Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 43

Staring

Jiang Zhou didn’t open the door immediately.

He walked to the balcony, intending to send the cat back to the neighboring balcony.

But the cat seemed genuinely terrified of people. When it saw Jiang Zhou reaching out to grab it, it let out a terrible shriek and darted into the house, running wildly.

In the blink of an eye, it hid under the living room sofa.

Jiang Zhou tried to drag it out, but despite its injury, the cat was agile. He tried several times but failed to catch it.

The doorbell continued to ring urgently.

Jiang Zhou walked to the door and heard Xi Wanyu making a phone call through the monitor.

“Property management? My cat ran into the neighbor’s house next door. Could you help me find the phone number for the owner of unit 2002?”

She seemed determined not to give up until she found the owner.

Jiang Zhou knew he couldn’t escape tonight.

He took a deep breath and resignedly opened the door.

“He opened the door, no need to trouble you, thank you.” Xi Wanyu hung up the phone.

She looked up and was surprised to see Jiang Zhou opening the door. “A’Zhou! You live here?”

Jiang Zhou nodded.

“What a coincidence! Shen Zhiyu lives right next door to you.”

Jiang Zhou feigned a surprised expression. “Really?”

“You two are truly unbelievable, living right across the hall from each other and not knowing!”

“I just asked him for the phone number of his neighbor across the hall. Shen Zhiyu actually told me he didn’t know who lived next door and didn’t recognize them.”

Jiang Zhou explained, “I’m usually busy with work and don’t spend much time here.”

“Isn’t that even more coincidental? Shen Zhiyu didn’t live here before either; he only moved in this time when he came back.”

“Oh, right, our Zhouzhou seems to have run onto your balcony. Did you see it? A small white cat.”

A faint meow sounded from under the sofa, seemingly responding to its owner’s call.

Xi Wanyu followed the sound of the meow to the sofa. She crouched down and waved under the sofa. “Zhouzhou, Zhouzhou, come here…”

The kitten, perhaps startled by Jiang Zhou earlier, kept hiding under the sofa and refused to come out.

The woman and the cat were at a stalemate for several minutes, making no progress.

Xi Wanyu gave up, and at the same time, thought of a good solution.

“A’Zhou, could you let Zhouzhou stay at your place for a while?”

Jiang Zhou was slightly taken aback.

“Zhouzhou seems to really like your place and doesn’t want to leave. If you don’t mind, could you help Shen Zhiyu look after it for a few days? He went off to film and won’t be back for a week.”

“I…” Jiang Zhou looked at Xi Wanyu’s expectant eyes, and his words suddenly changed direction.

“I don’t mind.”

“That’s wonderful.” Xi Wanyu said as she walked out. “Then I’ll bring all its things over to your place.”

Before long, Xi Wanyu returned to Jiang Zhou’s apartment, dragging a large box.

Jiang Zhou reached out to help take it. He saw that the box contained a litter box, a cat bed, cat food, and other items.

“This is a Persian cat, a stray that Shen Zhiyu picked up a while ago. Its name is Zhouzhou, the ‘zhou’ from rice porridge, and it’s about three months old.”

“Zhouzhou is very pitiful. When Shen Zhiyu first brought it home, its fur had been badly cut, and its left front paw was fractured. After being cared for for a while, it’s only now starting to get better.”

“Shen Zhiyu went to Yanzhen to film and couldn’t take it with him, so he asked me to look after it for a few days. I was planning to go traveling with my friends, but I didn’t dare leave. Now that you’re taking care of it, Auntie feels much more at ease.”

Xi Wanyu placed all the items in the living room, poured a bowl of cat food for the kitten, and called out a few more times.

The kitten looked around cautiously, making sure the coast was clear, before carefully crawling out from under the sofa to eat the cat food.

Xi Wanyu made a video call to Shen Zhiyu.

“Shen Zhiyu, guess who I ran into next door to your place.”

“I don’t know?” Shen Zhiyu’s voice came through the phone.

“A’Zhou!” Xi Wanyu pointed the camera at herself and Jiang Zhou. “You two are really something, living across the hall from each other and not knowing.”

“If I hadn’t come over this time, who knows when you two would have found out.”

“By the way, A’Zhou agreed to look after Zhouzhou for a few days, so I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Here, if you have anything to say, talk to A’Zhou.”

Xi Wanyu handed the phone to Jiang Zhou and went to the side to supervise the kitten eating.

Jiang Zhou unexpectedly took the phone.

This was the first time the two of them had video called.

Shen Zhiyu was in a room and seemed to have just showered; his hair was still dripping wet.

He was lightly dressed in a white crew-neck T-shirt, which quickly became damp from his wet hair, revealing faint outlines underneath.

Jiang Zhou didn’t dare stare, his eyes shifting nervously.

Shen Zhiyu talked about some details and precautions for feeding the kitten.

Perhaps because he had been forcefully suppressing his emotions for too long, the sudden sight of Shen Zhiyu was visually overwhelming. Jiang Zhou’s mind was a mess, and he felt dizzy listening, not remembering a single word.

Shen Zhiyu noticed this. He paused and called out, “Jiang Zhou?”

Jiang Zhou snapped back to attention. He rubbed his slightly swollen and aching forehead. “Sorry, I’ve been too tired lately. Could you send me the details in a text message?”

Shen Zhiyu stared at him for a moment. “Okay.”

Jiang Zhou ended the video call and returned the phone to Xi Wanyu.

Xi Wanyu, having overheard their conversation, kindly reminded him, “No matter how busy you are, you must remember to rest.”

“It’s only been a month, and look how much weight you’ve lost again. When Auntie returns from her trip, I’ll make you some soup.”

“Thank you, Auntie.” Jiang Zhou politely responded, treating it as a courtesy.

