Chapter 47: A Late Night Visitor
Lin Xia tossed and turned all night. When he got up the next morning, he was startled by his own reflection in the mirror.
His eyes were bloodshot, his face haggard from a sleepless night, and he had dark circles under his eyes so deep he looked like a panda… Lin Xia quickly tidied himself up before the white dumpling woke up, trying his best to look a little less frightening.
“Awoo…”
When the white dumpling woke up and saw Lin Xia wasn’t in bed, he climbed down and left the room to find him. After scrambling down the stairs, the white dumpling went straight to the kitchen. With his keen nose, he had already caught the scent of baozi and dumplings, so he knew Lin Xia had to be making breakfast.
“Awoo!” Good morning, Papa! Good morning, Brother Little Hamster! The white dumpling greeted them happily when he saw them.
“Good morning, Baby/An An!” The two smiled and responded to the little cub.
The baozi weren’t fully steamed yet, so Lin Xia picked up the white dumpling to brush his teeth. It was another ten minutes before they could finally sit down to eat.
“Awoo?” Papa, did Uncle Tang send a message? The white dumpling asked between bites of his bun.
“Not yet.” Lin Xia’s hand paused as he fed the white dumpling.
“Awoo…” The bun suddenly didn’t taste as good anymore. The white dumpling’s appetite noticeably vanished.
“Don’t worry, Uncle Tang will come back on time. Baby still has two candies left, right? When you finish the last candy, Uncle Tang will be back,” Lin Xia comforted him.
However, even after the white dumpling finished the very last candy, there was still no news from Tang Yinlang. This was the day Tang Yinlang was supposed to return to Jiangcheng, yet there was radio silence. His phone remained off.
Lin Xia called every hour. With every mechanical “Hello! The number you have dialed is powered off” that looped endlessly, Lin Xia’s heart sank like a stone into the bottom of the sea.
In these few days of losing contact with Tang Yinlang, Lin Xia felt the fragility of their relationship for the first time. He didn’t know anyone in Tang Yinlang’s circle, so he couldn’t ask around. Although Tang Yinlang’s maternal grandparents lived in Jiangcheng, Lin Xia didn’t even know who they were.
Since they hadn’t been in a committed relationship for long, it was understandable that they hadn’t merged their social circles yet. But Lin Xia regretted it now; in a moment like this, he had absolutely no way to reach Tang Yinlang.
If Tang Yinlang didn’t come back today, Lin Xia decided he would ask Jing Ran for help tomorrow…
Midnight…
Unable to sleep, Lin Xia alternated between checking on the sleeping white dumpling and opening his WeChat chat logs with Tang Yinlang, his heart heavy.
Ding-dong!
The wireless receiver in the room chimed, signaling that someone had pressed the wireless doorbell at the villa’s front gate.
Lin Xia was baffled. Who would ring the doorbell in the middle of the night? He decided to ignore it at first and see what happened.
Two minutes later, the bell rang again. Someone was definitely looking for him. Lin Xia threw on a jacket and crept downstairs lightly. When he reached the door, he didn’t open it immediately. Instead, he peeked through the cat-eye peephole.
Huh? He didn’t see anyone. Was it a prank? Lin Xia was puzzled when he looked out and saw nothing.
Ding-ling!
Just as Lin Xia was about to walk away, the bell rang again. Lin Xia realized the visitor might not be tall enough to be seen at eye level, so he looked down.
What he saw nearly scared the life out of him.
That wasn’t a person at all. It was clearly a large… animal!
Because of the angle, he couldn’t quite make out what kind of animal it was.
Lin Xia didn’t dare open the door. A mysterious animal showing up at his door in the middle of the night? He was lucky he hadn’t fainted from fright already.
“Ao!” The animal outside seemed to sense Lin Xia’s presence and let out a soft cry.
“Boss, what are you doing here?!” A strange man’s surprised voice rang out, making the situation even weirder for Lin Xia.
“Ao!” The animal seemed to be answering the man.
“Okay, okay, I understand…” The man seemed to understand the animal and sounded like he was compromising.
