Reluctantly Willing

Translator: Larbre Studio  Editor: Larbre Studio

Gu Jun returned from the beach and went to his hotel. He’d lived there for a few days without seeing An Xiaoyan at the front desk. When he asked, he learned that An Xiaoyan had actually quit. He thought that it was highly possible that An Xiaoyan didn’t want to see him.
Gu Jun began stalking him again. He started driving in the morning to keep his eyes on An Xiaoyan. Finally, he stopped at a pet store. The three that he’d seen at the beach eventually appeared.
After today’s stalking, he now knows that An Xiaoyan works at the pet store. A car full of pets had stopped by the place, so he was probably very tired.
When An Xiaoyan got out of work, his expression didn’t look good. Gu Jun suppressed his urge to rush up to him. He’d started stalking him again, but he hadn’t discovered anything. An Xiaoyan went straight home.
Ji Lin was putting ointment on an animal. When he heard someone calling outside, he paused the procedure and went out.
“It’s you.”
“It’s me.”
Ji Lin didn’t have a good impression of this man. “What are you here for?”
“An Xiaoyan didn’t look good when he got off work. I want to know what happened.”
Ji Lin couldn’t reveal his employees’ privacy, so he just said, “It’s nothing. He’s just tired.”
“How much salary do you give him?”
“What are you to him? Why are you asking about everything?”
“I’m his fiancé.” Gu Jun had also learned how to lie without reddening at all.
“But you guys don’t seem like it. You were arguing yesterday.”
“It’s normal for a couple to have some conflicts. I just want to know why he’s unhappy.”
Ji Lin studied Gu Jun. Someone so rich probably wouldn’t want anything from An Xiaoyan. “He just saw that so many pets don’t get adopted and probably became sad.”
Gu Jun thought for a moment and took out a card. “This is my reimbursement for the hospital. You can expand or raise salaries. I don’t care, but you must spend the money to these ends.”
Ji Lin held the card. Even after Gu Jun had left, he still couldn’t process it. Rich people really threw away money like dirt!
Gu Jun knew that An Xiaoyan was kind. If he could reach the most fragile part of An Xiaoyan’s heart, he would definitely be accepted.
“Go to some animal shelters.”
Animal shelters were usually in the suburbs. It was already five o’clock now. Why go there?
The driver didn’t dare ask. This boss gave him such a high salary. He didn’t want to lose his job just because of a question.
The closest shelter was more than an hour away in a village yard. Gu Jun opened the door and walked in. All the cats and dogs surprised him.
Seeing them, the woman asked, “Are you two here to adopt an animal?”
“Do you have any that are hard to raise?”
“Yes. Are you sure you want to adopt the disabled ones?” Someone had come to adopt these dogs before, but it was revealed that they wanted them for their meat. The woman had experienced it before, so now she was careful.
“Yes. The ones that are easy to raise will get adopted, but the others might be left here their entire lives. They’ll give you a burden. My significant other likes animals. We already have a cat. Let me show you some pictures.”
Gu Jun had purposely saved many cute pictures of Wonton. Some were of it sleeping with all limbs in the air. Others were of it spacing off or being curious about its owner.
“If you don’t trust me, I can leave my number and address. You can come visit whenever you wish.”
The woman still didn’t fully trust him. However, the animals were truly a burden. It was a good thing if someone was willing to adopt them.
“Come with me.”
Gu Jun followed her in. As they reached the kennel, he could see that many animals were in cages. They were all close to dying and looked listless.
“The ones here are all old. We don’t want them to be bullied by the stronger ones, so we keep them here. If you really wish to adopt them, you can take this litter of cats.”
Gu Jun glanced at them. They seemed to be of some pure breed. “What’s wrong with them?”
“An old cat gave birth to them and they have defects. Two are lame, one is blind, and another is a runt. It’s too costly for me to keep them.”
“It’s okay as long as they don’t have a fatal disease. They can have some defects but still be easy to raise.”
Perhaps because she could see that Gu Jun really wanted to adopt the animals, the woman was very grateful. It was better for these cats to find a new owner than to struggle here.
…
As soon as An Xiaoyan opened the door, Wonton pounced on him like usual. He felt bad about Wonton’s excitement. He had to work to feed himself. He couldn’t stay home with Wonton every day.
The animals at the shelter appeared in his mind again. If he had enough money, he would adopt as many as he could. However, it was already hard for him to take care of Wonton now.
The animals at the shelter weren’t that hard to take care of. They weren’t picky about cat food either. It was just another responsibility.
After the meal, An Xiaoyan brought Wonton to the balcony to stargaze. It was a clear night, so the stars twinkled in the sky. Wonton had gained weight again. An Xiaoyan guessed that he was around five pounds now. He’d bring it to the pet store to get weighed tomorrow. He felt that being too fat was bad.
