In the end, the four people from 602 Dormitory all crowded into her room to sleep, while the three girls slept in her father and mother’s room.
However, aside from the sleeping arrangements, Song Qiuyu and Jiang Xiao both had another pressing matter to handle. It was the bag containing certain… trash. They had to throw it away.
They exchanged a look, and both of them made up their minds.
“Sorry for the trouble, Old Song,” Xie Zhuran said, still looking world-weary.
“It’s nothing!” Song Qiuyu shook her head.
“But Qiuyu, your house doesn’t have enough bedsheets for all of us to sleep separately. How about this?” Lin An said after some thought. “On the guys’ side, you and Old Jiang can sleep on the bed, while Old Xie and I sleep on the floor.”
“As for Xia Qi and the girls…”
“The three of us can just sleep on the bed together, right?” Xia Qi turned to look at Sang Tian and Jiang Li, blinking as she spoke.
Both Sang Tian and Jiang Li agreed.
Upon seeing this, four of them fell into a brief silence. Sure enough, there was a big difference between girls and boys. The boys couldn’t accept squeezing onto one bed at all, unless there was absolutely nowhere else to sleep.
“Then it’s settled!”
“You guys sit for a bit while I go tidy up the two rooms!”
Song Qiuyu didn’t dare delay.
She walked into her bedroom alone and immediately began searching thoroughly, not letting even the furthest corners go. After a good look and confirming there were no mistakes, she finally dared to open the closet and start setting up the floor mats.
Once she finished, she immediately opened the door to let Lin An and the others in, then headed straight to her parents’ room to check it. She had already informed her parents in advance, though she hadn’t received a reply yet.
By the time she was finished, the night was already deep.
“Jiang Xiao, want to go throw out the trash with me?” Song Qiuyu asked as planned.
“Sure.” Jiang Xiao followed suit, picking up the slightly heavy trash bag.
“Old Song, why don’t you let me throw that out?” Xie Zhuran offered proactively.
“No, no, it’s fine!” Song Qiuyu firmly refused once more. “You’re tired from the trip, go get some sleep!”
Xie Zhuran stared at the trash bag his two roommates were carrying, his gaze persistent.
“I really don’t need help!” Song Qiuyu was getting a bit anxious.
“Alright then.” Xie Zhuran hung his head, looking even more world-weary.
“Uh…” Song Qiuyu bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm. “If you really want to do something, Old Xie, how about you make breakfast tomorrow morning?”
Xie Zhuran’s eyes instantly lit up.
***
After successfully convincing Xie Zhuran, Song Qiuyu proceeded to decline the kindness of the others one by one. She then carried the trash down the mottled stairwell.
Jiang Xiao followed behind her. Recalling everything that had happened today, he suddenly let out a chuckle for some reason.
“What are you laughing at?” Song Qiuyu turned and gave Jiang Xiao a playful glare.
“You knew that letting Xie Zhuran stay would only make our situation more difficult, yet you still took him in,” Jiang Xiao said, his smile not fading.
“He’s my bro, after all,” Song Qiuyu laughed as well. “If you were the one making the decision today, would you have taken them in?”
Hearing this, Jiang Xiao couldn’t help but laugh and nod. If it were him, he probably would have agreed too.
A moment later, after throwing away the trash, Song Qiuyu stretched her limbs slightly and started walking back with Jiang Xiao.
“Jiang Xiao.” Climbing the stairs, she thought about how everyone had gathered at her house today and couldn’t help but frown. Taking them in was one thing, but whether they had come here with another purpose was a different story entirely. “Do you think Old Xie and the others…”
“Hmm?” Jiang Xiao instinctively looked at her.
Immediately after, his sharp eyes spotted a somewhat chubby white cat crouching in the hallway not far ahead.
“Xi’er, I remember you saying the white cat you photographed before belonged to your neighbor?”
“Yes, why?” Song Qiuyu hadn’t seen the white cat yet. She was looking down at the steps, suddenly feeling a bit bashful, and couldn’t help but scratch the back of her neck.
