Incurable Chapter 21 Before Tonight (1)

I Want to Be Your Cat

Mu Wan’s feet were completely off the ground.

Liu Qianxiu had both hands around her waist and had lifted her straight into the air.

The gesture reminded her of a father lifting his little daughter when she was young, indulgent and gentle.

She had never expected someone who looked so lean to be this strong.

After the rain, the air was clear.

The breeze was cool.

The basketball in her hands was cool.

Even the hands around her waist were cool.

Between heaven and earth, Mu Wan seemed to be the only thing burning.

Her heartbeat pounded against her eardrums.

A faint sheen of sweat gathered in her palms.

Through the thin fabric at her waist, she could feel Liu Qianxiu’s hands.

Dry.

Cool.

Mu Wan held the ball, stretched both arms upward, and threw.

Her waist shifted with the effort.

Bang.

The basketball dropped through the hoop.

It hit the ground and bounced rapidly across the court.

Mu Wan listened to the sound as her body lowered.

Liu Qianxiu set her back on her feet.

The ball eventually stopped bouncing and rolled away.

Mu Wan stood there breathing softly.

A thin layer of sweat covered her skin.

The moment the wind touched it, she cooled.

Her skin tightened.

So did her heart.

Yet the feeling after exertion was exhilarating.

As though the mist had cleared.

As though a ship lost at sea had finally found its lighthouse.

Mu Wan turned around and looked up at Liu Qianxiu.

“Was I amazing?”

His expression had not changed.

Lifting her had apparently required no effort at all.

“Amazing,” he said.

Mu Wan smiled.

“I was only amazing because I had you.”

She looked directly at him.

Light danced in her eyes like tiny sparks.

Liu Qianxiu watched them quietly.

“Hungry?”

Perhaps two failed shots and one successful one had actually cost her some energy.

Or perhaps she simply found it impossible to refuse when he asked.

Mu Wan nodded.

“Hungry.”

“Go home?” Liu Qianxiu asked.

Something flashed in her eyes.

Her throat moved faintly.

A small smile curved her lips.

She turned to look at the basketball lying off to one side.

“Let’s go home.”

Back at Liu Qianxiu’s apartment, Mu Wan immediately went to play with the three kittens.

They had finally graduated from being confined to their nest and had begun exploring the cat room.

Everything fascinated them.

Zhouyi was far more aloof.

The black cat remained stretched out on the climbing tower.

Only when one of the kittens meowed would it lower its head and glance down.

The cats had become attached to one another.

Mu Wan had become attached to them too.

And between two people?

After dinner, Mu Wan helped Liu Qianxiu clean the kitchen.

Then, as naturally as though she had done it countless times before, she sat beside him.

She could not concentrate on the book in front of her.

Her arms stretched across the low table.

Her chin rested on the pages.

She breathed in the faint scent of paper while tracing Liu Qianxiu’s profile with her eyes.

He remained as quiet and detached as ever.

Nothing seemed capable of disturbing him.

Mu Wan watched him for a while.

Then she got up and went to the cat room.

A few minutes later, she returned and sat beside him again.

This time, she did not lean over the table.

She planted both hands behind herself and looked toward the cat room.

A faint kitten meow sounded.

Mu Wan immediately called softly,

“Over here.”

The man beside her finally moved.

Mu Wan turned toward him.

Her eyes shone.

“They shouldn’t stay cooped up all the time. I thought I’d let them come out and explore.”

Liu Qianxiu looked at her.

His eyes were as clear as still water.

Lamplight reflected across their surface.

For a moment, Mu Wan could almost see herself inside them.

He said nothing.

Thinking she had disturbed him, Mu Wan pulled her arms forward and sat upright.

“I’ll put them back.”

“No need.”

Liu Qianxiu lowered his eyes to his book again.

Permission granted.

Mu Wan immediately smiled.

She looked toward the kittens, who seemed unable to decide where to go.

