This question stumped Yuanyuan.

She wanted to transform into a kitty, but since arriving in this world, she simply couldn’t do it anymore.

Dahua seemed to doubt her.

The little cub gazed forlornly at the pile of “delicacies” on the ground and let out a soft sigh.

Yu Yingze found it hard to believe.

Sighing? Sighing over what?

Are you seriously sighing about not having food?

Did the Yu family not feed her enough that she’d go after the cat food too? That’s… a bit too much.

After resting for a while, Dahua lifted its round body off the ground. “But it seems like you’re the only one who can understand me, and I can only understand you. So for now, I’ll believe you.”

By 7:30, the sky was growing dark quickly, and the surroundings were soon cloaked in shadow.

One by one, the kids left to head home, but Yuanyuan lingered, unwilling to part with Dahua.

“Dahua, we’re going home now. Will you come back here tomorrow?” she asked earnestly, her hand resting on her knee as she looked at the cat with wide, hopeful eyes.

Dahua lazily swished its tail and replied in a tired voice, “Not sure.”

“I’ll bring you some dried fish!”

At the mention of food, the cat’s sleepy eyes snapped open, and it meowed decisively, “Deal.”

On the way home, Yu Yingze’s curiosity got the better of him. Despite trying to hold it back, he couldn’t resist asking about what had just happened.

“Yuanyuan, can you really understand what that cat is saying?”

The little cub, honest as ever, nodded her small head, “Yep.”

“Really? What did he say to you?”

“He said lots of things! We even made plans to meet tomorrow, and I promised to bring him dried fish.”

Yu Yingze frowned, unsure what to make of it. He glanced back at the bushes where the cat had disappeared.

As soon as they got home, Yuanyuan rushed to find Aunt Chen, eager to learn how to make dried fish.

Her mouth watered just thinking about it, and her words became muffled as she spoke, making it hard for Aunt Chen to understand her excitement.

In the end, Yu Yingze had to step in to explain.

“Stray cats aren’t very clean. They roam around all sorts of dirty places,” Aunt Chen said, crouching down to inspect Yuanyuan’s clothes and skin. “Miss Yuanyuan, it’s better not to play with stray cats.”

“But I already promised,” Yuanyuan mumbled, twisting her fingers and lowering her head in sadness. “I told him I’d bring him dried fish.”

Yuanyuan was the apple of everyone’s eye in the Yu household. Not just Yu Yingze and the other family members— even the servants adored her.

Aunt Chen’s heart softened instantly at the sight of her sad face.

“Alright then, Aunt Chen will buy some dried fish tomorrow. But you have to promise me not to touch the cat too much. If it’s dirty, you might get sick.”

Yuanyuan, eager to keep her promise to Dahua, nodded eagerly, agreeing to everything, whether she fully understood it or not.

Everyone in the household knew Yuanyuan was an obedient child. If she nodded, they trusted she would follow through.

That night, even during her bath, Yuanyuan was so happy about meeting a new friend that she hummed throughout her soak. Though completely off-key, the bathroom echoed with her tuneless “meow-meow-meows” for quite some time.

The next morning, Yuanyuan was roused from sleep by the early morning sun streaming through the window.

Rubbing her eyes, she groggily sat up, only to notice a dark figure sitting at the window.

What kind of monster is that?!

Her eyes flew open, and she saw Dahua perched on the windowsill, holding a flower in its mouth, looking smug as it squeezed itself into the window frame.