After a series of discussions, the final decision was to first work with neighboring communities to hold an adoption event for the stray cats and dogs. After the event, any unadopted animals would be "driven out."
'Wen Qian had to admit she was a little worried about that filthy little kitten. It looked so fierce, and it was always so elusive...'
That very night, Wen Qian made a decision. She dug the kitten out of the flowerbed. Facing its dazed, just-woken-up appearance, Wen Qian said with a straight face, "You only get one chance. Tell me, do you want to come home with me?"
Seeing its confused look, Wen Qian nodded knowingly. "Alright, I'll take that as a yes."
Kitten: ???
And just like that, in the dead of night, Wen Qian fished out the dozing kitten from the flowerbed and, with perfect justification, brought it home.
She was fully geared up, and while it was completely defenseless, she gave it a thorough cleaning.
That's right. The first thing she did after taking it home was give it a bath.
The sound of running water filled the air, and a thick drop of pet shampoo landed on its body. Only then did the kitten realize what awaited it. Its fur instantly stood on end. It flailed its four paws wildly, the docile act it had put on to please Wen Qian vanishing completely...
'Great. This woman really thought he was a cat.'
---
"Hey, miss! We're at University A!" A man's voice broke the silence. Wen Qian snapped back to reality. She scrambled up from her seat, her steps hurried.
The early morning at University A was bathed in the warm, late-summer sun. Walking along the path, you could clearly hear the RUSTLE of the wind jostling the leaves. Most of the people on the paths at this hour were students who lived on campus. Wen Qian walked at a leisurely pace, holding a half-eaten savory pancake, occasionally greeting a familiar face she passed.
Dorm spots at University A were limited and always prioritized for the freshmen and sophomores. As for soon-to-be interns like Wen Qian, the university's policy was to persuade as many as possible to move out.
However, Wen Qian's circumstances were special, so the university had given her preferential treatment in this regard, only bringing it up with her in her junior year.
In truth, Wen Qian had lived a comfortable life for over a decade. In the second year after the disaster, she was adopted by a local family working in government administration. The good thing was, although the husband and wife were often too busy to be seen, they never let Wen Qian want for food, clothing, or other necessities. The bad thing was, most of the money they had didn't come from legitimate sources. Around the time Wen Qian was in her second year of middle school, there was a nationwide crackdown on corruption, and her adoptive parents were on the list.
Wen Qian was the type to repay kindness, so even though she wasn't close to her adoptive parents, she still visited them in prison often.
It was just that afterward... she never accepted another adoption.
After her adoptive parents went to prison, Wen Qian lived in state-arranged welfare housing until she became an adult. After two years of maturing, she came to a profound realization: you couldn't rely on anyone but yourself. So, she started working part-time jobs even before she graduated from high school.
University expenses were much higher than Wen Qian had anticipated, so when she learned she had to move out of the dorm, she was prepared to brazenly fight for her spot. Who would have thought that a university administrator would approach her first, claiming they were willing to apply for a rent subsidy for her until graduation. The only condition was that Wen Qian had to do an interview, talk about the impact the disaster had on her, and then go on about how incredibly humane University A was... It was basically a way to boost the school's reputation.
The dorm fees for a four-person room were already absurdly expensive to begin with. Not only did they lack a private bathroom, but you also had to file a special application to stay during the winter and summer breaks. If she could get the university subsidy, renting an off-campus apartment would only cost a few hundred yuan a month... which, when you did the math, was even cheaper than living in the dorms. For a poor student like Wen Qian, there was naturally no reason to refuse.
All she had to do was talk, and she could save a huge amount of money. Wen Qian couldn't have been happier.
"Gah!" Just as the girl was lost in thought, two dark figures suddenly shot out from nearby. Wen Qian jumped in surprise. When she looked closely, she saw it was the two chubby orange cats the university kept.
Well, what do you know! It was the school's living mascots!
Right then, one of the chubby orange cats had already scrambled nimbly up a tree. The other one blinked at it, then rolled around on the ground in frustration. The cat on the ground clearly wanted to go up too, but unfortunately, its repeated attempts all failed. It started circling the tree anxiously.
Wen Qian was a bit puzzled. 'Could it be that he's too fat to even climb a tree?' she wondered.
The one in the tree looked rather smug. It stretched its limbs and lazily scratched its chin with a hind leg, which only made the cat on the ground even angrier. It started meowing—MEOW! MEOW!—and flew into an impotent rage.
These two cats were old-timers at the university. They made their rounds to the cafeteria and the dorms at the same time every day to beg for food, and the students had fed them until they were fatter than many house cats.
Seeing it was still early, Wen Qian decided to sit down on a bench and watch the show.
She watched the two orange cats squabble with leisurely amusement, her mood growing brighter and brighter. She wondered how Yin Zhi was doing at home alone, and if he had turned into a cat, too, acting as lively as this pair.
The two cats continued to chase each other around the base of the tree, completely oblivious to Wen Qian's presence.
Wen Qian wasn't surprised. These two were only enthusiastic when begging for food; the rest of the time, they looked down their noses at everyone.
The chubbier orange cat was clearly the weaker fighter. It was knocked to the ground after just a few swipes, which was when Wen Qian noticed a cut on its hind leg. The wound wasn't large, but it was oozing blood.
Ever since getting a cat, Wen Qian had started paying extra attention to small animals. Confirming that it was really injured, she immediately took out her phone and snapped a photo of the chubby cat.
She sent the photo to the head of the campus security office, but she wasn't sure if they would actually do anything about it.
Unexpectedly, they replied quickly, asking for the cat's specific location and requesting a clearer photo.
Wen Qian sent the location. Seeing the big orange cat lying lazily under the tree, sunbathing, she gripped her phone and moved a little closer.
As Wen Qian approached, both orange cats became alert. They angled their ears and arched their backs warily... But this posture didn't last long. As if they'd received a fright, the cats shrank into two balls right before her eyes, tucking their tails and starting to tremble.
Wen Qian was dumbfounded. 'Why did this cat suddenly get so timid? Could it be because of the injury on its leg?'
With that in mind, Wen Qian edged a bit closer, only to see the two cats start shaking even more violently.
'What's going on? Are these two cats... afraid of me?'
The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward. Whenever she saw them by the dorms before, these two little social butterflies would boldly rub against her pant leg... What was wrong with them today? They looked like they wanted to run but didn't dare.
"Wen Qian." Just then, a low and magnetic male voice broke the silence. His tone was soft and lazy, as if he'd just woken up.
Wen Qian turned her head and saw Gu Mian, dressed in a suit, watching her with a smile in his eyes, his hands tucked in his pockets.