Shen Rong grew up with both parents alive and present, yet for a very long time, he believed he was living in a single-parent household.
Looking back later, the misunderstanding was somewhat laughable. But to Shen Rong as a child, it was not amusing at all.
When he was four years old, he would often sneak into the kitchen to check the rice jar at home, counting how much rice was left and whether it would be enough to eat. That was because on television, single mothers raising children always seemed to live very hard lives. On the screen, the woman’s face was weathered and worn, and the sight of her sighing at the rice jar was etched clearly into Shen Rong’s memory.
Of course, his own mother was very beautiful. There was no trace of weathering on her face. What she had instead was worry.
Sometimes his mother would take Shen Rong to his grandparents’ place to eat. Shen Rong would then try to eat as much as he could, so that he could eat less at the next meal and save a little for home. Based on his shallow understanding at the time, Shen Rong reasoned that his grandparents should have pensions and were probably better off than the orphaned mother and son that he believed the two of them to be.
Besides, every time they saw him eat more, his grandparents would be very happy.
It was only half a year later that Shen Rong learned that the man who sometimes came over in the mornings to eat was his father, named Shen Bin.
And that his family was not short of money at all.
Then why was his mother always unhappy?
Later, when Shen Rong grew a few years older, he came to understand the source of his mother’s constant gloom. He also learned that there was such a thing as “divorce,” and from then on, he always hoped his parents would get divorced.
Shen Rong had always believed that even if his parents divorced, he would stay with his mother.
He never expected that when the two of them actually did divorce, his mother would decisively give up custody of him and go abroad, saying it was for his own good.
Fine, then.
Shen Rong did not know whether following his father would be any better. He only knew that after his mother left both his father and him, her life became much better, and the photos she sent gradually began to show smiles.
Later, his mother remarried and had a daughter. The family was harmonious and looked very happy.
Later still, her contact with Shen Rong grew less and less frequent.
As Shen Rong gradually grew up, he learned to dye his hair and skip school. Together with his lackeys, he went to internet cafés and arcades, and occasionally to bars as well. His father did not interfere with him, but he gave him plenty of living expenses. His grandparents also handed out pocket money. As long as Shen Rong was willing to foot the bill, there would be people willing to follow him around and act as his underlings.
Being driven and becoming a “good student” was so exhausting. And what was the point anyway? To turn out like his father?
Was there anyone who actually expected that of him?
It was better to live happily and carefree.
He was the one who had been “abandoned.”
The teachers at No. 1 High School were very responsible. More precisely, they had a strong sense of social responsibility. The female homeroom teacher called his father’s phone for two straight months and finally managed to invite his mother back from overseas.
Watching his mother cry in front of him, Shen Rong felt only a sense of unfamiliarity.
“I can’t control you dyeing your hair or making friends, but at the very least, you have to go to school!”
Fine. He would go to school and put on a passable front. That way, after she had gone through the trouble of taking a flight back to this sad place, she would not have to face the “result of a wrong marriage” looking too ugly, and everyone could save some face.
Going to school was still a lonely affair. After all, his lackeys did not attend school.
When Shen Rong saw the young member of the Lu family who had just returned home standing together with his cousin and the others, chatting and laughing, he suddenly understood why he had found Lu Ran unpleasant from the very first time they met.
Look at that. Both of them were orphans, without a father or mother. In Shen Rong’s eyes, having parents or not made little difference for him anyway. Yet someone could so easily receive care and kindness, while he had nothing at all.
That day, Shen Rong ate a meal of dumplings that tasted terrible out of sheer spite. Thinking back on it later, he felt that he had been overly dramatic.
The key point was that the dumplings really were awful.
The cafeteria at No. 1 High School also had a decent reputation. How could there be dumplings that tasted this bad?
Standing in front of the bed in the dormitory bedroom assigned by the school, Shen Rong tore open the vacuum-sealed bag containing clean bedding. He spread it neatly over the cotton quilt, then grabbed the four corners and gave it a shake.
He had refused his grandparents’ suggestion to send someone over to help with the packing and tidying.
It was not as if he did not know how to do it himself.
Because he disliked having an auntie clean his room, Shen Rong had mastered a whole range of housekeeping skills at a very early age.
There was a knock on the door. Shen Rong frowned and went to open it.
Could it be his roommate? He had not paid attention to the people in the other dorm rooms. According to his expectations, he would not have much interaction with them anyway.
When the door opened, a trace of genuine surprise appeared on Shen Rong’s face.
“Auntie?”
