The heavy rain poured down, water cascading down the car windows to form a curtain of water, obscuring the scenery with blurred patches, like blocks of color in a low-quality oil painting.

Thanks to the operation of the windshield wipers, the front windshield was somewhat clearer.

The vehicle passed by an abandoned toll station, and after a bumpy ride over speed bumps, the road ahead finally became smooth and open.

It might be Yu Guang’s imagination, but it seemed that after passing the abandoned toll station, the rainfall had weakened significantly.

The sound of rain changed from heavy to light, and by the time the car reached the city center, the rain had become extremely weak.

A strange phenomenon.

It seemed that under the same sky, a torrential rain had fallen centered around that deep forest inn, with the rainfall diminishing in concentric waves.

The flaming red sports car drove straight into the campus of Nan University, finally stopping at the male dormitory building.

In the drizzling gray rain, a splash of brilliance was hard to ignore. Through the car window, Yu Guang could see the curious glances from passing students towards their direction.

He pursed his lips, really not liking it, so he hesitatedly leaned towards the direction of the driver’s seat.

Since childhood, Yu Guang had a concept: gazes had weight, too many gazes piled up would be hard to bear.

But Gao Leilin obviously contradicted his worldview.

The man enjoyed being the center of attention. He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side to open the door for Yu Guang.

Cursing under his breath several times, Yu Guang still put on a fake smile and got out of the car.

The surrounding noisy murmurs were like the buzzing of mosquitoes, unclear, but the meowing mixed in with human voices instantly caught his attention.

Sometimes disgust had more power than fondness—like now.

Yu Guang quickly followed the sound of the meowing, locking onto the black cat hiding under a pile of bushes to escape the rain.

Most black cats looked the same, but Yu Guang’s subconscious sixth sense told him: this was the sinister one.

Compared to its originally haughty appearance, even scratching his ankle, the black cat now looked more likeable soaked in the rain, resembling a wet chicken.

A pitiful appearance at the mercy of others.

Yu Guang clicked his tongue and opened the black umbrella he brought back from the inn, first going back to his dorm to properly store the perfume, before running downstairs again.

“Where are you going?” Gao Leilin followed him out, grabbing his arm.

“There’s a cat downstairs in the rain… I want to…” Yu Guang mumbled shyly.

After half a second of silence, Gao Leilin let go of his hand awkwardly and said, “You guys are just overflowing with sympathy. I just don’t understand what’s so cute about cats and dogs.”

Although he said so, he still let him go downstairs, looking somewhat reluctant.

Yu Guang smiled inwardly at the sight of Gao Leilin’s apparent hypocrisy as he went downstairs.

The black cat was very agile, as if it had recognized him. Seeing him come downstairs again, it dashed over and rubbed its wet fur against his ankle.

The cold rainwater soaked through his socks, uncomfortably seeping into his shoes.

Not very comfortable.

Yu Guang’s already limited patience with furry animals was almost worn out by this action. He grabbed the cat by the nape of its neck.

The glossy black fur was soaked by the rain, slippery in his hand and almost slipping out. It no longer had that fluffy feeling.

Yu Guang’s disgust lessened a bit, but he still stared at the amber vertical pupils of the black cat, scolding, “Stupid cat, why are you so dumb?” This meant to say it didn’t know how to find a dry spot under the eaves.

In response, there was a coquettish meow, which sounded quite pleasant.

Just as Yu Guang was about to scold the cat and grab it, the damn cat took advantage of his momentary daze, leaped out of his arms, and ran away.

The black cat darted back into the bushes where Yu Guang had found it, its bright eyes peering straight at him through the mottled branches and leaves.

When Yu Guang looked at it, it agilely turned around and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Yu Guang lowered his head and glanced at the dirty plum-shaped paw prints on his thin shirt. They were soaked and blurred by the rain, like ink paintings on white paper.

Shaking his collar, Yu Guang frowned and stared in the direction where the black cat disappeared, feeling annoyed as he turned to walk towards the dormitory building.

Furry animals were always unlikely to win his favor, Yu Guang thought silently.

---

After almost a whole day of fussing around, Yu Guang was exhausted and went to bed early.

As he pulled the opaque bed curtain, the whole world turned dark.

He took out a handkerchief from under his pillow and sniffed lightly at the tip of his nose.

The woody scent had long since disappeared.

He originally wanted to spray some “Road to Hades” to make up for the loss, but when it came time to open the package, he hesitated.

In the end, he put the intact perfume bottle back into the small handbag and hung it on the hook beside the bed curtain, treasuring it.

The image of the man with the Sanskrit mask kept flashing in his mind, the long and well-defined hands when playing cards, and… that elusive woody scent.

Once the seed of doubt was planted, it would continue to grow and sprout without needing watering.

Was it really Ye Si?

But Ye Si didn’t have pierced ears, yet the one who had repeatedly knocked him out bore silver needle earrings.

Yu Guang couldn’t wait to confirm the answer. He almost wanted to squat under the building where Ye Si rented an apartment right now, just to see if the other party had added ear piercings.

The adrenaline rush brought about a sense of excitement that boiled the blood throughout his body, but the small amount of rationality he had froze it instantly like an Antarctic blizzard.

Yu Guang was like a dead branch experiencing life and death, lying straight on the bed, staring at the top of the blackout curtain.

“Thud, thud, thud—”

Someone knocked on the door of room 407, three rhythmic knocks.

Yu Guang was startled.

“Who is it?” Gao Leilin impatiently shouted at the door.

There was no answer. After a moment, the knocking turned into intermittent scratching—sharp and slender, like the sound of nails scraping against glass.

It gave people goosebumps.

Yu Guang lifted a corner of the blackout curtain and peeked out stealthily.

Gao Leilin cursed as he opened the door.

Outside the door was a familiar gold-stamped white box.

And next to the box was a puddle of water, with a series of plum-shaped footprints disappearing into the corridor…

Gao Leilin bent down to pick up the beige card from the box and read the messy handwriting aloud.

“To Yu Guang, I’m sorry for ruining your shirt last night. I hope you like the compensation in the box.”