After sending a message to Lu Ran, Lu Luoluo deliberately switched her phone from silent mode to vibration.
While doing practice problems in the dormitory in the afternoon, she felt a vibration on the desk. Lu Luoluo quickly opened her phone to check the message.
【I’ve read all the news you sent. Thank you, Mom. I don’t plan to pursue the sports route. There are some special circumstances involved. I’ll explain them when I go home this weekend. It’s not very convenient to talk about it at school or online.】
【Grandma received the message and came to the school. She’s beside me right now and will also watch our grade’s sports meet this afternoon.】
Lu Luoluo let out a soft breath.
If her son had dreams of pursuing sports, she would definitely support him. If not, that was fine too. At least he would not have to endure that kind of hardship.
But what were these special circumstances? Was there some hidden matter involved?
Shaking her head and temporarily setting her doubts aside, Lu Luoluo put down her textbook and sent a message to ask for their location, deciding to go personally to welcome Madam Lu Mingzhu.
Madam Lu Mingzhu really was well informed.
……
“First place! Ran-god is amazing!”
“Ran-god looks so relaxed!”
“Why do nicknames even come out now? Ran-god really is impressive. Let me see if he broke a record this time!”
“No, no, he didn’t. But it’s already amazing. Sprinting relies on explosive power, long-distance running depends on endurance. I’ve heard that most athletes are only good at one of the two.”
Information, once it started spreading, always sprinted headlong toward exaggeration and distortion.
In just a single noon break, the news that a student from Class One had broken the world record for the 50-meter sprint had already spread throughout the entire first year. Any talk of timing errors was flung far out of sight. Even the provincial sports bureau coach who rushed over had, in the rumors, automatically been promoted to a leader of the National Sports Administration.
Someone noticed that the person on the track looked a bit familiar. After studying him closely and racking their brain, they slapped their thigh and said, “Hey, isn’t that the big brother from the other day?”
“What big bro? Aren’t you an only child in your family?”
“I mean the one who broke the record. His name’s Lu Ran, right?”
“Yeah, that’s a pretty unusual name. But how did he become your big brother? Don’t flatter yourself. He’s a transfer student who’s only been here for two weeks.”
“That was just a few days ago. Weren’t we together?” the student trying to recall scratched his head. “That guy who was chasing a cat that day. I was wondering why he ran so fast. Turns out he really isn’t like us.”
A gossip lover nearby leaned in. “Chasing a cat? Tell me about it.”
……
After a round of explanations, someone pondered for a moment and said, “Then doesn’t that cat run faster than the human world champion?”
“That cat can leap over walls and trample lawns. Can you do that? If the director catches you, you’ll be writing a self-criticism!”
“No, I mean, why was he catching a cat?”
“No idea. Maybe to get it neutered? My mom is always catching stray cats nearby and sending them to the vet.”
A beautiful orange kitten was tiptoeing along, moving unhurriedly past the flowerbed behind the spectator stands.
It had originally been dismissive of the students’ chatter, but upon hearing that, its gently swaying orange tail paused suspiciously for a moment.
Wait, why am I feeling guilty? I’m not an ordinary cat. What am I afraid of neutering for?
Zhao Jin continued forward with soundless steps along the edge of the flowerbed.
……
After finishing the three thousand meter run, Lu Ran returned to the class’s spectator area.
The moment he sat down, the class monitor beat everyone to it, handing him a bottle of mineral water and a towel. Even Lu Luoluo did not manage to snatch them first.
“Thanks, class monitor.” Lu Ran smiled at him and twisted open the bottle of mineral water.
“Lu Ran, are you planning to focus on developing in sports?” the class monitor asked with a smile, voicing the question everyone was currently most concerned about.
Come to think of it, he really did have a sharp eye for talent. The class monitor felt secretly pleased with himself. Just from a bit of running during a class break, he had already seen that this kid was extraordinary by nature.
If Lu Ran were to become a national athlete in the future and win a world championship, would he mention his dear former class monitor when he appeared on a program?
Lu Ran smiled and shook his head. “I don’t have that intention. I still want to attend school normally.”
“That’s such a pity.” His beautiful fantasy shattered, and the class monitor’s regret was written all over his face. “After all, it’s a world record.”
The surrounding classmates who heard this also let out sounds of regret one after another.
Lu Ran swallowed a mouthful of water and restated what he had already explained that morning, his gaze sincere. “The record-breaking thing is just a rumor. As the class monitor knows, our school sports meet uses handheld stopwatches. There’s no professional timing equipment or video recording, so there’s bound to be some margin of error in the timing.”