“I heard from the teacher that Xiao Shen is boarding at school as well.” Madam Lu Mingzhu had contacted the homeroom teacher in advance. When she opened the door and saw a head of flame-red hair, she did not show any sign of surprise. Calm and composed, she nodded to Shen Rong and smiled. “I brought people over to help the children set up their dorm rooms, so I came to ask whether you needed any help. It seems Xiao Shen is quite capable with his hands?”
“Thank you, Auntie. I don’t need any help on my side.” Shen Rong nodded, his manner polite enough. “My cousin and Lu Ran are boarding as well?”
Shen Rong glanced toward the living area and noticed that both rooms across the hall had their doors open, with uniformed housekeeping staff coming and going.
Even if his cousin was boarding at school, she would not be staying in the boys’ dormitory. So who was living in the other room?
“There are also the two children from the Ming family,” Madam Lu Mingzhu said with a smile. “I asked the teacher. There are four students assigned to your dormitory in total.”
Himself, Lu Ran, Ming Bei. “…And who is the other one?”
Why was everyone suddenly boarding at school all at once?
Did the school assign dormitories based on seating arrangements too?
“There’s also a student named Lu Qingjia. He’s currently Xiao Ran’s deskmate,” Madam Lu Mingzhu said, clapping her hands lightly. “This dorm originally housed three people, but later two of them transferred schools, leaving only Student Lu. Now that you’ve moved in, it’s finally full.”
Madam Lu Mingzhu continued with a cheerful smile, “Xiao Shen, do you have time later? I’ll treat everyone to dinner. Luoluo and Ming Nan took Lu Ran and Ming Bei to get familiar with the campus and will come over later. Lu Qingjia also agreed to join.”
“I have time,” Shen Rong nodded.
He was not particularly close to this aunt from the Lu family, but he held her in great respect. Half of that respect came from the consistently courteous and cautious attitude his grandparents had always shown toward her. The other half was because, in his eyes, she was a very good mother.
So even though he found Lu Ran unpleasant, he would not refuse Madam Lu Mingzhu’s invitation.
“This dorm isn’t assigned based on seating, is it?” Ming Nan said casually. “Isn’t it a bit too coincidental?”
Lu Luoluo felt a little guilty. “The girls’ dorm just happened to have a two-person suite open, so the two of us moved in together. As for the boys’ dorms, all of Lu Qingjia’s roommates had already moved out. There also happened to be three people from the same class boarding at the same time, so it was normal to arrange you together.”
“It’s a coincidence, but it makes sense,” Ming Bei said with a gentle smile.
Lu Ran did not speak. His state of mind was somewhat strange.
The two people on his investigation list had coincidentally become roommates. Was this fate?
Did it suggest that the third person might also have a problem?
Lu Ran decided to wait and see how things developed.
The very next moment, just as he made that decision, Lu Ran saw an orange-colored shadow flash past at the roadside ahead.
Without thinking, and with no time to say anything, he immediately chased after it.
Lu Luoluo: ?
Even though she did not understand why, she quickly grabbed Ming Nan beside her and ran after him.
Ming Bei stood there for a brief moment in a daze. When he saw his sister waving at him, he did not have time to think and hurriedly followed as well.
A few scattered students along the roadside were confused about what was happening, but an inexplicable sense of unease rose in their hearts. One after another, they also broke into a run and followed ahead.
……
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Ran, who had finally gathered the orange cat into his arms, sensed that something was off. He turned his head and saw a dense crowd of No. 1 High School students behind him.
……
“So you were just chasing a cat?”
“You four chased a cat?”
“Four people chasing an orange cat?”
Under the crowd’s looks of surprise and disdain, the four of them fell silent, lowering their heads in embarrassment.
The crowd quickly dispersed.
In Lu Ran’s arms, the orange cat struggled with difficulty, twisting its body.
“…Is it the same one as last time?” After catching her breath, Lu Luoluo cleared her throat lightly and asked.
“Seems like it?” Lu Ran stared at the orange cat in his arms, uncertain.
A moment later, Lu Ran skillfully lifted the orange cat’s hind leg.
Lu Luoluo, Ming Nan, Ming Bei: ……
“Oh, it’s not.” It had been neutered.
He let the orange cat go from his arms with regret.
Under the four pairs of intent gazes fixed on it, the orange cat quickly darted into the grass and vanished from sight.
Ming Bei said, “Lu Ran, you… were you looking for a cat?”
Lu Ran nodded. “Yes. A cat. An orange one.”
Lu Luoluo nodded along. “That’s right.”
“…You could put up a lost cat notice. Maybe a kind person will see it and bring it back. There’s no need to…” Ming Bei paused briefly. “Is it a very important cat?”
