A Frightened Kitten and Lingering Shadows

As December approached in the northern city, a bone-chilling cold permeated the air, despite the bright sunshine.

Amidst the dense shrubs, Jiang Yan spotted a small, trembling creature.

Its white fur was matted with dry leaves, scattered debris, and dusty spiderwebs; Jiang Yan wondered where the mischievous little creature had been in such a short span of time.

With wide, grey-blue eyes filled with terror, it warily observed the large head looming before it.

‘Is this your home?’ Jiang Yan murmured, noticing a very dirty woolen scarf tucked deep within the shrubs, its size suggesting it belonged to a child.

Perhaps a child, visiting the hospital and forbidden from keeping cats at home, had left their warm scarf for the kitten.

‘Come here, you poor little thing,’ Jiang Yan coaxed gently, offering a warm, approachable smile. ‘Will you keep another poor little one company?’

‘Meow…’ The kitten, not comprehending, hunched its back with a stiff tail, burying its head into the dirty scarf and nudging frantically, attempting to conceal itself.

‘So silly, huh,’ Jiang Yan chuckled softly. Disregarding the thorny branches and dust-laden leaves, he rolled up his sleeves and reached in with a large hand, gently grasping the tiny white kitten. ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,’ he soothed. ‘You have a home now; you won’t go hungry or cold anymore.’

Caught by the hand, the kitten immediately struggled fiercely.

It first clawed frantically at the scarf, letting out terrified cries.

Realizing its target was behind it, it deftly twisted around, furiously scratching Jiang Yan’s hand.

‘Hiss…’ Jiang Yan winced in pain, almost releasing the kitten.

Yet, with his solid martial arts foundation, he swiftly pulled the creature from the shrubs.

He then quickly tightened the scarf still hooked on its claws, and with a few deft movements of one hand, restrained the frightened kitten’s paws.

‘Quite formidable, little one,’ Jiang Yan remarked, observing the dozens of long scratches on his hand, where tiny beads of blood were slowly oozing out. It truly stung.

He gazed at the frantically meowing white kitten, feeling as though he were afflicted with some peculiar malady. Could he truly go to such lengths, all simply because Lin Yu liked it?

Moving his arm, he found that it, too, throbbed with pain.

Earlier, when he had helped Lin Yu into the car, Lin Yu’s unconscious grasp, driven by pain, had left a large, bruised patch on his arm, even through his thin velvet loungewear.

‘I didn’t actually fall in love with this poor little thing at first sight, did I?’ Jiang Yan mused. ‘This obsession is quite deep, isn’t it?’ He found the entire situation utterly unbelievable.

He let out a self-deprecating laugh.

‘Meow-ow, meow-ow—’ The white kitten cried even more miserably, utterly terrified.

Jiang Yan looked down at it, discovering several dark, crusted bloodstains already scabbed over on the kitten’s tail base and right hind leg.

The wounds were covered with small clumps of dirt and the bodies of tiny insects, its fur matted in sticky clumps.

The dim light within the shrubs had previously obscured his view, leading Jiang Yan to believe the kitten was merely dirty.

Observing the scabbed wounds, he noted they bore a striking resemblance to cuts inflicted by a small knife.

‘Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were injured,’ he apologized softly. No wonder it had cried so miserably; he had inadvertently caused the little creature more pain.

A wave of profound pity washed over Jiang Yan.

Ignoring the bleeding on his hand, he cradled the kitten with one hand, while gently holding it with the other to prevent any chance of escape.

‘Who could be so heartless as to bully a stray cat?’ Jiang Yan cooed, soothing the creature. ‘Good kitty, I’ll take you to the vet.’

****

Nestled on the soft, comfortable sofa, Lin Yu browsed through channels, unsure what to watch, before unconsciously finding himself searching for Jiang Yan’s movies.

He particularly loved Jiang Yan’s historical portrayals; whether an ethereal immortal lord or a formidable demon sovereign radiating malevolence, Jiang Yan embodied them all with compelling depth.

Even when portraying a naive scholar fresh to the world, he captured the role with remarkable precision.

He was, truly, born for the big screen.

The moment Jiang Yan’s face appeared on the television screen, a slight, unconscious curve touched Lin Yu’s lips.

He recalled how he used to love watching Jiang Yan’s movies with his grandmother.

His grandmother often used to say, ‘This young man is so spirited and looks genuinely righteous.’

To have his most beloved family member also admire the idol he most appreciated and worshipped filled Lin Yu with boundless joy.

Lin Yu could recite every line of Jiang Yan’s dialogue in the movie by heart.

Yet, as he watched the movie today, his mind kept wandering.

