CH 4

CHAPTER 4—Two Hands Touch

This was the first time Xie Yu had seen a real-life interstellar creature since beginning his life here.

Additionally, the creature looked like an animal he was familiar with, so he took a few more glances.

The more he looked at it, the more he felt that this was not the kind of cat he knew of.

He was puzzled, and finally matched it with the knowledge from the original body’s memory.

The Giant Cat clan was one of the most powerful races in the Interstellar world.

They have top-notch senses and balanced comprehensive perception, among which the senses of smell and hearing are the sharpest.

Compared with other races, they are considered one of the best in the universe.

The Giant Cat clansman in the young man’s arms could only be regarded as a cub in terms of size.

Xie Yu’s thoughts were spinning in that short time, and he was about to quickly look away, but he didn’t expect the animal in the tall, young man’s arms to turn its head suddenly, and happen to catch his gaze.

The Giant Cat cub opened its swollen eyes, stared at the strange human with only half of its face covered, stretched out its bright red tongue and licked its nose slowly.

With that appearance, Xie Yu didn’t know if they were simply looking at him or preparing to attack.

No matter how much Xie Yu found it fun before, he didn’t dare to stare at it anymore, and quickly leaned back while lowering his head.

After looking away, he immediately picked up the light brain in his hands and listened to the movement from next door.

There was a sound–it should be the young man next door sitting down.

Xie Yu breathed a sigh of relief silently, and as soon as he straightened up, he met a furry face at close range.

Xie Yu was startled, and even let out a breath secretly whilst being frightened.

The cub of the Giant Cat clan had a bigger face than him.

Seeing that Xie Yu was motionless, the cub became more and more puzzled, stretched out a paw and pulled on the partition connecting the two seats, and slowly stretched forward.

Xie Yu lost all confidence now.

Although this animal looks like a cute creature similar to its Earth counterpart, it was actually a large creature with excellent genetics from the Interstellar era.

Knowing that it was still a cub, he didn’t dare to do anything wrong.

Just when he was about to speak up to remind the parent next door, he saw a big palm with slender and well-defined knuckles coming around from the next door, wrapping around the cub’s chin and holding it back.

“Sorry.” The owner of the seat next door stopped his naughty kid in time, and gave a simple and straightforward apology.

Xie Yu was not surprised by the behavior of the passenger next door, but was amazed by that person’s voice.

The tone was deep, but unexpectedly clean, and the words were clear and restrained, full of the magnetic allure of an adult man.

After a brief respite, Xie Yu withdrew his attention and picked up his light brain again.

He sat separately from his agent and assistants, unable to meet them face-to-face, and could only communicate with them online.

His WeChat had been prompting new updates, so he clicked on it to see most of it was Zhou Cheng explaining work details.

Zhou Cheng treated Xie Yu, Anna, and Fei Chen equally, and did not favor Xie Yu just because he was a high-value artist.

With the other members of the team, Zhou Cheng aimed to complete the set schedule, with a reasonable division of labor and clear guidance.

His efficient and concise style made Xie Yu more and more agreeable with the original’s agent.

He really didn’t need special care, but he greatly appreciated this kind of partner who was capable in their work and takes good care of the overall situation.

Quickly posting an emoji in the group with the word “received”, Xie Yu just was about to exit the group chat interface, but looking at the cute emoji he found casually, he remembered that Zhou Cheng was also a member of the Giant Cat clan.

So, he edited his message and sent it out.

Beiming Youyu: I’ll read the information on the Golden Toilet, and I’ll write an award acceptance speech. By the way, Brother Cheng, I just saw someone who seems to be from the Giant Cat clan. If it is about an adult’s arm length, is it considered a child?

Zhou Cheng: OK.

Zhou Cheng: It’s a kid, and they need a parent to take care of them. What, did they bother you? [doubt]

Anna Nana: Ayu, when did you change your WeChat name? By the way, your cakes and biscuits are super delicious! I uploaded a picture on Weibo, and even those black fans were envious. [Laughing]

Beiming Youyu: No worries, it just looks cute.

