Incurable Chapter 4 Part 2

Chapter 4 (2/2)

Part 2: The Quiet Apartment and the Tiny Paws

After dinner, Liu Qianxiu returned to Nanfeng Apartments.

Nanfeng was a luxury residential complex only fifteen minutes by car from Tang’er Hospital. It was only a little past nine when he got back. The tall apartment towers stood in the dark, countless windows glowing with the warm light of ten thousand homes.

Liu Qianxiu keyed in the passcode and opened the door.

A floor lamp had been left on, washing the interior in a thin, dim layer of light. The air held the faint, calming scent of agarwood. The apartment felt spacious, quiet, and undeniably cold.

The living room was perfectly still. After one glance, Liu Qianxiu went straight to the bedroom.

When he came back out after showering and changing, he returned to the living room. The room was sparsely furnished, almost ascetic. There were no decorative pieces, no excess furniture—only a painted mural covering one wall, a cotton-linen rug on the floor, a low table, and a single lamp. On the table sat a few books and a small incense burner. The agarwood inside had already burned out, so Liu Qianxiu lit another stick.

White smoke rose slowly from the ember, curling into the air as the room’s scent deepened. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he switched on the lamp, picked up a book, and began to read.

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 into a faint smile.

A moment later, something soft stepped onto his folded legs. Then the weight increased, and a warm little body settled directly into his lap.

Liu Qianxiu lowered his gaze from the book.

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

“Meow.”

It was a sleek black cat, its coat as dark as midnight, with striking light gold eyes.

Liu Qianxiu did not move. Gradually, the coldness around his eyes melted into something remarkably soft. The cat’s warm weight against him made him think of another “cat” he had encountered earlier that day.

“I didn’t go to catch you,” he murmured, stroking its head 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 foul mood, demanding to know why she had left without informing Mi Yu. Once he heard she was in the hospital, though, he stopped pressing the issue and hung up.

Outside the ward, the wheels of a medical cart rolled past. Then the door opened.

A young nurse 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 the medicine directly.

Mu Wan had only half woken up. The sudden sting made her whole body tense. She let out a sharp hiss 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 been scolded by the doctor as well. Mu Wan smiled and apologized sweetly. 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, open admiration crossed her face. “You’re a legend, honestly. Half the women in this hospital try to flirt with Dr Liu, but you’re the first one I’ve ever seen literally draped all over him and refusing to let go.”

Mu Wan: “…”

“Where is Dr. Liu?” she asked, trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks.

“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 wild speculation. Mu Wan, however, remained thoroughly unenthused.

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

“He didn’t bring me back. He caught me and dragged 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 legally responsible, it still would’ve caused him 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 conceded. “When there’s time, I should treat him to a meal to say thanks.” Then she picked up her bag and got to her feet. “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked out to Lin Wei’s Cadillac. Lin Wei was petite and sweet-looking, yet she loved driving large SUVs, and she was also a true second-generation heiress. Her parents ran a real estate business in Jing City, and after she graduated from university, they bought her a villa in Xia City. Lin Wei had turned it into both an interior design 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 a thick Xia City dialect, broom in hand. “That calico got hit by a car on the main road this morning.”

Mu Wan felt a sudden 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 driver’s seat, 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. “But it left a litter of kittens.”

Something stirred in Mu Wan’s eyes. She remembered the calico’s round, heavy 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 the bushes were a Maserati and a Bentley.

Standing squeezed between the two luxury 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 chest.

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 the strange, soft feeling that bloomed in her chest 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, fragile kittens in Mu Wan’s hands, she still looked worried.

“Can you actually raise them?”

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

“I’ll try.”

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