Chapter 27
That hand featured distinct knuckles and slender fingertips, possessing the lean, youthful contour that was all too familiar to the cotton doll.
Its golden eyes widened into full circles, staring unblinkingly at that hand merely inches away. The tuft of ahoge hair atop the cotton doll’s head stood straight up due to extreme tension. Its small hands were still fruitlessly trying to pick at the hook, its whole body straining with effort as the straps of its overalls stretched tight, restricting its movements.
It’s over, it’s over, it’s over…
Cotton is going to get caught…
Tense and harboring an escape mindset of “facing death with resignation,” it squeezed its eyes shut.
Having reluctantly accepted his classmate’s request, Shang Che walked over to the corner of the classroom. A pile of miscellaneous items was stored there, with a few bookshelves blocking the line of sight from the outside. That little hamster named Mengmeng was secretly raised right here.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t draw close to this corner that everyone treated as a secret base. But since he had agreed, he extended a hand with mild reluctance to feel for its location. Touching the boxy hamster cage, he grabbed the handle and pulled it out swiftly, his movements entirely clean and decisive.
The hamster cage wobbled ever so slightly in his hand. The tiny hamster hiding inside its wooden hut “warily” poked out a bit of its fluffy head, its cheeks stuffed to bursting. Its black-bean eyes glanced at the unfamiliar human before it, and then it quickly shrank back inside.
Shang Che cast a quick glance, his eyes sweeping over the water dispenser and food bowl inside the cage, and informed his classmate in a flat tone: “Your Mengmeng isn’t short on water, nor is it short on food.”
“Eek, then why was it making noise? Usually it only does that when it lacks water or food.” The classmate stroked his chin with self-absorbed musing. “Could it be that Mengmeng misses me?”
“…” It probably doesn’t possess that capacity for thought. Shang Che inhaled deeply, closing his eyes briefly. He really couldn’t understand what was going through the minds of these pet owners. “Hurry up and write. I’ll put it back for you.”
“Hehe, sorry to trouble you, Brother Shang!”
“Mm.”
The moment Shang Che’s voice landed, he effortlessly set the hamster cage back into its original spot. Not a single extra glance lingered on this corner, yet just as he raised his foot to leave, he suddenly came to a stop.
And then—
The cotton doll heard Shang Che let out what sounded like a soft “tch”—very quiet, almost imperceptible, carrying a barely noticeable trace of helplessness.
No way, no way…
The cotton doll didn’t dare to keep thinking down that line.
Immediately after, it felt the hook behind its back suddenly lift up a bit, then settle back down.
Shang Che hooked a finger onto the mesh rack—which had wobbled precariously after being knocked, looking on the verge of falling—and straightened it. Giving it a light tap to confirm it was stably positioned, he issued a casual reminder: “Be careful in the future. Watch out that the mesh rack doesn’t come crashing down.”
Then, he unhurriedly walked away.
“Alright! Thanks, Brother Shang! You’re my second parent!” the male student’s voice rang out as if receiving a grand pardon.
Shang Che’s tone, carrying a touch of disdain mixed with amusement, drifted over casually: “No need for that.”
In complete disbelief, the cotton doll opened both eyes at an excruciatingly slow pace. Within its line of sight—that pair of white shoes turned around and walked away, completely unhurried.
…Mm?
The human just walked away like that?
The human didn’t discover Cotton?!
The cotton doll’s entire body went limp as if surviving a disaster.
It raised its somewhat weak little hands, carefully twisting its body. Unsure if it was because the crisis had passed or due to Shang Che’s action of straightening the mesh rack, with a slight exertion of force, the strap of its overalls popped off that tiny curved hook with a snap!
Cotton was free!
The cotton doll quietly shifted out from the clutter pile, resting its head on the small potted plant once more as it secretly spied on its keeper.
Shang Che walked back to his seat and sat down on his chair again. Supporting his chin with one hand, his gaze was cast out the window, his side profile looking blurry and surreal against the backlight.
The cotton doll couldn’t quite articulate what it was feeling right now. It felt relieved that it hadn’t been caught, yet also felt a tiny bit angry…
The human actually failed to discover it even like this!
He simply didn’t have Cotton in his heart!
(=^=) Hmph!
Suddenly, a crisp bell rang out once more.
The cotton doll noticed the noisy sounds gradually quieting down. Then, a somewhat stern-looking human who appeared older than its keeper emerged at the doorway, holding textbooks and tapping lightly on the largest desk, uttering the words, “Class is starting.”
…Was that the teacher?
The cotton doll tilted its head, seeing Shang Che’s gaze fixed tightly on the teacher at the front without leaving for a single moment, and it couldn’t help making comparisons again:
The human had never looked at Cotton so earnestly!
Cotton was right in front of him just now, yet he didn’t even see it!
Its cat-like mouth opened and closed, silently complaining to Shang Che: Mean human with bad eyesight—
The cotton doll didn’t know why so many humans stayed inside this room continuously. Every time after a long period of quiet, there would be a brief burst of clamor. The humans would walk around and talk everywhere. It had tried several times, but was either almost seen or nearly touched…
After several close calls, it didn’t dare leave this corner at all, having no choice but to turn around and continue staring down the “new friend” who had already accepted its presence.
“Class is finally over—”
“I’m starving to death! What are we eating for lunch today?”