At this moment, he was glad there were no professional devices or recordings. Otherwise, it would have been hard to smooth things over.
“I see.” The class monitor was still extremely regretful.
Even with some error, the talent was undeniable. Hadn’t even some leader from the sports bureau come knocking already?
But seeing that Lu Ran truly had no interest in pursuing the sports route, the class monitor did not try to persuade him further.
“The sports path isn’t that easy to walk,” Shen Rong cut in impatiently from the side. “Better to just study properly.”
The classmates around them could not help but look toward the top of Shen Rong’s head when they heard that, each of them feeling a complicated mix of emotions that was hard to put into words.
Anyone could talk about studying properly, but did those six words, “study properly,” have anything at all to do with you?
Having successfully read the meaning in everyone’s looks, Shen Rong said nothing.
Wasn’t he proper enough already? No games to play, attending class on time.
He had originally planned to slip out today to go to an internet café, but for some reason he ended up sitting here instead, watching this incredibly boring sports meet.
So what if he dyed his hair? Didn’t it look good?
“Yes, studying is the right thing to do.” Lu Ran nodded in agreement.
Everyone looked expectantly toward the parent who had come specially, Madam Lu Mingzhu. She had rushed over to watch Lu Ran compete, so surely she harbored hopes of her child winning a world championship, right?
Madam Lu Mingzhu, who had been watching the whole scene unfold for quite a while, smiled gently. “We parents look at what our children enjoy. Since he likes studying, then he should study.”
Shen Rong once again confirmed that Madam Lu Mingzhu was a reliable elder, leagues ahead of his own parents.
The very next moment, this reliable elder who was leagues ahead of his parents turned her attention to the color on top of his head. “Xiao Shen’s hair seems to have faded a bit, hasn’t it? I wanted to ask that day, but I didn’t know which shop you dyed it at.”
“…I dyed it myself.” Had it faded already after just a few days?
He hadn’t noticed anything when he looked in the mirror that morning.
“Quite creative,” Madam Lu Mingzhu said in praise, a little surprised.
Shen Rong thought this elder would follow the usual script and say something like, it looks nice but students shouldn’t dye their hair. Instead, after expressing her admiration, Madam Lu Mingzhu simply smiled and said nothing more.
For some reason, Shen Rong felt a slight sense of disappointment. Then he thought to himself that this aunt was neither a teacher nor a particularly close elder, so there was really no need for her to lecture him about anything.
His parents did not care about him either.
……
On Saturday afternoon, Lu Ran walked along a small path on campus with a bag stuffed full of dried fish in his arms, another already opened bag of dried fish held in his hand.
After the usual lunch, the other three returned to the dormitory to study. Using a walk as an excuse, he wandered around the campus in search of Da Ju.
Yesterday’s conversation with Grandma had gone very smoothly. Madam Lu Mingzhu had ultimately believed the explanation he gave and even proactively asked whether he needed help finding someone.
Lu Ran had declined.
On the one hand, he felt he already had some leads and would succeed before long. On the other hand, he was afraid that if Madam Lu Mingzhu got involved, the commotion might be too great and instead alarm Da Ju, producing the opposite effect.
On the quiet little path, an orange cat blocked his way.
Lu Ran smiled slightly, thinking to himself that this was indeed the case.
For Da Ju, what missing-cat notice could possibly compare to dried fish?
“Da Ju?” Lu Ran called softly.
The orange cat let out a light “meow.”
Lu Ran placed the bag of dried fish on the ground, stepped back a few paces, and squatted down. “I still have plenty of dried fish here. Tell me, are you…”
The orange cat stared at the human in front of it for a few seconds, then slowly stepped forward and gently clamped the bag of dried fish in its mouth.
Lu Ran’s eyes lit up with delight. “Da Ju…”
The orange cat happily turned around and ran off.
Lu Ran: …
The second time already. Again?
Come to think of it, this one and the last one were the same cat, right?
He only hesitated for a moment before breaking into a run and chasing after it.
On a tree branch by the path, in a hidden corner, a small orange cat let out a soft yawn.
Wasn’t this the junior that the pretty girl from Class One had tried to fool, the dangerous human from the rumors who ran very fast and was suspected of liking to catch cats for neutering?
He really did run fast, but was there something wrong with his head, actually thinking of talking to a cat.
That stupid cat who was always trying to act like his godfather too. Showing itself in front of humans just for a bag of dried fish. It should be careful not to get caught and have its bells cut off.
