Chapter 97: Sweet Cake
“An An?” Liu Shihuan was charmed by White Dumpling’s resentful eyes. The little tiger’s aggrieved look—was he asking for pets and hugs?
“Aowu!” White Dumpling finally snatched Liu Shihuan’s attention back from Little Black. He deliberately wagged his fluffy tail to “seduce” Liu Shihuan over to play with him.
Having finished feeding Little Black, Liu Shihuan came over to accompany White Dumpling. His hands had the scent of another dog, so White Dumpling used his head to nudge him to go wash his hands.
Touching White Dumpling after touching a puppy—just thinking about it felt weird. So Liu Shihuan went to wash his hands before coming back to hold White Dumpling.
Regaining Liu Shihuan’s favor, White Dumpling triumphantly made Liu Shihuan carry him for a lap around the pet area, declaring sovereignty to any potential competitors.
“Aowu!” Brother Shihuan is An An’s! White Dumpling roared in his heart. He didn’t dare say it out loud, but his face wore an expression that said “I am the best.”
“Aowu!” Papa! Passing by Lin Xia, White Dumpling called out excitedly.
“Be good, remember to drink water.” Lin Xia responded with eyes full of smiles. With Liu Shihuan as a transport vehicle, the little tiger puffed out his chest majestically like he was driving a tank. It would be even more perfect if there was a flag planted on his back.
“Aowu!” An An remembers! White Dumpling responded to Lin Xia, then commanded Liu Shihuan to go to the second floor to see Wang Ziyu’s sunflowers.
“Shihuan, you don’t have to keep holding him. He can walk by himself.” White Dumpling weighed as much as an adult Ragdoll cat; holding him for a long time would make one’s arms sore.
“It’s okay.” Liu Shihuan treated Lin Xia’s words as wind past his ears. White Dumpling was so cute; he wished he could hold him forever. Besides, he saw that Lin Xia often held White Dumpling too, doting on him just as excessively.
“Aowu!” Brother Shihuan, watch An An climb stairs! At the stairwell, White Dumpling asked Liu Shihuan to put him down; he wanted to perform stair climbing.
White Dumpling retreated a distance, then started a run-up, aggressively leaping over two steps at a time, reaching the top in one burst of energy. Only at times like this would people realize White Dumpling wasn’t a giant kitten that acted cute, but a fierce tiger.
“Aowu!” Brother Shihuan, come up quick! White Dumpling stood at the top of the stairs, calling to Liu Shihuan.
“Coming!” Liu Shihuan suppressed the urge to transform into his original form and run with White Dumpling, taking large strides up the stairs. After he got up, White Dumpling led him to the balcony to see the flowers.
“Aowu!” Sunflowers are here! White Dumpling jumped up, hooked his paws onto the door handle, turned it, and pushed the door open with his two hind legs. Seeing his smooth movements, one knew he did this often.
The pink sunflowers drooped limply because of the weather. But that touch of pink lit up one’s eyes, making one’s mood significantly brighter.
Outside, a fine rain was falling. Strands of rain wove into a curtain stretching between heaven and earth, hazily and faintly revealing pedestrians with umbrellas in the distance.
It was like watching a stage play, but the theater curtain hadn’t been pulled open, leaving everything obstructed. Yet miraculously, the eyes could see the performance on stage; the actors might be a tree, a car, a person…
In the rain, everything seemed alive and moving, appearing in others’ vision, leaving people with infinite reverie.
Liu Shihuan liked and disliked rainy days. He liked gloomy rainy days because they gave him an excuse not to go out, allowing him to nest at home to his heart’s content. But he also disliked rainy days, feeling his mood was damp, only making him more depressed.
However, today, he felt everything was just right. This rainy day was beautiful. He wasn’t a fox alone in a room overthinking. Beside him was a cute cub, sincerely sharing happiness with him.
Suddenly he felt there were still many beautiful things in life; there was no need to frame himself inside a certain circle. Trying to step out of the safety zone designated in his heart might lead to a new vista.
The stubborn depression in his heart, on a certain rainy day, was cracked open by a tiny fissure…
“Aowu…” White Dumpling leaned back on the sofa, holding his milk bottle with two paws, forcefully sucking the last few mouthfuls of milk. Hearing Lin Xia’s footsteps, White Dumpling’s ears twitched.
“Aowu!” Papa, An An finished the milk! After Lin Xia came over, White Dumpling handed the bottle to him.
“So good.” After petting the obedient White Dumpling, Lin Xia took the bottle to wash it clean. White Dumpling swished his tail, unlocked the phone on the sofa, and sent a message to Tang Yinlang.
