Mid-November had passed, and after a rainy day, the weather suddenly turned cold. After the temperature dropped, Xu Sui changed into thicker clothes. She had recently been preparing for a medical skills competition, so every day she carried a thermos cup with seven or eight books tucked under her elbow, heading straight to the library after class.

On Tuesday, Xu Sui was studying in the library as usual. With two days left until the exam, she planned to organize all the material and repeatedly review the key points.

The library was quiet and soundless, with rows of upright figures, everyone focused on their own tasks. At 10:30, Xu Sui sat at her desk. She glanced outside at the sky—dark clouds pressed down ominously, looking like it might rain.

She had forgotten to bring an umbrella that morning. Hu Qianxi sent a message reminding her it was going to rain and to return to the dorm early. Xu Sui opened her notebook, planning to quickly review the key points before heading back.

Suddenly, a male student approached from across the way, slightly out of breath. He took out his thermos, unscrewed it, took a sip, and placed it on the table, then pulled out his books and sat down to study.

Xu Sui glanced over casually—he was from the same department, but he was reading third-year textbooks.

Just as Xu Sui was about to leave, the person reached out with his right hand to grab something, but when pulling back, he accidentally knocked over the water cup. The thermos lid wasn’t screwed on tight, and with a “clap,” the cup fell onto the table, hot water spreading and completely soaking Xu Sui’s notes.

Xu Sui immediately picked up her notebook and shook the water off. Shi Yuejie quickly apologized and handed her a tissue. Xu Sui took the tissue, wiped casually, and made to leave with her things.

“Classmate, I’m truly sorry. Why don’t you give me your notes and I’ll help dry them for you,” Shi Yuejie called after her, his voice filled with remorse.

“It’s fine.”

Her voice was unexpectedly calm and indifferent. Shi Yuejie looked up and caught sight of a fair-skinned face with red lips. Xu Sui said something hurriedly while holding her books and left.

The commotion had been quite loud. A nearby male student asked: “Senior, are you okay?”

Shi Yuejie shook his head and smiled: “I’m fine.”

Light rain gradually began to fall outside. Xu Sui held her books over her head and ran, but halfway through her journey, a male student approached with a long-handled umbrella and asked: “You’re Xu Sui, right?”

Xu Sui nodded. Without explanation, he thrust a red umbrella into her hands and left. Soon after, Xu Sui’s phone rang—Hu Qianxi was calling: “Did you get the umbrella?”

“Yes, is the person who delivered it your friend?” Xu Sui smiled.

“Of course not. This young lady paid someone to deliver that umbrella to you,” Hu Qianxi said, lying on her bed kicking her legs up. “This queen couldn’t bear to let my beloved concubine get wet from a single drop of rain.”

“Thank you, Queen Hu!”

The rain grew heavier, pattering down and creating little splashes in puddles of varying depths. By the time she nearly reached the dorm, Xu Sui’s pant legs were already splattered with water.

Xu Sui was holding the umbrella handle, about to walk forward, when suddenly the familiar orange cat darted out from the bushes. It meowed at Xu Sui twice and familiarly ducked under her umbrella.

The person and cat walked into the first-floor dormitory corridor together. Xu Sui closed the umbrella and crouched down, pulling out a piece of bread she hadn’t eaten that morning to feed it.

The kitten came to her palm and began eating the bread, finally licking clean all the crumbs in Xu Sui’s hand. Xu Sui stroked its fur and stood up to leave, but the kitten bit onto her pant leg, refusing to let her go.

Xu Sui pried it off, but wherever she went, the kitten followed. The kitten’s pupils were clear as it meowed at her repeatedly. Xu Sui finally understood: “I really can’t keep you. The dorm doesn’t allow cats—if the dorm supervisor finds out, I’ll be in trouble.”

But the kitten still looked at her innocently.

Xu Sui glanced at the pouring rain outside the corridor—it showed no signs of stopping, and the kitten was soaked through, its whiskers dirty too.

Xu Sui had been feeding this stray cat for some time and noticed it was getting thinner, clearly having irregular meals.

Xu Sui’s heart finally softened. She crouched down and picked it up.

Xu Sui took out her phone and asked the dorm girls’ group chat for their opinion: [There’s a pitiful stray cat downstairs. Can I bring it back to keep for a few days and find it a home later?]

Hu Qianxi: [Sure]

Bai Yuyue replied with two words: [Whatever]

She wasn’t in the dorm often anyway.

Xu Sui took this as agreement. When she brought the cat back, Hu Qianxi sat up straight in bed: “What a cute little kitty! Are you really going to keep it?”

