Ninth Meow

“You…” Huo Zheng stared at He Yunzhou’s back and said inexplicably. 

“What’s the matter?”

“You’re not a chef, are you? Or do you have some special seasoning?”

It was probably because he was so full that his brain was suffering from cerebral ischemia. After Huo Zheng had said everything, he realized how stupid his question sounded.

“Your cooking is very good. I mean… They are more in line with my taste than many fine restaurants. Well, I mean those so-called Michelin restaurants. I don’t have such a good appetite in those kinds of places.” After saying these words, Huo Zheng’s expression stiffened even more.

Well, even his remedial words sounded extremely stupid — as if he, Huo Zheng, was a complete foodie, and there was no other topic in his mind except eating.

Huo Zheng grit his superficial calmness but inwardly fell into a strong self-criticism. He had never encountered such an oddity before, and he actually messed up in front of an ordinary person like He Yunzhou.

“Pfft, no need to praise me like this. I just like cooking a lot. How can I possibly compare to a professional chef?” He Yunzhou turned his head to Huo Zheng and smiled at him.

Compared with the first meeting, he looked a bit more relaxed in front of Huo Zheng. 

“… And after all, I’m a freelancer. I spend more time at home every time, so I have the energy to stay in the kitchen and think about cooking,” He Yunzhou said. He paused, then looked at Huo Zheng and added, “However, I’m really happy to see that you like to eat the dishes I make…”

In fact, he shouldn’t have said it in front of Huo Zheng. He Yunzhou secretly thought, but he really couldn’t hold back.

It seemed that as long as Huo Zheng was still within his sight, he has no way to control the surging affection and impulses deep in his heart. 

Huo Zheng will probably never know how much comfort he gave He Yunzhou by holding on to that arrogant look and contentedly eating those dishes that He Yunzhou cooked himself.

It’s almost as if Guaji had changed skin and returned to Earth once again to accompany He Yunzhou.

Yes ah. When Guaji, who was still fierce and skinny back then, was just brought home by He Yunzhou, it always carried its own airs when eating.

It’s obviously very hungry but it will never show the slightest gobbling… However, even a cat like Guaji can’t hide its love and desire for food.

It was very scared, very frightened, but also very hungry, very tired, and needed a warm home to take a good rest. It is obviously on the verge of collapse but it still had to barely hold on to the strange human and bluff — He Yunzhou felt like that at Guaji at that time.

Strangely enough, there were times when Huo Zheng also made He Yunzhou feel the same way.

Actually, He Yunzhou also felt there was probably something wrong with his head: Huo Zheng, who was beautifully bright and full of wealth, had no similarity with the extremely wretched and abandoned cat Guaji from any aspect.

However, every time He Yunzhou saw him, he had a kind of unstoppable pity… As if Huo Zheng was also a homeless kitten.

It must be the illusion when they first met, this man was still wearing an expensive custom-made suit, but could only fall drunk at someone else’s door and was unconscious, right?

He Yunzhou calmed down and forced himself to pull his mind back from his thoughts of Guaji.

Then he noticed Huo Zheng was looking at him again.

“Sorry,” He Yunzhou blushed instantly, “I was a little distracted while talking just now.”

He Yunzhou was a little guilty. After all, like him, he secretly pitied a big living man as a cat… It was indeed a bit too subtle.

“Ah, what—” 

However, Huo Zheng looked even more dazed than He Yunzhou.

He Yunzhou almost suspected that he was frightened by his sudden words.

“Did you just say something? I was actually lost in thought just now—” Huo Zheng’s pupils shrank slightly, and his voice was gloomy as he replied. 

Immediately afterwards, he quickly averted his gaze.

Of course, Huo Zheng certainly won’t admit that the way He Yunzhou looked at him just now and joyfully said the phrase “I’m really happy” really made his mind feel shaken and at a loss.

Too innocent… and too warm.

Well, frankly speaking, Huo Zheng is now a bit doubtful whether his previous judgment of He Yunzhou’s “clumsiness” was really correct.

After all, no one had ever been able to waver Huo Zheng to this extent before.

For so many years, he has been rolling around in the field of fame and fortune, dealing with all kinds of hypocrisy and falsehoods.^[1]lit. to find a stage, put on a comedy (idiom); to play along according to local conditionsHe is already proficient in methods and invulnerable to iron bones,^[2]refers to strong unyielding will but he is only very bad at the kind of affection that seems to be true.

Not only was he bad at it, he even wanted to escape a little.

But Huo Zheng also knew that he and He Yunzhou had only met a few times. At most, the other party looked at his good-looking skin and wanted to tease him. How could he really be as affectionate as that person revealed in his eyes?

