Chapter 142: Ran Away? Didn’t!

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Su Ling crawled out of the bedroom, dazedly scanning the house. The scent of cooked food wafted through the air, and the sound of stir-frying came from the kitchen. He steeled himself, looking at the long staircase, then slowly, little by little, cautiously began crawling down! After nearly tumbling down the stairs several times, he finally made it to the bottom.

He breathed a sigh of relief and laboriously crawled toward the kitchen. But as he got close, he froze! The person in the kitchen was rather plump, not very tall, with a high ponytail—definitely not Master’s appearance!

But Master had said she was coming to prepare his meal, hadn’t she? If the person in the kitchen wasn’t Master, then where was Master now? And why had she lied to him? His breathing and heartbeat seemed to stop at that moment, an intense panic causing his mind to go blank! It wasn’t until the person in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked about to turn around and walk out that he suddenly snapped back to reality and frantically scrambled to find a place to hide!

He finally spotted an inconspicuous corner blocked by many potted plants. He quickly crawled over and hid behind them. The next moment, the person in the kitchen walked out—indeed, not Master. After placing the dishes on the dining table, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

Su Ling curled himself into a ball, trembling with unease. He couldn’t understand why Master would lie to him. If Master had deceived him, then where was she now, and why did she lie? He had nothing left but Master. If Master was lying to him, if Master didn’t like him either, he would truly become utterly destitute…

Meanwhile, Gu Qingyuan was hiding in another room playing games. She had never known how to cook; claiming she could was just to leave a good impression on the little thing. Since someone else was handling the cooking, she could take this chance to sneak away and play a couple of rounds. When the food was ready, she’d go fetch the little one!

Soon, she finished a round, and just then, the auntie cooking sent her a message. She glanced at it, a slight smirk curling at the corner of her mouth. She left her seat, opened the door, and strode lightly toward the bedroom. But when she stepped inside, what greeted her eyes was an empty scene—the little thing was gone!

Her head buzzed, feeling as if it might explode. She stumbled, nearly falling to the ground!

Where had the little thing gone? Gu Qingyuan’s eyes instantly reddened, a thought suddenly surfacing in her mind! The little thing had run away again—he must have! Of course, of course, it was all an act. And she had actually believed him, let her guard down! And in just the time it took to play one game, the little thing had bolted!

She rushed out of the house. If she went after him now, she might still catch him. The thought that she might not have closed the door when she came in filled her with even more fear! But just as she reached the top of the stairs, she suddenly stopped—because she spotted a small figure. A tiny silhouette curled up in a corner, hidden behind several large potted plants!

The little thing hadn’t run away? No, not necessarily. He could be hiding here now, planning to escape at night when the darkness offered better cover! Gu Qingyuan clenched her fists. This little thing still hadn’t learned his lesson. She shouldn’t have brought him out in the first place. Tomorrow, she would send him back.

Thinking this, she slowed her steps, each one heavy. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she let out a deep breath! Wait a little longer. She’d discipline him for a while first. If he still didn’t behave, then she’d send him back. She couldn’t bear to do it yet—after all, that place wasn’t good, and the little thing had been terrified when she brought him there…

She walked over, pushed aside the potted plants, and looked at the little thing who had fallen asleep. She gently bent down, wanting to wipe away the tear stains on his face. But the tears had already dried, leaving stubborn marks like ingrained dirt that wouldn’t come off. Gu Qingyuan had no choice but to give up. Instead, she placed her hand on Su Ling’s cat ears. When she had first seen Su Ling today, his cat ears had been drooping limply, but now they stood straight up. She stroked them gently. The cat ears were Su Ling’s most sensitive and vulnerable spot; touched like this, they instantly woke him from his sleep.

Su Ling instinctively thought the person before him was still that wretched Liu Ruyan. He was about to flinch away in disgust when he saw Master’s face. He forcibly stopped the motion and instead threw his arms around her!

Gu Qingyuan’s first thought was that Su Ling was pretending—pretending to like her, to depend on her! But when warm tears soaked through her clothes and landed on her skin, she began to doubt her own assumption. She couldn’t help but lift the little thing’s face and study it seriously. The pitiful and aggrieved look in his eyes didn’t seem fake. It was real.

“Tell Master, why are you here?”

Su Ling wiped his tears and pointed toward the kitchen.

“What do you mean?”

Su Ling grew anxious, pointing at the kitchen again, then at Master, and then pouting pitifully at Gu Qingyuan!

Gu Qingyuan stared at the little thing, momentarily stunned, then her pretty face flushed bright red. “Cough, cough!” She understood what the little thing meant. After realizing it, she felt a bit awkward, but she quickly composed herself. It was nothing—she had just deceived the little thing, that’s all. She was the Master, after all, and Masters were never wrong. How dare the little thing blame his Master? That called for punishment! She picked up Su Ling and gave him a hard smack on the bottom.

“Mm!”

Su Ling whimpered at the slap, feeling even more wronged. His big round eyes filled with tears. Gu Qingyuan smiled, carried the little thing to the dining table, and set him down beside it. Then she took out a notebook and placed it in front of him.

“Why were you there? What were you thinking at the time? Write everything down—I want to know!” Gu Qingyuan’s expression was stern and serious as she looked at the little thing.

