Nanke Yifu Chapter 14
bySeeking Chi Fu’s Whereabouts (14)
The first time Yan Laixi connected Chi Fu with the word ‘like’ was because of Qiu Ye.
After learning the other person’s name, all the various nicknames were unified into “Xiao Chi.” Qiu Ye joked at the time that “Xiao Chi” was practically his speaking watermark; eight out of ten sentences contained those two words, and while the remaining two didn’t, the content was still about Xiao Chi.
It was only when Qiu Ye asked if he had fallen for the person that Yan Laixi realized he had been a little too “enthusiastic” toward Chi Fu.
However, Qiu Ye was joking then, and Yan Laixi himself hadn’t thought about it that way, only assuming he was excited to have finally met someone he clicked with.
The doorbell rang, and Yan Laixi sprang up from the sofa to open the door.
Standing outside was the very person he had just been thinking about, holding a bag of ingredients.
That’s right, it wasn’t just because they got along; it was also because Chi Fu had firmly captured his stomach.
After saying “see you next time” that morning, Yan Laixi had expected “next time” to be at least a few weeks away. He didn’t expect it to be just three days later.
Chi Fu said he didn’t have classes that afternoon, asked him the day before if it was convenient, and then walked into his apartment carrying a large bag of ingredients.
The refrigerator was fully stocked. Chi Fu said he didn’t like the school cafeteria food and that it was convenient to travel from school to Yan Laixi’s place, asking if he could come over to cook lunch from now on.
It was a clumsy excuse. The school provided lunch break areas for Day Students within the accommodation area, and if he could enter the accommodation area, he could naturally use the public kitchen inside. Chi Fu was likely shocked by the makeshift breakfast Yan Laixi had served that day and wanted to come over to cook for him.
The reason didn’t matter; Yan Laixi was very welcoming of Chi Fu’s visits.
In fact, it was the same for Chi Fu; the reason didn’t matter, he just wanted to come and see him.
Just like that, Yan Laixi’s routine became slightly more normal. He would wake up at noon every day, tidy up, wait for a moment in a daze, open the door for Chi Fu, and then fully wake up along with the aroma of food gradually filling the room. However, this only lasted for one week.
Waking up early every day was truly exhausting, so Yan Laixi directly recorded Chi Fu’s fingerprint into the password lock, allowing Chi Fu to enter by himself and then call him awake, so he could sleep a little longer.
The problem was, Chi Fu didn’t call him!
He would even thoughtfully close the bedroom door for Yan Laixi when the latter deliberately left it ajar to hear the movement outside and wake up. Then, like a kind and industrious little elf, Chi Fu would leave a table full of delicious dishes and depart.
After a few days of waking up to ready-made food, Yan Laixi decided to set his alarm again. He hadn’t invited Chi Fu over just to be his personal chef.
Just as he was dozing off, someone handed him a pillow. Chi Fu asked if he could also come to his place in the evening. This time, he didn’t even bother with a flimsy excuse, simply stating that he wanted to come.
Yan Laixi naturally agreed, but he set one condition for Chi Fu: only one visit per day. Running back and forth between school, Yan Laixi’s place, and Chi Fu’s own home was too much hassle. Yan Laixi meant for him to finish all his classes before coming over, and to do whatever he usually did during lunch.
And so, the current situation emerged.
Chi Fu would tell Yan Laixi the night before whether he would come the next day and roughly when he would arrive, while also confirming that the menu was safe according to Yan Laixi’s minefield of a diet. Sometimes, if he had no classes in the afternoon, he would come and stay in the living room. If he had a gap between an early and a late class, he would also come to Yan Laixi’s place. In the latter case, if he wanted to come back in the evening, Yan Laixi wouldn’t stop him. Occasionally, if he stayed late or the weather was bad, Yan Laixi would let him stay the night, and prepare breakfast for him before Chi Fu woke up the next morning.
It was precisely because of this that Chi Fu finally believed that Yan Laixi truly wasn’t only capable of making food that seemed unfit for human consumption.
Before leaving, Chi Fu asked Yan Laixi, “Are you going to sleep in the morning again today?”
“No, I have a Book Signing Event tomorrow…” Yan Laixi was initially puzzled why he suddenly asked this, but then understood as he spoke. “When I occasionally have something like this, I usually sleep after I get back. If I try to sleep early, I can’t, and sleeping for just a little while makes me more tired than not sleeping at all.”
