He used his own finger as a cat treat and let Xuechun lick it.

He finally managed to soothe this little kitty who'd been home alone, cold and hungry, and whose tummy had felt bad even after eating cat food.

No, not a kitty.

A catgirl.

The feeling of being licked on the finger was tingly and numb. Sometimes it came with Xuechun's clumsy little sucking motion too.

“Mya... shiu~”

By spending time with Xuechun in her catgirl form, Gu Chuan had also learned a few little facts about raising a catgirl.

The teacher's here, the teacher's here, everyone sit properly.

Professor Gu's Catgirl Care 101 is now in session!

First point: after a cat turns into a catgirl, all that fluffy fur is gone, so she'll feel cold.

Other cats all have fur. She's the only one who doesn't. So you have to teach her to wear clothes properly.

Second point: cats think cat food is delicious, but catgirls don't.

She might even get diarrhea after eating it. As for raw fish or raw meat, those are absolutely not allowed for catgirls!

Catgirls need cooked food. As for little kitties, cat food and fish meat are both fine.

Third point: catgirls like curling up in their owner's clothes and arms, and they're often so cute that A-Wei...

Alright, a student has a question. That student over there, your hand is way up. What would you like to ask?

Student: Excuse me, where do I pick up a catgirl?

Professor Gu: Ahem, that's outside the scope of this course. But you can go ask Professor Lin.

“Meow meow!”

The finger-turned-cat-treat was soon no longer enough for Xuechun.

Her light blue eyes, sparkling like a sea of stars, darted around as if she wanted to lick something else.

For example...

Her gaze dropped downward and locked onto Gu Chuan's pants...

The elastic waistband!

Gu Chuan could no longer remember whether he'd ever raised a cat before.

It felt like a very long time ago, back at his grandparents' house, they had kept all kinds of little animals.

Later, after moving to the city, he'd forgotten.

But one thing he still remembered clearly was this: cats liked biting elastic bands!

“X-Xuechun! Don't bite that, my waistband's already loose!”

“Meow?”

Xuechun let go with a blank look on her face, then lifted her head. She was absurdly soft and adorable.

Faced with a cat like this, what temper could Gu Chuan even have?

“You little dummy. I'll make you something to eat right now.”

“We've got chicken and mushrooms at home, so I'll just stew a pot of chicken with mushrooms for you.”

“No idea if you like lighter flavors or stronger ones.”

Gu Chuan loved spicy food, but for the sake of the catgirl, he'd probably have to hold back from now on.

He picked Xuechun up and went back to his room.

The first thing he did was free up a hand and press the button on the computer case. Then he gently set the catgirl down on the bed.

As the startup sound came on, Gu Chuan opened his wardrobe and found a few old clothes he'd worn before.

Mostly shirts and hoodies and the like. Gu Chuan wasn't very good at dressing himself up.

Even so, he was already handsome enough.

Talent scouts had approached him before, but when he thought about possibly becoming coworkers with that woman, he turned them down.

At the very least, he had to finish school. Otherwise, there'd always be some regret left in his youth.

Xuechun rolled around on the bed, playing with a little toy Gu Chuan had bought for her.

Sometimes she'd suddenly crouch in the corner by the wall, gathering herself to spring, then pounce out all at once. She nearly launched herself onto the floor, but stopped at the edge of the bed just in time.

Her hands hurt.

Her knuckles had once slammed stiffly against the floor.

It had hurt so much she cried out, “Myaaaow!”

So now Xuechun had gotten smarter. Once she turned into a form without “fur,” she'd carefully climb down from high places. If she really fell, her little paws would hurt like crazy...

Being a little kitty was still more convenient, meow...

Her pink paw pads were cute and useful too!

“Xuechun, come here.”

As if she understood her master's call, Xuechun put down her toy and crawled over across the bed with little meows.

She sat down in a duck-sit like a girl, lifted her bright shining eyes, and waited obediently for her master.

As if saying, “Master, look how good I am, meow!”

“Xuechun's the best. Head pats.”

Gu Chuan smiled too, feeling the healing power of the little catgirl.

He had Xuechun raise her arms, then dressed her in his clothes one piece at a time.

As expected, they were still too big. Xuechun only needed to wear something on top. As for the lower half, it didn't really matter if she wore nothing.

Mainly because even if she did, she couldn't tighten the waistband, and the pants would just keep sliding down.

That made Gu Chuan think of his pitiful account balance. Buying clothes for the little catgirl would be another pretty big expense.

An Qianmeng's face flashed through his mind. Maybe... getting back together with her wouldn't be such a bad choice.

But that would be way too scummy. It'd look like he was only after her money.

In truth, Gu Chuan had never gone back to an ex before.

He had also never experienced a real relationship, one without any other messy factors mixed into it.

And yet he'd somehow been labeled a playboy...

When you think about it that way, wasn't it kind of sad?

Better to finish cooking and play a game to relax. He'd leave that kind of thing for Future Gu Chuan to worry about.

After reminding Xuechun, “If you turn into this form, you have to quickly find clothes to put on, or you'll get cold,” and also, “You can only eat the cat food in the little porcelain dish when you're in cat form”—

He didn't know whether Xuechun had really understood, though she probably had. Little Xuechun was very smart, her whole face full of quick-witted energy.

Gu Chuan turned and left the room, heading to the kitchen to make lunch.

First he washed the pot and rinsed the rice. At the same time, he soaked the mushrooms until soft, then took frozen chicken out of the fridge and started chopping on the cutting board. Chop, chop.

At some point, catgirl Xuechun had crawled into the kitchen and was watching her master with curious eyes.

Every time Gu Chuan chopped a piece of chicken in two, the fluffy soft cat ears on top of her head would give a slight twitch. The little thing was very timid.

But that didn't stop her at all from happily pawing at the chicken and eating it later.

Gu Chuan used as little seasoning as possible, so this chicken stew with mushrooms probably tasted blander to him than it used to. But Xuechun nearly licked the bowl clean.

Catgirls didn't like rice. As for vegetables, she ignored them completely.

Maybe his cooking method was wrong. Gu Chuan picked up a piece of cabbage and found it fresh and pleasantly crisp.

While eating, Gu Chuan searched online on his phone. It said vegetables cats could eat included carrots, leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, pumpkin, and so on.

These vegetables were rich in vitamins and minerals, and could supplement the trace nutrients cats needed in daily life.

But cats weren't good at chewing, so vegetables given to them had to be easy to digest. That meant owners should make sure to steam or boil them thoroughly, so cats could digest and absorb them more easily.

Gu Chuan looked up at Xuechun, who was showing two rows of neat white teeth, her little fangs clearly visible as she gnawed on a chicken drumstick...

He more or less understood now.

It wasn't that Xuechun couldn't eat vegetables.

She just liked meat more...

Right then, his phone gave a message notification.

He swiped open the notification bar, and there it was.

[Your game friend HeyZed has invited you into the game.]