The Cat Transformation

Procrastination refers to the act of delaying or postponing tasks that could have been done in a timely manner. It often involves putting off important tasks until the last minute, leading to increased time pressure and stress. Many people adopt the mindset that they work better under pressure, so they wait until the deadline approaches to motivate themselves.

Subconsciously, people may believe that they are more productive when they are forced to act. There are various reasons for procrastination, including laziness and a lack of confidence, which can result in instinctive resistance towards tasks that need to be done.

The saying "Don't cry until you see the coffin" resonates with many individuals who thrive on deadlines. However, there are also cases where no amount of pressure or anxiety can prompt action. Even with the fear of consequences and last-minute urgency, some unfortunate individuals fail to take action or achieve the desired outcome.

For example, in the case of He Yanlu, who struggles with mathematical and logical tasks, even after enduring until the last moments of a weekend, he still feels lost when faced with a basic computer programming assignment. He Yanlu falls into the category of individuals who consistently struggle to understand concepts in math or logic-based subjects. Even if he manages to grasp the material during classes, he still fails to perform well in exams.

At this moment, he is pitifully hunched over his desk, frowning and gripping his pen as he scribbles aimlessly on the paper, with a textbook open in front of him:

x=1,y=1,x=y+1

Why is the programming problem so difficult to comprehend? Aren't both x and y equal to 1? Why does x become y+1? What is x exactly?!

(=皿=) Why do I, a Chinese language learner, have to solve this kind of thing?!

Ye Yixing couldn't help but laugh almost to the point of injury, seeing how He Yanlu has been struggling with the most basic programming question for almost two hours. The frustrated expressions, sighs, drafting, and doodling on paper make him incredibly adorable!

Why can't he figure out such a simple thing? It's actually a basic logic problem that can be solved once you understand the format of the programming language.

He writes novels so well, why does he become completely clueless when it comes to numerical problems?...

Ah, with his math and logic skills being this bad, it doesn't seem easy for him to get into F University, does it?

Ye Yixing is really curious about how He Yanlu spent his high school years. If his performance was solely based on humanities subjects, he wouldn't be able to meet the score requirements of F University. Or perhaps, are some people naturally intellectually challenged in certain areas?

In Ye Yixing's eyes, the current He Yanlu somehow became both pitiable and foolish, making one want to tease him.

Hmm, if I were human, I would probably surround him and patiently explain the questions and the related knowledge to him. Actually, whether he learns or not is another question. The important thing is that just the thought of He Yanlu tilting his head and listening earnestly and foolishly to my words is enticing enough.

If he understands and can do it, I'll kiss him.

Ye Yixing kept thinking and suddenly felt like his brain was malfunctioning...

Wait, why the hell do I think of "reward" and it's kissing him?! (=口=)

Come to think of it, for the past two days, there have been similar emotions of kissing, touching, and caressing each other...

Where did this evolution come from? Is it because as a cat, I am too close to his dad that "kissing" has become so casual? Do I really want to do these things to him? Ye Yixin...!

He Yanlu's dad didn't notice the intense struggle between the rational and emotional sides of the black cat. He was already tormented to the limit by his homework. He pushed his hand and closed the book, pouting defiantly, and shouted, "I'm done, Xiao Hei, let's sleep!"

...

This sentence interrupted Ye Yixing's thoughts. He looked up at the fluffed-up He Yanlu and still found him incredibly cute.

Ye Yixing suddenly realized that he kind of liked him...

Is it really just "kind of"? (= =)

And then, someone was shaken by the following horrifying speculation.

Deep inside, there was a prison that held intense emotions captive. The shock felt like secretly unlocking the prison, allowing those previously unacknowledged emotions to instantly expand and release throughout his body, wreaking havoc freely within him.

He suddenly felt like these emotions had been buried for a long time, so long that they had been overshadowed by his own rationality and other stronger emotions, such as a sense of "conquest." However, he didn't know when they had turned into something else entirely.

Or perhaps, everything had coincidentally evolved into something too beautiful, like two completely different chemical reagents undergoing the perfect reaction with the catalyst of the "black cat," generating an intoxicating pink fluffy precipitate.

Maybe, possibly, probably, it was love.

