He said excitedly, “Brother, can we go out every day?”

“No,” Lu Huai cruelly shattered his fantasy. “I have to go to school during the week. Weekends…”

He also wanted to work on weekends and couldn’t take Niannian out every week.

He could only vaguely say, “I’ll take you again when I’m free.”

Niannian looked at him longingly. “Then I’ll go to school with brother.”

“That’s not possible either,” Lu Huai said bluntly. “I’m in high school, and your level… is probably first grade.”

The little cat pouted. “Then I miss brother.”

Lu Huai also felt a pang of guilt.

Before, Niannian was a cat. At home, he basically just played with toys, ate cat food with his little butt sticking up, or sprawled on the sofa like a pancake and slept soundly.

But now he’s such a big person, Lu Huai couldn’t bear to keep him locked up at home every day.

But the little cat still couldn’t recognize all the characters, and Lu Huai wasn’t comfortable letting him go out.

He thought for a moment, pointing to the corner where the red light was flashing. “Remember? Before, I called you here. Now you can talk, and you can talk to me here.”

Amazing!!

Niannian tilted his little head and said loudly, “Brother! Can you hear me?!”

“…”

Lu Huai, “I’m right next to you. I’m not deaf.”

.

That evening, Niannian mumbled several times about wanting to play with Qiuqiu next door.

Lu Huai had no choice but to dress him and take him out.

When putting on his shoes at the door, the little cat paused.

There were two pairs of shoes in front of him: a brand-new pair of white sneakers he’d bought for Niannian, and Lu Huai’s shoes next to them, though clean, were badly worn.

Lu Huai habitually squatted down to put on the little cat’s shoes, but Niannian stepped back.

“Brother, wear this,” Niannian said seriously. “This is new.”

Lu Huai’s heart warmed; he curled his lips, coaxing him. “The size is wrong, brother can’t wear it. Be good, put on your shoes quickly, it’s late, Qiuqiu will go home.”

Hearing this, the little cat became anxious, quickly stretching out his little feet for Lu Huai to put on his shoes.

Lu Huai was still a little resentful and deliberately said, “What do you guys play? Can you understand its barking?”

“Yes,” Niannian said seriously. “I can understand human language, cat language, dog language, bird language…”

Lu Huai quickly interrupted him, afraid he would recite an entire animal encyclopedia. “Oh, our Niannian is so amazing.”

The little cat loved it when Lu Huai praised him, quickly tilting his head up, waiting for Lu Huai to pet him. Every time, Lu Huai would stroke his fur, from his little head all the way to the tip of his tail.

Now that he didn’t have a tail, where would Lu Huai touch him? Would he touch his butt?

To Niannian’s disappointment, Lu Huai didn’t touch him. After tying his shoelaces, he stood up. “Let’s go.”

The little cat lowered his head, a little aggrieved.

He didn’t have fur anymore, and Lu Huai didn’t want to touch him anymore.

Every night at this time, the residents of the community would walk their cats and dogs. Qiuqiu was notoriously difficult to get along with, biting everyone in the community, yet when he first met Niannian, he was greeted with a punch from the little cat, his dog head hammered until it rang.

Since then, Qiuqiu had been like a shadow, only playing with Niannian.

“Xiao Lu, where’s Niannian? I haven’t seen him for a long time.”

Grandma Zhang next door greeted enthusiastically.

The brown teddy bear ran over, looking at Lu Huai longingly.

Lu Huai coughed. “He’s… staying at a friend’s house for a couple of days.”

While speaking, Niannian had already squatted down, starting to interact enthusiastically with Qiuqiu.

Qiuqiu sniffed carefully, greatly surprised. “Niannian, where’s your fur?”

The little cat sighed. “You don’t understand. I’m human now.”

The human and dog were chattering away, and Grandma Zhang was curious. “I’ve never seen this child before.”

Lu Huai smiled. “My younger brother.”

“Oh, your younger brother is quite popular with animals. I’ve never seen Qiuqiu so friendly with strangers.”

Lu Huai twitched the corner of his mouth.

He stared at Niannian squatting on the ground, his round head looking cute.

But Lu Huai felt a little unhappy.

Why was Niannian so friendly with this teddy bear?

Didn’t they say cats and dogs don’t get along?

He didn’t realize it himself, but his possessiveness towards the little cat was growing stronger. Seeing Niannian chatting with the dog made him feel irritated.

“Nian…” Lu Huai paused, bending down to pat Niannian’s shoulder. “You’ve been chatting for a long time. I need to take you to the convenience store to buy ice cream. Do you want some?”

Hearing about food, the little cat stood up, his eyes shining. “Yes!”

Lu Huai contentedly held the little cat’s hand, said goodbye to Grandma Zhang, and walked out along the path of the community garden.

“Brother, have you been waiting for me for a long time?” Niannian felt a little guilty. “I didn’t pay attention to the time.”

