Chapter 18: 18

Chapter 18: The Night With a Cat

Rampaging powers exploded in his head like an out-of-control car, ramming over and over again against his skull. Its fragile, thin memories shredded as if they’d been passed through a tornado.

Lin Ning’s healing powers always targeted his external wounds, which only gave slight relief to the headache in his head. But once he stopped the flow of healing powers, those aggressive powers continued to rebound, crashing down in waves more massive than before.

At first, the man forced himself to swallow his groans, leaving the beads of sweat to drench his body as his consciousness fought against his powers. But in the midst of hallucination and pain, a pair of gentle hands held him, warmth streaming out from their palms — flowing into his limbs and bones, calming the berserking powers.

At that moment, the unwavering man quivered, his heart yearning for Lin Ning’s powers. If he went after Lin Ning now, could he…? The man made a decision in his last moments of clarity. Forcing himself back into a cat, he slinked into Lin Ning’s room.

The young man lay on the bed in his pajamas with a thin blanket draped over him, his porcelain white, handsome face exposed. His chest rose and sank silently. Though he looked beautiful and docile as he slept, to the cat, Lin Ning was a walking human-catmint. His body radiated with power, and it couldn’t help but inch closer towards him.

The cat leaped onto the bed and curled itself into a ball, snuggling into Lin Ning’s chest. Even if all Lin Ning did was release his powers unconsciously, they were enough to calm down its energy. Not long later, the cat, surrounded by the pale slivers of plant-based powers, slowly calmed down.

*

Lin Ning was feeling weird recently. Whenever he woke up, he’d feel as if he’d spent the night with some kind of force pressing against his chest, suffocating him. The problem was that he couldn’t locate the source of this problem, and that was driving him crazy.

Maybe this body has some kind of hidden disease? He thought, but quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way that was true — he just came out from a hospital stay with a full body check-up, and the reports said he was completely healthy. With such advanced medical technology, there was no way the hospital was wrong.

What was weirder was how Xizai hadn’t been acting so cold and haughty lately. Every day, he’d take some time to stick close to Lin Ning. Sometimes when Lin Ning would stop stroking it, Xizai would headbutt him, as if encouraging him to keep petting.

???

One of the weirder things it did was that whenever Lin Ning used his powers on the little flowers, the kitty would pad over and place itself right in front of his powers before Lin Ning could dodge it. Every time the powers touched it, the kitty would stare at him in a way that was so cute it had to be illegal. Its huge cat eyes shone with anticipation and delight, and whenever Lin Ning retracted his hands, the kitty’s ears drooped downwards. It made him wish he could offer up all his powers to Xizai.

As the days passed, Lin Ning started to adopt a dad persona. What else could he do? He picked up the kitty, so now he was in charge of spoiling it. Therefore, in the twenty-four hours of each day, the kitty spent its eight waking hours in Lin Ning’s embrace. This greatly improved Lin Ning’s job at documenting his cat. He’d start recording whenever the kitty came trotting over, so he now had pictures of everything — the kitty’s moments of haughtiness and content, shots of the kitty exploding into a ball of fur.

In the spirit of courtesy, he’d always show the kitty the pictures after taking them. Every time the kitty saw them its fur spiked up, and it slapped the picture away, turning its back to him so all he’d see was its round little butt. But Lin Ning noticed that the kitty would still begrudgingly return to him and nudge his elbow as if it wanted to make peace with him. And when he’d start ruffling its fur again, it’d put on a face of despair, as if it was losing its dignity as a cat. 

“Messing with you’s so fun, Xizai.” Lin Ning couldn’t bear to part with the kitty. This cat was huge, so if he hugged it for too long his arms would start to cramp up, but its body was so warm, he couldn’t bring himself to let go of it. On this day, as he held it, his hand slipped and brushed against an especially soft and fluffy area.

Hmm? It’s warm. It feels good… Lin Ning couldn’t help it. He rubbed the area with vigor.

“Meow!!!!!” The cat’s cry of despair could’ve pierced the clouds. A look as sharp as a dagger stabbed at Lin Ning, and a threatening growl grumbled out its nose.

“Aww, Xizai, but your stomach’s super soft! Let daddy kiss it. How about I make you some fish soup for dinner? Your favorite fish soup~” The cat’s response delighted Lin Ning. A mischievous thought came to him, and he hoisted the cat up by its sides. He planted a kiss on it.

It was just a kiss on the forehead, but the kitty stiffened like a stick, stricken. Lin Ning couldn’t resist the look of absurdity on the kitty’s serious little face. He rubbed the cat’s fluffy tummy again, then got up to prepare dinner.

That was the first time he’d ever touched the kitty’s tummy. Nice!

 

*

 

Location: Break room of the Empire’s First Command Post. 

An old man in military uniform sat on a chair, a stack of data placed before him. Although his hair was silver, he still carried an aura of strength — aside from the look of worry that marked his forehead.

“You’re telling me that up till now, even with the number of soldiers we’ve dispatched, you still can’t locate the marshal?” The old man slammed his glass of water on the table. He glared at the reporting soldier.

