When Mufeng Su got home last night, he spent a long time explaining about Kele, until Xu Shuxia finally agreed.
"You can keep it if you want, but try not to let it run around."
"Got it, Mom."
Back in his room, he first found a relatively large plastic box and trimmed it to make a simple little bed.
Perhaps because Kele had been straying since birth and had never had a home of its own, it took an immediate liking to the crude makeshift nest.
Mufeng Su stroked Kele's head and said to it, "This is your home from now on. You mustn't run around. If you get caught by bad people outside, there won't be any tasty canned food."
With that, he petted the cat's head, poured some cat food into a small bowl for Kele, and put some water in another bowl. Kele started eating and drinking right away without paying him any mind.
I forgot to ask for his QQ ID again...
Luoyi Zhao lay face down on her bed in a daze, her slender legs swinging in midair. Recalling every little moment she spent with Mufeng Su today, she couldn't help laughing out loud.
On Sunday, Mufeng Su stayed home to do his homework and review, just like usual.
At some point in the afternoon, he made up his mind to go buy a few lottery tickets to test the waters.
Arriving at the lottery shop, Mufeng Su quickly filled out three numbers and handed the money along with them to the owner, who then called out to him.
"Young man, are you buying these for yourself or for someone else?"
"Buying them for family, just running an errand."
"Young man, would you like to try this out?" The owner pointed at the scratch-offs and said.
Mufeng Su glanced at them, knowing that this sort of thing was basically a scam to take people's money, but he decided to give it a try anyway.
He wasn't holding out much hope anyway, so why not try? Who knows, maybe he'd win.
He handed the money to the owner, took a scratch-off ticket, read the instructions, and gently scratched it line by line. To his surprise, he found that this ticket was actually a winner—and for fifty yuan, no less. For Mufeng Su right now, fifty yuan was quite a bit.
"You've got great luck, young man. You won on your very first try."
The owner smiled as he exchanged the prize for him.
"Boss, I'd like three more."
And so Mufeng Su bought three more. After scratching them one by one, the first one didn't win, which left him feeling a bit let down, though he figured that was to be expected. But the second one actually won ten yuan, meaning he could basically break even on this one.
When he scratched the third one and saw the number for the prize, he jumped for joy. The third scratch-off had won a thousand yuan. Right now, a thousand yuan was undoubtedly a huge fortune to him.
"You've got amazing luck, young man. We don't even have a few of these top prizes in a whole year."
The owner congratulated him.
Anyway, he just needed to keep the winning ticket, and it wasn't even his own money he'd spent.
After collecting his winnings and adding his family savings, Mufeng Su had nearly two thousand yuan.
This win undoubtedly made his little treasury swell up instantly.
He planned to return the money to Luoyi Zhao first thing on Monday; after all, he still wasn't comfortable spending a girl's money.
"Oh, and young man, remember to come back tomorrow to claim the prize for the lottery ticket you bought," the owner shouted as he hurried out of the shop.
"Thanks, Boss. See you tomorrow."
Early the next morning, Mufeng Su left for school as usual.
The only difference this time was that he stopped on the street by the school gate to buy two bowls of rice noodles—one for himself, and the other, of course, prepared for Luoyi Zhao.
He had figured it out yesterday: you couldn't save money by simply scrimping and saving; you had to solve the root problem and actually make money.
When it came to eating, you still had to eat. He couldn't let his health suffer.
When Luoyi Zhao walked into the classroom and saw the steaming bowl of rice noodles on her desk, she was instantly filled with confusion and wanted to ask Mufeng Su what was going on.
"I brought you breakfast, Luoyi. Eat it while it's hot."
She looked at him in pleasant surprise.
"You actually brought me breakfast? Thank you."
Luoyi Zhao put away her schoolbag, sat down, and glanced at the rice noodles in the bowl, which even had a fried egg and shredded meat in them.
What's gotten into him? He's suddenly so willing to spend money.
"You always bring breakfast for me, so I should show some appreciation too. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold."
She didn't overthink it, feeling mostly touched.
He actually knew to bring me breakfast.
Mmm~ so good.
Disregarding the heat, Luoyi Zhao began devouring the first breakfast Mufeng Su had ever brought her.
Mufeng Su watched the way Luoyi Zhao was eating, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.
"Eat slowly, it's all yours. Why are you eating so fast when it's still so hot?"
Luoyi Zhao burned her tongue and stuck it out repeatedly with a cute expression.
He took a bottle of milk from his schoolbag and handed it to her.
"Drink this. Eat slowly, it's still very hot, so be careful not to burn your tongue again."
As he spoke, Mufeng Su also handed over a tissue, signaling for her to wipe her mouth.
Seeing the milk Mufeng Su handed her, Luoyi Zhao couldn't help but wonder if the person in front of her was really Mufeng Su. What was up with him today? Wasn't he usually quite frugal?
Besides, this was the first time he had ever brought her breakfast.
Luoyi Zhao looked up into his eyes and asked, "How did you even think of bringing me breakfast today?"
Mufeng Su paused and said, "Well, actually, I just went to buy a few lottery tickets yesterday to try my luck, and then the owner recommended I buy some scratch-offs. I got carried away and bought a few, and as a result... I won."
Word by word, Mufeng Su told her the whole story from start to finish.
"Since I have money now, of course I have to treat you to something. You've often brought me breakfast after all, and as the saying goes, health is the capital of the revolution. You can't save money by just pinching pennies, you have to earn it."
He slurped a mouthful of noodles and then said, "From now on, we should eat and drink whenever we want. Oh, by the way, yesterday's money is in your drawer, take a look."
Knowing his personality, Luoyi Zhao had no choice but to accept it.
Yet, seeing his smug expression, she covered her mouth with a smile and teased, "So that's how it is. But hey, that's good—Keke's cat food is taken care of for the future, then."
"Yeah, yeah, I'll definitely never let Kele go hungry. As long as I have a bite to eat, it will have a meal of cat food."
"Speaking of which, how is Kele doing now? Has it settled in since coming to your house? Is it lively? Is it naughty?"
After all, that was Kele, which belonged to both of them, and Luoyi Zhao cared deeply about how it was getting along.
"Keke is very well-behaved. It doesn't make a fuss or get noisy normally. When I'm reading, it just likes to lie on the desk, watch me, or sleep beside me."
"It's just that I don't know why it doesn't like sleeping in the little bed I made for it, and instead prefers to come onto my bed and sleep right next to me." Mufeng Su shook his head helplessly.
"But it's been eating a ton these past two days, just like you—always eating whenever it has free time."
"Mufeng Su! Who are you saying eats a lot?!"
With that, Luoyi Zhao's little fists rained down furiously on Mufeng Su. Even though her cotton-soft punches posed no threat to him at all, Mufeng Su still played along, raising his hands in surrender.
In the eyes of everyone else, the bantering between Mufeng Su and Luoyi Zhao looked entirely like they were showing off their affection.
"Those two are definitely together!"
Someone whispered in the classroom.
"Oh right, didn't you still have three lottery tickets being drawn today? How about I go with you after school to check the results and see if you really have such great luck?"
If Luoyi Zhao hadn't brought it up, Mufeng Su would have almost forgotten about the lottery tickets entirely; he had only remembered winning on the scratch-offs.
He checked—good thing he had put the lottery tickets in his schoolbag yesterday, so they could head right over after school.
"Let's go together after school today."