CH 103

The 1st High and the 7th High are neighboring schools. 1st High believed in strict discipline, while 7th High was more unleashed.

The good students from both schools had never really associated with each other, but their grades were on par. On the other hand, the delinquents of 7th High were significantly worse than 1st High—80% of which thanks to the 7th High School Boss, Gu Jue.

Amongst the strict rules of 1st High, one states that uniforms must be worn every day. Gu Jue didn’t have their uniform, which meant he would be put through rigorous questioning if he appeared at the school gates. Even though he could fake through it with no problem, it was still a hassle. So, he climbed the walls on his way in, and after his fight, he climbed the walls out.

He hadn’t been to 1st High many times, but he knew exactly where the blind spots for the security cameras were. His trip was a simple endeavor for him.

What he didn’t expect, though, was to find the cat he had lost for 2 weeks in an obscure hidden corner. The cat looked unscathed, and… was acting extremely friendly with a stranger.

Gu Jue could still remember the scene clearly to this day.

They were surrounded by trees. He was beside one of the trees. Neither the person nor the cat noticed him.

The cat was busy munching on food, while the girl had squatted down to watch.

The girl was wearing a blue-and-white school uniform. The wide sleeves were rolled a good way up, showing off pale and thin arms.

She had long black hair that was draped over her shoulders. Her refined profile was visible from his position. The sound of her voice drifted over along with the breeze.

“The doctor said it’s obvious that you’re a well-cared-for cat. You’ve gotten all your vaccines; well-developed… how did you end up getting lost in the first place…?”

She stroked the kitten’s head, sighing, “To have gotten wounds all over too. Your leg was almost broken. You’re pitiful and dumb.”

She was talking to herself, then, suddenly, “It’s been two weeks since I’ve met you. I should give you a name.”

“You’re so pitiful. If we’re taking that… ‘Pity’? ‘Tifu’?” She shuddered after trying them aloud to herself, “They’re terrible.”

“That leaves ‘dumb’…” The girl scrunched her brows, mumbling. Then, her expression smoothed into a smile. “I’ll call you ‘Dummy’, that’ll do.”

She looked very pretty when she smiled.

Gu Jue, who had never felt anything about a girl’s looks before, was taken aback for a moment.

Even though Gu Jue had never named his son, he knew he would never pick such an idiotic name.

And what was worse?

When he heard such an idiotic name being spoken from her mouth…

He actually liked it.

That day, the two most memorable things were:

1. His son was saved.

2. The girl who saved his son was especially pretty.

Oddly enough, Gu Jue didn’t take his son back that day.

He just stood on the side, watching the girl who was terrible at naming build a temporary shelter for his son out of some thick blankets, wooden boards, bricks, and a limited assortment of tools. It may be shabby looking, but it was warm and sturdy for sure.

“Even though my roommate agreed, the dorm manager lady wouldn’t let me bring a cat in no matter what…” She sighed, “Dummy, you’ll sleep here for now. I’ll come visit you every day.”

And so, Gu Jue also visited every day.

He had figured out the pattern to her visits. Once a day, she would bring more cat food and dried fish than the cat could eat. It was always during the physical activity period which was the 4th period in the afternoon, and she would stay the entire period.

Gu Jue skipping class was a common occurrence for his teachers. It was all good as long as he wasn’t making trouble. At least he couldn’t disrupt the class if he wasn’t there. And thus, he also began following a set schedule of leaving class after the second afternoon period every day, giving himself ample time to wait for her.

The walls around the 1st High were low for Gu Jue.

Gu Jue could climb a wall or a tree with the ease of other people taking two stairs at a time.

The trees around the 1st High were all evergreens, so they didn’t lose their leaves during fall like those around 7th High. Even if the current weather didn’t allow for luscious growth, this corner still had bulks of wildly growing vines as well. A person could easily be hidden from sight, much less someone who excels at finding hiding spots, like Gu Jue.

Gu Jue sat comfortably on the wall with his back against a tree trunk. Not only had the girl never noticed him, but neither had his son.

Whenever the girl came, she would talk incessantly, as if Dummy could understand and even respond to her. Most of it was nonsense, but her voice was crisp and sweet, so it wasn’t irking.

Once, she brought a friend along.

“Wow…” Her friend reached out to pet the cat, “This is the cat you saved when you skipped class that time?”

“Mm-hmm. Cute, isn’t he?”

“Cute, so cute. Sigh, I heard it was badly injured? Did you find it close to the school?”

