9
Trình Dực drove back from D thành alone.
When I returned, Quinn Hill and I were in the car.
We arrived at his apartment.
Real estate in D thành was expensive down to the last inch, and yet he’d managed to buy a 200-square-meter apartment right near school?!
A little girl like me… I was absolutely floored.
That’s what you get for being a famous athlete—making money is no joke!
As soon as I pushed open the door, I saw that the entire apartment was designed in a classic English manor style.
What a coincidence—I absolutely love movies about that sort of thing.
I’d even used it as the decorating theme for my own space for years.
Trình Dực opened the door to a bedroom.
It had floor-to-ceiling windows and a spacious balcony.
A deep moss-green shag rug covered the floor.
A classically carved wooden desk stood beside a brass desk lamp, with a quill pen set on top.
It was a perfect match for my taste.
Trình Dực looked at me and said, “This is your room.”
Amazing!
A little girl like me… had been successfully won over all over again!
I did my best to keep a straight face and nodded without a flicker of emotion. “Okay.”
And just like that, our life together began.
I went to school during the day, and in the evenings, if I didn’t have anything going on, I came home to play with the cat.
To keep Quinn Hill from licking its tail, Trình Dực came up with a new trick every day. He even wrapped the cat’s tail in tangerine peel.
Maybe to make it up to Quinn Hill, he kept finding ways to strike up conversations with me, asking all sorts of questions about her.
Everything from cat litter, treats, and toys to grooming brushes and shampoo—he had it all covered.
He fussed over my cat more than he did himself.
But what was even stranger was—
Once, I happened to mention that Quinn Hill liked chewing on fabric.
That very night, he stayed up all night knitting it a sunflower-shaped collar.
When I got it, I was genuinely amazed.
Who would’ve thought those big hands that once held a hockey stick could handle knitting needles so skillfully?
Trình Dực, just how many more surprises do you have in store?
And that wasn’t all—
He could cook, too!
And not just cook—he was really good at it!
Every evening when he didn’t have class, he’d make late-night snacks and knock on my door to call me out.
We’d sit at the wooden table in the living room, watch old movies, and eat our late-night snacks.
Quinn Hill would rub back and forth around our feet.
Suddenly, I felt as if I were enjoying a peaceful life straight out of a dream.
When you accept someone’s food, you can’t afford to be choosy.
After mooching off him for so long, I couldn’t keep up my cold, distant act anymore.
My true nature as a food addict gradually came out.
At the same time, Quinn Hill gradually let her guard down around Trình Dực.
In the end, she even sprawled across his lap and fell asleep, showing off her soft white belly.
Watching them, I couldn’t help but sigh:
The longer you live together, the deeper the bond.
Time flew by. With Trình Dực taking such good care of her, Quinn Hill grew from a tiny kitten into a chubby cat.
She needed to lose weight, fast!
As it happened, the school’s fitness test was coming up, too.
So every morning at 6:30, Trình Dực dragged Quinn Hill and me out of bed to go running.
“How can you still be asleep at this hour?”
In the dawn light, Trình Dực wore a tracksuit, pushing me along with one hand while holding Quinn Hill’s leash in the other.
He ran ahead, hauling his two “deadweights” along.
After a few laps, we sat down to rest by a small pond on campus.
The sun slowly rose above the horizon.
More and more people came out for their morning runs.
A family of three in matching tracksuits jogged by, laughing and joking.
Trình Dực watched them, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
Then he turned to me, propped his chin on his hand, and asked, “Lâm Dư Kiều, tell me… what would you call us now?”
His dark eyes sparkled with anticipation.
But by then, I was already clutching my chest, out of breath from running.
I snapped irritably, “Are you trying to run yourself to death?”
Trình Dực gritted his teeth. “We still live together!”
“So… roommates?”
“We’re raising a cat together, too.”
“So…”
I glanced at Quinn Hill, round as a ball now, thought for a moment, and replied, “Partners in pig-raising?”
Trình Dực gritted his teeth. “That makes me your debtor.”
He seemed sulky. He scooped up Quinn Hill and ran ahead.
After a few steps, he turned back and frowned at me.
“Don’t slack off.”
All of a sudden, he turned into a ruthless coach.
“Keep running.”
Quinn Hill was too lazy to run, so she shamelessly played up until he carried her.
Watching them, I yelled in protest, “I want to—”
Before I could finish saying, “I can’t run anymore, either,” Trình Dực fixed me with a reproachful look.
When you’re under someone else’s roof, you have to bow your head.
I immediately changed my tune. “I can keep running.”
10
Something had been off about Trình Dực lately.
He was always using Quinn Hill as an excuse to talk to me, finding every possible way to involve himself in my life.
He was being way too enthusiastic.
Could it be…
He still hasn’t given up on fighting me for custody of Quinn Hill?!
Early in the morning, Quinn Hill held her fluffy tail high as she patrolled her territory in the living room.
Trình Dực had just finished showering, and his hair was still wet.
