The kitten temporarily stayed in the dormitory like this.
In the corner near the balcony, Yu Xun and Yun Ci made a simple home for the cat using a cardboard box and old scarves that they no longer wore.
“Any scarf will do,” Yu Xun said while looking for scarves, “except the white one.”
Following his words, Yun Ci saw the familiar white scarf that Yu Xun had worn before: “…”
At this moment, Luo Sifang asked, “Why not? What’s special about this one?”
Yu Xun replied, “I particularly like it.”
“……”
Luo Sifang, acting like the inquisitive type, wanted to ask more questions.
Yun Ci interrupted him from behind with a water bowl, “Move, put this down.”
Luo Sifang stepped aside, forgetting what he was about to say after being interrupted.
But as he stood aside, watching the two of them make a nest for the cat—these two rarely got together, and now the two tall guys were squatting in the corner, putting aside their differences to work on the same task.
They were afraid of being too rough, so their movements were cautious.
Luo Sifang thought to himself, just for this effect, the cat should stay in the dormitory.
In the evening, the other dorm mates returned one after another.
A few people squatted by the cat’s nest, discussing.
Peng Yiyuan: “I still have a lot of my living allowance left this month, should I allocate some for it?”
Wang Zhuang: “I have no money, but I can give some love.”
Liu Sheng: “It’s sleeping, so cute.”
Finally, the topic turned to a serious and urgent matter: “But isn’t there going to be a dorm inspection this week?”
The lights were already out when Luo Sifang, lying in bed, said, “They said there would be an inspection, but the student council likes to do surprise checks, so we don’t know the exact day or if there will be anyone in the dorm during the check.”
Nanyang University’s dorm inspections were irregular, but there were some unwritten rules; they typically happened once a week. If no one was in the dorm, they would directly use a key to unlock the door, emphasizing the element of surprise.
So, dealing with the dorm inspection became an issue.
Lying down, Yun Ci thought about it, and the only solution he could think of was to find someone willing to adopt the cat and send it away before the inspection.
At that moment, a voice came from the lower bunk.
“I have an idea.”
Yu Xun sounded a bit sleepy, his voice drowsy yet still casual: “…But it might not work, I’ll give it a try.”
The next day, the traffic in and out of dorm 608 increased.
Yu Xun began inviting people from nearby dorms to come play with the cat. People from the neighboring dorm came in groups, and a bunch of big guys exclaimed at the sight of the kitten, “Wow, you actually have a cat in your dorm—”
Yun Ci happened to be in the dorm, a book spread open before him.
Yu Xun seemed to know what he was thinking and said, “They’ll leave in a bit, they won’t bother you for too long.”
Yun Ci: “Your solution is to let everyone know we have a cat, so the student council won’t need to check?”
After saying that, he felt that the phrase “we have” sounded odd, so he pressed his lips together, pretending he hadn’t said anything.
Leaning against the desk, Yu Xun also noticed those two words, then said, “No.”
He explained, “The six of us might not be able to hide it, but if the people from the few nearby dorms and the dorm across all join in, what’s the chance of hiding a cat with dozens of people?”
“I’m not saying it’s a hundred percent,” he said, “but it’s certainly better than the odds with just six people.”
…
This guy really knew how to hide things.
How could he always come up with such crazy ideas?
“Yu-ge, what’s the cat’s name? Does it have one?” Someone asked while playing with the cat.
Yu Xun seemed to be waiting for this question: “Yes.”
Yun Ci closed his eyes, wanting to cover his ears, not wanting to hear that name.
Fortunately, these people didn’t quite understand the word, so as it got passed around, the cat’s name turned into “Yu Chichi.” Later, people from neighboring dorms even introduced the cat to others, saying, “This cat, Yu Chichi, I guess it’s named that because it likes to eat fish, isn’t that cute?”
“Yu Chichi1(鱼吃吃) 鱼 eans fish and 吃 mean eat? Cats eat fish, makes sense.”
