The Clever Little Cat

Li Ye's face darkened as he read the letter. Wen Leyu, who sat beside him, kept glancing his way as if by accident.

But given Wen Leyu's good upbringing, she never actually peeked at what was written on the paper.

Still, the sight of Li Ye suppressing a bellyful of fury as he scribbled furiously on the back of the letter made Wen Leyu terribly curious.

What exactly had Lu Jingyao written to Li Ye to make this kind-hearted boy so angry?

In the end, the little spy could no longer hold herself back. Quietly, slowly, she stretched out her neck and leaned closer, like a little cat creeping forward under cover to catch a mouse.

But Li Ye had already finished writing and folded up the letter. When he turned around, he came face-to-face with Wen Leyu.

Wen Leyu froze for a moment, then with a whoosh pulled her neck back. She sat ramrod straight and rapidly scribbled away with the fountain pen in her hand, looking every bit like a good child who studied hard and made progress every day.

This pretty little girl was interesting.

More than half of Li Ye's unhappiness vanished in an instant.

He propped his cheek on one hand, his elbow resting on the desk, and turned his head to watch Wen Leyu write with such concentration. His gaze was clear and gentle, as though he were admiring a beautiful, vivid painting.

Wen Leyu seemed not to notice. Her pen did not stop moving, but a faint blush gradually appeared on her cheeks, lending a burst of life to her overly pale skin.

"What are you writing?"

Li Ye did not keep staring. The girl was already embarrassed; changing the subject to ease the awkwardness was the considerate way to communicate.

Sure enough, Wen Leyu breathed a sigh of relief. She pushed her large scratch-work notebook toward Li Ye, then wrote a passage on a slip of paper.

"I came up with some questions for you to do. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me."

Li Ye took Wen Leyu's large practice notebook and looked at several pages packed densely with English questions. "Why do you want me to do these? Was it Teacher Ke's idea?"

Wen Leyu paused, quickly took back the note, and was about to write Li Ye another message.

But Li Ye could not help lowering his voice. "Your handwriting really is beautiful, but can't you just talk to me?"

Wen Leyu froze again. This time, she stayed still for several seconds before finally saying quietly, "Aren't you planning to get into Tsinghua-Peking Universities in Beijing? I think I can help you."

Wen Leyu's voice was actually very pleasant, but who knew what she had gone through over the years to become "Little Mute."

And when she mentioned Li Ye "getting into Beijing," she had clearly corrected herself in a hurry. She had probably originally meant getting into Beijing to find Lu Jingyao.

Li Ye smiled to himself and nodded. "Thank you. I'll accept your help, but you have to accept mine too."

Wen Leyu blinked. "What kind of help?"

Li Ye took out his own notebook and began writing math problems in it.

"I'll give you a test paper too. If there's anything you can't do, you can ask me."

Curious, Wen Leyu unconsciously stretched out her swan-like neck again and watched Li Ye's fountain pen swiftly write one question after another.

At first, she was very confident, because she could solve every question Li Ye wrote at a glance.

But when Li Ye reached the third sheet of paper, she began to take it seriously.

Because she had never seen these types of problems before.

"Can you solve all these problems?"

"Of course!"

"Then how many points did you get in math on this year's college entrance exam?"

"..."

Li Ye stopped writing. Looking at Wen Leyu's curious face, he said helplessly, "Can we not ask questions like that?"

Wen Leyu first looked at Li Ye blankly, then her eyes rippled, and she nodded heavily.

For a moment, Li Ye seemed to see the cat he had raised in his previous life again.

Clumsy, adorable, yet actually... devilishly smart.

"Jingyao, you're so clever! Qian Shun only gave you a few pointers that day, and your poem really got published?"

"That's right! Junior Jingyao's talent is the finest I've ever seen. From now on, our Green Bud Literary Society will have to rely on you, Junior, to carry it forward and make it flourish."

Inside an activity room at Beijing Foreign Studies University, Lu Jingyao was surrounded by a group of older male students. Her face was flushed red with both embarrassment and discomfort.

Back in Qingshui County, she had enjoyed discussing poetry and literature with Xia Yue and the others. So when she chose a club at university, she naturally joined this literary society called Green Bud.