Beiming Youyu: Glad I can let you eat something delicious. There is still a lot of time left on the voyage, everyone should take a rest too.

Compared to the star of the Giant Cat clan which was closer to the Capital Star, and takes only about an hour to get to, the Tourist Star where the film festival was held was very remote, and required seven or eight hours more on their voyage.

Xie Yu replied in the group chat from time to time, and checked the common knowledge of the Interstellar world and the status quo of the entertainment industry over and over again, while trying to make himself more calm before the Golden Toilet Awards.

During this period of time, he also took out the biscuits he made and gnawed on them slowly as snacks.

The two-fingers-wide biscuits were crispy in the mouth, and the rich milky fragrance whetted his appetite.

Made of Interstellar ingredients, it miraculously eliminated the inevitable heavy feeling due to the different formulation, so that one wouldn’t get tired of eating it continuously.

While eating, Xie Yu lowered his head to look for information on the Golden Toilet, and he didn’t notice anything unusual about the seat next door.

Nonetheless, there was always a naughty paw trying to cross the partition, but every time it stretched out, it was held back by a big hand and returned to its original position.

With a concentrated focus, Xie Yu picked out a collection of films selected for the Golden Toilet Award over the years, and it took hours to watch them.

Combined with the judge’s sharp comments, the more he watched, the more he wanted to laugh.

In the end, he had to admit that most of the films nominated by the Golden Toilet were indeed the “good ones” among the bad ones.

However, as his assistant Fei Chen said, no one has received the Golden Toilet Award directly on stage over the years.

People in the circle who were picked by the Golden Toilet boycotted the awards by refusing to accept the award.

In the final analysis, they didn’t want to admit that they acted in a bad movie, and they didn’t want to be criticized in public and lose face.

At the awards ceremony, whether it was the male or female actors, directors, screenwriters, or even other group awards, the host would explain that “the candidate said they were working in another place and could not come.”

Over time, these words also took on a different meaning or euphemism.

At the beginning, the audience believed this kind of rhetoric, but later it was only looked upon with ridicule.

However, even though no one went up to accept the award, the Golden Toilet, which has sung like a one-man show for decades, still relied on truth and transparency and has continuously won the support of the audience.

Xie Yu slowly put down his light brain, feeling a little headache coming on.

He understood that it was not only his personal problems that were involved in going on stage under such circumstances.

Accepting an award for a bad film will definitely leave a bad relationship with the film studio.

Those seniors who refused to accept the Golden Toilet will also probably not want to see or talk to him either if they were to meet.

But in any case, an apology was owed to the audience and must be voiced after all.

Xie Yu sighed, nestled in the seat to let himself go, and finally fell asleep lightly.

Xie Yu, who was by the window, rested peacefully, while Shen Qi, who was seated next to him, felt uncomfortable.

Facing the extremely restless Shen Liu today, as an older brother, he could only lock his younger brother in with his arms.

He was sleepy but he couldn’t sleep—once he felt Shen Liu making any movement, he had to open his eyes immediately to stop his younger brother from harassing the passenger next door.

“What’s going on with you today.” Shen Qi turned Shen Liu’s head and lowered his voice, “Forgot your guarantee before going out?”

“Whaooo—” Shen Liu didn’t move with his head hooped under his brother’s arms, but instead let out a soft howl.

Although Shen Qi with a keen sense of smell agreed with Shen Liu’s opinion in his heart, he still warned him, “Be polite, it’s someone else’s things, not yours.”

The cub let out a groan unwillingly, and collapsed in the arms of his guardian, motionless.

After comforting his younger brother, Shen Qi was finally free, but the aroma surrounding his nose left him unable to fall asleep no matter what.

That scent should be coming from pastries, and the other mysterious and special smell belonged to the human passenger next door.

In fact, any being can be singled out by Giant Cats like himself by their individual scent, and the human race was no exception.

This smell was faint, and it felt vaguely familiar. It was indescribable, somewhat like an orange grove after the rain, but he didn’t know which planet he encountered it from in his memory—it was clean and fresh with a hint of sweetness.

The more he thought about it, the more entangled he became, and it was only his strictly ingrained etiquette that suppressed his urge to go around and take a sniff.