“Hello! Is this Mr. Lin Xia? I am Mr. Tang’s assistant, You Hai. I have something to discuss with you.” You Hai realized via the big animal that Lin Xia was standing right behind the door.
“What is going on?” As soon as it involved Tang Yinlang, who had been missing for days, Lin Xia got a headache.
“It’s a complicated situation, hard to explain in a few words. Let us in, and we can talk slowly. Oh right, here are my business card and Mr. Tang’s. Please take a look!” You Hai knew Lin Xia would be guarded; after all, no one opens their door to strangers in the middle of the night without suspicion.
Lin Xia picked up the two business cards slid through the gap at the bottom of the door. After inspecting them carefully and finding nothing amiss, he finally dared to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Lin Xia saw a man who looked to be about Tang Yinlang’s age. He was dressed in a suit and leather shoes—the typical image of a corporate elite. However, his face was etched with exhaustion; clearly, he hadn’t had an easy time lately.
Beside him sat a large white tiger.
It looked like a magnified version of the white dumpling. Aside from the size difference, they were almost identical. Even the eye color was the same—a beautiful, clear sapphire blue, like a gem washed by heavy rain.
At this moment, the big white tiger was sitting on the ground, wagging his tail with immense elegance. He looked at Lin Xia with burning eyes, as if he had just found a priceless treasure.
Lin Xia noticed that the big white tiger had a bandage wrapped around his head. It looked a little comical.
“Tang Yinlang?”
The big white tiger felt incredibly familiar to Lin Xia. Given the circumstances, it wasn’t hard to guess that the tiger in front of him was Tang Yinlang.
“Ao!” The big white tiger let out a sound, seemingly confirming Lin Xia’s guess.
“What did he say?” Lin Xia could understand the white dumpling, but he couldn’t understand the big white tiger.
“The boss means to say that he is indeed himself,” You Hai acted as the translator.
“What happened?” Lin Xia didn’t understand. How did Tang Yinlang suddenly end up in his beast form, with a bandaged head, acting so strangely?
The big white tiger was indeed acting weird. Lin Xia felt a sense of unfamiliarity and restraint coming from him, even though they had been so intimate before.
“Come inside and talk.” Lin Xia realized the doorway wasn’t a good place for a conversation, so he invited the man and the tiger in to explain properly.
Receiving Lin Xia’s invitation, the big white tiger stood up happily. With steps that were domineering yet elegant, he followed unhurriedly behind Lin Xia.
Lin Xia poured three glasses of water, realizing only after he finished that the tiger couldn’t drink from a glass. But he couldn’t worry about that now; he needed an explanation.
Lin Xia and You Hai sat at opposite ends of the sofa, while the big white tiger sat at Lin Xia’s feet, his posture upright and proper, looking for all the world like a well-behaved student listening to a lecture.
“Mr. Lin, here is what happened…” You Hai began speaking unhurriedly, laying out the sequence of events clearly.
After returning to Jingdu, Tang Yinlang had worked desperately to speed things up so he could reunite with Lin Xia and the others sooner. Through his efforts, he finished all his business in Jingdu before leaving for the US, leaving only the handover issues in the US to deal with. Consequently, after finishing his work in the US, Tang Yinlang was able to return to the country three days early. He hadn’t told Lin Xia because he wanted to surprise him.
It was already night when they arrived in Jiangcheng. On the way back, the driver swerved to avoid a car that suddenly shot out of nowhere and crashed into the mountainside. In the critical moment, Tang Yinlang transformed to protect them. You Hai and the driver were mostly unharmed, but Tang Yinlang suffered a severe head injury.
Tang Yinlang fell into a coma while still in his beast form. The driver was from his grandmother’s family, so there was no worry about him seeing Tang Yinlang’s beast form. You Hai immediately called a specialized hospital, then called Tang Yinlang’s grandparents. After the ambulance arrived, You Hai went to the hospital with Tang Yinlang, while the driver stayed behind to handle the aftermath.
