19
Cats. So many cats. Cats everywhere.
Wu Jiao followed behind Gao Tianchi. Before she could even stop walking, she was surrounded by several cats.
They acted like old friends, pawing at her pants legs. Two of them even jumped straight into her arms.
Gao Tianchi ahead of her had it even worse. The moment the cats saw him, they came running.
Tabby cats, calico cats, fat orange cats, and a few pet cats too.
In front of him, behind him, on his shoulders, in his arms, all over his legs—he was practically a human with cats growing out of him.
Wu Jiao couldn’t help but laugh.
Gao Tianchi, however, was completely unfazed. He was used to being covered in cats.
He pulled a cat treat from his pocket, and several little heads immediately crowded around.
“Do you want to feed them?”
Gao Tianchi was usually a man of few words, but today he seemed different.
“They’re all very sweet and very smart. If you call their names, they’ll answer you.”
He patiently introduced them to Wu Jiao.
“This is Xiao Hua.”
“Meow.”
“This is Erlang Shen.”
“Meow~”
“This is Xiao Buding.”
“Meow—”
After each introduction, every single cat responded.
Wu Jiao’s eyes went wide at the magical scene before her.
She didn’t feel like crying at all anymore.
“Teacher Xiao Gao, how did you do that? That’s amazing.”
Gao Tianchi handed her a cat treat. “Use this.”
They squatted down together and fed the cats.
Fluffy things really did cure sadness. Wu Jiao pushed all her troubles out of her mind.
Gao Tianchi secretly watched Wu Jiao.
Her eyes and nose were still red, but she seemed to have moved past her sadness.
Without making it obvious, Gao Tianchi nudged more cats toward Wu Jiao. More and more of them swarmed around her like an incoming tide.
The cats were well-fed—every single one looked healthy. Wu Jiao looked over and saw their shelter not far away.
It was a cluster of cat houses, big and small, over a dozen in total, built by hand with wood by Gao Tianchi himself.
Wu Jiao’s heart stirred. She turned her head to look beside her.
Two cats were simultaneously rolling over to show Gao Tianchi their bellies, begging to be petted. Two more were curling their tails and rubbing affectionately against his legs, trying to cut in line.
The sight of Gao Tianchi surrounded by cats looked like something out of a fairy tale. Wu Jiao thought that this male lead was practically a Disney princess.
This rough-looking teenager, who seemed so tough on the outside, only revealed his true self at moments like this—showing his soft underbelly.
Even Xiao E was moved: [Among these three, Gao Tianchi is the most pitiful. He’s clearly the kindest and most normal one, but his background is the saddest. He has a father who’s abusive and a mother with mental health issues to support. That’s why he’s always skipping school—to go earn money. He works so hard, yet he’s still willing to spend money on these cats and take good care of them. Even though he often misses class, he feeds them whenever he has time. Who else could do all that?]
The original story had mentioned that Gao Tianchi was harsh on himself but paid out of his own pocket to build cat shelters and buy food for these strays.
What a good guy. It was only natural for Mo Li to like him.
Mo Li was his neighbor and had once stumbled upon him quietly feeding stray cats. She had been drawn to his kindness—how he spoke through actions rather than words.
And when Gao Tianchi was beaten by his father and thrown out of the house, Mo Li would take him home, tenderly clean his wounds, and comfort him.
Gao Tianchi’s love was like heavy snow falling outside a house late at night—silent, yet falling so densely it filled the sky.
But thinking about how one day, Gao Tianchi’s quiet, unassuming love might also become a reason for Mo Li to treat him coldly—the more Wu Jiao thought about it, the more it pained her.
What made her even sadder was that Gao Tianchi was clearly a naturally gifted student, but to support his family and pay for his mother’s medical treatment, he had no choice but to neglect his studies and enter the workforce too early.
Few people knew about Gao Tianchi’s family background. His math teacher, Qin Rou, was one of them.
That sigh she had let out during the group assignment, that was her feeling sorry for Gao Tianchi too.
