Chapter 37
All other things aside, a snow leopard’s “cutesy voice” actually sounded pretty nice.
Having been caught red-handed, Ling Ye nervously clamped down on his own fluffy, white-and-black tail in his mouth. His round eyes stared back at Yan He, filled with bewilderment.
Yan He wasn’t an idiot. Staring at the scrawny but beautifully patterned snow leopard in front of him, he knew very well this wasn’t a purely wild animal.
The natural habitat of a snow leopard wasn’t in the central heartland of the Xia Empire, nor was this environment suitable for a wild one to survive. Therefore, the snow leopard appearing here could only be a transformed student!
To be reduced to stealing food from stray cats and dogs… could this be a destitute specially-enrolled student?
The snow leopard was the King of the Snowy Mountains. If he really was a specially-enrolled student, he would definitely be in the Special Enrollment Association.
Yan He looked toward Bai Yuzhou. Bai Yuzhou’s expression was grim as he gave a slight shake of his head, indicating that there were currently no snow leopard members in the association.
Then it could only be a rich kid.
Yan He stared at the crumbs of the meatball still clinging to the leopard’s lip, then looked at its sunken belly. A specific candidate immediately floated to the surface of his mind.
Yan He took a step toward the snow leopard. Startled, Ling Ye’s paw unconsciously tightened, and the fat orange cat pinned beneath it let out a chaotic series of meows.
Ling Ye’s head was buzzing. It’s over. It’s all over. He was a noble young master, for crying out loud, yet here he was, discovered snatching leftovers from stray cats and dogs. His reputation was thoroughly ruined.
And what was this Yan He coming over for? To mock his peculiar tastes? To judge him for having pica?
Though, thinking about it, Ling Ye wondered if there really was something wrong with his taste buds. Maybe he actually did have pica, considering how enthusiastically he was devouring these stray animal leftovers.
Perhaps food just tasted better when you snatched it from someone else’s bowl.
Bai Yuzhou frowned and immediately stepped forward, grabbing Yan He’s wrist. “Don’t get close.”
Wolves and snow leopards were natural enemies. A pack of wolves might hunt a solitary leopard, and in a one-on-one fight, a wolf wouldn’t necessarily have the advantage.
Who knew if this was a student who had lost their mind and gone feral?
Ever since Yan He learned that many of the fierce beasts were actually students—and that almost all of them retained their humanity—he wasn’t that afraid anymore.
Could a fluffy snow leopard look more terrifying than Shen Xianqing’s poisonous snake form? After all, he was the man who had carried a thirty-pound venomous snake on his back!
Yan He walked a few steps closer. Embarrassed and nervous, Ling Ye spat out his tail, arched his back, and bared his teeth at Yan He.
Behind him, Bai Yuzhou’s muscles instantly tensed, ready to enter combat mode.
Yan He took the last complete meatball out of the plastic bag and stuffed it right into the snow leopard’s mouth. “If you’re hungry, eat.”
The baring of teeth paused.
Ling Ye held the meatball in his mouth, his large, round eyes staring blankly at Yan He.
Huh?
He had just growled at him, yet the guy still gave him food?
And it wasn’t leftovers—it was a whole, intact meatball!
Reputation? Hahahaha, to hell with reputation! What reputation did he have left anyway?
Whether due to shame or surprise, the snow leopard’s paw unconsciously pressed down harder, causing the fat orange cat underneath to scream even more miserably.
The meatball in the snow leopard’s mouth crumbled under his sharp teeth, the savory aroma spreading across his tongue.
Yan He asked, “So, can you let go of Big Orange?”
Ling Ye, still holding the large meatball in his mouth, reluctantly moved his paw. The fat orange cat had long since gone limp, seeing stars, completely forgetting to run away.
Yan He thought the chubby cat had been scared silly, so he hurried over to pick it up.
The snow leopard was definitely a student, but this fat orange cat was likely a pitiful stray.
Yan He stared at its pudgy body and silently deleted the word “pitiful” from his mind.
Yan He asked Bai Yuzhou, “Is he crushed? Should we send him to the veterinary department at the school hospital?”
Bai Yuzhou stared coldly at the orange cat. “I don’t think so. Animals aren’t that fragile.”
In Yan He’s arms, the fat orange cat gradually recovered. In beast form, hearing and smell were amplified several times over. The cat just stared dazedly at Yan He.
This… this… what kind of living saint is this guy?!
What came out of its mouth, however, was: “Meow—meow—meow—meow~”
The fat orange cat felt like it had encountered natural catnip. It meowed excitedly, constantly rubbing its head against Yan He. Its human rationality was even autonomously returning.
Advantage! This was an advantage!
Before, he had always felt disappointed that despite being rich, his beast form was just an ordinary orange cat. But now, it seemed like a massive advantage!
