Rat, Rabbit, And Rabbit Transformed Into Humans And Married Their Natural Enemies. Chapter 26
byChapter 26
Bai Zhi’s mind was a blank slate; he couldn’t think at all.
The moment he fainted, anxiety and terror flooded his heart. This was the first time he had so directly witnessed his own kind being eaten in such a flamboyant manner. Humans… humans were too good at eating!
It was too scary for a bunny!!
One second Xie Yuzhan noticed Bai Zhi’s expression was off, and the next second the other party’s body went limp. Fortunately, they were close, and he managed to catch him in his arms in time, moving a couple of steps to sit down together on a nearby bench.
They were standing near the edge, where the light was slightly dim, so this small commotion didn’t attract anyone else’s attention.
He checked Bai Zhi’s condition. The other party was breathing rapidly and his cheeks were pale, but thankfully, he woke up quickly.
He quietly let out a sigh of relief. Following Bai Zhi’s previous line of sight, he saw the stall selling rabbit meat and instantly realized that the little bunny must have been frightened.
He asked gently, “How are you feeling now?”
Bai Zhi squinted, leaning against Xie Yuzhan, not daring to look again. His whole body felt soft, as if all his strength had been instantly drained.
He clutched the empty yogurt cup and whispered, “A little dizzy, and my heart is beating so fast.”
Hearing Bai Zhi’s weak voice, Xie Yuzhan rubbed the other party’s hair and said, “I’m right here. No one can hurt you. Don’t be afraid.”
Bai Zhi hummed in response. They were in a partnership now; Xie Yuzhan certainly couldn’t let anything happen to him.
Xie Yuzhan lowered his hand and said, “I’ll be gone for a few minutes to buy something. I’ll be right back.”
Bai Zhi hesitated and pressed, “How many minutes?”
Xie Yuzhan took the empty cup from Bai Zhi’s hand. As the other party looked up at him with a pleading expression, he paused for a few seconds, then crouched down, pulled out his own pocket square, and lightly tied it around the wrist of the person in front of him, finishing it with a beautiful bow.
Bai Zhi’s wrist was thinner than he had imagined.
The sensation of holding it was quite pleasant.
He held the other party’s hand, looked into those eyes still filled with fear, dread, and confusion, and reassured him, “Three minutes is enough. Count the seconds; I promise I’ll be back on time.”
“…Okay.”
After agreeing, Bai Zhi watched Xie Yuzhan stand up and walk away, then lowered his eyes, staring intently at the silver-blue pocket square on his wrist. The smooth silk felt slightly cool in the autumn night, yet it inexplicably made his heart feel warm.
He curved his eyes slightly and began counting the seconds seriously.
When he counted to one hundred and sixty, a cup of milk tea appeared in his line of sight, along with that slender, strong hand. He had been so focused on counting that he hadn’t heard the approaching footsteps.
He was stunned for a moment before looking up, mumbling, “One hundred and sixty-one…”
Xie Yuzhan was amused by the adorable, dazed little bunny. He placed the milk tea in the other party’s hand, sat down next to him again, and said, “I told you I’d be punctual. I didn’t lie.”
Bai Zhi responded with a muffled nasal sound, taking a sip of the milk tea, which already had a straw inserted. Mmm, it was taro bobo, warm, fragrant, and sweet, not cloying at all—just right.
After a few sips of the hot milk tea, the entire bunny felt less tense.
He held the warm milk tea cup with both hands, leaned his body, and rested against Xie Yuzhan again. He couldn’t help but chatter, “You humans are really too good at eating!
“Bunnies are so cute, how can you eat bunnies!”
Xie Yuzhan readily accepted Bai Zhi’s lean, though he found the phrase “you humans” strange. He looked down and said, “Those are commercially farmed meat rabbits. They are different from pet rabbits.”
Bai Zhi insisted, “But they are still bunnies!”
“But to humans,” Xie Yuzhan emphasized the word, “meat rabbits are just a type of meat; they have no other special meaning.”
Bai Zhi pursed his lips, feeling indignant and sulky, but he also knew he had no right or standing to forbid people from eating bunnies; it was just a matter of different dietary preferences.
When he was a rabbit, he ate grass and flowers. Didn’t grass and flowers have life?
It was all the food chain, survival of the fittest.
