Rat, Rabbit, And Rabbit Transformed Into Humans And Married Their Natural Enemies. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bai Zhi arrived on the third floor, recalling Zheng Feng telling him not to come up here without a good reason. Well—he considered this a legitimate reason.

At this hour, Xie Yuzhan was probably in the study?

He decided to search room by room. When he reached the third door, he raised his hand to knock, but the door opened from the inside. Their eyes met, and he froze.

It was Xie Yuzhan, alright.

But the other man wasn’t wearing a neat formal suit; he was dressed in casual, beige-toned clothes and wasn’t wearing his glasses. The usually refined, aloof, and distant CEO Xie now appeared much gentler. Those deep, inky eyes held a sense of quiet tranquility, like a tender, good wolf.

Had he arrived at the perfect time, catching the man in a very good mood?

A head pat seemed promising; it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Xie Yuzhan looked at the person standing before him in a daze. Bai Zhi was tilting his face up slightly, staring straight at him. He looked very well-behaved, as if he wanted a head pat. This distance was indeed very convenient for the task.

He collected his thoughts and spoke first, asking, “Is something the matter?”

Bai Zhi snapped back to attention, nodding. “Uncle Zheng told me not to come up without a good reason, but I really do have something I want to… ask you. If I don’t ask, I probably won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

The head pat… that was a request. He could wait until after asking the question to see how things went.

Xie Yuzhan accepted Bai Zhi’s explanation. Insomnia was indeed a problem, and anything that might cause it certainly counted as a legitimate reason.

He followed up, “Ask away. Tell me what it is.”

Bai Zhi stared into Xie Yuzhan’s eyes, which resembled a cold spring deep in the forest. The words he had prepared suddenly took a detour, and he blurted out, “Why aren’t you wearing glasses? Can you see clearly?”

After saying it, he nearly bit his tongue!

He ran all the way up here just to ask that? He must have been possessed!

The surprised and annoyed little rabbit successfully amused Xie Yuzhan. He stepped closer, stopping about ten centimeters away, and looked into Bai Zhi’s crystal-clear eyes. He replied, “This way, I don’t have to worry about not seeing clearly.”

Xie Yuzhan suddenly moving so close startled Bai Zhi.

He instinctively took half a step back, quickly saying, “I see clearly, I see clearly!”

He didn’t dare get that close!

If this were the grassland, such close proximity meant he was either about to be eaten immediately, or about to be eaten immediately!

Xie Yuzhan chuckled softly, leaning casually against the doorframe, and asked, “So, what was your real question?”

Seeing Xie Yuzhan’s expression and posture, Bai Zhi quickly realized what was happening. His temper flared, overriding his fear, and he glared at the man. He was being teased!

Nasty!

Too nasty! This was a big bad wolf! Where was the gentleness? It absolutely, definitely, had been his delusion!

After delivering a string of exclamation marks via eye contact, he pursed his lips and let out a soft huff. The rabbit was pragmatic, the rabbit was broad-minded and contained a vast grassland, and the rabbit wouldn’t stoop to the level of a wicked bad wolf.

This series of small expressions made Xie Yuzhan’s mood even better.

He raised his hand and ruffled Bai Zhi’s hair, petting the little rabbit’s head. His voice was laced with amusement as he coaxed, “Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. What do you want to ask? Go ahead. I won’t hide anything I can answer. Is that sincere enough?”

Bai Zhi was a little startled and a little annoyed at being teased, but being unexpectedly patted on the head somehow, inexplicably, made him relax.

He hadn’t even asked if he could be patted, and he got it.

This feeling…

He didn’t know how to describe it. It was very strange.

He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes fluttering, and leaned into Xie Yuzhan’s palm, encouraging the other man to pat him again. He was a wild pika, so why did he enjoy being rubbed and patted like a domesticated fluffball!

Xie Yuzhan caught Bai Zhi’s subtle movement and, after a moment’s thought, understood.

He used a little force to mess up the hair of the person in front of him, watching as the other man’s brows relaxed and his body loosened up even more. Only after the person being rubbed comfortably let out a few soft, light sighs did he withdraw his hand—

Then silently rubbed his fingers together.

Bai Zhi was now completely free of tension, panic, or anger.

