Chapter 7
Gu Ze Xi was a little surprised by the result, pausing as he looked at the numbers on the display.
The high school student, overwhelmed by the enthusiastic cats, clumsily and frantically tried to soothe them, not noticing Gu Ze Xi’s slightly peculiar actions—like a grown man with a midlife crisis—holding a detection device disguised as a sports watch, pointing it at the stranger at the same table, with a serious expression.
“…” Gu Ze Xi took a deep breath, not at all embarrassed as he tucked the detection device back into his pocket and calmly buried himself in his noodles.
He slurped his noodles and silently glanced at the boy and cats, whose endless affectionate snuggling hadn’t stopped.
Gu Ze Xi wasn’t exactly terrified of the supernatural creatures on the red list, but he was infamous among them.
He was a dull, boring bachelor. Besides working day and night, he only had this little-known hobby of petting cats to relieve his indescribable pressure.
In short, he was a ruthless man who loved small animals.
What he was currently experiencing was a memory Gu Ze Xi would never forget.
He and a high school student sat at the same table, both eating instant noodles, less than half a meter apart, yet separated by a clear divide of joy and sorrow.
On one side, cats surrounded him; on the other, none came near.
Some were parched, others flooded.
Gu Ze Xi’s usually straight back slumped dejectedly; he didn’t know why he was exuding an aura of both depression and envy.
The other person was just an ordinary human; he should feel relieved.
However, the scene before him constantly reminded him of a fact—there are people in this world who are naturally loved by cats. Gu Ze Xi, who had never experienced this in his life, watched as cat after cat rubbed against the boy’s palm, meowing sweetly, begging for strokes.
Gu Ze Xi drank his noodle soup with a cold expression: Someone is stealing my life.
What a sad day off. Gu Ze Xi was both mentally and physically wounded; even the noodle soup wasn’t as delicious as usual.
A cat cleverly jumped onto the table, curiously sniffing the noodle container, tilting its head and eager to lick it.
The high school student quickly stopped it, muttering, “No, you’ll get a tummy ache if you eat it,” but the cat’s curiosity was strong, and it had a strong rebellious streak. More cats jumped onto the table. The boy only had two hands; seeing the chaos he couldn’t control, he nervously asked Gu Ze Xi for help, “Please help stop them!”
Gu Ze Xi slowly raised his head: “Okay.”
His technique was professional. He quickly grabbed two kittens by the scruff of their necks and gently put them on the ground.
Another jump, another lift. Another jump, another lift; he did it tirelessly.
Gu Ze Xi maintained the slightly impatient indifference of an adult, his movements getting faster and faster, his inner joy almost bursting.
Eventually, Gu Ze Xi went completely wild. He moved swiftly, his eyes darting everywhere, his bright, cold eyes looking at the defiant cats, thinking: More fun, a billion more times.
Five minutes later…the cats were tired.
No more cats jumped on the table; the cats crouching on the ground with their heads tilted were visibly sulking.
Cats: Never have I seen such a shameless person.
Perhaps annoyed by Gu Ze Xi, the cats reluctantly rubbed against the high school student’s trousers, meowing softly at him, then turned and left, scurrying into the greenery.
The boy, finally able to eat properly, sighed in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow and looking at Gu Ze Xi: “Thank you.”
Lost in satisfaction, Gu Ze Xi didn’t notice that the boy’s gaze lingered on his head for a moment before moving down to meet his eyes.
Gu Ze Xi had his fill; he wasn’t unhappy. He looked at the high school student with much gentler eyes.
He simply replied, “Oh, it’s nothing.”
Gu Ze Xi paused. Since they had met by chance at the convenience store, did the other party live nearby, or did they often pass by this street?
Thinking of the unprecedented experience, Gu Ze Xi couldn’t help but fantasize about a certain beautiful aspiration: Take a day off—ask the high school student if he wants to eat instant noodles together—after sitting down, the high school student attracts countless cats—Gu Ze Xi rightfully helps share the pressure of too many cats, rightfully using the excuse of helping to pet the cats.
Gu Ze Xi’s eyes were burning, his mouth dry.
He swiftly pulled out his phone, completely unaware that his actions were a bit abrupt, lacking a lead-in.
Gu Ze Xi went straight to the point: “Classmate, can I get your contact information? WeChat or phone number is fine.”
If the deputy officer were here, he would probably cover his face in shame and tell Gu Ze Xi earnestly that interpersonal relationships are a profound subject, and the path is long and arduous.
Any passerby seeing this scene would take three steps back and advise the naive high school student: Run.
The boy, who had just lifted his noodle container to drink the soup, froze: “…”
The high school student’s expression subtly changed. Through the noodle container, a pair of clear, black and white eyes appeared, polite and restrained, but without hesitation, he quickly refused: “Uh, sorry, we probably won’t see each other again.”
Gu Ze Xi, who had imagined being rejected but not being instantly rejected, was silent for a moment, his disappointment visible.
He wasn’t entirely surprised. Gu Ze Xi knew he didn’t look like someone easy to get close to. After working in this line for so long, facing danger too many times, the killing aura was difficult to hide; he didn’t look like a good person.
Gu Ze Xi wasn’t someone who liked to force others; generally, he wouldn’t ask a second time if someone clearly refused.
But perhaps the experience of the day was unforgettable, so before Gu Ze Xi stood up to leave, he unexpectedly added, “If you ever encounter any difficulties in the future, you can ask me for help.”
The high school student blinked, seeming to sense his good intentions, nodded, and smiled at him, “Thank you.”
