A little after seven in the morning, as Yunqi No. 1 High School began its morning exercises, Li Wanyin woke up.
Perhaps it was because Chen Shi'an had told her last night that she had the look of someone destined for wealth and prosperity. For once, she had enjoyed a lovely dream and woke feeling refreshed and full of energy.
Li Wanyin knew that kind words were just kind words, and sweet dreams were just sweet dreams. She understood her current reality better than anyone.
"I still have to work hard for my own future!"
Looking at herself in the mirror over her dressing table, Li Wanyin murmured a few words of encouragement.
Only after opening her bedroom door did she hear the television in the living room.
Li Wanyin was a little puzzled. It was past seven already. Had Shi'an still not left for school?
When she came out to look, she discovered that it was the black cat, lounging on the sofa and watching television all on its own.
"Shi Mo, you're the one watching TV?"
"Meow."
"All right, enjoy yourself... huh?"
Only then did Li Wanyin realize something. A cat was watching television by itself first thing in the morning. Was that normal?!
Had Shi'an turned the TV on for the cat and forgotten to switch it off?
Surely the cat couldn't have turned it on itself!
"Shi Mo, did you turn the TV on...?"
"..."
The black cat rolled its eyes at her. I'm a cat. Do you expect me to answer you? City people are so weird. Why do they keep asking cats questions, answering themselves, and talking to themselves?
Fascinated, Li Wanyin picked up the remote beside the cat and pressed a button, switching off the television.
The black cat turned to look at her. It was only a cat, yet she could almost make out a puzzled expression on its face.
She had barely set the remote down before the black cat planted a paw on it, pressing squarely on the power button and turning the television back on.
"Shi Mo! You really did turn it on yourself!"
"..."
"That's amazing! You actually know how to turn on the TV!"
Li Wanyin was stunned. She had only taught Shi Mo how to turn on the television out of boredom last night, but the cat had actually learned!
Ultimately, it was just a very simple command. Still, learning it so quickly and turning on the television to watch by itself had truly astonished Li Wanyin.
"Shi Mo, you're so clever! You can use the toilet by yourself, and now you can turn on the TV...! Can you understand what's on it...?"
"..."
"Well, even if you can't, that's fine. I'd get bored staying home alone too."
"..."
Excited, Li Wanyin took out her phone, snapped a picture of the cat watching television on the sofa, and sent it to Chen Shi'an on WeChat.
Little Echo: [Photo]
Little Echo: [This is amazing! Shi Mo can turn on the TV and watch it all by itself!]
Chen Shi'an was at school now. Given his phone habits, he probably wouldn't see the message until after school.
Li Wanyin didn't mind. She just wanted to share this little discovery with him, especially since it was his cat.
After graduating and entering the working world, she had fewer and fewer friends with whom she could share little discoveries. People's joys and sorrows weren't shared by everyone; Li Wanyin had come to understand that more and more.
Just as she was about to put away her phone and wash up, Chen Shi'an unexpectedly replied.
Chen Shi'an: [Did the TV wake you up, Wanyin? I'll give that cat a smack when I get home.]
Little Echo: [No, no, Shi Mo's been very good. You're on your phone?]
Chen Shi'an: [I turned on vibration alerts last night. I got your message just after morning exercises. Don't you start work at ten, Wanyin? You're up early.]
Little Echo: [I've got an interview at nine, then I'll head to my part-time job afterward. Pay attention in class. I won't bother you.]
Chen Shi'an: [Good luck, Wanyin.]
Little Echo: [Mm-hmm! You too!]
The sun shone brightly that day, and Li Wanyin was in a wonderful mood.
She set her phone down to charge, quickly washed up, then went to the kitchen and made a simple bowl of noodles with egg.
The black cat watching television on the sofa caught the scent and came scampering over.
"Meow."
"Shi Mo, you want some too? Didn't Shi'an feed you?"
"Meow..."
"All right, all right. I'll give you all the egg."
"..."
The black cat had only meant to cadge a little food. Instead, Li Wanyin gave it most of the egg from her bowl, picking it out and putting it in its cat bowl.
Now Shi Mo felt almost too embarrassed to eat. The cat sat down with its tail curled around itself, looked at the egg in the bowl, then looked up at her as she hurriedly slurped her noodles.
"Hmm? What's wrong? Don't you like eggs, Shi Mo?"
"..."
The black cat stretched out a paw, touched the edge of the bowl, and pushed it toward her before looking up at her again.
"Hmm? You want me to eat it?"
Li Wanyin's family had kept a cat when she was little. Sometimes, after catching a big rat, the cat would set it at her feet like this and offer it to her. Of course, she had never eaten one...
"Meow."
Seeing that she hadn't responded, the black cat stretched out a paw and nudged the bowl again.
Li Wanyin chuckled and instinctively reached out to stroke its head.
Only afterward did she realize that this seemed to be the first time she had managed to pet Shi Mo! This time, the cat hadn't dodged!
"Go ahead and eat, Shi Mo. Once I make lots of money, I'll buy you tasty treats every day."
"..."
