Chapter 66

Act VIII: The Cat Who Wants To Become Human (10)

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The small rectangular box held the sincere heart of the boy.

But when Xiang Cai stared at the box, he saw not only a sweet candy, but the promise he couldn't give under the sugar coating.

Everyone around was applauding, shouting, "Promise him, promise him!"

Xiang Cai was surrounded by smiling faces. A red banner hung on the wall behind them, which read ‘Friendship first, competition second! Welcoming the seniors of the provincial team to our school to give guidance.’

There were only a few of them in the whole gymnasium, but the enthusiasm that spread filled it up.

Xiang Cai was also burned by this enthusiasm.

As he stared at the silver key, a voice in his heart kept saying - accept it, accept him, are you willing to make Cen Manchuan look bad in front of so many people? He chose to offer a promise to you at such a monumental moment. Don't you see how much he values you? It’s not that he doesn’t love you, he is just using the wrong method; he is still young, you can spend a lifetime with him growing up...

Xiang Cai seemed to be bewitched by that voice.

He stretched out his hand, his fingertips getting closer and closer to the silver-white key, while the light in Cen Manchuan's eyes grew brighter.

—The next second, Xiang Cai’s fingers crossed over the box, directly grabbing the basketball boy's wrist.

Don't look at Xiang Cai as very thin, in fact, he had great strength and could easily lift up his female dance partner.

Cen Manchuan was caught off guard and subconsciously stood up, stunned.

"Follow me," Xiang Cai whispered, and then tightly grasped his lover's wrist, leading him towards the lounge.

Cen Manchuan was led by him in a daze. He felt that Xiang Cai’s face was a bit wrong, but when he looked down at their clasped hands, felt that he was thinking too much.

On the court, the young people watching this scene were stunned. They were still holding their mobile phones, looking left and right with blank expressions.

Several basketball players whispered to each other, asking each other, "So was that a promise or not?"

"It must have been a promise. The captain’s lover is probably shy, it is estimated that the young couple wants to 'communicate' in private."

"Damn, you are so disgusting...I have pictures!"

The few boys talked and laughed, saying the jokes that boys of their age loved to say.

Instead, their girlfriends standing on the sidelines exchanged anxious glances that only girls understood.

...

This was the first time that Xiang Cai had entered the basketball team's lounge.

Since this was their home court, then naturally, their home lounge was also used. There were rows of lockers standing against the wall, and beside them were two rows of resting chairs, along with a mobile blackboard for the coaches to write and draw on. Because it was the graduation season, there were many decorations on the wall, like balloons, banners, colorful flowers ... The photo of the basketball team was hung in the middle of the wall. In the photo, Cen Manchuan stood in the front row, holding a golden trophy in his hands with everyone crowded around him.

Xiang Cai stopped there.

He turned to look at Cen Manchuan. The boy was stubbornly holding up the small box. Each of the two keys were covered with a round key ring, like rings.

Cen Manchuan leaned over and pressed him onto the photo poster that was magnified countless times. He lowered his head, wanting to kiss him.

The big boy made a low grunt and said vaguely, "Cai Cai, I ..."

However, without waiting for their lips to overlap, Xiang Cai suddenly held his shoulder, and then pushed him away, slowly but firmly.

"Manchuan.” Xiang Cai looked up at his lover who never grew up, and said softly, "I'm sorry."

"...?" Cen Manchuan was stunned.

Xiang Cai repeated again: "Sorry, I can't live with you."

"..." Cen Manchuan's Adam's apple rolled. He said like a lost puppy, innocent and pitiful, "Why?" He asked puzzledly, "Have you already found a roommate?"

Xiang Cai shook his head.

His eyes were full of apologies. The sentence choked his throat; he knew that he was holding a sharp blade in his hand, and with the gentlest movement, this sharp blade would hurt them both.

In the end, he chose to harden his heart and be the bad guy. He said, "Manchuan, you are a very nice person, but I ..."

The rest was abruptly stopped.

Before Xiang Cai could even finish the remaining words, the basketball boy seemed to have a premonition, and his eyes began turning red.

After being in love for three months, Xiang Cai had seen various expressions on Cen Manchuan’s face. But this was the first time Xiang Cai had seen such a mixed expression of loss and pain. In an instant, the sunlight from his body was sucked away.

"You don't need to say any more." The smile on Cen Manchuan's face was stiff: "'You're a good person, but ...' I've heard this sentence many times."

This was the opening statement each time he was dumped. Cen Manchuan knew what was waiting for him after the turning point.

Xiang Cai: "..."

Cen Manchuan looked at him, as if he was looking at a high-numerical problem that puzzled him - no, at least the math problems that appeared in textbooks had answers, but with Xiang Cai, he had no solution steps to refer to.

"Why?" Cen Manchuan looked at the small brocade box in his palm. His hands were big enough to hold an entire basketball, but he couldn’t hold such a small box. "Cai Cai, what am I doing wrong?"

