Yuchuan University was located less than 500 meters from Shiliu Street. In the evenings, students often went out together, and when they said they were going out, they usually meant going to Shiliu Street.
As a senior student majoring in interior design, Li Duyu was constantly busy with various professional courses. She traded countless strands of hair for stacks of design books and finally managed to carve out some free time this weekend.
Casually opening her frequently used app, she was surprised to find her feed flooded with posts. All of them were screaming about how two incredibly handsome guys were handing out flyers on Shiliu Street, while also offering free samples of desserts.
One of the newer posts came from her good friend in the neighboring dorm room, sent around 4 PM. It consisted of several lines of "Aaaahhhh" followed by a video. Since Li Duyu had nothing else to do, she opened a pack of chocolates and clicked on the video.
The video was clearly recorded by her friend holding the phone, as it was a bit shaky. The place was crowded with people, but the stars of the video were unmistakably the two guys standing together.
Li Duyu could hear her friend whispering excitedly, "So handsome, so handsome, they're drop-dead gorgeous, aaahhhh!"
The two guys in the video towered over the crowd, their postures especially straight and eye-catching even among a throng of girls.
One of them, wearing a grayish-blue long-sleeved shirt, seemed to sense the camera, and when he looked in its direction, he appeared momentarily stunned. Then, his features relaxed, a smile spreading across his face, reaching his eyes, and lighting up his whole expression.
He smiled at the camera.
Li Duyu immediately covered her mouth—“Aaaahhhh!”
She had never seen someone with such an infectious smile.
The moment he smiled, the whole world seemed to light up.
The camera shook violently twice, perfectly capturing the excitement of the person filming. Slowly, the camera zoomed in on the boy, and the closer it got, the clearer his features became. He was breathtakingly handsome, his radiance almost overpowering.
Then, he pulled out a flyer and handed it over.
Li Duyu burst out laughing. The guy even said with a completely serious expression, "I can guarantee my cat is just as good-looking as I am."
Oh? So he was opening a pet shop?
Her friend in the video asked the same question, and the guy replied, "No, it's a cat café, at the end of the street, called Xian Chan. These are our new desserts—free samples. Want to try one?"
The boy elbowed the man next to him. The man turned to glance at the camera, and Li Duyu immediately held her breath—Holy crap, this one’s handsome too! And he's got that total CEO vibe! His aura was off the charts!
With an expressionless face, the CEO-type guy held up a tray, on which small matcha mille-feuille cakes were neatly placed in disposable cups.
Everything about him screamed “doing this under duress.”
Li Duyu laughed so hard she nearly passed out.
After laughing her fill, she turned to her best friend and said, “A new cat café just opened on Shiliu Street. Want to check it out this weekend?”
Her friend, who was also an interior design major, replied without even looking up, "…No."
Li Duyu found it odd and asked, "Why not? They’re having an event for the grand opening this weekend."
Mimi scratched her head, glancing at her design book, which she had revised six or seven times but was still unsatisfied with. She was hesitant.
Li Duyu, noticing her friend’s increasingly thinning hair, felt bad and said, "Come on, let’s just go check it out. Consider it a break to relax. The more you rush, the more your hair’s going to fall out. Besides, I saw some photos that our senior posted online—the interior design looks really interesting. It actually resembles your style. You might find some inspiration."
Mimi looked at the few strands of hair in her hand, sighed heavily, and nodded in agreement.
The next morning, after getting ready, the two of them headed straight to the cat café.
"You actually brought your design book with you..."
Li Duyu stared in disbelief as her friend stuffed a stack of design draft papers into her bag.
Were they really going to sneak in some design work in between petting cats?
But Mimi wasn’t particularly excited about playing with cats. When Xian Chan Cat Café had first opened, she had been just as eager as Li Duyu, thinking it would be as magical and picturesque as the cat cafés she had seen online. However, she had been sorely disappointed. Since then, she’d lost interest in the place and was only going this time to accompany her friend.
"Maybe I’ll get some inspiration from the store," Mimi said casually. She was more interested in the fairy-tale style decor—the cats were secondary.
Even though they had left early, by the time they arrived at Shiliu Street, it was already half an hour past the store’s opening time.
To their surprise, looking through the glass windows, they saw that the place wasn’t empty at all. There were quite a few people inside, mostly couples or groups of girls. The cat café was housed in a small, standalone building. Several windows were half-covered by light grayish-blue curtains, and thick, round cushions had been placed by the floor-to-ceiling windows. Two tortoiseshell kittens were lying on their backs, sound asleep, their white bellies gently rising and falling, looking irresistibly soft and pettable.
"Looks pretty good!"
Li Duyu and Mimi exchanged glances and immediately quickened their pace, practically jogging into the cat café.
As they pushed open the door, a refreshing wave of cool air from the air conditioning instantly chased away the summer heat.
Even Mimi, whose mind had been consumed with design books and tension, couldn’t help but relax. Although the café was busy, it remained pleasantly quiet.
At the entrance stood a familiar small blackboard, though the chalk writing on it had changed from a "Cats Wanted" ad to a "Cat Cuddling Guide." The board listed common rules like "Do not forcefully hold the cats" and "No feeding allowed."
Li Duyu couldn’t resist taking out her phone and snapping a photo.
The staff member at the entrance was a young woman holding a bottle of hand sanitizer. She gently explained that customers needed to sanitize their hands before entering and change into the café’s provided shoes. Once this was done, she stepped aside to allow them inside.
As soon as they entered, Mimi, who had been too busy to notice hunger for a long time, caught a faint yet enticing whiff of something sweet—the smell of freshly baked desserts. It was subtle, not overwhelming, and mixed with the slight bitterness of coffee, it made her mouth water.