He also ate a little meat now—chicken, duck, fish, and pork. Xie Yuzhan was right; these were just ingredients, without so much meaning. Self-righteous sentimentality was truly unnecessary.
He didn’t plan to do anything about it; he wasn’t that arrogant.
However.
As a member of the same species, seeing those rabbit heads, rabbit legs, and rabbit meat firsthand was inevitably chilling. It just… the emotion welled up, making him feel indignant and scared. It was too hurtful for a bunny.
He gulped down several large mouthfuls of milk tea and continued, “I don’t care what others do, and I have no right to interfere, but I don’t want to watch people eat… eat rabbit meat in front of me. I don’t like it. I will avoid it.”
Xie Yuzhan looked at the still slightly angry Bai Zhi and realized that the other party genuinely minded and was genuinely traumatized.
He carefully asked, “Do you have strong feelings for rabbits?”
Bai Zhi nodded, “Very close.”
Xie Yuzhan leaned closer, a hint of a smile in his voice, “Could it be that Zhizhi is a rabbit spirit?”
Bai Zhi was startled. He instinctively looked up at Xie Yuzhan. When his eyes met those dark eyes, he instantly realized that Xie Yuzhan was teasing him!
Well, under normal circumstances, who would think that this body had a bunny core?
He pretended to be calm and said, “I just like them!”
“Alright, alright, you just like them.”
Xie Yuzhan only found Bai Zhi, who empathized with rabbits, adorable—truly like a little bunny. It was understandable that he was scared, as he naturally preferred a vegetarian diet.
He suppressed his smile, looked into Bai Zhi’s eyes, and said, “I promise you that I will not eat rabbit meat, and this ingredient will not appear in the Xie family in the future, including any other occasions I attend.”
Bai Zhi was very surprised and could tell that Xie Yuzhan was not joking; he was serious.
He clutched the milk tea cup and explained, “I didn’t mean that. Just because I don’t eat it doesn’t mean others can’t. A dietary practice that has been passed down must be because some people like it and some people need it. You don’t need to promise anything because of me.”
Bai Zhi’s eyes were clear, and Xie Yuzhan didn’t like the other party drawing such clear boundaries.
He raised his hand and stroked Bai Zhi’s cheek, saying, “It is indeed because of you that I make this promise, but this is my willingness. You don’t need to feel any psychological burden.
“Zhizhi, I am willing to do these things for you.”
Bai Zhi didn’t quite understand the complex emotions in Xie Yuzhan’s eyes, but he felt the other party’s concern. He tilted his head in confusion, which only brought him closer to the palm of the person in front of him.
Was CEO Xie also trying to maintain a good relationship with him?
Making sure he cooperated well and didn’t cause trouble.
It must be, otherwise why would he care about his emotions? The other party wasn’t an idle person with nothing better to do. This extra effort was truly unnecessary.
He slowly took a deep breath, rubbed against Xie Yuzhan’s palm, his eyes curving into a smile. His emotions had completely calmed down. He said, “In any case, thank you.”
Even if it was for the sake of mutual benefit or some other calculation, it didn’t matter. At least at this moment, he genuinely experienced what it felt like to be cared for and valued.
The emotion was real.
Xie Yuzhan curved his lips and replied, “Don’t mention it.”
Bai Zhi blinked, held the remaining half cup of milk tea up to his eyes, and said seriously, “You said we could share, just like you did just now. Help me finish it? You just said, ‘Don’t mention it’—”
Listening to Bai Zhi’s drawn-out tone and the hint of cunning in his eyes, Xie Yuzhan couldn’t help but laugh.
What could he do?
He could only be thankful that he had the foresight to only buy one cup of milk tea and hadn’t gotten himself a cup of coffee.
Bai Zhi watched Xie Yuzhan finish the milk tea for him and go to throw away the cup, belatedly realizing that the other party had eaten quite a few sweets tonight, which he usually avoided… Well, it was all thanks to him.
Ahem.
Seeing Xie Yuzhan walk back, he braced his hands on the chair and stood up, but before he could stabilize, he immediately tumbled back down. Goodness! His legs were still weak.
He frowned. Too cowardly, bunny! To be scared like this.
This couldn’t go on long-term. When he left the Xie family in the future, he would have to face these things alone. What would he do if he encountered a similar situation to today?
He needed to figure out a solution.
The approaching Xie Yuzhan interrupted his thoughts. The other party even asked if he wanted to be carried.
