Chapter 32: The Cat’s Home
Wen Hupo, in the end, couldn’t be persuaded to stay. Perhaps she had already boarded the plane and didn’t hear Lu Li’s shouts, or perhaps she heard them but didn’t care. In any case, she didn’t stay. Lu Li initially felt regret, regret for his own hesitant feelings, then numbness, and finally, a touch of annoyance towards Wen Hupo. But all these emotions eventually subsided into calmness.
He was taken to an interrogation room by the police. At first, two people in suits questioned him, then two police officers in blue shirts, and then back to the people in suits. The small interrogation room had only one light source above the table. He didn’t know how long the interrogation would last, feeling vaguely like it could go on for a century.
At some point, someone opened the door to the interrogation room and said, “He can go.”
He could go just like that? Lu Li was still dazed from the interrogation. He looked at the person numbly. “I can go?”
“Yes. Someone very important vouched for you.” The person smiled kindly. “It was a misunderstanding. You can leave.”
Who vouched for him? Lu Li first thought of Chu Jingyi, but that wasn’t right. How would Chu Jingyi know he had been arrested? Besides Chu Jingyi, who else had that kind of influence?
“Who?”
“They want you to guess.” The person smiled again, this time with a hint of teasing.
By the time Lu Li walked out of the police station, he still hadn’t seen the “very important person” who had vouched for him. It was as if they were deliberately avoiding him. Would Chu Jingyi do that?
He pressed his temples, still feeling dizzy. The air in the interrogation room was stuffy, the environment oppressive, and the interrogators kept applying pressure. An ordinary middle school student would have been crying for their parents long ago. He checked his phone. It was 7 p.m. Baili had sent a message saying she was spending the night at Jingyi’s place and told him to take care of himself. Those two girls were getting closer and closer.
They definitely couldn’t guess that Lu Li had stormed the airport just to see Wen Hupo one last time, and almost got tasered as a terrorist. It was best not to tell them about this, ever, to avoid worrying them.
Wen Hupo still hadn’t replied, as if she were dead.
Lu Li felt inexplicably irritated. He turned off his phone and hailed a taxi to the school. His laptop was still in the activity classroom.
So, in the end, he couldn’t keep Wen Hupo from leaving? Fine, let her go. But why did she have to say “I actually like you a little” at the end? Was she deliberately trying to make him agonize over it for the rest of his life? For a girl like Wen Hupo to say she liked someone, what did that mean?
Lu Li repeatedly opened Wen Hupo’s chat window, wanting to say something more, but after hesitating for a long time, he didn’t send anything. Saying too much would just make him look like a clown. Wen Hupo herself had chosen to leave without looking back. What else could he say?
The sky was still ominously dark. As he walked out of the school with his laptop, the drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour. In the pouring rain, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, tearing a rift in the dark clouds. Perhaps this lightning was the sky’s way of venting its pent-up frustration after a whole day of suppression.
Lu Li had to take shelter under the school corridor, waiting for the rain to subside. At this time, the school was already empty. Even the most diligent Yi Bao would have gone home before six. The only person who might still be at school was Wen Hupo… Damn it, why was he thinking about Wen Hupo again?
“Meow~”
The sound of a cat.
Lu Li felt something rubbing against his leg. He looked down and saw a small cat with mottled fur. Behind the kitten was a slightly larger cat mother with somewhat dull fur.
Lu Li had spent half a day putting up “Lost Cat” posters for Wen Hupo and was very familiar with Miss Lu’s appearance. He was sure that the kitten rubbing against his leg was the Miss Lu that Wen Hupo had lost. No wonder they couldn’t find her. Her mother must have taken her back, and they had returned to the school.
The stray cats on campus were relatively tame and friendly towards people, probably because they were well taken care of by the students. They wouldn’t run away when they saw people, but would instead approach them, meowing cutely. Lu Li squatted down and gently stroked the kitten. “Why didn’t you come out sooner? Wen Hupo was worried sick looking for you.”
That wasn’t entirely true. If Wen Hupo had come to school regularly, she would have eventually found Miss Lu, who had been brought back by her mother. But unfortunately… fate played tricks.
“Meow~”
Miss Lu meowed, seeming to enjoy Lu Li’s touch.
If only you had appeared a day earlier, no, even half a day earlier…
Lu Li sighed.
The mother cat meowed, seemingly calling for Miss Lu to leave. But Miss Lu meowed back a few times and then sat down on Lu Li’s shoes. Seeing this, the mother cat just turned around and disappeared into the damp bushes.
Lu Li picked up the kitten and smiled with relief. “You’re quite loyal, unlike a certain stubborn woman who just flies back to her country without a second thought. I’ll take care of you from now on.”
The kitten obediently rubbed against Lu Li’s chin, looking incredibly cute.
If only Wen Hupo were this obedient. This thought crossed Lu Li’s mind, and he chuckled self-deprecatingly. If Wen Hupo were this obedient, would she still be Wen Hupo?
The rain subsided slightly. Lu Li quickly hailed a taxi and returned to the low-rent district during the lull between downpours. On the way home, he saw the “Lost Cat” posters he had put up with Wen Hupo, now crumpled and floating on the wet pavement, washed away by the heavy rain. The words on them were blurred: “Beloved X lost at XXXXXXX, please contact XXXX if you have X, reward for XXX useful info XX, generous reward for finding XX cat!”
Unfortunately, she never found Miss Lu in the end. Knowing Wen Hupo’s personality, she would probably remember this for the rest of her life.
“If you had come back earlier, you would have been adopted by a lovely young lady, not carried away by a rough guy like me.” Lu Li poked the kitten’s pink nose.
“Meow~” What was the kitten saying? He didn’t understand. But Lu Li guessed it must be agreeing with him.
He shook his head. He seemed to be obsessed today, always thinking about Wen Hupo no matter what he did. How long would this state last? Baili wasn’t home today, so he would just make some instant noodles for himself… Shrimp and fish cake noodles sounded good.
As he reached the corridor, the rain started pouring again, heavier than before. Raindrops hammered down, creating a deafening roar. A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, followed by a series of thunderclaps. Could the damp air of the south seep into people’s hearts? Could the torrential rain wash away the city? The answers seemed to be the same.
Lu Li suddenly noticed a figure squatting in front of his door, a large suitcase beside them.
Who was it? Lu Li rubbed his eyes.
As he got closer, closer, he rubbed his eyes again.
The blonde girl looked up, clutching her stomach. “You… took so long to come back? I’m starving…”
“You, you?” Lu Li stammered. The kitten in his arms leaped out and jumped into the gentle arms of the young lady. He finally managed to speak clearly. “Didn’t you go back to your country? Why, why are you squatting at my door?”
“…” Wen Hupo’s eyes held a hint of resentment. “Didn’t you say so?”
“I, what did I say?”
“You said, if I were homeless, I should just find a place to squat and wait for a kind person to pick me up.” Her face flushed, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. “Aren’t you going to pick me up?”
At this moment, there was no thunder, but Lu Li’s heart was struck by lightning.
The rain poured down relentlessly, the sound incessant. If Lu Li were to write his autobiography, he would write that on June 6th, he picked up two cats, one named Lu Li, and the other named Wen Hupo.
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