Who?
Yuan Wei?
Why was Yuan Wei here?
Wasn’t he supposed to be in B City?
When had he returned to the countryside?
Su Youtian’s heart gave a violent leap.
Instinctively, she widened her cat eyes and looked toward the doorway.
A somewhat youthful voice sounded from inside.
“Got it.”
The child dusted himself off and leaned against the doorframe.
“Brother Yuan Wei, come look! Your cat really barks like a dog!”
After a moment, the sound of pages turning drifted from inside.
“Stop bothering me.”
The child stamped his feet angrily.
“I’ll make it bark for you!”
With that, he ran over to Su Youtian.
His little hand grabbed her under the forelegs and effortlessly lifted her up.
Dangling in the child’s chubby hands, Su Youtian was carried rapidly toward the inner room.
Her cat eyes widened.
She was so nervous that every strand of fur on her body threatened to stand on end.
Why wasn’t Yuan Wei in B City living as a wealthy heir?
What was he doing in the countryside?
Had he gotten another cat?
And what about Tuotuo?
Why wasn’t Tuotuo anywhere to be seen?
Amid the constantly swaying view, Su Youtian finally caught sight of a tall figure.
Standing by the window was a boy in a blue school uniform, his head slightly lowered.
Winter sunlight filtered gently through the glass, falling across his face.
His eyelashes fluttered against his pale skin like the shadows of pine branches cast upon snow.
His head remained lowered, exposing the fair nape of his neck.
Long, slender fingers slowly brushed across the pages of a book.
The soft rustling sounded like falling snow outside the window.
For a moment, Su Youtian could not tell whether the paper was whiter or his fingers.
She stared in a daze.
Handsome guy… who are you?
[System, h-he’s Yuan Wei?]
【Yes, Host. This is Yuan Wei during his middle school years.】
In an instant, Su Youtian remembered the original plot.
Childhood…
Orange tabby…
Her cat eyes widened in disbelief.
[Don’t tell me I’ve traveled back to Yuan Wei’s middle school years and become that big orange cat that got strangled and hung from the tree at the village entrance?]
【Correct.】
Su Youtian was stunned.
Her cat mouth hung open for so long that drool started dripping out.
The chubby boy shook her.
“Brother Yuan Wei, listen! It really barks like a dog!”
Without taking his eyes off his textbook, Yuan Wei casually responded with a faint acknowledgment.
The chubby kid refused to give up. Grabbing Su Youtian by the scruff of her neck, he shoved her right in front of Yuan Wei.
Patting her belly, he urged,
“Come on, bark already!”
Annoyed, Yuan Wei leaned back slightly. The moment he turned his head, his eyes met Su Youtian’s round cat eyes.
Su Youtian froze under his gaze.
She stared at him with her mouth hanging open, drool dripping down in a long string.
Yuan Wei frowned in disgust.
“Take it away. It’s dirty.”
Su Youtian: “…”
She was so cute!
So fluffy!
How could she possibly be dirty?
The chubby kid huffily carried Su Youtian away and dropped her back into her nest.
Poking at her belly, he complained,
“Why aren’t you barking anymore? You’re such a bad kitty.”
After thoroughly tormenting her for a while, he finally left, satisfied.
Su Youtian sprawled on her back with all four paws in the air, staring lifelessly at the shabby ceiling.
[System, am I really going to be a cat for three years? Why would you do this to me, meow…]
The system replied:
【What’s so bad about being a cat? You don’t have to worry about food or clothes. You can lie around in your cat bed all day and enjoy Yuan Wei’s affection. Sounds pretty blissful to me.】
Sadly, Su Youtian said:
[But Yuan Wei dislikes me! He actually dislikes this irresistibly adorable little kitten!]
She was so cute.
Shouldn’t people be unable to resist showering her with affection the moment they saw her?
This afternoon, in order to get close to Yuan Wei, she had tried every trick she could think of, rolling around, acting cute, clinging to his legs, crying pitifully.
Yet Yuan Wei remained completely unmoved.
