TAM 4

On one side were lean, cunning stray cats, and on the other was a fat, round-headed fool of a cat stuck in the railing and unable to get out. Cold spread through Mo Yao’s whole body, and he felt that he was finished.

Would those cats come to bite and eat him? Mo Yao did not know, and he did not dare to imagine.

The university campus was too quiet at night. The footsteps of the cats were soundless. Other than his own heartbeat, Mo Yao could hear nothing.

He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to try calling for help. Then he heard a “meow~.” It was high pitched because of panic, but it was not loud. He thought, even if it were loud, what use would it be? Who would come out to check just because stray cats were fighting in the middle of the night?

At that moment, Mo Yao heard a sound behind him. His head was still stuck, so he could not turn around. He could only guess that it was the sound of something nimble landing on the ground.

Then the cats in front of him all stopped moving.

Mo Yao looked at them. They all lowered their bodies into a cautious hunting stance. That posture was probably not aimed at him but at something behind him that he could not see.

The cats stayed still. The moment was not long, but for Mo Yao it felt like years. His front paws started to go numb. The cat in front suddenly turned around and ran off. The remaining three did not stay either. They turned and followed it away.

Mo Yao let out a breath, then took another. He wanted to know what was behind him that could scare away those arrogant wild cats.

He tried calling out toward the back. “Meow?”

There was no response.

Mo Yao did not know if whatever was behind him was friendly. He hesitated and waited for a while, then called again softly. “Meow?”

Still no response. And not only no response, but there was no sound at all behind him. It was as if, from beginning to end, he was the only cat inside the girls’ dormitory.

He hung there on the gate, dazed. He did not know how long he would have to stay stuck. Would he have to wait until morning for the dorm manager to wake up and pull him out? What if he could not be pulled out? Would they call the fire department to saw open the bars?

It was starting to feel cold. Fortunately, he had a layer of fur.

Mo Yao did not know when he lost consciousness. When he woke up, he was lying in a soft bed, and it was already morning.

He suddenly sat up. The movement was too quick, and he felt dizzy for two seconds.

The sky was bright. Pale light streamed through the window, but it was still early, and everything was dim. Mo Yao lifted the mosquito net and got out of bed. He could still feel the cold touch of the iron gate against his neck. The dream had been too real, as if it had not been a dream but another world running parallel to this one.

There was no class for the first period this morning. The two people in the opposite beds were still asleep, their snoring loud in the quiet room.

Mo Yao did not know what he should do. He sat on the chair by his bed, his mind replaying the images from last night’s dream.

Si Yuan climbed down from the upper bunk.

He wore dark pants. His upper body was bare. He descended the ladder by the side of the bed.

Mo Yao stared at him, his mind empty.

Si Yuan did not seem to care about the look. He put on his shoes, then reached up to pull his T-shirt from the railing of the top bunk and put it on.

After he dressed, Si Yuan looked at Mo Yao once, then turned and went to the bathroom.

Only when Si Yuan looked at him did Mo Yao realize something was wrong. He looked down and saw that he was sitting by the desk wearing nothing but underwear. He quickly crawled back into his bed.

From the bathroom came the sound of Si Yuan washing up. After a while, he came out, stood by his desk to tidy up, and then left the room.

From start to finish, they did not exchange a word. Neither of them even thought about mentioning what had happened the night before.

On his way to class, Mo Yao found that breakfast time was already over. He bought a piece of bread at the shop and ate while walking. He deliberately took a detour to the girls’ dormitory gate and stood in front of it, looking inside.

The heavy iron gate of the dormitory was already open and spotless. There was no cat stuck anywhere. It was the break between the first and second periods. Students were coming and going through the entrance, and not even a shadow of a stray cat could be seen.

At that time, a few girls from Mo Yao’s class came out from inside. When Wu Jingyan saw Mo Yao, surprise showed on her face, and she walked over with a small smile. “You were waiting for me?”