“I see.” Chi Fu stood at the door and said, “Then, see you tomorrow.”
“Are you coming tomorrow too?” Yan Laixi asked. Tomorrow was Saturday, and he wouldn’t be home, but if Chi Fu wanted to come, staying up a few more hours or even going a whole day without sleep was fine.
“Of course,” Chi Fu, with half his body already outside the door, poked his head back in and said, “You haven’t gotten tired of seeing me every day, have you? Even if you are, I won’t leave. I’m going to stick around right in front of you.”
“I haven’t gotten tired of it,” Yan Laixi said. “Then, see you tomorrow.”
Tomorrow would probably be the first Book Signing Event without Chi Fu present.
But he could see him after returning home, so it didn’t make much difference.
The next day, Yan Laixi sat behind the table and saw Chi Fu standing opposite him once again.
Yan Laixi smiled and asked him, “Why are you here again?”
They could see each other almost every day privately, so why bother queuing up?
His surprise was also unexpected by Chi Fu: “Didn’t we say ‘see you today’?”
It turned out that “see you tomorrow” didn’t mean after he returned home that night, but at the event venue.
After the event ended, Yan Laixi immediately pulled out his phone as he walked out, sending a message to Chi Fu asking if he was still nearby.
The message was instantly replied to, the answer was affirmative, and the plan was ready-made, as if the other party had been prepared and was just waiting for this one sentence.
Chi Fu asked if he was tired now. If he was, he should go home and sleep. Chi Fu would cook dinner beforehand, and Yan Laixi could just heat it up when he woke up hungry, and also asked Yan Laixi to let him stay the night. If he wasn’t tired, did he want to go out for a meal and walk around together?
No matter the option, it revolved around food. Yan Laixi felt that he and Chi Fu seemed to be connected entirely by eating. Although they had many other topics, the reason they got together was always eating or cooking.
Thinking about it, aside from Chi Fu coming to his house and going out to buy groceries together, the only other time he and Chi Fu spent together privately was that very first meal.
It was still about eating.
This couldn’t go on; they were quickly becoming ‘literal’ “drinking buddies.” No, he didn’t drink, so maybe “food buddies.”
“Let’s go walk around,” Yan Laixi replied, asking, “Where should I find you?”
After they met up, the first thing Chi Fu asked was still: “What do you want to eat?”
“Anything is fine,” Yan Laixi said. “Since it’s not too late yet, why don’t we go play for a bit first? Every time I’m with you, it’s either eating or cooking. Let’s occasionally do something else.”
“So, have I managed to fatten you up a bit?” Chi Fu held Yan Laixi’s arm, examining him up and down as he asked.
“I’ve gotten a size bigger; I need new belts,” Yan Laixi joked. But getting fatter was true. Living alone with a Reversed Day-Night Cycle, he often forgot meal times. Coupled with his own terrible cooking, sometimes he wasn’t hungry and would only eat one or half a meal a day. Chi Fu’s visits at least reminded him to eat on time. Moreover, people tend to eat more when the food is delicious, and since he stayed home all day with the same lack of exercise, gaining a little weight was normal.
Chi Fu: “How about I bring you a belt next time?”
Yan Laixi laughed and playfully slapped him on the back, “Stop making fun of me!”
Chi Fu didn’t dodge, cheerfully arguing, “You started making fun of yourself first, I was just cooperating.”
“So, where are we going now?” Chi Fu asked. “Should we go straight to find a place to hang out, or grab some snacks first?”
He realized after asking, “Ah, I brought up food again.”
“It’s not like we can’t talk about food,” Yan Laixi said. “If you’re hungry, let’s eat first. There’s no rush.”
“I’m not hungry, but we can grab some snacks to eat on the way,” Chi Fu said. “If we wait too long, we might only be able to walk the streets.”
“Then…” Yan Laixi thought for a moment and asked, “Do you like kittens?”
In a Cat Café in Chaoyi District, there were usually few customers after dark. The two shop owners, one buried in a pile of cats and the other sitting behind the counter humming a tune, heard the bell on the door ring. Cat ears twitched, and they all looked over.