After coming down from the second floor, Liu Shihuan suddenly wanted to go for a walk. Lin Xia asked Meng Zheng to take Liu Shihuan out for a stroll; a big guy like Meng Zheng could also act as Liu Shihuan’s bodyguard. White Dumpling didn’t like going out on rainy days, so he stayed in the shop with Lin Xia.
With Liu Shihuan gone, the bored White Dumpling remembered Tang Yinlang. Since Liu Shihuan arrived, White Dumpling hadn’t sent messages to the working Tang Yinlang because he hadn’t thought of him while with Liu Shihuan.
Aowu, An An isn’t Daddy’s good baby… White Dumpling hoped Tang Yinlang wouldn’t be angry; actually, An An still loved Daddy very much.
“Aowu!” Daddy, An An misses you! White Dumpling sent this voice message. Feeling the sincerity wasn’t enough, he sent another mwah selfie.
“Daddy misses An An too!” Tang Yinlang, who was reviewing documents, heard the notification sound and immediately put down the documents to check his phone.
Roar! Finally someone remembers him!
Opening it, he saw White Dumpling’s cute selfie. Clicking the voice message, he heard White Dumpling’s soft, sweet voice.
“Aowu!” Daddy, An An is so bored! White Dumpling rolled on the sofa, waiting for Tang Yinlang to reply.
“Shihuan isn’t there?” Liu Shihuan wasn’t keeping White Dumpling company? What use was he!
“Aowu!” Brother Shihuan and Brother Meng Zheng went out. Only An An and Papa are in the shop!
“What is Lin Xia doing?” Why go out on a rainy day? What was Liu Shihuan doing? Good thing Meng Zheng went with him. Tang Yinlang was a bit worried about Liu Shihuan, afraid he might impulsively run off somewhere. However, he knew Lin Xia wouldn’t have let Liu Shihuan go out alone.
“Aowu!” Papa is working! White Dumpling looked up at Lin Xia, who was working, and wondered if he should go help, but he couldn’t help with much.
“Aowu!” Daddy, An An is going to cheer for Papa! White Dumpling put down the phone and scampered to Lin Xia’s feet.
“Aowu!” Papa, An An wants to help you! White Dumpling wagged his tail and said excitedly.
Lin Xia thought about what White Dumpling could do. There wasn’t much, but letting him play a bit was fine. “Help me sort these items of different colors.”
“Aowu!” An An guarantees mission completion! White Dumpling was full of motivation. He used his paws to move the packaged bouncy balls in the shallow box to different places according to color.
Papa said goods for sale couldn’t be bitten with the mouth; it was best to use paws, and paws had to be clean.
“Baby, what color is the bouncy ball in your paw?” Lin Xia intended to test White Dumpling.
“Aowu?” Blue? Purple? White Dumpling stared at the ball in his paw, unable to distinguish what color this was. It was much, much darker than the sky’s blue, and lighter than the color of a passion fruit.
“Determine an answer.” Lin Xia ignored White Dumpling’s conflicted expression and asked directly.
“Aowu…” Blue… White Dumpling hesitated for a long time before giving an answer.
“Correct! This color is dark blue, a type of blue. Baby is so smart.” While revealing the answer, Lin Xia didn’t forget to praise White Dumpling.
“Aowu!” An An got it right! White Dumpling beamed a huge smile, his tail wagging.
“Next question is coming. What color is the bouncy ball to your left?” Lin Xia pointed to the dark red bouncy ball by White Dumpling’s left hand.
“Aowu!” Deep red! This time White Dumpling didn’t hesitate at all. With the previous experience, the answer blurted out.
“Correct, it is deep red, but we generally call it dark red.” Lin Xia looked at White Dumpling with a smile, very gratified. White Dumpling could infer things at such a young age; he truly was a smart little tiger.
“Aowu!” Dark red! White Dumpling repeated it; he wanted to memorize this color.
“Baby is so smart, no need to worry about falling behind when you start school.” White Dumpling was only one and a half years old. Lin Xia hoped he could live a carefree cub life, so he hadn’t arranged study tasks for him, only teaching him to recognize some characters when he had free time. But this way, compared to other children, he might be slightly behind at the starting line.
“Aowu?” Papa, when does An An go to school? Just like Brother Little Bao? White Dumpling looked at Lin Xia with sparkling big eyes, his tail swaying, expecting Lin Xia’s words.
“Wait until you turn into human form, around three years old.” Lin Xia bent down to pick White Dumpling up and petted him. “You are only one and a half now, there’s still a year and a half until three.”
“Aowu!” An An really wants to be three, then I can go to school! White Dumpling’s eyes held uncontrollable longing. Brother Little Bao told him that going to school meant learning many things and playing with many little friends. However, children with special identities like theirs had to hide their identities well and not be discovered.