“Mm, just temporarily. I plan to find it an owner—I probably can’t keep it long-term,” Xu Sui explained.

The kitten was too dirty, so Xu Sui personally gave it a bath and made a little nest using her own small blanket. Seeing Xu Sui busy and sweating, Liang Shuang sighed: “Sui, you’re like a female bodhisattva.”

Xu Sui opened a box of goat milk, crouched down to pour it into a small container to feed the cat, and smiled: “Not at all, I just think it’s pitiful.”

“Besides, small animals know gratitude better than people,” Xu Sui murmured to herself.

All the dorm residents were kind and had no objections to Xu Sui keeping the cat.

Bai Yuyue had previously indicated in the group chat that she agreed Xu Sui could keep it for two days, but when she returned—whether she’d been frustrated by her ex-boyfriend or not—her face looked terrible. Seeing an extra cat in the dorm, she slammed her books on the desk and began venting:

“You really brought this dirty thing back? Doesn’t it have diseases or something?” Bai Yuyue said sarcastically. She simply wanted to pick on Xu Sui.

“I had a classmate from veterinary medicine check it before bringing it back—no infectious diseases. Also, it won’t stay long,” Xu Sui replied coolly, her eyelashes curling upward as she spoke. “Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

She didn’t say the rest, but Bai Yuyue should understand her meaning.

“You—” Bai Yuyue knitted her beautiful brows but couldn’t say a word.

Hu Qianxi laughed out loud. Everyone said Xu Sui was well-behaved and easy to talk to, but apparently that wasn’t entirely true—at least she had her own bottom line.

The skills competition exam soon arrived. Xu Sui arrived early at the examination room. Coincidentally, Bai Yuyue was in the same room. Bai Yuyue sat at the last seat in the first row, while Xu Sui was in the third-to-last seat in the second row.

This exam was proctored by a teacher paired with a student official. When distributing test papers, Shi Yuejie immediately recognized Xu Sui, who wore a light fleece jacket with her face buried in the collar.

During the exam, Xu Sui was concentrating on her answers when suddenly a paper ball was thrown from behind, bouncing off her desk edge and landing at her feet. Before she could open it, the head proctor walked over, picked it up, unfolded it, and looked stern: “What is this?”

“I didn’t have time to open it,” Xu Sui said calmly.

The teacher was irritated by her nonchalant attitude and flew into a rage: “This is cheating! What do you take me for? You have the nerve to cheat in a competition?”

“I didn’t,” Xu Sui replied neither humbly nor arrogantly. She put down her pen. “If you’re going to determine I cheated based on some random note, I can forfeit this exam.”

“You—”

Shi Yuejie approached and politely asked the teacher to step into the hallway. After whatever Shi Yuejie told the teacher, he returned and said to Xu Sui: “Focus on your exam first. We handled this poorly just now. I’ll give you an explanation after the exam ends.”

Xu Sui nodded and picked up her pen to resume the exam.

After the exam, it was raining again outside. Xu Sui stood in the corridor, staring blankly at the curtain of rain. Behind her, people brushed shoulders, and mixed with the sound of rain, it was very noisy.

Some discussion reached Xu Sui’s ears—the voices were quiet but sharp. “Even good students cheat now.”

“Who would have thought? I used to use her anatomy work as a model, didn’t expect her to be so vain,” someone chimed in.

The rain gradually subsided. Xu Sui straightened her spine and walked out with her umbrella.

The news of Xu Sui being caught cheating spread quickly, with various versions circulating. The incident continued to ferment, but she seemed completely unaffected—either feeding the cat or studying—leaving Hu Qianxi unable to find an opening to comfort her.

When Bai Yuyue returned, only Xu Sui was in the dorm. She had just washed her hair and was drying it with a towel. Water droplets fell onto the orange cat’s back, and the kitten lazily rolled over and shook vigorously. Seeing this, she smiled.

Bai Yuyue walked to her desk to put down her books. The orange cat padded over and sniffed around her feet. Thinking it was something else, Bai Yuyue screamed in fright, then realizing it was the cat, she directly kicked it and cursed: “Get lost.”

The orange cat was kicked aside, squinted its eyes, and made an “meow” sound before immediately pouncing to bite her. Bai Yuyue turned pale with fear, tears of fright in her eyes.

Xu Sui’s voice turned cold: “1017, come back!”

Hearing Xu Sui’s voice, 1017 actually released its bite. It circled Bai Yuyue twice, hissed at her a few times, then padded back to Xu Sui’s side with its soft paws.

