Chapter 32: The Pink Balloon

The chaotic play Angel’s Love concluded with an O. Henry-style ending where the angel saved the second male lead. Under Liang Yi’en’s direction, the angel carried him, and with wings closed, they slowly shuffled from the front of the stage to the back, squeezing into the dressing room.

Zhu Zhixi and Fu Rangyi rushed backstage amidst the chaos, following the trail of feathers on the ground to the dressing room. But when the door opened, only Liang Yi’en was inside, staring back at them.

“Wait, where’s the angel?” Zhu Zhixi asked anxiously.

Liang Yi’en gave a bitter smile, extended his hand, and opened his palm. Lying there was a small hamster—white, tiny, and fat, sound asleep.

Seeing this little thing, Zhu Zhixi completely understood. Whether it was the fire hydrant kid from before or the archangel, they were both Xiao Yu.

The director’s voice came from backstage, shouting Liang Yi’en’s name. Just from the tone, one could tell how excited she was.

“I’m done for. They’re definitely coming to drag me to the curtain call.” Liang Yi’en pocketed the little hamster and grabbed his coat. “Let’s find a place to talk first.”

Thus, at Fu Rangyi’s suggestion, they went to the creative café run by S University’s anime club.

After sitting down, Zhu Zhixi finally understood why.

Everyone inside, from the waiters to the customers, was in cosplay costumes of all strange and wonderful kinds. Even if someone transformed into an angel again, it wouldn’t be that surprising. At most, someone might ask, “Teacher, can I get a photo with you?”

Zhu Zhixi briefly explained the countdown situation. This was the first time he had ever spoken about it without being treated like a lunatic, which gave him an inexplicable sense of relief.

After listening, Liang Yi’en only said one thing, “So that’s why you and Professor got married. I knew it.”

Zhu Zhixi blinked, feeling a sudden sense of guilt for some reason. He subconsciously looked at Fu Rangyi, but although Fu Rangyi was sitting there, his soul seemed to still be on its way.

Good, good.

He looked across the table again. Xiao Yu, who had turned into a small hamster, had climbed up to Liang Yi’en’s neck, squinting and sniffing around, before finally crawling into the hollow of his collarbone, turning a few times, and plopping down to sleep like a little hamster pancake.

“So when you said ‘there will be trouble,’ this is what you meant…” Zhu Zhixi let out a long sigh of relief. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t watch him properly. I should have taken him away before the third act started. The main thing is, I really didn’t expect this kid to play the ‘golden cicada shedding its shell’ trick and be able to get that big…”

He had thought at most he would turn into a small animal. How much trouble could a small animal cause?

Liang Yi’en had visibly lost half his soul. His eyes were lifeless as he propped his head up with his hand and shook his head. “It’s useless. I didn’t think it through. I also didn’t expect him to get that big… And if he really wants to run, no one can stop him.”

“The reason you could watch him at the beginning was probably because he thought you guys were fun and wanted to stay and talk with you. Even if you had taken him away, he would have found a way to slip away.”

After saying that, Liang Yi’en sighed. “It’s not the first time he’s done something like this.”

“Not the first time? Transforming or causing trouble?”

“Both, I guess.” Liang Yi’en recalled with a look of despair. “A few days ago, I was walking a few of the dogs from the station, and an old man stopped me, insisting my dog bit someone and wanted to call people to take them all away.”

Hearing this, Zhu Zhixi immediately got angry. “On what grounds?!”

The little hamster also suddenly woke up, squeaking and spinning on his collarbone.

Zhu Zhixi was already traumatized and immediately asked, “He’s not going to suddenly transform, is he?”

“He won’t. He’s out of energy.” Liang Yi’en continued, “It’s normal to run into things like this when you’re out. I forgot about it when I got back. Who knew that in the middle of the night, he would actually open the courtyard gate, lead all the big and small dogs out, and surround that old man’s building. He didn’t even leave behind the little abandoned Yorkshire terrier.”

Zhu Zhixi could actually picture the scene in his mind, especially that palm-sized little Yorkie. It was simply too majestic.

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Well, well, this is like leading troops into battle.”