He should have been like any other ordinary kid—going to school every day, making friends his own age, going out to play ball and shop during break, then getting into a good college, finding a good job, and finally living a good life.
Her expression and thoughts didn’t escape Gao Tianchi’s notice.
She was worried about him.
He wanted to say something, but the words dissolved on his tongue before they could come out.
Wu Jiao thought for a moment, then called out to him. “Teacher Xiao Gao.”
“Yeah.” Gao Tianchi turned his head to look at her.
Still crouching, Wu Jiao scooted a step closer to him, facing him directly.
She said earnestly, “Little cats can’t talk, so I’ll thank you on their behalf.”
“When you do good things in the future, let people know, okay? That way, they’ll like you even more.”
Gao Tianchi looked at her for a few seconds, then looked away and replied flatly:
“Got it.”
Wu Jiao smiled in satisfaction and gave him a double thumbs-up.
After a pause, Gao Tianchi said, “If anything ever comes up, you can come to me too.”
“Huh?”
“If someone bullies you, tell me. I’ll come. The fact that you smashed that window—there must have been a reason.”
Only then did Wu Jiao realize that he had heard the school-wide announcement about her.
Right—it was a school-wide announcement. The school didn’t install those loudspeakers for nothing.
Wu Jiao’s face turned a little red.
What if she was the one bullying someone else? He just believed in her like that…
This was completely different from the original story. Maybe she really could become the perfect passerby next to the male lead.
When they said goodbye, they parted ways.
Wu Jiao headed toward the academic building, while Gao Tianchi went in the opposite direction.
His silhouette looked inexplicably lonely. The sight of the cats watching him walk away alone even made Wu Jiao feel a little sad.
She wanted to call out to him, but his figure had already vanished at the end of the grove.
He always seemed to be alone, coming and going by himself.
……
It was club time again, and this time Wu Jiao arrived at the gymnasium early.
As usual, they ran three laps before starting sparring matches.
Every time, members of the sanda club paired up on their own. Wu Jiao was grouped with the same guy from last time, and they trained together quite seriously.
With Gao Tianchi’s guidance, Wu Jiao could even offer the guy a pointer or two. Every now and then, they’d chat and laugh during breaks.
Ever since Wu Jiao had that argument with Luo Yihuan, the way he looked at her had changed.
His gaze had shifted from disdain to something more… intriguing.
He spoke to her more politely now, and although he still occasionally bothered her with his stares, at least he wasn’t as annoying as before.
It seemed he had learned his lesson.
She was on her period, with a dull ache in her lower abdomen. She had pushed through most of the class, but now she could barely stand without supporting her back.
The guy asked her with concern, “Are you okay? Do you want me to ask for permission for you to sit out?”
Wu Jiao didn’t want to get entangled with Luo Yihuan. She waved her hand. “I’m fine.”
But unexpectedly, Luo Yihuan overheard and walked over on his own.
“Wu Jiao, take a rest for now. Stay a little later and help tidy up the gymnasium. That’ll be enough.”
Wu Jiao’s first instinct was that this was a weasel visiting a chicken with ill intentions—Luo Yihuan was up to no good. But he glanced at her and walked off without doing anything out of line.
Today must be a day when the sun rises in the west.
Wu Jiao really couldn’t continue training. She sat off to the side, took a sip of water, and watched the others practice.
Luo Yihuan didn’t grope any girls today. He actually taught fairly seriously.
After ten minutes, club time ended. The bell rang, and the people in the gymnasium scattered like dandelion seeds.
It was now free time before evening self-study.
The guy ran over. “Wu Jiao, I’ll help you tidy up.”
Before Wu Jiao could respond, the guy he had been sparring with came over and called him away, saying he had something to do.
The guy apologized. Wu Jiao smiled. “It’s fine, go ahead. There’s not much to do. It’ll be quick.”
Wu Jiao picked up water bottles left behind by students, swept the floor, and rolled up the mats to put them away.
She had just finished and was about to leave when Luo Yihuan came rushing over in a fluster.
