19A.
Which was actually the 18th floor.
But since the number 18 sounded unlucky, it became 19A.
Li Zhi took her schoolbag from Shen Yuan, went home to drop it off, and came back out after saying a quick hello to her parents.
Shen Yuan waited for Li Zhi by his door, only opening it after she emerged.
The moment Shen Yuan opened the door, he heard his mom's voice.
"You're back!"
Zhang Yuyan looked toward the door, but just as she was about to ask something, she spotted Li Zhi.
"Xiaolizi, you're here."
After changing into slippers, Li Zhi ran over to Zhang Yuyan. "Auntie, I came to see Naonao."
"Naonao, your mommy's here to see you."
The words had barely left Zhang Yuyan's mouth when a white cat with black markings on its head resembling the characters for "eight" and "one" leaped onto the sofa, looking imperiously at the two of them.
Zhang Yuyan looked at the white cat on the sofa. "San Geng, I wasn't calling you. Go get Naonao!"
Hearing this, San Geng flicked her tail and then lay down on the sofa, too lazy to bother.
Seeing this, Zhang Yuyan pointed at San Geng. "Hey, you little brat."
Li Zhi smiled. "It's okay, Auntie. I'll go find Naonao myself."
"Mom, this place is tiny. Where could Naonao have possibly gone?"
Shen Yuan closed the door, looked at the white cat on the sofa, and called out, "San Geng, I'm home."
San Geng flicked her tail, slapping it against the sofa with a sharp THWAP THWAP.
The next moment, a hand landed on San Geng and gave her a good stroke.
"Good evening, San Geng."
Upon seeing Li Zhi, San Geng let out a meow, then rolled over to expose her belly. It was obvious she wanted the pretty girl to give her a tummy rub.
"Hey! You little brat! You ignore me when I call, but the second she shows up, you're all over her, is that it?"
Shen Yuan snatched San Geng from Li Zhi's arms and was about to press his face against the cat's head, but before he could reach it, he was met with her paws.
"Let go!"
San Geng pressed another paw against Shen Yuan's face, her own expression full of disgust.
"Get off!"
The man and cat were locked in a stubborn standoff.
Meanwhile, Li Zhi had found Naonao.
A large, pure-white, long-haired cat was sitting by the window, quietly gazing at the night scene outside.
Li Zhi crouched down gently. "Naonao."
The sudden touch clearly startled the deaf cat.
But upon seeing a familiar face, Naonao calmed down.
"Meow~"
Compared to San Geng, Naonao's meow was very loud.
"Aww~"
Li Zhi gently stroked the big cat, her eyes filled with adoration.
Li Zhi and Shen Yuan had found San Geng and Naonao as strays.
The two cats were sisters, but San Geng was a shorthair, while Naonao was a longhair.
San Geng's name was derived from the three strokes that made up the "eight-one" markings on her head.
Li Zhi had wanted to call her Bayi, but Shen Yuan insisted on San Geng.
He felt the character for "stroke" was too plain and swapped it for the character "Geng."
As for Naonao, Shen Yuan had originally wanted to call her Er'nao, but Li Zhi shot that down.
San Geng was very sharp and quickly learned her name; now, she even understands a few hand signals.
As for Naonao, they couldn't teach her no matter how hard they tried.
At first, they thought she was just dim-witted, but they later discovered the poor girl was hard of hearing.
As far as ownership went, Naonao was Li Zhi's, and San Geng was Shen Yuan's.
However, both cats had always lived at Shen Yuan's place.
While Li Zhi was stroking Naonao, Shen Yuan had already broken through San Geng's defenses and successfully buried his face in the little kitty's belly.
"Stinky kitty, did you poop outside the box today?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you poop outside the box?"
Shen Yuan carried San Geng as he walked toward his room.
The "cat room" was just his study, which was connected to his bedroom.
Although Shen Yuan's parents didn't mind him having cats, they had left all the cat-related duties to him.
Soon enough, Shen Yuan spotted a turd right next to the litter box.
"You pooped outside again? Are you asking for a beating?"