Even though she had already guessed why he was there, she still wanted to know what had gone through his mind, why he had ended up there, and what had happened in between. Su Ling took the pen and notebook. After a moment’s thought, he hesitated and glanced at his Master. He was wondering whether he should write about thinking of his elder sister. But after only a brief hesitation, he decided to include it. He couldn’t keep anything from Master!

He belonged to Master. He couldn’t hide things from her. What if Master stopped liking him because he kept secrets? He was already tainted… That fact alone tormented him enough. He couldn’t bear to keep anything else from Master!

Su Ling spread the notebook on the table and began to write earnestly. He wrote everything: from thinking about his elder sister and wanting Master to comfort him, to crawling downstairs and discovering Master wasn’t in the kitchen, and then the person in the kitchen was about to come out, so he hid in fear.

Gu Qingyuan read what Su Ling had written, a slight smile tugging at her lips. It seemed this little thing had fully believed what she had said—that those things were indeed done by his elder sister! Now she could finally confirm that the little thing wouldn’t leave her. Even if Ye Moran came looking for him, the little thing wouldn’t choose her anymore!

But she quickly noticed something on the notebook: “half-beast.” Before this, she had always assumed Su Ling knew he had become a half-beast. After all, Ye Moran had kept such a tight watch on him; she had thought the woman actually liked him! No, maybe Ye Moran did truly like him—so much that she wanted to turn him into her ideal form! As it turned out, this had actually worked in her favor!

Just like herself—hadn’t she also sawed off the little thing’s legs? But she remembered that to fully stabilize a half-beast’s form, surgery was required, right? Had the little thing undergone surgery? She looked at him with concern and decided to take him to the hospital in a while to get checked. If surgery was possible, she’d have it done for him!

“Eat!”

“Eat more.”

Su Ling obediently nodded and reached for the plate, about to lick it with his tongue.

Gu Qingyuan stopped him, staring at him in bewilderment. “What… are you doing?” She didn’t understand what the little thing was trying to do.

Su Ling was also stunned. Looking at his own action, he fell into a daze. He had subconsciously wanted to eat the way he would eat cat food. He wasn’t there anymore. He no longer had to roll the cat food with his tongue. He was home now, with Master. He could use chopsticks. He wasn’t a cat. He was human…

A stream of tears slid down Su Ling’s face. He wiped them away and slowly set down the plate. Gu Qingyuan fell silent. It suddenly occurred to her that when she had gone to get Su Ling, she had seen a cat food dispenser used for feeding. Combined with the little thing’s current action, she could imagine that in that environment, he had likely been forced to eat like a cat every single day.

For a moment, her feelings were complicated. On one hand, she had orchestrated those things. Even before, she herself had forced Su Ling to eat that way—he just didn’t remember! She took a deep breath and stroked Su Ling’s head.

“Use chopsticks. As long as you obey, I won’t force you to do anything.”

Su Ling nodded quickly, trembling as he picked up the chopsticks beside him. The first time he tried to pick up some vegetables, he didn’t grip firmly, and the food slipped onto the floor. Gu Qingyuan patted his head, encouraging him with her eyes to try again!

Su Ling picked up a piece again. This time, the food fell to the floor once more. Su Ling bit his lip and kept trying. After three or four failures, he finally managed to bring the food to his mouth!

“Very good! My little thing is the best. Come, give me a kiss.”

Su Ling turned his head and obediently kissed her, his posture docile and submissive. After the kiss, Gu Qingyuan’s breathing grew unsteady. Her fingers brushed across Su Ling’s pale, delicate skin, and undesirable thoughts began to surface in her mind. Why not… right here on the dining table!

Gu Qingyuan suddenly stood up and moved all the dishes and food to another spot. Su Ling looked bewildered, not understanding what Master intended to do. It wasn’t until he was picked up and placed on the table that he slowly realized what Master wanted!

Su Ling’s body went limp, and he collapsed in her arms. He let her pick up the vegetables and feed them to him bite by bite. The clothes on his body hung in tatters.

“Eat more. You need strength when you’re full. Later, when my belly gets big and I can’t move around, you’ll have to take care of me. You need to build up your health, understand?”

Su Ling nodded with effort. By then, Master probably wouldn’t do these things to him anymore, right? He was actually a little afraid of this kind of thing. Every time it happened, his body would be so tired and sore. If he could avoid it, that would be best.

After the meal, Su Ling was carried back to the room. The moment he was placed on the bed, he couldn’t fight off the drowsiness and fell asleep. Gu Qingyuan looked at the little thing’s sleeping face and smiled. She glanced out the window. It was almost dark. If he slept now, he would probably wake up around 9 PM, wouldn’t he?

While estimating Su Ling’s sleep time, she sent a message to the auntie who did the cooking, asking her to come back at 8:30 PM to prepare a meal. Since he would have just woken up from a nap, it wouldn’t be long before he needed to eat again. This time, something light—congee with a few side dishes would do. She sent the message, then climbed into bed, hugging the little thing tightly, her whole body pressing close to him.

Su Ling drowsily turned around and hugged her back tightly. In the past, he hated this kind of sleeping position—two people clinging together, waking up with their whole bodies sticky and uncomfortable. But not anymore. Now, it made him feel safe.