Revenge of the Garfield

Zhu Kai was Li Jianglin’s wife, Zhu Yun’s younger brother.

       Li Zhenruo always felt that Zhu Yun was the only person Li Jianglin really loved, and one of the reasons was because of Zhu Kai.

       Zhu Kai was much younger than Zhu Yun, but not far from Li Zhenzi’s age. Because his parents were too old to take care of him, Zhu Kai grew up with Zhu Yun and Li Jianglin since he was a child.

       Sometimes Li Zhenruo felt that Li Jianglin loved Zhu Kai more than his own sons.

       Growing up in Li’s family, Li Zhenruo didn’t have a single friend, but Zhu Kai had always had a good relationship with him. However, Zhu Kai’s character was too untrustworthy. Perhaps because he lacked parental discipline from a young age, he had a wild and unrestrained personality. He dared to cause all sorts of trouble.

       Although Li Jianglin liked Zhu Kai, perhaps it was due to his unreliable personality that he never let him get involved in Yunlin’s affairs. Instead, he gave him a lot of money and let him go wild.

       When he received a call from Li Zhenruo, Zhu Kai seemed to have not fully woken up at first. But when he heard the words Li Zhenruo, he was suddenly wide awake.

       He sneered, “Say that again, who are you again?”

       Li Zhenruo said to him, “I am Li Zhenruo.”

       Zhu Kai laughed when he heard his words, “Li Zhenruo? Li Zhenruo f/cking died a long time ago, didn’t you know? You’re Li Zhenruo?”

       Li Zhenruo was not angry. He knew Zhu Kai well. The friendship between the two needed quotation marks. They could spend a lot of time and drink together, but was impossible to confide in each other. He didn’t expect Zhu Kai to feel this much grief over his death.

       Li Zhenruo said, “Where are you now?”

       Zhu Kai snorted, “I’m on vacation with your dad on the coast, don’t you know? Aren’t you dead? Don’t you have any sources telling you this at all??”

       Li Zhenruo lowered his voice, “You don’t believe me? Did you forget the 500,000 yuan I lent you for gambling that you haven’t returned to me yet?”

       Zhu Kai said, “Li Zhenruo said that to you?”

       Li Zhenruo continued, “Do you remember the time you secretly swapped my dad’s cigarettes for marijuana blunts?”

       This matter was quite a secret, Zhu Kai only told Li Zhenruo and it was completely a mischievous mentality. The two of them actually shared a lot of little secrets. That was not a big deal, but they always kept each other’s promises, and no one ever said any more about them.

       Zhu Kai didn’t expect him to bring this up. After a few seconds of silence, his tone became more serious, “Who are you?”

       Even if it wasn’t Li Zhenruo, it must be someone who had a very close relationship with Li Zhenruo.

       Li Zhenruo still said, “I’m Li Zhenruo.”

       Zhu Kai was different from Li Zhenran. Li Zhenruo didn’t dare to give Li Zhenran any hints to make him think in that direction. He was afraid that Li Zhenran could find out the whole truth if he caught a little clue. But for Zhu Kai, Li Zhenruo believed that the other party would not believe it at all.

       Zhu Kai snorted coldly, “Stop talking bullshit! Tell me who you are? I’ll hang up if you don’t.”

       “Ah, be patient,” Li Zhenruo said quickly, “There is something I want you to say to Li Jianglin.”

       Zhu Kai laughed sarcastically, “Isn’t he your father? Where are your manners?”

       He had to admit that he was a little offended by his words but Li Zhenruo’s tone was calm and he didn’t give away his emotions at all, “Tell him to get Li Zhentai and Wen Chun married quickly or else Wen Chun will run away with someone else.”

       Zhu Kai’s tone was somewhat puzzled, “What do you mean?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “It’s exactly as I said, bye.”

       After he finished speaking, he hung up the phone.

       Afterwards, Li Zhenruo sent a text message to Li Zhentai’s phone on his mobile phone: “I have a picture of your wife, please contact me if you are interested.”

       After he sent it, he didn’t wait for a reply. He tore out the phone card, broke it into two pieces and threw it away.

       It would be too irrational to think that Li Zhenzi had something with Wen Chun just based on the perfume smell on Li Zhenzi’s body. But now whether he had something with Wen Chun or not, Li Zhenruo felt that he should muddy the water within the Li family first. When the water got muddy, what everyone wished to conceal would be exposed, emerging little by little.

