Chapter 1: 04. Have I fallen for him?

  For many years afterwards, the cat kept the painting well preserved.

  She always remembered that in this world, there was a big boy named Wei Chi, who had helped her paint and seriously told her that every life is important, even if it's an object that fears the sun, it can still bloom beautiful flowers in secret.

  The cat sat alone by the river for a long time, staring at that painting, wondering what she was thinking about. Finally, she stood up and walked back step by step.

  The screen is still green grass, clear pond, everything is quiet, as if nothing had happened.

  When she returned to the classroom, the students had already left, and only Xiǎo Yīng was sitting quietly in the classroom reading a book. The cherry blossoms were blooming, and the petals were blown by the wind through the window, fluttering and falling onto the pages of her open book.

  She is eleven years old, one year younger than Xiaomiao, and is a gentle girl in character.

  "Is the teacher calling my name today?" The cat sat down beside her and put the drawing on the table.

  "No, just like before, skipped over." Xi Yin's voice was very soft, as if she was always shy. Originally, a girl like her wouldn't have anything to do with Cat Ni, but as the class monitor, Xi Yin would always help her erase her name from the demerit book. Plus, they were also seatmates, so after a long time, they became good friends.

  "I knew it." The cat waved its paw futilely, but in its heart, a sense of desolation arose. I knew that in the eyes of those adults, my existence would never be seen.

  "Right," she said, falling silent for a moment before suddenly opening the painting. "Look." Then, in front of Xi Yin, she recounted everything that had happened this afternoon, and then grabbed Xi Yin's hand: "My heart has never beat so fast, I think... am I falling for him?"

  "But...," Xiǎo Yīng said in a low voice, "he's so much older than you, 4 years!"

  "It's normal," she replied calmly, and after a moment, her face showed helplessness again. "But whether I'll meet him again in the future is still a question." Thinking of this, she really felt a bit sad.

  A flower petal happened to float in from the window and landed on her short hair, Xi Yin looked at her with a hint of inexplicable worry in his eyes.

  "Come on, let's go eat, or it'll be all gone again," the cat carefully put the drawing into the drawer and then pulled Xi Yin out of the classroom quickly, running across the playground towards the small cafeteria.

  The sunset falls on the playground, and the red glow spreads across the entire world. Their running postures are frozen in time, becoming a silhouette of the years.

  They panted and ran to the cafeteria, fortunately, there were still a few portions left, so they each took one and sat down facing each other to eat.

  It's tomato scrambled eggs again, and the cat stirred it with chopsticks, instantly losing her appetite. She looked around and saw a familiar figure. It was the boy under the rose arbor today, and he actually walked into their class's meal area and took the last boxed lunch.

  "Huh? Is that kid in our class? I didn't know." asked Miao Ni, tapping her chopsticks.

  "You didn't come to class, so you wouldn't know. He transferred here this morning, his name is Liang Chen," Xi Yin's tone was slightly different from usual, "Do you know him?"

  There aren't many students, so basically everyone is in one class, regardless of age, and there are only a few teachers.

  So it's no wonder that Liang Chen is in their class, and being a bit cat-like isn't strange at all. It's just... she has an inexplicable interest in him.