“Your movements are so stiff. Are you a cripple?”
Gu Qingyuan planted one foot firmly onto Su Ling’s back. Su Ling’s arms could no longer support his weight, and he was crushed directly into the ground!
Su Ling let out a low, painful whimper, his body trembling uncontrollably. He wanted to open his mouth to beg for mercy, but the moment he did, the cold wind rushed into his throat, making his already stinging windpipe even more agonizing.
Su Ling raised his head, his vision blurred by tears, making it difficult to see her expression. He opened his mouth to speak, but not a single word came out; only a raspy “he-he” sound escaped his lips.
“You crawled slowly today, do you know that?”
Slap!
“I asked if you understood! Are you deaf?”
“Can’t talk? Are you unable to nod, too?”
Su Ling clutched his bright red cheek and nodded.
“That’s a good boy. You need to understand your status from now on. Making you mute was just a small penalty. In the future, if you make me happy, I’ll give you medicine. But if you make me unhappy… next time, I’ll chop off your legs. The kind where I don’t use any anesthetic at all.”
Su Ling’s body shook even more violently upon hearing this. He couldn’t help but glance at his bound calves. If they were cut off, he would never be able to walk again. He reached out and grabbed the hem of her clothes, shaking his head desperately, trying to plead with her not to do it.
However, in Gu Qingyuan’s eyes, his gesture was seen as a refusal. She grabbed the Little Fellow by the throat and yanked him close, staring directly into the Little Fellow’s terrified eyes.
“It seems you’re still disobedient. Then I’ll destroy your legs right now! Since they’re attached to you, you’ll use them to run away sooner or later anyway. It’s better to just cut them off now!”
“Wooo! Wooo!”
Su Ling’s eyes rimmed with red as he heard those words, and he shook his head with everything he had. He wanted to speak so badly—he wanted to tell her that wasn’t it, that it really wasn’t like that! But he couldn’t. Things that used to be so easy were now impossible!
Just as Su Ling thought she was truly going to chop off his legs, a voice suddenly appeared, stopping Gu Qingyuan.
“You misunderstood him. That’s not what he meant.”
“This is none of your business!” Gu Qingyuan’s expression was ice-cold. She pulled Su Ling into her arms as if protecting something that belonged to her. “I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t want to wake up and see someone acting like a lunatic!”
“Who are you calling a lunatic?!” Gu Qingyuan glared at the other woman, looking as though she wanted to punch her.
The woman simply smiled and didn’t continue the topic. Instead, she pointed at Su Ling in the other’s arms. “He was shaking his head just now probably because he wanted to beg you not to cut off his legs. He didn’t mean to be disobedient!”
Su Ling’s eyes lit up when he heard this. He immediately nodded his head frantically and sent a grateful look toward the woman. However, the moment his eyes met her face, he withdrew his gaze in fear.
The two women looked too similar. Standing together, if they weren’t dressed differently, he would have been unable to tell who was who.
Slap!
Su Ling clutched his cheek, looking at Gu Qingyuan with confusion.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier? Why did you need someone else to explain for you? Are you useless?”
Su Ling’s lips trembled twice as he stared at Gu Qingyuan with aggrieved eyes. Being stared at by the Little Fellow like that made Gu Qingyuan feel inexplicably irritated. She couldn’t help but swing her hand and deliver another slap!
“Don’t look at me with those eyes. If you look at me like that again, I’ll gouge them out!”
Su Ling didn’t dare look at her anymore. He could only lower his head and weep silently.
“Sorry, I won’t disturb you two further. I’m going to work now. Goodbye.” The woman smiled and nodded to them, then picked up her bag and turned to leave.
Gu Qingyuan’s brow furrowed slightly. She looked at the Little Fellow who was crying with his head down and said impatiently, “I’ll find someone to teach you sign language tomorrow. You better learn it well, do you hear me?”
Hearing those two words, Su Ling immediately raised his head and nodded vigorously, terrified that if he answered too slowly, he would receive another slap. He felt as though his face must be swollen. First, he had been stepped on, and then he was slapped several times; he must look hideous right now…
“Come here and eat.”
Su Ling bit his lip and slowly crawled over. He braced his hands against a chair to pull himself up, but she suddenly reached out and snatched the chair away, causing him to fall hard onto the ground.
Pain shot through Su Ling’s body. He fought back his tears and looked up at her.
“Don’t forget your current status! A pet isn’t supposed to eat like that.”
As Gu Qingyuan spoke, she dumped all the dishes on the table into a single plate, added some rice, stirred it vigorously a few times, and then threw it directly onto the floor.
“You aren’t allowed to use your hands, and you aren’t allowed to use any tools. You can only use your mouth to eat it clean!”
Gu Qingyuan’s voice was soft. As she spoke, she stroked the Little Fellow’s head. Su Ling stared blankly at the plate of food on the floor. He had to use his mouth to eat. He couldn’t use his hands, and he couldn’t use chopsticks.
He raised his head. The tears he had been holding back for so long finally came pouring out. He fixed his gaze on her as if questioning why she was treating him this way.
“Hurry up and eat. You know I don’t have much patience.” Gu Qingyuan reached out to stroke the Little Fellow’s head. Truth be told, his head felt very comfortable to touch, especially when she brushed against those soft ears. The texture was exceptionally good.
Su Ling bit his lip. He wanted to refuse. He wanted to stand his ground and talk back to her. But he couldn’t. He was starving, and if he didn’t eat, he would surely be beaten again, or perhaps his legs would be cut off.
At the thought of this, he could only support his weight with his arms and lean down, slowly using his tongue to curl some food into his mouth. The taste of the food was unexpectedly good, and the flexibility of his tongue was surprisingly high. It seemed that after gaining cat features, he would eat like a cat too?
But this didn’t mean the sense of humiliation and distress in his heart would disappear. On the contrary, he felt more like an animal, which made Su Ling feel even worse.
‘I don’t want to become an animal. I am human. I have always been human.’
Gu Qingyuan sat to the side, watching the Little Fellow eat with great interest. She even raised a slender, jade-like leg and rested it gently on the Little Fellow’s back. The Little Fellow’s body only sank slightly, and he gave no further reaction. She then crossed her other leg over as well.
This time, Su Ling stopped eating and turned back to look at her.
“What is that look for? You aren’t disgusted by my feet, are you?”
Su Ling shook his head. He didn’t mean that; he just wanted her to take her legs off. He was supporting the weight of his upper body solely with his arms, and with the added weight of her legs, his hands were struggling to hold him up.
“If you aren’t, then keep eating. Don’t make any more unnecessary movements.”
Gu Qingyuan glanced at him indifferently. That single glance seemed to carry a hint of disappointment. In truth, she had been thinking that if the Little Fellow had hesitated or failed to answer her, she would have unhesitatingly shoved her foot into the food, stirred it around, and then forced him to eat it!
Surely, the taste would have been quite interesting!