Bo Jin grasped Pei Shiyi’s wrist, his fingers lightly stroking the skin.
Pei Shiyi narrowed his eyes. “Behave yourself. I’m the one playing the rogue here.”
He constantly felt like Bo Jin was petting him like a cat.
Bo Jin simply followed the pressure of the hand on his chin and tilted his head back, exposing his neck to Pei Shiyi. “Then please, how do you intend to play the rogue?”
Pei Shiyi had always been a man of many words but little action. At his core, he was a decent person. He truly couldn’t bring himself to actually harass someone without a formal commitment. But if he let go now, wouldn’t he look like a coward? Pei Shiyi stood there, holding Director Bo’s dignified chin, caught in a dilemma.
While an internal war raged in his mind, his gaze instinctively drifted to Bo Jin’s features.
Director Bo was, of course, exceptionally handsome. His features were sharply defined—strikingly beautiful, yet so cold they were almost cutting. Usually, he kept his eyes half-lidded in a listless manner, making him look far from approachable.
Now, as he stared steadily at Pei Shiyi, the neon lights from outside reflected in his eyes, somehow melting away the frost. A hidden world of brilliant colors shimmered within. The Zhulong hailed from the furthest frozen reaches, with thousands of years of winters and autumns frozen in his gaze. Nothing could melt it, unless he chose to withdraw the chill himself.
Pei Shiyi’s tastes were somewhat unique even among the Phoenix tribe. He wasn’t particularly fond of the passionate, flamboyant looks his kin preferred. Instead, he favored this kind of sharp, cold aesthetic. In truth, Bo Jin had always been exactly his type. Otherwise, based on Bo Jin’s “disrespectful” behavior during their first meeting, they would have ended up in a real brawl rather than their subsequent bickering, which looked like a war zone but never actually drew blood.
Pei Shiyi’s gaze traveled down from Bo Jin’s eyes, his fingers twitching. After bickering with Bo Jin for so long, he had almost forgotten that the man was a “beauty”.
Hmm. Though his temper is nowhere near soft or gentle, he really is good-looking.
After letting him stare for a while, Bo Jin said slowly, “Just looking and no doing? A verbal rogue?”
Pei Shiyi felt his intentions veering away from a mere joke, so he quickly let go, deciding to accept the defeat. “Fine, I’m done joking with you.”
Feeling guilty and secretly scolding himself for being swayed by a pretty face, he grabbed the corner of a throw pillow and beat a hasty retreat to avoid letting Bo Jin see his flustered state. For a moment, he even forgot to dwell on Bo Jin’s recent abnormal behavior.
Bo Jin reached up and lightly touched his own jaw. The warmth of the Phoenix still lingered on his skin. After a moment, the corners of his lips quirked up slightly.
What a wooden bird. It took him this long to realize something was off.
However, Pei Shiyi was indeed a person who responded to the carrot but not the stick.
If you argued with him, he would only argue back harder.
…
The cat cafe’s event was in full swing. The resident cats had already become numb to it. Fine, take the photos. Do whatever you want.
Dan Huang, Fondant, and Miss Penny didn’t care about the cameras. If someone followed them for a photo, they would occasionally stop and cooperate. Yun Chao was picky. She was fine with girls, but if a guy followed him too closely, he’d get a face full of hiss. Yin Zhou and Song Gao were a bit shy and tended to hide. Only the Tortoiseshell sisters and Tong Qian genuinely enjoyed the spotlight.
Tong Qian would even actively approach people for a selfie! He knew how to strike poses, and the cafe employees adored him. He was clearly a rising star of the cafe.
The Tortoiseshell sisters simply loved anything new. Taking pictures? How novel!
Dai Dai gripped her new toy in his teeth and dragged it down from the third floor. This was her chosen prop for today’s photos. She hoped the customers would take lots of pictures with her.
The toy was nearly as big as she was. With the toy in her mouth, Dai Dai couldn’t see the path ahead. She slipped and started tumbling down the stairs.
