Chapter 98: Someone Abandoned a Cat

Chapter 98 Someone Abandoned Their Cat

He now felt that as long as they weren't officially together, there was still a chance. Even if they did get together, he could wait until they broke up and then win Xu Moxing back, right?

Su Lichen kept brainwashing himself every day. His moral compass wouldn't let him be the third party in someone else's relationship, so he'd just wait until they broke up. That was okay, wasn't it?

They had already broken up. No matter how long he waited, Xu Moxing didn't owe him anything, and he didn't owe Xu Moxing anything either. The day he stopped wanting to wait, it would truly be over.

Knowing himself, that day probably wouldn't come for a long time.

Su Lichen put down his phone, stood up, and walked to the balcony.

The wind poured in through the window, cool and refreshing. He leaned against the railing, looking down at the streetlights below. The lights were on, and at this hour, the road was still bustling with traffic.

He lit a cigarette, took a drag, and coughed a little.

For over a month since Xu Moxing moved out, he had been smoking almost every day. Not quite a pack a day, but half a pack at least.

And these past two days, it had been a pack and a half a day.

He finished one and lit another.

The smoke rose up, dispersing in the light, hazy and gray.

Gazing at the smoke, he thought, "What is Mo doing right now? Chatting with that person? Sharing every detail of his life and thoughts with them?"

He remembered how Xu Moxing used to talk to him like that—telling him everything, sharing everything.

He found it annoying, thought Xu Moxing talked too much, and couldn't see the point of those trivial details.

Now Xu Moxing said nothing to him, and he couldn't feel happy at all.

He was telling someone else all that. Would that person listen? Would they get tired of him, like Su Lichen once did?

Su Lichen didn't know.

He put out his cigarette, walked back to the living room, and sat on the sofa. Picking up his phone, he opened Xu Moxing's chat.

The last message was still the tracking number he sent when mailing Xu Moxing's ID card.

He scrolled up, going through the old records.

Back then, Xu Moxing told him everything. He had been enthusiastic about chatting with Xu Moxing at first too. So when had he started finding him annoying?

Oh, because Xu Moxing was in a terrible state then, constantly complaining about a lot of things.

And he hadn't tried to help him, had thought Xu Moxing was impossible to talk to. Back then, he had given up on Xu Moxing.

He couldn't blame Xu Moxing for giving up on him now. He could only feel regret and think about how hard it was to win Xu Moxing back.

If only he had been able to communicate back then. He really wished he could go back and punch his past self.

Had he really lost him? Not the kind of "broken up but might still work out" loss, but the "he's already with someone else" kind.

He didn't know what else he could do.

He had done everything he could, but Xu Moxing didn't need it anymore. He had been changing ever since the month after Xu Moxing broke up with him.

But Xu Moxing didn't need him anymore.

Xu Moxing didn't need him anymore. Xu Moxing had someone else.

Su Lichen smoked a few more cigarettes before heading to the bathroom to shower. A short while later, smelling of body wash, he walked into the bedroom and lay down.

He still buried his face in the pillow Xu Moxing had once used, but the pillow no longer carried Xu Moxing's scent.

Su Lichen wasn't the type to be totally devastated by heartbreak. It affected his life, sure, but he could still go on living.

Without Xu Moxing, he stopped cooking. But he could order takeout or eat at restaurants.

On weekends, he stayed home or went out with friends. On the surface, he seemed fine—except that he often thought about Xu Moxing.

When he got good takeout, he wanted to share it with Xu Moxing. When he had fun doing something with friends, he wanted to go again with Xu Moxing. When he was alone on weekends, he would think how wonderful it would be if Xu Moxing were with him. They wouldn't even need to talk—just being in the same space, each doing their own thing, would be immense happiness.

By mid-May, it was already very hot in Shenzhen.

One day, while walking home from work, Xu Moxing found two abandoned kittens at the stairwell on the first floor of his rented building.

The kittens meowed at everyone they saw. Xu Moxing didn't dislike cats, but he wasn't particularly fond of them either, and he had never thought about keeping a pet.

After all, he only had a little money, and he wanted to save it for himself, plus give his mom living expenses.

Xu Moxing, the cheapskate, couldn't spare money for a pet. Even if they didn't cost much, if he didn't keep them, he didn't have to spend.

Seeing how pitiful the kittens were, he went to the nearby convenience store and bought two sausages to give them.

Xu Moxing crouched at the stairwell, watching the two kittens wolf down the sausages, making little "wuwuwu" noises. They must have been starving.

After a while, he went upstairs to his room, thinking that some cat lover would probably adopt these little cuties soon enough.

Unexpectedly, when he went to work the next day, the kittens were still there, meowing at the sound of his footsteps.

"..."

At the stairwell, there were now two paper bowls—one with water and one with a bit of crushed egg yolk.

For several days, no one came to adopt them. Every time they saw Xu Moxing, they would follow him, meowing.

They even tried to follow him up the stairs. Xu Moxing steeled himself and quickened his pace, leaving them behind.

He knew they weren't just following him around. They were probably trying to get anyone to adopt them, doing their best to be cute and earn a chance.

So friendly, yet somehow abandoned here—clearly someone had dumped them on purpose. Maybe they came from someone's cat's litter, and for some reason, they were thrown out.

These past few days, Xu Moxing crouched at the stairwell every day after work to feed them and pet them.

He always sighed at how skinny they were. Every time they ate, they made little "wuwuwu" noises.

Xu Moxing struggled with the decision for a week. Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and brought them home temporarily.

He bought a cage, cat litter, and other supplies—none of which had arrived yet.

He bought the cage because he was afraid they would climb everywhere, scratch the sofa, or damage the furniture. If that happened, he'd have to compensate the landlord when he moved out.

The kittens were very clingy, constantly trying to climb onto him, needing to be held to feel secure, or else they would keep meowing and tugging at his pants to climb up.

He had to admit, kitten claws were really prickly.

Within a few hours of bringing them home, his hands were covered in white scratch marks from their claws, though none drew blood.

The next day, he put out food for them and went to work.

The kittens didn't know where to use the bathroom, so they pooped in a corner.

When Xu Moxing came home from work, he cleaned up the mess, gagging the whole time.

"How is kitten poop this stinky?"

Xu Moxing still had no intention of keeping cats, although he thought they were actually quite cute. However, he wasn't mentally prepared to take responsibility for two small lives; to be honest, he just didn't want to spend the money.

He didn't want to get too attached to the kittens, or else he'd feel obligated to spend money on them. Xu Moxing posted on his social media feed to find someone to adopt them.