“Hey, Wu Jiao, hold on a second,” Luo Yihuan said, his eyes darting around. “The club president is looking for you.”
“The club president?”
Gao Tianchi was at school?
Wu Jiao felt a flicker of anticipation.
She had wanted to say something to him last time.
She didn’t know how to bring it up, but she really hoped to see him at school more often. It would be even better if he could come back to class.
“Yeah, just wait here. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait—where is he?”
Luo Yihuan ran off without hearing her question and even closed the gymnasium’s glass door behind him.
Wu Jiao thought it was strange, but on second thought, it wasn’t impossible that Gao Tianchi had asked him to find her.
Ignoring her discomfort, Wu Jiao sat in the gymnasium for a while. Five minutes passed, but still no one came.
The vast gymnasium was empty except for her, so quiet she could hear the rustle of her own clothes.
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening and closing came from the other entrance of the gymnasium. Someone had come in.
Only teachers, the gymnasium manager, the sanda club president, and the vice president had keys to that entrance. An ordinary person wouldn’t use it.
Could it be Gao Tianchi?
The person’s footsteps were neither fast nor slow. They walked straight toward the management office and closed the door behind them.
Wu Jiao wasn’t sure. She lightened her footsteps and crept closer.
Cautiously, she peeked through the window of the management office, pressing her eye to the crack—
Her breath caught.
Damn—that figure is lethal.
The boy was half-turned away from her, the hem of his shirt lifted to reveal the taut muscles of his waist and the curve of his hips.
His physique was absolutely perfect, like a character model from a video game. It made her want to see where those lines led further down.
He held the hem of his shirt between his teeth. It seemed he had pulled a wound somewhere on his body, because he let out a muffled grunt and a soft gasp.
Someone who spoke so little in daily life—when he accidentally let out a breath like that, it put those deliberately husky-voiced male streamers to shame.
In the silence of the management office, the sound of his breathing seemed amplified, an 8D surround-sound experience.
Wu Jiao, who had both seen and heard everything, was completely stunned.
[Young throats really are the best! Sounds good—love hearing it! More, more!]
Gao Tianchi’s breathing stopped. His heart suddenly raced.
Wu Jiao was here? What did she just say about him…
He quickly let go of his shirt hem, hiding the bleeding wound on his other side, and pretended nothing was wrong as he gathered his things.
His backpack and medicine were both here.
This place was the only one that felt safe—even if only temporarily.
Every time that man laid his hands on him, Gao Tianchi would sneak into the gymnasium when no one was around, like a lone wolf licking its wounds, silently bandaging himself.
If Gao Tianchi turned around, he’d spot her immediately.
Wu Jiao immediately held her breath and crept back into the gymnasium as stealthily as a thief.
She couldn’t just go up and greet him like that.
Xiao E: Sigh. Looks like Gao Tianchi’s father hit him again. You didn’t see it, but the wound on his waist is still bleeding.
Only then did Wu Jiao realize.
She had been so dazzled by the view that she had forgotten all about the dull ache in her lower abdomen.
She had forgotten—Gao Tianchi had been tending to his wounds.
But on the table just now, she had clearly seen only a bag of cotton swabs. No medicine at all.
No, this wouldn’t do. That was as good as doing nothing.
She still had the medical kit Si Xiuyuan had given her last time. She could give it to him.
As for how to explain it later—she would just tell the truth.
Wu Jiao changed direction and turned back to find Gao Tianchi, but then she heard the sound of the side door of the gymnasium closing.
He had already left.
Didn’t he say he was looking for her?
Wu Jiao was a little confused.
“Wu Jiao, come here.”
She turned around. Luo Yihuan had appeared out of nowhere, jangling the gymnasium keys in a cocky, lazy way, sizing her up with that same greasy look he used to give her before.
His other hand was behind his back. She couldn’t see what he was holding.
“What do you want?”
Wu Jiao took a small step back.
Her sixth sense told her—this was bad. Luo Yihuan seemed to be planning something.
**