weren’t even open yet. They were little more than soft, moving bundles, squirming weakly against her.

No one was immune to fluffy things, and Lin Wei was no exception. Looking at the kittens, she asked anxiously, “They’re so small. What do we do?”

“Take them home.”

The little bodies shifted in her hands. One opened its mouth and let out a faint, milky little meow.

Mu Wan couldn’t quite explain what she felt at that sound.

Beside her, Lin Wei made a startled little noise.

Mu Wan looked up.

“Haven’t you always wanted me to get a cat?”

That, Lin Wei certainly had said. Looking at the tiny kittens in Mu Wan’s hands, she still looked worried.

“Can you raise them?”

One of the kittens rubbed weakly against Mu Wan’s hand, soft as a breath. She reached out with her thumb and stroked it gently.

“I’ll try.”

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