Peking Opera Cat: I Became A Zi's Brother

Mo Yun's fingertips pinched the pumpkin cake, and her knuckles turned slightly white from the force.

The sweet aroma melts on the tip of the tongue, but it cannot overcome the bitterness surging in the heart.

"..."

He looked at Tangyuan's expectant eyes, and at the owner's mother-in-law's pretended calm gaze as she looked at the grape vines. His throat felt like it was clogged with a ball of water-soaked cotton wool.

"sweet dumpling,"

He finally spoke, his voice so soft as if he was afraid it would be blown away by the wind, "Has most of the cat soil been liberated?"

Tangyuan's ears stood up and his tail straightened instantly:

"What about sugar?!"

Mo Yun's gaze fell on the grape seed at her feet. The sunlight made it shine brightly, like a small, solidified teardrop.

"he……"

He paused, each word coming out as if crushed from his throat.

"He won the fight."

"Then why doesn't he come back?"

Tangyuan asked, clutching the corner of his clothes with his little paws.

"because……"

Mo Yun lowered his head and looked at the space in his arms that was getting colder and colder.

"To protect the newly awakened Nezumi, he must stay where he is most needed."

This was half true and half false, but it made the owner's mother-in-law's shoulders shake slightly.

She walked out of the kitchen, holding three bowls of mung bean soup in her hands. Water droplets from the edges of the bowls dripped down through her fingers, falling onto the bluestone slabs, leaving small wet marks.

"yes,"

She took over the conversation, with a subtle tremor in her voice.

"Heroes are always busy protecting everyone."

She placed the bowl on the stone table and pushed it in front of Mo Yun.

"Hurry up and drink it. The mung bean soup is cold and will help you get rid of the greasiness."

Mo Yun picked up the bowl, the cold porcelain wall pressed against his palm, but it couldn't extinguish the burning in his heart.

The bitter taste of mung beans spreads out, just like the way white sugar droops its ears every time it gets into trouble. It’s obvious that you should be angry, but you can’t bear to do it.

Tofu suddenly meowed, ran to the gate of the yard, and looked out.

The shadow of the old locust tree was cast obliquely inwards, stretching very long on the ground, as if someone was stretching out their arms, trying to pull back someone who had left.

The owner's mother-in-law picked up a piece of pumpkin cake, slowly put it into her mouth, and chewed it carefully.

The sunlight fell on her face, making the lines in her wrinkles particularly clear. Hidden there were unspoken concerns, the ending that had long been guessed, and... the wetness that she didn't want the children to see.

"Wait a few days,"

She suddenly said, her voice returning to its usual gentle tone,

"Build the grapevines higher so that when Sugar comes back, we can pick the sweetest grapes on the top."

Mo Yun's eyes suddenly became hot. He turned his head and looked at the morning glory on the courtyard wall.

The purple petals trembled gently in the wind, like the discordant whistle that white sugar always likes to blow.

Yeah, wait.

Even if you know you can't wait, you still have to guard the sunshine and concern in the yard, waiting for a figure that will never come back.

Just like the grape seed buried in the soil, even though we know it may not sprout, we still look forward to growing a bunch of sweet grapes in the spring of next year.

Mo Yun looked at the morning glory bush on the courtyard wall. The purple petals were still stained with the afternoon sunlight, like the halo swept by the tip of Bai Tang's tail when he ran.

His Adam's apple moved, forcing back the heat that was rising to his eyes, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the water droplets on the edge of the bowl - the water droplets rolled down the back of his hand, feeling cool, just like the frost that could not be melted on the scales of an ice dragon.

"My mother-in-law is right,"

He continued with the topic, his voice choked with sobs that he didn't even notice.

"The grapes at the top get plenty of sunlight and are definitely sweeter than those at the bottom."

Tangyuan's ears drooped again, and his paws drew circles on the stone table:

"But when will Bai Tang come back? When he left, he said he'd bring Wu Song and the others back in three months at most to eat freshly picked grapes..."

"I guess you got delayed on the way,"

The owner of the class picked up her bowl of mung bean soup and took a sip. The astringent taste of the mung bean spread on the tip of her tongue.

"How can a hero be so idle as us, waiting at home? He might be helping rebuild another town. Did you forget the letter he sent last time saying that the town to the west was mostly destroyed by monsters, and many kittens have nowhere to live?"

"Oh……"

Tang Yuan nodded, not quite understanding, but the tip of his tail stopped wagging. "Then will he forget the half dried fish he owes me?"