Hearing that, the black cat finally stopped standing on ceremony. It opened its mouth and polished off the egg in a few bites.
Li Wanyin had gotten hooked on petting the cat and tried to reach for it again, but this time Shi Mo wasn't having it. The cat darted back to the sofa and resumed watching television.
It was nearly time to leave. Li Wanyin cleaned up the bowl and utensils, picked up her backpack, and checked how many copies of her résumé were left inside.
"I'm heading out! I'll bring you some dried fish tonight. Bye-bye."
"..."
The black cat on the sofa turned to look at her.
As though she were truly saying goodbye to a family member, she waved to the cat, then gently closed the front door.
The black cat looked away and continued watching television.
Hearing the faint drip, drip of water, the cat jumped off the sofa and ran into the kitchen. It stretched out a little paw and tightened the faucet she had hastily left not quite closed.
Some annoying droplets had gotten on its fur, and the black cat shook its paw as though it had received an electric shock.
Running back to the living room, the cat switched off the television, then went to the balcony, leaped onto the nearby wall, and raced down as easily as if it were flat ground...
Those who had school went to school, and those who had work went to work. It was time for the cat to go roaming too.
Riiing-
The bell rang for the lunch break, and the classroom erupted into chatter.
Chen Shi'an emerged from his flow state and put away his Seventh-Grade Mathematics, Volume One textbook.
After studying math on his own through those two biology and chemistry lessons, combined with yesterday's progress, Chen Shi'an had finished all the material in the first volume of seventh-grade mathematics. Once he worked through some exercises during afternoon physics and evening study hall, he would have fully mastered it.
His pace was, of course, astonishingly fast. Both he and the seventh graders were encountering middle-school math for the first time, but he had finished in less than two days what they spent an entire semester learning.
The speed had left even Lin Meng Qiu dumbfounded.
Ever since classes had been divided into arts and sciences in the second semester of their first year, and that particular person had gone into the arts track, nobody had managed to threaten her top position.
Could Chen Shi'an really knock her off the top despite being so many years behind in his schooling?!
Two days ago, Lin Meng Qiu would have considered that pure fantasy. But after witnessing how quickly Chen Shi'an learned math and English, she no longer dared underestimate him...
Still, the fact that Chen Shi'an had chosen to study math rather than English during biology and chemistry made the girl a little happy.
Even Lin Meng Qiu couldn't quite explain where that little spark of happiness came from. Perhaps it was because his study buddy taught him English, while she taught him math.
During classes unrelated to either subject, Chen Shi'an hadn't studied the English materials his buddy had given him. Instead, he had studied math using the workbook she had given him. Somehow, that gave her a peculiar, distinctly different little sense of victory.
Of course, she couldn't let him know about these girlish thoughts. Even she felt embarrassed when she realized that something like this had made her a little happy...
Who knew why I started caring about something this weird out of nowhere!
Meanwhile, Chen Shi'an had already risen from his seat.
By now, Chen Shi'an had developed a proper awareness of his duties as a "deskmate." Whenever it was time to leave class, regardless of whether Lin Meng Qiu seemed ready to get up, he would stand first, tuck in his chair, and pack his things while standing to one side, keeping out of her way.
Naturally, the girl had noticed these little details too. She had to admit that, in all her years of schooling, Chen Shi'an was truly the most unusual deskmate she had ever had.
"Class monitor, we don't need to clean the classroom at lunch, right?"
"No."
"Okay, then I'll just wipe the blackboard..."
Before Chen Shi'an had finished speaking, Lin Meng Qiu rose from her seat and walked straight to the blackboard, which was covered in writing. She picked up a cloth and began wiping it clean.
For the higher spots some teachers had written on, she even rose slightly onto her tiptoes.
Chen Shi'an blinked. On certain matters, Lin Meng Qiu had a stubbornness all her own. When they emptied the trash, she insisted on holding the bin with him, even when she was holding her breath so hard she was practically suffocating. Of their four morning lessons, Chen Shi'an had wiped the blackboard twice, so she had to wipe it twice too. She refused to take even the slightest advantage of him...
Since Lin Meng Qiu was handling the blackboard after their last lesson, Chen Shi'an had nothing else to do and left the classroom first.
During the lunch break, the stairwell was packed.
Chen Shi'an followed the crowd down to the ground floor and waited in an open spot along the corridor.
After about five minutes, he spotted that pretty, lively figure among the people on the stairs.
Now that she had a buddy waiting to eat with her, Wen Zhixia didn't want to keep Chen Shi'an waiting either. As soon as class ended, she packed her things and hurried down the crowded stairs from the fourth floor.
"Taoist!"
"Little Cicada, you're quick today!"
"Come on, let's go! It'll get crowded again soon! Want me to take you to Cafeteria No. 1 today?"
"Sure."
The two walked briskly along the campus path toward the cafeteria.
Just then, Lin Meng Qiu emerged from the ground-floor corridor, her gaze passing over Chen Shi'an and Wen Zhixia's retreating figures.
The girl's expression remained neutral. As the afternoon sunlight fell on her, she narrowed her eyes slightly...
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