People raising a pet for the first time all have one thing in common.

Even after being warned over and over not to keep touching the new little animal, they just can’t help kissing, petting, and cuddling it until the poor pet gets fed up. It takes a while for that excitement to wear off.

Now that the catgirl’s raising a human, of course it’s pretty much the same.

After putting Liao Luo down, Aileen had gone over to the desk on her own, apparently to study. But “studying” mostly meant slacking off. Every so often, she’d pull out her phone to check it, and whenever she wasn’t looking at her phone, she’d suddenly turn around, scoop Liao Luo up from the sofa, and pet and cuddle him until he purred.

There was no hiding the excitement in her eyes.

“It’s just like when I got my first cat…”

Liao Luo muttered from the sofa, lying there as peacefully as if someone had put a bullet through his forehead.

After observing things for a little while, Liao Luo had come to a few conclusions.

First, there weren’t many people in this world.

Second, humans in this world were basically the equivalent of cats and dogs—the pets of the world he came from.

Though, rather than cats or dogs, it was more like having a catgirl as a pet in real life. Having someone with a human form around was an entirely different kind of companionship.

Third, although he could understand the language here, it seemed like they couldn’t communicate with each other. He could only understand what they said.

At least, when he spoke, it probably sounded to Aileen like a cat meowing or a dog barking. She found it amusing, but couldn’t understand a word.

Thinking of that, Liao Luo looked up at the desk. Aileen had her book open and seemed to be reading very seriously, which left Mr. Liao feeling quite impressed.

She’d taken the morning off to get him neutered… to take him to the doctor, and by the afternoon she already knew to study hard. Looks like catgirls need to improve their cultural refinement, too.

But when Liao Luo went over for a closer look, he realized she had Bluetooth earbuds in and was playing on her phone.

She noticed Liao Luo coming over, though, and used the opportunity to scoop him up and stroke his hair.

“Don’t distract me. I may have taken the day off school, but I still have to study hard today! I’ll play with you later, okay?”

Aileen made a point of emphasizing that, then set Liao Luo down.

Liao Luo glanced at the desk. A TV show was playing on her phone.

Liao Luo was stunned. “So you’re watching a show! You weren’t studying at all!”

Judging by how absorbed she was in her phone, she probably wasn’t going to pay him any attention for a while.

Liao Luo simply went to the window and leaned against it by himself, watching the view below and familiarizing himself with the surroundings.

Young beastfolk occasionally passed by below. Their clothes varied, but there was no mistaking that distinctive youthful awkwardness. Putting that together with Aileen’s identity, Liao Luo guessed this was a campus district.

But this wasn’t a dorm. It was a residential building on campus. Maybe it had once been staff housing for teachers and professors, but by now it had been converted into a regular apartment building.

“That must be why so many people come and go.”

He looked farther into the distance, and soon something caught his eye.

Well, to be precise, some beast caught his eye. Beside the ornamental lake, a rabbit-eared girl who looked quiet and well-behaved sat upright on a bench, sketching away.

She wasn’t too far away, so Liao Luo could just about make out what she was doing. It looked like she was drawing something in a sketchbook. She’d make a few strokes, look back at the ornamental lake, then hold her arm straight out—maybe to judge the distance—and lower her head to sketch some more.

“Oh, she’s drawing the scenery!”

Liao Luo arrived at an eminently reasonable conclusion.

After drawing for a while, she seemed to get a little tired. She reached back and gathered her long rabbit ears, pressing them down before letting them spring back up with a poof. She seemed to find it pretty fun.

She happened to turn around and look this way. Her gaze traveled upward, and naturally, she spotted Liao Luo watching from the window.

Their eyes met. Liao Luo first looked up a little guiltily, but soon let his gaze settle back on her without a care.

Wait, what was he worried about? Pets leaned against windows to watch people outside all the time!

Still, Liao Luo was a little disappointed. He didn’t see much of an expression on the rabbit-eared girl’s face. She simply watched him for a moment, the corners of her lips lifting slightly as if she were smiling. Then she gave a seemingly casual wave, as if to say hello.

That left Liao Luo a little suspicious.

“Is she looking at me? Is she waving to me? Or is she waving at some random place? Is it me? What should I do?”

After thinking it over for a moment, he finally made a rather reserved gesture and lifted his hand in return.

He was just about to take another look when the video finally ended. Aileen put down her phone and stretched out with a long yawn, her tail going straight along with her.

“Phew! Studying is so tiring. I didn’t even do anything, but I still worked hard today!”

The tip of her tail quivered for a good while before she finally lowered her arms. She went over to Liao Luo, picked him up, and kissed his hair.

“What a good boy. All right, time to get dinner ready! Mine and yours. How about fish? Do you like fish? Speaking of fish, people are actually wrong when they think cats like eating it. Cats don’t like fish! It’s just that fish, especially deep-sea fish, contains taurine, which is good for cats. So, when it makes sense, people use fish to supplement their nutrition. But if you had a merfolk friend, that could get pretty awkward…”

She didn’t care whether Liao Luo understood her. Just like those owners who love talking to their pets, she carried him off to the kitchen while chatting away.

Liao Luo didn’t resist, of course. He was already starting to get used to living this way.

He looked outside through the window again. The rabbit-eared girl was packing up, probably getting ready to leave.

……

……

Nan Yue wasn’t a student at Lincheng University.

Well, she was almost one. She went to Lincheng Affiliated High School, and after class, she sometimes came to South Lake to sketch in her spare time.

As for evening study hall?

Come on.

Making a beast-eared girl sit through evening study hall would be downright inhumane.

Today was, of course, pretty much the same as usual.

She stretched her arm out straight and spent a while gesturing toward the lake in the distance, then lowered her head and made a few strokes in her sketchbook.

She quickly sketched out the sight of her arm held straight, a paintbrush gripped tightly in her hand.

She wasn’t drawing the scenery.

She was drawing her own hand.

That’s right. Could anything in this world be cuter than a rabbit-eared girl?

The answer was no. Of course not!

She was the cutest.

That was beyond question, and she was absolutely sure of it.

With just a few strokes, she finished the sketch and put her sketchbook away, satisfied.

She gave her head a little shake and looked around to ease the stiffness from sitting for so long.

When she happened to look up, she spotted a Human in the window of the residential building behind her, watching this way.

The way they were clearly paying attention to her, only to quickly look away and pretend they hadn’t been, was really amusing.

Humans were so rare these days, and here she was, running into such a cute one. It was enough to send her inspiration soaring.

She didn’t really want to do it, but she just couldn’t quite control her hand.

So she raised her arm and waved at the Human in the distance.

It was only a casual gesture, and she didn’t expect a response. But before long, she realized the other person was waving back at her.

For a brief moment, she was stunned. Then it felt as if her heart were melting.

He was way too cute! He’s waving at me!!!!