Cheng Mingjiao had suddenly disappeared and then just as suddenly reappeared, scaring Zhang Xiyue half to death. By the time she came to her senses, she had already tased him unconscious.
Fortunately, the stun gun was running low on power, and his raincoat had blocked most of the charge. Cheng Mingjiao had only lost consciousness briefly. Before she could crouch down to check on him, he let out a muffled groan and woke up.
Once the initial shock had passed, Zhang Xiyue had already regained her composure. The moment she saw him struggling to sit up, she hurried over with her umbrella to help him.
“President Cheng! Are you all right, President Cheng?” she asked with heartfelt concern.
During the few seconds Cheng Mingjiao had been down, the rain had soaked his hair. It now hung wetly over his forehead, and beneath the hood of his raincoat, he looked rather disheveled.
“You…” Cheng Mingjiao pointed at her with a trembling finger.
Zhang Xiyue immediately grabbed his hand. “I’m fine.”
Cheng Mingjiao: “You…”
“Take it easy first. Don’t talk.” Zhang Xiyue cut him off again.
Cheng Mingjiao drew a deep breath.
Pretending not to notice the resentful look in his eyes, Zhang Xiyue tried pulling him up several times. When that failed, she simply set the umbrella aside and used every ounce of her strength to help him sit up.
The rain was pouring down, and in no time at all, her own hair was soaked as well.
Once he was sitting securely, Zhang Xiyue quickly picked up the umbrella and held it over him. “President Cheng, are you feeling better?”
Cheng Mingjiao sat on the ground without a trace of dignity, his face expressionless.
Another rumble of thunder gave Zhang Xiyue a sudden idea.
She cleared her throat. “President Cheng…”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “I saw you tase me.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Fine. She had originally meant to say that he’d been struck by lightning.
Cheng Mingjiao asked, “Have you ever used that thing on anyone else?”
Zhang Xiyue: “…No.”
Cheng Mingjiao gave a cold laugh. “Good. The weapon meant to protect me has only ever been used on me.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…President Cheng, please listen. I really didn’t do it on purpose. I was worried when I saw you come up the mountain alone, so I followed you. But then I lost track of you. I thought you’d run into some bad guys, and I got so anxious that… I mistook you for one of them.”
As she rambled through her explanation, Cheng Mingjiao’s lower abdomen throbbed with numb pain, and his heart was racing. His whole body felt awful.
He didn’t hear a single word she said.
Seeing that he was uncomfortable, Zhang Xiyue stopped talking. She crouched beside him, holding the umbrella so that it covered both him and his raincoat.
Late at night, with the heavy rain outside the umbrella gradually easing into a drizzle, a damp chill filled the space beneath it.
After waiting a while, until Cheng Mingjiao’s complexion had improved somewhat, Zhang Xiyue quietly took a piece of candy from her pocket.
It was round again, lemon-flavored.
Cheng Mingjiao had just been tased, and his heart was hard as iron. “Are you trying to use that as a get-out-of-jail-free card?”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
He had actually seen through her.
The Emperor really could be remarkably perceptive sometimes.
Cheng Mingjiao refused to take it, so Zhang Xiyue put it back in her pocket. “President Cheng, what are you doing up on the mountain in the middle of the night?”
Cheng Mingjiao refused to speak to her.
Zhang Xiyue was helpless. “President Cheng, don’t be like this… If you really can’t let it go, I’ll let you tase me back.”
Cheng Mingjiao’s eyes shifted.
Zhang Xiyue quickly added, “But I don’t think you’d actually want to…”
“Give it to me.” He cut her off.
Zhang Xiyue: “President Cheng…”
Cheng Mingjiao narrowed his long eyes, his threat unmistakable.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Xiyue had no choice but to hand him the electronic stun gun.
It was the first time Cheng Mingjiao had ever handled such a device. After fiddling with it for a while, he successfully turned it on and looked at Zhang Xiyue with a cold laugh.
Seeing the blue light glowing on the device, Zhang Xiyue took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Come on!”