“Yes. Very important.” Lu Ran drew a spark of inspiration from Ming Bei’s suggestion. “Thank you for the idea. I’ll consider it.”
That notice did not necessarily have to be for people to see. It could also be for a cat to see. Da Ju was not an ordinary cat. Perhaps if it saw the notice, it would come looking on its own.
That raised a problem. How should one write a lost cat notice meant for a cat to read? Did Da Ju understand human writing?
He found no answer to that question even by dinnertime.
Dinner was a dormitory get-together arranged by Madam Lu Mingzhu. They were having hot pot that suited both young and old.
There was a clear broth and a spicy broth, each taking up half the pot, with sesame paste and oil dipping sauces available by choice.
Madam Lu Mingzhu and Lu Luoluo were both devoted fans of the spicy pot and oil dipping sauce. Lu Ran had always known that. As for himself, he did not have any obvious preference, though he did not know whether that was influenced by his paternal bloodline.
At the dinner table, Lu Ran quietly observed his dormmates’ tastes.
Shen Rong was a heavy enthusiast of chili oil and spicy food. It was not enough for him to only cook his food in the spicy pot. He also had to add chopped bird’s eye chilies to his oil dipping sauce. Ming Bei’s tastes were well balanced. He cooked food in both the spicy pot and the clear broth, and he also dipped in oil sauce. Their deskmate, Lu Qingjia, seemed completely unable to eat spicy food at all. Throughout the entire meal, he only used the clear broth and dipped his food in sesame paste.
Looking at it this way, Ming Bei’s level of suspicion seemed to increase, while Lu Qingjia barely crossed into the threshold of being a suspect as well.
Hot pot was the kind of food that naturally created an atmosphere. Once the red or clear broth began to bubble and roll, the distance between people seemed to shrink, at least much more than it had when they were chewing on dried fruits and pastries at Old Master Shen’s birthday banquet.
A game mentioned by Ming Bei unintentionally opened up the conversation.
Shen Rong, sitting beside him, responded with a few remarks first. Then Lu Qingjia added a couple of comments, and Madam Lu Mingzhu naturally joined in as well.
“I’ve played that game for a few days too,” Madam Lu Mingzhu said with a smile. “It seems to be very popular among young people. Luoluo was playing it before as well.”
So this was the game his mother played?
Lu Ran asked with interest, “Can I play it together too?”
He looked at Lu Luoluo, his gaze clearly saying, Mom, will you take me along?
Lu Luoluo gave a dry laugh. “Of course. But let’s wait until the holidays. The holidays. Right now we’re in school, and we’re boarding during the week, so it’s not good to play games. You also have some coursework to catch up on, right?”
“Alright. We’ll wait until winter break,” Lu Ran nodded, satisfied as he picked up a piece of crispy pork with his chopsticks.
Shen Rong, sitting to the side, had no doubts about Lu Luoluo’s declaration about studying. After all, he had often skipped school before and did not really know much about his cousin’s academic situation.
“Then how’s your gaming skill, Luoluo?” he asked kindly. “I can carry you during winter break.”
Lu Luoluo smiled awkwardly. In the past, she would have been very happy if someone volunteered to carry her in a game.
Now, though…
“Very strong. Seventh on the entire server,” Lu Qingjia said as he fished out a slice of beef from the clear broth, dipped it into the prepared sesame paste, and put it into his mouth.
Lu Luoluo: ……
Ming Bei and Shen Rong were both taken by surprise.
“That impressive?” Shen Rong did not care much about students who were good at studying, but being good at games was a different matter.
Ming Bei was also greatly astonished. “Then when you don’t attend class, do you use a boosting service?”
After all, if you did not play for several months, your ranking would definitely drop.
Lu Luoluo said, “…Yes, haha. I don’t really play usually. I just leave it to a friend.”
Lu Qingjia nodded calmly. “I’m that friend.”
Lu Ran’s heart tightened. His mother and her deskmate seemed to have quite a good relationship. They could even share a game account.
He had played games before too, and his account was never lent out.
Shen Rong, on the other hand, felt a bit tempted. He thought that maybe he could get on better terms with his cousin.
If he ever got the chance to borrow an account or something, maybe he could show off in front of his lackeys?
Ming Bei always felt that something was off, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed like there was nothing unusual either.
Was it just an illusion?
Madam Lu Mingzhu and Ming Nan cast Lu Luoluo a discreet look of sympathy.
Lu Luoluo lowered her head and poked at her rice, wishing she could bury her head straight into the bowl.