Black, lifeless, boring.
Those descriptions sounded exactly like something Xia Lening would say.
So… was Xia Lening actually inside this cat?
Or was that voice just his hallucination?
Seeing Gu Yucheng freeze, Xia Lening lowered his gaze and noticed the wound he had just scratched open. He silently pulled his claw back and muttered:
“You deserved it.”
He tried to jump off Gu Yucheng’s arm again, but was caught midair. He hissed, baring his claws—until he saw Xia Xiaoyao and immediately shrank back again.
Gu Yucheng withdrew his hand mid-reach.
Xia Xiaoyao held the cat by the scruff with two fingers, examining it up and down.
“This cat is really noisy. Did it see something?” she asked casually. “Little cat, did you see a red-haired ghost?”
Xia Lening: “The ghost is right in your hand.”
Gu Yucheng’s gaze stayed fixed on him.
That stare made him feel prickly all over.
He wriggled in panic, grabbed Xia Xiaoyao’s wrist, and lifted his injured paw.
“Sis Xia, take me away! Gu Yucheng is abusing me! No boiled shrimp, no climbing wall, no bedroom access, he threw me into a pet shop, and he hit me! It hurts so much! He even tried to steal my ashes and curse me with dark magic!”
The more he spoke, the more emotional he became.
He even ended with a famous line:
“A great writer once said: there are two things in the world you must never look directly at—the sun, and the human heart.”
Xia Xiaoyao looked at the noisy cat in her hand, then up at Gu Yucheng, who looked strangely… moved.
“…Is it accusing you?” she asked.
“No,” Gu Yucheng said lightly, curling his lips. “It said it wants to go home with me.”
“Absurd!” Xia Lening shouted.
Xia Xiaoyao smiled slightly and lifted her wrist.
“It’s holding onto me tighter and tighter. That means it wants to come home with me, right?”
Xia Lening nodded.
Gu Yucheng’s smile faded a little.
“The child is still young. It doesn’t know how to express itself properly,” he said calmly.
“I think it’s expressing itself just fine,” Xia Xiaoyao replied. “Smart too. It understands human speech.”
For the first time in his life, being praised, Xia Lening was visibly stunned. His eyes blinked rapidly.
“Let’s do this,” Xia Xiaoyao suggested. “Put it on the ground. See who it chooses.”
“Hey, are you guys treating me like a dog toy?” Xia Lening snapped.
“Summer CEO,” Gu Yucheng said flatly, “this is my cat.”
“Wasn’t it found at the Xia residence?” Xia Xiaoyao shrugged and placed the cat down, patting its head. “I thought about it. Even though Xia Lening is a troublemaker, he wouldn’t steal someone else’s cat.”
“Exactly!” Xia Lening nodded frantically. “Sis Xia finally has a brain!”
Gu Yucheng pressed his lips together.
He knew he couldn’t win against Xia Xiaoyao. And he also knew Xia Lening wouldn’t choose him.
He slowly crouched down, his face slightly pale, deliberately showing his scratched hand.
“That doll was something I picked up on the road,” he said weakly. “I was planning to deal with it later. I didn’t mean to stop you from touching it. I just wasn’t sure what it was—it’s too dangerous for a kitten.”
Picked up on the road?
Planning to deal with it later?
Xia Lening froze for a second.
Gu Yucheng coughed lightly and added, very casually:
“I also had a fever two days ago and couldn’t take good care of you… forget it. You should go with Ms. Xia. I still have a slight fever anyway. Just go home and rest.”
Xia Xiaoyao: “?”
Who asked about your health?
Before she could react, the cat that had been walking toward her hesitated… then slowly shuffled back toward Gu Yucheng.
Now it was Xia Xiaoyao who froze.
“…Huh?”
Xia Lening thought internally:
This is not care. This is basic civic responsibility.
If an intern university student burned to death in his bed, it would cause panic among students, overwhelm journalists, trouble real estate companies, and make doctors cry. The consequences would be catastrophic.
He must supervise this situation.
As he awkwardly moved closer, a faint smile appeared in Gu Yucheng’s eyes.
Then a female voice suddenly cut in.
“Gu Yucheng? Long time no see.”
He froze.
At the same time, the cat instantly turned around.
“Lin Yangchun?!” it blurted.
The tone was bright, excited, completely unhidden.
It rushed forward, trying to get closer.
Gu Yucheng stood still like a statue, staring at the empty ground, listening to the cat’s excited voice echo in his mind.
Lin Yangchun.
Xia Lening’s “white moonlight.”
The person he had once abandoned everything to pick up at the airport.
The person he could never beat, even when he pretended to be miserable.
Gu Yucheng smiled bitterly.
As soon as Lin Yangchun appeared, there really was no room for anyone else in his eyes.
And indeed—there was no room for him.
Meanwhile, he watched as Gu Yucheng immediately picked the cat up and covered its eyes.
“Ms. Xia, Lin classmate, I’ll take my leave.”
Xia Xiaoyao didn’t care, waving him off.
“Why are you here?” she asked Lin Yangchun.
Lin Yangchun smiled gently.
“To attend a high school classmate’s funeral.”
Xia Xiaoyao glanced at the portrait again.
A flash of realization crossed her mind.
“…I see. So that’s why it looked familiar.”
“What?”
She smirked.
“Pretending to be sick. That kind of pathetic act always fools someone.”
Meanwhile, the “fool” was sitting in the passenger seat delivering a final warning.
“I’m only staying at your place because you’re sick. I still have to say goodbye to Wangcai. After that, I’m going to find Xia Xiaoyao. Got it?”
The car moved slowly.
The cat carrier was in the back seat, while Xia Lening bounced in the front.
“No snacks,” Gu Yucheng said calmly at a red light.
“See? Living with you is already suffering!” Xia Lening ranted.
After a pause, Gu Yucheng said:
“I also like you, Winter Melon.”
“?”
“???”
Chaos erupted instantly.
When they returned home, the moment his paws hit the floor, Xia Lening ran straight to the balcony.
“Wangcai! Wangcai!”
The Maine Coon jumped over, and he climbed onto its back smoothly, leaping to the next balcony.
Gu Yucheng watched in silence.
Inside, Wangcai brought out boiled shrimp.
The cat ate happily while complaining about Gu Yucheng.
And the big cat calmly licked its fur.
Then Wangcai suddenly paused.
He felt something cold behind him.
On the opposite balcony, Gu Yucheng was staring at him.
“Your servant is weird today,” Wangcai said.
After finishing the shrimp, Xia Lening stretched.
“I think he finally realized he’s my servant,” he said seriously. “He almost committed a crime today. I saved him. He’s grateful.”
Wangcai nodded and followed him inside.
Later, Gu Yucheng checked the tablet.
Cat-and-mouse: 2 minutes.
E-sports replay: 2 hours 45 minutes.
Search history: Xia family news.
He sent a screenshot.
Gu Yucheng: “What do you see?”
Ouyang Xun: “Cat-and-mouse 2 min + esports 2h45m38s.”
Gu Yucheng finally relaxed.
So it wasn’t hallucination.
That cat really was Xia Lening.
He stepped onto the balcony.
From beyond the wall, faint cat noises drifted over.
“Wangcai! Catch me!”
“No, do it again—I missed it!”
His fingers unconsciously tightened on the railing.
The sound was fragile, intermittent—but unbearably real.