Gu Jue perked up.

He picked up Dummy on his way back from the vocational school, in an alley close to 1st High and 7th High.

So… Dummy didn’t know where home was, but he was able to find his way back here?

Underneath, the girl nodded. “Yeah! When I picked him up, half his body was covered in blood, and he was limping. At the hospital, they found a large gush on his leg. I don’t even know how he was still walking. It was so heartbreaking…”

“Before, I took him to the vet every day. The doctor said he was recovering well but he won’t be able to walk normally anymore… It’ll just be a limp though, shouldn’t affect much.”

It would be wrong to say that Gu Jue didn’t feel bad when he heard all that, but it wasn’t that big of a deal. Gu Jue himself often got injured. For men, a little injury should be nothing. The fact that he found his lost son again greatly dampened his worries.

Under the trees, the two girls fell silent.

“Ruan An’an, good on you.” Her friend suddenly broke the silence, her thumb in the air, “From today on, you’ll be known to me as a philanthropist.”

“…”

The two girls chatted some more while playing with the kitten, but Gu Jue wasn’t paying close attention anymore.

… So her name is Ruan An’an.

— It was a name that made whoever said it smile subconsciously.

Just like seeing her.

How curious.

Two days after learning her name, Gu Jue finally realized how famous Ruan An’an was.

… The kind where all his buddies were fanboying over her.

It was from these fanboy buddies of his that he heard about the battle that apparently happened between 1st High and 7th High. It was to decide on which school had the better-looking School Flower and School Grass. Ruan An’an, as the School Flower of 1st High, beat the 7th High School Flower by a large margin. It also didn’t matter who the School Grass was for 1st High since Gu Jue crashed the votes by a landslide.

So, the results were: Flower of 1st High was the prettiest, and Grass of 7th High was the most handsome.

Gu Jue approved of these people’s tastes when he heard this.

Gu Jue’s buddies had always fanboyed over girls who pursued him, but he didn’t care.

But since he learned of who Ruan An’an was, he would get annoyed whenever he heard some idiot say things like “That first-year girl at 1st High is so pretty, omg I want to date her” or “Ruan An’an is so much better-looking than our School Flower, and apparently have good grades too. Would I get a chance with her if my grades were higher?”

Gu Jue didn’t plan to bring the cat home any time soon. For one, he got angry whenever he went home. Plus, that Qin Li was still there.

He couldn’t risk his son.

He had the idea of moving to a place close to the school and had already started looking for places, but he wasn’t ready to take Dummy with him yet.

So… he would keep observing Ruan An’an taking care of the cat.

Keep observing her taking care of his son.

Every three days, Ruan An’an would bring the cat into the dorms to give him a bath.

She seemed to be on good terms with the dorms manager. Aside from the cat not being allowed overnight, a 20-min bath in the dorms was okay.

Ruan An’an never visited during the morning, so Gu Jue would show up then. He would bring his son some of his favorite expensive dried fish. Those didn’t leave any traces behind.

When Dummy saw him for the first time, the cat ran in circles in glee.

Gu Jue inspected the healed scar on his leg. It was a long mark, and as gruesome now as the original cut had been deep.

He was suddenly so grateful for Ruan An’an.

Although, there was something else mixed in with the gratitude since gratitude alone wasn’t enough to explain his various behaviors… But the teenage Gu Jue didn’t bother dissecting his own feelings… He simply continued to visit his son in the morning, and peep from the wall during the afternoon.

Dummy couldn’t talk, so naturally, Ruan An’an didn’t know that the cat’s owner had already found the cat but didn’t take him back.

Every day, Ruan An’an recounted her day as if she were a tireless announcer. Trivial stuff like how she didn’t want to write her history homework not because it was hard but because didn’t want her hand getting tired from so much writing, or how much she wanted to murder whoever decided passing the 800m sprint should be mandatory for Phys Ed.

— The kind of trivial chatter that would annoy Gu Jue to the point of becoming violent, had it come from someone else.

But with her, he was enjoying it.

He even looked forward to eavesdropping on her every day more than he was looking forward to things like fights, videos games, and basketball games.

It went on for a week.

Ruan An’an had always sounded happy when she spoke with the cat, but that day, her tone was especially gloomy.

“Dummy.”

The moment she opened her mouth, Gu Jue, who had been idly playing with a leaf on the tree, stopped.

She was… crying.

