The heavy snow had been falling for two days, blanketing everything in white. Jiang Yuan hugged a hot water bottle and stood outside the classroom corridor.
The world was pure and spotless. The cold wind whipped across her cheeks and neck, making her shiver involuntarily.
She hadn't expected the sudden heavy snow the day after she left the dessert shop. There had been no signs at all.
She hadn't seen Chi Xu since then either. Considering what had happened that day, Lin Suye quietly refrained from mentioning Chi Xu.
"The snow is really beautiful. I didn't expect it to keep falling for so long," Lin Suye's voice came from behind. She poked her head out and looked down at the bottom of the building.
A path had been cleared of snow on the way students usually walked, winding forward.
"There are already a lot of stray cats on campus. I'm afraid they might not survive this winter with the snow. It didn't snow here last year," Lin Suye said.
Winter was always a matter of life and death for stray cats and dogs.
"Yuanyuan, does your apartment have an air conditioner? Will Jiaojiao be cold?" Lin Suye remembered the extremely cute and docile cat and casually asked, "And you guys. Jiaojiao is so cute. I can't even imagine that little cat shivering in the snow."
Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she last saw or petted Jiaojiao. A faint sense of longing welled up in her heart.
It had been a few days. She wondered if Jiaojiao missed her, this unqualified sister.
"Yuanyuan, did you install a surveillance camera in the house? I see that many cat - owning families install one so they can check on their cats when they're on business trips," Lin Suye turned her head and asked.
"Yeah, there's one. I've never used it," Jiang Yuan replied.
It was not long after they first adopted Jiaojiao. One night after class, Chi Xu had excitedly installed a software on her phone and proudly told her that if she missed Jiaojiao during class, she could just open the software because it was directly connected to the camera in the living room.
Once again, it was Chi Xu, intruding into every aspect of her life.
Her heart felt as if it was being tightly squeezed by a big hand, and a dull pain spread.
Jiang Yuan's breathing became disordered. She tried her best to calm her emotions and tremblingly opened the software she remembered downloading. She successfully connected to the camera.
The image of the apartment living room appeared on her phone screen.
Jiaojiao wasn't there.
If she turned on the voice function, her voice could be transmitted to the apartment, but Jiang Yuan wasn't sure if Chi Xu was in class at this moment, so she didn't turn it on.
The light in the apartment living room was rather dim. It seemed that all the curtains were drawn.
"Hmm? Why can't I see Jiaojiao? Maybe it's hiding in your room," Lin Suye murmured to herself.
Jiang Yuan found the place where Jiaojiao's cat bowl used to be.
The cat food in the bowl was scattered everywhere, and the water bowl had been knocked over.
The water on the floor was mixed with the scattered cat food particles, making a mushy mess.
Where was Chi Xu? Wasn't he in the apartment?
Jiaojiao had made such a mess. Didn't Chi Xu even bother to clean it up?
If it had just been knocked over recently, it would be okay. At least Jiaojiao wouldn't go hungry or thirsty for a short time. But if it had been like this for several days...
Jiang Yuan didn't dare to think about it. She turned on the voice function and shouted into the microphone, "Jiaojiao? Jiaojiao? Are you there?"
Lin Suye looked at Jiang Yuan worriedly from the side.
Jiang Yuan called out several times in a row. Then Jiaojiao suddenly ran over from the direction of Chi Xu's room and stood in front of the camera.
Not seeing anyone but only hearing the familiar voice, it let out a long, plaintive "meow", which made Jiang Yuan's heart tremble.
On the phone screen, Jiaojiao rubbed against the camera, meowing more and more urgently.
Slowly, its big, watery eyes filled with tears. It blinked slightly, and big teardrops fell to the ground, as if burning Jiang Yuan.
"Jiaojiao looks so pitiful. It seems so wronged," Lin Suye stared at the phone screen and murmured, "Isn't Chi Xu in the apartment?"
Jiang Yuan felt extremely stuffy in her heart. She opened Chi Xu's chat window and rummaged through their previous chat records. She remembered that Chi Xu had sent her a class schedule at the very beginning.
She quickly found the schedule. It showed that Chi Xu was having a class at this time. He was at school, not in the apartment.
"Lin Suye, could you please tell the teacher that I'm not feeling well and need to take a leave later? I'll also send a message to the class committee. And could you help me take my books back after school? I have to go back right away. Jiaojiao... it's so pitiful," Jiang Yuan said.
Sure enough, in a quarreling relationship, it was always the "child" that suffered.
After giving all the instructions, Jiang Yuan first went back to the dormitory to get the key to the apartment. Then she almost ran all the way to the apartment building.
She pressed the elevator button and gasped for breath.
While waiting for the elevator to come down, many scenarios flashed through Jiang Yuan's mind. She was going to question Chi Xu. Why did he abuse Jiaojiao? Since they had decided to adopt it together, why did they let their anger and quarrels lead to neglecting Jiaojiao?
The quarrel was just between the two of them. Jiaojiao was so innocent.
Jiang Yuan also thought that if she and Chi Xu really went their separate ways in the future, she would move out of this room. But what about Jiaojiao? Would Chi Xu continue to adopt it?
If not, she would take Jiaojiao back to her hometown and ask her parents to take care of it.
Although her mother strongly opposed it, she could act cute and her mother would eventually soften her heart and agree.
Jiaojiao was innocent.
They couldn't let Jiaojiao become a stray cat again just because of their differences and quarrels.
A cat without its siblings was the most pitiful.
With a "ding", the elevator arrived on the fourth floor. Jiang Yuan carefully unlocked the door with the key. She didn't see Chi Xu's slippers when changing her shoes, but she didn't think much about it.
She gently closed the door and saw that all the curtains in the room were drawn. The light was so dim that it was not good for either people or cats.
She directly knelt on the sofa and pulled open the curtains. The bright and dazzling snow - light poured in.
Then Jiang Yuan walked to the center of the living room and called out, "Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao, where are you? Sister is here."
Suddenly, Jiaojiao jumped out of the darkness and circled around Jiang Yuan quickly and anxiously.
Looking at the fluffy Jiaojiao, which was like her own child, Jiang Yuan felt a little better. She squatted down and stroked Jiaojiao, and Jiaojiao rubbed against her palm vigorously.
"Do you miss sister?" Jiang Yuan asked.
The only response was a long - drawn - out "meow".
After Jiang Yuan stroked Jiaojiao, it actually left on its own and walked towards the kitchen.
Seeing that Jiang Yuan wasn't following, it meowed at her.
Jiang Yuan remembered that the way to the kitchen passed by Chi Xu's room.
"Jiaojiao, what are you doing?" Jiang Yuan asked doubtfully.
Jiaojiao seemed very anxious. It ran back, bit Jiang Yuan's trouser leg and pulled.
"Okay, okay. I'll go with you. Don't bite me," Jiang Yuan said.
Jiaojiao seemed to understand and obediently let go of its mouth. Then it darted towards Chi Xu's room.
Jiang Yuan stood at the door of Chi Xu's room. Through the crack of the door, she saw a person covered by the quilt on the bed.