"...Sleep, sleep! I'm going to sleep...!" He Yanlu, who had procrastinated his homework until the weekend, was still muttering in resentment as he hugged the black cat and pounced onto the bed. His head sank into the soft pillows and blankets, sulking on his own, while his fingers twirled around the neck of the black cat, expressing his current grievances to the fullest.

Ye Yixing suddenly felt that when his feelings, which he still didn't dare openly proclaim, received tacit approval, He Yanlu's cuteness became even more pronounced and natural.

He suddenly thought of a line of poetry that wasn't quite fitting: Damn it, love has blinded my eyes...

He Yanlu, who was trying to escape reality, fell asleep quickly with the black cat in his arms, while Ye Yixing couldn't sleep.

Now he realized that He Yanlu was his first love!

There were many people he had liked from childhood to adulthood, but He Yanlu was the first to make his heart flutter! And this person who made his heart race was now, at this very moment, sleeping beside him, cuddling each other. His hand covered him, he could hear his heartbeat in his ear, and his breath was intertwined with his...!

Damn, my heart is about to jump out, isn't it?

Although we slept together last night and the night before, the difference in my mood right now is like night and day!

Ye Yixing was lying in He Yanlu's arms, the sound of their heartbeats clearly audible, unsure if it was his own or his.

Cats have night vision, but Ye Yixin doesn't have the level of "out-of-body" experience. If he could see himself, he would discover how affectionately the cat was gazing at its owner, its daddy.

Of course, this is excluding the terrifying situation of He Yanlu waking up in the middle of the night to find a green-eyed black cat staring at him without blinking. In such a case, the heart wouldn't be pounding due to extreme joy but rather frightened to the point of breaking.

Ye Yixing scratched the bedsheet with his paw, frustrated. When will he turn back into a human?

He agilely slipped out of He Yanlu's embrace, reluctantly nuzzled against his neck for a moment, and then jumped back onto the writing desk.

A black cat, in the dead of night, logged into the F University BBS using the administrator's account and quietly deleted all the posts with photos of He Yanlu...

Heh... So, there was a reason why he wanted to do that before. A faint joy filled his heart, indescribable.

Catching a glimpse of He Yanlu's homework left on the writing desk, Ye Yixing opened the book with a smile, effortlessly calculated the answers to this chapter's coursework for him, struggled to type them on the notepad, carefully numbering each question, and then anonymously sent the answers to He Yanlu's email.

While doing these things, his heart was incredibly tender, and this emotion made him feel curious, sweet, gentle, and full of acceptance.

By the time he snapped out of it, it was already dawn.

Ye Yixing was still excited but couldn't wait to dive back into bed.

He found a comfortable spot nestled in someone's embrace, imagining the happy expression on He Yanlu's face when he received the answers. He lifted his head, stuck out his tongue, licked the person's chin, and then closed his eyes.

Daddy? Heh, how could you possibly be my daddy...

×××

He Yanlu had a compulsory major course early in the morning, followed by a basic computer science class.

When he arrived at school, there were still classmates he didn't know, stealing glances at him, and even the young male lecturer for the computer science class would occasionally gaze at him with a smile.

Normally, He Yanlu was oblivious to other people's gazes. Even if there were a few more glances, he wouldn't associate it with something like wearing his clothes inside out or having food stuck in his teeth.

But for some reason, he had a sense of foreboding today.

It felt as if the normally 15-watt light bulbs had all suddenly become glaringly bright 100-watt bulbs, making him feel uncomfortable all over.

As for the sudden increase in brightness, He Yanlu suddenly recalled the photo posts he saw on the BBS yesterday. Now he couldn't sit still! This feeling, it was as if he had been stripped naked and placed in a crowd where people were pointing at him, causing him to feel an inexplicable sense of shame. His face involuntarily grew warm...

"...Generally speaking, intuition omits the process of reasoning. It is the creator's direct understanding and revelation of the essence or intrinsic nature of things, often intuitively expressing the creator's sudden realization of the underlying meaning or essence behind something or a phenomenon... Now, the student in the low-cut top, is your name He Yanlu? Please share your understanding of inspiration..."

He Yanlu stood up in a daze. Students who were called upon to answer questions in class were usually those who were daydreaming or dozing off. Why was he, who was so attentively listening, called upon?

And how did the lecturer know his name? Could he have also seen the posts online?