Several customers who saw it gasped in horror and ran toward the stairs. The cafe’s staircase was high. Even if he didn’t break anything, hitting the steps would hurt.
Fortunately, the owner happened to be there. He reached the stairs in a few strides and caught Dai Dai.
Dizzy from the tumble, Dai Dai sat in Pei Shiyi’s palms with her tongue poking out, looking piteously at him.
Pei Shiyi picked her up and checked her over. Confirming there were no injuries and knowing this little troublemaker was just taking the opportunity to act spoiled, he flicked Dai Dai on the forehead. “Couldn’t you have asked a staff member to bring it down for you?”
Dai Dai shook her head happily, still clutching the toy. “Meow!” The manager went to eat!
Pei Shiyi: “…Fine. Go play.” Eating again. I really need to manage these kids’ weights. Pei Shiyi discreetly weighed Dai Dai in his hands before setting her down.
As usual, he did a round of the cafe when it opened in the morning. When he reached the first floor, a young couple called out to him, “Boss! Boss!”
Pei Shiyi walked over. “What is it?”
The girl asked, “Boss, is your bestie… I mean, is your friend here?”
The boy added, “Last time I was here, I saw your friend holding a bird. We were thinking of getting one recently, so we wanted to ask what breed it is and where he bought it.”
Pei Shiyi: “…”
The breed is Phoenix. It’s a priceless treasure. Do you dare to keep one?
Bo Jin appeared silently behind Pei Shiyi. “You want to keep one?”
The boy nodded eagerly. “It was so beautiful! I even took pictures.”
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and showed a few photos. Because Pei Shiyi hadn’t been cooperating at the time, having turned away the moment he noticed someone was sneaking a photo, the pictures were all of his back and were quite blurry.
But the colors alone were enough to captivate anyone.
The girl said, “It’s gorgeous! I thought it was a parrot. But I searched so many pictures online and couldn’t find a match. Sir, what kind of bird is it exactly? Is it easy to raise?”
Under Pei Shiyi’s death glare, Bo Jin said slowly, “It’s not easy. It’s extremely high-maintenance, a neat freak, obsessed with its looks, and very chatty.”
Pei Shiyi: “…”
He thought to himself: Is this dragon trying to get himself killed now that the one-month deadline is approaching?
The boy said, “A neat freak is fine. Birds are all pretty vain. Does it peck people?”
Bo Jin: “It doesn’t peck. It has a pretty good temperament. If you raise it long enough, it’ll even look after other small animals.”
Pei Shiyi crossed his arms and stared at Bo Jin. He wanted to see just how much more nonsense Bo Jin could spin.
The boy was becoming more and more interested. “So where can I buy one? Is it expensive?”
Bo Jin: “There’s a price but no market. It’s a nationally protected species. Private individuals are forbidden from keeping them.”
The boy was crushed. “Then how do you have one? Do you need a permit?”
Bo Jin glanced at Pei Shiyi. “That bird is currently still wild.”
Pei Shiyi finally couldn’t listen anymore. He dismissed the boy with a few vague words and pushed Bo Jin into a corner, whispering, “Did you take the wrong medicine today?”
Bo Jin, of course, had not. He hooked his finger into Pei Shiyi’s sleeve and said calmly, “No. I was just reminiscing about the feel of the bird.”
Pei Shiyi looked down. Bo Jin’s skin was a cold white, which contrasted sharply with his wine-red shirt sleeve. That simple hook of a finger carried a different sort of implication.
Pei Shiyi had always been a sucker for someone acting coy. Even though Bo Jin had just been looking for trouble, he didn’t have the heart to snap back now. He flicked Bo Jin’s hand and laughed. “Then reminisce all you want.”
He walked away with one hand in his pocket. Bo Jin watched his back, rubbing his fingertips together. The texture of human skin isn’t any worse than feathers.
…
The cat cafe uploaded a new video to Bishui Station. A crowd of “cloud-petting” fans rushed to claim the front row in the comments. The title of this video was: “How long can you hold a Ragdoll?”
The title revealed the star of the video: Fondant! Their little sweetheart, Fondant!