A pale hand reached out, pinching the fat orange cat by the scruff of its neck. Bai Yuzhou ruthlessly deposited the cat back onto the grass.
Yan He was still marveling at how good the academy’s policy toward stray animals was—the little stray wasn’t wary of humans at all. When he looked up again, the snow leopard had already quietly disappeared with the big meatball.
The fat orange cat felt a surge of strength filling its body, a vague impulse to revert to human form. It meowed chaotically, a bit anxious.
Revert to human form now? Are you kidding? If he finds out I’m a person, how am I supposed to come here and mooch food and drinks later?
The fat orange cat could only dive into the bushes, quickly disappearing from sight as well.
As Bai Yuzhou cleaned up the mess, he couldn’t help but ask Yan He, “Yan He, haven’t you ever suspected that the orange cat was a transformed student?”
Yan He thought for a moment. “I have, but he got pretty excited when I held him. Although there are a lot of gay guys in the academy, they aren’t blind enough to like me.”
He wasn’t from a wealthy family, and his beast form wasn’t a fierce predator. He had nothing. Who would be blind enough to like a straight guy like him?
Bai Yuzhou didn’t say anything. After a long silence, he stared at the back of Yan He’s head and suddenly spoke. “Yan He.”
Yan He looked surprised. “?”
“Can… can you let me see your beast form?”
The strange emotions surging inside Bai Yuzhou were like a volcano about to erupt. He desperately wanted to share a secret with Yan He that only the two of them knew.
At Bestia, no one had seen Yan He’s husky form yet.
He really wanted to be the first, or perhaps the only one.
Yan He gave a dry, awkward laugh. “Uh, the moon is nice tonight. Young Master He called me for work, so I’m heading out first.”
Yan He ran away.
Are you kidding? Where am I supposed to get a beast form? If word got out that he was just an ordinary human, he might get expelled!
If this were back when he first enrolled, Yan He would have thought getting expelled was great. But now… if he were expelled, he would never see them again.
A single school gate separated two different worlds.
Others might have the possibility of graduating, but He Ting—a tiger that had bitten someone to death—was practically sentenced to life imprisonment within the school. If Yan He were expelled, he would truly never see He Ting again.
Thinking of this, Yan He’s heart tightened involuntarily, and he subconsciously quickened his pace.
Bai Yuzhou knew Yan He was going to find the F4. For the first time, he couldn’t resist secretly following him.
Following him felt like trespassing into a celestial palace. Inside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the warm yellow lights and the luxurious European-style decor seemed so incompatible with Bai Yuzhou.
He hid quietly in the dark grass, his wolf eyes silently staring inside.
Yan He had no idea he was being followed. He walked briskly into the lounge area.
seeing the claws on the person in front of him, Yan He was startled.
“Holy crap, He Shao, has your condition gotten worse?”
Ears, tail… this time even the tiger paws had transformed. It looked a bit like he was cosplaying.
He Ting’s self-control was too strong. It had taken him a long time to force himself to manifest the tiger paws. Wanting to transform as easily as Yun Xiao seemed to be a difficult task for him.
Unless he went into the Discipline Room again…
Yan He was already grabbing his paw pads, kneading them back and forth. These pads looked like giant mangosteens, interspersed with tiger fur. So fun to play with.
Getting carried away, Yan He blurted out, “He Shao, next time can you transform the lower part too so I can touch it?”
The air suddenly went quiet.
Yan He also felt awkward. Then he heard He Ting ask, “Touch where?”
Yan He stammered, “The butt, where else?”
Don’t they say you can’t touch a tiger’s butt?
Although touching the butt also seemed a bit weird…
Stared at by He Ting’s sharp eyes, Yan He felt goosebumps. He quickly grabbed the large pet brush from the side, pulled the tiger paw over, and started brushing.
“Yan He.”
Yan He continued to stammer, “He… He Shao.”
The tiger paw, which had been brushed until it was incredibly smooth, suddenly lifted. The very paw that could instantly take a human life now gently touched Yan He’s smooth cheek.
“You can call me by my name.”
Yan He was a bit confused. “Why?”
He had always been very clear about his position. He was a lackey for Yun Xiao, and by extension, the F4. What lackey calls the boss by their first name? It was improper!
He Ting gazed deeply at him. “Because I want you to.”
Yan He’s head buzzed. He didn’t know what that meant. He Ting’s sharp claws were separated only by Yan He’s skin; he could feel the pulsing blood vessels beneath.
Hearing no response, He Ting said helplessly, “Call me by my name, and I’ll add money.”
That should work, right?
Yan He felt weird. It really did seem a bit weird. And his answer was also quite weird:
“He Ting, I don’t want extra money.”
