By the time Gu Chuan woke up again, it was already the after-school dusk.

“...”

Even he hadn't expected to sleep that long.

Wen Tinghan looked over with concern. He also handed him the water he'd bought.

“Thanks...”

Right after waking up, he really was thirsty. He wanted to pour a whole lot of water down his throat.

Gu Chuan didn't act coy about it. He took the bottle from Wen Tinghan and tipped his head back to drink.

His soft, sleep-mussed hair fell back, revealing the boy's fair forehead. No one could deny it—every move Gu Chuan made looked cool.

“Gu Chuan, have you been really tired lately?”

Wen Tinghan asked softly. Only during the after-school class meeting, when routine matters were handled, could he break free from focused studying, sneak a little rest, and chat with Gu Chuan.

He really was that kind of student. Well-behaved, obedient, gentle, and quiet.

But studying was like getting a girlfriend. You couldn't force it.

Some people were born for academics. Others could work as hard as they wanted and still only reach what came effortlessly to someone else.

Love was the same. For every case of love at first sight, there was another of longing for what you could never have.

“Why do you say that?”

Gu Chuan handed the bottle back. Wen Tinghan caught it in both hands, then tightened his grip for no clear reason.

“Because... it's just a feeling. Usually, Gu Chuan only dozes off for a little while. You don't sleep through an entire afternoon.”

“And I heard about what happened at the freshman ceremony this morning.”

“...”

“Gu Chuan, you didn't want that either, right... being surrounded by so many girls.”

By common logic, one of a guy's ultimate dreams was to be chased by countless pretty girls.

But strangely enough, that wasn't what Gu Chuan wanted.

Wen Tinghan was someone who could see through a little of what was in his heart.

“Maybe I'm being a little too full of myself saying that...”

“No, it's not like that,” Gu Chuan said lightly.

He rubbed his still-blurry eyes, blinked a few times, and the world came back into focus.

He looked up at the clock hanging in the center above the blackboard.

The hour hand pointed at five. The minute hand pointed at one. There were only ten minutes left until school ended at 5:20.

At the front, homeroom teacher Old Song was, as usual, giving the day's summary and handling class business. He deliberately avoided bringing up Gu Chuan. Partly, he was trying to cut him some slack. Partly, it would only stir up pointless heckling from the other students.

Still, he gave one quiet reminder.

“Some students should pay attention to their conduct score.”

A small burst of laughter immediately rose from part of the class.

Someone else muttered under their breath,

“Hmph. He's still not awake yet.”

The dissatisfaction in that voice was impossible to miss.

Wen Tinghan bit his lip. For some reason, even though it was Gu Chuan's matter, he looked more indignant than Gu Chuan himself.

An Qianmeng couldn't hold back either and slammed her pen down. The room instantly fell quiet, and the girl beside her hurried to calm her.

“Qianmeng...”

Gu Chuan only lifted his eyes and gave his considerate homeroom teacher, Old Song, a light glance before nodding.

As for the attitudes of the other students, he barely reacted.

That nod meant he would try to be more careful and avoid letting his conduct score get docked beyond repair.

He turned to look out the window. The sky was washed in spreading orange-red, and the setting sun was sinking into the clouds.

There was no sign of Qiu Muzhe in the corridor. She was willing to keep the distance he preferred.

“Tinghan, did the teachers leave homework?”

“Mm... yeah. Chinese teacher told us to write out the ancient poems from memory once. Tomorrow she'll call on people to recite them. And for math, it's page ten of the workbook.”

“...Gu Chuan, want me to do yours for you?”

Wen Tinghan pressed his lips together. There was a pause of three or four seconds between those two sentences, like he'd gone through some hesitation before saying it.

As for what he was hesitating over, it didn't seem to be that Tinghan found it troublesome.

He was afraid Gu Chuan would reject him.

And sure enough, Gu Chuan did.

“No need. I'll do it myself.”

After saying that, Gu Chuan rested his chin on his arm again.

Unfortunately, he was too tall. The stack of books piled at the upper left corner of the desk couldn't block his head.

Otherwise, that would've made him feel very safe. Maybe it was just a weird habit.

He tilted his head. His gaze fell on Wen Tinghan's notes, filled with neat handwriting, and he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh right, Tinghan. If I remember correctly, your family has a cat?”

“Gu Chuan, you still remember? His name is Zizai!”

His beloved pet being brought up out of nowhere, Wen Tinghan immediately looked delighted.

It was probably one of those times when he'd brought Gu Chuan homemade cupcakes and cookies.

Watching Gu Chuan enjoy the pastries he'd baked so carefully, Wen Tinghan's nervousness had completely eased.

And as they chatted, the topic naturally drifted to the cat at Wen Tinghan's house.

“Zizai, yeah, I remember. The big-faced one who fell off the cat tree and landed face-first... ahem.”

He'd almost said “big-faced basin,” but Gu Chuan suddenly felt that wasn't very appropriate, so he coughed instead.

“Pfft, it's fine, it's fine. That's just what Zizai is like. Dumb in a cute way!”

Wen Tinghan didn't mind at all, and his tone instantly grew livelier.

Or rather, Zizai was just Zizai. It wasn't like he could turn into some other cat.

Besides, he'd liked that silly, adorable Zizai from the start.

Zizai was a two-year-old silver shaded tomcat. He had a round little face and usually sprawled on the scratching board. Supposedly, he especially loved burrowing into Wen Tinghan's blanket.

Because it was warm and smelled nice inside.

Last time, Wen Tinghan couldn't help muttering under his breath, “Little pervy cat.”

But when Gu Chuan heard that, it suddenly felt a little off.

If Zizai was a little male cat, then why was crawling into a boy's blanket being called “pervy”?

That was kind of weird...

Still, the question only flashed through his mind for a moment. Gu Chuan usually didn't pay attention to things like that.

“Why did Gu Chuan suddenly bring up Zizai?”

“Nothing much. It's just that I've got a cat too lately... It was the weekend the past two days, and you took leave this morning, so I didn't get the chance to tell you.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah. Her name is Xuechun. She's a little white cat.”

She wasn't any special breed. Unlike some owners who were overly obsessed with pedigree cats, Gu Chuan saw her the same way he saw all life.

Priceless.

“What a nice name. She's a little girl cat, right?”

“Mm...”

A little girl cat... catgirl?

“It's my first time raising a cat of my own, so I wanted to ask you for some advice.”

Gu Chuan scratched his cheek. He was telling the truth.

After all, raising one catgirl was basically the same as raising one cat plus one girl.

Xuechun could also turn back into a little female cat, so he'd have to pay attention to the care methods separately.

When treating her as a catgirl, aside from that Handbook, he had nothing else to refer to. He could only figure things out on his own. After all, for now, he couldn't tell anyone else that catgirls existed.

As for Ji Gewei, that had been a complete accident. Still, she would help him keep Xuechun's secret.

But when it came to raising her as an ordinary kitten, that was where other people's experience would come in handy.