“Going to school means you can’t be with me all the time. You’ll only see me and Daddy after school in the evening.” Lin Xia stated this cruel fact.
“Aowu…” An An doesn’t want to. An An wants to be with Papa and Daddy… Brother Little Bao hadn’t told him this. From birth until now, White Dumpling hadn’t left Lin Xia. Lin Xia’s words made him panic. Thinking of not seeing Lin Xia for such a long time each day, White Dumpling would rather not go to school.
“Little Bao is like this too. He goes to school in the morning and comes home after school in the evening. Every kid does this.” Lin Xia gently patted White Dumpling’s back. The whole tiger buried himself in Lin Xia’s arms, afraid he might start crying.
“Aowu…” An An doesn’t want it like this… White Dumpling wiped his nose on Lin Xia’s clothes, feeling sad.
“Actually, it’s nothing. Look, Daddy is like this too. He goes out in the morning and only comes back at night. If I went to work too, it would be the same as Daddy.” Lin Xia explained patiently. Saying these things in advance gave White Dumpling mental preparation, so he wouldn’t cry and scream about wanting to come back when the time came.
“Aowu…” An An is still small… At this moment, White Dumpling claimed he was a small tiger.
“Yes, you’re still small. Let’s not talk about this for now.” Lin Xia ended the topic. His goal had been achieved—just to let White Dumpling know this was a thing. When it was time to go to school, at least he wouldn’t resist so much.
“Aowu?” Papa, when do we eat? White Dumpling was hungry; only after replenishing energy would he have the strength to help Papa work.
“What do you want to eat? Shihuan and Meng Zheng will bring food back for us.” Before Liu Shihuan and Meng Zheng went out, they told Lin Xia not to order takeout; they would bring food back when they returned.
“Aowu!” An An wants to eat Luosifen (River Snail Rice Noodles)! Ever since going to the market fair and eating Luosifen, White Dumpling had been thinking about it constantly.
“Granting your wish.” Lin Xia carried White Dumpling to the sofa and picked up his phone to call Meng Zheng.
Meng Zheng joyfully spent a pleasant (?) “two-person world” with Liu Shihuan. The place Meng Zheng took Liu Shihuan to had fewer people to avoid him being recognized. When Lin Xia called, they were inside a cake shop.
Passing by the cake shop, Meng Zheng pulled Liu Shihuan inside and enthusiastically introduced which cakes were delicious. Liu Shihuan didn’t like desserts, and he was surprised that a man who looked so manly actually liked eating sweets. Unexpectedly, under Meng Zheng’s manly exterior lay a girly heart that loved desserts.
“This is Key Lime Cake. It has the fragrance of lemon and isn’t cloying at all.” Meng Zheng chattered on, tirelessly introducing them to Liu Shihuan.
Liu Shihuan listened but had no intention of eating, though he wanted to buy some for Lin Xia and White Dumpling.
“You look like you really like sweets,” Liu Shihuan couldn’t help saying as he watched Meng Zheng pick up a piece of cake.
“I love sweets. How about you?” While speaking, Meng Zheng picked up another piece of cake.
“…Don’t like sweet things.” Liu Shihuan told the truth.
“Eating a little occasionally is good too. Life is so bitter; how nice it is to comfort yourself with sweets.” Meng Zheng smiled open-mindedly, keeping the vicissitudes behind the smile invisible.
But Liu Shihuan understood him. Life isn’t easy; behind every glamorous appearance, no one knows what has been experienced. Meng Zheng always wore a smile, but he surely had unknown stories too.
“I want to try it.” Liu Shihuan took a piece of Key Lime Cake and selected cakes that Lin Xia and White Dumpling liked (according to Meng Zheng). After paying, the two chose a window seat in the shop where they could eat cake while watching the scenery outside.
“Is it good?” Meng Zheng looked at Liu Shihuan expectantly.
“Delicious.” Liu Shihuan nodded in satisfaction. Just as Meng Zheng introduced, it was fresh and not greasy, the sweetness just right, leaving an endless aftertaste.
As for whether the sweetness reached his heart, Liu Shihuan wasn’t sure. But his taste buds were wrapped in sweetness, and his mouth wasn’t so bitter anymore.
“Here, try this one.” Meng Zheng opened another cake; it was one he had bought specifically for Liu Shihuan.
“Okay.” Liu Shihuan didn’t refuse and forked a small piece. Sweet and sour—another flavor, but equally good.
“Good.” Liu Shihuan said with a smile. After eating the cake, he felt that eating sweets was actually quite nice…
Author’s Note: Tang Yinlang: Finally someone remembers me! Lin Xia: Guilty conscience! Goodnight~
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