CH 100

Every time Ruan An’an messaged Gu Jue, she would take some time to admire his profile picture.

The main focus was obviously his beautiful hand – all slender and fair, and punctuated by prominent joints. The cat he was petting had its eyes closed in an expression of bliss. The sun must’ve been shining brightly when he took the picture, as there was a warm orange glow that softened the scene.

Back when she had just met Gu Jue, she mentioned his profile picture to Jiang Yi and Yin Yuan, who then joked, “Haven’t you heard, 9 out of 10 cat profile pictures are f̲u̲c̲k̲b̲o̲y̲s?”

That, of course, was just a joke. After staring at the picture so much though, Ruan An’an developed a strong intuition that Gu Jue really liked that cat.

She had intentions of asking him about the cat since Gu Jue didn’t seem like the kind of person who would own one.

He disliked anything fussy and never did anything extra. During the training mock competitions, Gu Jue’s part never showed any unnecessary steps. He was probably also the type of student in high school whose math solutions were even shorter than the answer sheet’s version.

But every time the couple were together, there was always something else, so she never got a chance to ask about the cat.

To think that he brought it up himself.

It was in the form of an invitation to visit the cat at his place.

So, was the emphasis on his cat or… his place?

“I’ll go! I love cats,” Ruan An’an’s eyes fluttered, “When?”

“Anytime.”

Gu Jue suddenly realized how desperate he sounded, so he added, “Let’s do the weekend, weekdays… my tutoring goes late.”

Ruan An’an: “How about this Saturday?”

“Sure.” Gu Jue released his breath. The cat sure was effective.

It was almost the end of class. Those who were playing basketball were slowly making their way back to the assembly point. The couple also stood up from their bench.

Gu Jue held her hand and said, “Saturday afternoon, then. I’ll come pick you up at school.”

He still needed to familiarize himself with the roads between University C and the apartment complex. It was too far for walking but too close to ride the subway… Gu Jue was listing out all the possibilities in his head when he heard Ruan An’an’s voice.

“This counts as a social call, right…?” She asked, “Then, I should bring a token of appreciation for your cat, shouldn’t I? What does he like to eat or play with?”

Gu Jue thought about that dumb cat’s luxurious toys, custom-ordered luxurious cat bed, and the drying machine for after baths… He was living the epitome of the cat high life.

Gu Jue considered his words carefully, “… He’s not too into toys and just eats the regular cat food. I have everything, so you don’t need to buy anything.”

As if. He rolled his eyes inwardly.

That dumb cat’s poop and farts wouldn’t be nearly as smelly if he ate anything of the “regular” sort.

Ruan An’an took his words at face value. “I follow a lot of cat owners on Weibo, they all have so many toys at home… In comparison, your cat sounds so low maintenance.”

Gu Jue: “… Yeah.” So low maintenance, that cat is living like a king.

Ruan An’an had always thought owning a pet required a lot of time and effort. Dogs needed to be walked, and cats played with. No matter the type, they all required a certain amount of your time. Plus, cats generally disliked the outdoors and stayed indoors for all their activities, meaning that you also had to take care of their excrement…

Upon that thought.

“—Pft.”

Ruan An’an couldn’t help herself and released a single note of laughter.

Gu Jue turned to eye her.

He was much taller than her. From this typical “boyfriend perspective”, his girlfriend was pursing her lips, her face was small, her eyes curved, and her lashes long and curled.

Gu Jue didn’t know if it was the rose-tinted glasses, but every time he saw her smile, his heart went soft and mushy. It was an uncontrollable feeling. One that he had only felt for her his entire life.

Gu Jue squeezed her hand, “What’s so funny?”

Ruan An’an shook her head, “Nothing, I was just imagining you cleaning his litter…” At this point, she could no longer hold back her laughter, “Hahaha… Gu God scooping cat poop, that image is just hilarious…”

“…”

Speaking of poop.

Dummy the Cat’s poop was horrendously smelly. Originally, in the condo Gu Jue owned on Binjiang Road, there was a room specifically designated as Dummy’s toilet, complete with its own ventilation, air purifier, and such.

But the new place he bought was too small and had no spare room. It would also seem over the top if he added all that stuff…

… F̲u̲c̲k̲, I have no solution for it right now.

Ruan An’an hadn’t noticed Gu Jue’s sudden silence.

She used her free hand to check the calendar on her phone. “There aren’t many classes after this week. I have exams tomorrow and the day after… You only have tomorrow?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Does our Teacher Gu still have to do tutoring every day?”

“Monday to Friday.”

“Ah,” Ruan An’an flipped to the next page, “After the midterms, around the end of December, the Game Championship officially starts… that’s a bit over a month from now.”

Gu Jue’s mind finally moved on from “what do I do about Dummy’s stinky poops”, and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you nervous already?”

“…Who said I’m nervous?” Ruan An’an locked her phone, rebutting, “I was simply noting the timeline. Where did you get nervous from?”

Ruan An’an put on a straight face, raised his hand, and patted it in what she assumed to be a “cool brother” manner, “Don’t worry. I’ve promised you since the beginning, I’ll carry you. You can just…” Ruan An’an trailed off, unable to say the next part.

To save face, she cleared her throat and forced it out, “Uh-hm… You can just lay there.”

Her voice had gotten quiet, gone was her confidence.

How was Gu Jue able to say it so fluently, with a straight face, and all close to her ear… It was clear she was nowhere near his level.