As soon as the video started, the bullet comments were full of people placing bets:
“Two coins says ten minutes.”
“I’ll bet two coins on fifteen minutes.”
“Twenty minutes. Bet you a pack of spicy strips.”
“Fondant has always been super clingy. I’ll bet… half an hour.”
The video opened with a black screen and a line of conspicuous white text: The consent of the customer and Fondant the cat was obtained before this video was uploaded.
Oh? Does that mean a customer will appear in the video today? We want to be on TV, too!
Once the caption disappeared, the main content began.
It started with a shot of Fondant running, chasing a ball all the way to the area by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Near the introduction board was a round sofa, where a girl in a checkered skirt sat with her knees hugged to her chest.
Fondant’s ball rolled to the girl’s side, but Fondant didn’t go for the ball. Instead, she sat in front of the girl and gently placed a paw on her knee.
Bullet comments:
“She’s here! My angel Fondant, wahhh.”
“Those fluffy paws are too cute. I’m fainting.”
“What happened to the girl? Is she sad? She looks like she’s in a bad state. My heart aches for her.”
Amidst the various concerns in the comments, the girl in the skirt slowly lifted her head. Only the lower half of her face was in the shot. Fondant stepped onto her knees to stand up and leaned in.
Those familiar with Fondant already guessed what she was going to do. Sure enough, the big fluff-ball touched the girl’s face gently.
Fondant’s sweet meows rang out as she rubbed her head vigorously against the girl’s cheek, clearly trying to comfort her. After rubbing her face, Fondant stepped onto her lap and curled up.
Who could resist such a sweetheart?
Fondant stayed in her lap, kneading the air while interacting with her. The viewers watched as the girl went from having tear-stained cheeks to a soft smile. She even pulled out her phone to check her appearance, smoothed out her rumpled skirt, and began playing with Fondant.
Her mood was clearly much better. She squeezed Fondant’s little paws and spoke softly. Although the viewers couldn’t hear what she said, the emotion was incredibly infectious.
Seeing the girl’s slightly upturned lips, the viewers couldn’t help but smile along. Even through the screen, they were moved by the atmosphere between the human and the cat.
Everyone watched at different times, but the feeling the video brought was the same: warm and healing, like a feather gently stroking the soul.
At the very end of the video, a white caption appeared showing how long Fondant had been held. Only then did the viewers remember the title. So, how long was it?
Caption: 47 minutes and 23 seconds.
(The cameraman almost fell asleep waiting.)
Viewers: “…”
As expected of Fondant!
Falling asleep while being held is one thing. Most cats love their owners and will sleep in their comforting arms. But to stay held for that long while fully awake is impressive! And in the end, it was the girl who voluntarily let go before the little princess jumped down. Even as she walked away, Fondant kept looking back as if she was still worried about her.
She could have totally kept holding her!
After watching, viewers flocked to the comments section. Many pet owners had gone to try it themselves after finishing the video. Looking through the comments, the record was: a little over six minutes.
Compared to the video’s forty-plus minutes, it was as short as a rabbit’s tail.
Not to mention, some owners were forcing the hug, whereas Fondant had initiated it.
Top Comment:
Life is Hard: My master let me hold him for two minutes, looked me in the eye for two seconds, then slapped me without hesitation and jumped away. (Flip-flop slap emoji). But that doesn’t mean they don’t love you. Once when I had a bad flu and was groaning in bed, he crawled into my blanket and let me hold him for a long time. Well-raised pets can really sense your mood. Cats just aren’t that keen on expressing it. Love your fur-babies well.
Final thought: Xian Chan is a divine cat cafe! Fondant is a divine cat! (Screaming at the top of my lungs)
Author’s Note:
A Phoenix who is a bit “wooden” (dense) when it comes to feelings, abbreviated as “wooden bird.” (Dog head emoji for protection).
Small Theater:
Q: Do Phoenixes peck people?
Anonymous: Thanks for the invite. They don’t. Once you’re close, you can even kiss them.
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wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1