It had only been five minutes.

Lu Huai lied to the cat, his face calm and unperturbed. “It’s okay.”

He took the little cat to buy ice cream. Lu Huai opened the package and offered it to the boy’s mouth. The little cat obediently took a bite, immediately widening his eyes. “Cold! So sweet.”

Lu Huai rubbed Niannian’s head. “Brother will be at school tomorrow. Stay home obediently and don’t go out.”

Niannian looked up. “Can’t I go see Qiuqiu?”

That dog again!

Lu Huai frowned. “No. Stay home and study hard, finish the homework I assigned you.”

The little cat drooped his head.

Who likes studying?

.

Lu Huai rarely daydreamed in class.

Doing a math test, he picked up his pen to write the solution, but unconsciously wrote the name Niannian. When he realized it, he frowned and erased the words.

After the exam, Lu Huai immediately opened his phone to check the monitor. After thinking for a moment, he put on his earphones and softly called Niannian’s name.

Niannian had been sitting on the floor playing with the puzzle Lu Huai bought him. Hearing the sound, he immediately stood up and ran to the monitor, as if afraid Lu Huai couldn’t see him clearly. He even moved a small stool and stood on it, his whole face pressed against the lens.

Beauty attack!

Lu Huai was speechless for a moment, almost unable to speak.

The little cat couldn’t hear Lu Huai speaking anymore, anxiously blurting out, “Brother, brother, are you there?”

Lu Huai snapped back to reality, quickly saying, “I’m here. Were you good at home?”

Niannian nodded vigorously. “I learned all the characters today, and I can write them too. Brother, when will you be back? I miss you.”

The little cat couldn’t hide his emotions, always being straightforward.

Lu Huai whispered, “Be good. Brother is in class. I can only go back at night. What do you want for lunch? I’ll order takeout for you.”

The little cat looked at him longingly, repeating, “I miss brother.”

Lu Huai’s heart ached, wishing he could take the cat in his bag and bring him to class.

He could only coax him repeatedly, “Be good, Niannian, be obedient.”

Exiting the monitor, Lu Huai opened the takeout app and, after thinking for a moment, ordered a fish-flavored shredded pork rice bowl for the little cat.

Chen Fei happened to come looking for him. He called Lu Huai several times without a response, so he leaned over to look at his phone and exclaimed, “Your brother hasn’t left yet? You still order takeout for him every day? Can’t he cook?”

Lu Huai frowned. “He’s young.”

Chen Fei snorted. “I saw on the monitor last time, he’s about our age, right? He doesn’t go to school, stays at home all day relying on you to support him? He’s become a parasite. Don’t get tricked.”

Lu Huai could say the little cat was stupid himself, but he didn’t like hearing it from others.

He said seriously, “He’s very smart. The school’s pace isn’t suitable for him, he’s studying at home, understand?”

Chen Fei opened his mouth. “Ah… a child prodigy?”

“Something like that.”

Author’s Note:

Nianbao is only a little bit away from being a child prodigy. [Dog head]

Soft and sweet calling him “brother” at home, and punching evil teddy bears outside.

Lu Huai handed in his exam paper early during the last exam, specifically to go home earlier.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw the little cat waiting at the door, softly clinging to him and calling him “brother.”

“I told you not to wait for me at the door,” Lu Huai wanted to pinch his face but restrained himself. “Are you hungry?”

Niannian shook his head. “I ate a lot at noon.”

Speaking of which, the little cat remembered something, running back and forth, holding up the takeout bag from noon for Lu Huai to see. He pointed to a few words on the takeout order and read, “Fish-flavored shredded pork.”

Lu Huai immediately began to praise, “Niannian is so amazing, you recognize such difficult characters.”

The little cat tilted his head to complain, “But I didn’t eat any fish.”

“…”

Lu Huai explained, “Many foods are like that; the name doesn’t represent the ingredients, just like a wife cake doesn’t have a wife in it.”

The little cat immediately asked, “What’s a wife?”

Lu Huai choked, “It’s, someone you’re very close to.”

The little cat said loudly, “Then I want to be your wife!”

“No!”

Niannian, who was rejected, was very sad, looking at Lu Huai longingly.

Lu Huai said with a stiff expression, “Your cultural level is too low, you can’t be my wife.”

The little cat was really sad. He was someone very close to Lu Huai. They used to sleep in the same bed, and every night Lu Huai would kiss him, sometimes even biting his ears and paws.

After saying that, Lu Huai regretted it a little. He seemed to have hurt the little cat’s self-esteem.

His lips moved. “Niannian…”

The little cat sniffed, turning and going back to his room.

Niannian usually had almost no temper. Even when Lu Huai deliberately bit his ears, the little cat would obediently remain still.

Lu Huai felt guilty for the first time.

He quickly followed him, seeing the little cat sitting upright at the table, his eyes red, feeling even more guilty.