Chapter 12: The One Waiting at Home
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
After Lu Yao secured the collar on Snow Leopard, the big cat shook his head, clearly uncomfortable, but he didn’t show any aggression. Lu Yao exhaled in relief and clipped the leash to the collar using the metal buckle.
When Snow Leopard stopped shaking his head, Lu Yao reached out to smooth the fur at the back of his neck. His touch was gentle, but the muscles along Snow Leopard’s neck stiffened under his hand. Lu Yao paused, thinking the cat might still be unaccustomed to human contact, and didn’t push further.
“What name did General Zhou give him?” Lu Yao asked, standing with one hand on the leash and the other tapping the edge of the cardboard box, testing whether Snow Leopard would understand a command.
The cat leapt lightly from the box following the leash’s guidance, circling around Lu Yao’s legs. His demeanor was far from that of a typical cat; he behaved more like a large dog—aloof yet obedient. Lu Yao couldn’t tell if Snow Leopard was just exceptionally smart, or if Zhou Yunchen had trained him meticulously. Either explanation seemed improbable.
In his experience, big cats like snow leopards, despite their speed and endurance in highland winds, weren’t usually very clever. And Zhou Yunchen, by all appearances, wasn’t someone skilled in animal training.
“Uh… no name. There’s only one snow leopard here, so he’s just Snow Leopard,” Zhao Minghe admitted, unsure how to answer and quickly changing the subject. “What are you planning to call him? I heard from the General that you have a cat named Torque. Should this Snow Leopard be named Lever?”
“Probably not.” Lu Yao revealed, without words, that he intended to name Snow Leopard himself. Zhou Yunchen twitched his round ears, curious, but Lu Yao didn’t elaborate.
Zhao Minghe went over a few more instructions, finishing with, “If Snow Leopard experiences any health issues, please, notify me. Ordinary veterinarians won’t be able to handle an animal extinct in history.”
“I will.”
After the call ended, Lu Yao led Snow Leopard onto the lawn to familiarize him with his new home. The smart system had just watered the grass, leaving the tips of the green blades wet. Water droplets clung to the tip of Snow Leopard’s long tail as he spun in place, eventually biting the tip. He looked to Lu Yao, waiting.
Recalling how tense the cat had been moments ago, Lu Yao refrained from touching his head this time. Instead, he walked a few steps into the garden, found a shaded spot under a tree, and sat on the wicker swing.
“Let me guess… Did you finalize the divorce?” came a cheerful male voice over the comms. He waited but received no answer. “Lu Yao?”
“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to guess?” Lu Yao said, thinking his silence had given Mo Feng enough time.
“No, not really. That was rhetorical. Anyway… did you finalize it?”
“Yeah.” Lu Yao rocked on the swing. “He signed it. The agreement’s content was fine. I’ll register it in a few days.”
“Great! Congratulations on being single again!” Mo Feng cheered. “Chang Jian and I have prepared a celebratory meal for you at Sanjiu Restaurant. The dishes are already ordered. Come over.”
It sounded like they had never doubted Lu Yao’s success.
“Now?” Lu Yao hesitated.
Snow Leopard, noticing Lu Yao was occupied, stopped paying attention and carried his plush tail toward him, sitting about ten feet away. His gaze drifted toward the linden tree in the garden, though he occasionally glanced at Lu Yao.
“You haven’t taken your nutritional supplement yet, have you?”
“No, but…” Lu Yao looked at Snow Leopard. “It’s nothing. I’ll come over in a moment. Just wait for me.”
Hearing that Lu Yao was about to go out, Zhou Yunchen turned his head immediately. Lu Yao maintained the same cool expression until the call ended, then finally looked toward Snow Leopard’s pale gray eyes.
Lu Yao waved at Snow Leopard. His lips curved faintly into a smile, though Lus had already sunk below the horizon. The soft pink glow was both light and shadow, making it impossible to tell the exact expression on his face.
“You heard that?” Lu Yao’s voice carried a chill that matched the evening shadows. Snow Leopard’s neck fur bristled in response. The cat seemed certain he had been discovered by Lu Yao within ten minutes.
Still, Lu Yao continued, “I’m going out for dinner with friends. You’ll stay here in the garden by yourself. Behave, okay?”
His tone suddenly made Zhou Yunchen realize: Lu Yao was speaking to a cat. More direct than talking to a person. More emotional. And utterly unconcerned with whether the listener responded. No one expected a pet to understand human speech. The owner spoke purely for themselves.
Lu Yao waved again at Snow Leopard, who had remained seated. The big cat blinked, then finally could no longer resist. He stood and walked toward him, lowering his head to press his forehead into the palm of Lu Yao’s hand.
Lu Yao’s hand traveled from the back of Snow Leopard’s neck down to the tip of his tail. He lingered, reluctant to let go of the cat who had only just arrived. But the days ahead were long.