The long journey was quiet, and Xie Yu woke up when the spaceship reminded the passengers to eat.

After receiving the standard meal from the robot waiter, Xie Yu opened it and smelled it, then placed it back on the shelf under his seat.

He first put the almost empty biscuit bag on his lap, opened the cake box in his hand, confirmed that the smell of the cold cake was not too strong, and began to eat with a peace of mind accompanied with drinking water.

Xie Yu himself didn’t realize it, but Shen Qi and the cub next door clearly smelled an increasingly obvious fragrance.

Shen Liu swallowed unconsciously, and made a crisp grunt.

Shen Qi exerted strength with his hands, and firmly pressed his younger brother into his arms.

Xie Yu felt something was wrong while eating, his legs felt itchy inexplicably, so he looked down in a daze, and saw a fluffy and long gray tail emerging from next door, hooking his knees with a flick. It also made a gesture like reaching out to him.

Xie Yu stopped biting his cake and observed it for a few seconds, and struggled to hold back his laughter.

The tail was very flexible, sweeping back and forth on Xie Yu’s thigh, like a pervert groping around, as if looking for something.

The tail was really funny, and it didn’t make him feel very annoyed or like he was being offended.

Xie Yu loved small animals, and now seeing his thighs being captured, his hand itched unbearably, and he pressed his palm on the big, gray, fur blanket.

He could clearly feel the fluffy and warm tail under his hand straighten for a moment, then he carefully hooked the tip and rolled it around his fingers.

Xie Yu finally couldn’t help it anymore, and let out a low laugh.

This laughter startled Shen Qi who was next door.

He didn’t react at first, but suddenly thought about the little brother in his arms, and he hurriedly checked Shen Liu’s posture, and saw his tail which had successfully escaped.

Shen Qi gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, really wanting to teach Shen Liu a lesson.

He stretched out his hand, but he didn’t dare to pull Shen Liu’s tail, he could only quickly reach out his hand around the partition, hoping that the passenger next door would not care about his brother’s rude behavior.

Xie Yu’s hand was still surrounded by the big tail, and he wanted to pull it away, but before he could move, he was touched by a big hand.

The two hands suddenly touched together, and quickly retreated, freezing in mid-air.

“Excuse me!”

“I’m very sorry.”

The two apologies overlapped, and the man next door repeated it again stubbornly and earnestly.

Xie Yu could only smile and say it was okay.

The tail was retracted, and Shen Liu’s whole body was controlled. He wasn’t able to touch the cake, and instead was knocked on the forehead by Shen Qi, and began to snort in dissatisfaction.

Shen Qi rubbed his hand that was stretched out just now, held it to the tip of his nose, and took a breath.

After confirming the smell of that person, he remembered his voice from the few words that were said, feeling more and more familiar.

When the spaceship docked at the Tourist Star Airport, Xie Yu followed Zhou Cheng’s wishes and stayed in his seat for the time being, waiting for the flow of people in the spaceship to decrease before meeting with his manager and assistants.

As for Shen Qi next door, he originally wanted to take advantage of the process of getting off the spaceship to see who the other was, but he didn’t expect for there to be no movement even after waiting for a long time.

Thinking that it would be difficult to explain his motives if he stayed, he got up and took Shen Liu away.

Xie Yu and his group disembarked from the spacecraft, then took the special passage provided by the airport, and boarded an aircraft arranged by the reception staff of the film festival.

Xie Yu opened the visor of the aircraft and looked out through the transparent window.

Sure enough, this tourist star was completely different from the Capital Star.

With the film festival being held, all kinds of virtual banners were pulled up on all the tall and short buildings on the planet, and even many private aircrafts were sprayed with cartoon patterns of the film festival mascots on their exteriors.

Only now, seeing this, did Xie Yu truly feel the enthusiasm of the Interstellar citizens for entertainment culture.

*****

Author’s Remarks: All interstellar races have humanoid forms, and the attack(gong) is part of the Interstellar Giant Cat clan, which has dual forms

TL: Oh my, they touched hands! >.<