“Yes, if you want to participate, our city will organize a week of pre-training. This is for your own good.”

Lu Huai refused without hesitation. “Sorry, teacher, I won’t participate in this competition.”

The head teacher tried hard to persuade him. “This competition has a lot of corporate sponsorships. It will be helpful for your future college entrance examination and job hunting.”

Lu Huai remained calm and indifferent. He wasn’t interested in these vague things. Most importantly, he wasn’t comfortable leaving his kitten at home.

The head teacher looked at his expression and delivered the final blow. “The prize money for the competition is fifty thousand yuan.”

Lu Huai’s expression finally softened.

He pursed his thin lips, picked up the brochure, hesitated for a moment before saying, “Teacher, I’ll consider it.”

The head teacher smiled. “Okay, okay, no rush. Registration doesn’t start until tomorrow.”

After returning home, Lu Huai calculated that the money in his bank card was almost gone. However, he had some pre-saved money, which was his college tuition.

But now, there was something more important than tuition.

He urgently needed to get an identity document for his kitten.

The first place Lu Huai thought of was the orphanage.

It was the place where he had once relied on for survival and desperately escaped from.

He knew the director too well—greedy and selfish, but precisely because of this, there was something Lu Huai could use.

It just required some money.

On his way home from school, he saw someone selling watermelons on the street, so Lu Huai bought half a watermelon.

The kitten was indeed very happy, following Lu Huai like a little tail. After Lu Huai cut it, the kitten immediately offered a piece to his brother’s mouth.

Lu Huai took a bite from Niannian’s hand, then nodded. “It’s sweet.”

The kitten happily ate its watermelon.

Lu Huai leaned against the refrigerator, looking at the kitten, silent for a long time before saying, “There’s a competition at school, and I may have to go out for a week.”

Niannian froze, subconsciously repeating, “Go out for a week.”

Lu Huai hummed, continuing, “I’ll buy you some bread and milk to leave at home. There’s cash in the bedroom drawer. If you want to eat out, you can eat out…”

Before he finished speaking, the kitten had thrown away the watermelon and pounced on him. He anxiously said, “I’ll go, brother, take me.”

These days, the kitten’s speech had improved a lot, no longer rambling, only occasionally stuttering when anxious.

Lu Huai bent down and picked him up, coaxing him, “Be good, you listen, I can’t take you. Brother is going for training, and we’ll have to live in the same room with many people.”

The kitten’s eyes welled up. “Can’t you hide me? I’ll be good, I won’t make a sound.”

Lu Huai smiled, wiping his tears. “You’re so big, how can I hide you? You’re not a kitten anymore.”

Niannian felt a sudden pang in his heart.

He buried his face in Lu Huai’s shoulder, clutching his clothes tightly, his voice choked and intermittent, “I’m sorry, brother, if I were still…a kitten, it would be fine.”

Lu Huai felt heartbroken. The kitten seemed to be his nemesis. Whenever he saw the kitten cry, Lu Huai would become flustered and lose all reason.

He gently patted the kitten’s back. “What are you saying? Who asked you to apologize? Don’t cry, baby, brother won’t go.”

Niannian’s tears seemed endless, almost soaking Lu Huai’s clothes.

After coaxing him for a long time, finally stopping his tears, Lu Huai held him on his lap and wiped his face with a warm towel.

“Why are you crying like a little kitten?”

Niannian was still sobbing. “Brother, go, but…can I…call you? Miss you.”

Lu Huai’s heart melted.

“Okay, why not?” He lowered his head, resting against Niannian’s forehead. “Ten calls a day.”

Before leaving, Lu Huai packed a suitcase.

He folded clothes, and the kitten sat beside the bed, looking at him longingly, as if he wanted to stuff himself into the suitcase.

Lu Huai felt both distressed and amused, coaxing him, “Remember how I taught you to make video calls? You can call brother anytime.”

The kitten still seemed sullen.

Lu Huai thought for a moment. “When brother comes back, I can get you an ID card, and then we can take a plane to other places to play.”

“Airplane?”

Lu Huai put down his things, walked over, and picked up Niannian. “It’s like a car, but it can fly in the sky.”

The kitten was startled. “Don’t take the plane, it will fall down.”

Lu Huai couldn’t help teasing him. “It’s okay, even if it falls, brother will hold you, you won’t get hurt.”

“No.” The kitten bit his lip, muttering, “Then I’ll hold brother.”

Oh my god, how could there be such a well-behaved cat.

Lu Huai hugged Niannian tightly, burying his face in his neck, (xi miao – a Chinese internet slang meaning to inhale the scent of a cat, expressing affection), and said in a muffled voice, painting a rosy picture for his cat, “Baby, brother will give you a good life.”

