Chapter 21 – Teenage Cat’s Problem

The wind blew. It was silent.

It was similar to a duel between samurais. A strong and foreboding gust of wind blew across the court, which rustled his, the protagonist’s, hair. It was the opponent’s turn to serve the ball. As a teenager who had yet to successfully receive a serve, his palms sweated slightly and he stared at the opponent without making a single move. He was like a predator who was hunting for the first time and appeared apprehensive. 

His opponent suddenly moved and the shuttlecock came flying like a whirlpool towards him. Thankfully, the predator had a good, dynamic vision and was able to rush towards the shuttlecock. He bent his body and swung his racket. 

He hit it!!

The racket flew along with the shuttlecock across the net!

Wait… wait, wait…

The audience were all watching with wide eyes and mouths. 

“Little Bao, you actually want to murder me with the racket!” 

Lin Jiabao immediately stopped moving and adjusted himself to the receiving position, not moving a single muscle. He was simply too ashamed to move.

Bai Youlian burst out laughing. It was so hard that she couldn’t get up straight. She was a reserved person, but she became an entirely different person when it comes to Lin Jiabao.

Hearing the surrounding laughter and Ouyang Chen’s harsh tone, Lin Jiabao was going to sink into the ground, but he had better apologise first. With a stiffened body like a corpse, he walked to Ouyang Chen’s side. He took his racket back from Ouyang Chen’s grasp, his face was red until it was about to burst.

“Sorry…” His voice was so soft, Ouyang Chen couldn’t find it in himself to get mad. 

Ouyang Chen couldn’t resist patting his little head and was rather speechless. “Didn’t you say you went to learn badminton on the weekend? Then, how did you throw your racket across?

“I only learned how to serve and not how to receive…” Lin Jiabao’s voice got softer, carrying a great amount of shame. 

“Okay, okay, okay, you serve the ball.” Ouyang Chen said as he pushed Lin Jiabao to the other side of the court, waving his hand.

Lin Jiabao walked to the opposite side of the court, looking back and asking, “You really want me to serve?”

“Hurry, go.” 

Twenty minutes later, a panting Lin Jiabao finally managed to serve the shuttlecock across the net.

“It was so funny that my stomach hurts from laughing!” Bai Youlian wiped her tears. “I can’t, I can’t.”

Ouyang Chen threw the shuttlecock on one side and walked in front of Lin Jiabao, who shrunk in quail while holding the racket. His head was about to touch the ground. 

“Whoever taught you how to play is definitely a fool.” 

“He’s not a fool.” Lin Jiabao couldn’t resist rebuking what he said before looking back down again.

“He’s not a fool? Then, he must be some kind of a prodigy for teaching you to serve like that, haha!”

“Saying this makes you the fool.” Bai Youlian waved her finger around and took the racket in Lin Jiabao’s hand. “Whoever loses is the fool. Do you dare to take on this challenge?”

“Sure, this master has been unhappy with seeing you for a long time.”

Lin Jiabao wanted to take the opportunity to slip away but Bai Youlian quickly stretched her arm and caught him saying, “Referee, where are you going?”

When did he turn into the referee?

Lin Jiabao didn’t have any choice, so he sat on the referee’s bench and distractedly scored the match. He felt uncomfortable and felt as if he disgraced Ouyang Feng. It wasn’t that Ouyang Feng couldn’t teach him properly. It was because he really couldn’t learn anything. He was not uncomfortable because he was laughed at but due to an inexplicably suppressed emotion, which was always in his heart but didn’t dare to go and tell the other two. He also wanted to apologize but he didn’t know where to start. As he thought of it, the area under his eyes started to turn red. 

Mummy said he was a boy and couldn’t cry so he bit his bottom lip, then continued watching the two play. His cat eyes were wide, trying to learn how they played. 

The more he watched them, the more he felt that he really wasn’t good, but he still had Ouyang Feng looking after him so well. 

He wasn’t worth that much when he even struggled to get better at playing. Those negative emotions were quietly and deeply rooted in his heart. He even panicked over how to get better.

When school ended, Lin Jiabao hastily walked out of the school gates. Bai Youlian couldn’t even grab him in time.