The sounds traveled clearly to his ears. “Hey, you don’t have a home, neither do I.”

“My house is filled with a bunch of strangers who hate me… and I hate them too.”

“I’m so sad today… Did you know, today is my mom’s—” She paused a bit, her voice even more choked, “they say it’s her death anniversary…”

“But I don’t think she’s dead.”

“A missing person is presumed dead after 4 years…” She sniffled, “But I believe she’s just lost, and haven’t found her way back home yet.”

Dummy lost interest in eating today.

The cat acutely felt something wrong with her emotional state and did his best to rub his head against her palm. Gu Jue was glad.

“I really don’t think she’s dead… Before she left, she promised to bring back lots and lots of candy for me. Dummy, my mom never lied, other than this once.”

Gu Jue has great eyesight and could spot tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Oh, and my dad…” Ruan An’an used her free hand to wipe her tears, “I don’t understand. Does he not know what today is… To think that, today, he’s taking his current wife and their daughter to celebrate his current father-in-law’s birthday over at the in-laws’.”

Gu Jue stiffened again.

“I hate him, I hate him so much. I have never hated anyone this much…”

Her crying grew louder as if finding an outlet for the emotions she could only reveal to a cat who couldn’t respond to her, in this little corner.

“Is the money really worth it? So what if they’re wealthy? I’d rather not have been taken in by him, not live in that house, and not spend a dime of his outside of tuition and basic living expenses, I’m disgusted…”

She mumbled some of her words, so Gu Jue couldn’t catch all of it. After a bit, she fell apart.

Gu Jue never anticipated witnessing anything like this. He awkwardly watched as the girl spoke in sobs, “… Why did mom marry him… When I grow up, I would never date a rich man. I can take care of myself, I don’t need his money, scum…”

Her words no longer made sense.

Fortunately, she seemed to be good at controlling her emotions and was able to quickly regain herself after her outburst.

In mere minutes, Gu Jue could tell she had calmed down, from the sound of her voice.

“Hey, don’t you think I’m like Cinderella?”

She counted on her fingers, “Before, I had a good family? I only had mom, but it was good and happy… Then my mom is gone. There’s dad and stepmother now, and a stepsister… I think that counts as 70% overlapping.”

“However… money is the most, most, most unreliable thing in the world, and the most tempting.”

“Cinderella fell for a prince, but I won’t. Never.” Ruan An’an’s voice sounded especially leveled. “Whomever I like in the future, he must be poor.”

“Hmm, poor and extremely good-looking.” She added after a pause.

That last phrase sounded nasally, and had an adorable attitude. Gu Jue couldn’t help but smile.

He was feeling mixed bags at the time.

Everyone knew Cinderella’s story and he was no exception. In a nutshell, the main character had an evil stepmother and a bunch of equally evil stepsisters, who all bullied Cinderella.

To be completely honest, Ruan An’an didn’t resemble Cinderella.

Gu Jue was someone who had high standards for aesthetics. After all, he spent his whole life seeing himself in the mirror. It was a bit hard to top that.

But when he first saw her, upon retrospection, he found his reaction similar to the “oh, damn” his buddies always had whenever a pretty girl came to give him a love letter.

Like… he was in awe.

She was just too beautiful. Her voice when chatting with the kitten was soft, and her happy ramblings made her seem outgoing. There was no indication of any of the trouble she had at home. Instead, she seemed like a well-cared-for child. Like a cute and adorable princess.

Gu Jue will also never experience any of what she had said.

Since birth, his family had been an anger-prone dad, a mom who knew exactly how to deal with his dad, and a brother who talked for as long as he was awake.

Before his Aunt moved next door, the Gu family was painted in warm colors. Even with his relatives there, it was just one black existence, while the others were all bright colors.

So… what about her?

Inferring from her words, Gu Jue could still remember how conflicted he felt.

He was heartbroken for her.

A bit like the feeling he had when he lost his son, but also a bit different.

He really wanted to go down and comfort her. But how would he explain about eavesdropping for so long?

Uh, hi, I started stalking you after you took in my cat. It’s been about a week. I haven’t taken back my cat because I’ve lost my mind and think that you’re great at taking care of him… and I like listening to you ramble to my cat…

That was one step away from blatantly admitting he was a pervert.

TL/N:

QwQ Gu Jue and Ruan An’an’s traumas QwQ Gu Jue’s made me angry, like that cousin is so deranged. But Ruan An’an’s… ugh, my little An’an I just want to hug you so much.