Bai Yuyue’s face was pale as she slumped against her chair.

“Sorry, if you don’t kick it next time, it won’t act like this.”

Just as Xu Sui was about to say something more, her phone buzzed with a message. She glanced at it, grabbed an umbrella, and left.

Zhou Jingze and the others were halfway through physical training on the field when it started pouring rain, so they had to disperse. A group of guys returned to the dorm in high spirits.

Da Liu kicked open the dorm door, cursing: “Damn, this rain is so heavy, feels like hail falling on my head.”

Zhou Jingze walked in with his hands in his pockets. After taking off his wet jacket, feeling uncomfortable, he crossed his arms to grab his blue training uniform and pulled it up, revealing two rows of firm, lean abs with smooth muscle lines.

Sheng Nanzhou gasped: “Fuck, who could resist that?”

Zhou Jingze pressed his tongue against his left cheek and made a crude joke: “Try it tonight and you’ll know.”

Sheng Nanzhou threw a white towel hard at him, his voice trembling: “Pervert.”

After the guys showered, some read books, others watched movies. Zhou Jingze sat in his chair, and after listening to Aunt Sheng’s voice message, his brow furrowed.

Sheng Nanzhou handed him a can of cola and asked: “What’s wrong with my mom?”

“Nothing. She said when walking Kratos these past few days, she noticed it’s been agitated, frequently destroying things because it’s dissatisfied,” Zhou Jingze pulled the tab, bubbles forming on the aluminum surface.

“Dissatisfied with what?”

Zhou Jingze felt a headache coming on and almost laughed at himself: “What else could it be? It’s unhappy that ‘Hey’ is gone.”

“Is it in heat? ‘Hey’ was a little female cat,” Sheng Nanzhou found it curious.

“Probably,” Zhou Jingze took a sip of cola and leaned back in his chair. “I should go buy it a companion sometime.”

“Hey” was an orange cat that Zhou Jingze had found two months ago while walking Kratos. Since Zhou Jingze was too lazy to name it, constantly calling “hey, hey,” he simply named it “Hey.”

Initially, the German Shepherd and orange cat fought daily, and Zhou Jingze had to separate them each time. But soon they were cuddling together playing with toys, their relationship growing closer.

However, after Zhou Jingze had kept the cat for over a month, it ran away from home and never returned. During that period, the German Shepherd was listless for a while, and Zhou Jingze went out searching several times.

But in such a vast sea of people, how easy was it to find one lost cat?

“Never mind the dog’s heat situation—brother, what’s the follow-up to you driving little sister Xu back to school last time?” Sheng Nanzhou winked at him suggestively.

Zhou Jingze said slowly: “The follow-up is I asked her which of the two brothers, Sheng Yanjia and Sheng Nanzhou, looks more deserving of a beating.”

Sheng Nanzhou bumped Zhou Jingze’s shoulder and said: “I’m serious. I feel like little sister Xu Sui has feelings for you.”

Zhou Jingze’s mind flashed with a panicked face as he continued: “I’m serious too. She seems quite afraid of me.”

“True, if I were her, I wouldn’t like a scumbag like you either,” Sheng Nanzhou shook his shoulders, imitating a Korean drama heroine: “Saranghae!”

Zhou Jingze chuckled and was too lazy to argue.

The next morning brought another heavy rain. After the rain mostly stopped, Zhou Jingze went out to handle some business at the medical university. After finishing, he sent his usual message to Hu Qianxi: [Come out for dinner tonight, I need to talk to you. You can bring Xu Sui to freeload.]

[Sure, but Suisui won’t come out. She’s been in a bad mood these past few days.] Hu Qianxi replied.

Zhou Jingze: [?]

Hu Qianxi explained the whole situation about Xu Sui being falsely accused of cheating and sighed: [I don’t think she’ll go out anytime soon because she’s not in the mood. There are always gossips talking about her. I can see that although Suisui doesn’t say anything, she’s quite dejected.]

The drizzle was light, almost nonexistent. Zhou Jingze replied “Got it” and put his phone in his pocket. Wearing a black baseball cap, he looked up and saw two people in the distance.

The person Hu Qianxi described as “not in the mood” and “dejected” was currently standing at the school gate with a male student, each holding a cup of milk tea.

Zhou Jingze instinctively squinted to look over. The girl was slender and well-behaved, the boy wore a white jacket and was quite tall. Not knowing what he said to her, the smile on Xu Sui’s fair face looked ready to melt into the whipped cream in front of her.