026. Cat
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The atmosphere in the dorm was a bit off.
Lin Nan had just returned his computer and was now sitting at the head of his bed, staring into space while occasionally sneaking glances at a few of his roommates.
He had definitely been a bit careless!
He thought he had gradually gotten a handle on his feminine mannerisms, but he had let his guard down lately, and now he found himself in this ridiculous situation.
He had grown up for eighteen years! Never had he acted cute like that in front of a guy! Not even with his dad!
And yet today, he had the audacity to whine in a cute voice to Chen Yao right in front of his roommates?
Thank goodness he couldn’t see that scene from a third-person perspective, because just imagining Chen Yao acting all cutesy with him sent shivers down his spine. Clearly, his roommates were feeling a bit nauseated too, or else the atmosphere wouldn’t be so tense. Especially Tu Junhui, the usually loud one, who had been dead silent at his computer for half an hour.
How embarrassing…
“Nan Nan.”
Tu Junhui suddenly looked up at Lin Nan, who flinched and quickly threw the blanket over himself, curling up so tight that only a few strands of hair were visible.
“Are you really not going to class this afternoon?”
“Of course I’m going. I must go.” The voice muffled from the blanket was a bit heavy, and Lin Nan’s face turned beet red as he wanted to explain his earlier behavior, but upon reflection, he realized he had no clue how to do that.
“Just talk more with Chen Yao; that’d be fine.” Tu Junhui scratched his head and sighed, “I want to chill in the dorm and enjoy the AC…”
As if he dared to talk to Chen Yao again! If he hadn’t reacted so quickly before, his roommates would probably have thought he was a weirdo by now!
Seriously, how was it that he had used a magic spell to boost his reflexes and still remained as slow as ever in awkward situations? He always had to embarrass himself before he could think straight.
He thought that Chen Yao, as the person involved, would be grossed out by his behavior, but surprisingly, after a moment, Chen Yao said, “If you guys don’t want to go, forget it; I’ll just be playing basketball anyway.”
Wait, what? Is he having a change of heart?
Lin Nan couldn’t quite decipher Chen Yao’s tone, but given their years of friendship, it felt like Chen Yao wasn’t upset about the whining after all—he seemed… pleased?
Who knows, maybe he misheard. Lin Nan didn’t dare to ask and just continued to shiver under the blanket.
As class time approached, Chen Yao stood up, looked around at the two who were absorbed in their games and at Lin Nan, who was still huddled on the bed, and helplessly put on his shoes to head downstairs for their gathering at the court.
He thought Lin Nan seemed more sensitive than before, like hanging out with a girl required careful navigation around a delicate heart.
He didn’t even know what he had done wrong to suddenly make Lin Nan go all introverted.
Shaking his head, he switched into a pair of sports shorts, put on his sneakers, and hesitantly asked, “Are you guys really not going to class?”
“Nope, not going.” Tu Junhui waved his hand. “If possible, I’d skip PE for good. When you get back, remember to grab me a bottle of cola—make it Pepsi.”
“Dude…”
Before he could finish his retort, an arm suddenly stretched down from the upper bunk, pale and delicate: “I want Coke!”
Chen Yao was taken aback. He hadn’t particularly noticed Lin Nan before, but now, just seeing that single arm made him realize Lin Nan’s hands looked no different from a girl’s.
“Then I’ll take the Laojun Mountain brand.” Xiong Da chimed in.
He had no words for his roommates who had completely lost their dignity, so he silently left the dorm.
As soon as he was gone, Lin Nan popped out of his blanket, scampering down from the bed to claim Chen Yao’s computer.
With a pretty good setup and a ton of games, Chen Yao usually loved buying various indie games aside from League of Legends.
Lin Nan disliked playing solo, so he immediately opened the STEAM software on the desktop to browse the games that Chen Yao had bought.
“Chocolate and Vanilla? Chen Yao plays these kinds of games too?” Lin Nan scratched his head; he wasn’t familiar with it, but he had heard it was quite popular for a while. Looking at the title and art style, though, he quickly lost interest.
Last year’s hot game, PUBG, was also in Chen Yao’s library, and since Lin Nan didn’t have a computer before, he had missed the boat when everyone was playing it. He spent those days filled with envy just watching Chen Yao play.
Now that he had a chance, he naturally wanted to try it out.
“Xiong Da, Tu Tu, do you guys play PUBG?” Lin Nan, having little experience with such games, sheepishly hoped they’d take him along.
“Not playing, too boring.”
“Watching TV, no time.”
“Fine…” Lin Nan didn’t pay much mind.
But as soon as he launched the game, the dorm door swung open suddenly.
Lin Yuan, whom he had just met today, walked in holding a bag and asked expressionlessly, “I found a cat during PE, do you guys want to adopt it? Chen Yao said it’s okay.”
“A cat?” Lin Nan quickly abandoned the game, rushing over to peek into the bag. There, two pair of beady eyes looked back up at him. “So tiny! It can’t be more than a month old, right? Can we take care of it?”
It was a nearly pure black kitten, but the paws were as white as clouds. Its tail was half-broken, making it look incredibly pitiful.
“We can buy some goat’s milk powder from the supermarket to feed it, should be okay.” Lin Yuan handed the bag over to Lin Nan and continued, “The milk powder should be mixed at about sixty degrees and fed at around forty. Just leave some soft cat food in the dorm for it to try weaning; it shouldn’t be too hard to care for. There’s a pet clinic behind the school, so they should have anything urgent you need. If you can’t find it, I can take you.”
Although he seemed cold, there was an unexpected warmth in his tone.
“But we haven’t even decided if we’re adopting it yet.” Lin Nan said this out loud, but he was already crouching to pull the kitten out of the bag. Watching the little fluffball waddle around on the ground, his eyes sparkled with stars. He looked up at Xiong Da with a hopeful gaze.
Xiong Da glanced at the kitten, then back at the delighted Lin Nan. “If we’re taking care of it, just put the litter box on the balcony; otherwise, it’ll stink.”
Then he turned to Tu Junhui.
“Why’s it as black as coal? I heard black cats bring bad luck,” Tu Junhui said, scrunching his face in distaste.
“I heard black cats bring fortune, okay?” Lin Nan shot back.
Seeing Lin Nan’s insistence, Tu Junhui could only shrug in agreement; he wasn’t superstitious, just didn’t fancy cats.
“Looks like you guys really want to keep it?” Lin Yuan glanced over the three in the dorm and reminded them, “Just think it through, what’ll happen to the cat during the winter and summer breaks?”
“My home is local; I can take it back.” Xiong Da looked at him, and the two emotionless faces locked eyes for a moment, both awkwardly averting their gazes. “But I need to ask my family’s cat about it.”
“That settles it! We’re keeping it! I’ll take charge!” Lin Nan exclaimed with uncontainable jubilation.
