The little cat was easily fooled.

He was eager to immediately raise his hand and declare that he would definitely stay far away from the TV.

When Lu Huai checked the monitor again in the afternoon, he saw the TV was on, but Niannian wasn’t in the living room.

Lu Huai frowned, zooming in on the image.

Finally, he saw the boy sitting on a small stool at the bathroom door.

The little cat was stretching his neck, trying hard to watch TV.

Indeed, he was far enough away.

Lu Huai couldn’t help but laugh.

—

After school, Lu Huai went to the market.

If it were just him, he could eat anything, and most of the time, to save money, he ate expired instant noodles from the convenience store. But now that Niannian was home, he had to feed the little cat well.

Even if he suffered, the cat couldn’t.

He bought a fish, then a carton of milk, and passing a snack shop, he thought for a moment and went in to buy some chips and candy.

The deduction notification popped up on his phone. Lu Huai stared at it for two seconds, mentally calculating that he needed to find another part-time job.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw Niannian waiting at the entrance.

It made Lu Huai a little dazed, as if he had returned to before, when a meowing calico cat would squat at the door waiting for him when he came home.

Niannian first circled Lu Huai, rubbing his wrist with his tail, then seriously squatted on the ground to look at the fish in the plastic bag.

The fish was still alive, flapping around, making the plastic bag rustle.

The little cat leaned in to look, then “pop!”

He was slapped by the fish’s tail.

The boy, whose face was reddened, went to Lu Huai to complain aggrievedly.

Lu Huai was changing clothes, his shirt just taken off, when the boy barged in. Lu Huai, usually calm, was flustered for the first time, hastily grabbing a short-sleeved shirt to cover himself.

“Face, fish hit.”

The boy reached out for Lu Huai to hug him, aggrieved.

But Lu Huai didn’t hug him, he even took a step back, “Okay, I’ll stew it later, go out first, I’m changing clothes.”

The boy was even more aggrieved, “Why go out?”

Lu Huai’s temples throbbed, finally gritting his teeth, “Fine, don’t go out, recite the multiplication tables now.”

Huh???

The little cat quickly slipped away.

But he couldn’t escape. After dinner, Lu Huai cleaned up the dishes, grabbed the little cat’s tail, pulled him in front of him, and even took out a ruler, saying that he would spank his palm if he didn’t recite well.

The little cat was scared to death.

He recited two lines, then sniffed, and when he got stuck, Lu Huai ordered him to hold out his hand, and his tears immediately fell.

Lu Huai sighed, throwing away the ruler, “I haven’t hit you yet, why are you crying?”

Then he pulled him over, hugged him onto his lap, and wiped his tears, “No more reciting, ancestor, don’t cry.”

Niannian kept burrowing into his arms. After burrowing for a while, he thought of something, tilted his little head, and pouted, asking Lu Huai why he didn’t kiss him.

Before Niannian was a cat, Lu Huai always liked to kiss him, kissing his little paws, little ears, even burying his face and kissing his belly.

But since he became human, he hadn’t kissed him once.

Lu Huai was silent for a few seconds, “You’re a human now, I can’t just kiss you.”

“No fur, no kiss,” Niannian said angrily.

Lu Huai didn’t know how to explain the difference between humans and cats wasn’t just about fur.

After much coaxing, he finally stopped Niannian from crying.

He filled a basin with hot water and washed the little ancestor’s feet.

It was strange, when Niannian was a cat, Lu Huai raised him like a little truck, but now that he’s human, he’s become thinner, except for his still plump butt, and his chubby little feet.

Perhaps seeing Lu Huai’s head bowed, Niannian said surprisingly, “Do you want to drink it?”

Lu Huai was rarely stunned, “Drink… your footbath water?”

The little cat looked serious, “You used to like to drink it.”

It made him very tired, having to diligently soak his paws in the man’s water cup every day.

“…”

Lu Huai only found out after installing the monitor that Niannian’s little paws would be rinsed in his water cup every day.

“No more,” he said with difficulty, “Too much.”

“That’s true,” Niannian nodded understandingly.

“A whole basin.”

The little cat loved the snacks and candy he bought.

But Lu Huai was afraid he would get indigestion if he ate too much, so after brushing his teeth, he didn’t let him eat anymore, sealing the bags and putting them away.

Niannian licked his lips, “Brother, that strawberry shortbread is especially sweet, you should eat some too.”

Lu Huai tidied the blankets and pillows, without looking up, “I don’t eat them.”

Niannian leaned his little head over, thinking Lu Huai didn’t believe him, “Why? Really, it’s really delicious.”

In fact, Lu Huai had hardly ever eaten snacks. He could eat enough, study, and leave the orphanage, that was already very difficult.

