The windowsill was too narrow, and Dahua had to squeeze itself in with great effort just to stay balanced.

“Dahua!” Yuanyuan joyfully opened the window. Dahua, with its squished face against the glass, flopped onto the sill.

“Here, a flower for you.” With a casual flick, the flower it had just picked from the yard fell into Yuanyuan’s hand.

Receiving a gift first thing in the morning, the little cub was overjoyed for a moment, but then her mood dropped as she remembered something. “But Aunt Chen hasn’t bought the dried fish yet. We won’t have any until tonight.”

“I’m not just here for the dried fish,” Dahua said with a roll of its body, stretching out on the windowsill. “I was just passing by and thought I’d bring you a flower. Is that a problem?”

“Wow, wow, wow! Thank you, Dahua!”

Just then, Aunt Chen opened the door to wake Yuanyuan, only to see a large, round, dark-colored cat sprawled on the windowsill. The cat’s pupils narrowed in the light, giving it a menacing look.

Startled, Aunt Chen grabbed a decorative object from the table and waved it at the window. “Shoo! Get out of here!”

Dahua, already used to being shooed away, nonchalantly leapt from the windowsill, performed a smooth three-tiered jump down the outer wall, and disappeared into the rose bushes below.

“Aunt Chen, that’s Dahua! Don’t chase him away!” Yuanyuan cried, almost on the verge of tears. “Dahua is my friend. He came to bring me a flower.”

She held up the freshly plucked pink flower, its short stem looking delicate and fragile in the sunlight, like a prized treasure.

Aunt Chen glanced at the now-empty window, realizing she might have overreacted and hurt Yuanyuan’s sensitive feelings. Putting down the object in her hand, she closed the window and led the tearful little cub to the bathroom to wash up. As she helped Yuanyuan clean up, Aunt Chen reassured her, promising to prepare some dried fish for Dahua later.

Though Yuanyuan eventually stopped crying, her big, teary eyes still tugged at Aunt Chen’s heart.

When it was time to head downstairs for breakfast, Yuanyuan was still thinking about Dahua, her appetite not nearly as hearty as the previous days.

As soon as Yu Jinxiao sat down, he noticed something was off. He reached out to feel her forehead. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick? You’re eating so little.”

Without looking up, Yuanyuan muttered, “Dahua is so pitiful.”

Yu Jinxiao: “…?”

Dahua? Who’s Dahua?

Did he sleep through something important?

Seeing his father’s confusion, Yu Yingze chimed in, “It’s the stray cat we met outside last night. It’s really fat.”

Really fat, the kind that clearly doesn’t worry about where its next meal is coming from.

“Second Brother, Daflower even came to my window this morning and gave me a flower!” Yuanyuan’s mood suddenly brightened, and she excitedly waved her hands as she described it. But as she rambled on, she noticed Yu Jinxiao’s expression growing serious and stern.

Sensing the shift in the atmosphere, Yuanyuan quickly shut her mouth.

Yu Jinxiao’s eyes narrowed in warning. “Yuanyuan, stray cats are dirty. You’re not allowed to play with them.”

Yuanyuan lowered her head, not answering but not refusing either.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard…” she reluctantly mumbled.

Yu Mingxi noticed Yuanyuan’s unhappiness and took her hand to lead her outside to the car.

Gao Zhou, the driver, was already there and, like a magician, pulled out a pack of peach-flavored gummy candies, sneaking them into Yuanyuan’s bag. “Miss Yuanyuan, hide these quickly.”

As he did so, he kept a cautious eye out for Yu Jinxiao, who hadn’t emerged yet.

Yuanyuan was quick, tucking the candy into her bag in an instant and sitting back down as if nothing had happened. They exchanged knowing smiles, one big, one small.

Outside the car window, sparrows flitted between branches, chirping noisily. After listening intently for a while, Yuanyuan tugged on Yu Mingxi’s sleeve and asked, “Brother, why can’t I understand what the birds are saying?”

Yu Mingxi paused, confused. “Because you’re human, and birds are birds. You can’t communicate with them.”

“But… I can understand what kitties say,” Yuanyuan replied earnestly.