The kitten was puzzled, tilting his head. “It’s a good life now, isn’t it?”

But the good times ended soon.

On the day Lu Huai left, Niannian cried like a little tearful cat, while trying to wipe his tears and sobbing, “Brother, I’m not crying, I really am not crying.”

While saying that, he blew a big snot bubble.

Pitiful and funny.

Lu Huai’s feet felt glued to the ground, unable to move, he could only sigh, put down his suitcase, and wipe the kitten’s tears with a tissue. “What did you promise me yesterday?”

The kitten said with red eyes, “Not crying.”

“Then what’s flowing from your eyes? Saliva?”

Lu Huai teased him while wiping his face clean. “Brother really has to go, stay home and be good, okay?”

The kitten mumbled a muffled response.

The door still closed.

After being entangled by the kitten, he could only take a taxi, otherwise he would be late. Lu Huai had just moved his suitcase into the taxi, his butt hadn’t even settled, when he received a WeChat message from the kitten.

Niannian baby: 【Brother, do you miss me?】

They had only been separated for less than five minutes.

Lu Huai couldn’t help but smile, replying, 【Not yet, I need to wait a little longer to miss you.】

The kitten impatiently sent a voice message.

Lu Huai clicked on it and put it to his ear.

The boy’s crisp, sticky voice, due to his coquettishness, came.

“Why? Brother, can you miss me quickly?”

Lu Huai’s face showed no particular expression.

Only after listening to the voice message, he clicked play again, listened again…and listened countless times.

The training location was in the suburbs. When Lu Huai arrived, it was a little late. The teacher in charge of assigning dorms directly gave him the key. “Go and pack your things quickly. Gather at classroom A at five o’clock in the evening.”

The classroom was next to the dormitory building, which looked quite simple. But for Lu Huai, without his cat, it didn’t matter where he lived.

He found his room number, pushed the door open, and three other people were already in the dorm besides him. Lu Huai was usually cold, so he didn’t greet anyone. He directly pushed his suitcase to the empty bed, opened the suitcase, and started packing.

“Hello, are you Lu Huai?”

A boy wearing black-rimmed glasses walked over and extended his hand. “Hello, my name is Zhou Le. I’m from No. 5 Middle School. We met at an English speech contest before.”

Lu Huai glanced at him indifferently, hummed, “Hello.”

But he didn’t shake hands, instead, he continued to pack his things.

He folded a few clothes, and suddenly two lollipops fell out, the kitten’s favorite strawberry flavor.

The person who had just been cold-faced suddenly smiled, his eyes softened. Zhou Le looked a little embarrassed beside him, “You like sweets?”

Lu Huai held the lollipops in his hand, his tone indifferent. “Do you have anything else?”

Zhou Le’s smile almost disappeared. He said with difficulty, “It’s almost time, should we go to the classroom together?”

Lu Huai said indifferently, “No need, you guys go first.”

Zhou Le couldn’t stay any longer, so he left with the other roommates. After everyone left, Lu Huai took a picture of the lollipops and sent it.

【Baby, did you give me all the strawberry ones?】

The kitten didn’t reply immediately, so Lu Huai put away his phone and went to the classroom.

The training was different from school, evening self-study was scheduled until eleven o’clock, Lu Huai could only call the kitten during the break.

Zhou Le’s seat was a little behind Lu Huai. He saw Lu Huai take something out, thought for a moment, and followed him.

On the stairs, the boy’s voice was very gentle.

“Don’t eat iced watermelon before bed, be careful of stomach upset. Make sure to dry your hair after showering, don’t be lazy, otherwise you’ll have a headache tomorrow.”

“There’s your little bear pajamas in the second drawer of the cupboard, I’ve already washed them, uh? It’s strawberry-scented laundry detergent, you can smell it if you don’t believe me.”

“Be good, brother will be back soon.”

Lu Huai hung up the phone, and turned around to see Zhou Le standing not far away.

His expression instantly turned cold.

“Are you following me?”

Zhou Le pursed his lips. “We have to hand in our phones for the training.”

Lu Huai sneered. “Then go tell the teacher.”

He continued walking, passing Zhou Le.

Zhou Le panicked and subconsciously grabbed his clothes. “You misunderstood, I didn’t mean that.”

Lu Huai’s irritation surged. Niannian wasn’t around, which made him upset, and he was being constantly pestered.

He flung his hand away, coldly looking at Zhou Le. “What exactly do you want?”

Zhou Le looked at him deeply. “The person you were talking to on the phone just now, is she your girlfriend?”

What a lunatic.