Mo Yun's heart felt like it was gently tugged by something.

He remembered Baitang's little thoughts. Every time he owed Tangyuan something, he would secretly put dried fish under Tangyuan's pillow at night, and deliberately leave a paw print, pretending that it was sent by the "mysterious cat".

He looked down at the Yunli space in his arms. The chill inside seemed to be even stronger, like the cold face a little kid puts on deliberately when he's upset - but this time, there would never be a look of him turning around and secretly slipping a candy into his hand.

Tofu suddenly got up from the ground and ran towards the grape trellis. He stopped halfway, turned around and meowed at Mo Yun, as if calling him over.

Mo Yun followed its gaze and saw a wooden box with peeling paint under the bamboo frame of the grape vines. That was where Bai Tang used to hide his treasures. It was always filled with some picked up colorful stones, rounded shells, and half a piece of fish bone.

"That's the sugar box!"

Tangyuan also saw it, and his eyes lit up.

"He said it contains the secret to becoming the strongest Peking Opera Cat!"

The boss's mother-in-law also looked at the box, and the corners of her mouth curled up:

"This kid always likes to think about things."

As she spoke, she stood up and walked towards the grape arbor.

"I'll go see what new weird stuff is stuffed in there."

Mo Yun looked at her back, her green apron swaying gently in the shadow of the vines. Her steps were steadier than before, but still slow.

He suddenly remembered that when Bai Tang was first pulled into this big family by the owner's mother-in-law, he was as thin as a kitten that had not grown up yet. He always liked to hug this wooden box and hide under the grape trellis. But when the owner's mother-in-law handed him the pumpkin cake, he would hesitate to take it, eat it up in big mouthfuls, and then hug the box even tighter.

"Mother-in-law, look!"

Tangyuan had already rushed to the box and reached in.

"There are lots of grape seeds in it! And... and this!"

He ran back holding a rusty copper coin with a red string tied to it.

"This is the 'lucky money' Baitang mentioned. He said wearing it can drive away all monsters!"

Mo Yun's eyes fell on the copper coin, and he suddenly remembered the night before the decisive battle, when Bai Tang stuffed the copper coin into his hand and grinned:

"Brother Mo Yun, this is for you. I don't need it anymore. I want to become the strongest Peking Opera Cat!"

At that time, he smiled and put the copper coin back, saying, "When you come back, wear it and pick grapes yourself."

"This child,"

The owner's mother-in-law also came over, holding a handful of grape seeds in her hand. The sunlight filtered through her fingers, casting tiny shadows on the ground.

"He said he wanted to bury the grape seeds, but he forgot about it and asked me to look at this box every day to remember for him."

She squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil, and buried the grape seeds one by one, her movements slow, as if she was doing something extremely serious.

"With all the good rain this year, maybe seedlings will actually sprout."

Mo Yun also squatted down and helped bury the round grape seeds.

His fingertips touched the moist soil, which was warm from the sun, and he suddenly felt that the coldness in his arms was not so biting anymore.

"Mother-in-law,"

He whispered, his voice filled with relief and heaviness.

"Bai Tang... is a hero."

The owner's mother-in-law paused as she buried the grape seeds, and the dirt on her fingertips fell down.

After a long while, she finally said "hmm", her voice so light it sounded like a sigh:

"I know."

She raised her head, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were filled with light, like fallen layers of gold.

"Ever since he told me he wanted to go out and explore, I knew he was a wild kid and couldn't be confined to this small yard."

Tang Yuan lay beside him, looking at the buried grape seeds, and suddenly said:

"When the grapes grow, I'll pick the biggest and sweetest ones and hang them at the door so Baitang can see them when he comes back."

Mo Yun looked into his sparkling eyes and said nothing more.

Some things, perhaps, don’t need to be said clearly. Just like this grape seed, buried in the soil, there is always hope; just like this sunshine that fills the yard, even if it hides pain, it is warm enough to make people want to keep it.

The wind blew through the grape vines again, carrying with it the fragrance of locust flowers, the sweetness of pumpkin, and an indescribable taste of home.

Mo Yun looked down at the gradually warming space of rhyme power in his arms, and suddenly felt that perhaps this was a good thing - to let Bai Tang stay in the place he cared about most, in the sunshine, under the grape vines, and in every grape seed waiting to sprout.

The ice dragon roared again outside the town, but this time there was no whimpering in the sound, only a long, steady sigh.