Yes—he had scolded Gu Yucheng, and they had parted on bad terms.
This kind of thing was not new in university.
Same school. Different majors. He studied physics, Gu Yucheng studied law. They barely crossed paths—but every time they met, it turned into confrontation.
Perhaps because of the overly colorful expression on Xia Lening’s face, Gu Yucheng suddenly developed a rare desire to talk. He complained about his “former owner” the entire way.
By the end, Xia Lening’s cat brain had gone completely foggy.
Wait—how did the same events sound so wronged from Gu Yucheng’s perspective?
What, in his eyes, had been more than ten years of mutual hostility had turned into:
“I’ve always wanted to get along with him, but he hates me and keeps rolling his eyes at me.”
The great philosopher Nietzsche once said: there is no truth, only perspectives.
For the first time, Xia Lening understood the true meaning of that sentence.
Was this still the same two-faced, well-dressed fake he knew?
He hesitated.
Wait—why did this guy look like he was about to cry?
Thinking that Gu Yucheng really wanted to be his friend, he reluctantly decided to comfort him. It was not like he had never done that before.
Silently repeating “I am a cat now,” Xia Lening jumped onto Gu Yucheng’s lap and rubbed his head against his chest, eyes bright and soft, meowing gently in a comforting tone.
Gu Yucheng was “pleasantly surprised.”
That is—if he could not understand human speech version.
“Gu Yucheng, are you mute or a cannon? Even your mouth wouldn’t pass a subway security check—prohibited weapons and toxic substances not allowed! Can you speak properly?! And you’re feeling wronged? Do you think I’m a worm in your stomach or something?”
“……”
Gu Yucheng parked the car, hiding his smile, then lowered his head seriously. “Paipai, thank you for comforting me.”
Xia Lening hugged him and nudged his head.
Very dependent.
Gu Yucheng smiled, while in his mind echoed the cat’s gritted-teeth voice:
“Don’t call me Paipai! If you don’t understand cat language, fine—but you don’t even know how to name things properly! You have no brain at all!”
“Mm-hm, I love you too.”
“Yue (disgusting)!”
Gu Yucheng carried Xia Lening out of the car. In front of them was a pet food specialty store. As soon as they entered, an enthusiastic salesperson approached.
“Sir, we have new freeze-dried yogurt snacks—fruit flavored, four varieties, very popular with cats. You can try some samples.”
As she spoke, she casually poured out two pieces of freeze-dried snacks.
“Wait.” Gu Yucheng blocked the cat’s paw. “What flavor is this?”
“Mango.”
Xia Lening shook his head and pulled back his paw. He was allergic to mango.
“Change the flavor,” Gu Yucheng said.
“We also have pear, cranberry, and original.”
“Cranberry! Cranberry!” Xia Lening immediately perked up.
Gu Yucheng glanced at him. “Original: one kiss. Cranberry: two kisses.”
Xia Lening was shocked. He turned his head away and refused to eat.
The salesperson laughed out loud.
Gu Yucheng extended his hand. “Give them to me. If he likes them later, I’ll come back to buy.”
“Sure!” She poured cranberry and original into his hand.
When she reached for pear flavor, Gu Yucheng gently refused. “That one’s not needed.”
Xia Lening paused and looked at him suspiciously.
How did Gu Yucheng know he did not like pear?
Gu Yucheng carried him in one hand and snacks in the other, walking through the entire pet snack store.
They only bought two bags in the end—original and cranberry flavor.
On the way home, Xia Lening called for Wangcai as usual, but today the cat that appeared looked utterly devastated—though his expression was still the same stoic feline face.
Alarm bells rang in Xia Lening’s mind.
“What happened?”
“She said she likes the black cat in the park because he catches mice for her.”
Oh. The calico cat Wangcai was chasing.
“She doesn’t like flowers?”
“She prefers mice and cockroaches.”
“…Cats really are different.”
“Did you ask her to come race in your house?”
“Yes. She said she prefers walking under moonlight with the black cat. I saw them—their tail tips were touching.”
“…Did you say you could catch butterflies with her?”
“She said she can catch them herself and told me not to compete with her.”
“….”
No solution.
“Where did you even get these ideas?” Wangcai asked.
“From personal experience.”
Sending flowers. Walking around the track. Doing physics problems together.
Wangcai was shocked. “You were already this skilled at chasing cats at your age? Did it work?”
“…No.”
After a week, he realized the girl was not the quiet type he imagined at all.
She had once tried to kiss Xia Xiaoyao and almost scared him unconscious when he passed by.
From then on, Xia Lening maintained the highest level of respect for Lin Yangchun.
“So what’s her name? Do I know her?”
Without hesitation, Xia Lening said, “Tangyuan. You don’t know her. She’s special.”
Anyone who liked Xia Xiaoyao could not be simple.
In his mind, he privately called her “Sesame Tangyuan.”
To comfort the heartbroken Wangcai, Xia Lening decided to bring out the new freeze-dried yogurt he had just bought.
“Wait here.”
He turned around—and slammed directly into a pair of long legs.
He looked up. Gu Yucheng looked down.
“Hungry?”
Just two words—but Xia Lening immediately sensed the bad mood.
He hesitated, then nodded.
The freeze-dried snacks Gu Yucheng had used earlier to “bribe kisses” were already in the bowl. Xia Lening ran over and ate three pieces in front of him—no reaction.
He pointed at the new snacks. Gu Yucheng opened them and poured them into the bowl.
He pointed at the balcony. Gu Yucheng placed the bowl there.
So obedient.
Gu Yucheng really was in a bad mood.
Xia Lening could not understand it at all. Everything had been fine—why was he suddenly unhappy?
Gu Yucheng’s thoughts were too hard to read.
He quickly gave some snacks to Wangcai and slipped back to the living room, opening his private tablet.
Soon, the house was filled with loud marketing-style educational narration:
“Long-term suppressed anger can affect the body in multiple ways…”
Gu Yucheng smiled and squatted down to meet his gaze. “Paipai, why are you so smart?”
Xia Lening’s tail lifted proudly. “Of course.”
“I’m starting to suspect you’re not just an ordinary kitten.”
His tail slowly dropped. His eyes shifted away. “Th-that’s impossible. Don’t underestimate smart cats.”
Because of his guilty glance, he did not notice the way Gu Yucheng’s eyes slowly darkened.
“I need to go out for a while. Be good at home, okay? Don’t run around.”
Using the fact that Gu Yucheng could not understand him, he replied casually, “Of course I’ll run around.”
“I’ll make you fish soup when I come back.”
“Just fish soup? Not enough to bribe me.”
“You can invite your friends over to play… I’ll be worried about you, Paipai.”
There was something complicated in Gu Yucheng’s last sentence. For a moment, Xia Lening did not respond.
He still considered Gu Yucheng half a clean freak, after all.
So he would just stay home and play.
Whatever.
After a long look, Gu Yucheng finally left with a hiking backpack after confirming there was no intention of running away.
That backpack looked familiar to Xia Lening.
Where had he seen it before?
He did not think much and climbed onto the tree.
“Stinky Biao! Stinky Biao!”
Wangcai called from the balcony. He jumped over.
“It’s bad! Lingdang said the black cat is gone. Many stray cats are disappearing recently. Lingdang followed the scent to a house—there are many cats locked inside! They can’t speak, and someone beats them every day. Lingdang asked me to go help rescue them.”
“No. Just the two of you is too dangerous. We need humans to help.”
“We don’t have time. The black cat told Lingdang that the person kills two to three cats every night. Humans are sometimes too slow.”
Before he finished speaking, Wangcai was already about to jump off the balcony.
“Wait—I’m going too!”