ARLQLCC chapter 13

 

A burst of angry kitten cries rang out in the cafeteria. The disciples closest to the serving area all lifted their heads from their trays and looked toward Su Ji.

Su Ji was immediately overwhelmed. He smiled apologetically at the disciples who had noticed, then carried the kitten to the back kitchen.

“Ma Tuan, stop yelling.” He raised one hand to cover Chu Zhaoye’s mouth. “Calm down!”

After his mouth was covered, Chu Zhaoye stopped meowing, but that did not stop him from being unhappy. He raised one paw and began writing on the back of Su Ji’s hand.

At first, Su Ji thought the kitten was just scratching randomly, but after feeling it for a moment, he realized that since he could not speak, he was trying to use words to make Su Ji understand what he meant.

The kitten wrote very slowly, so Su Ji patiently waited for him to finish.

After half a quarter of an hour, Chu Zhaoye finally managed to write out a sentence.

Su Ji connected the first character with the ones that followed, and slowly read it word by word in his mind: Yan Shao has improper intentions toward you. You need to stay away from that shameless scoundrel.

It was even followed by several exclamation marks.

Su Ji: “…”

The way Yan Shao looked at him was indeed a little different from everyone else. It was not as though Su Ji had never encountered pursuers before, but toward Yan Shao’s tentative behavior, like a young man secretly in love, Su Ji chose to pretend not to notice and had no intention of responding.

Perhaps after some time, once the novelty wore off, he would return to normal.

What Su Ji had not expected was that Chu Zhaoye would be so sensitive. Even while lying in the cashier area, he had observed Yan Shao’s expressions in such detail.

He grabbed the kitten’s two front paws and rubbed them, unable to hold back his laughter. “You can even write, Ma Tuan. You’re so educated.”

Chu Zhaoye let out an unhappy meow: This is not the time to praise me!

“Alright.” Su Ji said, “But I need to correct you on one thing. That’s not called improper intentions. At most, it could be called… secretly admiring someone? Hahahahahahahaha. Anyway, it’s not what you said.”

Chu Zhaoye nearly fainted from hearing this. To him, secretly admiring someone and harboring improper intentions were exactly the same thing. Yet Su Ji was laughing so happily, not caring at all about the life and death of this little kitten!

Su Ji laughed on and off for a while longer, then coughed twice and continued reasoning with him. “So what exactly are you angry about? Are you worried that I might also secretly admire him, and then I won’t want you anymore?”

Chu Zhaoye lay there with a flat expression and pulled his two paws out of Su Ji’s hands.

Su Ji quickly stopped him and grabbed his paws again. “Don’t be angry, don’t be angry. I won’t be stolen away.”

Chu Zhaoye looked at him. “Meow?”

Su Ji nodded. “Really. Leaving aside whether Yan Shao feels the way you think he does, even if he does, it doesn’t matter. Everyone has the right to like someone. As long as I don’t respond, that’s enough.

Besides, even if I really do have someone I like in the future and become Dao companions with them, I still won’t abandon you. So stop worrying, alright?”

After hearing his self-analysis, Chu Zhaoye felt even worse.

What did he mean by having someone he liked in the future?

What did he mean by becoming Dao companions?

Would Su Ji really have someone he liked in the future?

One question after another struck the little kitten like a series of blows and knocked him flat.

After staring blankly for a moment, he listlessly wrote on Su Ji’s hand again: Will you definitely have a Dao companion in the future?

Su Ji asked in confusion, “I can’t say for sure. But Ma Tuan, do you really care that much about whether I find a Dao companion?”

Chu Zhaoye was stumped by the question as well. He buried himself in Su Ji’s arms and made no sound, not writing another word for a long time.

Su Ji could only sigh helplessly at his silence, attributing Ma Tuan’s unusual behavior to the sensitivity of a young animal afraid of being abandoned.

