All My Colleagues Are Animals 106p2

Epilogue 4: Bai Shuang’s Story (End)

Five days later, the “Small Animals Have Something to Say” bot’s inbox received a new email—

[Chu: What should I do if the little cat I like is ignoring me?]

The studio’s group chat was on fire for a moment, and the screen was spammed for a long while.

Ye Qingyu said, [What do you all think is an appropriate reply?]

Bai Shuang, who had not popped up in a hundred years, suddenly spoke: [It doesn’t seem like she likes her that much.]

Her slightly out-of-control statement immediately aroused the concern of her friends.

“Sister Shuang, you’ve been staying at the studio these past few days. It’s not to avoid that bad woman, is it?” a little animal said sharply.

“Of course not.”

Bai Shuang said calmly, “The water pipe has already been repaired. I was just preparing to move back today.”

A momentary stubbornness, and the little cat was in a dilemma.

She wavered between staying at a hotel and going home for a long while, and in the end, she decided to go home.

And so, after hiding in the studio for more than a dozen days, Bai Shuang, with her luggage, came to her front door late at night, sneakily.

She was afraid that the slightest noise would attract the attention of a certain neighbor across the street.

Lightly and gently, she inserted the key, turned it, and opened the door. Victory was at hand…

Click—

The door behind her suddenly opened.

“Little cat, you remembered your own address?”

A bad woman’s beautiful voice rang out in the night, her tone deep and meaningful.

“!”

Bai Shuang trembled all over, and in her fright, two beautiful, fluffy cat ears popped out from the top of her head.

She had been caught.

She, without any regard, slipped into her home and raised a hand to close the door.

But a hand squeezed in from the crack in the door, followed by a graceful figure.

Click.

The door was closed.

Just as she had when she had first taken the initiative to go to Chu Yunyao, Chu Yunyao pressed her against the door and kissed her.

Unlike the gentle intimacy of before, this kiss was an overly passionate entanglement.

Her lips and tongue were scorching hot, and she advanced straight in.

A forceful and deep possession, continuous, and she kissed until the base of her tongue was sore.

Bai Shuang was forced to tilt her head back, and her whimpers were drowned out by the overly intense kiss.

Gradually, she felt a damp and salty taste soak her cheeks and melt into the kiss.

Bai Shuang’s back went numb.

—Chu Yunyao was actually crying.

After the kiss, Chu Yunyao lay on her shoulder and, in her panting, her voice trembled slightly.

“You ran away without saying goodbye. How can there be such an irresponsible little cat…”

Unlike her usual nonchalant light laugh, the bad woman’s sob held a certain shattered fragility.

Flowing into her ears, Bai Shuang felt as if an invisible hand were suddenly squeezing her heart, and it was so painful.

Her lips, which were wet and swollen from being kissed, opened and closed, and her breath was unsteady. She struggled to make her voice sound cold.

“You have many little cats. You’re not lacking me, this one.”

“…What many little cats?”

Chu Yunyao paused slightly and lifted her head.

Tonight, the moonlight was bright.

By the moonlight that was streaming in from the living room’s French window, Bai Shuang vaguely saw Chu Yunyao’s eyes shimmering with tears, and she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Bai Shuang bit her lip and, with a hard heart, accused her word by word:

“You don’t even remember that five years ago, in the Yujing residential complex, you were with me, this calico cat, for a whole year. Isn’t that right?”

Chu Yunyao’s gaze moved slightly, and she did not deny it.

The tip of Bai Shuang’s heart ached.

She raised a hand to push Chu Yunyao away, and her voice grew even colder.

“I clearly said I don’t like butter croissants, but you brought one back for me and said I wanted to eat it.”

“You must have mistaken the preferences of another little cat, right?”

Chu Yunyao’s breath hitched, and her expression was clear and deep.

Bai Shuang continued, “Previously, in the living room, a woman called you late at night and asked to do it again. You are not lacking in females, are you?”

“For a whole week after I left, you didn’t even send me a single message. I am dispensable to you, am I not?”

“You also said that a little cat like me, you could eat one in one bite… so you usually eat many.”

After hearing the last accusation, Chu Yunyao’s gloomy expression suddenly froze slightly, and then she couldn’t help but let out a light laugh.

She let out a low sigh and took Bai Shuang’s hand.

“Little cat, come with me.”

Bai Shuang had been so kissed that her legs were weak, and she stumbled a little.

Chu Yunyao simply picked her up in a princess carry and, after arriving at her own bedroom, she carefully put her down.

Then she raised a hand to open the second drawer on the right, which was filled with medicine bottles.

She pushed aside the medicine bottles and, from the bottom, took out a stack of bound white paper and handed it to Bai Shuang.

Bai Shuang subconsciously took the white paper.

She looked down and found that it was actually a psychological consultation record.

The earliest record was from four years ago.

[Dr. Li: You can’t sleep every night and have to rely on medication to force yourself to sleep.]

[Chu: Mhm.]

[Dr. Li: Can you tell me why?]

[Chu: After my mother was hospitalized with a serious illness, she secretly pulled out her oxygen tube and gave up treatment. She was unwilling to spend money on treatment and wanted to save the money for me to continue to study photography.]

[Dr. Li: So you feel guilty and regretful, and you feel that your dream delayed your mother’s life.]

[Chu: Mhm.]

[Dr. Li: I noticed that you have a picture of a calico cat in your phone case.]

[Chu: It’s a stray calico cat. I like her very much. I wanted to adopt her at first sight.]

[Dr. Li: Did you adopt her?]

[Chu: No. I didn’t have a place to live at the time and was staying at a friend’s house. Her family had three very fierce cats who had once bullied a new cat until its tail was broken. So I wanted to wait until I had my own place before I immediately adopted that calico cat.]

