After leaving Bai Shuanglian, Ling Xiaoyou finally started to feel some regret.
Why had she been in such a hurry to leave? No matter what, she should have spent a little more time with Bai Shuanglian before she left!
But going back now was definitely too late—Bai Shuanglian had probably already departed.
And even if she could make it in time, Ling Xiaoyou felt she no longer had the face to return.
She had already said goodbye, so what reason was there to go back?
With those thoughts in her mind, Ling Xiaoyou could only return home feeling somewhat regretful.
Perhaps because everything had happened so suddenly, with her emotions surging and plunging all at once, Ling Xiaoyou now felt a bit dazed and muddled.
Dazed, she opened the door.
Dazed, she walked to the sofa.
Dazed, she flopped down onto it…
She didn’t know how much time passed before she finally lifted her little head, tilted it in confusion, and felt as though she had forgotten something important.
She glanced out the window at the sky that was still shrouded in fog, then looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It was already six in the morning—which meant she had been lying there spacing out on the sofa for several hours.
Suddenly, as if a switch had flipped, Ling Xiaoyou remembered something.
Her expression froze.
Oh no… she seemed to have… forgotten to go back to the Division!
What now?
She hadn’t even clocked out yet. Was it still possible to go back at this hour?
Ling Xiaoyou thought about it carefully for a moment, then—once again like a salted fish—let her little head flop back down, burying her small face into the throw pillow on the sofa.
Forget it. If she didn’t clock out, she didn’t clock out. Worst case, she could just mention it to Sister Ming later.
Right now her heart felt so tired. She didn’t want to think about any of this at all.
But… something felt strange…
Ling Xiaoyou rolled over. Her scarlet eyes stared up at the ceiling of her home, yet her gaze was filled with bewilderment.
Bai Shuanglian was only going back home. Why did she feel so lost and empty because of it?
How odd…
Unable to find an answer, Ling Xiaoyou simply let the confusion continue swirling in her mind.
In the midst of this dazed time, she vaguely thought she heard something knocking against her front door.
But the sound wasn’t like a person rapping on the wood. It was more like something soft and fluffy bumping into the door panel.
At least, Ling Xiaoyou had never heard this kind of noise before.
Did she mishear it? Or was it just some other tenant passing by and accidentally making a sound?
She didn’t have much energy left to think about it.
She really wanted to just ignore the noise and continue lying there like a dead fish.
Yet the sound kept echoing from outside the door… and now it seemed to be accompanied by faint… meowing?
Strange. Why would there be meowing? No one around here keeps cats, right?
Could it be a new tenant moved in… and that tenant is some kind of cat-faced old lady?
Well… that wasn’t entirely impossible.
Ling Xiaoyou froze for a second.
She listened carefully and confirmed she wasn’t imagining it.
Then, with great effort, she rolled off the sofa and landed on the fluffy carpet.
Next, she stood up from the carpet, wobbled her way to the entryway, and opened the door to see what was out there.
After opening the door, Ling Xiaoyou looked around but didn’t see any cat-faced old lady standing in front of her. Not even a single cat hair…
Before she could finish the thought, she suddenly felt something soft and furry rubbing against her ankle. Startled, she nearly blasted it with a ball of ghost fire on reflex.
Fortunately, a cute “meow~” brought her back to her senses.
She stared blankly downward—at the little black cat lying by her feet, its tail flickering with faint blue ghost fire, gently rubbing its fluffy black head against her ankle.
Memories came flooding back.
Ling Xiaoyou crouched down, gently stroking the little black cat’s silky smooth fur with her small hand.
“So it was you. You’ve finished work and came to find me to play?”
“Meow~”
The little black cat seemed to understand her words.
It meowed once and nodded, as if confirming that yes, that was exactly it.
After meowing, it stretched out a paw, pointed at Ling Xiaoyou, then pointed at itself—like it was trying to convey something.
Ling Xiaoyou puzzled over it for a while before she more or less understood.
She smiled lightly and scratched under the little black cat’s chin.
“What a greedy little thing. You still remember what I said last time about treating you to some cat treats.”
“Meow meow~”
Under Ling Xiaoyou’s practiced technique, the little black cat couldn’t help but narrow its eyes in contentment.
Even the tail burning with faint blue ghost fire drooped lazily in bliss.
Watching such an adorable little black cat, Ling Xiaoyou felt the gloom she had carried from Bai Shuanglian’s departure ease quite a bit.
“Wait here for a moment. I’ll go inside and grab the treats.”
With that, Ling Xiaoyou stood up. Under the reluctant gaze of the little black cat—who clearly missed the chin scratches—she went back into the apartment.
She walked to the storage room and rummaged around for quite a while before finally finding a sealed box tucked in the corner.
Opening it revealed a whole assortment of cat supplies packed tightly inside.
She had once considered keeping a cat at home.
After all, coming back from work every day to a little animal that would rub against her legs always made her feel much better.
So this tightly sealed box had come into existence because of that idea.
In the end, though, Ling Xiaoyou gave up on the plan.
She didn’t know the first thing about raising cats, and she had heard it was quite troublesome—so the idea was quietly abandoned.
All that remained was this pile of things sitting in the storage room, waiting for the day they would finally be used.
She took out a few cat treats, returned to the entryway, and found the tiny black cat still squatting on the floor, looking up at her as she slowly approached.
Ling Xiaoyou smiled, crouched down, tore open the packaging, and held a treat right up to the little black cat’s mouth.
“Meow~!”
The moment it caught the delicious scent, the little black cat’s eyes seemed to sparkle.
It eagerly leaned in and began licking the treat that Ling Xiaoyou had squeezed out.
Watching it eat so happily, Ling Xiaoyou gave a knowing smile.
This cat was actually a lot like her.
At least when it came to food.
Tonight, she could tell Bai Shuanglian about this as a funny little story.
Maybe that would give her the idea of keeping a cat too.
Even though Ling Xiaoyou herself didn’t know how to raise one, she could always go mooch off Bai Shuanglian’s cat.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly froze.
But… Bai Shuanglian had already returned to her clan.
There wouldn’t be any training in the dense forest tonight. How was she supposed to tell Bai Shuanglian about this?
After all, she wouldn’t see Bai Shuanglian tonight.
Once that realization hit, the mood that the little black cat’s cuteness had just lightened sank once again.
Ling Xiaoyou let out a soft sigh.
All of a sudden, the cat treat in her hand and the adorable little black cat in front of her lost all their appeal.
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