His mind was occupied entirely by his studies. He did not spare her even a single glance.
Didn’t he adore Tuotuo?
Then why was he so disgusted by her?
Was her fur not soft enough?
Was her meow not sweet enough?
Or did he simply like dogs and not cats?
Curled up in her cat bed in the corner, Su Youtian let out a despairing sigh.
【That’s hardly my fault.】
Hugging her little tail, Su Youtian choked back a sob.
[Give me back my second spring romance! Give me back my handsome young men!]
The system replied helplessly:
【What’s so lacking about Yuan Wei compared to those young heartthrobs?】
Then its tone changed, accompanied by a pair of mechanical chuckles.
【Besides, don’t you want to watch how Yuan Wei spent his teenage years? Hehe.】
Thinking of young Yuan Wei’s youthful face, Su Youtian instinctively giggled.
[Hehe.]
The moment she laughed, she immediately sighed.
Her principles had vanished far too quickly.
She had surrendered already.
Not long afterward, Yuan Wei’s grandmother emerged from her room wearing a thick padded coat.
Her hair was completely white, and her back was slightly bent, yet she still moved briskly and energetically.
After bringing Yuan Wei some hot water, she mixed a little rice with leftover vegetable soup and set it down for Su Youtian.
Su Youtian twitched her nose and sniffed.
Not a trace of meat.
She stuck out her tongue and curled herself into a ball for a nap.
Grandma stroked her head and sighed.
Muttering softly, she said,
“Little kitty, how can you grow if you won’t eat?”
Feeling the roughness of the old woman’s palm against her head, Su Youtian let out a weak meow.
Grandma…
She had simply been spoiled rotten.
She genuinely could not force herself to eat it.
Grandma sighed again and shuffled away.
Su Youtian buried her face in her belly.
When she noticed the light in Yuan Wei’s room go out, she gradually drifted off to sleep as well.
In the middle of the night, she woke up from the cold.
Although the cat bed had been made from thick blankets, it sat in the corner of the kitchen on the coldest patch of floor. Chilly air seeped in from every direction.
The fur coat she wore naturally was practically useless.
Drowsily, she got to her feet.
Instinctively, she sought out a source of warmth.
Without realizing where she had wandered, she found herself in front of a steady stream of warm air blowing over her fur.
Immediately, she narrowed her eyes in comfort.
Su Youtian sighed contentedly.
Then she opened her eyes.
Directly in front of her was the pitch-black opening of the stove.
It looked like a ferocious beast opening its bloody jaws, with half her head already inside.
Su Youtian: “…Meow!”
【Have you decided Yuan Wei’s life is too difficult and wanted to provide him with an extra meat dish?】
Su Youtian snorted.
Only now did she feel a wave of delayed fear.
She had nearly livestreamed herself being roasted alive in the stove pit for the system.
Terrified, she became fully awake and hurriedly yanked her head back out.
The moment the cold air hit her, she shivered.
Staring at the dark opening, she struggled between reason and warmth.
What if she climbed inside, and tomorrow morning Grandma didn’t notice her before starting the fire?
What if she got burned to death?
But if she stayed out here, she would freeze.
Gritting her teeth, her survival instinct overcame wishful thinking.
Slowly, she backed away.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed that the door to young Yuan Wei’s room had not been completely shut.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
Using her head, she nudged the door open and trotted inside.
The furnishings in Yuan Wei’s room were extremely simple.
The only thing of note was the large desk beside the kang bed.
The desk was piled high with books and study materials.
His blue-and-white school uniform hung over a chair, one sleeve dangling down.
Su Youtian’s ears twitched.
The faint sound of Yuan Wei’s breathing came clearly to her ears.
She flexed her tiny sharp claws, hooked them into the hanging sleeve, and after tremendous effort managed to climb onto the chair.
Then it took her another ten minutes to hop up onto the kang.
She was small and light.
Even after she climbed onto the edge of the bed, Yuan Wei remained fast asleep.
Su Youtian quietly let out a breath.