“Anything goes. I feel like I could eat three cows right now—”
“Give it a rest. Every time you say you’re starving to death, you end up eating the least.”
“It’s so awesome that we don’t have class this afternoon!”
“Right, right! Basketball games are truly a great human invention!”
“…”
Basketball game… what was that?
The cotton doll tilted its head, listening to various conversations flooding into its ears. Within its line of sight, the humans’ feet were all walking in one direction.
Before long, the classroom fell quiet once more. Suddenly a male voice sounded: “Let’s go, A-Che.”
Shang Che: “Mm, figured out what you want to eat?”
“Lin Zhi mentioned audon shop that’s pretty good. Want to go try it?”
Shang Che: “Sure.”
It was its keeper’s voice!
The cotton doll got excited all at once, hastily poking out a small head, only to catch a glimpse of the departing backs of Shang Che and another human walking side-by-side.
It went silent for a moment, then mustered the courage to take a step outward, discovering to its surprise—there wasn’t a single human left in this room!
Its golden eyes blinked—the opportunity had arrived!
Cotton could finally go out from this place!
It suddenly hatched a bold, unprecedented plan: The Cotton King was going to sneak out of the classroom to check out the bigger ‘school’! It was also going to see what a ‘basketball game’ was!
No sooner said than done!
The Cotton King was a doll of action.
It surveyed the terrain. Although there was no one left in the classroom and both the front and back doors were wide open, people were coming and going outside, making it far too dangerous.
The cotton doll’s gaze landed on the window beside the corner. One of the window panes was half-open, and a set of desk and chair was leaning against the windowsill, looking as if it formed a set of steps.
If it could climb onto the chair, then climb onto the desk, it could go out through the window…
Mm! Cotton could do it!
It waved its small hand toward its “new friend” inside the cage: Goodbye, Cotton is off to carry out the next step of the adventure!
The cotton doll stepped out with its short legs, sticking to the base of the wall at top speed, zipping like a tiny pink ball of fur toward the chair by the window.
Yet while getting down from a chair was easy, going up presented a certain degree of difficulty.
The chair legs were made of smooth metal, offering nowhere to grip. The cotton doll tried several times, sliding down every single time.
Just as it was feeling a bit discouraged, it discovered a yarn-knitted cup sleeve tucked in the gap of the desk, with a strand of tassel hanging down.
This was simply “heaven helping Cotton”!
The cotton doll’s eyes lit up.
This tassel that almost hung down to the floor did the cotton doll a massive favor. Holding onto that strand of tassel with its small round hands, it acted like a tiny animal working hard at rock climbing, kicking its short legs back and forth as it climbed upward with “heave-ho, heave-ho.”
It didn’t even need to use the chair it had planned on, directly climbing all the way onto the desk along the cup sleeve’s long strap in one breath.
Standing on the desk, the cotton doll enjoyed an expanded field of view!
It could see the state of the entire classroom, see the neatly arranged desks and chairs, see the raised podium and blackboard, and its target—that window—was not far off to the left.
Stepping out with its legs, the cotton doll marched right up to the window in one go.
The windowsill was very wide, and still somewhat high for it.
The cotton doll raised both small round hands and strained to stretch its legs, yet could barely touch the edge of the windowsill.
What to do now…
The cotton doll rubbed its cheeks with its small hands. Turning its head, it spotted a stack of books piled on the desk—standing even taller than the windowsill by a large margin.
Got it!
Cotton could climb onto the books first, then jump onto the windowsill!
Cotton was simply far too smart!
The books weren’t stacked very neatly, which actually made it convenient for climbing. Before long, the cotton doll successfully “reached the summit.”
Immediately after, locking onto its landing spot, it leaped downward with practiced skill, landing securely on the windowsill. The bright light and bustling noises from outside flooded over all at once.
Clinging to the edge of the window, the cotton doll poked its small head out.
Woah—
Not far away lay a massive, massive courtyard featuring red and green ground, along with extraordinarily tall racks.
Even closer was a wide path with staggered steps where many, many humans sat, the sunlight spilling down brilliantly, making everything look as if it were glowing.
The Cotton King was instantly captivated by this lively spectacle, its golden eyes sparkling: ( )!
There was a narrow concrete ledge on the outer side of the windowsill. It crawled over with utmost caution, searching for a path downward.
Before long, the cotton doll discovered that directly below the windowsill, running flush against the wall, was a row of water pipes and electrical conduits winding downward. It tested them out: the pipe surface was rough, and some spots even had iron clamps used for securing them, serving perfectly as footholds and handholds.
The real adventure had begun!
Like a tiny, pink rock climber, it shuffled downward inch by inch along the crisscrossing pipes and wires.
This process was far more exciting: sometimes it needed to climb from one pipe to another, and sometimes it needed to hug a metal pipe tightly, waiting for a gust of wind to pass.
Once, it failed to grip the pipe tightly and almost fell down, fortunately getting caught by a protruding bolt. It was scared to the point where the tuft of hair on its head stood straight up, yet after stabilizing itself, it felt immensely proud.
The Cotton King—was the bravest, most awesome cotton doll!
When it finally landed on the ground, the cotton doll raised its head to look up at the place it had climbed down from.
So high! Cotton was so great!
It patted itself with its small round hands, cleaning away the dust that might have gotten on it, attempting to make itself look as clean as before.
And then, it began to ponder: Where should Cotton… go next?