After all, when he found Ma Tuan on Linggu Mountain, he had been wandering alone. If he had not been hungry, he probably would not have revealed himself so easily in front of Su Ji.

The more Su Ji thought about it, the more he felt that Ma Tuan’s sensitivity toward Dao companions might be because his previous owner had abandoned him after finding a partner. Otherwise, there was no explanation for why he was so resistant to the subject.

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Su Ji’s heart was filled with sympathy. He held the suddenly listless kitten and vigorously stroked his fur.

Nestled in Su Ji’s arms, Chu Zhaoye’s mind continued circling around the question Su Ji had asked.

Why did he care so much about whether Su Ji would have a Dao companion? Chu Zhaoye himself did not know.

From the moment he was born until now, over thousands of years, besides cultivating and fighting, he had almost no other forms of entertainment, let alone finding a Dao companion and engaging in romance.

But even if he had never eaten pork, he had at least seen pigs run. On the day his trusted subordinate held a Dao companion ceremony with his partner, Chu Zhaoye, as the leader of the demon race, not only attended but also offered his sincere blessings.

Although this was the only Dao companion ceremony he had attended in thousands of years, Chu Zhaoye knew very well what Dao companions did.

For example, they exchanged kisses when the ceremony was completed. They slept together every night in each other’s arms. When passion deepened, they shared the pleasures of love.

As soon as Chu Zhaoye imagined Su Ji doing these things in the future with some female cultivator or male cultivator, he felt that surge of anger become impossible to suppress, burning his heart, liver, spleen, stomach—every part of him felt uncomfortable.

If he had to explain why, it was probably because, after turning into a young cub, he had developed a kind of imprinting-like attachment toward Su Ji.

Even if that wasn’t the exact reason, it was probably close enough.

Chu Zhaoye thought uncertainly.

…

It was nearly time for afternoon classes, and most disciples returned to the sect whether they had lessons or not. Only Yun Xicheng and the others remained after eating, taking the initiative to help Su Ji wash dishes.

The Yunxian Sect had no classes scheduled that afternoon, and the disciples were free to cultivate on their own. Since they had nothing to do after returning, they chose to stay and help Su Ji.

After observing for two days, they had noticed that aside from Su Ji, the entire cafeteria had only one kitten collecting payments.

As the chef, Su Ji had to handle all the ingredient preparation and cooking. Serving food was also his responsibility. After they left, he would probably still need to wash dishes and scrub pots.

Thinking about it that way, it seemed even more exhausting than attending classes and cultivating every day.

Yun Xicheng was considered one of the faster cultivators among the younger generation of the Yunxian Sect. Last month, he had already reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, only one step away from forming a Nascent Soul and officially entering another realm.

In the cultivation world, unless a cultivator used a magical artifact to conceal their cultivation, those with higher cultivation could easily see the level of those below them.

Yet over these past few days of interacting with Su Ji, Yun Xicheng had been unable to discern Su Ji’s current cultivation level.

If it was not due to a magical artifact, then Su Ji’s cultivation was far above his own.

Yun Xicheng had inherited his parents’ talent and enjoyed the top resources of the entire Yunxian Sect. Reaching Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage had not been easy. Su Ji was not much older than him, yet he could manage such a busy workload and still find time to cultivate. Yun Xicheng truly admired him.

Being able to become friends with someone like that would be a wonderful thing.

So staying behind to help a good friend wash dishes was only natural.

Yun Xicheng led the others to the back kitchen and found Su Ji focused intently on coaxing the cat, his expression so gentle it seemed as though water could drip from it.

After watching quietly for a moment, Yun Xicheng coughed and said, “Chef Su, we don’t have classes this afternoon, so we came to help wash the dishes.”

Hearing him, Su Ji looked up. Seeing several familiar faces filling the kitchen doorway, he was momentarily stunned and reflexively declined, “No need. I can do it myself. Thank you.”

