The Daughter-In-Law Is So Pitiful? Just Take Her Home and Pamper Her! - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: A Fleeting Day of Leisure

Three hours later, the cliff on Xu Yao’s chest came to life.

At the bottom, a cat slept peacefully. And within the cracks of the cliff, a second kitten appeared—mid-climb, with youthful strokes and a proudly curled tail, its front paw just shy of reaching the cliff’s edge.

“Happy now?” Xu Yao used his thumb to wipe the sweat from Chen Mi’s nose. The little fool had watched the entire session more nervous than if he’d been the one getting tattooed.

Chen Mi leaned in to examine the fresh, bleeding ink. As his breath brushed over the skin, Xu Yao’s muscles noticeably tensed.

“Right here…” Chen Mi’s finger hovered just above the climbing kitten. “When I learn how to tattoo, I’ll add a sun for it.”

The old limping tattooist suddenly burst into a fit of coughing, nearly launching his gold tooth. “If you two are gonna be this sickly sweet, go home and do it!”

Latest entry in the accounting ledger:

“Tattoo fee -800”
“Old man’s eye bleach fee -50”
“…but now the cliff has light ∞”

The sun was just right when they stepped out of the tattoo shop.

Xu Yao raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light, turning to ask, “So, where do you want to go next?”

Chen Mi’s eyes sparkled. “I don’t know. I’m not really familiar with this place.”

Xu Yao held an unlit cigarette between his lips and gently rubbed Chen Mi’s slightly reddened earlobe. “Then just follow me.”

They wandered along the base of the old city wall, footsteps landing in the dappled shade of trees. Suddenly, Chen Mi tugged Xu Yao’s sleeve. “Look!”

At the corner was an elderly man selling sugar art. With a copper ladle, he poured out golden syrup on a stone slab, shaping it into a phoenix. Xu Yao pulled out some coins. “What shape do you want?”

“A cat!” Chen Mi said, then corrected himself, “…Make that two cats.”

The old man smiled as he shaped two intertwined cats with tails wrapped around each other, the sugar glistening in the sunlight. Chen Mi held the sugar art up, too reluctant to eat it. Xu Yao suddenly leaned in and bit the ear off the cat closest to him.

“Hey! You—”

“What? I’m not allowed to eat it?” Xu Yao licked the sugar from the corner of his lips.

Chen Mi’s eyes went wide. The sugar art trembled slightly in the sunlight. “That was my half!”

Xu Yao raised an eyebrow, then suddenly hooked his hand around the back of Chen Mi’s neck. Holding Chen Mi’s hand in place, he leaned in again and bit the ear off the other cat.

The crack of sugar breaking was loud and close. Chen Mi could count the flecks of light dancing on Xu Yao’s eyelashes.

“They’re both mine now,” Xu Yao said, stepping back slightly, tongue pressing against the roof of his mouth to savor the sweetness.

The old man chuckled from his stool, pouring another wobbly little star onto the stone slab—on the house.

“You… you…” Chen Mi didn’t know how to describe Xu Yao’s shameless behavior.

“What about me?” the shameless one asked, completely unaware of any wrongdoing.

Chen Mi spun around and stormed off, only to realize he didn’t know the way and had no destination. Frustrated, he slunk back toward Xu Yao.

Xu Yao watched Chen Mi angrily stomp back over like a puffed-up kitten that couldn’t find its way home. He couldn’t help but grin. He deliberately lagged behind, twirling the sugar stick in his hand.

“Walking so fast,” Xu Yao drawled, “do you even know where you’re going?”

Chen Mi stopped in his tracks, ears turning even redder. After a long pause, he squeezed out, “…No.”

“Then follow me.” Xu Yao reached out, hooking his pinky around Chen Mi’s. The calloused pad of his finger brushed gently against Chen Mi’s knuckle.

“I’ll take you somewhere.”

Chen Mi looked down at their linked fingers, his heart racing like it might burst out of his chest. He mumbled under his breath, “…You’re shameless.”

“Hmm?” Xu Yao leaned in on purpose.

“Nothing!” Chen Mi turned his face away—but he quietly tightened his grip.

The calico mama cat suddenly appeared from somewhere, her tail brushing against their ankles as if mocking their childish tug-of-war.

Xu Yao led him to an old bookstore in the west part of town.

The wooden stairs creaked underfoot. Sunlight streamed through the dusty windows, casting a patchwork of shadows between the bookshelves. Chen Mi squatted in a corner, flipping through a yellowed art book, while Xu Yao leaned against the nearby shelf, eyes resting on the swirl of hair at the crown of his head.

“Like it?” Xu Yao asked.

Chen Mi nodded, brushing his fingers over an illustration—a pair of cats curled up on a rooftop, under a sky full of stars.

Xu Yao pulled the book from his hands and walked off to pay. When he returned, he shoved the book into Chen Mi’s arms and ruffled his hair. “It’s yours.”

Chen Mi hugged the book, his eyes bright. “…Thanks.”

“No need to thank me,” Xu Yao said with a wicked grin. “You’re mine anyway.”

On the way back, Chen Mi spotted a billiard hall. He pointed at the sign. “That place—do you know how to play?”

Xu Yao glanced at the half-lit neon sign: “Week Eight Billiards” (the “eight” was the black ⑧ ball).

“Loser does the dishes for a month.” He grabbed Chen Mi’s wrist and pushed the door open.

“I—I don’t know how to play. I’ve only seen it when I went to find my dad at a casino.”

“No worries. I’m not that good either.”

The billiard hall was hazy with smoke. The green tables bore a few burn marks from cigarette ash. The boss lady, wearing a leopard print dress, took one look at them and tossed over two chipped cues. “Couple’s package? One hour, two sodas included.”

Chen Mi blushed and tried to protest, but Xu Yao was already lining up the break shot. His form was flawless—not the look of someone unfamiliar with the game.

As the white cue ball struck, his taut waistline showed clearly through his T-shirt. The tattooed cat on his left chest flickered under the overhead light.

“Your turn,” Xu Yao said, tapping the dazed Chen Mi with the cue stick. “Stop staring.”

Flustered, Chen Mi bent down. The tip of the cue misfired three times.

His palms were sweaty. Staring at the scattered balls on the table—like a bunch of disobedient kittens—he had no clue where to start.

“Hold it like this.” Xu Yao came up behind him, chest pressed to his back, hands guiding his. His breath skimmed Chen Mi’s ear, carrying a faint tobacco scent.

“Thumb and index finger pinch it. Relax the rest.”

Chen Mi tried to mimic, but the cue still wobbled. “I—I can’t do it…”

“Says who?” Xu Yao chuckled lowly and gently pushed the cue forward with him. The white ball rolled… and a striped ball dropped slowly into the pocket.

“It went in!” Chen Mi lit up, turning excitedly toward Xu Yao—only to realize he wasn’t looking at the table at all, but at him.

“Yeah, it did.” Xu Yao’s voice was hoarse, his gaze fixed on Chen Mi’s flushed cheeks.

As another ball clicked into the pocket, Chen Mi could hear his own heart pounding in his ears.

Under the dim billiard lights, he leaned over again to aim, the hem of his T-shirt lifting in a dangerously tempting arc.

Xu Yao’s Adam’s apple bobbed.

That strip of waist was dazzlingly pale, tightening with each awkward movement of the cue. At the dip of his lower back, two faint red marks bloomed—like plum blossoms fallen on snow.

“Is… is this right?” Chen Mi turned to ask, hair falling around the corners of his blushing eyes.