Knock, knock, knock…
Only Gu Jun knew he lived here and had some sort of reason to stop by. Was he here again?
Putting Wonton on the sofa, An Xiaoyan went to the door. He didn’t see anyone through the peephole. He was about to go back, but he heard something outside the door.
He opened the door reflexively. There was no one there, but there was a box covered with a cloth. Lifting the cloth, he saw five kittens.
Meow, one of the bigger ones called.
Hearing a familiar call, Wonton ran out and looked at the kittens in the box.
The kittens were so small and were at his door. If he didn’t take care of them, they’d probably starve to death.
“Wonton, these are your brothers and sisters. Daddy will take care of them. You can’t bully them. You have to act like an older brother.”
Wonton meowed and An Xiaoyan brought the kittens in.
When Gu Jun heard the door close, he walked out of the fifth floor. He saw that the box was gone, so he walked downstairs, satisfied. He knew that An Xiaoyan wouldn’t ignore those kittens. This was a good chance for Gu Jun to approach him.
Three of the five kittens had defects, but An Xiaoyan didn’t mind. He wanted to go out and buy some goat milk for them.
“Wonton, watch your siblings. Don’t let them run out.”
Wonton sat obediently and stared at the five kittens. It was like an older brother.
An Xiaoyan bought goat milk from the supermarket and some syringes from a pharmacy. He then hurried home to feed the kittens.
When he returned, Wonton was still watching the kittens like an older brother. An Xiaoyan rewarded him some beef jerky.
He’d only read those veterinarian books before because he was bored, but they were actually useful now. Two of the cats wouldn’t even open their eyes. An Xiaoyan first wiped their faces clean with a towel and then started feeding them, one by one.
“You’re the biggest one, so you can be First Dumpling. And then we have Second Dumpling, Third Dumpling, Fourth Dumpling, and Fifth Dumpling. You must all stay together and grow up healthily. I don’t have money, but I’ll scrimp and save to take care of you all.”
Thankfully, the five kittens all ate well. An Xiaoyan was less worried after seeing them drink their fill and sleep.
Before sleeping, An Xiaoyan fed them again. The biggest one was probably a British Shorthair. It was a bit lame, but it drank milk very well. Its small mouth kept sucking at the syringe.
The next day, An Xiaoyan got home to see another big box at the door. It was filled with cat food, litter, cans, and many toys.
It seemed that someone wanted him to take these kittens. The cat food was the same that Wonton ate before. An Xiaoyan knew that Gu Jun had bought these things, but he still accepted it. The kittens would need them when they grew up. With his current salary, he couldn’t afford these good things at all.
He’d hurried back at noon to feed the kittens. It’d been an hour and they were hungry again. The kittens seemed to remember who’d fed them. When they saw An Xiaoyan, they tried to run out of the box.
“Don’t worry. I’ll prepare your food now.”
There were five extra kittens now, but An Xiaoyan didn’t neglect Wonton. He opened a can of wet food to reward Wonton and then started preparing the powdered milk.
Meow. One started and the other cats all followed. The room was filled with meows.
“Stop calling. You’re so loud.” Despite his words, An Xiaoyan’s expression was one of happiness.
When Gu Jun saw that the things outside the door were gone again, he felt reassured. He couldn’t force feelings. He had to take it slowly.
At bedtime, An Xiaoyan went to feed them. The smallest one only drank a few drops of milk. An Xiaoyan thought that it had eaten too much in the afternoon, so he didn’t think too much.
In his sleep, he felt something stepping on his chest. It was getting stronger too. Finally, he woke up from it.
Wonton was on his chest. When he woke up, it meowed.
“Be good. I need to sleep.” An Xiaoyan put Wonton to the side. “Sleep here.”
An Xiaoyan flipped over to keep sleeping, but Wonton started meowing again. It swatted his back too.
Wonton had never acted like this before. An Xiaoyan turned on the light. Wonton jumped down and went toward the living room.
Meow, meow.
Wonton went to the kittens’ box. An Xiaoyan looked inside. The other four were sleeping, but the smallest kept trying to climb out. An Xiaoyan reached over and it licked his hand. It was hungry.
An Xiaoyan hurriedly made milk, but Fifth Dumpling stopped eating after a little bit. Its appetite was only half that of the others.
It had health problems and was the smallest, so it probably needed many small portions.
Of the five kittens, the oldest one was more than a month old while the youngest was probably half a month old. He couldn’t feed them the same way.
By the time An Xiaoyan cleaned everything up, it was three o’clock. Wonton stayed behind An Xiaoyan.
He scooped it up and let it sleep on the bed. An Xiaoyan was grateful to Wonton. If not for Wonton, the kitten would be hungry the entire night.
It started storming in the morning. When An Xiaoyan checked the kittens, he saw the smallest was a bit off. It seemed listless, but it had already eaten at night.