Chapter 1: It’s Not Just a Suspicious Cat…

The asphalt road has been around for some years.

The surface is uneven, with potholes and ruts, the marks of countless vehicles that have driven over it year after year. In the grooves, remnants of water from the recent rain still linger.

Summer rains are always like this—swift and forceful.

The rain poured down in sheets, crazily hammering against the road, the umbrella tops, and the shadows of trees, falling relentlessly as if it cared little for the people beneath it.

But fortunately, it was only a brief downpour.

The nightlife in S City is relatively conservative.

The liveliest places at night are the entrances to the middle school and the small game rooms inside residential areas.

Before eleven, the shops around here close, their windows and doors securely locked with a loud clang. There are hardly any people in sight as you walk.

Under the dim yellow streetlights, insects swirl in the air. A few sparrows are perched on the utility poles, their chaotic chirping mixed with the occasional long, drawn-out screech of a cicada.

The only supermarket still open in the town also closed after eleven.

As the incandescent light went out, a tall figure appeared beneath the streetlamp.

On a rainy day, it’s inevitable that mud splashes on the cuffs of one’s pants.

The young man wore faded work clothes, his short black hair stiff and rough. His muscular frame was clearly defined, and faint blue veins bulged on his arms.

When he came out of the small supermarket, a large, calloused hand gripped a red plastic bag, which contained peanuts, instant noodles, a bottle of beer, and a tin of cat food.

The beer, upon contact with the warm air, formed beads of water on the dark green glass bottle.

Sheng Sui reached out to touch the droplets, wanting to feel the coolness, but unexpectedly, a “plop” sound was heard as raindrops from the eaves fell squarely on his forehead. The water humorously slid from his forehead to the tip of his nose just as his phone rang.

His palm had a thin callus, a mark left from construction labor over the past six months.

The ringtone of his phone suddenly cut through the night.

Guessing that the call might be important, Sheng Sui pulled out his phone from his pocket as he walked, answering it with a clear and cold voice: “Hello, Uncle Zhang?”

“Xiao Sheng, are you not home yet?”

It seemed like there was some movement on the other end of the line. After some small talk, Uncle Zhang got to the point. “It’s not a big deal, I just wanted to ask again—are you really not going back there to work?”

He unknowingly stepped on a twig that snapped underfoot, and wiped the rain off his nose.

“Mm.” He paused, letting out a sigh. “I still want to go back and finish my studies.”

“Studying, studying is good!” The middle-aged man said with a sigh, “If your parents knew you could pull yourself together, they would be so happy. What a pity. They were such good people, who would have thought something like that would happen to them…”

It was a slip of the tongue, and realizing he had said something he shouldn’t, he immediately corrected himself. “Forget I said that.”

“Ding dong,” came the sound of a notification, followed by a transfer message.

The voice on the other end of the line, distorted slightly through the receiver, continued: “You still have school ahead of you, and there will be plenty of places where you’ll need to spend money. I can’t give you much, but it’s a little gesture from me. Take it, live well, and I can rest easier knowing I haven’t wasted all these years of friendship with your dad.”

“I can’t accept this money.”

Sheng Sui immediately refunded the transfer, making it clear he refused to take the money. “Uncle Zhang, I appreciate your kindness, but I’ve saved up a bit of money recently, so living won’t be a problem for now.”

“Sigh, you’re so stubborn!” Just like your dad.

Unable to push him any further, Uncle Zhang decided to approach it differently. “Actually, there’s something else I wanted to talk to you about…”

“Remember when I asked you to help out with something at the city government a while back? One of my friends thought you were pretty efficient and asked about you. Turns out he needs a student with your specialization and wondered if you’d be interested in working for him.”

“It’s a pretty big company, not many rigid rules, and they accept interns and part-time workers. Anyway, the focus is on work efficiency. It’s a good opportunity, you should give it a try.”

“I’ve passed along his contact information. If you’re interested, you can contact him anytime.”

“Or, if you really don’t want to, just think of it as doing me a favor.”

With the offer clearly laid out, Sheng Sui didn’t refuse this time. He just nodded and said, “Thank you, Uncle Zhang. I’ll think it over.”

The phone screen dimmed, and all that was left on the narrow path was the shadow of the streetlights.

He stepped over a puddle.

Just before the screen turned off, he noticed the business card that Uncle Zhang had pushed to him—it was from Zhao, the CEO of Tengxing Technology.

Tengxing Technology, a local leading enterprise, a big tech company.

A company that many people would scramble to get into, but few ever did.

Nothing in the world comes without effort.

Uncle Zhang was an old friend of his dad, and Zhao was an old friend of Uncle Zhang’s.

They all knew each other.

He understood that they meant well, hoping he wouldn’t stay lost in the past and would move on from his negative emotions. He knew all of this. Although he didn’t feel pity, the debt of gratitude always left him feeling burdened.

The sky darkened again.

A layer of dark clouds gathered, making the already pitch-black night even more oppressive.

If he kept walking down this road, after the next turn, he would reach where he lived.

Sheng Sui was currently living in the old tenement building ahead.

The walls were covered in moss, and the peeling paint was patchy. The environment inside the tenement building was far from ideal, with poor soundproofing and a lack of privacy. Sometimes, through the thin windows, you could hear the arguments of neighbors clearly.

The reason he lived here was simply because the rent was cheap.

He usually worked long hours, leaving early and coming home late. His place was bare, with nothing of value, so living alone didn’t feel like much of an issue.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, its booming sound drowning out the occasional noise that came from the tenement building.

