Ch28 - Ba Mei is Not a Mei

In order to improve the living environment for the trainees, it seemed that the dormitories had all been remodelled and repainted.

The boys’ dorms had been repainted to a light blue-green. It looked clean and bright.

Lu Xu’s dorm was no exception, but when he returned from the studio and pushed open the door, he saw that the entire dorm room had changed.

Originally, the four-person room was relatively spacious, but now it was filled with cat climbing posts, cat scratching posts, and all kinds of cat toys. They were all pink and soft. Additionally, the originally empty bed had all kinds of cat food, treats, and little cans piled on top. It looked like a small warehouse.

The Ba Mei Lu Xu had been worrying over was currently lying lazily on the ground, revealing its round belly as it digested. Sleeping after eating and drinking to its fill; no need to even mention how smoothly its day was going.

“This…”

The trainees didn’t have much luggage, to begin with. This made half the room look like Ba Mei’s personal home.

The three roommates were currently holding treats and staring at Ba Mei’s belly, discussing whether they should continue feeding.

Xu Haoming heard Lu Xu’s voice and turned around. Seeing his gaze fall on the newly appeared kitty products, he couldn’t help but smile and explain, “The cat food and cans were purchased by the program staff. Nian ge bought the toys. Some of the treats were also bought by the program staff, some were sent over by other trainees.”

When Lu Xu thought about it, such a large battle formation was definitely the program staff’s doing. He just hadn’t expected Ji Xiunian to also buy toys.

He wasn’t the type of person to trouble others and immediately asked, “Wouldn’t this be bothering you guys? Should I ask my friend to come over and pick up Ba Mei…”

“It’s not a bother, not a bother at all.” Hearing that Lu Xu was going to send the cat away, the three of them immediately voiced their opinions.

Ba Mei was smart and cute. The feeling of petting it was first-class, and they didn’t even need to shovel its litter.

The thought of being able to breathe into a soft cat after practice ended greatly reduced their stress.

Seeing that they really weren’t against having Ba Mei here, Lu Xu didn’t comment any further about sending it away.

It was just that after looking at all the pink covering the room, and then at the Ba Mei who was very pleased with itself, Lu Xu wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “Isn’t this too girly?”

“Pink and soft is good, since our Ba Mei is a pretty little princess.”

Seeing that Han Tianyu was treating Ba Mei as a girl, Lu Xu felt like he needed to vouch for Ba Mei.

He strode forward and scooped Ba Mei up, lifting its hind leg up for them to see. “Would a princess have this?”

Ba Mei’s legs were round; even cat legs could look like large chicken drumsticks. Underneath the soft fur two round, small balls were hidden. It was only because Ba Mei barely lifted its tail that it wasn’t very obvious.

Song Zhe was a little stupefied looking at it. He clearly already knew the answer but still involuntarily blurted out, “What are those?”

Lu Xu smiled slightly. “What do you think this could be?”

Xu Haoming’s reaction was even bigger. “No way, how could Ba Mei grow balls?”

“Male cats have them so of course, Ba Mei would also have them.”

“Male cat?!”

The three of them were beyond shocked. You call it Ba Mei but it’s a male cat?

Xu Haoming wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. “If it’s a male cat why is it called Ba Mei, ah. If you hadn’t told us, Xu ge, no one would think Ba Mei was actually a male cat.”

It was mainly because Ba Mei’s male characteristics were not very obvious. Along with its confusing name, it was really easy to get its gender wrong.

The other three in the dorm thought it was shocking, but they weren’t the only ones who had gotten the gender wrong. Other than Lu Xu, everyone else thought Ba Mei was a female cat. This could only be attributed to Lu Xu’s naming abilities.

The news that Ba Mei was a male cat shocked the entire apartment building.

But the things that had been bought had already been bought. Who said boys couldn’t have pink, girly ideals?

Besides, ‘princess’ and ‘male cat’ only differed by a single character.

Ji Xiunian only learned of this news that night.

He had become friends with Ba Mei and had unrestrainedly wanted to send it a few gifts.

