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Watching Ning Ruoxi happily teasing the orange cat, Ye Ling suddenly felt a pang of jealousy.

’This woman.’

’How dare she ditch me to play with a cat?’

Brother Ling felt crushed in that moment.

’Am I not even as good as a cat?’

The more Ye Ling thought about it, the gloomier he became. He gave up on petting cats, found a place to sit down, and sulked over his coffee.

As he was drinking, Ye Ling suddenly felt a tickle on his cheek.

He turned his head and saw Ning Ruoxi, who had squatted down next to him at some point. She was holding the big orange cat with both hands, using its whiskers to tickle Ye Ling’s face.

"What are you doing?"

Ye Ling said sullenly.

"Look how cute this orange cat is! You should come pet it too."

Ning Ruoxi said with a grin.

At that moment, she still hadn’t noticed that a certain someone was green with envy.

"If it’s so cute, then go pet it. It’s not like I can stop you."

Ye Ling pursed his lips, but he averted his gaze and went back to drinking his coffee on his own.

Seeing Ye Ling’s expression and thinking back on his words, Ning Ruoxi finally realized something was off.

As she thought about it, something suddenly occurred to her, and her eyes widened.

"Wait a minute... you’re not jealous, are you?"

Ning Ruoxi said, her face a mask of disbelief.

"I am not!"

Caught off guard, Ye Ling’s face immediately flushed red, and he flat-out denied it.

"Yes, you are!"

Ning Ruoxi, however, looked at Ye Ling as if she had discovered a new continent, her expression completely certain.

She couldn’t be blamed; the sourness in Ye Ling’s last remark was just too thick.

’It’s not like I can stop you.’

Tsk, tsk. A line like that? Pure, unadulterated sour grapes!

"Silly, there’s no need for that, is there? It’s just a cat. Are you really going to be jealous of a cat?"

Ning Ruoxi said, holding back a laugh.

It was the first time she’d realized that this jerk’s possessive streak was this strong.

He was acting like this just because she held an orange cat for a bit?

"I said I’m not!"

Ye Ling’s face was now as black as the bottom of a pot.

In that moment, Brother Ling felt his dignity had taken a serious hit.

’Him? Jealous of a cat? No way. Even if he was a little salty, he could never admit it!’

"Tsk, tsk, why does the air smell so sour all of a sudden? How strange. Did the coffee go bad?" Ning Ruoxi suddenly fanned the air in front of her nose, feigning surprise.

"Hmph!"

At this point, Ye Ling knew he couldn’t talk his way out of it. He simply turned his head away with a soft huff, ignoring the girl.

Ning Ruoxi looked at Ye Ling and blinked. "Are you really mad?"

Ye Ling still ignored her.

At this moment,

Realizing the gravity of the situation, Ning Ruoxi gave a slightly helpless laugh. Then, with a twinkle in her eye, she stood up and, still holding the orange cat, snuggled into Ye Ling’s embrace.

"What are you doing...?"

Ye Ling froze for a moment, feeling a soft, warm body suddenly press into his embrace.

"Alright, alright, don’t be jealous anymore. Is this better?"

Ning Ruoxi leaned against Ye Ling’s chest, then held the orange cat up in front of him:

"See? This orange cat is so chubby!"

At this moment,

Ning Ruoxi was holding the orange cat, and Ye Ling was holding Ning Ruoxi.

Our Brother Ling declared the matter settled!

"It is pretty chubby."

Ye Ling glanced at the chubby orange cat, couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch its cheeks, and then suddenly pulled them to the sides.

Instantly,

The small, round face was stretched into an oval.

"MEOW~"

The orange cat immediately cried out in protest.

’I might not be human, but you’re a real jerk!’

"Hee hee hee..."

Watching the orange cat’s face get squished out of shape by Ye Ling, Ning Ruoxi burst out laughing. She suddenly tilted her head up.

"Are you still jealous now?"

"Not anymore."

Ye Ling lowered his head slightly and planted a light kiss on Ning Ruoxi’s lips.

’!!!’

The big orange cat’s eyes instantly went wide and round.

’Meow! No, not like this, not like this!’

’I’m just a kitten~~’

’WAAAH! Mama, I wanna go home! Someone’s abusing a cat here!’

"There are so many other cats over there. Let’s go pet them?"

Seeing that she had placated Ye Ling, Ning Ruoxi immediately stood up, pulling him toward a different spot not far away.

This cat cafe had quite a few cats: tabbies, Siamese, Ragdolls, British Shorthairs, American Shorthairs, and oh, right, that especially fat orange cat from before!

Ye Ling chose an American Shorthair without hesitation.

Er.

He actually preferred British Shorthairs, but Zhao Cai was a British Shorthair, and he’d gotten desensitized from petting him so much...

’Talk about being fickle.’

"To be honest, I’ve always thought Siamese cats are a little ugly."

Ye Ling suddenly muttered under his breath, looking at a small cat in the distance.

Siamese cats are actually pretty easy to spot. Among a pile of cats, it’s basically the one with the blackest face.

"Pfft."

Hearing this, Ning Ruoxi couldn’t help but laugh out loud. She shot him a look. "Be careful, or the kitty will bite you!"

"I’m being serious."

Ye Ling glanced at the little black-faced fellow in the distance. He truly couldn’t see what was so cute about the little guy, whose face was as black as charcoal.

However,

To be fair, its eyes were indeed exceptionally beautiful—blue, like gemstones, with a very pure look.

"Well, I like them. I guess it’s just ’to each their own,’ right?"

Ning Ruoxi suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for the little cat. She scooped it into her arms and began to stroke it gently. Then, thinking of something, the corner of her lips curled up.

"It’s probably like how I like you. There’s nothing to be done about it. I just like you, for no reason at all~~"

Hearing this, the corner of Ye Ling’s mouth twitched.

’Even though Ning Ruoxi’s words were a confession of her feelings for him... why the hell was she comparing him to this little black-faced creature?’

Ye Ling picked up the American Shorthair and took a deep sniff.

"MEOW~~"

After getting sniffed by Ye Ling, the American Shorthair shook its head in disdain.

With a kick of its paws, it shot out of Ye Ling’s arms, ran over to Ning Ruoxi’s side, and rubbed its head against her.

At this moment,

Our Brother Ling once again felt insulted. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

’Hello? Can’t you share the love a little?’

Ye Ling watched as seven or eight little cats swarmed around Ning Ruoxi, while he had jack squat around him.

Fine.

He was getting sour again!

"Heh heh, don’t be mad. Here, hold this orange cat."

Seeing his reaction, Ning Ruoxi flashed a smile and handed the orange cat from her arms to Ye Ling.

Unlike the American Shorthair, this orange cat seemed to quite like Ye Ling. It even stuck out its tongue and licked his face.

"Hmph!"

Ye Ling, of course, still remembered how this little guy had stolen his thunder with Ning Ruoxi earlier. He huffed softly. "I’m not gonna pet you..."

’You’ve got to be kidding. Was he, Ye the Mighty Man, so easily bought?’

However, the big orange cat seemed completely unfazed by Ye Ling’s reaction. It just snuggled and squirmed in his arms, occasionally sticking out its little tongue to lick him.

「About two or three minutes later...」

Our Brother Ling... totally caved.