Teasing Cats and Dogs

Xie Xie lay on Tang Wulin's sofa. The bandage on the back of his hand had already started peeling at the edges. He tried pressing it down with his other hand, but it would not stick, so he simply let it be.

A cooking show played on the television. He stared at the glistening roast duck on the screen and swallowed, but all he could think about was the silver-gray Ragdoll cat at Ye Xinglan's house, licking its paw and ignoring everyone.

"Cleaning for a month," Xie Xie muttered. "Unlimited cat hair, unlimited cat food. Ye Xinglan's treating me like a housekeeping robot."

Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on the carpet, playing a game without looking back. "Why didn't you think it through when you picked option two?"

"How was I supposed to know that cat was the reincarnation of an emperor?" Xie Xie rolled over and buried his face in a cushion. "Gu Yue said I could tell spicy strips from Wagyu, so I could tell cats apart too—fine, its tongue is made of gold, I admit it. But that scratch was seriously unfair."

Gu Yue emerged from the bedroom, her phone screen lit as she scrolled through short videos. She wore lounge clothes, her hair casually tied in a low ponytail, her expression as cool and detached as ever. Tang Wulin glanced up at her, then lowered his head and kept gaming. Xie Xie whimpered into the cushion. "Gu Yue, don't watch cat videos. I've got PTSD."

Gu Yue ignored him and swiped upward with her thumb.

The video showed Yue Zhengyu standing in the courtyard of his villa in athletic clothes. Behind him, the brightly lit glass hall with double doors was almost blinding. He bent down and patted a dog on the head—a black German Shepherd with