CH 26

The black cat looked up at He Yanlu, whose delicate chin was neither smooth like hands rubbing against each other nor sharp like a carved blade. If Ye Yixing was a black diamond, then He Yanlu was white jade, resilient and gentle.

This man’s appearance seemed so perfect, yet he concealed his true nature flawlessly.

He had so many vague flaws and little caprices. Sometimes he was as fragile as a child, while other times he was as strong as a mountain.

Once cold as ice, he was now warm as water.

His beautiful fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard, his eyes filled with delight.

Occasionally, he would reach out and stroke the black cat’s fur, gently rubbing its neck with his fingertips, implying his reliance on the black cat through this gesture.

He Yanlu admired himself, cared about himself, and even the cat in his hands belonged to him.

Ye Yixing enjoyed this unprecedented happiness and beauty, never before feeling so grateful for fate’s clever arrangements—

If I hadn’t come to your side, perhaps you would have had another son, and you might have given him a silly name like yours, Xiaohong or Xiaolv. You would have said to him, “Dad once had someone he admired,” passing me by with just those words.

Fortunately, I turned into a cat, and fortunately, it’s me, Ye Yixing, in your arms.

“Dad, is Luomu Zhiqu important to you?” The little black cat wagged its tail and pondered for a moment before asking.

“Well…” He Yanlu hugged it and began confiding his inner secrets once again. “Before I started serializing novels online, I wrote many practice pieces…”

Ye Yixing remembered the first time he secretly opened He Yanlu’s computer and saw a folder named “Uncontrollable Child” inside, filled with unfinished drafts of He Yanlu’s stories.

“I went to the library to read various books. If I found them enjoyable, I would buy them.” He Yanlu looked at the row of bookshelves next to his writing desk, the half-wall of books that initially shocked Ye Yixing. He continued, “Those are the books I’ve collected for six years, from the beginning of my writing until now…”

“Huh?” Ye Yixing was surprised. “Did you start reading books only after reading Luomu’s short stories?”

He Yanlu nodded. “Yes, before that, I only had a New Chinese Dictionary, Idiom Dictionary, and Chinese language textbooks.”

“…”

“At first, I couldn’t write the same artistic conception as Luomu’s stories. That’s when I realized that I hadn’t read enough books.”

Ye Yixing understood. If someone wants to write a monumental work, they may need encyclopedic knowledge. But if it’s just to write some engaging short stories, a bit of talent is sufficient.

Although Ye Yixing believed that writing relied on talent, it also couldn’t be denied that a solid foundation in language was necessary.

In first grade, on Ye Yixing’s birthday, one of his mother’s friends gave him a children’s edition of “The Five Thousand Years of Chinese History” as a gift. He spent the first three years of elementary school thoroughly exploring that book, flipping through the entire thick children’s book until it was tattered.

Three years later, Ye Yixing’s “IQ” was obviously much higher than the average child his age. Some people might think that Ye Yixing was naturally intellectually superior because of this, but it couldn’t be denied that he had also supplemented himself with knowledge. The human brain can absorb a lot of things, and children read books purely out of interest, not to remember specific knowledge points.

Ye Yixing’s photographic memory wasn’t naturally exceptional. What a person has seen is, to a certain extent, permanently imprinted in their mind. There’s no such thing as good or bad memory—it’s simply the ability to extract information from the brain that differs.

At this moment, you may feel that it doesn’t matter if you recall memories. Under certain conditions, those things you have seen will naturally come out of your mind. It’s like a flash of inspiration under pressure during exams or the movie-like flashbacks before a person dies.

What’s in your mind will always belong to you.

The ability to extract information depends on the knowledge content you have in your brain. Memory relies on connections, as things are often interconnected with cause and effect. So rote memorization will never be as effective as understanding and memorizing.

He Yanlu pointed to his head. “There’s something in here that’s necessary to write well; otherwise, I’m just imitating him.”

“But you’re already writing very well,” the black cat blinked its eyes.

He Yanlu smiled and asked, “Have you read the stories Dad wrote?”

