The Nutrition is Too Good - Chap 32 Canned Cat Food

Zhong Yi felt dizzy.

In that moment, he began to ponder what kind of animal could have such a tail. Whether it was a dog, like Kong Sandou? Or was it a monkey, a fox, or a sloth…

No, that’s not right.

Zhong Yi thought in a daze, none of them are right.

He recalled the first time he met Rong Mian, when Rong Mian took a spoon and went to buried his head in a bowl of food in the bathroom, and he was eating… canned cat food.

Zhong Yi felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured over his head.

Slowly, he lifted his head and weakly asked, “So, are you… a cat?”

Rong Mian looked at Zhong Yi strangely, as if he hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask such a question.

“Yeah,”
Rong Mian said, “Didn’t you always know?”

Zhong Yi couldn’t find words to respond for a while.

His expression made Rong Mian feel somewhat uneasy. Rong Mian pursed his lips and grabbed Zhong Yi’s hand, giving it a small shake.

Rong Mian’s hand was warm, but Zhong Yi still felt his mind go blank. He didn’t even dare to look at the tail again, shaking his head instinctively, “Wait, wait…”
Zhong Yi was completely numb.

Rong Mian didn’t know what was going on with Zhong Yi. He watched as Zhong Yi suddenly stood up, seeming somewhat embarrassed as he covered his lower body and hurriedly ran into the bathroom, closing the door.

Rong Mian vaguely realized that it seemed like his tail had caused trouble.
But every time Zhong Yi touched him, Rong Mian couldn’t control his tail.

Rong Mian felt a bit sad, but he couldn’t understand why Zhong Yi had such a strong reaction. Just a second ago, he was praising how cute his tail was.

Rong Mian also didn’t know if Zhong Yi’s words just now was true or not, after all, he hadn’t given him the collar yet.
He raised his hand, touching the collar around his neck, feeling a sense of confusion and sadness.

The sound of running water in the bathroom suddenly stopped.

Then came the sound of the door being pulled open. Rong Mian lifted his eyes and saw Zhong Yi standing at the entrance of the restroom, silently staring at him.

“Rong Mian.”

Zhong Yi called his name.

In the eyes of Rong Mian, Zhong Yi was someone who always had a calm and composed attitude, and seemed to have a firm grasp on everything he did.

But at this moment, Zhong Yi’s hair was slightly damp, as if he had just taken a shower. He stood at the doorway, looking at Rong Mian from a distance, with a rare hint of confusion in his expression.

Zhong Yi seemed to take a painful breath, and he said, “I want… to talk to you about something.”

Rong Mian stared straight at Zhong Yi’s face and suddenly asked, “Are you having second thoughts?”

“But you just said you were willing,” Rong Mian said.

“No,”
Zhong Yi paused, and after a while, he shook his head with a bitter smile, “I think there might have been some misunderstandings between us.”

Rong Mian hadn’t reacted yet when he saw Zhong Yi pause again and look at himself, then said very softly, “Actually, I… didn’t know you were a cat until today.”

Rong Mian was stunned, and Zhong Yi saw the tip of his tail behind him lightly sway, then slowly droop bit by bit.

“It’s impossible,”
Rong Mian said in a small voice after a while. “You know.”

Zhong Yi showed a smile uglier than crying.

He felt like his throat was choked by something, and his mind was muddled, unable to utter a word for a long time.

“How could you not know? The first time we met, in the restroom of that restaurant,” Rong Mian asked in confusion. “You clearly said you knew about my situation, and you even mentioned having many friends who ate the same brand of canned food as me.”

Zhong Yi knew that this was the most absurd beginning of the whole situation.

From an ordinary person’s perspective, someone who eats cat food with a spoon in the restroom would most likely assume that person has some mental or psychological issues, rather than thinking, “Oh, this person must have turned into a cat.”

At that time, Zhong Yi also thought that Rong Mian had some sort of dietary disorder. Because of the awkward atmosphere at the time and to protect Rong Mian’s self-esteem, he randomly came up with an example, just hoping to spare Rong Mian from embarrassment.

But at the same time, from the perspective of a kitten, Rong Mian, when he was secretly eating cat food, he encountered a human who said to him, “I know what you’re up to,” and coincidentally added, “My friend also loves this brand.” Therefore, this person is undoubtedly expressing the meaning of “I know you’re a cat, and I have many friends who are cats.”

So from the beginning, it was a series of misunderstandings and miscommunications.

“So when you said you wanted to show me your talent… you unzipped your pants.”

Zhong Yi asked with difficulty, “You did that for…”

Rong Mian paused and said, “I can’t sing or dance, so I wanted to show you my tail.”

“But you refused at the time.”

He added.

Zhong Yi felt a splitting headache.

He began to feel fortunate that Kong Sandou had performed a magic trick with a live dog a couple of days ago, which served as a mental buffer for himself. Otherwise, considering the situation just now, he might have really been scared on the spot.

But at the same time, many unreasonable things from before seemed to suddenly make sense.