While stroking Snow Leopard’s head, Lu Yao summoned the garden’s smart control interface. He activated the internal defense system, raising an additional electromagnetic barrier to prevent the cat from using its incredible leaping ability to escape.
Before leaving, he said to the massive cat that followed him step for step, “Play in the garden for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
Snow Leopard followed him all the way to the garden gate, only to be turned back by the electromagnetic wall.
“Mww—” he called, tail drooping, toward Lu Yao. A few steps away, Lu Yao turned, waving gently at Snow Leopard, but continued walking. His silhouette disappeared into the thickening purple-red twilight. Zhou Yunchen felt a surge of emotion he could hardly name.
He realized that Lu Yao truly loved cats. This was a love reserved only for cats—something he would never offer to another human being. If a human ignored Lu Yao’s affection, he wouldn’t spare them a second glance, but he would endlessly tease a big cat. Zhou Yunchen was, after all, human—not a real Snow Leopard. At this moment, all the tenderness he received was an illusion. The thought struck him like a sudden, guilty desire, a sin of greed. He shouldn’t long for more…
“Meow! Meow-meow!” A few sharp cries caught Zhou Yunchen’s attention. Turning toward the sound, he saw Lu Yao’s white cat, Torque, perched by the window, hissing furiously at the intruder in his territory. Zhou Yunchen understood the cat perfectly. He hadn’t expected the normally delicate, weak-acting white cat in Lu Yao’s arms to ever get so aggressive. Snow Leopard bared his teeth, exhaling a deep, rumbling growl toward the challenger, “Roar—”
“Meow!” Torque’s fur bristled, and in an instant he vanished from the window. Whether the love was real or not, Zhou Yunchen realized that, for the first time, he could try to get closer to Lu Yao—just as Torque had before.
Lu Yao hailed a taxi and arrived at Sanjiu Restaurant, where a waiter led him to the reserved private room. His friends liked to gather there. Membership meant fewer crowds, quieter spaces, and decent food. For Lu Yao, the taste wasn’t very important.
As soon as he entered, Mo Feng, seeing Lu Yao’s long hair flowing freely and nothing on his head, couldn’t resist teasing, “Lu Yao, you’re eating, but you didn’t bring a stimulator. How are you supposed to taste anything?”
Since Lu Yao’s sense of smell had been damaged, his sense of taste had also been dulled. Most food tasted bland to him, and even the strongest, weird-tasting nutrient supplements were no different from top-quality beef. “It’s enough that I can taste it,” he replied.
After taking his seat, Mo Feng glared at him, and Chang Jian chuckled at the exchange. “Then have a drink.” Chang Jian laughed uncontrollably, shaking as he poured wine for Lu Yao. “At least alcohol helps you.”
As the deep red wine barely touched the bottom of the glass, Lu Yao lifted the bottle to stop any more. “I have plans tonight. Not too much.”
“Plans tonight?” Mo Feng perked up. “You already found someone else before officially divorcing? I didn’t hear about that… Wait, you still live at Zhou Yunchen’s villa. Are you taking them there… hmm.”
Lu Yao interrupted him by expertly pinching a piece of roast lamb and feeding it to Mo Feng. “Do you think everyone’s like you? How’s that rock singer you were seeing last time?” His tone was cold as ice, with occasional traces of sarcasm, but Mo Feng and Chang Jian were used to it.
“Broke up,” Mo Feng sighed, shaking his head, taking a slow sip of wine. Then he looked at Lu Yao seriously. “I found someone new. A male college athlete, alpha, very strong.”
“I’ve only been gone less than a month…” Lu Yao trailed off, at a loss for words. He raised his glass to Mo Feng. “Have fun.”
Mo Feng, Chang Jian, and Lu Yao had been college friends. Mo Feng was a beta; Chang Jian and Lu Yao were omegas. No one could explain how such different personalities had bonded. Even now, Mo Feng worked at the first research base, serving as the project director, handling everything outside of engineering for Chief Engineer Lu. Chang Jian had just been appointed Secretary-General of the Federation Central Space Planning Department.
“He’s always happy,” Chang Jian said gently. “Lu Yao, did you finalize the division of property?”
“Everything’s settled.”
“No losses?”
“None. Zhou Yunchen and I separated our assets cleanly. No problem. But…”
“But what?”
Lu Yao looked at Mo Feng, still enjoying his meal. “Mo Feng, help me find a new house. A villa, over five hundred square meters, big garden. Price isn’t an issue.”
“Sure, I’ll see what I can find.” Mo Feng asked curiously, “Why suddenly change villas?”
“I… Zhou Yunchen left me something,” Lu Yao said. “I’m going to raise a Snow Leopard. He’ll be waiting for me at home.”
Mo Feng and Chang Jian froze. Snow Leopard—the same extinct big cat species they had only read about, gone for thousands of years?
Author’s Note:
Snow Leopard: Tonight, he fights the green tea cat to the death.
Lu Yao: Give Snow Leopard a bigger house!
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If I was Mo Feng and Chang Jian I would love to see the snow leopard! 😃