Ji Xiunian had never raised a pet before and relied completely on internet searches to create a gift list.

If it wasn’t for the fact that the pet store didn’t have any especially pretty clothes, Ji Xiunian would have bought Ba Mei a little skirt.

Ji Xiunian felt his heart go soft all over every time he thought of Ba Mei.

The other trainees had thought of ways or thickened their skin to knock on Lu Xu’s dorm room, using the excuse of giving treats to see Ba Mei. But he was a mentor and couldn’t bring himself to do the same thing.

He didn’t know if Ba Mei would still act as enthusiastically as it did towards him the next time they met.

Seeing that the time was approaching 9 P.M., Ji Xiunian changed his clothes and touched the protective talisman on his body before cheering himself on.

He didn’t know if it was right to meet with the ghosts this time; after all, he had never interacted with such things before.

But the four of them really didn’t look like bad people. Rather than remaining curious, it was better to clarify everything.

Ji Xiunian made up his mind and immediately opened his door to head out.

“Meow…”

He had just walked over to his door when he lowered his head to see Ba Mei sitting on the floor, its tail wrapped around its furry paws. Its little head was lifted up to look at him.

“How come you’re here all by yourself, where’s Lu Xu?”

Ji Xiunian squatted down on one knee and couldn’t help but pet Ba Mei’s head.

Ba Mei turned its head to stare at the staircase, as if to say its owner was in his dorm room.

“I still have something to do. I can only play with you later. Come on, I’ll send you back.”

After saying this, Ji Xiunian got up and motioned for Ba Mei to move forward.

Although Ba Mei’s body was rotund, it was very agile and did not seem fat.

Ji Xiunian’s gaze caught sight of the little kitty following alongside him and couldn’t help but consider the possibility of raising a pet.

He had always lived by himself. An animal that could keep him company didn’t seem too bad.

It was just that he didn’t know if other little animals could be as affectionate as Ba Mei.

A person and a cat arrived at Lu Xu’s dorm room door very quickly. Seeing that the door was half-open, Ji Xiunian waved at Ba Mei. “Go back and find your owner. If you don’t have anything to do try not to run around too much. If you’re not careful, a cute little kitty like yourself might be stolen.”

Ba Mei raised its head and looked at him quietly. It wasn’t clear if it had understood.

Ji Xiunian had sent him to the door to go off to take care of his own matters right after. Before he had even walked a few steps, he felt as if something was amiss. He turned around to discover Ba Mei had followed him to the entrance of the stairs.

“Do you want to come with me?”

For some unknown reason, Ji Xiunian suddenly thought of this possibility.

Ba Mei flicked its tail and rubbed against his calf, apparently unwilling to separate.

Its pitiful look was too cute. Ji Xiunian wasn’t able to harden his heart and reject it.

After examining the height of the steps against Ba Mei’s legs, he bent down and picked Ba Mei up in his arms. “Then you can accompany me.”

“Meow…”

Ba Mei didn’t even show an inkling of rejection, burying its head prettily in Ji Xiunian’s neck. Its fur was especially soft, and it even carried an inexplicably clean scent.

Ji Xiunian just felt that this scent was very familiar, and after thinking about it for a while, remembered that it was the same as Lu Xu’s.

The image of the young boy’s face flashed through his mind. Ji Xiunian himself had no idea why he had noticed Lu Xu’s scent.

When he followed the stairs up to the third floor, he saw the F4 group standing by the entrance of the stairs. Those who were not aware might have even thought that they were welcoming guests to a hotel.

“Good evening, Nian ge!”

“Nian ge has worked hard!”

The four of them spoke simultaneously, their eyes holding barely suppressed joy.

Upon seeing Ji Xiunian carrying Ba Mei, the four of them couldn’t help but ask this question in their hearts –– Wasn’t that Master Grim Reaper’s cat, why was it with Ji Xiunian?

Was the relationship between those two already this good?

Ji Xiunian naturally did not know what they were thinking about, so he spoke while he walked. “Tell me, why did you all look for me?”