This was Gu Ze Xi’s first encounter with Berlin.
Ordinary, yet memorable for an unusual reason.
The words he left weren’t about petting cats; he was quite serious.
Unexpectedly, less than a week later, Gu Ze Xi really saw Berlin again.
He received an alert and went to a school to search for an extremely dangerous mutated carnivorous plant—ranked in the top 100 on the red list. It looked beautiful and harmless, emitting a special scent that made people lose their minds. Once its prey entered its range, it would swell to ten times its dormant size, swallowing its prey whole. Its venom was highly corrosive, taking only three minutes to digest a 120-pound human body.
In the Bureau, there was a dark humor joke about this carnivorous plant: This carnivorous plant is a national treasure marathon athlete in the flower world.
The reason was simple. Ordinary plants are firmly rooted in the soil, obtaining the nutrients they need to survive. The roots cannot survive without the soil.
Everything related to supernatural creatures defied common sense. The mutated carnivorous plant didn’t need soil at all; the only reason it rooted itself in the ground was to disguise itself as an ordinary plant.
When encountering something it couldn’t handle, the carnivorous plant would skillfully pull its roots out of the ground, stepping on its roots, and run away quickly. Its speed was incredibly fast, worthy of a marathon world champion.
The only slightly reassuring thing was that there were only a handful of these mutated plants. This was the last escaped carnivorous plant; the others had been captured by the Bureau. Their small number meant they weren’t a major threat to human society.
This last hidden carnivorous plant was too fast. The Bureau members who had responded to the previous alert were exhausted, vomiting, and their legs trembling; they hadn’t caught it.
So, once its whereabouts were discovered again, Gu Ze Xi personally led the team to the scene.
This mission was very difficult because the existence of supernatural creatures couldn’t be exposed to ordinary people; the Bureau couldn’t openly capture it. They had to disguise themselves and avoid public attention.
The troublesome part was that the detection system captured the carnivorous plant dashing into the school, but the school was holding a campus singing competition that day.
Worst of all, the campus singing competition was held outdoors, with the entire school participating.
The crowd was bustling; none of the high school students were in their classrooms; they were all gathered on the playground. The school’s stage was quite simple, but the sound equipment was clear and loud.
Gu Ze Xi looked at the detection device on his wrist, his face grim.
The detection showed that the damned carnivorous plant was within the playground.
The carnivorous plant had some intelligence; it wasn’t a low-IQ creature that only knew how to run marathons or bite randomly. It wouldn’t run around under the students’ noses while carrying its roots; it must be hiding.
But if it disguised itself as an ordinary flower, where would it be hiding?
The Bureau had contacted the school beforehand; Gu Ze Xi entered the school as a competition judge.
Everywhere were students. He was unshaven, and his face screamed mature, reliable, and untouchable; it was impossible for him to wear a school uniform and pretend to be a high school student, and pretending to be a teacher was also unconvincing and would attract attention.
The Bureau gave him a reasonable identity—a niche folk singer, an unknown but talented original musician, and a professional judge invited to the campus singing competition.
Of course, they had reserved a place for him at the table, whether he went or not didn’t matter, just in case someone asked.
Gu Ze Xi wasn’t interested in pretending to be a folk singer, until the precise detection anomaly range narrowed, leaving only one possibility.
Gu Ze Xi’s face darkened; his head ached.
The mutated carnivorous plant was on the stage!
The others in the Bureau couldn’t handle such a difficult creature; Gu Ze Xi had to do it personally to ensure no casualties.
So he sat down in front of the stage.
On either side sat the real judges; Gu Ze Xi sent out a “refuse to communicate” signal and looked at the stage.
At a glance, Gu Ze Xi unexpectedly pursed his lips: “…”
It was such a coincidence—the high school student he had eaten instant noodles with not long ago.
He had noticed the same uniform, but with so many people in the school, how could he just happen to be on stage preparing to sing…and where was the flower?
The person on stage introduced himself openly, smiling brightly and refreshingly: “Hello everyone, I’m Berlin.”
Gu Ze Xi frowned, carefully staring at him, finally realizing something was wrong.
A petal, very subtly, peeked out from Berlin’s school uniform pocket, sneaking out and swaying, as if checking for danger.
Berlin, oblivious, introduced his song, his eyes sparkling: “This is my first time participating in a singing competition. I want to sing a folk song I love today—”
Seeing the special pattern on the petal, Gu Ze Xi’s pupils constricted, and he couldn’t help but mutter a curse: “…Damn it!”
The carnivorous plant was on Berlin, and it could harm someone at any time.
He said it in a hurry and anxiety, and it was very quiet.
However, the microphone on the judges’ table had been conveniently turned on—
So this angry curse was instantly clearly transmitted throughout the campus through the speakers.
Berlin on stage suddenly stopped mid-sentence and looked down at the audience.
Gu Ze Xi expressionlessly: “…”
He slowly took a deep breath.
He had thought that if he saw Berlin again, it would prove that they were destined to meet, and he could try adding his contact information again.
Now it seems…he’ll never be able to add Berlin’s WeChat in his life.
Author’s Note:
Gu Ze Xi: Fate never shows me mercy 🙂
Thank you to the little angels who threw me king bombs or irrigated nutrient solution between 2022-11-11 12:16:34 and 2022-11-12 22:28:31!
Thank you to the little angel who threw a landmine: Perch doesn’t eat breakfast 1;
Thank you to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Yuanyuan 10 bottles; Meng Qingran 2 bottles; Keyi, Shengwang, Qiji Ccx confirmed, don’t hide it, garbage truck 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!