Chapter 86: Picking Up a Little Kitten

Once back home, Lin Beixiu went to take a shower.

Qin Muxue looked toward the bathroom with a mischievous grin, then turned and headed to his room.

When Lin Beixiu returned, he smacked his forehead upon seeing the scene in his room. “older sister Qin.”

Qin Muxue was still lying on his bed, smiling at him.

“Little Brother Bei, come sleep.”

Lin Beixiu’s forehead was lined with frustration, “Get out.”

“Don’t be like that, Little Brother Bei, I’m even warming up the bed for you.”

Lin Beixiu’s mouth twitched, “Just drop it, will you?”

Knowing he couldn’t drive her away, Lin Beixiu didn’t insist further. He took another blanket from the closet and tossed it to Qin Muxue.

“Cover yourself with this and don’t steal mine.”

“When have I ever stolen yours?”

Qin Muxue wouldn’t admit it, though she did sneakily hug him at night—where was the stealing of blankets there?

Lin Beixiu didn’t speak, pulled his own blanket over himself, intending to share it with her.

“Stop talking, sister. Don’t start with ‘Are you asleep?’ just when I’m about to fall asleep,” Lin Beixiu said before turning off the light.

“Okay, Little Brother Bei, good night,” Qin Muxue obediently responded.

This time, Qin Muxue didn’t wait for Lin Beixiu to fall asleep before moving closer; she simply closed her eyes and slept honestly, staying on her side of the bed.

The next morning, Lin Beixiu got up early, having slept soundly the night before.

Lin Beixiu glanced at Qin Muxue next to him. Although they hadn’t cuddled, Qin Muxue was still restless—her blanket had fallen off, which was probably why Lin Beixiu felt unusually warm on his other side last night. It was fortunate he hadn’t turned on the air conditioning, or she would have frozen.

Lin Beixiu covered her with the blanket and got out of bed to wash up.

Taking advantage of the rare early morning, Lin Beixiu went into the kitchen to make breakfast.

“Morning, Little Bei.”

Lin Beixiu, busy cooking, turned around upon hearing her and saw Qin Muxue standing at the doorway.

“Mornin’.”

Qin Muxue yawned and headed to the bathroom, surprised that Lin Beixiu was up so early.

Today was still a day off, or rather, the remaining two weeks were off; they just needed to study at home.

Qin Muxue ate the breakfast Lin Beixiu made, feeling a little sad thinking she wouldn’t be able to eat his cooking for the next month and a half.

“Off to study now, you clean up.”

“Yeah, okay,” Qin Muxue agreed.

Soon, the tidied-up Qin Muxue also brought her books into Lin Beixiu’s room.

“Come, let’s study together.”

Lin Beixiu, seeing this, scooted over to make room for her beside him.

After studying for a while, Lin Beixiu started to play with his phone. Soon, a call came in—it was his grandfather.

Lin Beixiu got up to take the call, which was essentially his grandfather asking when Lin Beixiu’s vacation started so they could have a drink together.

“What about that girl, your classmate? That lass, are you bringing her over during the holidays?”

Lin Beixiu’s mouth twitched, “Grandpa, why would you think she wouldn’t go home but come to our place instead?”

Old Master Zhang laughed heartily, “Alright, you young rascal, don’t know how to seize the opportunity. That’s all then.”

“Okay, bye.”

Lin Beixiu returned to the room with a headache, not expecting that just bringing her home once would make his grandfather so fixated, mistakenly thinking their relationship was something more.

Lin Beixiu returned to his seat.

“Want some water?” Qin Muxue asked.

“No need, you carry on.”

Lin Beixiu casually responded, causing Qin Muxue to feel a bit let down.

“Okay.”

“I’ll head back first, call me when it’s time to eat.”

Qin Muxue gathered her things and returned to her room, Lin Beixiu watched her leave then turned back around.

At noon, as usual, Lin Beixiu called her out to eat. Qin Muxue brightened up seeing the fish.

“Little Brother Bei, your cooking is getting better and better.”

“It’s alright,” Lin Beixiu modestly replied, not really feeling any change in his cooking skills.

That evening, they went to work as usual. Passing by a trash can, Qin Muxue glanced at it then quickly caught up with Lin Beixiu.

“Has everyone gone?”

The landlady nodded, “Yes, they left early and also went out for a bit tonight, asked me for a cardboard box, wonder what it was for?”

Lin Beixiu had no choice but to say goodbye to the landlady and head home. When he arrived, once again he was surprised—she hadn’t come back yet; where could she be at this hour?

Lin Beixiu drank some water and headed to his room.

After waiting for about ten minutes, Lin Beixiu couldn’t stand it any longer and made a WeChat call to her.

The first time, no one answered.

Lin Beixiu frowned, calling again, not understanding why he was so concerned about her, this inexplicable anxiety bothering him.

After about ten seconds, the call finally connected.

“Hello, where are you? Why haven’t you come back?”

From the other end came Qin Muxue’s tearful voice, “I… I think I’m lost.”

Lin Beixiu: …

“Where are you now?”

“I… I’m in front of a supermarket called XX Supermarket.”

Lin Beixiu thought for a moment; wasn’t that near the south of the school? Why would she go to such a far supermarket?

“Wait there, I’m coming to pick you up.”

“Okay,” came Qin Muxue’s soft, trembling voice from the phone.

“Can you hurry up, I’m a bit scared.”

“Alright, alright, if you don’t know the way, just stay in front of the supermarket and don’t wander off.”

Lin Beixiu hung up the phone, reluctantly put on his shoes, and hurried out the door.

Ten minutes later, Lin Beixiu jogged up to the supermarket and from a distance saw Qin Muxue sitting on a stone bench by the road.

“Qin Muxue.”

Hearing someone call her, she quickly turned around, and seeing it was Lin Beixiu, she stood up joyfully.

“Little Brother Bei.”

“What are you playing at?”

Lin Beixiu asked, exasperated, especially noticing a faint stench coming from her.

Behind her was a cardboard box.

Qin Muxue pulled him over to the box, excitedly saying, “Little Brother Bei, look at this.”

Lin Beixiu looked and saw a calico kitten, a few months old, dirty and mewling pitifully.

“I found it in a trash can. I saw something moving in the trash pile during work and couldn’t wait until the end of the shift to check it out, and I discovered this little guy.”

Lin Beixiu looked at the kitten, then back at her. “So, how did you get lost?”

“Um…”

Qin Muxue looked embarrassed, “I wanted to buy some milk or cat food. I checked all the stores over there and they had nothing. Now I only managed to buy two bottles of milk, so I came here looking for a pet store.”

“Are you a fool? What cat food for such a small kitten? Two bottles of pure milk would have been enough; why come so far?”

Before Lin Beixiu could say more, Qin Muxue hugged him.

“You’re scolding me.”

Lin Beixiu: …

Familiar sugar-coated bullets.

Remembering her trembling voice on the phone earlier, Lin Beixiu softened again.

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