Looking at his youthful face beneath the moonlight, she felt slightly dazed.
“So this is what Yuan Wei looked like when he was young…”
His features were gentle, but one could already see the outline of the sharp brows, bright eyes, and striking features he would possess in the future.
Unaware of anything, Yuan Wei slept neatly on his back.
His chest rose and fell softly.
With his eyes closed, he looked like a little prince bathed in moonlight.
Tiptoeing closer, Su Youtian quietly approached his face.
First, she cautiously sniffed at him.
His breath brushed against the fur on her face.
His exposed neck was fair, slender, and clean.
The sight excited her immensely.
Without hesitation, she rested her head against his neck.
Ah…
So comfortable…
Mmm…
So warm…
Yuan Wei frowned slightly.
Tilting his head back with some difficulty, he let out a breath.
Perhaps he was simply exhausted from studying.
In the end, he still did not wake up.
Su Youtian contentedly curled herself into a ball on Yuan Wei’s neck and drifted off into a comfortable sleep.
Early the next morning, before she was fully awake, she suddenly felt the skin on the back of her neck tighten, and her limbs stiffened in midair.
Drowsily opening her eyes, she found Yuan Wei staring at her with a cold expression.
To be fair, the younger version of Yuan Wei was not very good at hiding his emotions.
At that moment, his eyes clearly said one thing:
“Disgust.”
Su Youtian: Is it too late to act cute now?
After being tossed back into the shabby cat bed once again, Su Youtian let out a lifeless sigh.
Why didn’t Yuan Wei like her?
Could it be that her cuteness wasn’t powerful enough?
Furiously, Su Youtian widened her eyes.
She refused to believe she couldn’t win over a little brat!
At breakfast, Yuan Wei and his grandmother sat at the table drinking porridge.
Wisps of steam drifted through the room.
Meanwhile, Su Youtian rolled around at Yuan Wei’s feet, acting cute and doing everything she could to attract his attention.
Yet Yuan Wei sat perfectly upright, unmoved as a mountain.
He looked colder than the middle of winter itself.
After breakfast, he picked up his schoolbag and headed out.
“Grandma, I’m going to school.”
With that, he stepped around Su Youtian and left without another glance.
Lowering her paws, Su Youtian sighed pitifully.
Grandma cleaned up the dishes, put a few pieces of steamed bun into Su Youtian’s bowl, and gently squeezed her paw.
“Kitty, hurry and eat.”
Su Youtian took a few symbolic bites and gazed longingly into the courtyard.
In the distance, young Yuan Wei’s thin figure gradually disappeared into the snow.
That evening, Yuan Wei returned, crunching through the snow.
The moment he stepped into the yard, Su Youtian shot toward him.
She pounced around his legs while meowing nonstop, practically turning herself into a puppy.
Yuan Wei’s expression never changed.
He never even lowered his head.
This went on day after day.
Yuan Wei never seemed to treat her any differently.
Every day he rushed out in the morning and hurried home at night.
His world appeared to contain only three things:
His grandmother.
His studies.
And, perhaps, his mother, who worked in town.
After all this effort, Su Youtian was almost ready to give up.
The system finally couldn’t stand it anymore.
【What exactly are you doing? I never assigned you any mission.】
Looking at the tiny paw prints scattered across the snow, Su Youtian found it difficult to describe what she was feeling.
She vaguely understood that she simply wasn’t used to this.
Although she had only spent a few months with the adult Yuan Wei, she had grown accustomed to his care and his gentleness.
Now she had suddenly entered his teenage years and discovered that she had no place in his life at all.
Worse, he even found her annoying.
The enormous emotional gap left her completely lost.
She was like a child who had never grown up, seeking comfort from a Yuan Wei who was even younger than herself.
One day, Yuan Wei came home and brushed the snow from his head.
“Grandma, I’m back.”
Grandma answered with a cheerful smile.
“Cold, aren’t you? Go warm yourself on the kang.”
Yuan Wei shook his head.