Just moments ago, he even did the countdown kiss. The worse part? He gave her time to prepare but struck her with a kiss when she wasn’t expecting it.

… How unruly!

They weren’t far from the assembly point. The two Finance classes had Phys Ed together, so there was a decent gathering there already. Ruan An’an didn’t notice the people, though. She was in her own world, recalling certain details. She bit her bottom lip subconsciously but was brought back by a mirth-filled voice beside her.

Gu Jue had halted his steps, stopping Ruan An’an with him. He, then, raised his hand to her ear.

“What are you…” he teased, “thinking about, getting all red in the ear?”

“…”

Ruan An’an was held by the hand, standing there with no time to react. She could only watch as the person in front of her began his act again.

Gu Jue’s fingertips were cold. After touching her ear for three seconds, he quickly withdrew his hand as if burnt.

“Hiss…” He even blew on his fingers, “that burned.”

“…”

“Why did your ear get so red? And this burning hot?” Gu Jue’s smiling face approached hers, “My girlfriend, would you like to share what was on your mind?”

Ruan An’an: …

No, I would not. I would like to swear instead.

Her ear might be warm, but he was exaggerating too much!

“I wasn’t thinking about anything. This is my ear’s normal temperature. If you think it’s burning,” Ruan An’an stared at him expressionlessly, “Teacher Gu, maybe your precious hands are too delicate for your own good.”

Gu Jue’s favorite thing about teasing her was her reactions to her thoughts being revealed.

First, she gets mad with embarrassment. Then, she suppresses that anger and inwardly grumbles about him. And at last, she stiffens her face and throws out a bunch of words to silence him.

Every time, at this point, her eyes were glowing with fire. It was amusing to the anger she hid behind the uncaring façade.

Gu Jue chuckled. He was planned to soothe her with some gentle words, but he noticed a few familiar figures in his peripheral.

In the gathering not far from them, stood the basketball players from International Trade. One of whom Gu Jue was well-acquainted with – the one who had asked Gu Jue to pass his number to Ruan An’an, which was ruined by something Gu Jue made-up about sweaty palms. The guy’s name was Liu Ke or something.

Coincidentally, those from International Trade also noticed the couple. Someone tapped on Liu Ke’s should and pointed over.

Gu Jue looked away.

Out in public, with plenty of onlookers, Gu Jue pulled on her hand, making her stumble a step forward. Then, there was a cold sensation on her cheek.

[Topic] # Can’t even escape RuanGu even in Phys Ed class… It was when we were gathering as well, tsk tsk, Gu God must’ve done it on purpose! #

1F[OP]: So we just had Phys Ed.

Just before class ended, we got about half of both classes gathered at the assembly point. Gu God also walking over with his girlfriend.

It was all good and normal until the pair suddenly stopped in their tracks. Gu God touched his GF’s ear, they said something, then, smack, a kiss.

… We all know who kissed whom, obviously.

I’m a science student, so forgive my bland recounting. I don’t have photos either. Use your imaginations, everyone QwQ

PS: There’s a guy in our class, decent-looking, the kind of cluelessly straight guy who’s never heard of the forums. So, obviously he didn’t know about his goddess being taken. And today, after witnessing the kiss, he became depressed. (/heartbroken)

Ruan An’an saw this post on the car ride to the Lin estate.

She didn’t pay attention to the postscript, so she never realized that the “rival” was the same person who gave her a slip of paper last time, which was destroyed by her boyfriend under the excuse of “sweaty palms”.

After some skimming, she found the replies were all similar. Some wanted to join their Phys Ed class, some asked for a live stream the next time they had Phys Ed, and others wanted to find love as well.

She wouldn’t even have seen the post if not for Qiu Yan sharing it.

Qiu Yan didn’t see it in person and was exclaiming her regrets. She posted in their “Hope of the Towns” group chat and pinged Gu Jue, asking him to make sure she was present the next time he was giving a public showing.

Gu Jue had always known Qiu Yan to be one of the biggest shippers on the forum. He liked to spoil his shippers, so he immediately replied with “Definitely.”

“…” F̲u̲c̲k̲ the definitely.

Ruan An’an sent a reaction: [don’t do this to me.jpg]

In the beginning, Ruan An’an was very uncomfortable with public displays of affection.

But while the discomfort was one thing, how she felt about it was another. After all, you need to have affection before you can show it off. For Gu Jue, the distant and cold type of hottie, the showier and more affectionate he was, the more the onlookers gawked with amazement, the sweeter it seemed, and the more it showed… how much he must’ve liked her.

As one of the parties involved, she could feel it more clearly than anyone else.

So, every time Gu Jue starts one of his antics, her body reacts on its own to reject it, but inwardly, she was getting butterflies. That bit of anger stemmed from being caught off-guard, but what was obviously more was the sweetness and pleasant surprise.

Ruan An’an leaned against the back of the chair, analyzing herself. She concluded with two words.

… Drama queen.

A woman in love! Becomes such a drama queen!!!

TL/N:

Hey babes, don’t worry, I didn’t disappear. Life happened, but we’re back now. I’m also thinking of streaming my translation process just because. I wonder if any of you would come to watch.

Trust me when I say the first visit to Gu Jue’s place is A BOMB! I won’t say anything else though, so I don’t spoil anything. Look forward to it, I should be able to get to that point this week!