‘If Jiang Xiao really likes cats that much, then we can just raise one in the future. At most one. Any more, and I won’t be able to manage!’
“Is it that one?” Jiang Xiao pointed at the white cat ahead.
Song Qiuyu froze. Feeling puzzled, she looked up.
Huh?
When she inadvertently made eye contact, she felt as if the large cat was looking at them with disdain, or perhaps some other indescribable feeling. She couldn’t help but slow her pace. She had never felt this way before. Usually, she would just scoop it up and pet it without a second thought.
She didn’t think much more of it and tilted her head. “It’s so late and it’s still outside. Did it sneak out while the neighbor wasn’t looking?”
“Let’s drop it off on our way back.” Jiang Xiao tentatively approached the white cat.
The white cat suddenly let out a soft meow and tilted its large face up. When he was close enough, it actually proactively rubbed its face against Jiang Xiao’s leg!
Seeing this, Song Qiuyu was stunned, a look of surprise appearing on her cute face. This cat had never been this clingy with her!
She watched as Jiang Xiao crouched down, scratched the cat’s chin, and patted its head. The white cat looked like it was enjoying every second of it, meowing happily.
Song Qiuyu reminisced for a moment. Every time she petted the cat, its meows seemed a bit… perfunctory? Uh, why was that?
With a casual glance, she noticed the white cat’s noticeably large belly. Her eyes darted around as she realized the truth.
Right, this was a female cat, and it seemed to be pregnant!
Even if all humans were just poop scoopers in a cat’s eyes, was there still a hierarchy of classes and status?
Jiang Xiao was certainly handsome, but she, Song Qiuyu, and Qia’er weren’t bad either!
As she watched Jiang Xiao pet the cat, she unconsciously pouted and crossed her arms. The more she looked, the more annoyed she became. Then, she couldn’t help but burst out with a curse in her heart.
‘Dammit, do you have to sound so pleased?!’
“Qia’er, this cat really is well-behaved!” Jiang Xiao turned around with a smile. Then he saw that Song Qiuyu was still standing two steps away, staring death stares at the cat as if she were about to hiss at it.
“Xi’er?”
“Let’s hurry and get it back!” Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth and stepped forward. With a swift movement, she carefully picked up the white cat from the ground. Since the cat was pregnant, she had to be careful.
Sure enough, the white cat followed up with a reluctant meow. It seemed it would rather be held by Jiang Xiao than her.
“Qia’er, it seems this cat likes me more?” Jiang Xiao saw the problem at a glance and deliberately furrowed his brows. “And it looks quite heavy. Why don’t I carry it? I’m worried it might suddenly hiss at you!”
“I — am — not — afraid!” Song Qiuyu said, emphasizing every word.
Having said that, she carried the fat white cat and continued up the stairs.
Jiang Xiao watched her for a few seconds before following. “You don’t seem to like this cat very much?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Very obvious.”
“Oh.”
“But why doesn’t Xi’er like it?”
After holding it in for a long time, Song Qiuyu finally squeezed out a sentence: “You really are popular with girls. Even female cats like you.”
“Is that a compliment?” Jiang Xiao arched an eyebrow.
He reached out to pat her head, but she stopped and turned around, holding the white cat up to block her face and stop him from touching her.
Human and cat stared at each other.
“…”
“Heh…”
“Was that meow just now from you, Xi’er?”
“No, it was the cat!”
The white cat remained silent. Looking at the two foolish humans playing around, its cat face sagged, and a certain evil thought took shape in its mind.
‘The poop scoopers for my future kittens have been decided. It’s you two.’
‘Heh heh heh.’
The neighbor was an 80-year-old lady. Her daughter-in-law and son were currently working out of town and hadn’t returned yet, so she was the only one home for the time being.
After they returned the white cat, they prepared to leave, but the kind old lady insisted on stuffing their hands with candies and peanuts. The old lady seemed to have bought a lot; she gave them so many that their jacket and pants pockets were filled to the brim.
What was more important, however, was the strange, indescribable look the white cat gave them as they left.
Neither of them thought too much about it and went straight back to the house next door.
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