The embrace didn’t last long, but it was enough to leave Gu Yu utterly dazzled.
The soft touch, the gentle voice, the sweet, clean fragrance that filled her senses—even after Jiang Bomu pulled away, it all lingered in her mind.
How could someone be so utterly captivating?
Gu Yu followed Jiang Bomu step for step toward the residential complex, her own steps still a little buoyant. She suddenly felt the atmosphere was perfect for saying the words she wanted to say.
She cleared her throat, but before she could speak, a faint meow drifted to her ears. Small, soft, tentative, like a test.
She turned around, puzzled, but saw no cat.
Probably misheard. She walked on.
“Meow!”
A panicked, helpless cry, woven into the sound of the rain. Not clear enough to be distinct, yet clear enough to be heard.
This time, Jiang Bomu also stopped.
“You heard that too, right?” Gu Yu looked left and right.
“Sounds like a cat,” Jiang Bomu sought the source of the sound.
They hadn’t entered the complex yet. The surroundings were perfectly manicured greenbelts and a clear view of a parking lot where a few orderly parked cars sat. Perhaps it was under one of the cars.
Gu Yu grew anxious. “It’s still raining. The kitten must be freezing. Let’s look for it.”
That cry hadn’t been strong; it sounded like a very young kitten. Gu Yu’s maternal instincts surged. She wanted to scoop the kitten into her arms and warm it up right this instant.
Jiang Bomu said coolly, “Survival of the fittest, natural selection. Xunxun, we shouldn’t interfere.”
“Sister,” Gu Yu looked at her in disbelief, trying to persuade her, “this is a tiny life!”
“There are countless stray cats in the world. Each one is a tiny life. Can you save them all?”
Her words were cold and realistic. Gu Yu didn’t know how to answer, but…
“Saving one is saving one. If I see it, I can’t just ignore it.”
She plunged into the curtain of rain, meticulously searching every corner. Dense raindrops soaked her hair. She looked disheveled, yet somehow radiant.
Jiang Bomu sighed, walked forward a few steps, and held the umbrella over her.
Gu Yu looked up, pleasantly surprised. “You changed your mind?”
Jiang Bomu avoided her gaze and said flatly, “I just don’t want you getting sick again.”
Liar. The corners of Gu Yu’s lips curled up. Jiang Bomu’s eyes were also scanning the cars, surveying every corner.
Ten minutes passed, and there was still no sign of the kitten.
“Maybe it’s scared?” Gu Yu whispered.
Jiang Bomu shook her head, indicating she didn’t know.
These two non-cat-owners pondering uselessly here wasn’t going to help. Gu Yu pulled out her phone to ask Jian Ya how to lure a kitten out.
The moment she sent the message, an even weaker mewl came from under a nearby car. Slowly, a dusty-looking little kitten tottered out unsteadily, staring up at them helplessly with big blue eyes.
It came out!
Gu Yu’s eyes lit up. Without thinking, she reached out to grab it. The kitten backed away in fright, but it wasn’t as fast as Gu Yu. After being caught, it swiped its paws twice, then stopped struggling, its tiny body trembling slightly—whether from fear or cold, who knew.
The towel they had just bought came in handy. She carefully wrapped the kitten’s body and held it in her arms for warmth. The kitten immediately started making a rumbling, purring sound.
Jiang Bomu was puzzled. “Why is it doing that?”
Gu Yu, having petted Jian Ya’s cat before, understood the kitten’s meaning and explained, “It means it feels comfortable.”
She stood up. The kitten flinched, then, realizing there was no danger, opened its big eyes again to look at them.
“So well-behaved,” Gu Yu said with a beaming smile, tapping its damp, pink nose. “Shall we take it home?”
Jiang Bomu frowned. “I don’t like cats.”
Gu Yu argued earnestly, “The kitten is very good. Just put it in a cardboard box, and it won’t run around or climb everywhere. Really obedient!”
“Fine,” Jiang Bomu conceded. “Remember to find it a new home.”