Considering that last time the stupid cat took the dried fish to offer it to him as tribute, this was not something he could just ignore.
Zhao Jin silently leaped down from the tree, deciding to help that foolish cat shake off the pursuit, lest it lose its bells and come crying to him afterward.
Even though he had not eaten any of those dried fish last time, all of them had gone into the stupid cat’s belly.
……
Sunday, the Lu Residence.
“…So Da Ju is a divine cat?”
Unlike Madam Lu Mingzhu, who still clung to a half-materialist worldview, ever since gaining an extra son, Lu Luoluo’s ability to accept supernatural events had greatly improved.
Even if one day her dad, Shen Jia, time-traveled from the past to the present just to knock her on the head, it would not be unacceptable.
“No wonder Da Ju was never neutered,” Lu Luoluo said in sudden realization. “I knew it. I’m not the kind of person who wouldn’t neuter a pet!”
“Is that all you thought of?” Madam Lu Mingzhu reminded her. “What about the rest?”
“What else?” Lu Luoluo asked, genuinely confused.
The impending separation…
Madam Lu Mingzhu had originally thought her daughter would feel at least a bit sad. Now it seemed she had overthought it.
“Oh, you mean finding Da Ju, right?” Lu Luoluo thought for a moment. “I don’t think there’s any need to rush that.”
Madam Lu Mingzhu wondered whether her daughter had realized something and was reluctant to part with her grandson.
Lu Ran looked at his mom with a trace of confusion on his face.
Sixteen-year-old Lu Luoluo dragged over a small stool, sat down across from Lu Ran, and analyzed things for her eighteen-year-old son. “The wish you made was just to take a look at the past world, like going on a trip, right?”
Lu Ran looked at his young mother’s earnest face in front of him and nodded against his conscience.
“Then that’s exactly it. Aside from black-hearted travel agencies, when someone sends you on a trip, they always buy a round-trip ticket. No one only buys a one-way ticket, right?”
Lu Ran parted his lips slightly and looked at his mother with a bit of astonishment.
“You also said that Da Ju has very deep feelings for our family. Could it be some black-hearted travel agency? Since it’s a divine cat, wouldn’t it think things through even more carefully than you? Right?”
Lu Ran opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
“Put yourself in Da Ju’s shoes and think about it. Would it really abandon you in another time and space, leave the me back then and Madam Lu Mingzhu to permanently lose their daughter and grandson?” Lu Luoluo continued. “Oh, and I almost forgot. There’s also your dad, who you don’t even know where he is.”
Lu Ran: …
“So just stay here with peace of mind,” Lu Luoluo said confidently. “According to my analysis, once it reaches the point when you’re supposed to leave, you’ll naturally be able to go home.”
This was experience accumulated from years of reading comics.
As for after he left… according to Lu Luoluo’s calculations, in just a few years she would have to give birth to her son again anyway and personally witness his growth. Separation was not really an issue.
It was just that she had heard giving birth was very painful.
Lu Ran wanted to say that it was not like that at all, but for a moment he could not find any reason to refute her.
After all, he had been lying from the start.
However, Lu Ran suddenly felt that even if he successfully prevented his mother from getting together with his biological father, he probably would not disappear.
What Lu Luoluo said about looking at things from Da Ju’s perspective reminded Lu Ran of a fact he had always overlooked.
…That was that Da Ju loved him.
Even if it wanted to fulfill his wish, even if it felt the same indignation over what his mother had gone through, it would not, or rather would not so easily, make a decision that would cause him to disappear.
When he was little and had just learned to walk, he would occasionally fall. The orange cat would always watch him nervously. The moment it noticed Lu Ran was about to lose his balance, it would rush over first and throw itself under his body to cushion the fall.
When he accidentally broke something and wanted to admit his mistake, the orange cat would always hurry to the shards first, even though he had never once let it take the blame for him.
Whenever Mom and Grandma were not at home, it was always the orange cat that kept him company. A cat’s body temperature was slightly higher than a human’s, and holding it was very comforting.
Lu Ran steadied his emotions and said in a low voice, “I’m already close to finding Da Ju.”
“Of course we should look. I meant there’s no need to rush. Wait—” Lu Luoluo exclaimed in surprise. “So fast? Are you sure?”
Lu Ran nodded. “It’s just that for now, it’s still not very willing to pay attention to me.”
Yesterday, after chasing it relentlessly, Lu Ran had seen with his own eyes the orange cat vanish right in front of him.
If that was not Da Ju, then who was?
It did not matter if it ignored him once or twice. He had plenty of dried fish.