A peculiar sensation settled over him.

Jiang Yan was actually right beside him, yet he was still watching his image on the television.

It all felt surreal, like a dream.

He still found himself slightly disbelieving that this was truly real.

Lin Yu picked up his phone, gazing at the sole contact in his WeChat.

It was a simple ocean avatar, with the nickname being Jiang Yan’s initials, JY.

His own nickname was LY.

And his avatar, too, was an ocean.

An inexplicable, strange feeling arose within Lin Yu’s heart.

‘Couple avatars,’ ‘couple names’—the two phrases abruptly sprang to mind.

‘What am I thinking?’

Lin Yu felt as if he were going mad.

He set his phone aside and resumed watching the movie.

However, his mind wasn’t following the plot in the slightest; instead, it drifted back to the past.

It wasn’t that he didn’t possess a phone; Cai Xinyu had simply confiscated it later.

Lin Yu’s family was impoverished, a fact known throughout the village, and many neighbors, witnessing the hardships faced by the grandparents and grandson, would always extend a helping hand.

Later, upon his acceptance into high school, he went to board in the neighboring town, where his great-uncle bought him a more affordable phone.

He was told to call his great-uncle if anything happened, and his great-uncle would then bring the phone to his grandmother.

The two families lived close by, and Lin Yu had received much care from his great-uncle since childhood, almost revering him as his own grandfather.

Throughout his three years of high school, Lin Yu’s academic performance was consistently outstanding; he earned numerous scholarships and even tutored, managing to accrue some savings.

Just as he believed better days were finally within reach, his grandmother suffered a sudden heart attack.

The village’s barefoot doctor was utterly clueless regarding treatment, and the small town hospital, fearing the complexity, dared not intervene, instead advising them to seek care at a larger city hospital.

‘Grandma… I miss you so much,’ Lin Yu murmured, his eyes welling up.

He felt powerless, unable to earn enough money for the medical expenses, and to make matters worse, he had encountered scum like Cai Xinyu.

At first, Cai Xinyu had been completely compliant and caring towards Lin Yu.

However, after bringing Lin Yu home, he tricked him into handing over his ID card and high school diploma, claiming he would keep them safe, but in reality, it was a insidious form of personal control.

He restricted Lin Yu from leaving the house, forbidding him even from greeting neighbors.

He monitored his phone, installed tracking devices, deleted all his contacts, and ensured Cai Xinyu was the only person he could communicate with.

Lin Yu was forbidden from installing social media apps on his phone, from chatting with classmates, and could only download offline games.

Lin Yu found himself literally imprisoned by Cai Xinyu, yet for the sake of his grandmother’s medical expenses, he offered no resistance.

As long as Cai Xinyu allowed him to visit his grandmother at the nursing home once a month, and grudgingly bought her medicine, Lin Yu would endure anything.

Cai Xinyu considered Lin Yu’s grandmother an unbearable burden, and without any consultation whatsoever, he directly sent her to a nursing home.

That day, in broad daylight, Cai Xinyu, overcome by his base desires, ordered Lin Yu to take a shower.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he found his grandmother gone and anxiously inquired about her whereabouts.

Cai Xinyu roughly tore open his bathrobe and nonchalantly announced that the old woman had been sent to a nursing home, having just been picked up by a car.

Hearing this news, Lin Yu was frantic.

‘How could you send my grandmother to a nursing home!’ Lin Yu cried, struggling against Cai Xinyu’s brutal assault. ‘If you don’t like her, I can take her away!’

Cai Xinyu forcefully pinned him down, savagely clutching Lin Yu’s neck, his face contorted in vicious anger. ‘Shut up! If you dare to ruin my mood again, I’ll have them throw your grandmother on the roadside to fend for herself!’

‘No! Don’t!’ Lin Yu sobbed uncontrollably.

He desperately fought against Cai Xinyu, who was excitedly assaulting him, and grabbed the glass cup from the bedside table, smashing it fiercely at the pervert.

‘Son of a b*tch!’ Cai Xinyu’s forehead throbbed with excruciating pain, and his vision swam with stars.

He slapped Lin Yu, who was trying to get dressed.

Then, he violently shattered the glass cup, grabbed Lin Yu by the hair, stripped him naked again, and continued his assault.

Lin Yu, inherently weak due to his poor hematopoietic function, lacked the strength to overpower Cai Xinyu, a crude man half a head taller than him.

He was forced to his knees, utterly consumed by humiliation.

‘Lin Yu, don’t be ungrateful!’ Cai Xinyu spat. ‘If it weren’t for your pretty face, making people envy me when I take you out, I wouldn’t bother keeping a piece of trash like you, let alone paying for that old hag’s medical treatment.’

