The Unlucky Black Cat

chapter 13

At night, He Wen still went to bed very late. He had no intention of resting until Jiang Sheng fell asleep. It wasn't until the next morning when Jiang Sheng woke up leisurely between stacks of books and game discs that he saw He Wen sleeping soundly on the bed. The young man hadn't even changed his clothes, which he had worn for two days. His hair was messy, as if he had simply thrown himself onto the bed after taking off his shoes. There was no attempt to tidy his appearance; he was truly unkempt. It was evident that He Wen had stayed up late again last night. This made his face look even more fatigued. Even in deep sleep, his brows remained tightly furrowed, as if he were having a bad dream. He Wen's room was not large, or rather, it was quite small. A single bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom—it was a common layout for an apartment rental. Therefore, Jiang Sheng could see the entire room at a glance. This was probably the first time it had idly observed the room's furnishings. The black cat and the young man slept in the same bedroom, which also served as a study and living room. The computer was placed under a poster to the right of the window, and on the balcony to the left, the potted plant was still barely alive, drooping. Apart from the bed, the largest piece of furniture in the room was the bookshelf beside the door, which occupied most of the wall. However, there weren't many books on the shelves; most of the spaces were filled with odd trinkets. Such as toys, figurines, metal crafts, and so on. Quite eclectic tastes. As Jiang Sheng thought this, he glanced at the clock by the bedside. At this point, the hour hand was pointing to half past eleven in the morning, yet the young man on the bed showed no signs of waking up. From the document still open on the computer, it seemed he had just gone to bed. He rarely went out, didn't interact with people, had no particular hobbies, stayed up late, and lived almost in isolation. Summarizing the observations made over the past two days about the young man's daily life, Jiang Sheng gradually came to a realization. Even without the entanglement of resentment, living like this was definitely unsustainable. In such a confined space, immersed in his own world, torturing himself with his words and works, he would eventually drive himself to a dead end. After all, humans are social creatures; it is hard to exist outside of a group and impossible to survive alone. Just like if someone were completely isolated, without communication or entertainment, and prevented from interacting with others, they would go mad soon enough. Although the young man's body was not restrained, on a mental level, he might have built walls around himself. Sigh, but maybe I'm thinking too much. Considering that I've only known him for two days, I don't really understand him yet. Jiang Sheng didn't think about it further, slowly getting up from the ground and silently circling around the young man's bed. It was observing the resentment on the young man. The black mist coiling around his neck was now visibly fainter. Meanwhile, the "misfortune" Jiang Sheng carried had become denser. Hmm, yesterday's progress seems to have been greater than the day before. Is it related to his emotions? Recalling the brief relaxation during dinner the other day, and the barely perceptible loosening of the resentment at that moment, Jiang Sheng pondered. If resentment is indeed influenced by personal emotions, should I help adjust his lifestyle so that I can leave sooner? After all, the black cat still doesn't know how the resentment got attached to the young man. Thinking about it now, perhaps it should address the root cause. But why did the resentment choose him among so many people with negative emotions? Could it be because he hardly goes out? Does resentment fear sunlight? That can't be right; the thing on me has never avoided sunlight. Then, could it be that resentment deliberately avoids overly crowded areas? Or densely populated areas with unstable emotions? Jiang Sheng, with its whiskers twitching, ultimately drew no conclusions. Admittedly, some things cannot be solved by mere speculation. However, since there is a direction to investigate, it's worth trying. After all, even if it's wrong, there's no loss. Idly observing the young man sprawled on the bed like a puddle of mud,Jiang Sheng also felt that he needed to go out for a walk; otherwise, he might die without anyone knowing.

...

"Your meaning is, you want me to take you out?"

Looking at the black cat in front of him, continuously pacing by the door, tugging at his pant leg, and making a hissing sound.

He Wen's expression was somewhat odd.

In his impression, cats were not animals that liked to run around.

"Mew."

Faced with He Wen's question, Jiang Sheng lifted his head and meowed, as if affirming something or just doing it unconsciously. It was between understanding human speech and not understanding it.

Vaguely conveying his intention but not appearing too abnormal.

"Well, I can do that." Thanks to He Wen's habit of talking to himself, he could somewhat "communicate" with Jiang Sheng.

"But you'll have to wait until I finish my work." Picking up a teacup casually, he poured himself some water and said while soothing his throat.

He had just taken on a job yesterday, writing an escape room script for some activity room. The pay was not much, but being adopted would mean some income.

So his original plan for today was to outline the script in the afternoon and write a chapter of a novel in the evening.

But since Jiang Sheng wanted to go out, he could spare some time to accompany the black cat for a stroll.

"Mew."

However, the next moment, the black cat meowed again, unwilling to give up.

Its purpose was merely to have the young man eat lunch outside and thereby verify its own guess.

Of course, if possible, it did not mind correcting the young man's schedule as well.

Therefore, it could not wait for He Wen to finish his work, because from the other party's performance over the past two days, waiting for him to finish would mean it was time for a late-night snack.

Let's go out first. Eating a meal wouldn't delay anything.

Staring at the young man with those dark yellow eyes, Jiang Sheng seemed to be trying to convey his message this way.