As soon as he said it, Yan He regretted it slightly. He, a money-grubber, actually turned down money? But having said it, it was hard to take back. Besides, just opening his mouth to say a name wasn’t a big deal.
He Ting stared at Yan He for a while, then suddenly laughed a few times, completely surrendering his tiger paw to Yan He.
Separated only by a floor-to-ceiling window, the figure of Bai Yuzhou was gone, replaced by a white wolf.
The eerie green wolf eyes stared at every movement inside, watching as Yan He brushed a spot, and the tiger lowered his head to lick his own fur in that spot.
Why… why did he always stand at the lowest end of the academy’s food chain?
“Young Master, you’ve been staring at this meatball for a long time. If you leave it any longer, it will spoil,” the bodyguard beside him reminded him, swallowing his saliva.
Ling Ye hadn’t eaten the meatball. Instead, he had brought it back and placed it in front of him like a tribute, staring at it.
It was truly strange. Why was the stuff made by that specially-enrolled student named Yan He so fragrant?
Ling Ye couldn’t figure it out.
Silently, Ling Ye picked up the meatball and ate it, bite by bite.
Because he had already been discovered by Yan He and Bai Yuzhou, Ling Ye hadn’t dared to go snatch leftovers for several days. He could only hide on the second floor of Cafeteria No. 10, facing a table of gourmet food without moving a muscle, lying by the window and staring gloomily.
After Yan He and the others left, he would bare his teeth at the stray cats and dogs and pick up a few leftovers to eat.
The bodyguards were numb, too. They truly couldn’t understand Ling Ye’s bizarre operations.
They had even obtained the meatball recipe from Yan He’s friend, the specially-enrolled student Xiao Tu, but making it themselves was useless.
“Young Master, that specially-enrolled student Yan He is quite close with the academy’s F4. I heard he’s Young Master Yun’s little lackey.”
Ling Ye naturally knew the F4. After all, Shen Xianqing, one of the F4, was the exchange student who had swapped with him.
Ling Ye rubbed his hungry belly and stood up coldly. “Let’s go find the F4.”
At this moment, in the F4’s common lounge area, the hundred-inch screen in the public zone was connecting a video call with He Ting, Yun Xiao, and Xu Xingchuan.
On the hundred-inch screen was Shen Xianqing’s handsome face, looking half-dead.
“I’ve really had enough of the ‘white people food’ in this damn place. It’s disgusting. I had to hire several domestic chefs just to make it barely edible.”
“I’m seriously impressed by this ghostly place abroad. Is it overly relaxed? I saw people ice skating on the main road!”
“Have you guys forgotten me? Why do you never share things happening in the academy with me?!”
“…”
Shen Xianqing listed his grievances about the foreign academy, sternly sizing up the group of people opposite him.
He Ting, Yun Xiao, and Xu Xingchuan sat on the sofa. Yan He sat on the armrest of the sofa, looking quite well-behaved.
That damned Pan Ze had completely defected and wouldn’t follow him anymore. Bai Yuzhou took the benefits but did nothing. With no other options, he had found a specially-enrolled student to disguise as a transformed stray fox, hiding among the stray animals to mooch food and eavesdrop on news.
But whether that news was accurate was another matter.
At this moment, Shen Xianqing felt that while Pan Ze was ugly, he was indeed useful. If he had known earlier, he should have paid him more.
Yun Xiao was incredibly smug. “I told you abroad wasn’t that great. Who told you to constantly think about drilling your way out to find freedom?”
Too much freedom now, huh?
Xu Xingchuan held his teacup, smiling with narrowed eyes. “If Old Shen doesn’t come back soon, maybe someone will fill his spot one day?”
Shen Xianqing sneered disdainfully. Who in the entire Bestia Academy could fill his spot?
Even a novel giving someone a ‘golden finger’ wouldn’t dare write about someone taking his position as the Young Master of the Shen family.
“Young Masters, that Young Master Ling is visiting,” the lounge staff reported.
Ling Ye was, after all, the eldest young master of a European financial conglomerate. Their families had many international business dealings with the Ling family, so they couldn’t treat him casually. Thus, the few of them had to go to the reception area to meet him.
Before long, a tall, slender figure walked in. Yan He recognized this person as the guy with pica. Back then, he didn’t have a nameplate, but now a black gold nameplate hung on his chest.
Ling Ye saw Yan He was there too, and a slight smile spilled from his lips. As expected, he had come to the right place.
He Ting asked first, “What brings Young Master Ling here?”
Ling Ye smiled faintly and said, “I became an exchange student with Shen Xianqing, one of you, so I have an idea.”
On the other end of the line, Shen Xianqing, who hadn’t hung up yet, felt a small alarm bell ring.
Ling Ye: “I’m not here to break you up; I’m here to join you.”
Shen Xianqing: “????”
You son of a bitch!
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