Mo Yao could neither say yes nor no, so he answered vaguely.

The other girls walked past them, greeted him with a smile, and left first. Only Mo Yao and Wu Jingyan were left behind.

Wu Jingyan carried a small bag and held some books in her arms. She walked beside Mo Yao and said, “Hey, don’t walk like this. They’ll misunderstand.”

Mo Yao stopped walking.

Wu Jingyan turned to look at him. “What?”

Mo Yao said, “Then I’ll keep my distance from you.”

Wu Jingyan sighed. “Stop fooling around. Hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

The two of them walked toward the classroom.

On the way, Wu Jingyan suddenly asked, “You’re in the same dorm as Si Yuan?”

Mo Yao looked at her and did not answer.

Wu Jingyan smiled. “You two have some kind of conflict?”

“Who told you that?”

Wu Jingyan said, “There are only so many people in our class. News like that goes around fast. Who wouldn’t know?”

Mo Yao could not help asking, “What did they say?”

Wu Jingyan moved a little closer and asked softly, “Did you two fight in the dorm?”

Mo Yao stayed silent.

Wu Jingyan nudged him with her elbow. “Did you?”

Mo Yao said with no expression, “Yeah. I beat him till he cried.”

Wu Jingyan froze for a moment, then reacted. “Don’t lie.”

“I’m not lying,” Mo Yao said in a casual tone. “I beat him till he got on his knees, hugged my leg, and begged me to let him go.”

Wu Jingyan laughed. “Looking at you, I’d say it was the other way around.”

Mo Yao said nothing.

Wu Jingyan said, “I have something to tell you. Li Yahan likes him. Help her out, will you?”

Mo Yao stopped. “How am I supposed to help?”

“Just don’t refuse when I ask you for a favor.”

That evening, Mo Yao received a call from Wu Jingyan in the dorm. She told him to come downstairs.

Only he and Chen Xinyong were in the dorm then. Chen Xinyong leaned out the window and looked down. “Wu Jingyan’s asking you out?”

Mo Yao said, “No.”

He went downstairs and saw that Wu Jingyan and Li Yahan had already arrived under their dorm building.

Wu Jingyan asked, “Is Si Yuan here?”

Li Yahan stood quietly beside her, looking shy.

Mo Yao said, “He’s not.”

When she heard that, Wu Jingyan turned to Li Yahan.

Li Yahan seemed relieved. She grabbed Wu Jingyan’s arm and said, stammering, “Then, then let’s go.” She turned to leave but then stopped, turned back, and handed Mo Yao a small paper bag.

“What’s this?” Mo Yao asked.

Li Yahan said, “Can you please give this to him?”

Mo Yao did not take it yet and asked again, “To who?”

Wu Jingyan suddenly hit him lightly. “You know who. Don’t tease Hanhan.”

Mo Yao finally took the bag slowly. There was a milk tea shop logo on it. He said, “He comes back pretty late.”

Li Yahan was too nervous and said quickly, “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Mo Yao opened his mouth but said nothing more. He did not want to make her feel awkward.

Wu Jingyan said, “Make sure you tell Si Yuan clearly. Don’t drink it yourself.”

Mo Yao went back to the dorm. He walked to Si Yuan’s desk and placed the milk tea on it.

Chen Xinyong sat on his bed, watching him. When Mo Yao finished, he asked, “Your girlfriend told you to give Si Yuan milk tea?”

“Who’s my girlfriend?” Mo Yao walked back to his desk.

“Wu Jingyan.”

Mo Yao turned on his computer, stared at the screen, and sighed. “I’ll say it again. Wu Jingyan isn’t my girlfriend. Whoever she gives stuff to isn’t my business.”

“She’s treating you like a fool. She’s just playing you along.” Chen Xinyong said it without thinking, and he immediately regretted it. He covered his mouth with one hand and pretended he had said nothing.

Mo Yao clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the big tree outside the window and said, “Yeah.”