After moving the things off the cardboard box, Lu Yao opened it and looked down. A short-haired American kitten with beautiful black fishbone markings was curled up in a corner of the box.
The bottom of the box had been soaked through by the rain, and the little kitten was meowing miserably under its breath.
Lin Gejie poked his head over for a look. "Yao, it's a kitten. It looks like it's only two or three months old."
Lin Gejie's grandmother kept cats, so he knew a little about them.
Perhaps startled by the humans appearing before it, the kitten suddenly fell quiet. It stared blankly at Lu Yao with huge, round, dark-blue eyes.
After the cold-faced boy met its gaze for a while, he seemed to admit defeat and looked away first.
Lu Yao looked around, found a clean cardboard box in the corner of the alley that hadn't gotten wet, then carefully lifted the kitten out and placed it inside.
The moment Lu Yao pulled back his hand, the kitten timidly stuck out its tongue and licked his pale wrist.
The corner of Lu Yao's lips curved despite himself, and he gently stroked its head.
After placing the box somewhere the rain could not reach, he stood up and prepared to leave with Lin Gejie.
Lu Yao had barely taken two steps when the kitten suddenly began meowing urgently.
He frowned, then turned around and returned to the box uneasily.
When it saw Lu Yao again, the kitten gave a happy meow and even rolled around in the box. Looking utterly adorable, it seemed to be acting cute with him.
Seeing that it was fine, Lu Yao turned and left again. The kitten started meowing once more as soon as he walked away, seemingly calling for him to come back.
This time, Lu Yao hardened his heart and pretended not to hear it, never slowing his departing steps.
Lin Gejie was amused by the interaction between the boy and the cat.
He had known Lu Yao for over a year, yet this was the first time he had seen such a soft side of him. It was completely at odds with the icy impression Lu Yao usually gave people.
Lin Gejie smiled. "This kitten is pretty cute. If my mom weren't allergic to cat fur, I'd take it home and raise it. But it's been raining these past few days. Stray kittens like this seem pretty likely to catch a cold and die after getting soaked."
Lu Yao had nearly walked out of the alley when he heard Lin Gejie's last sentence. He pressed his thin lips together, then suddenly turned back, picked up the box, and returned.
When the kitten saw Lu Yao come back, it began rolling around in the box again, seemingly frolicking with delight. Even its meows sounded several degrees happier.
Lin Gejie, however, looked somewhat disapproving when he saw Lu Yao holding the box. "Yao, are you going to raise it?"
Lu Yao nodded slightly.
Lin Gejie knew that once Lu Yao made up his mind, it was difficult to change it, so he said nothing more.
The rain was growing heavier, with no telling when it would stop, and the sky had already darkened. The two planned to brave the rain to a nearby convenience store to buy an umbrella before heading straight home.
Watching the rain intensify outside, Lu Yao furrowed his brow. The eaves on both sides of the alley blocked most of the rain, but once they left the alley, they would inevitably be soaked through.
Lu Yao suddenly said to Lin Gejie, "Didn't you bring a sun-protection jacket today? Let me borrow it. I'll give you a new one on Monday."
"Yao, just use it. You don't need to give me a new one."
After taking the jacket from his bag and handing it to Lu Yao, Lin Gejie had yet to ask what he wanted it for when he saw Lu Yao cover the cardboard box with it. The kitten inside was shielded tightly, without a single drop of rain getting through.
Well then. These days, cats were more precious than people.
"Ding-dong, welcome."
The convenience store's automatic doors chimed with a customer arrival alert as someone entered.
Shen Feifei was a looks-obsessed fangirl. She had recently started following a newly debuted boy group. To save up enough for a plane ticket to attend their fan meeting, she had found a part-time job at a convenience store.
Because of the rain, business at the convenience store was slow. Shen Feifei had been dozing behind the register when she heard the automatic alert and looked toward the entrance.
The instant she saw Lu Yao walk in, her heart seemed to go blank.
He was practically a cold and beautiful young man who had stepped straight out of a comic!
At that moment, Shen Feifei suddenly felt that the idols she had been following were no longer appealing. She wanted to switch sides.
Afraid of getting the store wet, the boy with the cool, aloof aura stood by the entrance. He held the cardboard box in one hand while casually shaking the rainwater from his wet hair with the other.
It was clearly an ordinary, casual movement, yet it made Shen Feifei's heart race so hard that her hands and feet curled up. Even being drenched by the rain could not diminish the sheer destructive power of his looks.
Shen Feifei's entire attention was fixed on Lu Yao at the entrance.
A droplet suddenly fell from the boy's damp bangs, sliding past his sharp brow bone and down the bridge of his high nose.
Just as Shen Feifei secretly anticipated the raindrop continuing down his exquisite face to his thin lips, the boy pursed his lips and casually raised a hand to wipe it away.
Lin Gejie nudged Lu Yao with his elbow. "Yao, why does that clerk keep staring at us?"
Hearing that, Lu Yao casually looked toward the register and met Shen Feifei's gaze.
He gave Shen Feifei a detached nod in greeting, then replied, "No idea. Hurry up and buy the umbrella so we can leave."
With that, Lu Yao headed directly toward the umbrella rack.
When Shen Feifei saw that Lu Yao had actually looked at her and nodded in greeting, heat immediately rushed to her face. Her ears reddened and burned as well.
