Yun Manman sat in Lu Qi's hover car with a sulky expression, looking out the window and turning her round head away from Lu Qi in the driver's seat.
What's wrong with wanting to touch rabbit ears?!
She just asked, what's wrong with wanting to touch rabbit ears!
[Angry cat face]
Lu Qi beside her was also fuming.
He had only looked away for a moment, and this cat had gone to flirt with Director Xu's student, even wanting to touch their rabbit ears!
It was one thing to be handsy with him, but to touch other beast people too - clearly she didn't take him seriously.
Lu Qi's heart bubbled with jealousy, feeling hurt and upset. He didn't want to talk to Yun Manman either.
The hover car fell into complete silence for a while.
Yun Manman looked at the familiar route outside and said to her reflection in the window: "I'm not going back to Yunzheng Mansion first. I want to go to the dessert shop."
There was no response from behind for a long time, but the hover car turned a corner, heading towards Main Street.
When the hover car pulled into the parking lot next to the dessert shop, Yun Manman picked up her umbrella: "I won't see the General off."
She hadn't looked back at Lu Qi once the entire time.
Just as Yun Manman was about to open the door, a cool, smooth snake tail suddenly wrapped around her waist, preventing her from leaving.
At the same time, the tip of the tail raised up and placed itself in her palm.
Yun Manman's eyes widened in surprise: "You..."
Lu Qi's voice came from behind: "You can touch my tail."
So don't be angry anymore.
Yun Manman looked at the tail tip swaying enticingly in her palm. The corners of her mouth twitched up then down as she resisted the urge to touch it, her voice calm: "I won't touch it."
She kept her head down, not looking at Lu Qi, but her ears were perked up high.
There was a rustling sound of clothes being moved beside her, and suddenly her vision was filled with a large expanse of gorgeous, vivid crimson.
The fiery red wings were brilliantly colored, as if coated with the most beautiful starlight, yet full of vibrant, exuberant life force that drew the eye.
Yun Manman was truly shocked. She instinctively turned her head and saw that the man had taken off his military green overshirt, leaving just a white sleeveless undershirt that clung to his body, faintly revealing the contours of his pecs and abs.
The exposed skin of his arms was as pale and cold as jade, the muscles solid and powerful.
A pair of enormous wings had torn through the undershirt, extending from his shoulder blades and nearly filling the entire space of the hover car, enveloping Yun Manman beneath them.
Lu Qi awkwardly placed a wing on Yun Manman's knee, his ears bright red: "Then do you want to touch the wings?"
Yun Manman lowered her eyes to stroke the soft feathers, then mischievously pinched the base of the feathers: "Hmph, what exactly is the General trying to do?"
Lu Qi's body trembled, but he still said disdainfully: "Aren't my tail and wings better to touch than rabbit ears?"
"You're the one ignoring what's right in front of you and then getting angry. Petty cat."
Still talking back.
Yun Manman released the wing and kneaded the tip of his tail: "How can rabbit fur compare to you? Theirs is warm and soft."
Lu Qi's muffled groan sounded by her ear.
It was then that Yun Manman realized how close they were - close enough that she could see her own reflection in Lu Qi's restrained phoenix eyes, close enough to be enveloped by the cool, faintly bitter scent of pine on his body.
She instinctively leaned back, bumping into Lu Qi's wing.
Lu Qi sucked in a pained yet satisfied breath: "If you're not happy you don't have to cripple my wings..."
Yun Manman frantically brushed away the snake tail wrapped around her waist, pushed open the hover car door and ran towards the dessert shop.
"I'm leaving!"
Lu Qi, slowly retracting his wings in the hover car, stared at Yun Manman's retreating back as she fled like she was afraid he'd make her pay his medical bills. He muttered to himself in frustration:
"Does what Lu Xi said actually work?"
"I offered my tail, I offered my wings, do I really have to..."
The General touched his abs: "Maybe I should work out a bit more..."
A few minutes later, Yun Manman looked at Lu Qi standing before her, properly dressed in his shirt, and felt the heat rising in her face threatening to overwhelm her.
"Why are you here again?"
Lu Qi broke off a piece of the chiffon cake Sisi had made and put it in his mouth: "To eat."
Sisi nervously watched Lu Qi, only relaxing when she saw him nod in approval. She swished her fluffy grey tail as she went back to the kitchen in the small courtyard to help Uncle Lin cook.
There was a small courtyard behind this set of rooms with a little kitchen.
The big cats were worried that Manman wouldn't eat well at lunch or might want to cook for herself, so they had replaced all the kitchenware and filled the fridge with ingredients they'd bought.
When Uncle Lin heard that Lu Qi would be eating here, he was overjoyed and insisted on cooking for Lu Qi and Yun Manman.
Yun Manman had thought she would be enjoying this delicious lunch alone.
Yun Manman snatched the cake from his hand: "So you deliberately arranged for Sisi and Uncle Lin to be my apprentices here? Why not just have Uncle Lin go back and cook for you."
She had guessed as much when she saw Sisi's resume.
Sisi had previously worked in the First Army and said she'd been recommended for this position.
Yun Manman's first thought had been Lu Qi.
Lu Qi didn't get angry when the cake was snatched from his hand, just picked up another piece from the plate: "Don't misunderstand. Only Sisi was recommended by me. Her experience is all real."
"As for Uncle Lin, I have no control over him."
Uncle Lin had been the chef at the mansion since Lu Qi's parents were still around. The old man was very stubborn and didn't easily change his mind once he'd decided on something.
Though Lu Qi had used a little bit of scheming there, of course.
He certainly wasn't going to tell Yun Manman about that.
Yun Manman crossed her arms: "So where do you usually eat?"
Lu Qi paused, meeting Yun Manman's suspicious gaze with an aggrieved tone: "So I'm not even allowed to eat food made by my own family's chef?"
"You're going to be eating his cooking anyway, what's wrong with me having a bite too?"
His voice got louder: "I drove you back, let you touch my wings and tail, and you won't even feed me! Have you no conscience!"
"When I was just a little snake you never fed me enough, and now you still won't..."
As Lu Qi looked ready to dredge up old grievances, his mouth rattling on like pouring beans, leaving Yun Manman dizzy and confused.
The cat pounced forward and clamped a hand over his chattering mouth, glaring with angry cat eyes: "Fine, eat!"
"Don't you dare leave until you're full!"
How had this snake become so shameless!
Lu Qi's eyes gleamed with triumphant laughter: "Well then, thank you."