She patted the rug lightly.

“Come here.”

Her voice softened.

“Mommy’s over here.”

Then, lowering her voice until only she could hear it, she added,

“Daddy’s here too.”

Liu Qianxiu’s fingers paused on the page.

Mu Wan did not notice.

The three kittens finally located her voice.

Soon they came tottering across the carpet on tiny legs.

The light stretched their small shadows behind them, making them look much larger than they were.

Their soft meows sounded like marshmallows melting into hot cocoa.

Within moments, all three had gathered around Mu Wan.

She sat cross-legged.

Ertong and Datou wanted to get closer, their tiny paws stepping against her ankles.

The little paws were warm and soft.

Mu Wan felt as though she were melting.

She reached down and lifted both kittens into her lap.

Then she looked for Zhongfen.

After searching for a moment, she tilted her head.

Zhongfen was trying to climb onto Liu Qianxiu.

His legs were long, and even sitting cross-legged, his lap sat higher than Mu Wan’s.

The kitten struggled.

It climbed once.

Then again.

One paw slipped.

Its tiny chin landed against Liu Qianxiu’s leg.

Zhongfen immediately began meowing.

Mu Wan was about to reach over when a pale, elegant hand appeared.

Liu Qianxiu curled his fingers gently around the black-and-white kitten.

Then he lifted it into his lap.

“Meow.”

Zhongfen immediately settled down.

Liu Qianxiu’s gaze left the book.

It rested on the kitten.

Man and cat.

The scene was so quietly tender that Mu Wan’s heart softened simply watching it.

Even without smiling or saying anything, Liu Qianxiu beneath the warm lamplight possessed a gentleness capable of making her heart ache.

He extended one hand.

His fingers slowly brushed over Zhongfen’s head.

The kitten relaxed across his lap.

Its little legs stretched out, paws opening like tiny flowers.

“It’s grown.”

Liu Qianxiu’s voice was low and distant.

Almost as though an immortal above the clouds were speaking to some small creature that had only recently gained a soul.

Mu Wan watched Zhongfen lying in his lap.

She folded her arms across the low table and rested her chin on them.

Then she looked at Liu Qianxiu.

“Liu Qianxiu.”

Her eyes curved.

“I want to be your cat too.”

Rain had begun falling outside again.

The clear tapping against the windows drew Mu Wan’s attention.

She turned her head toward it.

Her body remained soft and languid against the table.

She truly did resemble a little cat spirit that had only recently taken human form and had yet to learn how properly behaved people were supposed to sit.

Liu Qianxiu looked at her.

“It’s getting late.”

His voice remained calm.

“I’ll take you home.”

After dropping Mu Wan off, Liu Qianxiu returned to the apartment alone.

Layered shadows from the lamps filled the living room.

There was no sound except his own quiet breathing.

He sat at the low table and picked up the book he had not finished.

Something black moved through his vision.

Liu Qianxiu looked up.

Zhouyi was sitting nearby.

Another book lay open on the low table.

The one Mu Wan had left behind.

She had barely read a few pages.

The black cat sat there.

For a moment, its shape seemed to overlap with the image of a slender woman lounging beside the table.

Zhouyi meowed.

Then all Liu Qianxiu saw was black.

Black fur.

Dark pupils expanding until almost no gold remained.

The living room was spacious and empty.

No clutter.

No noise.

It should have been perfect for quiet cultivation.

Yet his mind would not settle.

The room no longer felt empty either.

Instead, loneliness and desolation seemed to linger in the silence.

Her voice echoed in his mind.

Liu Qianxiu, I want to be your cat too.

His eyes lowered.

He did not allow himself to follow the thought any further.

He returned to his book.

Then his phone vibrated.

Liu Qianxiu glanced at the screen.

His gaze shifted faintly.

A message had arrived.

Tomorrow morning, eight o’clock. Wuling Tea Estate.

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— To be continued in Part 2 —

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