A catnap, or no catnap—this was a Schrödinger problem.
Calling it a catnap was certainly not wrong. From three in the afternoon until six, Zheng Qing changed positions four or five times atop his "throne," going from a majestic leopard sprawl to a lazy dog sprawl, then giving up entirely and lying on his side with half his belly exposed, before finally curling himself into a ball. His posture changed again and again, yet he never saw the mysterious sender.
But saying it had not been a catnap did not seem wrong either. On this first audience day of the new semester, the cat group followed its usual customs and presented new tribute to him, their Cat King.
There was not much tribute, but it came in all sorts of forms, with wildly differing values.
For instance, that Ragdoll Cat had somehow found him another emerald. Though it was only the size of a fingernail, it was quite valuable, and the black cat's eyes lit up at the sight of it—the reason for "another" was that Zheng Qing vaguely remembered that the previous Cat's Eye Gemstone had also been offered by this Ragdoll Cat. It made him deeply suspect that the Ragdoll Cat's owner was some rich kid from Alpha Academy.
Then there was the Forest Cat, which now had an extra scar on its face. Its offering to Zheng Qing was a Ran Yi fish, bitten so badly that it was a bloody mess. This was a fish with a snake's head and a fish's body, six legs, and eyes like horse ears. It was said that eating one could improve eyesight and ward off evil. Of course, those effects were like students throwing cigarette ash over their left shoulders before entering Hundred Herbs Garden—just old legends, unsupported by