       Li Zhenruo put the original phone card back, turned around and walked towards the neighbourhood. He found an aunt on the side of the road to ask for directions and walked into a small alley in the direction pointed by the other party.

       This address was the past address of Li Zhenruo’s biological mother.

       Li Zhenruo was very persistent about matters relating to his mother for a long time, that is, when he was still young and unable to control his own life.

       He remembered one time when he was wronged because of something, he cried and told Li Jianglin that he was looking for his mother and that he planned to run away from home. As a result, Li Jianglin became even angrier and he was punished to kneel for half a day.

       Zhu Kai secretly brought him dinner that day.

       Later, when he had the ability to find his mother’s whereabouts, he was no longer so persistent anymore. He was no longer a child who needed a mother, but a man who had other goals to pursue.

       However, he still asked someone to help him find the whereabouts of his mother. But he only got one address, because his mother had been dead for many years and this address was where his mother used to live until she died.

       It was obvious that they were in the same city, so close to each other, but she never had the thought to see him.

       Li Zhenruo, who got this address, had never been there before. He felt that it was meaningless.

       This time, he came over not because of his previous obsession with his mother, but because he wanted to find some clues, such as how his mother and Li Jianglin met back then and why his mother would be pregnant with someone else’s child and lied to be with Li Jianglin. This secret has been buried for so many years and the party involved has died. Who was the one who dug it out?

       Li Zhenruo wanted to know a lot of things but he never thought about finding his biological father. If Li Jianglin was not his father, then a father was someone non-existent to him.

       This building has been around for a long time. It was hidden behind the high-rise buildings in the city. It would be difficult for Li Zhenruo to find it unless someone showed him the way.

       Perhaps faced with demolition, many residents of the building had moved away, and now there were less than half of the original residents left.

       Li Zhenruo’s body and identity changed, which brought him a lot of benefits. At least he didn’t need to cover up what he did and no one would suspect his identity.

       He followed the room number written in the address and climbed the stairs to the fifth floor. He walked to the room on the far left, raised his hand and knocked on the door.

       He tried knocking four or five times repeatedly, but no one came to open the door for him. Instead, he knocked on the next room.

       It was a man in his fifties who opened the door. He looked him up and down, and said, “Did you knock wrongly?”

       Li Zhenruo asked politely, “Is there no one home?”

       The man said, “No one has been there since more than ten years ago.”

       Li Zhenruo asked him, “Excuse me, may I ask if a lady named Zhao Yuqiong living here?”

       Hearing this, the man frowned slightly and said, “I don’t know. There used to be a woman in the house. No one has lived there since she disappeared more than ten years ago.”

       Li Zhenruo regretted not coming out with a pack of cigarettes. At any rate, it was convenient to have a few words with the other party after handing them a cigarette. He could only say, “I’m really sorry to bother you, but how long have you lived here?”

       The man said, “Twenty or thirty years.”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Then you must know when the lady who lives in this house moved in?”

       The man recalled it carefully and said, “It seems that she moved here more than 20 years ago. She was alone when she moved in. After a few months, her belly became bigger.”

       Li Zhenruo asked quickly, “Have you ever seen a man with her?”

       The man shook his head, “I haven’t seen another person with her before, and this woman also didn’t move in with anyone. Later, I didn’t know when she went to give birth to the child. Anyway, her stomach deflated, but the child was not brought back.”

       Li Zhenruo put his palm on the door, “Did anyone live here later? Does the house belong to her?”

       The man still shook his head, “I don’t know. I don’t know where she went. Anyway, one day I suddenly didn’t see her, and no one lived there anymore.”

       Li Zhenruo couldn’t help but ask, “Then her remnants…”

       At this moment, a woman’s voice came from behind the man, calling him, “Who is that? You’ve been talking for a long time!”

       The man said, “It’s nothing,” and then before Li Zhenruo finished asking, he hurriedly said, “I don’t know.” He closed the door hard.

       Li Zhenruo did not leave immediately.

       At this point, he was in a different state of mind than when he first learned of his mother’s death. Although he was not Li Jianglin’s biological son, it was a bit too ruthless for Li Jianglin to let his mistress be so lonely until she died of illness.

       The wooden door in front of him was mottled, and Li Zhenruo felt a burst of sadness. He took a deep breath and then turned to leave.