The black cat tilted its head and said, “I read a bit when you were in class.” It lied again—it had been reading Zhige Yan’s novels since high school.

“Hehe…” He Yanlu laughed and continued, “Later, I started putting my own writings online. At first, the role of the novel website for me was simply like a display case, a place for me to put my stories. On it, each chapter could be expressed clearly… I never expected that later on, people would come to read them and give such good feedback. It felt really nice…”

“Yeah…”

But He Yanlu smiled and shook his head. “Do you know why I admire Luomu Zhiqu?”

Ye Yixing was puzzled.

“When I found out that Luomu Zhiqu started writing novels online on the fantasy website, I was so excited… It was a mixture of admiration, anticipation, and a feeling of being rivals. But after reading his stories, I realized that I could never write like him, even though I tried. He could write the kind of stories that I could never produce,” He Yanlu concluded.

“Why?” Ye Yixing asked himself. Indeed, if he tried to imitate, he could capture about 80% of Zhige Yan’s essence. But no matter what, a knock-off will always be a knock-off, and it can never surpass the original. So he chose to stick to his own writing style.

“Luomu’s stories have a grand structure. If I were to write like him, I wouldn’t be able to handle it,” He Yanlu explained.

“Oh?”

“His logical abilities are exceptional. His stories are intricately woven, leaving no room for loopholes. In other words, his novels have a grandeur,” He Yanlu said.

Ye Yixing was uplifted by the unexpected praises, and his tail almost wagged up to the sky. It was true that he had previously thought Zhige Yan’s logical abilities were lacking, as there were often small contradictions in his stories. However, an important question arose—

“But Luomu’s popularity is not as high as yours,” Ye Yixing expressed his doubts.

“His flaw is that he is too meticulous in his writing, which sacrifices the entertainment value of online novels. In simple terms, his stories aren’t as fun as mine,” He Yanlu hit the nail on the head, bursting the balloon-shaped soul floating in the air.

The black cat immediately drooped its tail and lowered its ears.

He Yanlu was right. However, he couldn’t achieve the same level of disconnected thinking as his father! Zhige Yan’s imagination and unexpected writing style were indeed highly imaginative, but it all depended on whether the person had a mind that didn’t follow conventional thinking!

“I have a question…” The black cat flicked its ears, acting like a little spy, cautiously seeking guidance. “Since Dad said that Luomu has good logical abilities, but the construction and setting of a story require strong logical skills, how does Dad write?”

“Why think so much? It wouldn’t be fun then… I let my own stories guide me forward, rather than me arranging them,” He Yanlu said while playing with the black cat’s tail.

“Huh? How should it be done?”

“I usually don’t deliberately think about the plot. Sometimes, when I read books or do other things, inspiration starts brewing in my mind. When I start writing, I just have a general idea of what I want to write and in which direction… Gradually, the story naturally unfolds, allowing me to freely unleash my imagination. How could a story just be waiting there for you to produce it all at once? I definitely can’t do that…”

The subversive creative approach was like an enlightening moment, and Ye Yixing suddenly saw through the fog and saw the clear sky!

So that’s how it is! No wonder he sometimes found his own novels tedious, with everything just laid out there. He became hesitant and afraid to add any unconventional plot twists…

If he combined He Yanlu’s approach and broke free from his fixed framework, perhaps he could write even more remarkable stories and surpass Zhige Yan in no time!

“Dad!” Ye Yixing’s excitement made his fur stand on end, and his voice almost reached a higher octave. “Dad!”

I’m Luomu! I’m the Luomu you admire!

It won’t be long before He Yanlu knows the truth!

Ye Yixing secretly touched his paw. Since experiencing the sensation of a cat’s heat cycle twice, he had guessed that as long as he was excited enough, he seemed to be able to transform back into his human form. He just didn’t know how long the transformation would last…

He kept imagining various sexy and adorable images of He Yanlu in his mind, praying to the cat deity to help him successfully transform.

…Wait a minute!