Having skipped breakfast, Mimi suddenly felt a wave of irresistible hunger. She picked up the menu, and the beautifully presented dishes only heightened her appetite. She found herself wanting to try everything.
But with her hunger pushing her to decide quickly, she placed her order without hesitation. As Li Duyu looked over the menu, Mimi found a seat near the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The two tortoiseshell kittens were still lying on the cushion, fast asleep.
At this point, she had completely forgotten that her original purpose for coming wasn’t to cuddle cats, but to study the interior design. Her gaze began searching the café eagerly for more cats.
"Aaaah, look at that fluffy white ball of fur! Can it come over and let me pet it?"
"A ragdoll! Such a pretty ragdoll! Those blue eyes are like an ocean full of stars. Ugh!"
Just as Mimi sat down, an orange tabby cat, low to the ground, slowly waddled over. It jumped onto her low table, sprawled out on its back, and the weight of its body caused its belly to flatten out, nudging Mimi’s phone aside.
Mimi was stunned: "!!"
As she leaned in for a closer look, she noticed a name tag hanging around the orange cat’s neck, with elegant script engraved on it: Store Manager Yolk.
Yolk seemed to be saying: "You’re in a cat café now. Stop playing with your phone, and play with me instead."
Mimi hurriedly covered her mouth, almost squealing out loud. She was so distracted by the cat that she didn’t even care about her phone being bumped to the side.
Yolk stretched out its paw and placed it on Mimi’s hand. Mimi cautiously rested her hand against the soft fur of its belly, and in an instant, she was completely won over by the plushy feel of the big orange cat.
By the time Li Duyu came over, her friend was already lost in cat heaven. As for the bag stuffed full of design books? It had been tossed aside, the zipper still unopened.
Li Duyu shrugged—she knew this would happen.
Yolk was holding onto Mimi’s wrist, gently licking her fingers. The rough texture of its tongue, with its tiny barbs, brushed against her skin, giving her a ticklish sensation that made her both surprised and delighted.
"It’s so cute! Ah, it’s so chubby and soft!"
Mimi’s right hand was completely buried in fur, and Yolk’s springy belly felt like a giant, orange gummy bear.
While Mimi was thoroughly absorbed in playing with Yolk, she suddenly heard a soft exclamation from the other side of the room. She looked up and saw a small crowd gathered around a square table, with people holding up their phones to take pictures.
Yolk abruptly rolled off the table and leapt down, scurrying over to a cushion in just a few quick steps.
At some point, only one little tortoiseshell kitten remained on the cushion. Yolk picked up the tiny tortoiseshell kitten by the scruff and leisurely padded toward the square table, where the crowd was gathered. People gasped softly as the fluffy orange cat brushed against them, quickly stepping aside to make way.
Curious, Mimi followed. In the center of the group were two guys, both with their heads lowered, making it hard to see their faces. Each of them had a cat clinging to them: the one in the white hoodie had another little tortoiseshell hanging from him, while the one in the black shirt was cradling a British Shorthair with golden fur.
On the square table, some opened milk powder containers were sitting around—it looked like the "cat dads" were about to start feeding the kittens.
Yolk jumped onto the table and gently set the tortoiseshell kitten down. Just seconds later, a Bengal cat suddenly leaped down from above, landing gracefully on the table, startling quite a few people.
The Bengal sniffed around, stuck its head into one of the milk powder bags, and startled itself. Its little butt wriggled as it backed out, and when its head finally emerged, its fur was covered in milk powder.
The moment the little tortoiseshell kitten stepped onto the table, it started meowing at its sibling, as if complaining, "Why didn’t you call me to eat too?"
The tortoiseshell hanging onto the guy immediately jumped down, and the two kittens tumbled together into a fuzzy ball. Yolk sat crouched on the table, watching the two furballs roll toward him. His tail gently swished as he lightly tapped the two playful kittens.
One of the tortoiseshells couldn’t resist and began nibbling on Yolk’s fluffy tail.
At that moment, the guy in the white hoodie lifted his head, causing a stir among the girls nearby. He glanced in the direction of the noise and raised a finger to his lips, signaling for quiet. Then, he scooped up the two little tortoiseshell kittens, tested the temperature of the milk bowl, and, deciding it was just right, placed it in front of them.
The kittens, full of energy but even hungrier, immediately dove into the milk bowl, too focused on eating to continue their sibling tussle.
This young man was none other than Pei Shiyi. Checking the time, he had prepared some milk powder for the tortoiseshell kittens to make sure they wouldn’t go hungry.
Pei Shiyi also prepared an extra dish of milk, holding it up playfully toward Songgao, saying, “Songgao, want some milk?”
Songgao, considering himself a grown-up now, had no interest in drinking milk. Offended at being treated like a baby, he gave an indignant meow and buried his face in Bo Jin’s arm.
Pei Shiyi chuckled quietly, his shoulders shaking in amusement.
Bo Jin, gently stroking Songgao’s back, shot him a glance. “You’ve got too much free time.”
Pei Shiyi’s expression changed immediately. He glanced at Bo Jin, but mindful of the crowd around them, held back from making a snarky comment. Instead, he stretched out his words mockingly, “Yes, you’re so refined, beyond all childish pleasures.”
He set down the milk dish and lifted one of the tortoiseshell kittens closer to drink, then, without warning, picked up Songgao and teased, “So what’s a sophisticated guy like you doing petting cats?”
Still intent on dragging others into their spat, Pei Shiyi scratched under Tongqian’s chin, trying to get his agreement. “Don’t you think so too, Tongqian?”
Tongqian could feel Bo Jin’s gaze even without looking. Faced with this dangerous question, Tongqian slowly collapsed onto the table, playing dead.
I can't deal with this anymore.
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