       He had an idea and hoped to find someone to pry open the door so he could go inside to take a look. He wondered if he could find Zhao Yuqiong’s remnants.

       Zhao Yuqiong died in the hospital more than ten years ago. It was said that she broke off relations with her family long ago and it was Li Jianglin who handled the funeral for her.

       She has been dead for more than ten years. If the house was originally registered in Zhao Yuqiong’s name, after her death, Li Zhenruo should’ve inherited it. But at that time Li Zhenruo was too young. He didn’t even know who his mother was, let alone knew that such a house existed. After a long time, when he was able to find someone to check his mother’s identity, he found that the house had been registered under Li Jianglin’s name.

       Li Jianglin certainly didn’t look after such a house. According to what the neighbour’s family said, maybe Zhao Yuqiong went to the hospital at the time, but she didn’t expect to never return. So was it possible that no one has touched anything in this house until now?

       Li Zhenruo walked downstairs and thought that this matter can’t be rushed. He has to take one step at a time. Now what he feared most was that his every move would arouse Li Zhenran’s suspicion.

       If Li Zhenran suspected him, he probably wouldn’t be able to go back to Li’s house. Well, this was just one of the reasons. More importantly, he didn’t want Li Zhenran to suspect him.

       Just as he went downstairs, Li Zhenruo’s cell phone rang.

       Li Zhenran’s meeting was over, and he asked him, “Where are you?”

       Li Zhenruo said, “I’m looking for my mother.”

       Li Zhenran asked him, “Have you found her?”

       Li Zhenruo replied, “No, I seem to have misremembered the address of the pet store. I have to check it again.”

       Li Zhenran said, “After you find her, take a picture for me to see.”

       “…” Li Zhenruo gritted his teeth and said, “Okay!”

       Because of Li Zhenran’s sudden request, Li Zhenruo had no choice but to go to the pet store to find his cat mother. When he left that time, Yu’s mother put him in a cage and took a taxi back. Right now Li Zhenruo didn’t know the exact address. He only vaguely remembers the name of the pet shop and searched the Internet on his mobile phone.

       He went to eat Thai hot pot alone at noon.

       Although the people around him, including the waiter, cast strange stares at him intentionally or unintentionally, he didn’t care. This sour and spicy taste really suits his tastebuds.

       After lunch, Li Zhenruo took a taxi, showed the driver the address of the pet shop he found and asked the driver to take him there.

       Li Zhenruo found that it was indeed a happy thing to find a rich and generous owner. He was used to living a good life since he was a child, and he didn’t want to feel bad at all when it came to food and clothing expenses.

       The driver sent him to the address. When he got off the bus, Li Zhenruo took a look at his surroundings and found that he was right. This was the pet shop where he was born.

       There was a large cage in front of the pet store, and several small Samoyeds were basking in the sun.

       He walked in like a customer. The boss greeted him and lowered his head to shave a teddy1.

       Li Zhenruo found the pet cage he was born in that was now replaced by a litter of British shorthairs. He looked around and found the mother cat in a small pet cage in the corner.

       The female cat was sleeping on her stomach at first. He didn’t know whether it was because she heard the movement or smelled the scent, but she suddenly opened her eyes and raised her head.

       Li Zhenruo was a little excited for no reason, he put his face close to the cage and looked inside.

       His mother cat suddenly stood up, leaned close to the cage and stared at him.

       Li Zhenruo felt that the other party probably recognized him.

       The mother cat stretched out a paw from the gap in the cage, and Li Zhenruo lowered his head and asked her to touch the top of his head with her paw. She probably really wanted to get closer to Li Zhenruo, but unfortunately, she was blocked by the cage and couldn’t get out.

       Li Zhenruo stretched out his fingers and stroked the top of her head with difficulty. At this time, he remembered Li Zhenran’s request and took out his mobile phone to take two pictures of her.

       At that moment, Li Zhenruo really wanted to buy her, take her home and forget about it.

       But even if he brought her back, Li Zhenran would definitely not agree to keep one more cat. Li Zhenruo himself didn’t know what to do in the future, how could he afford the life of another cat? It’s better to let her eat and drink here and sleep idly every day.

       Before leaving, Li Zhenruo kissed the mother cat’s nose and said silently, “Goodbye, I’ll come back to see you later.”