Yan Laixi stepped into the shop first, followed by Chi Fu. Seeing no other customers, Yan Laixi quietly asked, “Are you closing soon?”
“Not yet, welcome.” The cat-eared youth sitting behind the counter stood up. The other youth, who also had short gray-white hair, emerged from the pile of cats and headed toward a room further inside, a fluffy tail trailing behind him. With those blue eyes, they looked like two adorable and beautiful little Ragdoll cats.
“That’s my older brother, he’s a bit shy,” the youth apologized with a smile, telling them, “You can sit anywhere. Would you like anything to eat?”
Cat Cafés usually sold desserts and drinks. This way, they wouldn’t go hungry and could do something else—a win-win. Since going to any shop was fine for them, and Yan Laixi was somewhat curious about this place because of the keychain incident, he had asked Qiu Ye for the address, planning to check it out if it wasn’t too far.
It happened to be in Chaoyi, making it very convenient to go home.
The kittens in the shop were very friendly. They approached the two as soon as they sat down, and one even jumped onto Yan Laixi’s lap, purring in his arms.
The little Ragdoll owner saw the keychain on the phone placed on the table while serving the desserts. His pair of cat ears, one horizontal and one vertical, tilted slightly as he thought for a moment and asked, “Have you two been here before?”
“No, we haven’t.” The cats were too cute—both the real cats and the human cats were too cute. Yan Laixi unconsciously softened his tone and automatically switched to a cuter way of speaking. Following the other’s gaze, he saw the little cat keychain on his phone and explained, “Qiu Ye gave it to me. You should know him.”
“Ah.” The little Ragdoll realized. Since it wasn’t busy at this hour, he simply sat down at a nearby spot and started chatting with these guests, who were likely recommended by an acquaintance. “But the one he has must have been given to him by someone else, right? We made a lot of them at the time and wanted to give some to them, but never had the chance.”
The kitten sat with his hands tucked in, resting on the back of the chair, and said, “Qiu Ye doesn’t go out much. It was just a small trinket we made casually, and mailing it felt unnecessary.”
“Not at all,” Yan Laixi said. “It’s a very cute little keychain, and Qiu Ye actually mailed it to me.”
Perhaps hearing a familiar name, the other kitten who had been hiding relaxed slightly, poking his head out from behind the door. The small braid next to his bangs swung by his ear. He first glanced timidly at the two, then quickly shifted his gaze, telling his brother, “Huaiji, the weirdo is coming soon.”
The kitten called “Huaiji” checked the time and said, “Then Huaiyou, hurry up and hide.”
“Is Sister Xiao Ye that scary? You call her a weirdo every time, but I think she’s quite nice,” Huaiji said casually. The little head that had shrunk back immediately popped out again like a gopher.
“Yes! Xiao Ye is good, but Sister Xiao Ye is not good!”
“Don’t say that when she’s about to arrive,” Huaiji said with a smile. “If she hears you, she’ll scare you again.”
Huaiyou shrank his neck, pouted, and hid again.
Yan Laixi and Chi Fu didn’t know any “Ye” other than Qiu Ye, and they didn’t know the difference between Xiao Ye and Sister Xiao Ye, so they couldn’t join the conversation. They just ate their small cakes, held the four-legged cats, and listened to the two-legged cat chat.
The little white cat in Yan Laixi’s arms suddenly sat up, sniffing toward the table. A warning “woof woof” sound came from the other side, and it obediently shrank back.
The sound seemed to have come from Huaiji’s throat.
The little Ragdoll got up, took out a cat treat stick, opened it, let the white cat sniff it, and then handed it to Yan Laixi.
“Can you communicate with them?” Yan Laixi asked.
“Mhm.” Huaiji tilted his head, touched his ear, and said, “It’s our Anomaly, we were born with it.”
Yan Laixi was about to say something more when he was interrupted by the sound of bells and a lively voice.
“Little Youzi!”
A purple-haired… it was hard to tell if they were male or female. Their voice and appearance were in a subtle middle ground, like an undeveloped youth or a girl with a relatively neutral appearance and voice.
When Huaiji saw them enter, his first sentence was, “Huaiyou is not here.”
Then this person was likely the “weirdo” Huaiyou mentioned, the “Sister Xiao Ye.” It turned out to be a girl.