“……”
That day, Liu Zi also came to see the cat. The cat’s presence in the dorm was like some sort of precious circulating currency, giving a sense that whoever had the cat had the upper hand.
He rarely entered without a sideways glance and didn’t target Yun Ci, presumably for the cat’s sake.
And Liu Zi showed rare tenderness, “What’s it called?”
Yu Xun: “Yu Ci Ci.”
As a student deeply involved in the struggle between the two factions at West High, Liu Zi instantly understood the name.
He considered it and actually approved: “Not bad.”
…
Yun Ci didn’t understand what was ‘not bad’ about it.
Wouldn’t normal people find it strange?
Until late afternoon, when Li Yan made a video call: “Where’s the cat? Let me see, is it still in the dorm?”
Li Yan’s roommate had been battling the flu, so he reduced his visits to the dorm, but as a cat lover with three cats at home, he insisted on seeing it.
Yun Ci, answering the call, cursed under his breath: “Shit.”
Li Yan: “What’s up!”
Yun Ci: “Why are you making a video call?”
He and Li Yan had never done this before.
Li Yan’s big face was right up against the phone, his once-dyed yellow hair now black again, and he grinned, “To see the cat, of course! How can I not make a video call to see the cat?”
“…I don’t want to.”
Yun Ci said as he flipped the camera to show the cat’s nest in the corner: “Three seconds, and then I’m hanging up.”
When he said three seconds, he meant three seconds.
Not a second more.
After three seconds, he hung up immediately.
Li Yan sent a voice message instantly, yelling in it: “…Three seconds, I couldn’t see a thing! What color is it?!”
yc: [White.]
Li Yan: [?]
yc: [The color.]
yc: [You said you couldn’t see, so I’m telling you.]
Li Yan: [Thanks, you’re so kind.]
But as a dedicated cat lover, Li Yan was insistent: [But today, I must see it with my own eyes.]
[Li Yan is inviting you to a video call…]
“Aren’t you annoying?” Yun Ci answered.
Li Yan yelled in the video, “Why can’t you just let me see it?”
“……”
“It’s so cute. Once our dorm is unlocked, I’ll come over,” Li Yan said in a loving tone while watching the cat. Then he asked the same question everyone else had, “What’s its name?”
Yun Ci: “……..”
Yun Ci: “It doesn’t have a name.”
Li Yan: “You’re lying. I saw it on social media; you three posted about it with different names. What’s its real name?”
Li Yan: “Especially that guy named Yu; his post said it was called Yu Ci Ci.”
Someone else repeated the name “Yu Ci Ci.”
Yun Ci felt numb again.
Then Li Yan paused subtly and gave his opinion: “…That name.”
Despite feeling numb, Yun Ci’s heart skipped a beat, worried Li Yan might realize something.
Li Yan gritted his teeth, his anger almost palpable through the screen: “What a schemer, naming it to overshadow you. It should be called Yun Xun Xun. Why should it have his surname and not ours? Why don’t you fight him over it? Can you tolerate that name?”
Yun Ci: “…………”
“I’m hanging up.”
Yun Ci hung up the video call again.
Li Yan: [You really don’t want to video call with me.]
Li Yan: [After all these years of being friends.]
He just didn’t want to.
Yun Ci realized this very clearly, and then he realized another thing just as clearly: but when he video-called Yu Xun, he didn’t hang up.
*
On the day of the dorm inspection, the entire dormitory was in chaos.
Luo Sifang: “They’re inspecting! Move the cat to 610 for now. From now on, keep an eye on the student council’s movements. Once they finish with us, someone can go to 610 to bring the cat back.”
Wang Zhuang said, “You mean moving the cat back and forth.”
“Don’t say that,” Peng Yiyuan said, hiding his contraband electronics, “Yu-ge’s method is actually pretty good. Now the whole floor is helping us hide the cat.”
For the first time, Yun Ci saw this approach: the entire floor working together for a single cat.
The mastermind was sitting in a chair, legs crossed, hands in his pockets, looking unconcerned.