“Could it be that someone bullied you so badly just now?” Bai Youlian clenched her first and decided that she should take advantage of needing to do the experiment report to go to Lin Jiabao’s home.

As he walked on the road, he kept thinking about why Ouyang Feng, the male protagonist, was so kind to him. Mummy had asked him before, but now that he pondered about it carefully, he realized that maybe it was due to his close relationship with the shop manager. Ouyang Feng did take good care of him but did it fit in with his character?

This question was, once again, placed before the little kitten. Lin Jiabao wasn’t a pet and unprovoked love1 didn’t exist.

He opened the cafe door, trying his best to look over at the seat by the window and realized there was no one there. He heaved a sigh of relief and before he even walked inside, someone tapped his shoulder.

me?”

Lin Jiabao swiftly turned his head back and saw a familiar face. The corner of his eyes reddened and he nodded his head.

Ouyang Feng quickly realized that Lin Jiabao’s mood wasn’t right. But unlike the incident with the jump rope failure, this time, Lin Jiabao’s mood was full of mixed emotions.

He grabbed Lin Jiabao’s hand and pulled him to a place with fewer people before lowering his head to ask, “What’s going on today? Why do you look more down?”  

“I’m not unhappy.” Lin Jiabao replied and was shocked that the other could see his emotions so quickly, it gave him a sense of security. Lin Jiabao picked up his courage and asked, “Big brother, why are you so nice to me?”

Why was he so nice to this child?

Ouyang Feng’s eyes filled with surprise, he himself had this same question but never thought that Lin Jiabao – who was bashful – would ask him this.

“I’m… I’m stupid and I can’t speak clearly, I keep meowing and I’m not good at physical activities, either…” 

“Wait, wait, stop right there.” Ouyang Feng stopped Lin Jiabao, who was in the middle of giving himself all sorts of mysterious labels and his voice carried some chill. “Who talked so poorly of you?”

Frightened by Ouyang Feng’s tone, Lin Jiabao panicky shook his head to the point it seemed to not stop.

Ouyang Feng noticed his reaction, so he adjusted his tone and gently squeezed Lin Jiabao’s hand. “What happened? Speak clearly, otherwise I will ask the shop manager.”

“Don’t ask, don’t ask.” Lin Jiabao bit his lip and replied, “Last weekend, big brother brought me out to teach me how to play badminton yet I didn’t learn anything at all, I’m so sorry.” And when he thought about how other people ridiculed Ouyang Feng because of him, his heart overflowed with guilt.

“That’s nothing.” Ouyang Feng smiled and pulled the other person to his side. “You’ve only learned for how long ah, not being able to play is normal. If people are criticizing you over this, it only proves that person is a complete fool.”

“Then, why are you so nice to me?” Ouyang Feng’s comfort made Lin Jiabao’s mood a little better but he couldn’t forget about his previous question.

“Do you not know that you look pleasant to me?”

Lin Jiabao nodded his head in shock and glanced at Ouyang Feng, his heart started to race——

“Seeing such a pretty and cute baby, how could I not want to be good to him?”

Huff!

Full marks for teasing the cat!

The kitty in Lin Jiabao’s heart started to meow like crazy, jumping even faster than when it was on catnip. 

“I don’t suit Baobao’s taste so does Babao want to treat me nicely?”

Lin Jiabao not only spat out a string of ‘no’s, he also shook his head so fast that Ouyang Feng feared that it would fly off. He even wanted to meow to show his heart’s intentions. 

“Then everything is alright.” Ouyang Feng smiled and rubbed Lin Jiabao’s head before taking out a familiar-looking object from his bag.

“Since your mood is better, let’s get down to business.” 

He shook the familiar can of the catnip in front of Lin Jiabao’s eyes, who was about to explode. 

Why was the catnip that mysteriously disappeared in big brother’s hand?!!!!

i apologise for the late chapter but here it is!

i want to wh*ck ouyang chen !! bullying my baby.. anyways, thanks for reading~

Unprovoked love was the best translation I could use for this. Basically, it’s like loving someone without reason, like loving a pet