Chapter 36 - Can’t Eat That (1/2)

Zhong Yan was so shocked that he could not speak properly. “Ha…Happy New Year…Where did you go? Ah no, what’s that in the yard?”

While taking off his coat, Adrian said, “Don’t you know what that is? It’s a giant space rabbit. And to think you’ve been talking about how much you liked giant space rabbits all these years.”

“Of course I know what it is!” Zhong Yan refuted. He even ignored the coat Adrian had thrown on the dining chair. “Is this…a holographic projection?”

Adrian responded, “You’ll know when you touch it. Come on.”

Zhong Yan followed him dazedly out the backdoor. They passed through the row of trees, and stopped in front of that giant mass of white fur, lifting their heads to stare at it.

Adrian stuck a hand in his pocket and stood behind him. “Go ahead, try it.”

Zhong Yan put his hand on the dense white fur on the rabbit’s legs; it was soft and warm.

The amount of force he exerted was too light, so the lop-eared rabbit paid no attention to him. However, it suddenly laid down after seemingly having finished observing its surroundings. Zhong Yan was frightened. He retracted his hand and retreated two steps backward, bumping into Adrian who was standing behind him. Adrian supported him by holding his shoulders.

“Did you touch it? Is it a projection?” He asked.

“No…it’s real.” Zhong Yan’s mind was filled with all sorts of questions for a moment. He turned around and stared at Adrian for a long time, but did not say anything. Finally, he managed to pick out a single question with difficulty. “Why do you…Why do you have a giant space rabbit?”

“Didn’t you say you were going to cook dinner for me?”

A bad feeling rose up in Zhong Yan’s heart, and as expected, Adrian continued with, “Red braised sounds good.”

“You can’t eat it!” Zhong Yan stopped him anxiously. He looked carefully at Adrian’s face to see if he was joking, but the other man was looking clearly at him with his head faintly lowered. The lights shining from the house in the distance illuminated half of his face, and the dim light softened his sharp features. In the breeze of the night, his silver irises looked mysterious, and he was so handsome that it made him feel flustered.

Zhong Yan’s heart skipped a beat. His favorite giant space rabbit was just right behind him, and this was the first time in his life that he was so close to one; but at this moment, he had completely lost all notions of turning around to look at it.

There was a scene that attracted his gaze even more, and it was right in front of him.

Adrian said, “Didn’t you bring the knife out as well? Should I help you out?”

Zhong Yan came back to his senses and finally realized that he was still holding the knife. There were simply no words he could use to explain himself. “This isn’t for…I heard a noise just now, so I thought it was an enemy attack…”

He hurried to explain himself in a few words. When he saw that Adrian’s expression was still the same as usual, he finally reacted a little. After some hesitation, he said, “You weren’t joking earlier…were you?”

“Who’s got the time to crack jokes with you?” Adrian responded.

“I’ve already made dinner. There’s a lot of dishes, they’ll be ready after I heat them up!” Zhong Yan tried his best to persuade him from the idea. “I’m very tired now, I can’t move anymore.”

Adrian suggested, “We can eat it tomorrow…Oh, it’s already twelve, so we’ll eat it in the morning. Come on, it’s time to head back.”

“Ah…are we…going just like that?” Zhong Yan asked, “What about the rabbit?”

“What do you mean ‘what’?”

“Should we feed it something? I wonder if it’s hungry. It’s so small, is it still a kit?”

“It’s a kit,” Adrian answered. “I fed it on the way back, and what’s more, it’s normal for these type of rabbits to not eat for more than a dozen days or so…isn’t this what you told me before?”

Zhong Yan was very confused, “…You fed it on the way? Where did you get the rabbit from?”

“Why do you care where it’s from?”

“You didn’t just catch one from somewhere, did you?” Zhong Yan asked with suspicion. “You can’t catch wild giant space rabbits, that’s considered poaching. The ‘Giant Space Rabbit Hunting Law’ states it. I drafted the bill myself.”

Adrian shot him a provoking smile and said, “Welcome to the extrajudicial area, Councilor.”