He racked his brains, recalling every bit of the last three months: "Is it because I fall asleep while watching musicals? Is it because you don’t like that I have had many girlfriends before? Or is it because I spent too much time with my brothers and not enough time with you?"

He said a lot of reasons, but none that Xiang Cai really cared about.

He fell in love with Xiang Cai at first sight. After being shot by cupid’s arrow of love, he did not even consider the so-called gender issue at all. He had never pursued a person so seriously, and he tried his best in treating Xiang Cai well. However, everything he took out was not what Xiang Cai needed.

"Manchuan, the things you said are not important." Xiang Cai said to him, "I want something else."

"What else?" Cen Manchuan was even more confused. "I introduced you to my brothers, to my teammates, and even rented a house! I did so much to stay with you, which part is not enough?"

Xiang Cai shook his head: "I never cared what the people around you thought about our relationship, but how you thought about our relationship."

Seeing that Cen Manchuan still didn't understand, Xiang Cai could only tell him all the words he had pressed into his heart one by one.

Xiang Cai mentioned the ‘abnormal’, ‘when the boat reaches that bridge’, mentioned Cen Manchuan's unplanned expenses, his sold motorcycle, and ... this situation at the gym that scared him more than pleasantly surprised him.

"Manchuan, I’ve severed my relationship with my family and few friends ... you are the second person to break into my world, into my lonely life."

Xiang Cai called his name again: "Manchuan, you are different from me. When I was in high school, I was sure that I liked men, while you used to date girls. You don't know how difficult the homosexual road is. Because of this difficulty, it is necessary to plan well,” Xiang Cai said. "But I don’t see your plans for us in the future.”

“Future?” This word caused Cen Manchuan’s brows to furrow. He looked at the key in the palm of his hand. He thought that paying the rent for several months, was ‘future’. But now he discovered that the ‘future’ that Xiang Cai needed was far beyond his imagination.

"But ..." The aggrieved basketball boy argued using his reason, "We are only in our twenties. We can still live at least sixty more years. Why should we consider things sixty years early?"

"You're right. You have more than sixty years left in your life. You don't need to think about things so far away." Xiang Cai raised the other’s head to look up at him, reached out to support his chin, and gently stroked the side of his face. “But my life ended as early as the day of the car accident. Every day I spend now is an extra gift from fate. Because it is so precious, I have to think clearly about every step I take."

"..."

"I don't know how long my life will be, but I know where it ends. I hope that every day I spend, I become one step closer to my goal."

He and Cen Manchuan were like two rays that briefly intersected. They were attracted to each other's traits that were completely opposite to themselves, but would eventually drift away.

If he could, Xiang Cai really hoped that Cen Manchuan could always maintain this optimistic heart. At the same time, he also hoped that Cen Manchuan could find another person to appreciate, tolerate and spoil his innocence.

As for himself ...

Xiang Cai laughed; he found that someone who ‘thought too much’ like himself was probably not suitable for dating.

He was always worried about this and that, and it was difficult for him to go ‘crazy in love’ like his peers. And this problem began to emerge five years ago.

Xiang Cai opened his backpack and put the letter he wrote into Cen Manchuan's palm.

"Manchuan, this letter is the last gift I’m leaving to you." Xiang Cai said, "I like you just like you like me. But in a relationship, just liking is not enough."

The second thing that Xiang Cai took out was a neatly folded, washed basketball jersey.

Xiang Cai hadn't worn it yet, but the vest was soaked with his favorite laundry detergent, so the fragrance of Xiang Cai still remained.

Cen Manchuan accepted the letter, but he did not receive the jersey.

He allowed the jersey to slip between them, fluttering and falling to the ground.

That jersey was exactly the same as the one Cen Manchuan was wearing now. It held his name and his number, but it was much older.

His tears slipped drop by drop. This basketball boy, who hardly flinched even if he lost points on the court, had never been so uncomfortable as when he was looking at the returned jersey.

With tears in his eyes, he looked down at Xiang Cai. His eyes were red as he passed by him.

"Xiang Cai," he shouted.

Xiang Cai stopped.

This was the first and last time Xiang Cai heard Cen Manchuan say his full name with that tone.

Xiang Cai didn't turn around, only saying, "Huh?"

"... I told you," said the proud and sunny boy, "that with every ex-girlfriend who broke up with me, I would ask them if they could continue to be friends with me after breaking up."

"..."

"But I don't want to ask you this sentence anymore."

"..."

Because he had really fallen fallen in love, he couldn’t be friends after parting.

※

This breakup, for Xiang Cai, was like retreating from the sun back into the shadows.

After all, he had really liked Cen Manchuan. He had drawn sunlight from that boy and was burned by the sunlight.

But as a musical actor, he didn't have so much time to immerse himself in the pain. When he stood on the stage, he could only be the person in the play. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to fall in love, he wanted to dance and sing happily.

He became visibly thinner, and when Chen Ziran took the time to watch him rehearse, he was startled by his thin cheeks.