Cheng Mingjiao: “Hmph.”
Zhang Xiyue clenched her teeth and waited for the pain to strike.
One second passed.
Ten seconds passed.
A full minute passed.
She waited and waited, but the pain she had imagined never came. Instead, Cheng Mingjiao’s breathing grew increasingly clear.
Unable to help herself, she opened one eye to peek. The stun gun, which had been glowing blue moments ago, had already shut off. Cheng Mingjiao was looking at her with unmistakable amusement.
Zhang Xiyue’s heart sank back into place, and she expressed her disappointment. “It’s out of power?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “It has power.”
Zhang Xiyue’s heart leaped into her throat again.
Cheng Mingjiao: “Just not enough.”
Zhang Xiyue’s heart settled back down.
Cheng Mingjiao: “I’ll wait until it’s fully charged before I tase you.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
What a vicious Emperor.
After having her heart jerk up and down repeatedly, Zhang Xiyue was exhausted.
But no matter what, Cheng Mingjiao was at least willing to speak to her again. And judging by the look of things, aside from tasing her later, he didn’t seem to have any other punishment in mind.
Good. Her job was safe.
The fact that she was about to be tased and was still worrying about her job made Zhang Xiyue’s heart neither rise nor fall anymore. It just ached.
Cheng Mingjiao, on the other hand, was in a pretty good mood. Once he had recovered, he picked up his black bag and walked away with renewed energy.
Zhang Xiyue hurried after him. “President Cheng, you still haven’t answered me. What are you doing here so late at night?”
Cheng Mingjiao remained silent and continued walking.
The plastic bag in his hand was heavy, and every so often, something inside clinked against something else. Who knew what sort of weaponry he had packed in there?
Uneasy, Zhang Xiyue said as tactfully as she could, “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but those cats are the camp’s private property. I really don’t think you should…”
Before she could finish, Cheng Mingjiao pulled a can of cat food from the bag.
The can was still perfectly sealed. It probably hadn’t been poisoned.
Zhang Xiyue promptly shut her mouth.
“Shouldn’t do what?” Cheng Mingjiao turned around and asked.
Zhang Xiyue: “…Shouldn’t feed them random things. What if they get diarrhea?”
“They ate the garbage freeze-dried food you gave them and nothing happened. You think they’ll get diarrhea from a can that costs seventy yuan?” Cheng Mingjiao said scornfully.
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
He had holed himself up in his tent without coming out, yet he knew she had been feeding the cats?
The Emperor really did have eyes and ears everywhere.
Cheng Mingjiao placed the opened can in front of one of the cat shelters. A kitten inside twitched its nose, then immediately ventured out into the rain and dragged the can back into its shelter.
He opened a second can and walked toward another cat shelter.
Zhang Xiyue followed behind him. “So you came out in the middle of the night… just because your overflowing compassion got the better of you?”
Cheng Mingjiao countered, “Do I look like I have that much free time?”
You do.
But he certainly didn’t look like someone with a lot of compassion.
Zhang Xiyue smiled. “Then what is this about?”
Cheng Mingjiao: “Bribery.”
Zhang Xiyue: “?”
Ten minutes later, the rain stopped.
Every cat had received a can of food.
Zhang Xiyue looked at her own muddy, soaked shoes, then at the grime covering Cheng Mingjiao, and felt that everything before her was utterly absurd.
“So what you’re saying is…” She tried to make sense of Cheng Mingjiao’s logic. “You feed the cats canned food, and then they’ll take you to find Little Bear… What exactly is this based on?”
Cheng Mingjiao was squatting on the ground, urging a small calico to hurry up and eat. As he did so, he explained, “When I was seven, I lost a pencil. The cat my grandmother kept found it for me. Before that, I gave it a sausage.”
After saying this, he made a point of adding, “A handmade sausage crafted by German artisans. Very expensive.”
Ignoring his attempt to show off, Zhang Xiyue tactfully reminded him, “…President Cheng, you do realize that was merely a coincidence and can’t be treated as a reliable method, right?”
