Between flickering light and sweeping shadows, seven years had passed.

When Shen Zhifan scooped the cat into his hold, it finally withdrew its gaze. It obediently lay in the youth’s embrace and couldn’t help but look at the spot that haunted its mind.

His neck was still as fair and slender as before. The cat stared, unable to resist certain impulses; for instance, taking advantage of his current form since it would be quite easy to steal a bite or something like that.

Biting gently on the soft and smooth skin, the other’s brows would crease, so much so that he would part his lips, perhaps letting out a light hiss. Then, following up with a little suck that would leave a mottled red mark on the originally white neck...

Unfortunately, it had underestimated the length of its own paws in its calculations. After unsuccessfully mounting a sneak attack, it almost fell from the other’s arms, eventually getting suspended in a rather ridiculous position in Shen Zhifan’s embrace.

It heard Shen Zhifan laugh gently. The more carefree the laughter, the cuter it was, and as the cat listened, its heart itched, even though the laughter was obviously mocking its movements just then.

Thus, fuming, it buried its face into the other person’s chest and couldn’t resist sniffing his body.

Warm fingertips tenderly stroked its body, comforting it.

Ah, being a cat was really good.

Even as an esteemed General, he would occasionally have these kinds of lazy thoughts.
...

Shen Zhifan excitedly arrived at his neighbour’s door, carrying the cat. Upon pressing the doorbell and realising no one was in, he was very disappointed.

Could it be that it wasn’t the male god’s cat?

Shen Zhifan, a little doubtful, gently set the cat down, thinking that it should be able to distinguish its owner’s home by itself.

Yet the kitty just rubbed itself against the hem of his pants, unwilling to move otherwise.

Shen Zhifan wanted to laugh but on the other hand, he felt somewhat distressed. Picking the cat up again, he scratched its chin. “Kitty, you have to go home.”

As he was racking his brains, several male voices drifted from the side. Since the building was constructed in the style of a villa, he could not see the other people from his angle.

“This Princess Olivia is really too good, the special guards have already been dispatched for twenty hours, but they haven’t even seen a shadow…”

“Didn’t she do it for that little pretty boy? I saw that Lieutenant General’s complexion hasn’t been good these past few days, it’s definitely because these things are annoying him…”

“I really can’t bear this, how about we just find out that pretty boy’s address and go teach him a lesson! It’s too outrageous to bully our General like this, isn’t it because our General is too polite? If it were me, I really wouldn’t be able to bear it!”

“Alright, let’s –”

‘Pretty boy’ Shen Zhifan, “...”

Shen Zhifan looked somewhat awkwardly at the two youths who’d just turned the corner, their expressions frozen.

The two young men recognised him almost immediately. Caught in a deadlock for a while, they swallowed, seeing the embarrassment in each other’s eyes.

One of them, who had a little more guts, cleared his throat. Without changing his face or tone of voice, he spoke, “Hello, may I ask what brings you here?”

Shen Zhifan almost blurted out “I’m the pretty boy”, but held himself back. Shen Zhifan’s temper actually wasn’t that bad, he didn’t feel much when he was talked about like this. He just laughed lightly, rocking the cat in his arms a little.

“I’m a neighbour. I recently moved in next door, and suddenly there was a cat in my home. There aren’t many residents here, so I wanted to ask if this cat is from General Yan’s place.”


The two youths looked at each other.

——Oh no, they’re already neighbours, how can our esteemed General tolerate it?

——I think this pretty boy will be done for sooner or later, we don’t need to do anything anymore.

——En.

The two suddenly regarded Shen Zhifan with expressions of pity.

Shen Zhifan, “...”

One of them shook his head, gesturing at Shen Zhifan, “This isn’t the General’s cat, our General Yan has never raised one. You should leave.”

“Ah, so it’s like that,” Shen Zhifan sighed, without a hint of disappointment. “Then I’ve troubled you.”

“Ah, wait a minute,” One of the youths, suddenly slightly embarrassed, scratched his head. He handed over a paper and pen from his pocket, “You must be Mr Shen, could you sign an autograph for my little sister? She recently got very sick and hasn’t been feeling good, could you give her a bit of encouragement?”

On the other side, the accompanying young man was bewildered.

——The fuck, you traitor! You sure weren’t talking like that a moment ago!

——Everything is for my sister, a sisterless person like you wouldn’t understand.

——...

Shen Zhifan laughed but didn’t decline. Since it was a little inconvenient, he put down the kitty. However, as soon as he did, the cat had given no reaction before suddenly ran away at lightning speed, skillfully breaking into the yard of the General’s house.