“You’re still laughing…” Liang Yi’en looked up helplessly, only to see Fu Rangyi, who was sitting next to Zhu Zhixi, silently adding sugar cubes to his coffee, one, two, three…

“Professor, Professor?” He waved his hand in front of Fu Rangyi’s eyes. “Can you still drink it with that much sugar?”

Zhu Zhixi turned his head and only then noticed that the coffee in his cup was about to overflow. He quickly took the small tongs from his hand and clasped his hand.

Never mind the angel. At first, Fu Rangyi had been adamant that the countdown didn’t exist and that he was lying. The current situation was indeed too much of a shock for him.

“It’s okay, Professor is just rebuilding his worldview right now.” As he spoke, Zhu Zhixi pressed on his temples twice and muttered, “Time to format.”

The little hamster wasn’t angry anymore and went back to sleep in the hollow of his collarbone.

Zhu Zhixi tried to sort out his thoughts. “So, the Samoyed you found at the beginning was Xiao Yu?”

Liang Yi’en nodded. “Yes, he had a feather stuck in his head back then, so I gave him that name. Thinking about it now, it was probably his own feather.”

“He can turn into various small animals, and also a child… Is there any pattern to it?” Zhu Zhixi thought for a moment, then asked, “Actually, the angel form today is his true form, right?”

Liang Yi’en shook his head with a troubled expression. “I don’t know. This is also the first time I’ve seen his adult form. When I found him, he was just a Samoyed. I gave him a bath, and strangely, every time I locked him up, he would always be in my arms when I woke up the next day. Then one day, I woke up, and he had turned into a child. At first, he was a baby, then he got bigger and could even talk…”

“This is a true-to-life nurturing game,” Zhu Zhixi said, his eyes widening as he listened.
This was much more troublesome than his countdown.

“Later, I found that as long as there is physical contact, he seems to be able to accumulate some energy, maintain his human form for a period of time, and even recover some memories.”

This method sounds a bit familiar…

Zhu Zhixi threw his arm around Fu Rangyi’s and shook it. “Us too! As long as there’s physical contact, the countdown can pause, or even reverse.”

Fu Rangyi seemed to have briefly reconnected, coming back to his senses. He glanced at the arm that Zhu Zhixi was holding tightly.

Liang Yi’en looked up again and said to Fu Rangyi, “So Professor and I are both healers.”

Fu Rangyi tilted his head slightly. “What is a healer?”

Liang Yi’en: “…That’s not important, Professor.”

“I told you I wasn’t lying.” Zhu Zhixi nudged him. “There really are such bizarre things. No one believed me. God, I feel like a breath I’ve been holding in my chest for so long has finally been released. It feels so good.”

As he spoke, he complained to Liang Yi’en, “You should have told me earlier! You were hiding it before, I thought he was a demon.”

Liang Yi’en gave a bitter smile. “I thought he was a demon at first too. I even thought I was going crazy. Then one night, he started talking in his sleep, saying something about an angel. I still didn’t believe it. How could there really be something like an angel in this world?”

“That’s true. I wouldn’t have dared to believe it either. It’s usually something you only find in Western religious mythology, right? The flying deities we have here don’t need wings.”

At this moment, the intermittently offline Professor Fu suddenly spoke up, “Actually, it’s possible…”

“Huh?” Zhu Zhixi looked at him.

Fu Rangyi took out his phone, searched for a while, and showed them a few photos. “These are Jin dynasty sculptures unearthed from the Taizicheng site. They’re called ‘pinjia’, or ‘myàoyīniǎo’, and they are ridge beasts placed on roof ridges. Many buildings from the Song dynasty had them.”

Zhu Zhixi took a look, and it was true. The sculpture in the photo was of a small figure in traditional ancient clothing, but with a pair of wings on its back that looked very much like those of a Western angel.

“Could it be that they existed back then…” Zhu Zhixi’s imagination ran wild. “Maybe they’re not allowed to meet mortals normally. Xiao Yu is an exception.”

As he spoke, he held out his left palm and shook it. “Just like this countdown on my hand. No one else has it, only me. Something must have gone wrong somewhere.”

Glancing at his empty palm, Fu Rangyi’s thoughts suddenly jumped back to when they were watching the play.
“No wonder, when you were holding my hand, the little fire hydrant asked if I didn’t find it noisy.”