The lecturer smiled gently at him, but in He Yanlu's eyes, that smile seemed somewhat sinister. He felt his cheeks grow even warmer, even slightly flushed. With a stiff voice, he answered, "Inspiration is one of the most important ways of thinking during the artistic conception stage..."

He could hear the low whispers and suppressed laughter of the surrounding students, unsure if it was just his imagination. He even heard someone say, "His face is turning red, so cute..." or something that made his legs almost go weak. Normally, he wouldn't pay attention to those whispered remarks.

"That's a very formal written answer, but I want to hear your own understanding of 'inspiration.'" Obviously, the lecturer didn't want to let him off that easily. He felt a little uncomfortable in his heart and silently criticized the lecturer for his sudden mischief.

"...Well, inspiration is a feeling," he said softly.

The laughter around him suddenly grew louder.

"And then? When will it happen?" The lecturer nodded, continuing to press for more.

"...It seems to happen when I'm deeply contemplating or doing other things. It often occurs... also during dreams. It feels like a previously interrupted nerve suddenly connects again. It's fleeting... but it's a wonderful feeling, it makes one excited."

"You feel excited when inspiration strikes?"

...

The atmosphere around him took a strange turn. The suppressed whispers and laughter made He Yanlu suspect that his answer was inadequate or incorrect, which made him nervous.

“Indeed, your understanding aligns with psychological explanations. Inspiration often occurs during the prolonged and mature stage of creative thinking... Do you engage in any creative work?" The lecturer suddenly asked.

Not knowing how to answer, He Yanlu didn't want to publicly reveal his writing activities. Apart from Chu Wenxing, no one in his real life knew about his identity as Zhiyan. As far as he knew, publishing houses and online editors were very good at protecting the real identities of authors.

But he also didn't know how to lie. He had been silent for several seconds, and saying "no" now would seem too obvious. So, just before the awkwardness grew, He Yanlu let out a low "uh" and his gaze drifted away.

The people around immediately started discussing:

"...Ah, he's a writer?..."

"What does He Yanlu write?..."

"...Wuxia novels? Fantasy?..."

"Hard to imagine, could it be BL novels? Hehe..."

Yang Qu sat towards the back and witnessed He Yanlu being questioned, discussed, and noticed in such a public setting for the first time. The person in question was obviously nervous, his ears turning red. Although Yang Qu couldn't see the other person's expression, for some reason, he could imagine how adorable He Yanlu must look at this moment.

He suddenly felt sorry that Ye Yixing couldn't witness this scene.

"Which genre of novels do you write?" The lecturer was clearly very interested, and the students around him were itching to applaud on his behalf (Good job, teacher)!

However, He Yanlu felt that the lecturer must have been possessed by a demon today!

"Teacher... that's a personal question." He stared at the lecturer with some anger, refusing to answer any further.

In the eyes of the lecturer, the gaze of this beautiful student seemed particularly aggrieved at the moment. He silently shook his head, thinking, Ah, I don't know which unlucky person ended up in your hands, you enchanting being...

"...Well, hehe, good answer. Please take your seat." The lecturer said, and the students seemed more energetic now. Even those who were dozing off were awake. "Let's continue with the class... Inspiration is a psychological phenomenon that occurs in the leap of creative thinking, where the activity of visual thinking undergoes a qualitative transformation from quantity to quality, resulting in a creative ability..."

The lively classroom quieted down once again, but the lingering ambiguous atmosphere remained in the air.

He Yanlu supported his head, feeling like he had been used. (= =)

To improve his mood a little, he started missing Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei was surprisingly sound asleep in the morning, lazily keeping his eyes closed no matter how He Yanlu tried to play with him. Even when he lightly scratched its belly, Xiao Hei only let out a soft "meow" before curling up its tail and hiding under the covers. Was it that tired? Do cats sleep that much?

He Yanlu glanced at his watch. It was almost ten o'clock. He wondered if Xiao Hei had woken up yet and what it would do upon waking. He wondered if he would feel lonely without seeing himself...

But thoughts of the black cat quickly passed.

During class dismissal, the lecturer called He Yanlu over. He Yanlu approached the lecturer with a look of confusion and unease, accompanied by a strong sense of resistance. Clearly, the lecturer had left a negative impression on him and had been forcibly placed in the category of "keep distance from bad people."

However, the lecturer smiled and said, "I have a strong impression of your cat, and if possible, I would like to chat with you privately about it."

At that moment, He Yanlu felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.