CH 102

Dummy’s head is warm, soft, and fuzzy, overall, a treat for the hand.

Gu Jue was zoning out.

Last night, he wondered if she’d be able to recognize this cat once she saw him. He reassured himself that, with Ruan An’an’s memory, there was no way she’d forgotten.

After all, his profile picture was small and didn’t even show Dummy’s full face, so it was only natural to not recognize him from that.

If she had indeed forgotten, then… oh well.

Apparently, he had been worrying needlessly.

She probably didn’t recognize him immediately after laying eyes on him because of how much he had grown over the years, but his name was all it took to remind her. It was only befitting that she was Mommy.

Ruan An’an noticed Gu Jue’s hand very noticeably paused mid-pet after her question.

Then, he turned his head to her and confirmed, “Yes, he’s mine.”

“…”

When you learn of a new fact, if that fact seemed ridiculous for some reason, you would naturally doubt its validity.

Ruan An’an pursed her lips, “Um… can you get him to walk a few steps?” She pointed to the living room, “Anywhere is fine.”

Dummy is very obedient to Gu Jue. Even if he liked to pout and whine to Daddy in private, he always put on a good face for Gu Jue when there were strangers around.

Ruan An’an watched as Gu Jue commanded with his hands, without words, for the cat to walk.

The cat had a moderate figure, being just round enough. While walking, he had a slight limp on his left leg that would normally go unnoticed, but which made his pace not as steady as it should be. But it was just so, that his waddling made him so much cuter.

Ruan An’an had her confirmation. Plus, the more she looked at the cat’s face, the more she could see the familiarity.

The white mark near his eye could still be explained by coincidence, but that was more than proof enough…

She used to take care of him.

She was very familiar with how this poor little guy walked. From when he couldn’t even walk until he recovered enough to run and jump, she had watched over every one of his steps. There was no mistaking it.

Ruan An’an was in utter shock.

How could there be such a massive coincidence?

Her thoughts were a mess. Even when she still remembered everything about Dummy, it was a long time ago and they were getting fuzzy. She was getting confused by the timeline. Staring at Gu Jue, still taking it in, “This cat is really yours…”

She shook her head, “No, no. That’s not what I meant. I want to ask—” She quickly calmed down. “Since when have you had him?”

Gu Jue didn’t reply immediately. He rubbed the cat’s head some more, before pushing himself up on his knee.

“No more squatting.” He used his other arm to hoist Ruan An’an up as well, “Let’s go sit on the couch.”

And so, Ruan An’an followed right behind him.

Neither of them took off their shoes, but neither thought anything of it. Ruan An’an didn’t even take notice of the furniture that Gu Jue had hand-picked. She was still absorbed in memories of “Dummy”, combing through the details, but coming up short on anything relating to Gu Jue.

The place wasn’t big. The front door was only a few paces from the couch. The couple were soon sitting beside each other on the couch.

“I’m a little confused right now…” Ruan An’an watched the orange cat jump onto Gu Jue’s lap with practice. She stammered, “You said he’s your cat… But when I… So, you must’ve picked Dummy up afterward. So, where did you pick him up?”

“No.” Gu Jue rejected her analysis. Leaning back, “He has only ever had two caretakers.”

Ruan An’an was looking down and met Dummy’s eyes. “Huh? Which two?”

“His Mommy and his Daddy.”

“…” Ruan An’an raised her head to look at Gu Jue, “Ha?”

What “Mommy”, what “Daddy”?

“His Daddy,” Gu Jue pointed to himself, “me.” Then pointing to her, “Isn’t his Mommy just you?”

Ruan An’an was taken aback.

Only ever had two caretakers… that means…

Ruan An’an straightened herself. “So when did you get him in the first place? You knew about me picking him up… So, was it before or after my time with him?”

“Before,” Gu Jue said, “earlier than when you met him. From… when he was a stray.”

Dummy wasn’t called Dummy before.

Gu Jue didn’t give him a name at first. He didn’t need a name. He was smart. Merely a hand gesture or a light hum could easily beckon him over.

Ruan An’an wasn’t wrong to assume that Gu Jue wasn’t a pet person.

If owning a pet was equated to trading time and effort for joy and satisfaction, Gu Jue would rather forgo that bit of joy and not spend the time and effort.

Dummy coming into his possession was all an accident.

When Gu Jue first laid eyes on him, the kitten was on death’s door.

Gu Jue had vaguely remembered he went to a vocational school or some other school. Either way, it was on his way back from a fight. Around him, his buddies were acting rowdy. When they passed by an alleyway, one of them suddenly commented, “Hey look, is that a kitten over there? It looks almost dead. F̲u̲c̲k̲, what a poor thing…”

Someone immediately rebutted, “What if it’s pitiful? There are plenty of stray cats, are you gonna take them in? Won’t your mom kill you?”

They more or less claimed victory this time, so everyone was in high spirits. Listening to their banter, Gu Jue turned his head for a glance.

That one glance was all it took.

Dummy hadn’t been born for long at that point and was still the size of a baby kitten. He was lying against the wall, barely breathing, looking almost dead.

It was the start of the school year, in autumn. It had just rained recently. The kitten huddled himself into a ball with his back facing the crowd.

Gu Jue didn’t know why he walked closer.

But he did, and he saw the kitten in its entirety. The kitten seemed to notice the sounds of humans and twitched his tiny ears.

“What is Boss Gu doing? Don’t touch it. It’s a stray cat. Dirty.” Someone said from behind him.

Gu Jue wasn’t a severe germaphobe. It was true that he liked things clean, but that didn’t seem to matter in that moment.

He bent down and felt the kitten’s body temperature.

It felt warm.