‘Heh…’ Pretty face, huh?

Lin Yu’s knees ached painfully from being scraped against the hard, cold floor tiles.

He bit down hard on his lower lip, then erupted.

Looking at the glass shards before him, he picked one up and fiercely slashed it across his face. ‘Cai Xinyu! I’m disfigured! Let me go! I want to find my grandmother!’ he screamed in rage.

‘Damn it! Damn it!’ Cai Xinyu, in the throes of passion, saw the blood gushing from Lin Yu’s face and immediately went limp with shock.

He yanked Lin Yu up, threw him onto the bed, and roared furiously, ‘You bastard! Lin Yu! I’m warning you! If you dare to harm your face again, I’ll stop your grandmother’s medicine!’

‘Cai Xinyu! I don’t need you to buy medicine for my grandmother anymore! I’ll slowly repay the money I owe you! I’ll go out and work to earn money for my grandmother myself! Just let me go, let me go!’

This was not the first time Lin Yu had tried to break up with Cai Xinyu.

But he had never succeeded.

After Lin Yu’s first attempt to break up, Cai Xinyu had completely stripped him of his freedom.

Every time he went to work, he would lock the main door and confiscate Lin Yu’s phone.

Lin Yu couldn’t escape; there was no way out.

His grandmother blamed herself for his predicament. ‘If it weren’t for my illness, how could this beast have bullied you so!’

She cried almost every day, her eyes ruined from the constant tears.

To punish Lin Yu, Cai Xinyu truly withheld his grandmother’s medicine during one of her heart episodes.

Lin Yu knelt in the nursing home, begging him, but Cai Xinyu viciously asked, ‘Will you still dare to disobey me? Will you still talk about breaking up? Do you want to disfigure yourself?’

Helpless and despairing, Lin Yu shook his head frantically. ‘No, never again, please give Grandma her medicine!’

Only then was Cai Xinyu satisfied, tossing the medicine onto the ground as if bestowing a favor upon a dog.

He contacted the best plastic surgeon in H City to repair the scars on Lin Yu’s face, leaving no trace.

Whenever he gathered with his unsavory friends, he would make Lin Yu appear, showing him off with immense pride.

Every day of Lin Yu’s life was filled with utter despair.

He persevered, for his grandmother’s health. But his grandmother, who had depended on him, didn’t want to burden him and simply passed away.

Lin Yu’s world collapsed.

Cai Xinyu, though impatient, wasn’t entirely devoid of humanity; he took Lin Yu back to his hometown to handle the funeral arrangements.

After his grandmother was buried, Cai Xinyu resumed his absolute possessive imprisonment of Lin Yu.

This was because Lin Yu had attempted to escape several times.

He tied Lin Yu with a chained lock, leaving just enough length to reach the restroom.

In Lin Yu’s hometown, there was a custom of observing a vegetarian diet and mourning for a month after the seventh day of a person’s passing.

So, a month later, after completing his mourning, on that very night—his birthday—he used a hidden wire to pick the lock on his chain.

Lin Yu, dragging his weakened body, grabbed a cleaver and hacked at the main door for over twenty minutes, eventually escaping.

He intended to commit suicide, to reunite with his grandmother.

He didn’t want to die in Cai Xinyu’s utterly repulsive home; he wanted his body to retain one last shred of ‘cleanliness.’

Therefore, when Cai Xinyu learned of his hospitalization, he was furious, rudely pulling out the IV needle, impatient to take him home.

After all, in his eyes, Lin Yu had ‘escaped,’ and this greatly displeased him.

Recalling all this, Lin Yu’s despair and sorrow were inexpressible, half of his pillow already soaked with tears.

His grandmother often said, ‘Xiaoyu, a man doesn’t easily shed tears!’

So he rarely cried, always listening to his grandmother’s words.

But now that his grandmother was gone, what was the use of listening?

He didn’t know how long he had cried; feeling utterly exhausted, Lin Yu curled into a tiny ball and fell asleep.

When Jiang Yan returned to the hospital room around four in the afternoon, he found Lin Yu in the living room, eyes swollen and looking utterly fatigued, sleeping restlessly, seemingly caught in a string of nightmares.

How could one person be so pitiful as to seize his heart so fiercely, refusing to let go?

He pressed a hand to his chest, composing himself. Jiang Yan turned to the seven or eight people behind him, making a ‘shush’ gesture. ‘Quietly, gently, don’t wake him.’

The tall bodyguards, laden with cakes, gifts, and the kitten’s cage, nodded, each tiptoeing into the hospital room, slowing their movements to arrange the birthday decorations.