It was a high-end residential complex, only a fifteen-minute drive from Tang’er Hospital. When he got home, it wasn’t even nine yet. The tall apartment building stood against the night, thousands of windows lit, as if the whole city was breathing behind glass.
He keyed in the password and stepped inside.
A floor lamp was already on, spilling a thin layer of light across the room. The air carried a faint, clean scent of agarwood. The apartment was spacious and quiet, the kind of quiet that leaned toward loneliness.
The living room was still. Liu Qianxiu glanced around and went straight into the bedroom.
After a shower and a change of clothes, he returned.
His living room was almost empty. No bulky furniture, no clutter. One wall held a mural. On the floor lay a cotton-linen rug. A low table. A single lamp. A few books are stacked neatly. An incense burner sat on the table, its agarwood already burned out. He lit a new stick.
White smoke curled upward, slow and graceful. The fragrance deepened, warm and steady.
Liu Qianxiu sat down cross-legged, switched on the table lamp, and opened a book.
He had barely turned a page when a soft rustle came from the balcony at the far end.
His eyes lowered slightly. The corner of his mouth lifted, just a trace.
A moment later, something soft stepped onto his folded legs.
Then the weight settled, warm and heavy, a small body flopping down as if it owned the place.
Liu Qianxiu lifted his gaze from the book.
A lump of black fur lay across his legs. In the instant he looked down, it moved. A pair of pale gold eyes met his.
“Meow~.”
It was a black cat, sleek and solid, with those light-gold pupils that made it look slightly otherworldly.
Liu Qianxiu didn’t move much. His expression softened, gradually, as the cat’s warmth pressed into him. It reminded him, uninvited, of another “cat” he’d met today.
“I didn’t go arrest you,” he murmured, stroking the cat once with calm fingers. “Yet you came on your own.”
Then he lifted his eyes and returned to his book.
Mu Wan woke to Li Nan’s phone call.
The hangover hit like a punishment. Mu Wan’s head felt like it might split. She’d blacked out last night. She remembered leaving the private room to sober up, running into Liu Qianxiu in the corridor, and then… nothing.
Li Nan started by snapping at her for leaving without notifying Mi Yu. But when Mu Wan told him she was in the hospital, his tone changed. He didn’t say much after that. He just ended the call.
Outside the room came the squeak of cart wheels.
Then the door opened.
A young nurse in a cap walked in with medication and supplies. “Time to treat your wound.”
Mu Wan was already in a hospital gown. She undid the buttons and pulled the fabric down to expose the injury. The nurse came over and began applying medication without hesitation.
Mu Wan was still half-asleep, mind foggy. The sudden sting snapped through her like lightning. Her whole body tightened. She hissed and jolted fully awake.
“So you didn’t feel pain when you were drinking, huh?” the nurse scolded, expression severe. “Now it’s inflamed. You’ll be staying one more day.”
Mu Wan had snuck out last night, and Liu Qianxiu had caught her. The ward nurses clearly had opinions. Mu Wan smiled and apologized. The nurse’s face softened slightly.
“Was it Doctor Liu who brought me back?” Mu Wan asked.
“Yes,” the nurse said. She replayed last night in her head and looked at Mu Wan with open admiration. “You’re something else. So many people chase Doctor Liu. You’re the first I’ve seen who actually clung to him and wouldn’t let go.”
Mu Wan froze.
“…Right.”
“Where is Doctor Liu?” she asked quickly.
“He’s on leave,” the nurse said. “He won’t be back until next Monday.”
When Liu Qianxiu returned Mu Wan to the hospital, Lin Wei had immediately launched into new theories. But Mu Wan still looked indifferent, and Lin Wei could only sigh and point out the obvious.
“So he really did bring you back.”
“He dragged me back,” Mu Wan corrected as she packed her things. “I was admitted. I ran off to drink. If anything happened, even if the hospital isn’t responsible, it still looks bad.”
Lin Wei deflated. “Oh.”
“But I did cause him trouble,” Mu Wan added, zipping her bag. “When I have time, I’ll treat him to a meal.”
Then she lifted the strap and stood. “Let’s go.”
They walked out together to Lin Wei’s Cadillac, a big SUV that looked almost comically bold next to Lin Wei’s petite, sweet face. Lin Wei was a rich kid. Her family did real estate in Jing City. After graduation, her parents bought her a villa in Xia City. She’d renovated it into a studio, one floor for work, one floor for living.
Just before Lin Wei started the engine, Mu Wan said, “Wait.”
Lin Wei paused.
Mu Wan leaned down and checked under the car.
Empty.
She straightened and said, “Never mind.”
A cleaning auntie holding a broom overheard. In Xia City dialect, she said casually, “Looking for a cat? That calico got hit by a car on the main road this morning. Died.”
Something turned cold in Mu Wan’s chest.
She pictured the plump calico Liu Qianxiu had held, a little dirty but oddly adorable. It had crawled under her car that rainy night to hide from the cold. And in just a few days, it was gone.
Lin Wei leaned over from the driver’s seat. “What died?”
The auntie had started to walk away, but she turned back when she heard the question. She pointed toward a corner of neatly trimmed bushes.
“Oh, but it left a litter.”
Mu Wan’s gaze sharpened.
She remembered the calico’s round belly.
Tang’er Hospital was private. Most people here had money. Even the hedges were trimmed into tidy shapes. In front of the bushes were a Maserati and a Bentley, parked as they belonged in an ad.
Mu Wan bent between the two cars.
A moment later, she straightened and turned, and Lin Wei saw three tiny kittens tucked against Mu Wan’s chest.
Their eyes were still sealed shut—little warm bundles, squirming weakly in her arms.
No one was immune to soft fur. Lin Wei wasn’t either. Her voice came out full of worry.
“They’re so small. What do we do?”
“We take them home,” Mu Wan said.
One tiny head nudged her hand. A mouth opened, and a milky, baby-soft sound came out.
“Meow~.”
Something tightened in Mu Wan’s chest, and she couldn’t name what it was.
Lin Wei gasped. “Ah!”
Mu Wan looked up. “Haven’t you been telling me to get a cat?”
Lin Wei had said it, yes. But as she stared at the kittens, she looked genuinely anxious. “Can you even take care of them?”
One kitten rubbed its face against Mu Wan’s finger, soft as breath. Mu Wan gently brushed her thumb over it.
“I’ll try.”
The author has something to say:Liu Daochang: I heard that you took my cat?
Mu Wan: Then you come to me and take it back~
dude, can you change the colour of text to black. the gray is too light.
ReplyDeleteaww man, poor cat. At least she took the kittens.
ReplyDelete