Upstairs, they passed through a long corridor.
The light grew dim. Fish, afraid of the unknown fate ahead, thrashed inside half-filled plastic bags.
They had no way of knowing what awaited them.
A terrifying beast covered in soft fluff, with huge adorable eyes.
Before he even opened the door, Wen Tinghan heard Zaizai.
Right behind it.
“Meow~ meow.”
“It even comes to welcome you home?”
Wen Tinghan looked surprised too.
“I’m a little surprised myself... but maybe it’s because today is a lucky day.”
“A lucky day?”
Gu Chuan sounded puzzled.
But Wen Tinghan didn’t answer. He only wore a faint smile as he slid his key into the lock.
He turned it.
“I’m home.”
His voice was like a warm spring breeze, gentle as it brushed past flowers and met every green leaf.
Zaizai dodged the door as it swung inward. It had originally planned to throw its trembling thirteen-pound body into its little master’s arms the moment it saw him.
But when its big round eyes reflected Gu Chuan’s figure, confusion slowly spread through them.
Even its chubby little paws shrank back two steps on instinct.
“Meow? Meow...”
It was nervous. It was chickening out. It was asking its dearest owner:
Who is this boy?!
Have I fallen out of favor?!
Cat.exe has stopped working.
“Tinghan! You’re back!” A somewhat lively, mature woman’s voice came from inside the apartment.
Gu Chuan suddenly clenched the hem of his clothes.
It’s here. The moment to meet the parents has arrived. (Not really.)
“Come look at what I bought you~ Our Tinghan has finally started to figure things out lately... ah, and this is...?”
Wen Tinghan’s mother came out of the bedroom, looking excited, a shopping bag in her arms. But the moment she saw Gu Chuan at the door, she covered her mouth in surprise.
Wen Tinghan hurried to explain.
“He... he’s my classmate. My deskmate, Gu Chuan.”
“I told you about him before...”
The second half of that sentence was so soft it was almost a whisper, as if it hid some unspeakable secret.
The moment Wen Tinghan’s mother heard that this handsome boy was Gu Chuan, her eyes lit up at once, and she became visibly excited.
They really lit up. Even Gu Chuan was startled. It was like he was some kind of rare treasure.
Or maybe...
Gu Chuan felt too embarrassed to put that feeling into words.
Was it the kind of look a future mother-in-law gave a promising son-in-law who had come to visit...?
It felt a little strange, but he couldn’t quite say what was strange about it.
“Hello, Auntie.”
Gu Chuan waved politely and greeted her.
Handsome, refined, and polite. The more Wen Tinghan’s mother looked at him, the more she liked him.
“Come in, come in. Put on the indoor slippers. Tinghan, if a classmate was coming over, why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I haven’t prepared anything at all. Gu Chuan, come sit down first. I’m going to buy groceries! I’ll make you two a proper meal tonight. What do you like to eat? Auntie will cook anything for you!”
“N-no need, Auntie. I’m just here to sit for a bit.”
“How could that do!”
At that moment, poor Zaizai seemed to have been forgotten by everyone.
Its big round face was full of the expression of a pet who had lost favor. Its adorable eyes stared blankly, their shine gone hazy.
Under its pink nose, its little omega-shaped mouth hung open. One front paw lifted slightly, as if it wanted to win things back, to steal from Gu Chuan the attention that should have belonged to it.
But no one noticed that raised, chubby little paw.
Feeling ignored, Zaizai let out pitiful, dissatisfied meows.
“Meow... meow...”
But no one paid it any attention.
Do you know how much damage that kind of neglect can do to the heart of a tiny kitten that weighs only thirteen pounds?!
Tears shimmered at the corners of Zaizai’s eyes. It suddenly looked toward the corridor behind the door.
And began to contemplate cat life.
It even thought about running away from home.
Only when Wen Tinghan scooped it up in one go did Zaizai finally let out a near-crying string of “aowu meowu” in his arms.
Of course, it couldn’t understand human language. So it had no idea Wen Tinghan was saying:
“Sigh... it’s so heavy. Mom, are you raising a pig or a cat?!”
“What am I supposed to do? When Zaizai gets hungry, it comes over and meows and meows. I’m scared it’ll go hungry...”
“Right... go hungry. It hasn’t eaten cat food for five whole minutes. It’s about to starve to death!”
Wen Tinghan sighed, but Gu Chuan laughed.
At the same time, he reached out, wanting to pet Zaizai on the head.
But the jealous Zaizai dodged away. It let out a sharp “meow-aw!” filled with anger and unhappiness.
Then it licked its little paw in Wen Tinghan’s arms, looking exactly like it was saying, Touch me later and I’ll scratch you to death.
But it never could have imagined that it would be betrayed by the owner it loved most.
The next moment, Zaizai suddenly felt its body leave the ground. It couldn’t move. Its cat face went blank with shock.
Wen Tinghan had truly used all his strength. He did his best to keep his hands from shaking as he passed Zaizai to Gu Chuan.
He really did need to make Zaizai lose weight. At this rate... he wouldn’t even be able to hold it anymore!
“Zaizai, behave.” His tone turned obviously stern as he warned it.
“Here, Gu Chuan. Zaizai is usually very well-behaved. I don’t know what’s up with it today... but it’s fine. I already talked to it. Here, take it. Feel free to pet it.”
That sentence, however, was unbelievably gentle.
Even a dumb little cat could hear the difference in treatment.
Sadly, no matter how unhappily Zaizai kept meowing,
it was still betrayed by its dearest owner and handed over to a stinky man.
Zaizai’s wide-eyed stare was full of one thing:
Master... you don’t love me anymore...
“If you dare scratch Gu Chuan, then starting today, you only get one spoonful of cat food a day!”
“...”
Zaizai was so scared it shut up on the spot.
So that was the sentence it could understand!
In heaven and earth, nothing was bigger than its cat food!
For the sake of cat food, it was willing to sell its body and let Gu Chuan pet it!
Wen Tinghan was already starting to suspect the person who sold him the cat had lied to him.
How was Zaizai a purebred silver shaded cat?
There was obviously orange cat blood in its veins!
Wen Tinghan’s mother had the two of them sit in the living room, then happily headed out to buy groceries.
It was Gu Chuan’s first time feeling this kind of care from someone else’s parent, this kind of warmth people called family. He felt grateful, and a little envious too.
Wen Tinghan carried the bag of things his mother had bought for him, though Gu Chuan had no idea what was inside, back into his bedroom and put it away.
Then he came back out empty-handed.
For some reason, though, his cheeks were already bright red.
As for the little fish they had bought, they had already been packed separately. Since there were five in total, Wen Tinghan decided to give two to Zaizai.
The other three would go to Xuechun, the kitten Gu Chuan kept at home.
In Gu Chuan’s arms, Zaizai’s tail swayed back and forth, its big dark face looking sullen.
Gu Chuan rubbed its broad back, drawing a reflexive turn and bite from the kitten—ah, not quite a bite yet.
Because Zaizai felt the “killing intent” coming from its owner, Wen Tinghan, behind it, and its little cat heart trembled...