He bought Niannian a new small blue pillowcase, washed it fragrantly and laid it down, casually making an excuse, “I don’t like snacks, you can eat them.”

Niannian was about to say something else when Lu Huai directly stuffed him into the bed, “Alright, close your eyes, sleep.”

Lu Huai wrapped the blanket tightly. Niannian was like a cat burrito, only his little head showing. He looked at Lu Huai longingly, “Still not okay? Sleep together, us.”

Niannian should actually be called “Clingy” (粘粘).

Because he was so clingy.

Even though he had a cat bed, he hardly ever slept in it. Every day, he would enter Lu Huai’s bed on time, and even compete with Lu Huai for a pillow. Sometimes he would snore while sleeping, but Lu Huai didn’t find it annoying, he even thought the fluffy little belly rising and falling was very cute.

It’s just that the little cat slept restlessly, often sleeping upside down, his head buried in the blanket, his two legs sticking out.

There was even a time when the little cat was dreaming, humming and kicking, kicking Lu Huai in the face, directly waking him up.

But no matter what, Lu Huai didn’t kick the little cat out, instead hugging the cat and sleeping soundly.

But since Niannian became human, Lu Huai refused to sleep in the same bed with him. On the already small bed, he insisted on spreading two blankets.

Seeing Lu Huai didn’t say anything, Niannian’s voice softened, “I’ll put my tail away.”

His ears could be put away after only a day, but his tail stubbornly stayed out.

Lu Huai pursed his lips.

In the dark room, his eyes drooped.

After a long time, he softly said, “No hurry.”

Niannian didn’t speak.

Looking again, the little cat was already asleep, breathing heavily.

Lu Huai seemed to smile helplessly, reaching out, hesitating for a long time, touching the boy’s cheek.

Every day, he said that Niannian should try to put his tail away. But in the darkest corner of his heart, he wished the little cat would keep his tail.

If the tail couldn’t be put away, he couldn’t go out, and he could stay at home obediently every day, waiting for Lu Huai to come back.

But what if Niannian’s tail went away?

Then he would completely become human.

Would he still be his little cat?

When he was a child in the orphanage, everything was shared and rotated, the paintbrushes, the toys.

Lu Huai had a favorite ball when he was a child, he wanted to hug it even when he slept, but the next week, the ball was taken away. Lu Huai watched helplessly as another boy played with it.

From then on, he would no longer place his affections on those things.

Until he later picked up Niannian.

When he held the little cat in his arms, feeling the little cat licking his palm, Lu Huai felt as if something hot flowed all the way to his heart.

He lowered his head and touched the little cat’s forehead with his lips.

It’s so good, this is his cat.

His only one.

.

The next morning, Lu Huai habitually reached into the boy’s blanket, and when he felt the fluffy touch, he didn’t know whether to be regretful or relieved.

The tail was still there.

The boy always liked to sleep in, Lu Huai didn’t plan to wake him up so early, he helped him tuck the blanket back in, then got up to make him breakfast.

It was Saturday, Lu Huai really wanted to stay home with Niannian, but he couldn’t. His bank account was almost empty, he had to go out to earn money.

The convenience store was closed today, so Lu Huai thought about going to the square to see if there were any jobs handing out flyers in mascot costumes. As soon as he went out, he received a call from Chen Fei.

“You asked me to help you find a job last time, there is one, but it’s manual labor, can you do it?”

Lu Huai didn’t hesitate, “Yes.”

It was a pet supplies store. The store mainly did online sales, selling cat food and litter, and had a large warehouse, with a lot of goods moving every day, and they needed someone to move goods.

The store owner saw that it was a young man and was a little unhappy, “How much can you move? Don’t try to take advantage of us, we pay by the piece.”

Lu Huai was taciturn, only nodding, “I can.”

It turned out that although Lu Huai looked thin in his jacket, when he started working, he took off his jacket, and the muscles in his arms tensed up and bulged.

He didn’t say anything, whether it was sacks or boxes, he carried them one by one onto his shoulders and carried them out. There was another person working with him, a little older, basically carrying a few and resting, and persuading Lu Huai, “Why are you working so hard? Don’t tire yourself out.”

Lu Huai didn’t say anything, wiped his sweat and continued.

Until noon, the store owner brought over two lunch boxes, praising Lu Huai, “You’re good, I underestimated you, this morning we moved one more truckload than usual.”

He was so happy today that he added some dishes and gave Lu Huai an extra chicken leg, “Try it, my wife braised it, it’s especially fragrant.”

Lu Huai thanked him, but didn’t eat the chicken leg, putting it in a bag, intending to take it back for Niannian.

He quickly ate two bites of rice, filling his stomach before getting up to move goods again.