Xi Wanyu watched the kitten finish eating, then left.

After Jiang Zhou washed up, he received the detailed text message from Shen Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhou replied, “Received.”

He waited for a long time, but Shen Zhiyu didn’t reply again.

Jiang Zhou turned off his phone, ready to sleep.

A video call request rang out at that moment.

Jiang Zhou opened it and saw it was Shen Zhiyu.

Jiang Zhou answered, and Shen Zhiyu’s face suddenly filled the screen.

“CEO Jiang, I hope I didn’t disturb your rest?”

“No. Is something the matter?” Jiang Zhou held the phone further away.

“I want to see Zhouzhou.”

For some reason, whenever Jiang Zhou heard Shen Zhiyu call out “Zhouzhou,” he always had the illusion that Shen Zhiyu was calling him, making his cheeks feel warm.

“Okay.” Jiang Zhou put on his slippers and looked for the kitten in the living room.

The kitten had hidden back under the sofa. Jiang Zhou held up the phone and lay down on the floor to look under the sofa.

His camera wasn’t flipped yet.

Shen Zhiyu saw the neckline of his shirt hang open, revealing an expanse of unobstructed white skin, dazzlingly pale.

The camera was shaking, and Shen Zhiyu’s heart shook along with it.

Jiang Zhou still hadn’t realized anything. He flipped the camera and pointed it toward the kitten.

“Can you see it?”

Shen Zhiyu consciously applied that question to the moment before the camera flipped.

“Yes, it looks good.” Shen Zhiyu replied with that single sentence.

Jiang Zhou: “?”

Shen Zhiyu called out, “Zhouzhou…”

The kitten heard his voice and meowed a few times at the camera.

“Did Zhouzhou eat well today?”

The kitten meowed twice more.

Shen Zhiyu praised the kitten, “Zhouzhou is so good.”

Jiang Zhou’s face grew hotter, constantly mistaking Shen Zhiyu’s words as being directed at him.

And he was indeed feeling a little guilty.

In the past half month, while busy with work, Jiang Zhou hadn’t experienced the restless agitation that brought punishment, but perhaps he had developed a habit. Without someone watching over him, he habitually skipped meals.

In just half a month, he had already lost weight, and his current weight was even two pounds lighter than before.

After Shen Zhiyu finished interacting with the kitten on camera, he called out, “Jiang Zhou.”

He called out very formally, and Jiang Zhou felt an inexplicable panic, as if he had been called out by name.

“Did you hurt yourself again?”

Jiang Zhou quickly shook his head. After shaking his head, he realized the phone camera wasn’t pointed at him, so Shen Zhiyu couldn’t see him at all.

Jiang Zhou added, “No.”

“Turn the camera around,” Shen Zhiyu instructed.

Jiang Zhou obediently turned the phone camera. This time, it was zoomed in close, only showing his face.

His eyes darted away, avoiding contact.

Shen Zhiyu’s gaze was drawn to the petal-shaped lips.

Pale, devoid of color. But he had tasted them; they were very soft and very easy to kiss.

Shen Zhiyu felt thirsty watching, so he got up and poured a glass of water.

Jiang Zhou heard the sound of swallowing and glanced at the screen with his shifting eyes.

Shen Zhiyu’s camera was even closer than his, focused only on his neck. Jiang Zhou watched the distinct Adam’s apple bob up and down.

Jiang Zhou unconsciously followed the movement, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

The camera was suddenly pulled back.

Jiang Zhou hurriedly shifted his gaze away.

“Your face is so thin it’s sunken in. Have you not been eating properly again lately?” Shen Zhiyu asked.

Jiang Zhou: “I’ve been too busy lately.”

Shen Zhiyu sighed slightly. “Jiang Zhou, are you a child?”

“Huh?”

Why would he say that?

“You won’t eat properly unless someone is watching you?”

Jiang Zhou weakly defended himself, “I did eat.”

He just ate irregularly and sparingly. Of course, he didn’t dare say that last part.

Shen Zhiyu: “Starting tomorrow, take pictures for me to see.”

“?”

Shen Zhiyu found an excuse for himself. “You’re helping me look after Zhouzhou, so I’ll supervise your meals.”

In the following days, Jiang Zhou’s work gradually became less demanding.

He went home on time every day to cook. Before eating, he routinely took pictures of his meal and the kitten’s meal for Shen Zhiyu. After eating, he took another comparison photo.

After three days of this, Jiang Zhou belatedly realized.

Wait, why was he so obedient to Shen Zhiyu?

Wasn’t he supposed to avoid meeting him and maintain distance?

How did things end up developing differently again?

However, Jiang Zhou couldn’t control himself. When it was mealtime, he habitually sent Shen Zhiyu photos of his food.

Shen Zhiyu didn’t reply with many words, usually just “Read,” “Acceptable,” or “Good,” cycling through those few phrases.

The actors on set often saw Shen Zhiyu smiling at his phone around mealtime.

When others asked him what was so funny, he said he was watching his kitten eat.

Others wanted to see how funny the kitten eating was, but he stingily put his phone away and wouldn’t let them look.

—-

After running into his so-called high school classmate at the bar last time, Jiang Zhou received a WeChat invitation from Rong Hui a few days later.

“Jiang Zhou, coming to Diqian tonight?”

The way he used the word “coming” was very suggestive, making it sound like Diqian was somehow related to him.

Jiang Zhou immediately called Yuan Chong.

“What’s going on? Are you and Rong Hui together?”

Yuan Chong was already at the bar, and his voice was so muffled by the noise that Jiang Zhou couldn’t hear what he was saying.

Yuan Chong hung up and sent him a message.

“Come here and we’ll talk.”

Jiang Zhou thought about it, changed his clothes, and headed out.