Chapter 26 – Abilities
Cats are indeed known for their remarkable jumping skills, but right now, Xia Lu Nong was in the form of a two- or three-month-old kitten. His body was still soft and his bones hadn’t fully hardened, so having such jumping ability was simply unbelievable.
Xia Lu Nong looked at his brother with his cat eyes, then down at Yan Xi Nian, confused about how all this was happening.
Feeling anxious, the little cat stuck out his pink tongue and expertly licked his own nose.
Xia Huo Qu didn’t ask too many questions and stroked the soft cat fur. “Play a bit longer, then we’ll prepare for dinner.”
“Meow.”
Xia Lu Nong nudged his brother’s hand with his head, indicating he understood.
That evening, Xia Lu Nong had a specially prepared meal. His brother had asked the cafeteria staff to help make it, mixing fish and pork into a meat paste, adding taro and egg yolk, creating a light and delicious cat meal.
Beside him, his brother also placed a bowl of milk.
The food for the two brothers was much simpler: a large portion of hand-torn cabbage, a big plate of fried meat, and a bowl of rice. They focused intently on their meal, consuming more food than the volume of ten little cats combined.
As they ate, the meat juices flowed out, releasing a rich, meaty aroma.
Xia Lu Nong, while eating his light cat food, sniffed the air filled with the strong scent of meat. His big eyes kept glancing over at his brothers.
It smelled so good! He wanted to eat meat too!
Perhaps it was because he hadn’t satisfied his hunger at dinner, Xia Lu Nong fell asleep while still filled with cravings. He didn’t sleep long before waking up from a dream where he was chasing and gnawing on a chicken leg.
He tucked his two front paws under him and lay on the ground not far from his brother, raising his head to look at the stars outside the window, then glancing at the room’s decor.
Since turning into a cat, his vision had improved significantly; even in low light, he could see everything clearly.
Besides him and his brother, there were no other living beings in the room, making it quite dull.
He rested his head on his crossed front paws, his tail swishing back and forth.
Having slept too much during the day, he now felt completely awake, and the bed felt eerily empty with a large amount of space beside him.
Xia Lu Nong climbed up, his soft pads making no sound on the mat as he walked toward his brother’s cheek.
He wanted to snuggle up to his brother and sleep.
However, just as his furry body made contact with his brother’s warm figure, he hadn’t yet settled in when his brother pushed him away with one arm, mumbling sleepily, “Don’t stick so close; you might get squished.”
Xia Cat: ???
Before he could react, he was pushed a good distance away, with the cold mat beneath him.
Xia Lu Nong stared wide-eyed at his brother for a while, then tentatively stretched out a paw. But just as he leaned in again, he was pushed away once more.
After a few more tries, the little bit of sleepiness he had was completely worn away.
Irritated, he ground his little sharp teeth and glared at his brother for a while before ultimately arching his back and running over his brother’s head to squat on the bedside table.
The scent of the little cat was right next to him, and Xia Huo Qu was fast asleep.
Xia Lu Nong sat on the bedside table, watching him for a while, then scanned the room. He gathered all four legs together, jumped to the ground, and looked up under the cabinet for a bit. Suddenly, he leaped up, his claws hooking onto the bottom of a drawer. With his tail flicking, he wriggled and squeezed inside, almost ending up in a split position before finally managing to crawl into the drawer.
The drawer was old, and as he expected, it only contained a few notebooks and pens. The faint scent of wood, paper, and ink mixed together, making the cat feel very secure.
Xia Lu Nong yawned, finally feeling a sense of safety in this small, dark space.
The cat rolled over to the side and quickly fell asleep, resting his head on the wood.
The next morning, just as dawn broke, Xia Huo Qu opened his eyes on time, thanks to his strong biological clock.
The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was search the bed.
There was no sign of his little brother on the bed, and his heart tightened. He quickly leaped lightly to the ground, silently stepping into his shoes as if he were a large predator, ready to go out and look for the cat.
Just as he lifted his foot to leave, he sensed something and heard a very faint breathing sound nearby. Upon closer inspection, the room was filled with the scent of a cat.
He hesitated for a moment and gently opened the drawer.
Inside the wooden drawer, there indeed lay a little cat with its snow-white belly exposed.
Its two hind legs were stretched out, and its front paws rested behind its head, with its little pink paw pads visible. Its eyes were tightly closed, soundly asleep.
Xia Huo Qu’s heart settled. He shook his head helplessly, gently pulling the entire drawer out and placing it on the bed, then tiptoeing outside.
The morning at the base was as usual.
After washing up, Xia Huo Qu went to fetch water and prepare meals. When he returned, he cleaned the floor and watered the fruits and vegetables in front and behind the house.
Hearing the commotion, Xia Lu Nong finally stretched his four paws in all directions, yawning widely, shaking himself awake before climbing up.
“Meow.”
“Good morning.” Xia Huo Qu prepared milk for him, checked the temperature, and placed it on the table. “Have breakfast first. After eating, we’ll go check the fields.”
They had been away for several days, and although they had entrusted Liao Cheng with taking care of the fields, they still needed to get back to work as soon as they returned, watering and fertilizing without delay.
“Meow.” Xia Lu Nong called out to his brother in response.
Xia Huo Qu took the straw hat and carried his brother to the fields.
Many people in the base could transform into beasts, but few appeared in their beast forms.
Xia Huo Qu didn’t want his brother to be the center of attention.
Xia Lu Nong was completely unaware of his brother’s thoughts. He curled up inside the straw hat, occasionally looking up at the sky or the clouds. He spotted little flying insects on the road and stretched out his cat paw to try and catch them, curling his paw pads to hook at the insects.