He subconsciously asked back, “What did you say?”
Xie Yuzhan paused for a few seconds, then asked again with a natural expression, “Do you want me to carry you back to the car? After all, it’s getting late now. If we go back now, you can take a hot bath and relax.”
Bai Zhi couldn’t see any flaw in Xie Yuzhan’s expression.
Did he say carry?
Maybe he misheard because he hadn’t fully recovered.
He hesitated, “That’s too much trouble for you.”
“…Just consider it that I also want to go back and rest early.”
That made sense; they had been delayed for a while. Bai Zhi didn’t refuse again. He wasn’t so afraid of Xie Yuzhan now, so being carried was fine.
He smiled sheepishly, “Then thank you, CEO Xie. You’ve been very accommodating tonight.”
“If you really want to thank me, call me by my name.”
Bai Zhi looked at the person crouching down in front of him. He nervously licked his lips, slowly climbed onto the other party’s back, and whispered into his ear, “Thank you, Yuzhan.”
It was soft, like a small feather.
Softer and lighter than the delicate down of a duckling.
Xie Yuzhan’s posture froze for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. He straightened up, steadily supporting the person on his back.
Bai Zhi relaxed his muscles while lying on Xie Yuzhan’s back, letting out a sigh of relief, feeling quite lazy and comfortable.
Xie Yuzhan spoke, “You exceeded your calorie intake quite a bit today. Should we control your diet slightly for the next two days?”
“Mm-hmm, okay. I did eat a lot of sweets.”
“Good boy. How about I reward you with a small cake in two days? What flavor do you want?”
Bai Zhi thought seriously, his tone becoming light again, “I want osmanthus, osmanthus cheesecake.”
“Alright.”
The two chatted casually like this. The lights in the small park were dim, and the noise of the night market gradually faded away. Bai Zhi felt a very strange sensation welling up in his heart.
In this position, their hearts were overlapped, separated only by a few layers of thin clothing. He felt as if he could sense the heartbeat belonging to the other person.
Thump, thump, thump.
One beat after another, until the two heartbeats overlapped, beating at the same frequency.
It made the bunny feel safe.
He vaguely thought that it was probably because Xie Yuzhan had been overly friendly to him in front of his friend tonight, or maybe because he drank too much sweet liquid and ate too many sweets.
Too much dopamine must have been secreted.
It must be that.
Back home, Xie Yuzhan carried him all the way back to the bedroom and placed him by the bed. Looking at the person who turned around, he smiled up at him, “I had a good chat with your friend today, and I enjoyed the night market.”
Xie Yuzhan was also in a good mood, aside from the smell of smoke and food on him.
He rubbed Bai Zhi’s hair, “I’m glad you had fun. Take a bath and go to bed early?”
“Okay, you rest early too. Good night.”
“Good night.”
After saying good night, Xie Yuzhan paused, and after many days, he asked again, “Do you want a hug? Like a good night kiss, a small ritual of marriage before bed every day.”
Bai Zhi raised a finger and shook it, directly refusing, “No, doing it every day is too much trouble. Occasionally is fine.”
A quick hug and retreat wouldn’t be impossible.
They were already that close today; how was that not a hug in another sense?
Xie Yuzhan didn’t insist. After being scared earlier today, it was better to rest well first. He only instructed the other party not to look at his phone too much after showering before leaving.
Bai Zhi was indeed a little tired after relaxing. He took a bath and went to bed, cuddling Pikachu and curling up under the covers, dimming the bedside lamp. Time to sleep!
But.
He didn’t sleep soundly. Around midnight, he suddenly woke up gasping for breath from a nightmare. He touched his forehead—it was covered in cold sweat.
He sat on the bed for more than ten minutes, barely managing to calm his breathing, but his heart was still fluttering. The rabbit slaughterhouse and the cooking stove from his dream were still vivid in his mind. He couldn’t go back to sleep.
It was then that he suddenly remembered the hug Xie Yuzhan had mentioned before bed.
His eyes lit up. A hug!
He began to regret his refusal earlier.
No matter what, he and Mr. Wolf were allies of interest. The other party would protect him!
Thinking this, he jumped out of bed, stumbled slightly on the carpet, almost falling, but he didn’t stop. He grabbed Pikachu and ran straight out the door.
Upstairs!
To find Xie Yuzhan!