Many people have a soft spot in their hearts that would feel bad when they come across something like a video of stray animals. Not Gu Jue wasn’t one of the many. He was unmoved by any video and was nowhere close to being described as “soft”. His buddies even consider him to be heartless.

But when the stone-hearted bigshot that was the School Boss of the 7th High laid eyes on this kitten, he somehow felt a pang of sympathy.

After that day, he had been asked on multiple occasions, why he ended up taking the cat home. It was too unlike him.

Gu Jue never explained anything and simply answered that he felt like it.

As for the actual reason…

They sometimes used weapons in their fights. Short of the gun or knife sort, but they were at least sturdy wooden clubs.

Maybe Gu Jue was too used to holding things that were cold and hard, the moment he felt the cat’s warm body, he couldn’t help thinking that the soft and warm little thing was cute and precious.

Right away, Gu Jue took off his jacket and wrapped the kitten in it, surprising everyone. At the vet clinic, the doctor told him how lucky the timing was. The cat would’ve become a corpse in a few hours.

Maybe animals instinctively understand when they’ve been saved and by whom. The kitten wasn’t close to anyone but Gu Jue after bringing him home.

Dummy as a kitten wasn’t nearly as spoiled. During his youth, he was loving and a good boy, which became a fact that Gu Jue often used to beret the cat later.

Gu Jue, who had always acted as the cool and heartless hardman, secretly became more and more infatuated with the soft little guy that purred and followed him everywhere. Not that he would mention it to anyone.

Dummy, as the younger Gu scion’s new pet, grew in status by the day. In just half a year, he was being treated the same as Gu Ming.

That was, until Gu Jue’s aunt and her family arrived in Qing Cheng half a year later.

The two families were very close. Gu Jue also liked this aunt. His aunt’s family moved into the mansion that was next to the Gu family’s, with connecting courtyards and all. The two families saw each other all the time.

The family name of his aunt’s husband was Qin. There was some mishap with his aunt’s body after giving birth to Gu Jue’s cousin, Qin An. There was little chance of her getting pregnant again. However, this couple had always wanted a daughter, so they ended up adopting a clever little girl, whom they named Qin Su. Since they had her since a baby, she was very much their real daughter.

Gu Jue was close with his older cousin, but not so much with this adopted younger one. After all, he had always been the center of the girls’ attention, making him disinterested in them as a species. He thought all girls were the same: always sticking to him, slow and awkward with their words, and kept blushing for no apparent reason.

Qin Su was the obedient type. She had above-average grades, followed all the rules, was eloquent, and had a face that the adults adored.

But god knows why—

This quiet cousin, who always kept in line, took the chance during Gu Jue’s birthday celebration at home one winter, drunk from the champagne or not, decided to f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲ confess her feelings to him.

Frankly, Gu Jue felt disgusted.

He had almost no interactions with other girls, but he answered any questions Qin Su had, since he acknowledged her as a cousin and wanted to do good for the rest of her family. Whenever she came to him with questions, he did his best to answer her patiently.

To think that she would spring this on him.

Despite the annoyance, he kept quiet about it, but he made sure to distance himself from her as far as possible from then on.

Thinking back on it, Qin Su probably harbored dissatisfaction once he turned cold toward her, which manifested later as lashing out at his cat.

It was during their final confrontations that he found out her feelings ran a lot deeper than he realized. This sensible and soft-spoken young woman developed a strong sense of possessiveness over him. To the point of letting her anger out on a kitten less than a year old.

Gu Jue had gone out camping with his buddies. The reception was poor in the mountains, and there was almost no communication with the outside world. When he stepped back into human society three days later, his phone was bombarded with messages. In summary, his cat was gone.

He thought he merely liked and was used to the presence of the cat at home. However, over the few days, he had the urge, several times, to crack open Qin Su’s head to see what kind of f̲u̲c̲k̲e̲d̲ up s̲h̲i̲t̲ went on in there.

But he didn’t. He couldn’t.

That was his aunt and uncle’s precious little daughter, who apologized profusely in front of the whole family, with tears in her eyes. Everyone told him to calm down. If anything, he could just get another cat.

Gu Jue sneered, “Get another cat so she could lose that one as well? I can’t afford that.”

Qin Su’s face immediately lost its color.

Qin Su explained that it was an accident. Only Gu Jue knew the truth. He didn’t bother with his family’s reactions and left the room.

Dummy was a house cat. Gu Jue almost never took him outside. He didn’t know the way home at all.

That’s why Gu Jue knew… the cat probably wasn’t coming back.

Usually, the cat slept in Gu Jue’s room. Now that the cuddle-demanding little thing was suddenly gone, Gu Jue couldn’t rest well at night.

His days were plagued with memories in the house and nights with insomnia. Add Qin Su’s face into the equation and… Gu Jue applied to board at his school.

When others asked about it, he answered directly that he lost his cat.

After a few days, his buddies said, “Bro, I swear, it’s not a cat that you lost, it’s your wife.”

“Right? Look at him, having no appetite for anything. The School Flower even asked us what happened to you, having lost so much weight.”

Gu Jue offered them a kick, “I f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g̲ lost my son, can’t I be depressed?”

And son, the cat became.

A week later, Gu Jue went to the school next door for a fight. He beat up the weak-a̲s̲s̲ School Boss that was all talk and no bite.

But on the same day. At the neighboring school. He saw the son he had lost for two weeks.

As well as the long-haired girl in a blue-and-white uniform who was feeding his son.

TL/N:

Author’s Notes translated (cuz it’s cute):

Dummy: Daddy! Look! I found you a small wifey!!!

[Live at the scene of “using son to find a wife”]

Dummy: I have done so much for this family. So what if my poops and farts are a bit stinky?

God damn, I love this flashback sequence!!!! Up next is Ruan’s past with Dummy (and how some misconception formed XD)