But when he passed a snowy path, he paused.

Looking back, the cat was gone.

Lu Huai frowned slightly, took two steps back, and saw a small snowdrift, with only two fluffy legs paddling, its tail wagging.

He coldly pulled the cat out and stuffed it into his arms.

The kitten was clearly frozen, shivering, constantly pressing against the boy’s chest.

Lu Huai hesitated, unzipped his jacket, and put the cat inside. The kitten burrowed in, only its black ear tips showing.

Annoying.

The boy, with a cold face, carried the cat home.

Just like now.

Lu Huai looked at the boy with slightly red eyes, a surge of irritation rising within him.

Annoying.

No more cat.

How am I supposed to sleep with it tonight?

The boy was wrapped in a blanket, several times trying to wriggle into Lu Huai’s arms, but Lu Huai stopped him, forcefully pressing down the blanket, preventing him from wriggling out naked.

Niannian was a little aggrieved, “Master, why don’t you hug me?”

He had just been crying, his eyelashes wet in clumps, his eyes still red, looking pitiful.

But Lu Huai acted very heartless.

“Did you understand what I just said?”

Niannian sniffed, “I’m human, I don’t have fur.”

“…”

Lu Huai took a deep breath and tried to ask in a calm tone, “What did you eat before? Liqueur chocolates, how did you feel after eating them?”

Niannian’s expression was a little guilty.

He didn’t know it was chocolate, only that he had broken something and displeased Lu Huai.

He whispered, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. It smelled so good, I just wanted to try it. I only ate one, and then I felt very hot, like I was cooked, so I wanted to go to sleep.”

His language skills were clumsy.

Lu Huai frowned.

Was it because of the alcohol inside? Or did it work together with the chocolate?

But no matter what.

What was clearly before him was this:

His little cat had become human.

The cat he always carried in his arms, the one that slept on its back and snored softly, the one that mischievously ran around the house, the one that liked to soak its paws in his water cup, the one that liked to step on his face to wake him up—

His cat, his Niannian.

Had turned into the naked boy in front of him.

Lu Huai’s thoughts were in a mess.

He didn’t know whether to take the boy to the doctor first or get his own brain checked.

His sleeve was gently tugged.

He snapped back to reality, looking at the boy looking up at him, his round eyes still watery from crying.

He mumbled, “Master, I’m hungry.”

Lu Huai was silent for a few seconds.

He decided to cook first.

.

It only took Lu Huai the time it took to cook a meal to accept this fact.

There was no other reason.

It was simply that the boy ate just like Niannian.

When he ate something delicious, the tip of his tail would wag gently, and his ears would twitch.

Lu Huai sat beside him, his gaze fixed on the boy.

He quickly concluded one thing in his heart.

Niannian was his.

Whether cat.

Or human.

After the boy finished eating, he looked up and smiled at him, then clingingly tried to get Lu Huai to hug him.

Lu Huai wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, then said calmly, “Don’t call me Master anymore, call me Brother.”

Author’s Note:

Lu Huai: Cold scholar, but a crazy cat person.

Niannian: Likes to soak his paws in his master’s water cup [Tricolor cat head]

As soon as the bell rang, Lu Huai threw down his pen, took out his phone from his desk, his movements practiced and not at all like a top student.

He opened the surveillance camera and zoomed in until he could clearly see every movement of the boy on the sofa.

After Lu Huai left, the boy went to the sofa with his bowl of noodles. Ten minutes passed, and his eyes were still glued to the TV, without a single bite of noodles.

Tsk.

He didn’t listen to a single word of his instructions.

Lu Huai’s face darkened.

“Looking at Niannian again?”

Chen Fei somehow walked over and peeked over his shoulder. Lu Huai quickly closed his phone, but even so, Chen Fei still saw it.

He widened his eyes, “You, you, you—Wow!”

Lu Huai’s heart sank, but he remained expressionless, “What’s wrong?”

“Why is there someone in your house?”

Lu Huai slightly tightened his grip on his phone, “Just one person?”

Chen Fei was stunned, “Yes, two? I didn’t see clearly just now.”

Lu Huai was silent for two seconds.

He recalled that Niannian had been sitting on the sofa with his tail behind him, so he probably hadn’t seen it either.

“No,” he said calmly, “Just one person.”

“Why is there someone in your house?” Chen Fei urged, “Did a thief break in?”

Lu Huai paused, “It’s… my younger brother.”

“Ah?” Chen Fei’s expression was complicated, “But…”

“Alright,” Lu Huai put away his phone and said seriously, “The teacher’s coming.”

Chen Fei was sent away.