Shen Zhifan hadn’t been able to react. He’d lost the cat and lost the chance to meet with his male god. Extremely disappointed, as soon as he finished signing the autograph, he wanted to leave.

The youth who’d bashed people behind their backs and then asked for their signatures was very embarrassed, “This...I’m very sorry.”

“No worries, it’s not my cat anyway.” That’s what he said, but Shen Zhifan still glanced, disappointed, in the direction of the courtyard of the General’s house. Since a cat’s shape was small and could get into his house, running into the General’s house wasn’t strange either. Plus, that young man had said that the General didn’t have a cat, and he hadn’t thought of the cat not being domesticated. 

The youth gritted his teeth, and promised Shen Zhifan, “Mr Shen, if the General does anything to you then you can mention my name! I’ve been with the General for many years, he will save me some face!”

Shen Zhifan was confused.

The other youth, to the side, was stupefied.

——Hey, you turned traitor a little too fast?

——I suddenly felt that Mr Shen is a good person, he wasn’t angry at all and he also signed an autograph for my sister.

——Fuck, then aren’t I the only bad guy here?

——Now that you mention it, how on earth are we communicating with our eyes so smoothly?

——How would I know? It’s probably the author writing it out like that…

Just as the two youths were communicating with their eyes, amidst lightning and thunder, the door to the General’s house suddenly opened.

Shen Zhifan’s heart jumped. As he raised his head, he caught sight of the General in his sleepwear walking out with somewhat sleepy, hazy eyes.

E-Even while not wearing formal clothes, General Yan was still as handsome as ever.

Shen Zhifan sighed ruefully in his heart. His mood that’d just fallen began to brighten, so much so that he couldn’t help but want to laugh a bit. It would look too baffling, though, so he could only restrain himself.

Yan Shuo’s gaze skipped right over the two youths and landed squarely on Shen Zhifan. Calm and collected, he explained, “Apologies, I was just sleeping. Is there a problem?”

“No – not really,” Meeting his male god without any preparation, Shen Zhifan was a little tongue-tied again. “It’s just that a cat came into my place, I wanted to ask if it’s yours?”

“Yes, it’s mine,” Yan Shuo nodded. “I’ve only had it for a few days.”

Shen Zhifan felt that he was extremely lucky. Just when he was about to subtly turn the conversation to the matter of the autograph, the rather expressionless youth to the side suddenly blocked the General.

“Mr Shen, please, you should leave first!”

——Fuck, dude, you’re turning traitor too?

——I can’t let you steal the spotlight by yourself.

——Even so, you can’t do this right in front of the General!

Shen Zhifan, bewildered, looked at the youth, “What is it?”

Yan Shuo’s face was also filled with confusion.

“General!” The youth blocked Yan Shuo’s path, “Only by staying calm and magnanimous can you win back Princess Olivia’s heart, you can’t be like this! Mr Shen, hurry up and go!”

Shen Zhifan, perplexed, was unable to make any sense of the matter, but since the youth suddenly had him leave in such a loud voice as well as mentioning Olivia again, Shen Zhifan felt somewhat awkward.

It was true though, the matter of him snatching away the General’s fiancee...the General probably really didn’t like him.

Today he had come over too hastily. Next time he should bring some gifts to express his sincerity.

Thinking like this, Shen Zhifan, with a heart full of apology, returned to his house.

The General, who was too late to say anything, could only watch Shen Zhifan’s figure disappeared around the corner. The General’s face was almost green.

The youth was particularly oblivious, thinking that he’d finally taken the spotlight this time, utterly devoted to righteousness.

The other youth who’d asked for the autograph was rather clever in comparison. Glancing at the General’s expression, he clicked his tongue and shook his head.

——Brother, you’re definitely done for.

——No, our esteemed General separates public and private matters clearly, he won’t get angry at me!

"Laurent," Yan Shuo’s face had really gone green, “Do you have a lot of spare time?”

End of Chapter 7

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The author has something to say:

A little play:

Aini wasn’t in the scene this time. She read her script while cracking melon seeds, chatting with Laurent as well.

“How are you and the director?”

Laurent was quite happy, “He apologised to me, and said that he’d push more for my scenes. See, didn’t I appear this time?”

“Ah, where?” Aini swept through the script, finally finding it, “...Eh, you – don’t you feel like this character is nearly finished?”

“Ah, it won’t happen,” Laurent didn’t quite realise, “It’s very positive, with lines and showing my face, how is it finished?”

Aini cracked a few melon seeds, shaking her head.

As expected, the director’s skill was at another level.

Forget it, he’d just managed to hook the easily-beguiled Laurent dead on.

T/N: Good (?) intentions + assumptions of enmity and heterosexuality = the ultimate cockblock.

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