He stretched his back, so comfortable that his non-existent ears and tail seemed to twitch. Every single strand of fur happily stood up—not bristling in fear, but standing up in the fluffy way one gets after being dried by the sun.

If he were still a pika, he would probably have puffed up into a ball of fluff.

He smiled, his eyes curving, and quickly said to Xie Yuzhan, “I felt a little down after the Bai family left today. Earlier, when you patted my head, the feeling was very strange—a little weird, but also comfortable. So I went to Aunt Lin and asked her for a head pat, thinking it would cheer me up.

“But!

“The feeling wasn’t right. Your patting is the most comfortable one!”

After hearing Bai Zhi’s words, Xie Yuzhan was uncharacteristically speechless.

The other man spoke with genuine sincerity, not hiding his feelings, but expressing them openly, as if he had no idea how potentially dangerous those words were.

And that direct hit, that ‘thump,’ landed squarely on his heart.

His voice dropped slightly as he asked, “Don’t you feel embarrassed saying something like that?”

Bai Zhi tilted his head in confusion. “Embarrassed about what? Feeling comfortable isn’t something shameful. It’s as comfortable as rolling around on a sunny patch of grass.

“You make people comfortable. There’s nothing wrong with telling you that.”

So candid.

Xie Yuzhan smiled wryly. How should he put it? Bai Zhi definitely had obvious deficiencies in terms of socialization. Most people wouldn’t express their feelings so directly, especially words that could easily lead to other interpretations.

But this was precisely what made it so precious.

He agreed, “You’re right. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Being frank and straightforward is a valuable quality.”

Especially when the direct hit didn’t make the recipient uncomfortable.

Bai Zhi smiled relaxedly. Rabbits didn’t like beating around the bush. Since he was already living with a natural predator, survival was taxing enough. For situations that didn’t involve life safety, he had no intention of being evasive.

Xie Yuzhan pressed on, “So, what did you specifically come upstairs to ask?”

Bai Zhi cleared his throat and asked seriously, “Why do different people’s rubs and pats feel different? I couldn’t figure it out, and I couldn’t go to bed with that question, so I thought I’d come and ask you.”

With the previous context, Xie Yuzhan had somewhat anticipated this question and wasn’t entirely surprised.

He countered, “The words you just spoke already answer your question.”

Huh?

Bai Zhi paused, lowered his eyes, and frowned, running his own words through his mind a few times. Finally, he had an epiphany.

He clenched his right fist and lightly tapped it into his left palm. “Oh, right. They are different people, so it’s normal for the feeling to be different. It’s because your hands have magic!”

It turned out that the comfort of a head pat was also selective.

He understood now.

Next time he wanted a pat, he would look for Xie Yuzhan. If the other man was in a good mood, it should be fine within the safe zone.

Xie Yuzhan looked at Bai Zhi, a strange premonition forming in his mind. Could this little rabbit… like him? If his head pats were the most comfortable, how was that not a form of flirtation?

He was clearly afraid of him, yet he would still actively approach him.

Besides coming up tonight to ask for a head pat, there was also the time he actively fed him, and the way he bristled when Xie Yuzhan touched him. Besides fear, was there also nervousness?

Fear was fear, but it wasn’t mutually exclusive with liking someone.

When viewed this way, it made perfect sense.

And this frank, lively Bai Zhi was nothing like the mediocre and cowardly person described in rumors. Explaining it solely through the Bai family’s suppression didn’t seem entirely plausible.

He took a step closer, his gaze falling upon the person before him, deepening and darkening, carrying a hint of suspicion.

Under that gaze, Bai Zhi instinctively stepped back, increasing the distance between them. CEO Xie! Your features are outstanding and very attractive, but close up, it’s still too much!

As he retreated, he accidentally stumbled, taking two steps back until his back hit the corridor wall.

As Xie Yuzhan slowly approached, Bai Zhi felt confused and helpless. Everything was fine a moment ago, why the sudden closeness!

The rabbit’s little heart couldn’t handle being startled!

Xie Yuzhan closed the distance, lowered his eyes, and met Bai Zhi’s gaze directly. He asked, “You are like a completely different person compared to before. Why this sudden, massive change?

“As far as I know, you haven’t experienced any major upheaval.”

This was illogical.