The evening breeze blew through, and the yellowed flyers on the wall fluttered as if about to fall.

It was clear that it was about to rain, but the young man didn’t head straight for the shelter of his home. Instead, he took a detour around some abandoned facilities and entered a narrow alley with a canopy overhead.

He had long legs, his back muscles were taut, and he exuded a certain grace. Even though his clothes were worn, they didn’t seem out of place.

He leaned against the wall, a band-aid on his brow, head lowered as he fished a can of cat food from the red plastic bag and opened it.

Attracted by the scent, a small yellow and white kitten quickly came over.

The cat wasn’t very big, and had disappeared for a while before reappearing. As it ate, it seemed to bury its whole body in the can, licking the precious food while its tail gently brushed against the man’s wrist, occasionally nudging him.

It took time for the cat to go from resisting, to cautiously approaching, to now accepting the man’s presence.

But Sheng Sui was the kind of person who could be patient. He had carefully nurtured the kitten, feeding it from the size of his palm to the length of his forearm.

There were many stray cats in the alley.

Throughout the changing seasons, waves of stray cats appeared and disappeared. No one knew where they went.

Many people were homeless, struggling just to survive, let alone care for others.

The young man’s jawline was distinct, and his profile clear.

He looked up at the sky, lost in thought. Survival of the fittest—perhaps it was best to let things take their course and not intervene, but he crouched down, gently stroking the kitten’s damp fur. In the end, he softened.

His voice sounded especially lonely in the night.

“I won’t be here for long. What will you do then?” His long fingers gently rubbed the kitten’s head. He knew it probably couldn’t understand his words, but he still asked, “Do you want to come with me?”

His words gradually disappeared into the night, carried away by the evening breeze.

There was a faint rustling sound from deep in the alley, and Sheng Sui glanced over in that direction before shifting his gaze away. His attention was fully on the kitten, not noticing what the sound was.

“Meow, meow…” The kitten suddenly let out a cry.

It stopped eating the food in front of it, and no longer allowed the man to touch it. Instead, it crawled a few steps forward, eventually lying down in a dry spot, motionless.

The cat had its own way of communicating, and this was clearly a rejection.

“Alright, take care then.” The young man didn’t push it or insist. He scratched the kitten’s head gently, giving it space, and whispered, “Maybe we’ll meet again sometime.”

The rain in August came suddenly.

The night sky was filled with threads of rain, and distant thunder rumbled. The rain seemed to fall from the sky without anyone noticing when it began.

The canopy could block the raindrops, but it couldn’t stop the splashes that hit his body.

When the large raindrops began to fall, the man didn’t leave. He waited until the cool night rain soaked him through, the clothes sticking to his skin, before he lowered his gaze, picked up the things on the ground, and turned to walk into the pouring rain.

The old buildings looked like scenes from an old movie.

The narrow alleyway and the dampness seemed to complement each other.

One step, two steps.

His shoes splashed droplets of water, creating transparent arcs, as the rain pelted his body.

“Meow,” came a sound, and the cat followed, running off.

In the dark, the man’s senses were particularly sharp.

He casually glanced in the direction the kitten had gone, his eyelids fluttering twice. The fleeting glance unsettled him, and a feeling of unease spread through his chest. The unknown lurking deep in the alley made him feel a sudden sense of panic.

The feeling grew stronger with time, as if something was about to quietly descend.

Summer rain, distant thunder, noise, the sound of the wind…

The sounds swirled around him, almost as if they were going to drag him into a vortex.

But amid the rain, a voice suddenly broke through, and even in the midst of such chaotic surroundings, the young man distinctly heard a woman’s voice, calling his name from behind—

“Sheng Sui!”

His pupils trembled, and his mind roared.

The surrounding sounds seemed to vanish in an instant.

It wasn’t that he suspected the cat had turned into a human.

It was because that voice was far too familiar.

The emotions that the rainy night couldn’t contain echoed in the alley, silently spreading, knocking on his heart.

It had been a long time since his emotions had fluctuated so greatly. His slowly beating heart was tightly gripped, as if thunder and lightning had struck, finally hitting his heart directly, leaving him numb and frozen in place.

The rain grew heavier.

The hand holding the things clenched tightly, already gripping them silently, the palm sweaty, and the softest part of his heart began to collapse. Sheng Sui forced himself not to look back, but he couldn’t be as resolute as he had imagined.

He heard the girl chasing after him, the “tap tap” of her footsteps following closely behind. Her familiar, clear voice wasn’t drowned out by the rain, but instead easily reached him, her tone as determined as ever.

His senses slowly returned, and his heart turned once, then settled back into place.

He thought he had calmed down enough, but just one sentence from her was enough to stir such a big wave in his heart.

“Weren’t you going to take care of me for life?”

She said, “Are you going to ignore me now?”

In his mind, a battle between reason and emotion raged. He knew that leaving now was the best solution.

But her fair face with a bit of dirt on it, her slender chin tilted upward, and hearing Fang Fuyi’s voice echoing in his ears created a sense of unrealistic illusion. Sheng Sui couldn’t move his feet, no matter how hard he tried.

The rain was still falling.

This rain felt particularly different. It was torrential, and no one knew when it would stop.

Today’s summer seemed unusually long. Even in mid-August, it was still the height of summer. The rain quickly extinguished the heat, but it wouldn’t be long before the muggy air reclaimed its dominance, seeming as though it was going to make a comeback.