Xia Huo Qu ignored his little antics, carrying the hat and hoe directly to the fields.
After a few days, the plants in the fields had grown very lush, including the vegetables and peanuts, as well as wild grasses.
Liao Cheng had indeed helped them water and deal with pests these past few days, but he hadn’t had time to pull the weeds, especially since he also had more than an acre of land to tend to.
Xia Huo Qu took the little cat out of the straw hat and placed him on the edge of the field. “Don’t run around. I’ll take a look and pull some weeds.”
“Meow.”
Seeing him obediently agree, Xia Huo Qu’s eyes showed a smile. “Just remember, if you get scared by a big bug later, I won’t help you.”
“Meow.”
He wouldn’t be scared by big bugs.
Xia Huo Qu gently patted his little head, rolled up his pants, took off his shoes, and stepped into the field.
Xia Lu Nong hesitated, wanting to jump down but fearing that a big bug might truly leap out from the grass, especially some grasshoppers that could be half the length of his little body.
His emerald green cat eyes revealed his indecision, raising and lowering his paw repeatedly in hesitation.
Seeing this, Xia Huo Qu laughed, “If you really want to come down, just stay close to me.”
Upon hearing this, the little cat wasted no time, leaping on all fours and bouncing along behind him, taking one little hop after another.
A few days passed, and the vegetable garden was already laden with fruits.
The green beans, peppers, tomatoes, and eggplants all had small fruits hanging from their branches. In five or six days at most, they would be able to harvest their first batch of vegetables.
Xia Lu Nong flicked his tail and strolled under the tomato branches.
The tomatoes at his home were growing very well. The branches above spread out like an umbrella, with more than a dozen round, plump green tomatoes hanging below. The ripest one was already turning a bit yellow.
Xia Lu Nong immediately thought of the sour and sweet taste of tomatoes, especially when made into tomato soup, where the essence melted into the broth, fresh and slightly tangy.
Gulp.
He really wanted to drink tomato soup.
Xia Lu Nong stared intently at the tomato branches, his mind filled with fantasies of various delicacies—tomato soup, tomato beef brisket, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, shrimp in tomato sauce, and noodles in tomato sauce…
The tomato leaves filtered most of the sunlight, leaving only scattered beams shining down on the little cat.
Xia Huo Qu picked the weeds clean under the tomatoes and casually patted the little cat’s pink paw pads, ensuring the temperature wasn’t too high before allowing him to cool off there.
Xia Lu Nong fixated on the tomatoes, eagerly wishing they would grow quickly. Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep, dreaming of countless tomato-related dishes flying in front of him, almost drenching his chin with drool.
When he woke up, he found himself in his brother’s hat, as they were walking home.
The little cat stood on his hind legs in the hat, using his front paws to support himself while looking around.
“Meow.” He called out to his brother, his voice pitiful.
So hungry; his belly felt empty.
Xia Huo Qu exchanged a glance with him, understanding his state. He gently felt under the soft belly and was surprised to find it indeed empty, his brother’s belly concave.
“How can you be so hungry?” Xia Huo Qu furrowed his brow, worry filling his voice.
“Meow.” Xia Lu Nong replied, unsure himself.
“Hang in there,” Xia Huo Qu said. “Next time we go out, I’ll bring you a bottle of milk. Kittens have small stomachs and get hungry quickly, so we need to supplement your meals in time.”
“Meow~.” The little cat let out a sound, weakly lying down in the hat.
Xia Huo Qu hurried home to prepare milk for him and fed him meat patties.
After getting full, Xia Lu Nong quickly climbed onto the sofa and fell asleep, his belly puffing up and down.
In the afternoon, Xia Huo Qu didn’t want to take the cat out anymore.
Xia Lu Nong sensed his brother’s intention and quickly ran to his brother’s feet, meowing and clawing at him, asking to be taken along.
Xia Huo Qu squatted down, saying, “It’s too hot this afternoon.”
“Meow.” Xia Lu Nong didn’t listen.
Xia Huo Qu silently watched the little cat.
The little cat tilted his head and suddenly sprang up on all fours, using his claws to grip his brother’s pants, quickly climbing up to his brother’s shoulder and meowing.
His brother gently grabbed his front paw and lifted him down.
The two brothers exchanged glances, and in the end, Xia Huo Qu succumbed to the moist, round eyes of the little cat and prepared the milk, reluctantly taking him along.
Taking him to play in the field eased Xia Huo Qu’s mind, preventing any unexpected incidents from leaving the cat home alone.
As soon as they arrived at the field in the afternoon, both brothers keenly sensed something was off.
On the plot of land where they planted tomatoes, a tomato plant laden with large, red tomatoes stood out conspicuously, like a splash of red among the sea of green.
The large tomatoes were fully red, plump and juicy, hanging heavily enough to bend the branches.
Without needing to taste them, one could smell the fresh tomato aroma just by getting close, indicating that these tomatoes must be sweet and tangy.
But the problem was, when they came in the morning, not a single one of those tomatoes was ripe!
How could they turn red so quickly?!
The speed at which the tomatoes ripened was completely unscientific. The only explanation was that someone had used some kind of special ability on the tomatoes.
Xia Huo Qu didn’t have any special ability himself.
So the only possibility left was that his little brother, who had just transformed into a beast, had done it.
Xia Huo Qu looked at the little cat at his feet.
The little cat squatted on his hind legs, his front paws raised, maintaining a posture as if he wanted to touch the tomato branches, completely stunned.
Xia Huo Qu quietly asked, “Did you do something?”
“Meow?” Xia Lu Nong replied, bewildered. Theoretically, it was possible, but he hadn’t felt anything at all.
Could it be that if he wished for the tomatoes to turn red, they would turn red?