Hiding in the bathroom to eat cat food, having a picky eating habit of disliking vegetables and preferring meat, enjoying playing with the tassels on pillows and the caps of pens on the table, as well as having an unusually fast hand speed when catching butterflies and small fish, along with that innocent and naive mind-set. If these subtle phenomena didn’t occur in a person but in a cat, it would seem perfectly normal.

But Zhong Yi realized that there was one crucial point he hadn’t asked about.

“Regarding what you mentioned earlier about receiving guests.”

Zhong Yi felt his hands trembling. “So how exactly do you receive guests, and where do you receive them…”

“…It’s in Uncle Yun’s cat café,”
Rong Mian looked at Zhong Yi, saying in a dazed manner. “I transform back into a cat, and guests pay an entrance fee to come in and pet me and hold me.”

At the moment Zhong Yi heard the words “cat café,” he felt like his brain exploded into a dazzling display of fireworks.

He suddenly chuckled softly, then covered his face with his hands and took a deep breath.

After a while, Zhong Yi exhaled slowly, lifted his head, and asked, “So, when you said before that you wanted to sleep with me…”

Rong Mian looked at him blankly.

“I mean, I can transform back into a cat and sleep with you, just like what I do with other customers at the cat café.”

Rong Mian said, “But you seemed very angry at that time, so I… didn’t mention it again afterwards.”

Zhong Yi finally understood completely.

So there was never any frivolous behavior or dark quagmire of the entertainment industry. This whole thing was completely imagined by Zhong Yi himself.

If it wasn’t for Zhong Yi accidentally touching the warm tail when they kissed today, then the only one who had ever made a move on Rong Mian from beginning to end was himself, and it had always been only him.

Zhong Yi felt bewildered.

He recalled that the first time they kissed, Rong Mian had said he wanted to provide a service for him. Zhong Yi was afraid that he would bring up the idea of sleeping together again, so he took the initiative to kiss Rong Mian’s cheek.

Rong Mian seemed confused at that time. He told Zhong Yi that his previous guests rarely did something like that.
Zhong Yi felt like a piece of broken ice, full of cracks. After breaking apart, it melted, and after melting completely, it solidified again. Just when it was halfway solidified, it shattered completely.

“I did hide something from you.”

Rong Mian said, “The little black cat in the garden is me. I just thought you didn’t want to see me in my cat form, so I didn’t tell you.”
“But I thought you always knew I was a cat.”

Rong Mian muttered, “You even said at that time that you wanted to be my VIP guest, how could you… how could you not know that I’m a cat?”

Zhong Yi couldn’t say a single word, he just shook his head.

Rong Mian’s face also turned pale.

“Zhong Yi.”

Rong Mian called his name and asked, “Do you not like my tail?”

Before Zhong Yi could react, Rong Mian whispered, “I will hide my tail next time. If you don’t want to see my true form, I can always accompany you in human form…”

“It’s not that.”

Zhong Yi interrupted her, “It’s not your fault.”

Rong Mian’s expression became blank.

“—You’re great, you… you’re great in every way. It has never been your fault.”
Zhong Yi turned his face away, his thoughts were chaotic, and his sentence structure became somewhat jumbled and confused, “It’s always been my problem. I just… need some time.”

Zhong Yi said, “I’m sorry.”

Rong Mian remained silent.

Zhong Yi felt dizzy and disoriented.

He remembered his previous misunderstanding of Rong Mian’s frivolous behavior, which led to the moral and ethical education classes he received. Later, he thought Rong Mian was deeply troubled, so he offered to be his VIP guest for a year. He also thought Rong Mian was a picky eater, so he deliberately added carrot crumbs to the wonton filling…

With each passing second, Zhong Yi felt like his head was cracking apart.

So, while saying these words and doing these things, how did he appear from Rong Mian’s perspective?

Zhong Yi raised his eyes in confusion and saw Rong Mian looking straight at him. Rong Mian didn’t speak, but his eyes were red, and Zhong Yi felt like he was about to cry.

Zhong Yi’s heart was twisting in anxiety. He felt like he couldn’t stay in this room for another second. He needed a quiet place to sort everything out.

Rong Mian looked at him and blinked quietly. He softly called Zhong Yi’s name.

Zhongyi’s Adam’s apple moved up and down. Whenever Rong Mian looked at him like this, Zhong Yi always had the subconscious urge to kiss him.

Zhong Yi leaned down slightly, but his movement stopped midway in the air because he didn’t know if he still had the qualifications and reasons to do so.

He didn’t know if Rong Mian had ever understood the meaning of a kiss.

He also didn’t know what role he had been playing in Rong Mian’s heart.

Was he just a human guest who spoke inexplicable words and paid a lot of money?

Zhong Yi felt a heaviness in his chest.

Rong Mian’s tail hung down behind him, with fluffy and beautiful fur. Zhong Yi recalled the little black cat in the garden, whose tail seemed exactly the same.
That little black cat was pretty and well-behaved, eating a lot. It could swallow three slices of ham bigger than its own head in one gulp, just like Rong Mian himself.

Zhong Yi turned his face away. It seemed like he wanted to say something more, but his lips moved slightly, and he didn’t utter a word.

