TAM 1

Mo Yao later remembered and realized that all the strange things began that night when he stayed alone in the dormitory.

That night, he was the only one in the four-person room. Chen Xinyong, who slept on the opposite bed, had gone to the classroom for self-study. Zhang Ziyu, who slept on the upper bunk above Chen Xinyong, went on a date with the girlfriend he had just started seeing. As for the one who slept on the upper bunk above him, it did not matter. That person was not important.

There were two bunk beds in the dormitory, both placed against the walls. Between them was a window, and under the window, Mo Yao and Chen Xinyong’s desks were arranged side by side.

At that time, Mo Yao sat at his desk, wearing earphones and reading. Loud and noisy music played in his ears. The volume was high enough to block out all the sounds around him. In this kind of environment, Mo Yao could focus better, putting all his attention into the professional textbook in front of him.

The ceiling light in the room was off, and only the small desk lamp on Mo Yao’s table was on. His shadow stretched across the floor and climbed up the opposite wall. Every time he moved, the shadow followed. When he occasionally raised his head, the glass reflected his face clearly, while the trees outside blurred into the darkness.

After a long time, Mo Yao started to feel tired. He raised his hand and stretched, and at the same time, he looked up at the window. Before he could see himself, he saw another face. It was round and covered in fur. Two bright round eyes were pressed against the glass, staring at him.

The pounding rhythm in his ears hit directly against his heart. It took Mo Yao a moment to realize that it was a cat.

There were many stray cats on campus, especially near the girls’ dormitory. Every cat there was plump and well-fed. The building where Mo Yao lived was only separated from the girls’ dorm by a wall, so strays often came around too.

This dormitory was on the third floor. There were large trees outside the window, and that cat had probably climbed up along them.

Mo Yao looked at it for a while, hoping it would leave on its own.

But the stray cat pressed its face against the glass, looking inside. Its four legs overlapped awkwardly on the narrow window ledge. Its body was drawn in tight, and it seemed to have no intention of leaving.

Just then, the song in his earphones ended. The intense music stopped, and the outside sounds became clear again.

At that exact moment, the cat suddenly raised its front paw and scratched the glass. The harsh sound echoed in the empty dormitory.

Mo Yao instinctively pulled off his earphones and stood up.

The cat outside showed no sign of stopping. It continued scratching the glass with its claws and the sound grew louder.

He felt inexplicably afraid. He lifted his hand and tapped the glass, wanting to scare the cat away. But the cat only paused for a brief moment, then moved its claws even more violently.

Mo Yao could not bear that grating noise. He leaned forward, grabbed the latch at the bottom of the window, and pushed the old glass frame out. The wooden frame creaked. His intention was only to chase the cat away. He thought if he pushed the window, the cat, standing on the narrow ledge, would lose its footing and jump back to the tree.

But the frame jammed after opening a small gap. He had to push harder. He did not expect to push too far. The window swung out and squeezed the cat right off the ledge.

He heard the sound of the cat falling and brushing through the branches. He quickly leaned out to look. One leg pressed against the desk as he extended half his body outside the window, but he could not see the cat that had fallen.

Thick trees surrounded the dorm, and below was a grassy yard unlit by streetlights. Nothing could be seen clearly from there. Mo Yao only heard rustling from the grass, but he could not tell whether the cat had landed safely or not.

He felt anxious. After staring outside for a while, he finally took his water kettle and went downstairs to fetch water.

When he left the dorm building, he deliberately walked by the bushes to check. He did not see any cat there, neither alive nor dead.

After all, cats were agile creatures. It was unlikely one would die from a fall like that. Mo Yao thought he was worrying too much. He let out a small sigh of relief and stopped thinking about it.

After that night, he began to dream.

In his dream, he became a cat. The dream had no beginning or end. It started abruptly with a night sky and the moon hanging above it. He stood beneath that sky, on a rooftop, all four paws on the tiles, scraping them. The cold air blew over his face and made his whiskers tremble slightly.

People usually realize they are dreaming only when they wake up. But Mo Yao had not woken up yet. He was still inside the dream, fully convinced that he had turned into a cat. His mind was hazy. Why had he become a cat? Had he always been a cat who thought he was human, or was he a human who suddenly became a cat?

He looked around and saw the six-story building in front of him. That was his dormitory.

He lifted one paw to step forward but failed to anticipate that the tiles were slanted, and he did not know how to grip the surface properly. His body tilted. The cat rolled down along the roof tiles until he reached the edge. He tried to catch the eaves but failed and his body fell straight down.

The sensation of falling made him panic. He did not even try to twist his body. He just fell with his four legs facing up. In the last instant, he closed his eyes. The impact he expected never came. Beneath him was something soft and solid. When he opened his eyes again, he saw the white mosquito net above his head.

Mo Yao was back on his dorm bed.

He sat up abruptly. His awareness returned, and he understood that what just happened had been a dream. But it had felt too real, so real that it frightened him. He could still remember the cool texture of the tiles under his paws.

He had been startled. His heart still raced inside his chest, loud and insistent. He touched his forehead. There was no cold sweat, it was a little cold.

The dorm lights were off. Only the glow of the streetlights came through the window, dimly revealing the outline of the opposite bunk through the mosquito net.

Chen Xinyong was snoring. Zhang Ziyu shifted a little, then went still again, probably still asleep. Other than that, there was no sound in the room.

Mo Yao was now fully awake. He lifted the mosquito net, stretched his legs to find his slippers, stood up, and walked to the window.

The campus outside was quiet. All the dorm windows were dark. Only a few streetlights in the courtyard illuminated the path leading to the entrance of the boys’ dorm.

Mo Yao stared for a moment, because he saw a rooftop beyond the wall on the left side of the yard. The tiles reflected the cold moonlight. It was the same rooftop he had seen in his dream. That was where he had stood as a cat, looking toward where he was standing now.

Suddenly, two cats jumped onto that rooftop one after another. They moved nimbly along the ridge, their eyes sparkling in the darkness.

Mo Yao stood by the window and watched as they walked to the edge of the roof. Their backs arched, and they jumped down in succession, both disappearing into the darkness.

Almost at the same time those two cats jumped down, Mo Yao heard the sound of a key turning in the door.

The door opened, and the light from the hallway spilled inside. Mo Yao turned his head and saw a tall, slender silhouette against the light.

He did not even need to look closely to know who it was. He did not greet him. He lifted the mosquito net and crawled back into bed.

The person entered the bathroom near the door and closed it. Small sounds came from inside.

After a while, Mo Yao felt sleepy again. He turned over and fell asleep.