Suddenly, Ye Yixing, who was feeling a bit feverish, realized that after transforming, he would have the appearance of “Ye Yixing”! That idiot He Yanlu would never know that Ye Yixing was actually Luomu…

He immediately stopped imagining what his dad would look like without clothes and continued with his curious baby act, asking, “Dad, have you seen what your idol looks like?”

After all that He Yanlu had said, he felt thirsty and got up to go downstairs and pour some water while holding the black cat. He casually replied, “Yeah, I’ve seen him…”

What? You’ve seen me!!

“Have you… have you seen him in person?” the black cat perked up its ears.

“Mhm, I have.” He Yanlu continued effortlessly as he reached the kitchen and grabbed a cup. He pressed the button on the water dispenser while still holding the black cat with one hand.

“How… how is he…?” the black cat asked nervously, its tail twitching.

“He’s very handsome, a proud and arrogant guy, but he has a lot of friends…” He Yanlu placed the cup under the water spout and filled it, all the while holding onto the black cat.

Ah! He’s handsome? It’s him, it’s him!!

Proud and arrogant? It’s not him, it’s not him!!

Lots of friends? Well, he did have plenty of acquaintances, but the only trustworthy friend seemed to be Yang Qu…!

Look! Even when I’ve turned into a cat, no one pays attention to me except for Yang Qu!

Ugh… it’s probably better that way! Being turned into a cat isn’t something to be proud of (=_=)…

While Ye Yixing was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly heard He Yanlu say, “He’s my junior, named Ye Yixing. He’s the one Chu Wenxing mentioned last time… hehe, he even said that you’re Ye Yixing in disguise. Remember?”

…

…

Oh my god, Dad, please don’t scare me like that! I can’t handle such a big shock!

Ye Yixing was so shocked that his fur stood on end. Trembling with excitement, he blurted out, “How do you know that Luomu is Ye Yixing!?”

He Yanlu calmly picked up the cup of water, carried the black cat upstairs, and replied leisurely, “Hmm… I just know.”

What kind of answer is that!

But Ye Yixing couldn’t continue pressing for answers, otherwise, his dad would start suspecting why he reacted so strongly.

Forget about it for now. In the end, what your eyes see is better than any explanation!

While stretching out his paw and twisting his collar, Ye Yixing couldn’t help but imagine He Yanlu’s naked body…

So beautiful… and the touch would be so good…

He was getting excited, so excited…!

He Yanlu had just taken a sip of water when he heard the jingling sound of the bell. He looked down and saw the black cat hanging from his arm, both front paws grasping its own collar in a comical manner. In an instant, the water from his mouth sprayed all over the cat’s head.

A splash of cold water hit the black cat, turning it into a drenched mess. Its ears were dripping with water, and droplets trickled down its neck and paws, looking especially pitiful.

“Hahaha…” He Yanlu couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “…Xiao Hei, hahaha… What’s wrong? Is the collar uncomfortable?… I’m sorry, haha, Dad will give you a bath…”

Ye Yixing couldn’t catch his breath and almost choked!

After all the effort I put into building up that feeling, you just ruined it with a splash of water! He Yanlu, you wait for me!! As soon as I turn back into a human, I’ll overpower you and eat you! (=皿=)

He Yanlu loosened the collar on Ye Yixing and carried it downstairs.

Five minutes later, Ye Yixing was soaked in warm water, and He Yanlu gently massaged his fur. But Ye Yixing couldn’t feel any excitement anymore. At most, he had the sensation of his heart beating rapidly.

What does it mean to have a burst of energy followed by decline and eventual exhaustion? I’m exhausted! It’s gone! No matter how much I try to build up excitement tonight, I don’t have enough confidence to turn back into a human!

Ye Yixing had hoped to take a bath together with He Yanlu, to witness him in all his naked glory, and perhaps even have a nosebleed on the spot. But damn it, He Yanlu had already taken a bath after dinner!

What do they say about timing, advantage, and people? How come I didn’t get any of that?!

Ye Yixing sulked in his heart, planning for tomorrow! Tomorrow, he would cling to He Yanlu and bathe together! He would transform into a human right in front of him! And then…