When the student council came in, someone questioned the bowl in the corner: “Why is this bowl here?”
Yun Ci stood in front of the bowl, nudging it inward with his foot, and said, “Exams are coming up.”
Student council: “?”
Yun Ci: “It’s for good luck. Ensures we pass.”
Yu Xun chimed in from the side, “Yeah, we consulted an online master about it.”
The student council member looked again and again, thinking he had discovered something suspicious, but in the end, he said, “I remember you. Uncle. I was the one filming during orientation that day.”
Yun Ci: “…”
“Since we’re old acquaintances,” Yun Ci said expressionlessly, resigned to the small world they lived in, “Wrap up the inspection and move on.”
The student council member, holding a form, finished his check and marked 608 as cleared: “Alright, this one’s fine, no issues.”
[Yu Chichi is in 610 now.]
[Reporting, 610 is safe, already inspected.]
[Are you done yet? You can come get it after the inspection.]
[……]
Yu Xun looked at his phone, replied, then looked up at Yun Ci and said, “We can go get the cat now.”
“?”
Yun Ci didn’t know where the “we” slipped out from.
Yu Xun: “You and I should go. In case anything happens, we can cover for each other.”
Yun Ci: “There are others.”
Yu Xun: “They’re all busy.”
Saying this, he pointed dramatically at Peng Yiyuan, “—Look at Peng Shao, busy sitting in the chair resting.”
“…”
How was that busy?
But since he was the one who found the cat, he felt responsible for getting it back. So in the end, the two of them went to 610 together.
The boys’ dorms were all pretty much the same, and 610 was messier than theirs. The boys didn’t like tidying up; their stuff was piled everywhere, leaving hardly any space to walk.
In this dorm, even without hiding, the student council probably couldn’t find the cat at a glance.
“Here? Everything’s under control,” said a glasses-wearing boy, “As you can see, with our messy dorm, we’re perfectly safe—”
The word “safe” had barely left his mouth.
A noise came from outside the dorm, footsteps approaching, maybe three or four people. The one in front said, “Let’s check 610 again; their dorm is too messy, lots of stuff, easy to miss things.”
“……”
Utter silence.
Yun Ci, there to get the cat: “Hmm, safe.”
Yu Xun, also there to get the cat: “Very safe.”
The glasses boy was a bit embarrassed: “…So what do we do now.”
He added, “And with you two suddenly here, it might raise suspicion. You two should hide too.”
“How about,” he thought for a moment and suggested, “you two hide in the wardrobe with the cat?”
The dorm had standard wardrobes, barely enough to fit two people.
In an urgent situation, they didn’t have time to come up with a better plan. Before Yun Ci could think of a better response, he was already being pulled into the wardrobe by Yu Xun.
As the wardrobe door closed, the student council pushed open the dorm door: “Inspection.”
The space inside the wardrobe was very dark.
Airtight, with thin air.
After a few breaths, Yun Ci smelled a faint scent of soap from the other person.
The cat was cradled in Yun Ci’s arms, soft to the touch, but his elbows and knees were pressing against something hard.
…
It was Yu Xun’s waist and legs.
With no support in the wardrobe, Yu Xun’s hand was against the wardrobe door.
This position made it seem like he was holding the cat, and Yu Xun was holding him.
After a moment, Yun Ci couldn’t help but whisper, “You, move over.”
Yu Xun’s voice was also low.
His eyes were on the crack of the wardrobe, deliberately not looking at Yun Ci. When he spoke, his Adam’s apple moved: “Can’t move.”
“It’s a small space,” he said, “If you don’t believe me, feel around.”
Feel around.
“…”
Yu Xun added, “I mean, see if there’s any extra space, not that I don’t want to move over.”
“Although I don’t mind.”
His tone lifted slightly, but his wrist resting on the wardrobe door was very stiff: “Another type of feeling around is also fine.”
“…”
Yun Ci slowly closed his eyes.
He might as well, right now, immediately, kick open the wardrobe door and leave with the cat.