"...Weren’t you the one who brought up breaking up?" Chen Ziran said, "You now look like the one who was dumped!"

Xiang Cai shook his head: "You haven't been in a relationship, you don't understand."

"Yes, yes, I don't understand. Seeing you like this, I don't want to fall in love in my life!"

Xiang Cai smiled: "I don't want to either."

"...What???"

"I'm serious." Xiang Cai said, "I found that it is too difficult to enter a relationship or leave a relationship. I just want to work hard, I don't want to think about things other than work."

Chen Ziran was frightened. For fear that his old classmate couldn't focus because of emotional problems, he insisted on dragging him out to eat and drink and relax.

Xiang Cai directly refused: "No, my show is still in the rehearsal period, we have no salary. Even if I made up for it with my 30 yuan a day, I still wouldn’t have money to go to the restaurant with you."

Although Chen Ziran was a big star, every time they went out to eat, Xiang Cai insisted on splitting the bill, and refused to take advantage of his old classmate. In the beginning, Chen Ziran still blamed him for his talents, but he had no choice when Xiang Cai had such a character. He always invited others, but never let others invite him.

Chen Ziran asked, "Why don't you have money, aren't you known as a little money saver? What about your small vault?"

Xiang Cai shrugged: "The small vault is empty."

"...?"

"My ex-boyfriend sold the motorcycle that his parents gave him in order to rent a house to live with me. After we broke up, the house had not even been stayed in for a day, but the horrible agent refused to refund him ..." Xiang Cai said guiltily, "I- I owed him too much, so I bought his motorcycle back."

Chen Ziran jumped to his feet: "You are really a wooden club!!"

[T/N: wooden club = to call someone simple-minded, or just dumb]

After breaking up, Xiang Cai contacted Old Gao and hairy thighs. Resisting their scorning, he asked for the buyer's contact information. He said what he needed to say and paid an additional 2,000 yuan before he could buy the motorcycle and send it back to Cen Manchuan.

It wasn’t until that moment that the burden on Xiang Cai’s heart was really put down.

But in this way, the small vault in Xiang Cai’s hands almost bottomed out.

Before the musical was officially on the stage and he could get the performance fee, he must make careful calculations in order to live on.

When Chen Ziran heard this, he hurriedly asked him, "What about you renting a house? Weren’t you going to move out of the school dormitory at the end of August?"

"I still have the money for rent." Xiang Cai said, "I have saved three months worth of rent, but that won’t pay for much in Huacheng, which is pricey. The houses near the rehearsal hall are all too expensive. "

"If you're short of money, just speak!" Chen Ziran patted his chest, "I, a little master, don’t have much of anything except for money!"

"That's not necessary." Xiang Cai smiled, "I'm looking for it slowly. Even if I can't find a nearby house, I can find it if I look further away."

The two of them were talking when Xiang Cai’s phone rang.

The three words ‘Agent Xiao Wu’ jumped enthusiastically on the screen.

Xiang Cai quickly picked up his phone.

"Hello, Mr. Xiang? I have good news for you!" Xiao Wu said in a cheerful voice, "I found a house that meets your needs!"

There was the sound of a chair moving and walking from the other end of the phone. It sounded as if Xiao Wu was avoiding the other salesmen and secretly sending him news.

"Just now, a gentleman came to find us to rent out a room. At first glance, he is a cultured person with a very good temperament! He is the landlord and wants to rent out his second bedroom. The house was just renovated last year and the price is reasonable. But the contract is required to be signed for more than one year! "

Xiang Cai’s eyes were bright; bet one pay one? This couldn't be more appropriate for the nature of his work.

[T/N: bet one pay one = something like paying each month’s rent a month ahead for a year. If something happens, the money they paid for the next month will be kept by the landlord. If nothing happens, they will receive the extra month’s money back. (or something.)]

However, Xiang Cai recently viewed a lot of houses and deeply realized that ‘there was no cheap lunch in this world’. If a house had cheap rent, there must be a reason for it to be cheap. The traffic was inconvenient, the interior was old, there were too many roommates... Xiang Cai didn’t believe that such an exciting house for the agent would have no shortcomings.

Sure enough, the agent quickly entered the conditions.

"Because you would be living with the landlord, the landlord has a request—" Xiao Wu laughed, "—He is asking for a clean and quiet roommate, and that they will occasionally take the company's guard pet home to take a bath. He hopes the tenant will accept this."

"What guard pet?" Xiang Cai asked cautiously. "Could it be a large dog? A Tibetan mastiff?"

"No, no, no, he said that his pet is gentle, just a little ugly."

"... Go ahead, I'm mentally prepared."

"I wonder if Mr. Xiang is afraid of lizards?"

"..." Xiang Cai thought of his small vault that was getting thinner and replied, "If the rent could be reduced by another three hundred, I wouldn’t be afraid."

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The author has something to say: Goodbye, Manchuan. Hello, new landlord.

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