Taking off his coat, he immediately opened his schoolbag and dumped a thick stack of study materials onto his desk.
Just as he was about to sit down, he paused.
As if asking casually, he said,
“Grandma, where’s the cat?”
Grandma was in the kitchen ladling water into a pot.
Hearing the question, she poked her head out.
“The cat? I haven’t seen it all day. It’s growing up now. Probably knows how to go wandering around outside.”
Yuan Wei looked out at the howling north wind beyond the window.
His lips pressed together.
Night fell early.
After dinner, Yuan Wei sat at his desk for a long time without writing a single word.
Finally, he sighed.
He found a thick cotton jacket in the cabinet, threw it over his head, and headed outside.
Grandma was a light sleeper.
The noise woke her up.
Still half asleep, she asked,
“Xiaowei, what are you doing going out in the middle of the night?”
Yuan Wei replied,
“Go back to sleep. I’m just going out for a bit.”
“Don’t go too far!”
“I won’t.”
Outside, snow and wind battered against his jacket with a constant rattling sound.
Holding a flashlight, Yuan Wei cast a small circle of light onto the ground.
Frowning, his thin body bent forward against the storm like a drawn bow.
Each step looked difficult.
Covering his mouth and nose, Yuan Wei followed a route he often walked.
Eventually, he found several tiny paw prints shaped like plum blossoms.
Some were clear, others were already buried beneath fresh snow.
He couldn’t tell which direction they led.
He lifted his head, intending to call out.
Then he realized he didn’t even have a name to call.
The wind grew stronger.
His brow furrowed even deeper.
When he entered an abandoned courtyard and casually swept the beam of his flashlight across an empty cowshed, he suddenly spotted a pair of glowing green eyes.
Yuan Wei froze.
Carefully bending down, he immediately saw a small yellow ball of fur shivering in the corner.
The cat’s huge round eyes lit up the moment it saw him.
Yet it only raised a paw hesitantly, too afraid to approach.
Yuan Wei let out a breath of relief.
Extending his hand, he said,
“Kitty, come here.”
Instantly, the cat let out a loud meow and launched itself at him.
It nearly knocked him over.
Su Youtian was genuinely freezing.
She trembled uncontrollably in his arms.
Awkwardly, Yuan Wei stroked her furry head.
Just as he was about to carry her home, the kitten suddenly struggled free and jumped down.
Then she dashed straight into a pile of straw inside the cowshed.
Yuan Wei frowned.
His thin lips pressed together.
A moment later, Su Youtian came trotting back, tail held high.
Something seemed to be hanging from her mouth.
Ptoo!
She dropped it proudly in front of Yuan Wei.
Looking down, Yuan Wei saw two sparrows.
Su Youtian puffed out her tiny chest proudly, waiting for praise.
She had spent the entire day catching those two sparrows.
She had gotten carried away playing, then a snowstorm had started, leaving her unable to find her way home.
She had never expected Yuan Wei to come looking for her personally.
The faint hope she had nearly lost was rekindled once more.
Yuan Wei was silent for a moment.
Then he picked up the sparrows and slipped them into his pocket.
Next, he gently patted Su Youtian on the head.
Su Youtian narrowed her eyes in bliss.
Ah.
As expected, nobody could resist the charm of a cat.
While she was smugly congratulating herself, a sharp pain suddenly exploded across her backside.
Smack!
Yuan Wei withdrew his hand and smiled at her with narrowed eyes.
“Running away from home, huh? Sure, you caught some sparrows, so I’ll spare you the death penalty. But punishment is still unavoidable!”
Su Youtian: [……You heartless scumbag who tosses me aside after using me! I’ll bite you!]
In the end, Yuan Wei roasted the two sparrows in the stove.
One went to Grandma, and the other was shared between him and Su Youtian.
After more than a month here, Su Youtian finally got a taste of meat.
Licking the grease from around her mouth, she contentedly fell asleep in Yuan Wei’s arms.
As the New Year approached, Yuan Wei’s mother was due to return home.