As Lu Yao turned around after taking an umbrella, he happened to spot several cans of pet goat milk powder on the shelf opposite him.
Thinking of the kitten in the cardboard box, Lu Yao walked over to take a look.
When he saw the price beneath the can, he could not help frowning, but he still reached out and took a can of pet goat milk powder.
Lin Gejie also knew that Lu Yao earned his own tuition and living expenses. After seeing the price tag, he casually said, "Yao, I remember my grandmother has some extra goat milk powder. How about I go to her place tomorrow and get a can to feed this little ancestor? Let's not buy this one today."
Lin Gejie planned to wait until Lu Yao left before secretly paying for the goat milk powder himself.
Lu Yao glanced at Lin Gejie's expression and knew exactly what he was planning. His expression remained detached, but his voice was gentle as he said, "No need. Let's go pay."
Seeing Lu Yao walk toward her with the items, Shen Feifei felt as though her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She secretly took a deep breath and tried hard to suppress her wildly fluttering girlish heart.
Yet when Lu Yao actually stood before her, Shen Feifei became too shy to look up at him.
An excited heart, trembling hands.
As Shen Feifei held the scanner and scanned the product barcodes, she felt her hands trembling slightly with excitement.
At that moment, the kitten in the cardboard box suddenly began meowing for some reason.
Lu Yao thought it was feeling stuffy, so he opened the box to let it breathe, but it continued meowing nonstop.
Shen Feifei noticed the pet goat milk powder among their purchases, then looked at the cardboard box. In a gentle voice, she softly said, "Could it be hungry?"
Lin Gejie suddenly slapped his forehead in realization. "Yao, it might really be hungry. But no matter how hungry it is, it'll have to wait until we get home. Where are we supposed to find warm water to make milk for this little ancestor?"
Lu Yao nodded. After scanning the code and paying, he was about to leave when Shen Feifei suddenly gathered her courage and called out to them. "I have warm water and disposable paper cups that you can borrow. Why don't you feed the kitten first before going home?"
Worried that Lu Yao would refuse her, Shen Feifei added, "Don't let the kitten go hungry."
As if it understood Shen Feifei's words, the kitten in the box meowed even more enthusiastically.
Lu Yao looked at Shen Feifei. His voice was cool, yet utterly sincere. "Sorry for the trouble."
Watching the kitten lap at the milk with its tongue, its little face seemingly filled with blissful satisfaction, Lu Yao could not help smiling as he tapped its tiny head. What a little troublemaker.
The sudden gentle indulgence on the cold-faced boy's expression made Shen Feifei scream inwardly from how adorable he was.
Once the kitten had eaten and drunk its fill, Lu Yao thanked Shen Feifei again and prepared to leave the convenience store.
Shen Feifei clenched her palms. Her voice was nervous, but her eyes held expectation as she asked Lu Yao, "May I have your WeChat?"
Lin Gejie immediately looked at Lu Yao teasingly. Sure enough, his Yao's charm was as lethal as ever.
Lu Yao spoke with a hint of apology. "Sorry."
Realizing that she seemed to have put Lu Yao in an awkward position, Shen Feifei hurriedly waved her hands. "It's okay, it's okay. It's fine if you can't."
After the two had walked some distance away from the convenience store, Lin Gejie was still laughing as he teased Lu Yao about his unbelievably good luck in romance.
Lin Gejie said with a grin, "Yao, that girl was pretty cute. I think she's even prettier than the beauty of our grade. It was just giving her your WeChat so you could chat. Even if you don't like her, you could still be friends."
Lu Yao's voice was cool. "If you don't intend to give someone a chance, don't waste their time."
After walking under the umbrella for a while, the rain gradually stopped.
Huang Li had cut Lu Yao's face with a small knife earlier. He had forgotten to buy a bandage at the convenience store, and only now did the wound begin to sting belatedly.
Just as Lu Yao was feeling the sting on his face, a little boy suddenly ran toward them.
Lin Gejie looked baffled at the little boy blocking their path and asked, "Kid, what are you doing? We're in a hurry to get home. We don't have time to play with you."
Hearing Lin Gejie's words, the little boy in overalls gave a disdainful snort. "I'm not looking for you. I'm looking for this handsome brother."
As he spoke, he took a box of bandages from his little backpack and stuffed it into Lu Yao's hand. "Someone asked me to give this to you. They said you should put one on your face and remember to protect yourself. Don't get hurt again."
After saying that, the little boy skipped away. Hehe, all he had done was run an errand, and he got a big chocolate bar. He was so lucky.
Lin Gejie could not help giving Lu Yao a thumbs-up. "My Yao is seriously amazing. If I had even half your romantic luck, I'd wake up laughing from my dreams."
Holding the bandages, Lu Yao swept his gaze around in confusion but did not spot anyone.
Lu Yao never accepted gifts from admirers. Seeing that he was merely holding the box without any intention of using it, Lin Gejie took it directly from him, tore open a bandage, and firmly handed it to Lu Yao.
Since it had already been opened, Lu Yao could only casually stick the bandage over the wound on his face.
A black sedan with an understated exterior but a luxurious interior was parked by the roadside.
The person seated in the back saw the bandage on the boy's face. The person's eyes, cold just moments ago, now could not hide their amusement, and the corners of their lips lifted.