“Yan Xiaoji, you’re trying to trick me again!” The weirdo was clearly not a stranger to being avoided and immediately saw through the lie.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s not here, you’re enough. Come here and let me pet you!” Saying this, she extended her demonic claws and pounced on Huaiji, kneading the pair of ears on his head like she was petting a kitten.
“That’s why Huaiji avoids you!” Huaiyou symbolically resisted twice, then resigned himself to being demoted from owner to employee, letting the guest pet the cats. “There are so many other kittens here.”
“Kittens are kittens, and you two are you two.”
“Waaah!”
A scream came from the inner door. Huaiyou ran out, his watery eyes seemingly brimming with tears, his voice pitiful: “Huaiji…”
He instinctively tried to hide behind his younger brother, almost delivering himself right into the tiger’s mouth. In his “panic,” he met the eyes of Yan Laixi and Chi Fu nearby.
After a brief weighing of the pros and cons, Yan Huaiyou hid behind Yan Laixi. A familiar stranger known by an acquaintance was better than a weirdo, at least they wouldn’t suddenly treat him like a kitten and abuse him. As for why he chose Yan Laixi, it was because the other person hadn’t spoken the whole time, and he was a little scared of him.
If Chi Fu knew his thought process, he would probably cry foul.
He hadn’t spoken simply because he was eating the whole time. He had only eaten breakfast all day. Although he told Yan Laixi he wasn’t hungry, Chi Fu felt his stomach was practically flat now. Not wanting Yan Laixi to notice, he could only take small bites one after another. Although each bite was small, his mouth hadn’t stopped, and he had already devoured two small cakes in this short time.
“Brother Lan,” Huaiji said to the air. “If you keep using your ability to be a ghost to play pranks and scare Huaiyou, you’re going to take over the ‘weirdo’ title from your sister.”
“That’s impossible,” the weirdo said, rubbing Huaiji’s ears. “Little Youzi only divides us into weirdos and big weirdos.”
She was quite self-aware.
As she spoke, another startled cry sounded from behind. Perhaps out of consideration for Yan Laixi being right there, or perhaps because it was the second time and he was mentally prepared, the sound was noticeably suppressed. His sleeve was suddenly grabbed and then released. Turning around, even Yan Laixi was startled.
The “weirdo” had appeared behind him at some point, hugging Huaiyou.
Yan Laixi turned his head back. The girl called “Sister Xiao Ye” was still in her original spot. Even if they were Identical Twins, how did the one behind him appear so silently?
Yan Laixi looked at Chi Fu, who also looked confused.
Weirdo number two, with both hands wrapped under Huaiyou’s armpits, lifted the kitten up and simultaneously answered the confusion.
He was floating. It turned out to be the “Brother Lan” who could act as a ghost.
The ghost carried the captured cat to his sister’s side. The weirdo held one in each arm, and then Yan Laixi watched the ghost’s body gradually become transparent, finally disappearing.
Even though there were all sorts of Anomalies in this world, one still felt a small surprise when something astonishing happened. And there was another strange thing.
Based on the kittens’ titles, one was “Sister” and the other “Brother.” Even if they were twins, they should be fraternal, yet those two identical faces…
Even more astonishingly, the weirdo, seeing their expressions, pointed next to Yan Laixi and said, “There’s a ghost right next to you.”
At the same time, his shoulder was indeed touched by something, but when he turned around, there was nothing.
The words and the touch were almost simultaneous. The weirdo should be able to see ghosts. Identical Twins, no matter the circumstances, as long as both were still present, at least one person should be without an Anomaly.
As his expression grew more puzzled, the weirdo smiled without speaking. Yan Laixi turned back and saw two Chi Fus.
Two Chi Fus, identical from head to toe. He widened his eyes, looking at the girl on the other side who had shifted her attention from the kittens to him. He seemed to understand something, but not completely.
Then, “Chi Fu” turned into “Yan Laixi.”
Huaiji retaliated by tugging at the weirdo’s small braid hanging over her collarbone, saying, “That’s enough, don’t scare our guests away!”
“Yan Laixi” then changed back into the purple-haired appearance, floating next to the other person who looked exactly like him.
They weren’t completely identical, though. Their small braids hung on the left side for one and the right side for the other, perhaps a marker to help others distinguish them when they weren’t playing pranks.