Two people coincidentally fell silent because of their different thoughts, and the atmosphere that lingered between the two was suddenly a little subtle.

In order to alleviate this slightly awkward scene, He Yunzhou pretended not to think about anything and smoothly brought out the homemade yogurt that was previously prepared for Nangua from the refrigerator and handed it to Huo Zheng. 

“Dessert to relieve greasiness after the meal, I hope you’ll like it.” While talking, he also found the jam and honey and drizzled it on top of the yogurt in front of Huo Zheng.

Huo Zheng was slightly flabbergasted, then took the yogurt — in the small transparent embossed glass bowl, the milky white yogurt was as delicate and smooth as some milky pudding, and the crimson jam and golden honey made this yogurt a little more exquisite.

Compared with commercially available yogurt, this kind of handmade yogurt obviously has a much stronger smell of lactic acid. Just smelling the sour taste will involuntarily make your mouth water.

But… Huo Zheng hadn’t eaten such a sweet thing for a long time.

Finish a delicious dinner in a narrow house that exudes the aroma of food, and then continue to stay at the table to chat and have an ordinary snack. 

All these experiences tonight gave Huo Zheng an indescribable and strange feeling — he always felt like he was being carefully coaxed by He Yunzhou.

His stomach is full and his heart seems to be full as well.

The floating feeling as if drifting in warm water appeared again.

Huo Zheng picked up a spoon and put the yogurt with jam and honey into his mouth.

The cold yogurt has a strong milky aroma, as exquisite as cheese, but with a strong sourness and sweetness.

With just one bite, the stagnant feeling caused by grease and starch in Huo Zheng’s stomach disappeared in an instant.

“Well, this… is also delicious,” Huo Zheng opened his eyes wide and said contentedly.

And just at this time, a long, forlorn cat cry abruptly interjected.

“Meow wu wu wu wu—”

In fact, from the time Huo Zheng and He Yunzhou started eating dinner, Nangua has been completely guarding under the table.

In the morning, it jumped on the table to steal duck bones and caused trouble. Nangua had already been caught by He Yunzhou and was fiercely flicked on its forehead. It was rare that it still remembered the lesson and didn’t dare jump on the table in the evening.

It’s just that, based on usual past experience, Nangua knew it would have a delicious snack.

The right amount of non-additive yogurt can boost the cat’s probiotics and protein, and there’s no need to worry about the lactose intolerance inherent in most cats — He Yunzhou often prepares yogurt for both cats during shedding season.

Nangua is also used to waiting for that homemade yogurt exclusively for him. But this time, it watched as the two-legged beast handed its yogurt to someone else. 

Although He Yunzhou often ridiculed that Nangua’s brain is only the size of a mung bean, he can’t resist Nangua. As an orange cat, Nangua has full IQ points when it comes to eating — It doesn’t pay attention to anything else, doesn’t care, doesn’t understand, but someone robbed its yogurt, Nangua found something wrong in the first moment.

Immediately after, it stomped its hind legs and jumped onto the table with a plop. It was a bit heavier than the standard weight; the entire table shook.

“Nangua!” He Yunzhou couldn’t help but softly chided.

But Nangua had already begun to bow its back, standing at the corner of the table, and “mroww” made a low growl at Huo Zheng, who was eating yogurt.

Although he didn’t understand what happened, Huo Zheng knew that the fat orange cat was angry when he saw it.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Nangua thought its food was eaten…” He Yunzhou rushed over embarrassedly and tried to drive Pumpkin off the table. But the cat, which had always bullied the weak but fear the strong, was not afraid at this time. The whole cat firmly clung to the ground, lowered its ears, and continued to roar at Huo Zheng.

“Nangua! Get down!”

“Meow wu wu wu wu—”

Huo Zheng fixedly looked at Nangua for a short while. After hearing He Yunzhou’s explanation, he raised an eyebrow, and then in front of the round and fat cat, he scooped a large mouthful of yogurt into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.

“Well, it’s really delicious.” Huo Zheng stared at Nangua, then said with unusually great pleasure.

He Yunzhou: “……”

Nangua: “… Mroww.”

Huo Zheng: I don’t know what happened but there’s a strange sense of pleasure in seeing that fat cat angry.

In fact, if it were under normal situation, Huo Zheng shouldn’t have been in such a happy mood.

After all, with his status, it’s impossible for anyone to let a cat jump on his dinner table and growl with its furry airplane ears^[3]Picture below. endlessly no matter what. 

However, if it was He Yunzhou and his cat, everything seems to be ok.

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The author has something to say:

Mr. Huo: Hehehe I won! Happy!

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Furry Airplane Ears: