Chapter Twenty-Four: The Ball of Fur

  Su Qi Ruo's symptoms of body aches improved gradually after resting for over ten days, but she still couldn't withstand intense physical activity. Fortunately, attending classes and self-study sessions no longer required Lu Ke to escort her, making Su Qi Ruo feel that her life was slowly returning to normal.

  Su Qi Ruo went to the self-study room at the agreed time with Lu Ke, meow...meow...where did this cat come from? Su Qi Ruo looked around and saw a cute little black ball of fur crawling towards her. The little ball of fluff stumbled and fell as it approached Su Qi Ruo. When Su Qi Ruo stopped moving, the little ball quickly rolled over and stretched out its fluffy paws to scratch at Su Qi Ruo's pant leg. "Little kitty, are you hungry?"

  Meow... Meow... The little cat climbed onto Su Qi Ru's feet, looking up at her with pitiful eyes. Su Qi Ru was so touched by the little cat that she couldn't help but scoop it up in her arms, stroking its soft and adorable fur. The gentle sensation made Su Qi Ru reluctant to stop. The little cat seemed to be enjoying Su Qi Ru's touch as well, closing its eyes and snuggling into her chest without moving. Su Qi Ru held the little cat for a while, then reluctantly put it back down on the ground. "Little cutie, I have to go to the study room now, you should go find your owner too. You're so adorable, if they can't find you, they'll be heartbroken!"

  Meow meow meow... As soon as Su Qi Ruo left, the little cat followed behind her, running and calling out, seemingly saying to Su Qi Ruo nonstop, "Don't leave me behind, don't leave me behind." Xiao Mao Tuan's pitiful cries kept echoing in Su Qi Ruo's ears, making Su Qi Ruo somewhat unable to bear it. She stopped and turned around to look at it, and Xiao Mao Tuan looked up at her with tears welling up in its eyes.

  Su Qi Ruo thought to herself, "This isn't even my own cat, no matter how much I like it, I shouldn't take someone else's property, that's called stealing!" She steeled her heart and continued walking, but Xiao Mao Tuan refused to give up, following Su Qi Ruo with all its might whether she walked fast or slow.

  The little ball of fur followed Su Qi Ru for a while, stumbling and staggering along the way. Su Qi Ru couldn't bear it anymore and turned around to say, "Don't follow me anymore, go back and find your owner!" Meow... As soon as Su Qi Ru stopped moving, the little ball of fur didn't care what she said and jumped towards her, its four small paws grasping onto Su Qi Ru, afraid that she would abandon it again.

  "What's this?" Su Qi Ruo was defeated by Xiao Mao Tuan, and she squatted down to pick him up again. Xiao Mao Tuan happily squeezed into her arms.

  "What are you doing?" Lu Ke had been waiting for Su Qi Ruo in the self-study room for a long time, but after waiting for a while, he didn't see Su Qi Ruo coming. Lu Ke was worried that something might have happened to her and immediately came out to look for her, but unexpectedly, Su Qi Ruo was standing near the teaching building, and suddenly a thread of anger rose in his heart.

  "It's nothing." Su Qi's tone softened a lot when she saw Lu Ke's unpleasant expression.

  Lu Ke Xi's eyes glanced at the little cat in Su Qi Ruo's arms, his face even colder. He took two steps forward and swiftly picked up the little ball of fur and threw it out. Poor Su Qi Ruo hadn't had time to react when she saw the little ball of fur tumbling through the air, becoming a small black dot that disappeared into the horizon.

  "You're crazy! Throwing out a little cat like this will kill it!"

  "Cats have nine lives, they can't die!"

  "You believe this? Are you crazy?"

  "Do I have a problem?" Lu Ke gritted his teeth and repeated Su Qiruo's words.

  "Uh..." Su Qi's words had barely left her lips when she suddenly felt the air around her grow cold, and vaguely sensed the ominous aura emanating from Lu Ke.

  "Say it again!" Lu Ke stepped closer and closer to Su Qi Ruo, each step adding a thousand pounds of pressure on her heart.

  "What are you doing?! Shi Ruiwen was also waiting for Su Qiruo in the self-study room, and when he saw Lu Ke rushing out anxiously, he followed him out of concern. As a result, he saw two people facing off with swords drawn. Wasn't Su Qiruo usually gentle? What got into her to provoke someone like Lu Ke? Just as Shi Ruiwen was wondering, he saw something moving in the bushes. Curious, he temporarily ignored Lu Ke and Su Qiruo's argument and pounced on the hidden thing in the bushes. Unexpectedly, a small cat appeared before his eyes. It was so small it couldn't even fill a gap between teeth, but it looked quite cute. Taking it back to play with should be fun. Shi Ruiwen thought this as he picked up the cat by its neck."

  Su Qi Ruo was at a loss for how to respond under Lu Ke's pressure, and just as she was getting anxious, she saw Yang Rui Wen pop out of nowhere, giving Su Qi Ruo an opportunity to dodge Lu Ke. However, upon closer inspection, Yang Rui Wen was holding something in his hand, and Su Qi Ruo couldn't help but scold him, "You're too ruthless!"

  "Huh?" Shuai Ruwen hadn't understood the meaning of Su Qiruo's words, but before he could react, Su Qiruo had already taken the small cat from his hands and was carefully cradling it in her arms. "You really don't have a kind heart, treating this poor little cat like that."

  The kitten was initially frightened by Xi Ruiwen's rough movements and obediently allowed herself to be carried, completely forgetting to struggle. Now that she had been rescued by Su Qiye and was being held in his arms, this strong contrast was like hell and heaven, no wonder the kitten curled up in Su Qiye's arms and refused to move again.

  Shi Ruwen stared intently at the cat curled up in Su Qi's arms, as if wanting to merge with it. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something and glanced at Lu Ke, who was also staring at the cat with a cold face. Shi Ruwen immediately realized that they had been arguing over this little cat earlier. He quickly came to a conclusion: this little cat is trouble. "Oh dear, you didn't know how to take care of it before! Now you do, let me hold it, I love cute things the most!"

  Shi Ruwen enthusiastically asked to hold the kitten, and Su Qier didn't have a reason to refuse, so she handed it over. However, the kitten seemed to be frightened by Shi Ruwen's roughness and clung tightly to Su Qier's clothes, refusing to let go. Although Shi Ruwen had a smiling face, he also lost his patience due to the kitten's actions. The golden light in his eyes suddenly flashed, and the kitten was scared into releasing its grip, allowing Shi Ruwen to take it away.

  "Good kitty, good kitty!" Shi Ruwen cooed, pampering the little cat, but it still lay on his arm like a stiff corpse, as if waiting for the call of death at any moment.

  "This adorable little cat doesn't seem to know who its owner is. Why don't we put up a notice in the teaching building and return it to its owner when they come looking for it?"

  "I thought it was just a stray cat!"

  "It can't be, there's no way a stray cat could be this clean." The kitten's fur was both smooth and clean, it didn't look like a stray cat at all. "I'll post notices for three days, if no one claims it I'll take it home to raise it."

  Lu Ke's tone was not light, and he suppressed his anger to remind her, "Pets are not allowed in the dormitory."

  "Alas, let me take care of it, I have a place for it." Without waiting for Su Qi to speak, She Ruiwen hastily said, "It's settled then, I'll take it to wash up."

  Su Qi suddenly felt uneasy about Yi Ruiwen's strange behavior and shouted from behind him. "Hey! Why are you running so fast? I need to see it every day!"