Cheng Mingjiao glanced at her. “Of course.”
Zhang Xiyue breathed a sigh of relief.
The next second, Cheng Mingjiao added, “But no matter how coincidental it is, the probability isn’t zero.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “Besides, the cat that snatched Liang Youyou’s teddy bear is only six months old. Cats at that age are full of energy, and their blood sugar rises after an extra meal, making them even more eager to come out and play. All we have to do is follow them, and we’ll find the area where they like to spend time. There’s a good chance the teddy bear is there.”
His reasoning was clear and logical, and Zhang Xiyue found herself listening before she knew it. She even thought he made a lot of sense.
Realizing she had been so easily convinced, her rebellious streak resurfaced. “If that’s your logic, then why not feed only the tabby? Why feed all of them?”
Cheng Mingjiao narrowed his eyes. “Do I look like I’m short on cat food?”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
Well, he certainly wasn’t.
“Besides, it just rained. Most cats don’t like getting their fur wet. Even if they want to come out and play, they’ll hold themselves back. Rather than feeding only the thief cat and betting that it won’t be able to resist coming out, we might as well feed them all. There are bound to be a few lively ones willing to come out and cause trouble even after the rain. They’re all active in the same area anyway, so it makes no difference which one leads us there.”
After the rain stopped, the mountain forest grew exceptionally quiet. Only Cheng Mingjiao’s low, calm voice remained.
Listening to him, Zhang Xiyue gradually calmed down as well.
Cats ate slowly, so they needed enough time.
Zhang Xiyue squatted beside Cheng Mingjiao and chatted with him while they waited. “When did you think of this trick?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “The moment the toy went missing.”
Zhang Xiyue asked, “Then why didn’t you come looking for it right away?”
Cheng Mingjiao replied, “First, Liang Youyou was crying too loudly. The atmosphere at camp was tense, and the cats were on alert too. They wouldn’t let humans get close.”
Zhang Xiyue prompted him at the right moment. “Second?”
Cheng Mingjiao shot her a sideways glance. “The weather forecast said the rain wouldn’t stop until nine-thirty. Cats may not be very intelligent, but they aren’t idiots. No matter how full they were after eating in the rain, they wouldn’t come out. Coming earlier would have been pointless. This is just the right time.”
Zhang Xiyue asked, “Is there a third reason?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “The canned food at the campsite is too cheap. It took time for the pet store nearby to deliver higher-quality cans.”
The third reason was clearly the most important.
Zhang Xiyue burst out laughing when she heard it.
She had known Cheng Mingjiao for less than a month. Although she still didn’t understand him very well, she had already learned to read him in certain ways.
For example, according to the Emperor’s rules, anyone—or any cat—who could be of use to him had to be handsomely rewarded. Otherwise, it would lower his standards.
While the two of them chatted, cats gradually finished their canned food and lazily curled up in their nests to lick their paws. For the moment, not a single one seemed interested in going out to play.
Zhang Xiyue began to grow bored. When she turned her head, she found herself looking at Cheng Mingjiao’s serious brows and eyes.
He had just rolled around on the ground, and his clothes were now covered in muddy water. Someone who normally couldn’t stand even the slightest bit of dirt was completely ignoring it now.
Hah. Just as Zhou Ce had said, he didn’t have a cleanliness obsession. He was simply being difficult for the sake of it.
“Why are you looking at me?” Cheng Mingjiao suddenly asked.
Caught in the act, Zhang Xiyue blinked. “Nothing. I just think you’re incredibly handsome.”
Cheng Mingjiao frowned slightly.
That was the second time she had complimented him today.
Perhaps he should be more low-key about his appearance in the future, lest his employees lose all sense of propriety at the drop of a hat.
After Zhang Xiyue’s compliment, the air fell silent again.
More cats finished eating and sprawled motionless in their nests. A few of the smaller ones poked their heads out, and finally couldn’t resist stretching out their little paws. They hesitantly stepped onto the ground, which was thick with wet mud.
