There were a few stray cats in the neighborhood.
Whenever there were leftovers or food that was about to be thrown away, Su Li would always bring it down to feed the stray cats.
Even on days when there were no leftovers, she would spend her own money to buy cat snacks and food, and leave them at designated spots for the cats.
If any of the stray cats fell ill, she’d even take them to the vet for treatment.
Just cleaning a few of Jin Ke’er’s toes could save a cat’s life.
To her, there was no trade more worthwhile than that.
She was homeless herself and couldn’t take the cats in.
Su Li squatted down and watched the cats eat, gently stroking their heads.
In some of them, she couldn’t help but see a reflection of herself.
“Potato, Milk, Tofu—once I find a place to live, you’ll have a home too.”
Potato was an orange tabby, Milk a black-and-white cow cat, and Tofu a calico.
Of course, these three were just the ones that showed up this time.
The other stray cats in the neighborhood had probably wandered off somewhere else.
Sometimes, when she left food out, the other cats would randomly show up at the feeding spot.
“Meow~ Meow meow~”
As if they understood Su Li’s words, the three cats looked up at her, let out soft meows, and rubbed against her palm.
After feeding the cats, Su Li was about to head home when her phone lit up.
She thought it was Chi Qingya replying to her.
But it turned out to be a message from the contact saved as “Melancholy Musician.”
[Saturday at 2 PM, same place.]
It was a secret alternate account.
The Moments page was completely blank, and both the profile picture and WeChat ID were default.
They only contacted her when something came up.
Looks like she had another job this weekend.
Su Li reviewed the notes she had for Melancholy Musician again.
When she got home earlier, she had messaged Chi Qingya to ask if she’d be coming back tonight, but there was still no reply.
Su Li switched to her alternate account and saw that not long ago, Chi Qingya had posted a new update.
Just minutes after Su Li had messaged her.
[Having dinner with my besties, so happy~ We’ll be soul sisters forever!]
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Nine pictures, arranged in a perfect 3×3 grid.
Su Li was already used to this kind of thing and didn’t bother liking the post.
She simply put her phone away in silence.
All she hoped was that when Chi Qingya got back, she wouldn’t get drunk and cause a scene that would wake her up.
Chi Qingya finally came home at eleven.
Her cheeks were slightly flushed. After waving goodbye to her girlfriends, she staggered toward the house.
When she saw the stray kittens meowing nonstop, she kicked over their food bowls without a second thought, scaring the little cats into retreating to their hiding spots.
A smirk appeared on her lips.
She didn’t know why, but when she saw the bowls, they looked oddly familiar—kind of like the ones they used at home.
And those stray kittens—something about them always reminded her of Su Li, which made her want to bully them even more.
She didn’t notice that just as she was heading upstairs, a luxury car slowly pulled up behind her.
The person who got out set the overturned bowls upright and added some more food.
Back in the house, seeing everything in pitch darkness, Chi Qingya suddenly felt a little tense, and her tipsiness faded quite a bit.
Her heart twinged inexplicably.
Too quiet—far too quiet.
The darkness rolled in like a tide, making her instinctively feel as though she was alone at home.
A wave of loneliness swept over her, and she suddenly panicked.
She instinctively thought Su Li had left. The panic hit her hard.
She had grown used to Su Li’s care. She didn’t want to be nice to her, but couldn’t bear to lose her either.
Thinking about how she left Su Li on read felt a bit cruel, and she hesitated, wondering if she should say something.
She imagined Su Li sending that message, then staring at her screen like a helpless little puppy, waiting for a reply… and her heart softened.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, typing and deleting over and over.
In the end, she deleted everything and instead posted in her bestie group chat.
She wanted to get some advice from her friends.
So she asked in the group: What do I do if Su Li might’ve run away from home?
The replies were unanimous cheers.
All her friends were congratulating her on escaping a toxic situation.
The celebration went on for over a minute before it was finally broken by a message from someone nicknamed “Cricket Su Li.”
Suppressing her irritation, Chi Qingya walked to Su Li’s bedroom door.
It was just as quiet inside but to her surprise, the slightly ajar door was glowing with light.
Su Li was still here.
Chi Qingya let out a sigh of relief, but then a surge of nameless anger rushed up.
She felt like Su Li had made a fool of her!
She’d been so worried and Su Li had the nerve to just lie there in bed and sleep?
Rage surged in her chest, and malice followed close behind.
Chi Qingya stormed in, flinging the door open and immediately unleashing a torrent of anger at Su Li, pointing a finger at her and yelling:
“Don’t you know I went out with my girlfriends today?”
“Why weren’t you waiting at the door to greet me? You didn’t even leave the light on for me?”
“It’s pitch black out there! I’m just a drunk, defenseless girl—what if some creep had their eyes on me?”
Facing Chi Qingya’s furious accusations, Su Li said nothing and didn’t even look at her.
If she interrupted her now, Chi Qingya would only get louder, more fired up.
Only after Chi Qingya had finished did Su Li speak, slowly:
“That’s what I used to do. But you said I never did anything around the house, and leaving the lights on when no one’s home was just wasting electricity.”
“And besides, you were just out relaxing. If I’d left the light on, you’d say I was trying to guilt you, making it so you couldn’t even enjoy yourself.”
“I’m only doing what you asked for.”
Hearing Su Li talk back made Chi Qingya even angrier.
“That was then, this is now! What are you, a servant?”
“You don’t even have your own opinion? I say jump and you ask how high?”
With that, Chi Qingya slammed the door and stormed off.
And before she even got far, she fired off a message in the group chat, “Su Li played me—she never left at all!”