[Dr. Li: And then?]

[Chu: My mother suddenly fell seriously ill and was hospitalized, and I didn’t go back to the residential complex for a long time. When I went back after the funeral, the residents said that the calico cat had been taken away by an organization that killed stray cats.]

[Dr. Li: So the calico cat is another knot in your heart. You feel that you didn’t adopt her in time, which led to her being killed.]

[Chu: Mhm.]

…

At the very end of this record was a picture of a calico cat basking in the sun in the grass.

…

Three years ago.

[Dr. Li: How have you been lately?]

[Chu: Much better. I accidentally found a diary my mother had kept during her hospitalization, and she said—she had never dared to wear makeup before, and was even embarrassed to look in the mirror, feeling that life had long since worn her down and made her old and ugly. But, looking at the pictures I had taken for her, she had for the first time discovered her own beauty and had felt that she was blooming like a flower. She hoped that I would continue to take pictures and capture more beauty.]

[Dr. Li: That’s great. The process of you realizing your dream was also a fulfillment for your mother.]

[Chu: Mhm.]

[Dr. Li: So you’ve let go of a lot. Then why did you secretly increase your daily medication dosage?]

[Chu: I’ve been driving out suddenly lately, wanting to go and pick up a calico cat, but every time on the road, I would suddenly get lost—I can’t remember who that little cat is, and I don’t know where to go to pick her up.]

[Dr. Li: What if it actually doesn’t exist anymore?]

[Chu: Impossible. Dr. Li, please don’t make random assumptions.]

[Dr. Li: You’ve been taking too much medication, and your memory is already a little confused.]

…

One year ago.

[Dr. Li: How have you been lately?]

[Chu: Fine.]

[Dr. Li: Do you still go out to look for a calico cat?]

[Chu: What calico cat?]

[Dr. Li: You don’t know any cats?]

[Chu: Of course.]

…

Bai Shuang’s breath trembled as she closed the consultation record.

Chu Yunyao lowered her eyes to look at her and slowly said:

“First, I have to apologize. Little cat, I did hide something from you.”

“These past few years, I’ve had to rely on a large amount of medication to sleep every day, and my memory has thus continued to decline, and I’ve even been confused from time to time.”

“So I didn’t remember you at first sight; so you said you didn’t like butter croissants, but I dazedly remembered it as you wanting to eat them, so I specially went to line up to buy you a portion.”

“And because of this, I craved, but did not dare to confirm, a relationship with you beyond the physical, and I was worried that after I confessed my situation, you would decisively leave me.”

“So, when you suddenly started to avoid me, I thought that you had discovered that I had a mental illness and felt repulsed or scared.”

“I can understand, and I didn’t want to make things difficult for you. And so, even though I really wanted you to stay, I always restrained myself from sending you a message.”

“Until a few days ago, I was sitting here, thinking of you, and I took out this consultation record with nothing to do.”

“I had never read it before, but this time, I made a major discovery—”

“So I used to have a calico cat that I liked. So I had driven out countless times, full of anticipation, wanting to take her home, but no matter what, I couldn’t find her.”

“So she was you.”

Chu Yunyao’s eyes were filled with a misty haze.

“Little cat, I don’t have any other women or little cats. You have always been the only one I’ve liked.”

“I’m willing to tell you everything, and you can still freely decide whether to stay or go.”

The bad woman, who always smiled with a certain charm, was now lowering her head slightly, her lips pursed, and the tip of her nose was red.

She had laid everything bare and was quietly waiting for judgment.

And Bai Shuang was already in tears.

She looked at Chu Yunyao and, with a sob, confirmed one question:

“You used to drive out repeatedly, wanting to take that calico cat home, right?”

Chu Yunyao’s lashes trembled slightly. “Mhm.”

The air was silent for a moment.

She heard Bai Shuang say softly, “You’ve picked her up now.”

Chu Yunyao’s breath hitched.

Tears instantly gathered in her reddened eye rims, and in the end, they overflowed, and she struggled to bite her lip and hold back her sobs.

Bai Shuang’s heart trembled at the sight, and she took the initiative to step forward and hook her arm around her neck.

“Do you want to hug your little cat?”

The next second, she was in a tight, trembling embrace.

Chu Yunyao lay on her shoulder, and her hot tears burned her heart.

They hugged like this for a long, long time.

A dense cloud floated past, hiding the moon.

The night sky was for a moment as dark as ink.

After a moment, the wind blew the clouds away, and the bright moon reappeared.

The clear white moonlight fell on the tips of her hair, as if soaked in spring water.

She didn’t know who had taken the initiative first, and they had a long kiss.

Gentle and pure, without a hint of desire.

After the kiss, they held each other for a moment to calm down.

Ever since her mother had passed away and the little cat she had wanted to raise had been killed, Chu Yunyao had been in a long period of self-torment, and at this moment, she finally felt a long-lost peace and relief.

“Don’t leave without saying goodbye in the future.”

She lowered her head to sniff the woman’s scent and lightly gnawed on her.

Her tone was wronged, and very clingy.

Bai Shuang’s heart softened.

She felt that Chu Yunyao at this moment was very pitiful and needed a cat’s love.

And so, when Chu Yunyao, with her long, damp lashes, had asked in a low and soft voice to take a bath together, she had nodded without any guard.

“Good little cat.”

The woman’s voice was lingering, and she praised her gently.

And so, the little cat was so mesmerized that she followed her into the bathroom.

And then she had accidentally been made to meow in the bathroom.

Biting her fingertips, the little cat thought with misty, teary eyes, a bad woman is still a bad woman.

But because she was only like this to her, one little cat, so the little cat felt that it would be fine even if she were a little worse.

(End of Bai Shuang’s Story)