Cheng Mingjiao and Zhang Xiyue both held their breaths, watching as the kittens chased one another and played before finally racing toward the deeper part of the forest.
“Now!” Cheng Mingjiao immediately took off after them.
Zhang Xiyue hurried after him with the umbrella.
Watching Cheng Mingjiao’s hurried back, she thought with relief that although he and Youyou didn’t get along, he was still willing to go this far for her. It seemed that, deep down, there was still something decent about his obsessive, brooding nature.
Unfortunately, the thought had barely formed when Cheng Mingjiao let out a cold laugh ahead of her.
“Daring to add salt to my water—just wait until I find that blasted thing. I’ll show you how I deal with it!”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
The kittens ran with endless energy, Cheng Mingjiao chased them with endless energy, and Zhang Xiyue trailed behind in a half-dead state. The distance between them grew wider and wider.
Just when she thought she couldn’t go on, they finally arrived at a muddy patch of ground.
The mudflat wasn’t very large. Trees surrounded it on all sides, their branches spreading and intertwining overhead to form a bridge of limbs above the clearing.
The kittens frolicked on the branch bridge while Cheng Mingjiao searched beneath it. Man, nature, and animals coexisted peacefully, each ignoring the others.
Zhang Xiyue switched on her phone’s flashlight and joined the search.
Cheng Mingjiao, who was wading slowly forward bit by bit, glanced at her but said nothing discouraging.
The two of them searched every inch of the area. By the time they had finished one thorough sweep, forty minutes had passed.
“We didn’t find it.” Zhang Xiyue’s feet were caked in mud, making it nearly impossible to move. “Could it be somewhere else?”
Cheng Mingjiao said, “They still have plenty of energy, but they’ve only been running around this area. They probably like it here best. Judging by the odds, it’s more likely to be here.”
“But we didn’t find it,” Zhang Xiyue reminded him again.
“We may have missed something. I’ll search it again,” Cheng Mingjiao said, continuing to wade through the mud. “You go back first.”
Zhang Xiyue: “…”
The Emperor was truly persistent when it came to winning back his pride.
There was no way she could let him stay here alone in the middle of the night. After thinking for a moment, she said, “Sister Wei said the kittens here are very playful. They might have already torn the toy to pieces.”
Cheng Mingjiao replied, “The teddy bear is made of special material. It would be difficult for them to damage it.”
“How do you know?” Zhang Xiyue asked.
“Because I was the one who gave it to her.”
Zhang Xiyue froze.
Cheng Mingjiao raised his head, his expression proud and haughty. “A birth gift.”
Zhang Xiyue was silent for a long time before continuing to search with him.
The forest after the rain smelled fresh, even the breeze carrying the scent of damp earth. It swept away the lingering moisture, blew away the clouds, and brought out the moon.
The kittens had all gone, but the two of them remained.
After another half hour of searching, Zhang Xiyue suddenly stiffened. “Mr. Cheng.”
“Hmm?” Cheng Mingjiao looked up.
Under the moonlight, Zhang Xiyue stared fixedly at him. “Mr. Cheng… don’t move.”
Cheng Mingjiao froze. His body gradually tensed. “Is there something behind me?”
Zhang Xiyue said nothing. She approached him cautiously.
Cheng Mingjiao slowly clenched his fists, his entire body tightening in the face of the unknown.
“What is it?” His voice was hoarse. “…A snake? A wild boar? A leopard? A badger?”
Cheng Mingjiao listed every dangerous animal commonly found on Lanlan Mountain, but Zhang Xiyue never responded.
“What exactly is—”
His patience finally ran out, and he was about to turn around when Zhang Xiyue suddenly leaped in front of him.
“It’s a bear!”
At the moment muddy water splashed everywhere, a filthy little teddy bear nearly poked Cheng Mingjiao in the face.
“Rawr~”
A filthy Zhang Xiyue, the beast emerging from the mountains.
A filthy Cheng Mingjiao, his heart suddenly racing.