“No problem!”
Back home, cradling the kitten, Gu Yu ignored her own nearly soaked clothes and first found a shoebox, lined it with a soft towel, and placed the kitten inside.
The kitten sniffed the scent inside the shoebox and started making that quiet, rumbling purr again. Its little paws tested the surface hesitantly, kneading the towel repeatedly.
“It’s even kneading!” Gu Yu was overjoyed and quickly filmed a short video to send to Jian Ya.
Jiang Bomu asked, “What does kneading mean?”
This was another thing Gu Yu knew. “When kittens nurse, their paws move around. Kneading the towel means the texture feels like their mother. It misses its mother.”
Missing its mother.
Jiang Bomu looked down at the tiny creature, its wet fur all matted together. Her heart suddenly softened. Carefully, she stepped forward, just about to crouch down, when a WeChat ringtone sounded.
“It’s my friend,” Gu Yu made a shushing gesture. “Sister, don’t say anything, okay.”
Jiang Bomu nodded.
The moment she answered, Jian Ya’s voice came through: “Hey hey hey, let me see the little kitten! What’s the meaning of this?”
Jian Ya was calling via video. Gu Yu had switched it to voice only, afraid Jiang Bomu might accidentally appear on screen.
She first aimed the camera at the ceiling, then turned on the video, then immediately flipped it so the image showed the kitten.
“Looks like a little white cat,” Gu Yu said, casually parting the fur a bit. “Its eyes are blue, huh? So pretty.”
Jian Ya said, exasperated, “That’s just the blue membrane.”
“What does that mean?”
“Kittens’ eyes are blue right after birth. It fades after they’re at least a month old.”
Gu Yu suddenly understood. “So this cat isn’t even a month old yet?”
“Yeah, poor thing,” Jian Ya sighed. “It was raining today. The mother cat probably dropped it by accident while moving the litter. But every cloud has a silver lining. It’s lucky to have met kind-hearted people.”
A true cat owner, piecing together the cause and effect so quickly. Gu Yu immediately asked, “So how do I take care of it?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a strand of fragrance drifted beside her. Long hair brushed past her shoulder, tickling her. She turned her head slightly. Jiang Bomu had also crouched down and was staring intently at the kitten.
Hmph, and she still says she doesn’t like cats. What a hypocrite.
Gu Yu stifled a laugh and focused on what Jian Ya was saying.
“First, dry the kitten off and use a hair dryer on it.”
Gu Yu signaled she understood, then asked what kittens eat.
“You probably don’t have goat milk powder at home… Do you have lactose-free milk?”
Gu Yu didn’t know either. She looked at Jiang Bomu, who nodded.
“Yes, we do. What next?”
“Feed it every four hours. You probably don’t have a syringe at home either, so use a spoon,” Jian Ya instructed. “Also, it’s too young to eliminate on its own. Wipe its rear with a damp cloth every day to stimulate a bowel movement.”
So much trouble? Gu Yu’s head spun, but she memorized everything carefully.
Jian Ya was thinking about what else to say when a hand appeared in the frame. She recognized it wasn’t Gu Yu’s and instantly got excited. Raising her voice, she asked, “Isn’t this your crush…”
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up.” Gu Yu calmly cut her off and immediately ended the call.
Jiang Bomu glanced at her and asked, “What was your friend going to say?”
“Ah? I don’t know either,” Gu Yu feigned ignorance. “I’m in a hurry to dry the kitten, no time to listen to her nonsense.”
Gu Yu made the excuse of needing a dry towel and the hair dryer from the bathroom and scurried off.
Shutting the door behind her, she clutched her pounding heart and let out a long breath. Thankfully, she’d hung up quickly!
She scolded Jian Ya on WeChat: [It almost slipped out!]
[Sorry sorry, I just got a little excited~ Oh right, are you keeping this cat? If not, let me.]
Gu Yu was a bit conflicted.