Grandma and Yuan Wei thoroughly cleaned the house from top to bottom.
Even Su Youtian wasn’t spared.
She was placed in a basin and scrubbed all over by Yuan Wei. By the time he wrapped her in cloth and set her on the heated kang bed to dry, she had started questioning her existence.
[System, my body is no longer pure…]
【You’re overthinking it. You’re just a cat now.】
Using the fur on her paw to wipe her runny nose, Su Youtian said mournfully:
[No, you don’t understand. A genderless collection of data like you could never understand a girl’s sense of shame. He… he just looked at my “beep” and said in a disappointed tone, “So you’re actually a girl.”]
【What use does a cat need for shame?】
Struggling to poke her head out from the soft cloth bundle, Su Youtian watched Yuan Wei’s youthful body moving around the room and spoke gravely:
[See? I told you, you don’t understand…]
The system was thoroughly fed up with her.
【Then what exactly do you want?】
Without blinking, Su Youtian stared at Yuan Wei as he changed clothes.
[An eye for an eye. I want to look back too. Hehe.]
【He’s underage. Keep this up and I might have to eliminate you for the good of humanity.】
Feeling deeply wronged, Su Youtian protested:
[But I’m underage too, meow.]
【…Get lost.】
At dinner, Yuan Wei placed a chair beside him.
Su Youtian sat proudly on it, lifting her little head high.
Facing Yuan Wei, she opened her mouth.
“Ahhh~”
Grandma laughed and lightly tapped her head with her chopsticks.
“It’s only been a few months, and you’ve practically become a spirit.”
Yuan Wei shook his head and set her food bowl in front of her.
“Eat by yourself.”
Su Youtian nudged the bowl away.
Then:
“Ahhh~”
Helpless, Yuan Wei had no choice but to finish his own meal quickly and feed her bite by bite.
Grandma watched with a smile for a while before suddenly saying:
“Xiaowei, why don’t you give this little cat a name? You can’t keep calling it ‘kitty’ every day.”
After feeling Su Youtian’s belly and confirming she was full, Yuan Wei gently closed her still-open mouth.
“It doesn’t matter what she’s called.”
Su Youtian immediately objected.
Whining, she smacked his palm with her paws.
Names were important!
She wanted a nickname.
Little Baby, Sweetheart, Precious Darling, anything was fine.
She wasn’t picky at all!
Grandma chuckled.
“Look, she’s angry. Just give her one. If she gets lost again someday, it’ll make finding her easier.”
Yuan Wei paused.
Looking at Su Youtian’s wide, round cat eyes, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
“Then let’s call her Big Orange.”
You’re the Big Orange!
Your whole family is Big Orange!
Su Youtian retracted her claws and began rapidly slapping both sides of Yuan Wei’s face with her paws, moving so fast they almost left afterimages.
Only then did Yuan Wei change his mind.
“Fine. We’ll call her Orange.”
Yuan Wei’s mother was extremely thin.
The moment she stepped into the house, Su Youtian recognized her immediately.
Because she had the same pale-colored eyes as Yuan Wei.
With her daughter home, Grandma was delighted beyond measure.
She even hummed songs while walking around.
Even Yuan Wei’s eternally expressionless face showed signs of thawing.
Su Youtian watched as this gentle woman removed her coat.
Almost the instant she sat down on the kang bed, she beckoned toward her.
“Kitty, come here.”
Su Youtian raised a paw and cautiously approached.
Sitting at the end of the kang, Grandma smiled at Yuan Wei’s mother, Weng Siyue.
“This little cat was picked up by Yuan Wei. Don’t let her age fool you. She’s incredibly intelligent. Usually she’s attached to Yuan Wei all day long. The moment she sees him, she jumps right onto him.”
The pen in Yuan Wei’s hand paused.
He let out a strange little snort.
Weng Siyue smiled and gently squeezed Su Youtian’s paw.
“Hello there, little kitty.”
In an especially sweet voice, Su Youtian meowed:
“Meow~”
[Hello, Mother-in-law.]