After getting familiar with everyone over several months, Lu Jingyao gathered her courage and submitted work to the Foreign Studies University's campus journal. To her surprise, it was actually published.

Then came the embarrassing scene: several senior club members showered her with compliments as though praise cost nothing.

The looks in some of their eyes especially seemed as though they wanted to swallow her whole, and their excessively fervent attitude made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Ahem. Junior Jingyao's work was published today, which is a major event for our Green Bud Literary Society. So I suggest we all go out for a meal. What do you say?"

"Sounds good!"

"As we should!"

"Let's go, let's go! On such a fine night with good wine, we won't go home until we're drunk!"

The club members excitedly headed out for dinner, finally allowing Lu Jingyao to escape the awkward predicament of being stuffed sick with flattery.

But then she began to worry again.

Eating out cost money. The last time Green Bud Literary Society had gone out for a meal, everyone had paid more than two yuan apiece. That was over a tenth of her monthly student subsidy.

Because she had to save money to send home, Lu Jingyao had survived on steamed buns and pickles for a whole week after that meal.

Although her poem being published in the campus journal today had earned her five yuan and fifty cents in manuscript fees, Lu Jingyao had planned to make it up to ten yuan and send it home to help with household expenses. If they ate out again, she would not be able to scrape together ten yuan.

"Hurry up, Jingyao. What are you thinking about?"

He Xue, her fellow member in the literary society, hooked an arm through Lu Jingyao's and dragged her along to catch up with the others.

Only then did Lu Jingyao snap back to herself. "Oh, nothing. Let's go."

As they walked, He Xue said excitedly, "It's not often that someone treats us today. I'm going to feast properly—braised pork, braised pork knuckle, sweet-and-sour fish..."

Lu Jingyao felt a weight lift from her heart, and even her steps became lighter. "Really? Who's treating us today?"

He Xue turned to look at Lu Jingyao strangely. "Of course you are! Don't tell me that now you've earned manuscript fees, you're going to pretend you don't know us? It's our literary society's tradition—whoever earns manuscript fees treats everyone!"

Lu Jingyao's steps sank, as though her legs had suddenly been filled with lead.

I'm treating them? I'm the one treating them? When did I ever say I was going to treat anyone? The literary society's tradition... what does that have to do with me?

Braised pork, braised pork knuckle, sweet-and-sour fish—each dish cost at least forty or fifty cents, and as much as eighty or ninety cents. With the appetite of this bunch from the literary society, one person polishing off three dishes was as easy as pie.

And that was not even counting the alcohol. These people drank like their lives depended on it. A cheap bottle of baijiu cost thirty or forty cents, while expensive ones cost several yuan. If they were not going home until drunk, how many bottles would they drink?

Beer was even more of a black hole—twenty cents a bottle, and several bottles barely did anything...

In less than a second, Lu Jingyao calculated that today's meal would cost at least nearly thirty yuan, and she would have to throw in all the grain coupons the school had issued over several months as well.

She regretted it. She regretted joining this Green Bud club, and she regretted publishing poetry in the campus journal.

Thirty yuan! Her monthly subsidy was only twenty-two yuan and fifty cents, and every month she had to pinch and scrape some of it to send home, so her younger brother could redeem that bicycle.

The Lu Jingyao of today could not come up with thirty yuan. She could not even come up with twenty.

"Hey, Jingyao, what's wrong? Why do you look so terrible? Don't tell me you're reluctant to spend the money?"

"Huh? No, no. The wind just made me a little cold."

Lu Jingyao lowered her head, pressed her lips tightly together, and dragged her feet forward, her heart a tangled mess.

She wanted not to go, but she was afraid people would laugh at her.

Yet if she went, where would she find the money to pay the bill?

Lu Jingyao felt as though she had suddenly returned to more than a year ago.

The leaks in her family's house had grown worse and worse, and Mom's coughing had become more and more severe, yet the family could not spare even a single extra yuan.

Then a boy had burst into her life, punched a hole through the overcast sky, and let brilliant sunlight pour down.

And today, where was her sunlight?