They left the restaurant, and the cold air hit them straight in the face. Ye Qingli sniffled; it stung.
She asked Xiao Yu beside her, "Going back to school?"
The streetlamp cast light into his dark eyes. Xiao Yu pulled out a cigarette from the pack, shaking his head subtly. "No, something to do."
How many cigarettes did he smoke a day? Ye Qingli wondered silently, then asked, "What do you have to do so late?"
"What?" He clicked the lighter, the tip of the cigarette glowing red. He took a puff and looked at her through the smoke. "Do I need to report everything to you?"
"..." She had only asked.
Knowing he wouldn't say anything nice, when they reached a fork in the road, Ye Qingli shrugged and stepped back in the opposite direction. "I'll head back then. Bye."
"Mn," Xiao Yu responded.
The school wasn't far from here. He watched her back until she entered the campus, then he started walking forward.
A wind picked up, howling past his ears. It was already this cold in mid-October; seemed like another harsh winter.
Just then, rustling came from the grass, and a few stray cats suddenly darted out, wrestling playfully, full of energy. When they saw Xiao Yu, they all ran over, tails held high.
They weren't afraid of him because he often brought them treats.
Xiao Yu smiled, crouched down, and opened the bag. He rolled the plastic down a bit to reveal the noodles, then set it by the roadside.
Ever since he discovered them that day, he had been coming by every few days. He had heard that you shouldn't feed stray cats too often, or they'd become dependent.
But he'd been feeding them on and off for a month now. There weren't many—just three, still not fully grown. This amount would be enough.
"Ugly Bro," Xiao Yu said, patting the biggest one, the leader of the group. That was the name he had given him.
The kitten looked up at the sound. Its fur was black and white, but unluckily, it was all on its face, distributed unevenly, making it look quite comical.
He blinked and felt a sudden urge to laugh.
But that feeling vanished after just a second.
Xiao Yu pulled his hand back, his lips pressed into a straight line, then parting slightly. "You've been out here wandering for so long. Do you ever miss home?"
He seemed to be talking to the kittens, but only he knew he was talking to himself.
"You probably do. No one wants to live alone."
Xiao Yu stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head. Why had he said that?
They hadn't even notified him when they divorced. They clearly didn't care about him.
His father wished he would die soon.
In his eyes, only obedient people like Huang Xu deserved to be his sons.
The more humble, the easier to control.
And someone like him, who loafed around, was meant to be trampled into the mud, never to crawl out.
A leaf fell, landing on his head.
Xiao Yu curled his lips in self-mockery. This time, he didn't wait for the cats to finish eating. He pulled the hood over his ears and vanished into the darkness in an instant.
Xiao Qu, didn't you like sons like Huang Xu?
Then he would take away everything Huang Xu cared about, making sure he never had a good day.