San Geng looked at Shen Yuan and flicked her tail, pointedly ignoring him.
"Alright, stop bullying Genggeng! So what if she pooped outside the box? Just go clean it up, what's the big deal?"
Li Zhi walked into Shen Yuan's room carrying Naonao, a look of disapproval on her face.
Shen Yuan dropped San Geng. "What the hell do you know! She does it on purpose! She thinks the litter box is dirty! This damn cat is a neat freak about where she shits!"
"Then you should keep the litter box cleaner."
Li Zhi said, holding Naonao, her expression full of discontent.
Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say. How come I never see you do any scooping?"
Li Zhi's pretty face flushed, and she stammered.
"W-well, I'm not over here that often."
"Well, you're here now."
Shen Yuan held a litter scoop out to Li Zhi.
The implication was obvious.
Li Zhi gestured at the large cat in her arms. "My hands are full."
"Use your feet."
"You scoop one up with your feet! If you can do it, then I'll do it."
The words had barely left Li Zhi's lips when she saw Shen Yuan clamp the litter scoop between his feet and precisely lift a turd from the litter box.
"Heh, I knew you were going to say that."
The pretty girl was speechless.
In the end, Li Zhi had no choice but to squat down and scoop the poop.
While Li Zhi was scooping, Shen Yuan crouched down beside her and asked with great interest, "You're Naonao's mom and I'm San Geng's dad. Since they're sisters, what does that make us?"
"It makes us a single-parent family."
"If it's a single-parent family, why are you still leaving Naonao with me to raise?"
"Keep talking and I'll feed you this!" Li Zhi threatened, brandishing the litter scoop.
The threat was highly effective.
After scooping the poop and getting her cat-huffing fix for half an hour, Li Zhi went home to study.
Petting the cats was one of the ways the two of them relieved stress.
Burying your face in a kitty's belly and taking a deep whiff was incredibly de-stressing.
As for Shen Yuan, he still had homework to do.
'Damn it all, this stuff is endless.'
As Shen Yuan battled with his math problems, a "SCRITCH SCRITCH SCRITCH" sound suddenly reached his ears.
Without looking up, Shen Yuan yelled, "San Geng! Go in the box!"
The sound stopped for a moment, then resumed even faster.
"SCRITCH-SCRITCH-SCRITCH-SCRITCH-SCRITCH!"
"San Geng!"
Shen Yuan leaned over and saw San Geng scratching at the floor next to the litter box.
Seeing Shen Yuan, San Geng let out a soft meow.
Unlike her earlier disdain, her tone was now full of pleading.
Shen Yuan was completely unmoved. "Go in the box!" he ordered.
The man and cat stared each other down for a moment before San Geng finally relented, stepping into the litter box under Shen Yuan's watchful eye.
Once the sound of digging in the litter began, Shen Yuan returned to his math problems.
'How should I put this... he wasn't solving a thing.'
After a while, a cat jumped onto his desk, bringing a whiff of poop along with her.
Shen Yuan turned to look. The litter box was empty.
A neat row of little black nuggets lay right beside the litter box.
The man and cat locked eyes.
"You motherfucker!"
The instant Shen Yuan spoke, San Geng shot off the desk and vanished from sight.
'Dammit,' Shen Yuan thought. 'No. I can't be the only one suffering through this.'
Shen Yuan picked up his phone and sent Li Zhi a picture of the cat poop.
"Naonao pooped outside the box. Naonao's mom, get over here and scoop!"
Li Zhi didn't reply, probably because she was studying.
Pinching his nose, Shen Yuan scooped the turds into the litter box.
Around 11:30, Li Zhi finally sent a reply on WeChat.
Shen Yuan took one look and burst out laughing.
Li Zhi: "San Geng's dad can scoop it."
Just as Shen Yuan was laughing, a "DING!" rang in his mind.
[During your chat with Li Zhi, you brought up some memories from high school. Li Zhi suddenly suggested that you two should visit your old school together.]
[Go for a walk with Li Zhi at your high school alma mater. Reward: 1,000 yuan.]