“Go to bed early.”

So, in the end, Zhong Yi took a deep breath, forced a strained smile, and said, “Goodnight.”

In fact, Rong Mian wanted to ask Zhong Yi if he would accept the collar and leave.

However, Zhong Yi’s condition doesn’t look good. Rong Mian feels that every time he speaks, Zhong Yi’s expression becomes even worse. He realizes that he shouldn’t ask any more questions.
Rong Mian feels sad but doesn’t know what to do.
So he paused slowly, and just looks at Zhong Yi, saying, “Goodnight.”
When Kong Sandou enters the room, she notices that the collar on Rong Mian’s neck is gone.
She assumes that Rong Mian has successfully given the collar to Zhong Yi. So Kong Sandou happily enters the room and places the birthday cake she is holding on the bedside table.
“Shen Yan told me to leave this for you. It’s super delicious, and I’ve already eaten a big piece!”
Kong Sandou excitedly tells him, “It’s melting, hurry up and eat. Next time it’s my birthday, I want Uncle Yun to order this cake for me. But it looks really expensive…”
Rong Mian picks up the fork and slowly takes a small bite.
Kong Sandou asks, “Is it delicious?”
Rong Mian lowers his head, puts the cake in his mouth, doesn’t speak, and just nods slowly.
After a while, Kong Sandou suddenly feels like something is not right.

She hesitated and approached closer, only to see Rong Mian with his eyes lowered, stuffing the cake into his mouth one bite after another. At the same time, tears started to fall from his eyes, making a pitter-patter sound.

Kong Sandou was frightened.
She felt scattered and restless, pacing back and forth in the room. After a while, she began sobbing while holding Rong Mian, unable to articulate what she should say.

Rong Mian wiped his eyes and softly said to Kong Sandou, “Sandou, I don’t like eating cherry sauce.”
Although Kong Sandou was still a bit flustered, she made two “oh” sounds and took the cake from Rong Mian’s hand. She patiently used a small fork to scrape off the parts with cherry sauce.

Then Rong Mian continued to keep his head lowered and slowly finished eating the cake.

He didn’t tell Kong Sandou what had happened. Although Kong Sandou was worried about him, she seemed to understand something and didn’t ask any further questions.

Rong Mian didn’t sleep well that night.
He felt very sad and couldn’t stop thinking about Zhong Yi.

During his time as a stray cat, Rong Mian’s mind was filled with thoughts of food. But since he no longer had to worry about basic needs, he felt like he had become somewhat greedy.

He didn’t know when it started, but now his mind was filled with thoughts of Zhong Yi.

The sausages that Zhong Yi made for himself, the words Zhong Yi marked on his script, the tassel pillows and automatic dishwasher in Zhong Yi’s house, and Zhong Yi himself.

But just now, Zhong Yi said to himself that he didn’t know he was a cat.

Rong Mian recalled the blank and confused expression on Zhong Yi’s face when he saw his own tail last night, as well as his hurried figure when he left the room. Rong Mian wondered if Zhong Yi would no longer want to see him in the future because he was a cat.

Rong Mian felt very sad and secretly cried for a while.

He curled up in the quilt and fell into a deep sleep. When he woke up, he found that his eyes had become very red and swollen. He stared at himself in the mirror for a while, changed his clothes, and prepared to go out to find Kong Sandou for some eye drops.

He pushed open the door, but saw Zhong Yi standing at the door of his room.

Zhong Yi seemed surprised that Rong Mian suddenly went out. At the moment when Rong Mian opened the door, he saw Zhong Yi seemingly talking to himself in front of the wall, as if he was rehearsing something with himself.

Almost instantly after Rong Mian opened the door, Zhong Yi closed his mouth. He turned his body around, and the two of them locked eyes, staring at each other.

Rong Mian noticed that Zhong Yi was holding a large plastic bag with a supermarket’s name printed on it.

Zhong Yi coughed, seeming a bit embarrassed, and said, “Good morning.”

Rong Mian remained silent for a moment and said softly, “You could have rung the doorbell.”

Zhong Yi paused and replied, “I thought you were still sleeping.”

Rong Mian didn’t say anything more.

The atmosphere became quiet and silent. Zhong Yi appeared somewhat restless. He stiffened for a moment and handed the bag he was holding to Rong Mian.

Rong Mian instinctively took it, but he didn’t expect the bag to be so heavy. He even leaned forward slightly, almost losing his grip.

Rong Mian lowered his head in confusion.

Inside the bag were many round and heavy aluminium cans, to be precise, cans of cat food of different brands and flavors.

“I’ve never had a cat, and I’m not… very knowledgeable about these things. I don’t know which flavor you like the most,” Zhong Yi said.
“I thought the pictures on the labels looked nice, so I bought two boxes of each flavor available. I didn’t take the one with a mix of silverfish and mackerel because it seemed to be close to the expiration date.”

Rong Mian lifted his eyes, dazed.

“Rong Mian.”

After contemplating for a long time, Zhong Yi looked at Rong Mian and finally managed to say, “Would you… like to have breakfast with me?”