Yun Xicheng waved his hand carelessly. “What’s the big deal? With this many trays, how long would it take you to wash them alone? We happen to be free today, and we’re just be idle anyway, so we might as well help. We’re all friends.

“The few of us have all been punished with dishwashing before, so we have experience. You don’t need to worry about that!”

The female disciple with very picky tastes, named Yue He, poked her head out from behind Yun Xicheng and said, “That’s right, Chef Su. We’re all volunteering to help, so don’t turn us away!”

Yun Che also nodded. “Exactly. The kitten is throwing a tantrum, so you can focus on comforting him. We’ll handle the rest.”

While they were speaking, Yan Shao had already carried some of the dirty dishes from the tray return area into the kitchen. He echoed, “Th-that’s right. Just focus on comforting the cat!”

Chu Zhaoye: “…” What does Su Ji comforting me have to do with any of you? Why are all of you so talkative!

Su Ji was both amused and helpless. Seeing them enthusiastically starting to fill basins with water and wash dishes, he had no choice but to accept their kindness. “Then thank you all. Would you like to stay for dinner tonight? Consider it my thanks for helping me wash the dishes.”

“Of course!”

The group answered in unison, the expressions on their faces so happy that they could not even find north.[mfn]樂得找不着北 is an idiom meaning someone is so happy they lost their sense of direction (literally “so happy they couldn’t find north”)[/mfn]

Chu Zhaoye: “…”

Looking at Yan Shao, who was smiling the most brightly, the little emotions that had just been soothed began to sour again.

Su Ji had been paying attention to him the whole time. Seeing this, he immediately lowered his head and softly reassured him, “It’s just a meal with a lot of people. Nothing like what you’re imagining will happen.”

Chu Zhaoye unhappily pawed at Su Ji’s palm and grumbled inwardly: If I could turn back into human form right now, when would it ever be your turn to wash dishes!

But Su Ji usually had to cook and wash dishes, which was indeed exhausting. Now that people were willing to help lighten the burden, Chu Zhaoye was still happy to see it.

Meanwhile, Yun Xicheng washed dishes with great enthusiasm and still found time to chat with Su Ji. “Chef Su, what are we eating tonight?”

Su Ji replied, “Don’t call me Chef Su. Just call me by my name. We’re having hot pot tonight. Can you all eat spicy food?”

The group answered in unison once more, “Yes, yes, yes!”

Su Ji laughed. “Good. Then tell me what ingredients you like, and I’ll prepare them.”

Yun Xicheng was the first to speak. “Any kind of fish or shrimp!”

Yun Che said, “I want potatoes and lettuce!”

Yue He said, “Tofu skin! Beef balls!”

Yan Shao smiled foolishly. “I-I eat everything.”

Su Ji responded, “Alright. I’ll prepare some other ingredients too. Tonight everyone can eat their fill!”

Yue He stamped her feet excitedly. “I never thought we’d get a free meal too. Washing these dishes is so worth it!”

Yun Xicheng suggested, “Several of our afternoons are free anyway. Why don’t we stay after lunch and help wash dishes? It won’t take long!”

Yun Che exposed him at once. “I think you just want to stay and mooch meals!”

“Hey, what’s wrong with you! Just tell me whether you agree or not!” Yun Xicheng kicked at him, but Yun Che dodged nimbly.

Yue He and Yan Shao had no objections and immediately agreed.

Wash dishes once and get a free meal—it was definitely worth it!

Su Ji did not mind whether they mooched meals or not, but he was naturally happy to have help with the dishes. “It’s fine. Mooch as much as you like. It’s more lively when lots of people eat together.”

“Yay!”

“Thank you, Chef Su!”

“We won’t eat for free either. We’ll wash the dinner dishes too!”

Chu Zhaoye felt numb from listening to them.

 

Author’s Note:

Right now, he needs his wife to coax him every day. After his identity is revealed, he’ll be coaxing his wife every day.

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