She wanted to keep it, but Jiang Bomu didn’t. That meant she’d have to take the kitten home, but her mother was allergic to cat fur. Even though Gu Yu had loved cats and dogs since childhood, her family had never kept a pet.
[We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet.]
Grabbing the items, she came out. Gu Yu was about to speak to Jiang Bomu when she suddenly noticed the woman who had so firmly declared she didn’t like cats gently stroking the kitten, her expression full of tenderness.
Gu Yu had browsed many cat videos online. Some featured grandparents or parents who didn’t like cats, threatening to throw them out if brought home, only to end up petting them more enthusiastically than anyone else. Who could truly resist a tiny kitten?
Getting Jiang Bomu to keep a cat didn’t seem so impossible after all.
Gu Yu pretended not to notice. She closed the door heavily to announce her return. A moment later, Jiang Bomu’s voice came: “What took you so long?”
Only then did she look up, seeing Jiang Bomu standing three paces away from the kitten, looking as if she was drawing a clear line.
Gu Yu smiled secretly, then answered with a straight face, “Was chatting with my friend for a bit.”
Following Jian Ya’s instructions, she dried the kitten, then started feeding it lactose-free milk.
The hair dryer had been a bit loud earlier, scaring the kitten into crawling everywhere. Now that the noise was gone, it was pitifully huddled in a corner.
Catching the scent of milk, the kitten curiously poked out its fluffy little head, sniffed cautiously with its pink nose, then extended its tiny tongue and gingerly took a lick. Finding it likely delicious, it licked with more gusto.
Gu Yu was utterly overwhelmed by the cuteness. She was about to ask Jiang Bomu to record it, only to find that the previously detached and indifferent Jiang Bomu had already picked up her phone to capture the moment.
“Recording it for you,” Jiang Bomu said without changing her expression. “I’ll delete it after sending it to you.”
Gu Yu didn’t expose her, just smiled brightly. “Then take lots.”
“Meow!”
The tiny kitten reminded the chatting humans: My milk is gone!
Gu Yu quickly scooped up another spoonful.
After three or four spoonfuls, the kitten turned its head away and stopped drinking.
“Appetite’s so small?” Gu Yu worried. “Can it even grow up like this?”
Jiang Bomu: “…It’s not even the size of your palm.”
True enough. How much could a kitten less than a month old eat? Gu Yu put down the spoon and moved on to the next, far more daunting task.
“What if it gets all over my hands?” Gu Yu held a wet wipe, her expression conflicted. “Do we have any gloves at home?”
“I’ll do it.”
Jiang Bomu took the wet wipe, picked up the kitten, and wiped a few times. Then she asked, “Is it male or female?”
Gu Yu, still processing the fact that Jiang Bomu had taken the initiative to care for the cat, answered in a daze, “I don’t know how to tell either.”
“We’ll go to a pet hospital tomorrow, get it checked out,” Jiang Bomu said softly. “If it’s healthy, you keep it.”
Gu Yu was flooded with immense surprise. She asked, “Where would I keep it?”
She explained her mother’s allergy to cat fur.
Jiang Bomu hesitated for a moment, then said, “It can stay here, too.”
Gu Yu had been waiting for this exact sentence. She immediately said, “Then that makes you its godmother!”
Jiang Bomu glanced at her, amused.
Gu Yu seized the moment. “I request the godmother bestow a name.”
“Let’s call it Wan An[Goodnight],” Jiang Bomu looked at the tiny white ball of fluff. “I hope it makes it safely through the night.”
Gu Yu nodded emphatically. She looked at the little white kitten curled up asleep, then at the boundless tenderness on Jiang Bomu’s face, her heart surging with emotion.
From this day forward, she and Jiang Bomu had a bond.
But the most important thing right now was…
“Sister,” Gu Yu said innocently, “can we sleep together? I’m afraid I won’t wake up during the night. What if the kitten goes hungry?”
Unable to do anything about her, Jiang Bomu gently nodded.
Truth be told, wasn’t she willing in her own heart too?
