Chapter 17
In the space of a single heartbeat, Ai Qing’s brain fired off a volley of thoughts.
How was he supposed to explain to his parents—and to Grandpa and Grandma—why a girl had suddenly materialised in his bedroom?
Should he co clean about the fact that Xiao Yu could turn human?
And what if “Xiao Yu turning human” was nothing more than his own delusion, visible to no one else? Did that an he actually needed to book an appointnt with a psychologist...?
But when his peripheral vision caught Mom crouched on the ground petting a cat and Grandma topping up the bowls of the skinnier strays with cat-treat sticks as a midday dessert, his lungs unlocked a notch.
He forced himself to stay calm, climbed the courtyard stairs to the second-floor balcony with a perfectly normal expression, then—at the exact angle where Mom and Grandma couldn’t see—sprinted for his bedroom.
Door open. Dash. Arms wide.
He scooped Xiao Yu off the desk in one motion.
A white-haired cat-eared girl wearing nothing but a blue jacket, soft and fragrant against his chest—any red-blooded teenager would have been rattled.
Ai Qing didn’t linger. He set her on the bed, hurried to the window, and checked that neither Mom nor Grandma had glanced up and spotted anything odd.
“ow?”
Xiao Yu lay on her stomach, head tilted, wondering why he’d yanked her down.
She crawled to the edge of the mattress, lowered herself to the floor, shuffled to the chair, and looked ready to climb back up so she could resu gazing out the window.
Ai Qing yanked the curtains shut and pinned the chair-climbing Xiao Yu in place.
“Stay. Sit right there, got it?”
“ow!”
“owing at won’t change a thing.”
He held her for a second, then carried her back to the bed, shut the bedroom door, and fished a can from his backpack. He tapped it with a knuckle—clack-clack.
The cat ears on Xiao Yu’s head snapped upright; she whipped round to stare at the can.
So even in human form she still answered to cat food.
Ai Qing laughed under his breath.
He popped the lid, tipped the food into a cat bowl so the sharp rim wouldn’t nick her tongue, then exhaled and flopped onto the bed, propped on his arms while he watched her clumsy attempt to bend down and eat.
“Should I get a spoon—or chopsticks—and teach you to use your hands?”
Luckily he didn’t have to. In the blink of an eye she shrank from girl to cat and crunched through the canned food.
For the rest of the evening, right up until bedti, Xiao Yu caused no more trouble and behaved like the model kitten she was supposed to be.
Ai Qing knocked out a chapter of his web novel, took a shower, and turned in.
So ti after he’d fallen asleep, a rustle jerked him awake.
He opened his eyes to find the quilt harboring an extra girl again.
Either he was growing immune or simply too groggy to care; he mumbled, “Be good and sleep. No shenanigans,” and drifted off once more.
A soft creak from the door snapped him bolt upright.
Ai Qing shot up in bed, eyes wide.
Xiao Yu was on the floor, front half raised, one paw—now a hand—wrapped round the door handle.
A simple downward tug and—click—the bedroom door swung open.
It... actually opened.
Crap!
He flung off the quilt, leapt out, and pinned the probing cat-girl before she could stick her head into the corridor.
If it had been only that, he wouldn’t have panicked—but light spilled in from the hallway, and voices drifted over from the balcony.
Soone was still awake.
Ai Qing hooked his arms under hers, hauled her back to the bed, then tiptoed to the door, ready to pull it shut.
That was when he caught the conversation from the balcony.
“—yes, yes, I started as a field reporter, later beca a contributing editor.”
“Oh, please, nothing special—just a lot of experience.”
“...Right, that piece was mine, you’ve read it?”
“You flatter ....”
“Next week? No problem at all. I’m free, absolutely free.”
Ai Qing knew that voice. He peeked round the corner and saw Dad—Ai Zhongguo—on the phone, pacing the balcony.
Sounded like a job offer or so sort of collaboration.
Who discusses work after midnight?
Puzzled, he eased the bedroom door closed anyway.
There was nothing he could do about his parents’ careers; he just had to mind his own.
When his web-novel inco could pay the bills and he no longer needed their support—only then would he truly lighten their load.
He shelved the thought and turned back to the bed.
Xiao Yu lay there watching him, gaze flicking to the door handle every few seconds.
He suspected she’d just discovered her new favourite toy.
Plenty of bright cats teach themselves to open doors, but Xiao Yu had always been the docile type—she’d never tried it before.
Did turning human give her brain an upgrade?
He rubbed his temples.
If she figured out how to let herself out, and he wasn’t paying attention...
It wasn’t about control; he simply didn’t trust this silly cat to survive out there alone.
An idea struck him.
He hurried to the desk drawer, rummaged, and pulled out a box emblazoned with the words: [XX Kids Watch Pro Ultra].
He vaguely rembered the gadget: a wedding raffle prize from New Year.
Mom—Yao Qiang—had won third place.
Neither she nor Dad could work a smartwatch, so they’d pald it off on him.
He’d toyed with it for five minutes, then tossed it in the drawer to gather dust.
Now, though...
He looked at Xiao Yu, then at the colourful box, and gave a resigned chuckle.
“Co here, Xiao Yu. Big shiny present for you.”
The watch had a built-in GPS tracker.
If she ever did sneak out, he could pinpoint her location in seconds.
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