[16:03:51]

The weather was stifling and looked like it was about to rain.

Ji Yushi leaned his head against the car window, listening to Ji Minyue ramble on: “Mom and I have already cleaned up the house for you. You’ve got everything you need, and after my careful inspection, it seems like you shouldn’t be lacking anything. But, the weather forecast says there will be heavy rain in the coming days. Maybe you shouldn’t move in just yet; why don’t you stay at home for a few more days?”

Seventeen years old, freshly graduated from high school.

Suddenly, on a whim, he silently booked a plane ticket and went off to Kado Island on his own.

By the time the Ji family got the call, he was already there.

On the day he returned, it was Ji Minyue who came to pick him up.

Ji Yushi had spent over half a month in Kado, and his skin had tanned a bit, not too dark, but he looked a lot more energetic.

Hearing Ji Minyue’s suggestion, he replied, “The heavy rain has nothing to do with whether I go home or not. Didn’t you move out before you turned eighteen?”

Teenage rebellion.

Everyone goes through it, only Ji Yushi’s rebellion came a little late.

Ji Minyue, still in his twenties, with the mind of a big kid, said, “Well, I guess that’s fine. You always pick up my bad habits instead of the good ones.”

Ji Yushi turned his head, “Who says I’m learning from you?”

Ji Minyue: “Dad said so.”

After dropping Ji Yushi off at his home, Ji Minyue left.

The house was indeed tidied up nicely, with Aunt Su meticulously preparing even the most basic daily necessities for him, including but not limited to tissues and hand soap, showing a motherly touch everywhere. This was the first time Ji Yushi would be living alone, so it was natural for his family to worry. But living with someone taking care of everything had become too easy for him; he just wanted to learn independence as soon as possible.

The next morning, the sky was overcast, and it looked like it was going to rain.

His suitcase was still lying on the wooden floor; he hadn’t had time to unpack after coming back the day before. There weren’t many clothes inside, mostly some small trinkets he had brought back from Kado.

He walked around the house barefoot, and when he went to the kitchen to pour some water, he vaguely heard the sound of a cat meowing.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination.

But after he finished drinking a glass of water and washed the cup, the meowing continued.

“Meow~”

The sound was soft and delicate, like a kitten, and it wasn’t just one.

Ji Yushi put down the cup and followed the sound.

The kitchen had a large window that let in plenty of light, fitted with white blinds. Through the window, he could see the garden behind the apartment complex, where the vegetation was growing lush. He parted the blinds and noticed that the sky outside was ominously dark, and it had already started raining, with the raindrops coming down fast and hard.

After opening the window, the sound of rain hitting the leaves and grass was loud, and the faint sound of meowing seemed to come from the garden.

How could there be a cat?

He hesitated for a moment but decided to put on his shoes and take an umbrella to check it out.

The young man, holding the umbrella, stepped into the garden of the apartment complex where he was living alone for the first time.

The rain had grown heavier, with water streaming off the tip of the umbrella. His pant legs were soaked, and it wasn’t until he reached the depths of the garden that he saw the litter of kittens.

Under the bushes, there was a cardboard box, already soaked by the rain.

Three kittens, less than two months old, were completely black, with no visible speck of other colors. They were scratching at the cardboard box, trying to climb out, crying out in fear as they did so.

The box contained milk powder and cat food, but no one was around.

Ji Yushi squatted down and gently stroked the kittens’ heads with his fingertips. Only after confirming that they weren’t too dirty did he feel comfortable using his hands to soothe them. He held the umbrella to keep the rain off the box and patiently waited in place for a while, but no one came to take them away.

He realized that this was a litter of abandoned kittens.

Ji Yushi picked up the box, intending to take the kittens to the property management office to see if they knew how to handle the situation.

As he stood up, he noticed someone standing in a pavilion in the garden not far away.

The rain was pouring down, so Ji Yushi couldn’t see clearly, but he could make out that the person was very tall, likely over 190 cm. Despite the unclear face, those long, straight legs were hard to ignore. Just standing there, the person was very eye-catching.

On a rainy day like this, the person was probably an owner taking shelter from the rain in the garden.

Ji Yushi called out, “Hey!”

His voice was drowned out by the increasingly heavy rain: “Did you see who left the kittens here?”

The person didn’t move.

Worried that the person didn’t hear him, Ji Yushi decided to approach: “Hello, can you hear me?”

One hand holding the umbrella, the other holding the box.

Ji Yushi tilted the umbrella to keep the kittens dry, so half of his body got wet.

He walked along the stone-paved path, just a few steps from the pavilion’s steps.

The person had their back to him, but suddenly, as if they had eyes on their back, their body stiffened.

Immediately after, the person abruptly turned and walked away without looking back.

Ji Yushi was stunned for a moment and didn’t chase after them.

He changed direction and took the box with the three kittens to the property management office. The staff there said they hadn’t heard of anyone keeping kittens recently, but they could help deal with the situation, maybe find some residents who would want to adopt them, and if not, they would send them to an animal rescue center. Before leaving, one of the staff muttered about how irresponsible it was to abandon such young kittens in a storm, and Ji Yushi thought of the figure he had seen in the garden.

Ji Yushi asked, “Could you check the surveillance footage for me?”

Ji Yushi was just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, with a cool demeanor, looking like a delicate flower from a greenhouse.

The staff didn’t expect him to take this so seriously: “Check the surveillance footage?”

“Yes,” Ji Yushi said, “It doesn’t invade anyone’s privacy, just the footage from public areas. That should be fine, right?”

They reviewed the footage.

Sure enough, about an hour earlier, they saw a person carrying a cardboard box into the garden.

The person was very tall, and the box seemed almost too small in their arms. They stood under the building where Ji Yushi lived for a long time, occasionally looking up at the building, as if waiting for someone.

The light before the storm was very dim, and the person was wearing a hat, making it impossible to see their face clearly on the footage.

The property staff cursed, “Damn! How could someone that big still do something like abandoning pets! If you can’t keep them, don’t buy them. At the very least, take them to a rescue center or give them away—no sense of morality at all!”

Ji Yushi didn’t mention what he saw in the garden; he didn’t think it was necessary. He just asked, “Is that person a resident here?”

The staff said, “Probably not. I haven’t seen anyone that tall around here!”

The staff member got even more annoyed at that, realizing that the person had specifically come to their complex to abandon the kittens!

Ji Yushi left the property management office.

He went home, changed out of his wet clothes, and got ready to shower. He noticed a few strands of black cat fur stuck to his T-shirt.

After showering, he ate some bread for breakfast and then lay on the sofa reading a book.

The house was very quiet, and the rain outside continued to fall.

A sense of loneliness overwhelmed him.

He stood up, put on his shoes, found the still-dripping umbrella, and went back to the property management office.

“You’re back again?” the staff asked, “Did you find that person?”

“No,” Ji Yushi said, “I want to adopt the kittens.”

The staff was surprised, “You want to adopt the kittens?”

Just a moment ago, this young man had brought the kittens to them.

Ji Yushi: “Yes.”

The staff asked, “But are your parents okay with it?”

Ji Yushi said, “I live alone.”

The staff replied, “Alright, which one do you want to adopt?”

“All of them,” Ji Yushi said, “The house is big, and I want to keep all three.”