He scratched his head. He remembered seeing the scholarship list in the teacher’s office last time, wasn’t Lu Huai… an orphan?

At noon, as soon as school was over, Lu Huai quickly grabbed his jacket and went out. Chen Fei chased after him and asked, “Aren’t you going to the cafeteria?”

“Going home to cook for my brother.”

“…”

He said it so convincingly.

It really is his younger brother.

Chen Fei began to doubt whether he had seen wrong in the teacher’s office last time.

When Lu Huai opened the door and entered the house, Niannian was sitting cross-legged on the sofa. Hearing the sound, he straightened up a little and deliberately said loudly, “Five sevens are thirty-five, six sevens are forty-two.”

This was the homework Lu Huai had assigned him, to memorize the multiplication tables.

Determined to teach the little cat.

Lu Huai glanced at him, then walked directly to the TV, reached out and touched it, it was hot.

The little cat had quickly walked to his side, licking his lips, looking a little nervous. Before Lu Huai could speak, he confessed, “I memorized after you left, I didn’t watch TV.”

Lu Huai raised his hand and gently pinched the boy’s nape, speaking slowly and deliberately, “I’ve been teaching you for so long and you still can’t get it right, speak properly.”

When the little cat was nervous, his speech would become messy.

He fiddled with the hem of his clothes, stammering, “I didn’t watch, TV, I started memorizing after you left.”

“Mm,” Lu Huai didn’t expose him, only saying calmly, “I’ll check tonight, recite it from beginning to end for me.”

The little cat’s tail fur stood on end.

Lu Huai took off his jacket and went to the kitchen to cook, Niannian followed him closely.

Taking the eggs from the refrigerator, cracking them open, and quickly whisking them in a bowl, Lu Huai’s hands didn’t stop, glancing at the little cat beside him, he pretended to ask, “What’s wrong? Something wrong?”

Niannian hesitated for a moment. He had become a little smarter these past two days, first offering his tail, smiling flatteringly, “Want to touch it? You haven’t touched it since you came back.”

Lu Huai coldly refused, “No time, I’m cooking.”

Niannian said dryly, “Oh, then…”

He paused, as if encouraging himself, “What if I don’t do well on the check?”

Lu Huai looked at him with a smirk, “What do you think? Otherwise, I’ll move the TV away, it seems to be affecting you.”

The little cat became anxious, “No, no, no, it’s very well-behaved, it doesn’t affect me.”

“Mm, so you’re not well-behaved?”

The little cat had gotten smarter, but not much.

Lu Huai only needed to say a few words to expose him.

He was clumsy with words, stammering for a long time without being able to say anything, finally only aggrievedly running back to the living room to recite the multiplication tables. This time he was really focused, afraid that if he couldn’t recite it well at night, Lu Huai would move the TV away.

Lu Huai glanced out from the kitchen. The little cat was lying on the sofa, mumbling to himself. This posture made his butt stick up, his tail wagging back and forth.

Lu Huai glanced, then retracted his head, and after a couple of seconds, peeked out again.

Finally, he simply leaned against the door, eyes fixed on the little cat, whisking eggs.

The little cat’s attention was easily attracted by other things.

He had only been reciting for a few minutes when he felt a spot of light flickering on the book. The little cat’s eyes followed it back and forth, his hand slapping it down. When the spot of light moved to the other side of the sofa, his tail wagged, and he jumped over.

But he forgot that he wasn’t his old self; he had become human, his body wasn’t as light. Not only did he not jump up, he almost fell to the ground.

Fortunately, Lu Huai grabbed his ankle in time, avoiding a disastrous fall.

Lu Huai picked him up and put him at the dining table, lecturing him lightly but firmly, “Always being restless, did you forget about falling from the shelf last time?”

Lu Huai had been so scared that he rushed to the pet hospital with the cat. Fortunately, it wasn’t serious. Afterward, Chen Fei comforted him.

Calico cats are like that.

They’re naturally a bit clumsy.

It was too late to make anything complicated for lunch, so Lu Huai steamed an egg and stir-fried some greens, not forgetting to coax the boy, “I’ll make you fish tonight.”

Fortunately, Niannian wasn’t picky, obediently picking up his chopsticks, “Okay.”

Lu Huai was very busy, quickly eating two bites of rice before going out. He barely touched the egg, placing it in front of Niannian. The little cat ate messily, with two grains of rice on his mouth. The boy wiped them off with a napkin, then touched his fluffy hair.

“Be good, you can watch TV, but not for too long, and don’t get too close, otherwise your eyes will get bad, and then you’ll see everything,” Lu Huai scared him, “You’ll become a little blind cat.”