He wore dark blue silk pajamas, buttoned all the way up to the collar.
Standing at the breakfast bar in the open kitchen, he warmed something up while sipping water from a crystal glass, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly.
Getting to admire a handsome man first thing in the morning was a real stroke of luck.
I glanced at Trình Dực, then over at Quinn Hill, who was swishing her proud tail.
Without thinking, I blurted out, “Why aren’t you wagging your tail?”
Trình Dực nearly choked.
His ears turned bright red, but then, as if he’d thought of something, he suddenly got angry. “Lâm Dư Kiều, tell me… does that count as sexual harassment?”
I froze.
Thinking it over… maybe it really did.
I was screwed!
We’d gotten along so well these past few days that I’d forgotten to keep my guard up. I’d even crossed my own boundaries without realizing it.
This couldn’t go on!
Before I could apologize, Trình Dực walked over and handed me a cup of warm milk.
“We’re just roommates, and you’re already harassing me first thing in the morning?”
No wonder he’d buttoned his shirt all the way to the neck after his shower. He’d done it to protect himself from me!
I lowered my head, feeling absolutely guilty.
Seeing me like that, Trình Dực sighed and ruffled his hair in frustration, seeming to regret what he’d just said, too.
He deliberately changed the subject. “I’ll make your favorite sweet-and-sour ribs tonight.”
I shook my head. “No need. I’m going to a mixer with the Electrical Engineering department tonight.”
Trình Dực was stroking Quinn Hill, but his hand stopped, and his teeth clenched.
The atmosphere suddenly turned strange.
After a long pause, he asked:
“Have you forgotten what day it is?”
I stared at him blankly. “What day is it?”
Trình Dực looked at me like I was a heartless womanizer.
“Today marks one hundred days since Quinn Hill moved into her new home.”
…So what?
He picked up another whisker that had fallen on the floor.
“And it’s the first day Quinn Hill has ever shed a whisker.”
…And?
Then I suddenly remembered.
“I heard that if you make a wish on a cat’s shed whisker, it’ll come true!”
Trình Dực nodded solemnly, his voice turning low.
“Shedding a whisker, getting used to a new home… This is the first step in a cat’s growing up.”
“As her parents, shouldn’t we celebrate our baby?”
Since I was living under his roof, I had no choice but to try to keep up with Trình Dực’s logic.
I nodded solemnly:
“Exactly.”
Trình Dực grew even more excited.
“And that’s it?”
I raised my hands and clapped a few times.
Then I turned to look at Quinn Hill with boundless affection.
“Sweetie, Mom is so proud of you.”
Trình Dực picked Quinn Hill up and held her at eye level, solemnly declaring:
“I’m throwing you a party tonight to celebrate your hundredth day!”
He glanced at me again, his eyes dim and wounded.
“Lâm Dư Kiều, you’re really going to some mixer and leave Quinn Hill and me all alone on such an important day?”
Quinn Hill got into character too, letting out a plaintive little “Meow~”
I suspected the two of them were putting on an act!
But to maintain my virtuous image, and to make sure Quinn Hill had a proper anniversary, I had no choice but to cancel the party and stay home.
From that day on, Trình Dực started coming up with all kinds of anniversaries for Quinn Hill.
Even the tiniest thing had to be celebrated in style.
He was nuts.
But I couldn’t let him beat me, either!
To hold on to custody of Quinn Hill, I started competing with him.
I stuck to Quinn Hill every day, doing my best to show that I was the one who loved her most.
11
To avoid unnecessary trouble, I only told my roommates that this semester I’d be moving out to live with someone else.
I didn’t reveal that the person was Trình Dực.
But the more I kept it secret, the more curious the girls became.
After our fitness test one evening, they started gossiping animatedly in our dorm group chat again.
【Be honest. Is the person you’re living with a man or a woman?】
【Someone said they saw you jogging with the campus heartthrob this morning!】
【Oh my god, are we finally getting the scoop, babe?!】
【Tell us something—does Trình Dực have abs? How many?】
Right away, one of my roommates shot back:
【Come on, he’s an athlete. Of course he has abs!】
【A man’s abs are his best dowry!】
【How shallow. Change the subject! How much dowry does Trình Dực have?】
I really admired them. It was two in the morning, and they were still gossiping away like this.
As expected, gossips never get tired.
After using the bathroom, I went into the kitchen for a drink of water.
I casually picked a harmless reply in the dorm group chat:
【Confirmed: a man’s abs are his best dowry.】
As for the other questions, I pretended not to see them.
The next morning, we had breakfast together in the living room.
It was rare to see Trình Dực wearing a fitted white shirt today.
Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, making the thin fabric almost transparent.
The shirt clung to his skin, showing off the firm lines of his chest and abs.
As I drank my milk, I stared at his stomach for a long time.
“Is this shirt… a little too tight?”
Trình Dực gritted his teeth, looking utterly helpless.
I pretended not to notice how flustered he was and kept asking:
“Did you buy the wrong size?”