       He thought that if one day he had the ability to, he would take the mother cat back to retire.

       Li Zhenruo got home before five o’clock in the afternoon.

       Before returning, he saw a long queue outside a small shop selling pastries outside the pet store, so he also ran to the line to buy a bag of mung bean cakes.

       Of course, Li Zhenran couldn’t have come back so early. It was almost seven o’clock in the evening when he came back.

       Li Zhenruo was a little hungry, so he ate two mung bean cakes to fill his stomach.

       When Li Zhenran came back, he saw Li Zhenruo lying comfortably and leisurely on the big lounge chair on the balcony.

       His cat was always lying on his stomach lazily, and never came to greet the owner when he got home, but sometimes he was obedient like a pet dog and followed him every step of the way.

       Li Zhenran walked to the balcony, bent down and fiddled with Li Zhenruo’s hair.

       Li Zhenruo opened his eyes, “You’re back?”

       He moved to the side. The reclining chair was large enough for two big men to lie down side by side, so Li Zhenran sat down beside him.

       Li Zhenruo wanted to be a good pet. He reached out and picked up the mung bean cake from the side and took the initiative to feed it to Li Zhenran.

       Li Zhenran glanced at him, opened his mouth and bit the mung bean cake.

       Seeing him take a bite, Li Zhenruo asked, “Is it delicious? I’ve waited in line for more than 20 minutes.”

       Li Zhenran said, “It’s good.”

       Li Zhenruo continued to feed him until Li Zhenran had eaten the whole thing. Li Zhenruo saw that some crumbs had fallen off the front of his shirt and reached out to help him brush it off.

       It was almost summer, the weather was getting hotter day by day. Li Zhenruo was wearing a pair of thin trousers and when his legs were pressed to Li Zhenran’s legs, he could clearly feel the heat of the other person’s body.

       It didn’t seem right to be so close like this, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with it.

       However, once it was quiet, Li Zhenruo suddenly felt that the other party’s breath was very obvious. He could hear Li Zhenran’s slight breathing and could see his chest rise and fall slightly. The presence of the other party suddenly became too strong, making Li Zhenruo a little uncomfortable.

       He had hot pot for dinner last night, so today’s dinner was Chinese food. Li Zhenran rejected Li Zhenruo’s proposal for Japanese cuisine again.

       It was in an exquisite small private restaurant. You have to make reservations by calling half a day in advance to get a place.

       Li Zhenruo followed Li Zhenran and knew that Li Zhenran should have planned this in advance.

       The environment here was very elegant. It was more like an elegant study room than a restaurant, with a bookshelf full of books around. Li Zhenruo was bored and couldn’t help but stand up and look over.

       It was a small single room for two people.

       The boss didn’t let you order your own food. He usually ate whatever dish was served, but Li Zhenran insisted on ordering comprehensive sashimi, which could be in order to satisfy Li Zhenruo’s desire to eat Japanese food.

       During the meal, Li Zhenruo showed Li Zhenran the photos taken by his mobile phone.

       Li Zhenran looked at the big cake-faced cat mother in the photo and said, “It looks exactly like you.”

       Li Zhenruo said, “Well, I think so too.”

       His colour and facial features were very close to the mother cat, and he was considered to be the best in that litter of kittens.

       Li Zhenran asked him, “Where’s your father?”

       Li Zhenruo took the chopsticks and stabbed the sashimi, “How would I know, it must be a breeding cat.”

       After all, Zhao Yuqiong was still Li Jianglin’s mistress in name. His cat mother and cat father were probably a momentary fling, and when their physical needs are met, they would no longer meet.

       Looking at the photo, Li Zhenran seemed a little regretful, “It’s a pity that I didn’t take a photo of you, when will you be able to change back?”

       Li Zhenruo raised his eyelids to look at him and cursed in his heart: Die, cat fetishist!

       They talked and ate. When almost two-thirds of the dishes were finished, the private room door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

       Li Zhenruo turned to look and saw that the woman standing at the door turned out to be Yue Zijia.

       Yue Zijia was wearing a small white dress with exquisite makeup. She seemed to be stunned for a moment. She took a step back to look at the door sign and said, “I’m sorry, I made a mistake.”

The author has something to say:

Look, you urged me to make him human, but now you want to see a cat after I made him human. See, if this is what you guys are…you know