Chapter 9

Chapter 9

While Jiang Boguang was busy in the kitchen, I quietly asked Fat Orange, “Do you turn into a beautiful woman at night?”

To that, Director replied with a delicate little meow.

Sigh.

Even I couldn’t understand why I had agreed to a stranger’s request.

In truth, after my parents divorced and I had lived alone for ten years, I had rarely been softhearted anymore.

Maybe it was because I had once lived in a world where I had no one, because I had felt the most terrifying cold this world had to offer. So, like Yu Chang, who drifted from flower to flower, I had gradually become, over the passing years, a monster that only knew how to seize warmth wherever I could find it.

Maybe I still wasn’t hard enough. Maybe I understood that same feeling… In any case.

I agreed to co-own Fat Orange with Jiang Boguang.

Once the terms were settled, the other party became unprecedentedly generous and considerate. He promised to cover all of Fat Orange’s food and medical expenses, and to consult me in advance about any clothing or accessories. There would absolutely never be another sky-high-priced vest incident.

Perhaps out of affection for the cat, he even politely invited me to stay for dinner.

I wanted to resist the temptation. Then I felt around in my pocket and found only my ID card.

Damn it. I’d come in too much of a hurry.

I’d forgotten to bring money.

Jiang Boguang seemed very happy that I stayed.

He placed a small bowl in front of me, then went into the kitchen to keep working.

It was a small bone china bowl with a gilded rim. Inside were neatly arranged strips of plain-cut beef, looking very tempting. Seeing him bustling away in the kitchen, I quietly pinched one and ate it.

Mm.

Dry, savory, and fragrant! So good!

Director was circling around my feet, meowing nonstop. I hurriedly covered the bowl. “This is mine.”

Then I picked out a strip and brought it to his mouth. As I fed him, I said smugly, “Whatever I eat, you eat too. See how good I am to you?”

And just like that, through the joint efforts of the two of us, the little mountain of beef strips was soon half gone.

Just as we were happily eating, a puzzled voice suddenly sounded above my head.

“That’s for Domingo.”

?

Only then did I realize that “Domingo” was Director’s other name.

Behind me, Jiang Boguang had come out at some point. He was holding two flat plates, which he placed on either side of the table, one for each of us. On each plate was a whole steak covered in sauce, steaming and fragrant.

The air froze a little.

He seemed to understand something, then handed me a set of cutlery. “If you’re hungry, go ahead and eat first. I’ll go toss a salad.”

Of course, I didn’t dare eat this time. I just sat properly in my seat and waited.

As for Director, he had already polished off the remaining dried meat in the china bowl in one breath. Now he was staring at the steak in my plate and meowing anxiously. A rather subtle feeling rose in my heart, and all I could do was ruffle the cat while mocking myself.

“Director, oh Director. If you ever strike it rich, don’t forget me.”

As I was still ruffling the cat, Jiang Boguang came out with the salad. He sat down across from me and rolled up both cuffs a little. His movements showed the polish of a good upbringing.

“Don’t be so tense. Eat.”

Neither of us was much of a talker, so we simply ate in silence across from each other.

Before I knew it, the sunset had passed, and outside the window, the sky had dimmed into a lead-gray curtain.

After I finished eating, I volunteered to wash the dishes. When I came back out, Jiang Boguang had already returned to the sofa beneath the window. He was still holding a book and reading, while Director lay sprawled across his stomach like a puddle, the very picture of peaceful days and quiet years.

At this moment.

Even the summer insects fell silent for me. Silence was tonight’s Fat Orange.

The sky was already dark. A lone man and a lone woman under one roof was indeed inappropriate, so I clutched the only thing in my pocket, my ID card, and hesitated for quite a while.

“Um, I should get going.”

“All right.”

The big iron gate opened.

The big iron gate closed.

After that, with Mayor in one pocket and County Magistrate in the other, I squatted blankly by the entrance and spaced out.

Earlier, I’d only been thinking about coming here. I hadn’t thought at all about what I should do after I arrived.

A serious miscalculation.

After thinking it over, maybe I could ask the Yu Chang from this time period to lend me some money and just scrape by for a few days first.

Just as my legs were going numb from squatting, the door behind me suddenly opened, spilling a strip of warm yellow light across the ground.

I nervously stood up.

A tall figure stood in the middle of the open iron gate. His voice was clear and gentle, like a spring flowing into my heart.

“Are you… in some kind of trouble?”