As a member of a different race, Tang Yinlang had a robust constitution (thick skin and flesh). After emergency treatment by top-notch doctors, his life was not in danger. However, because he had hit his head, the concussion caused amnesia…
“We intended to tell you, but we were incredibly busy these past few days, and we didn’t know how to tell you, so…” You Hai trailed off awkwardly. Tang Yinlang hadn’t told them how far his relationship with Lin Xia had progressed, nor had he officially introduced Lin Xia to them. As a result, neither You Hai nor Tang Yinlang’s grandparents knew in what capacity they should inform Lin Xia. And with Tang Yinlang having amnesia, whatever they did felt inappropriate.
“He has amnesia?!” Lin Xia felt like he was in a soap opera. How could he just suddenly lose his memory? Was life really this melodramatic?
“Yes. The boss doesn’t remember anyone, and he has forgotten how to shift forms. However, the doctor says it’s temporary amnesia, and he will recover after a while.” You Hai pushed up his glasses and spoke seriously.
“Then how did he remember to come back here?” Lin Xia looked at the well-behaved tiger at his feet, who was staring fixedly at him.
“To be honest, I was surprised by that too. I came over to the boss’s place to grab some things, and I was shocked to see him here when I was leaving.” Tang Yinlang should have been sleeping in his hospital ward; how did he appear here? And how did he get here without being discovered? You Hai was both confused and worried.
Hearing this, the big white tiger narrowed his eyes, hiding his secrets. He certainly wasn’t going to tell You Hai that he had stowed away in the trunk.
When the big white tiger woke up, his memory was a blank slate, though he still understood basic common sense. More importantly, he had an intense premonition that he needed to find his treasure—even if he couldn’t remember what that hauntingly important treasure was.
But his injuries hadn’t healed, and when he tried to leave, he was stopped. So, the big white tiger decided to sneak out. Tonight, he heard the man claiming to be his assistant say he was going to the Green Ivy District. The name sounded familiar. So, he slipped through a special passage to the garage, tracked down You Hai’s car by scent, and squeezed into the trunk.
You Hai had no idea his boss had performed a “prison break” and simply drove off. After arriving at the villa, the big white tiger waited for You Hai to go inside to get things, then slipped out.
Intuition told him the person he was looking for was very, very close. The feeling was incredibly familiar; his most important thing was right here. Following his gut, the big white tiger arrived at Lin Xia’s door and politely rang the bell, waiting for someone to open it. He waited a long time, but no one opened the door, and eventually, You Hai caught him. Fortunately, You Hai listened to him and convinced the person behind the door to lower their guard.
The moment he saw Lin Xia, the big white tiger was certain: Lin Xia was the treasure he had been searching for. His anxious agitation calmed instantly upon seeing him, a miraculous feeling akin to a traveler dying of thirst in the desert finally finding rain.
…
Lin Xia looked at the big white tiger with mixed emotions. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry, but mostly he felt helpless. He was touched that the tiger, despite the amnesia, remembered to come find him. But he was also angry that Tang Yinlang hadn’t taken better care of himself, and helpless because there was nothing he could do about the accident.
Lin Xia didn’t know what to say. No one knew when Tang Yinlang would recover. How was he supposed to treat him while he was recovering from his injuries? Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
“So, what do we do now?” Lin Xia asked. Logically speaking, given the tiger’s condition, it would be best for You Hai or the family to take responsibility. But the tiger had run all the way here despite not remembering him. Lin Xia really couldn’t figure out what the tiger was thinking.
“…” You Hai didn’t know what to do either. After thinking for a moment, he decided to call Tang Yinlang’s grandparents.
“Ao!” Seeing You Hai take out his phone, the big white tiger immediately stopped him and “said” something to him.
“The boss says he wants to live here with you…” You Hai relayed the message, looking troubled.
“…” Lin Xia felt troubled too. It was one thing for Tang Yinlang to turn into a beast, but he had amnesia too. For Lin Xia, the identity of “lover” had shifted; now it felt like he had suddenly acquired a large pet. This change was awkward. How was he supposed to face this…
But seeing the pitiful look on the big white tiger’s face, Lin Xia’s heart softened.
Author’s Note:
I’m prepared for people to call this melodramatic/dog-blood… but I think this trope is so cute! The Gong loses his memory but still finds the Shou by intuition alone. Next up is the sweet life of the whole family together~
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