“Who’s noisy?” Zhu Zhixi frowned. “He thinks I’m noisy?”

Fu Rangyi concentrated, recalling, “He said, tick-tock, tick-tock… It must be the sound of the countdown.”

It dawned on Zhu Zhixi. “No wonder he wouldn’t hold my left hand and wanted to switch to the right. Xiao Yu can hear the sound of the countdown! Xiao En, when did you find him?”

Liang Yi’en thought for a moment. “When… I only remember that it was raining heavily that day, with thunder all night. I checked all the doors and windows of the station. In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard a puppy’s sound. As soon as I opened the door, I saw him.”

As he spoke, he suddenly said, “It was the day you came back to the country.”

Everything connected.

Zhu Zhixi’s scalp tingled. “Although the dogs look different, he can transform. Maybe he was a little white dog with me, then I fainted, he ran off, and you found him.”

At this point, the little white fluffball woke up, stood on Liang Yi’en’s shoulder, washed its face for a while, then crawled down his arm and landed on the table.

Fu Rangyi sorted out his thoughts and said in a deep voice, “Regardless of whether it’s the same puppy, at least one thing is certain now: your countdown and the little fire hydrant are definitely related. If he really is an angel and recovers his memories and abilities, he might be able to eliminate this countdown.”

“As expected of my husband, thinking the same thing as me.” Zhu Zhixi grabbed Liang Yi’en’s hand. “Xiao En, my life is in your hands.”

Fu Rangyi had been pleased by the first sentence, but seeing Zhu Zhixi’s hand, he felt a little unhappy again.

The little white hamster also crawled onto their joined hands, squeaking for a while, and even seemed to try to open its mouth, but Fu Rangyi noticed first and picked it up.

Looking at this chubby little thing, Fu Rangyi still found it incredible. This was the fire hydrant kid from just now? The guy who unfurled huge wings on stage to protect Liang Yi’en?

Could he really solve the countdown?

If time were to rewind to last night, the all-nighter Fu Rangyi would never have imagined that his first date would be so chaotic. They did everything but what was on the plan. No strolling, no eating together, no stamp collecting.

Damn it.

Of course, Liang Yi’en wanted to help. He looked at the little white ball in Fu Rangyi’s hand and sighed. “Xiao Yu should have something like an energy pool inside him. The more energy he accumulates, the bigger the form he can take. Now that he’s become a hamster, I guess everything he saved up before was wiped out because he went big this time.”

“Then you two should have more contact!” Zhu Zhixi said.

Fu Rangyi released the struggling little hamster and said flatly, “You should hold him in your mouth. The contact area is larger.”

Zhu Zhixi let go of his hand and gave him a thumbs-up. “Good idea.”

The little hamster crawled onto Zhu Zhixi’s unlocked phone.

“You two, be human,” Liang Yi’en said, leaning his head back on the sofa in agony, closing his eyes tiredly. A moment later, his phone vibrated again. He picked it up and couldn’t sit still anymore.

“I’m screwed. The director said our terrible play has gone viral. The forums are all trying to figure out who the angel at the end was…” Liang Yi’en grabbed his backpack and clothes. “No, no, I have to run. They might really come to get me.”

He expertly flattened his hand on the table, waited for the little hamster to climb on, and then put it in his chest pocket.

“Senior, Professor, I’m leaving first.”

“Good luck! Save up more energy for our Xiao Yu!”

Watching Liang Yi’en leave, Zhu Zhixi turned back and found Fu Rangyi frantically squeezing hand sanitizer from the bottle on the table.

“What are you doing?” Zhu Zhixi thought for a moment. “Ah, is it because you just held the little hamster? It’s fine, it’s not a real hamster. You can tell he’s very clean.”

That wasn’t it.

Fu Rangyi washed his hands in silence.

He had just suddenly realized that he hadn’t been holding the hand of a four or five-year-old little fire hydrant the whole time, but a six-foot-something adult with huge wings who could carry an Alpha with one arm.

The substitution made Fu Rangyi feel a little broken.

“Let’s go too.”

The two paid the bill and left the anime café together.

Zhu Zhixi felt a little apologetic, feeling like he had wasted a lot of Fu Rangyi’s time, so he suggested they go home now.

Fu Rangyi was silent for a moment, then finally said okay.