The F4 looked at one another, and in the end, chose He Xinghua to be the spokesperson to tell Ji Xiunian. “Nian ge, actually, three of us used to be a group…”

He Xinghua sighed and then told their story to Ji Xiunian. First, he simply described their training history, his eyes glinting with light as he reminisced on a beautiful past.

“At that time, we were just about to debut. I was so close to realising my dreams with my hard work…” When he spoke about the car accident, He Xinghua choked.

It really had been very close. They could have stood on the stage they loved so much.

Even if they had died after finishing the performance, the regret would not have been as great as it was now.

His teammates beside him were also upset, holding He Xinghua’s shoulder as a form of comfort while trying to control their own tears.

It was the first time Ji Xiunian had seen a ghost cry in front of him. He had wanted to give him a tissue before realising that ghosts probably wouldn’t be able to use it anyway.

Fortunately, it wasn’t the first time that He Xinghua had told this story, so he was very strong in composing himself. He didn’t wait for Ji Xiunian to think about how to comfort them before he wiped away his bitter tears and continued speaking. “That’s why we remain here, because our wishes haven’t been fulfilled. If we could stand on the stage and go through the process like the other trainees, then we’ll have no more regrets as ghosts…”

Ji Xiunian was silent for a moment, then asked softly, “And the reason you came to me is?”

Hearing that his voice was gentle, He Xinghua immediately said, “That’s why we’re troubling Nian ge to also be our instructor. We really want to participate.” Without waiting for Ji Xiunian to reply, he added as an afterthought, “Nian ge, if you think that it’s inconvenient, then it’s okay to refuse as well. We never thought about moral kidnapping or anything like that. After all, you’ve already suffered a lot. We’re actually fine, it’s no big deal, we can wait for the next instructor who can see us… It’s just that we don’t know how many years we’ll have to wait…”

He Xinghua choked a little bit on his words as he spoke, as though he was going to burst into tears any second, waiting for Ji Xiunian’s answer with unease.

The three ghosts in front of him seemed to be young, especially He Xinghua. When the incident occured, he had only been 17 years old, not even of legal age.

This thing called life, some people didn’t want it, some people couldn’t have it.

Ji Xiunian sighed internally and only said one sentence. “All right, I promise.”

The F4 who had been preparing themselves for rejection immediately became happy. “Really?”

“Aaaaa, this is great. Nian ge, I love you!”

“Wuuuu, as expected of my male god. Nian ge, I’m so happy I could die!”

Tao Yingbo couldn’t help but tease his friend upon hearing those words. “The happiness part is real, the dying part is also real.”

“I’m just happy…”

Seeing the four of them as a group, Ji Xiunian’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on the one in the printed shirt.

Whether it be appearance or age, he didn’t seem to have anything to do with idols.

Ji Xiunian vaguely remembered from the last self-introduction that he had been a singer.

Sensing that Ji Xiunian was examining him, Tao Yingbo awkwardly said, “Nian ge, I joined the ‘F4’ after I died. Can I join them for the evaluations?”

“You can.”

Ji Xiunian didn’t have any interest in finding out more about his life, so he spoke to them as an instructor, “Since it’s like this, I’ll head back and prepare the music. Tomorrow, let’s go to the practice room early, and I’ll help you with your evaluations.”

“Okay!”

“Thank you, Nian ge!”

All human beings had different personalities. Even as ghosts, this still held.

Ji Xiunian never imagined himself bumping into ghosts, let alone being so calm when doing so.

Certain stereotypes he had were starting to break. He looked at Ba Mei who was sleeping deeply in his arms, and didn’t stay around any longer. “You all better prepare. See you tomorrow morning.”

“See you tomorrow morning!”

“Thank you Nian ge!”

The F4 thanked him simultaneously, their youthful faces shining with anticipation of the future. Upon first glance, they were no different from the other competing trainees.

Just that the others had a future, and they forever remained in the past.

Ji Xiunian’s heart was a little moved, but he didn’t know what this feeling was.

He held Ba Mei, preparing to head downstairs. He had only taken a couple of steps before he suddenly remembered something, then he turned his head around and asked, “Oh right, why are you all following Lu Xu?”