Birthday Surprise in Progress (Five): Aemeath

It was an ordinary noon after school.

After eating and drinking to her heart's content, Xiao Ling did not obediently go back to her air-conditioned room to take a nap. Instead, she suddenly had the idea to go outdoors and start photosynthesis.

(Actually, he just went out for a stroll in the street.)

The campus was relatively quiet at this time of year because not many people would be wandering around during the hottest part of the day; they weren't exactly char siu rice noodle rolls.

However, while wandering around the school, Xiao Ling discovered another person who shouldn't have been outdoors.

Dania was standing by a bench hidden in the shade of a tree not far away, holding something in her hand, looking left and right as if searching for something.

Xiao Ling became interested and was about to suddenly go over and scare the girl when he was pulled into the bushes by a pair of strong, fair arms.

"Holy crap! What kind of relationship is this?! Ugh!"

The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Xiao Ling unable to help but blurt out a phrase from the national language. Just as he was about to show that clueless guy what beautiful Dragon Country was like, his mouth was covered by the latter's hand.

Not only that, he was completely pinned down by the attacker, in a rather ambiguous position.

Shh! Keep your voice down! Don't let Xiao Ya hear you!

Aemeath gestured for Xiao Ling to be quiet, indicating that he shouldn't make too much noise, and then pointed to Dania not far away.

Xiao Ling recognized the person and nodded slightly, gesturing for Aemeath to get up quickly.

After all, their current posture looked rather inappropriate for children, and he was genuinely afraid of being discovered by others and ruining his reputation on the spot.

Although he's practically ruined now.

Dania heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes not far away and immediately glared in the direction of the sound.

There was no one there.

"Am I hallucinating?" Dania tilted her head slightly, puzzled.

"Are you observing her here?" Xiao Ling asked in a low voice.

"Yes, it's to pick out a gift for Xiao Ya," Aemeath nodded. "She's been coming here for the past few days doing the same thing!"

Aemeath had clearly been observing for some time; sweat clung tightly to her bangs, and large beads of sweat slid down her cheeks to her neck, then into the deep, unfathomable cleavage. Her cheeks and neck were flushed, clearly from the heat of the day.

What is she doing here?

You'll find out soon enough.

Xiao Ling couldn't get any answers from Aemeath, so he could only stay with the girl and observe Dania's next move.

After looking around for a while, the girl suddenly cleared her throat and let out a meow that was as sweet as a cat's meow.

Meow~

Not long after, another meow came from the bushes in front of Dania.

Meow~

Then, Senior Calico jumped out of the bushes and, without any hesitation, exposed her belly, allowing the junior in front of her to touch it.

"If I didn't call you that, would you have stayed away forever?" Dania said, slightly annoyed.

Meow~

Senior Calico seemed to realize she had gone too far, and took the initiative to lick Dania's hand with her soft cat tongue to soothe her.

"Ugh~ I just can't do anything with you." Dania was completely defenseless against Senior Calico's combination of punches. "Here, eat up."

She tore open the cat treat in her hand and handed it to Calico.

Without any hesitation, Calico immediately started showing off the cat treats in Dania's hand.

After eating half of it, Senior Calico seemed to remember something and meowed twice more.

Instantly, many cats darted out from the bushes in all directions. Xiao Ling counted them; including the Senior Calico from the beginning, there were about ten.

The cats surrounded Dania, each using their own unique methods to please this beautiful young cat lover.

"Sweetie~ Sweetie~ Everyone gets a share!"

Dania fed one cat, petted another, and teased another cat's chin, looking quite happy.

"Let's go!" Aemeath said softly with a smile.

"Good."

The two quietly left the bushes, making room for Dania and the cats.

"I'm so envious~ I also want to be surrounded by cats~" Aemeath's sweet voice was filled with undisguised envy.

"Didn't you already have Little Black? Are you going to fall for someone else?" Xiao Ling teased with a light laugh. "Be careful she doesn't bite you."

"Yeah, so I was just thinking about it." Aemeath shrugged.

"So, A-Yu, what do you think about me giving Xiao Ya a cat?" Aemeath suddenly ran up to Xiao Ling with light steps, then turned around with her hands behind her back, her golden starry eyes even brighter than usual.

"Don't we already have a cat at home?"

"Well..." Aemeath scratched her cheek a little embarrassed when she brought this up, "That child seems to only be close to the two of us; he won't let anyone else touch him."

"I think it would be better to give them a cat plush toy instead?"

"Hmm? Tell me your reasons?"

"Just like when I gave you a black cat plush toy, although it wasn't a living thing, it was still a keepsake," Xiao Ling explained. "I think Dania might prefer something that can stay with her forever. Cats have such short lifespans. If you gave her a real cat, they would eventually have to part ways, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"

"A-Yu, what you said makes a lot of sense~" Aemeath tapped her chin with her index finger and pondered, "And now that you mention it, I also thought of something. It takes time to build a bond with unfamiliar cats. Xiao Ya was able to get along so well with those cats because they were very friendly due to the school atmosphere, which saved her a lot of time in building a relationship."

"Besides, taking care of cats is a lot of trouble, and I don't think Xiao Ya would like being a cat owner."

"Okay! It's decided! I'm going to sew a kitten doll for Xiao Ya myself! By the way A-Yu, what kind of image do you think would be best?"

Xiao Ling stroked his chin, lost in thought.

The cat in Dania's memory— Dolia— is, strictly speaking, a Schrödinger's cat; that is, Dania subjectively believes it exists, but they cannot find objective evidence to prove its existence.

Therefore, it is basically impossible to completely replicate Dolia's image, because there is no basis for it.

However... there are other options for the cat doll's design.

"How about you Aemeath, borrow the image of that Senior Calico?" Xiao Ling snapped her fingers. "I think she probably won't object."

"After all, she seems to really like this junior who feeds her every day. She'd be happy to know she could be there for Yaya in another way."

"Great idea!" Aemeath exclaimed excitedly, "I'll go prepare it right now!"

"See you after school this afternoon, A-Yu! I'm really looking forward to the gift you'll give Dania!"

Aemeath ran off in a few quick steps and disappeared from sight in no time.

"See you after school." Xiao Ling smiled and watched Aemeath walk away.

As for the gift he was going to give, he was confident that it would not disappoint Dania and everyone else.

must.