“We went through all the people in Ward Six, but couldn’t find anybody suspicious. Even the security footage doesn’t show a single shot of the marshal. This might mean the marshal most likely left the hospital of his own volition.”  

“And you really couldn’t find a single clue?” The old man asked, closing his eyes.

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Liu Yue clenched his fists. “If we absolutely must pinpoint a particularly notable person, it’d be the ex-idol who left the ward on the same day the marshal was admitted. When the marshal was sent to the hospital by emergency aircraft, the idol, Lin Ning, saw him,” he replied.

“Lin Ning’s got a bad reputation, but we currently can’t find anything that ties him to this case. Some of our men are looking into him, though, so I believe we’ll find out more soon.”

The old man listened. He opened his eyes, his gaze falling onto a photograph of a handsome man with black hair and eyes, clothed in a military uniform. He stared straight at the camera, his presence stifling. A look of worry slipped onto the old man’s face.

The room was silent for a while. Finally, the old man asked, “Idol? What was he doing in the hospital?”

Liu Yue already had Lin Ning’s data memorized till it was second nature to him. He answered, “What we currently know is that, on paper, the reason Lin Ning was hospitalized was that he was caught in a scandal with a director, then fell into extreme debt for violating a contract. It seems that the one-sided opinions of the internet forced him into depression, and later suicide. But after some more detailed investigation, we found something different.”

“Go on.”

Liu Yue continued, “Lin Ning’s bank account has been undergoing an influx of incoming money this past week, and from the bank we found, he’s currently working as a cooking streamer on Shine Livestreams’ platform with an anonymous identity. He’s gone viral all over space, and is the most popular person out there at the moment. And… he has the backing of many influential people.”

The old man’s eyes widened. He sprung up from his seat. “Cooking Livestream… Are you talking about the case of reappearing extinct foods that has taken over the research department lately?!”

Liu Yue nodded. “We’ve only just connected the dots. I think, regardless of whether he’s involved with the marshal’s case, he’s someone worth investigating. There’re too many secrets on him.” 

“No wonder…” The old man reached out a wrinkly hand to touch the photograph in front of him. “This Lin Ning person is very important. We’re changing the direction of our search. Direct all efforts in finding the marshal towards Lin Ning.”

“Yes, sir!”

*

At night, Rong Xinxin gingerly pulled out a small portion of hot pot at home, beginning to prepare a meal after clearing the table. “Mom, dad, which soup base do you want?”

The woman pointed at the tomato soup base excitedly. She nudged her husband. “This! The sweet and sour flavor’s amazing. You should give it a go, honey.”

The man had just returned from a business trip. Upon learning that his wife and daughter had left him some food, he became curious. He sniffed it carefully, his gaze falling on the sour and spicy soup base. “This one smells amazing. Why don’t we have both? Isn’t this the mandarin duck pot the two of you were talking about? The one that makes two soups at a time.”

Rong Xinxin and her mother looked at each other and laughed. “The portions are too small, eating one at a time isn’t filling at all.”

“You’re acting like this thing’s too precious, as if you can’t buy this even when you’ve got the money.” The man took a step back to admire the pot, watching his daughter busy around the table. She only pulled out a little, placing the rest back in the fridge. “Oh, my poor baby. I didn’t raise you to scrimp and save. You don’t have to ration your food like that — just buy whatever you want to eat! Are you out of pocket money?”

His wife sighed. “The man would have to be selling it in the first place for us to be able to buy it.”

The man guffawed in response. “With how well-off our family is, even though we can’t eat it every day, we can definitely have it at least a few times a week no matter what the price is. Let me try the spicy one. If it’s good, daddy will check out who this Lemon Kitchen the two of you love so much is, and find a way to invest in him. We’ll cause waves in the industry and expand its influence. Won’t that be the same as having an abundance of this food?”

Rong Xinxin handed her parents a pair of chopsticks and a bowl of seasoning, laughing, “I’ll take your word for it. If my streamer wants to turn food into an industry, I’ll invest in it. No going back on your word when that happens.”

The Rong family primarily held reign over the entertainment industry, and since it was their family tradition to be open-minded, Rong Xinxin spoke casually to her parents, and the father-daughter duo often bickered for fun.

Daddy looked at her in false disbelief. “Oh, no! Not my girl calling a streamer she’s never even met hers!” 　　

Rong Xinxin harrumphed, then said proudly, “So what if I am? I’ve never been a fan of stars before, but he’s now my idol. And with the senses I’ve cultivated growing up in the entertainment circle, I know Lemon Kitchen’s definitely hot! His body’s amazing and his skin’s so smooth. If he ever joins the entertainment industry, I know he’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

Daddy pretended to be heartbroken. “Am I not hot? You should be calling me your idol! But, wow… this hot pot smells really good, huh?”

Rong Xinxin picked up a slice of steaming beef and shrimp ball from the pot, then gave them to her father. “Eat now, talk later. Or you’ll really regret it.” 

Daddy’s eyes brightened as he tasted the seasoning. His mouth gaped in shock, and he quickly stuffed a slice of beef into his mouth. Hot! The numbingly spicy sensation rushed to his head.

!!! Woah!

Both mother and daughter exchanged glances, then burst into laughter so hard they doubled over.  

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