Chapter 5.5

　　On the way back to Liu Mingzhou's house, Sui Yuan and 5237 spend the entire time debating on whether or not his ident.i.ty has been exposed, or if Liu Mingzhou is trying to sound him out. Sui Yuan bets on the former, but 5237 perseveres to stick with the belief it is the latter no matter how many reasons Sui Yuan comes up with to persuade his system otherwise.

　　In any case, it doesn't really matter if it is the former or the latter, because Sui Yuan has already set his heart to pretend until the very end. If that becomes impossible…then…we'll talk about it when we reach that step…

　　Liu Mingzhou's frame of mind is evidently extremely good. Parking his car in the garage, he carries Sui Yuan and strolls up to the door, smiling at him as he turns the key in the lock.

　　In the capacity of a 'Campus Romance' plot's male lead, Liu Mingzhou's family is apparently very well-off. His house is filled with especially high-end, fas.h.i.+onable furniture, and the interior is a cla.s.sy, expensive and tasteful design. Placed on the soft, velvety sofa in the living room, Sui Yuan becomes somewhat stiff, unwilling to explore in case he knocks something over. Glancing around, he finally notices the black cat sprawled lazily over the other arm of the sofa.

　　…For some reason, doesn't this black cat look rather familiar?

　　Seeing Sui Yuan, this unexpected guest, the black cat's golden eyes narrow slightly, carrying a measure of arrogance and disdain. Seizing the dog up after a short moment, the cat gets to its feet, padding gracefully over and circling once around him. Like a queen inspecting her troops, the cat stops beside Sui Yuan, then lifts a lithe paw and steps directly on his head.

　　Blatantly bullied by the cat, Sui Yuan's fur instantly puffs out in annoyance. Low growls rumbling in his throat, he flings the paw away with a flick of his head. But the other animal is not the least bit afraid. Instead, sharp, s.h.i.+ny claws are revealed as though determined to let Sui Yuan know who the boss here is.

　　A standoff occurs between cat and dog, the thick tension brewing signals a fight that can explode at any moment. When Liu Mingzhou emerges from the kitchen, the first scene he sees is this tensed spectacle.

　　Lips thinning, he barks, "Ah Yan!"

　　The black cat startles, head whipping around to glance back at Liu Mingzhou. Its ears flatten slightly, putting in a great effort to prove its innocence. A pity that its owner's heart is biased, for Liu Mingzhou quickly steps forward and picks the cat up by the back of its neck, carelessly tossing it away from the Samoyed.

　　Fortunately, the tiles are covered by a soft, thick carpet, and the cat's reflexes are top-notch. Flipping a couple of times through the air, it lands nimbly on its feet, not a single whisker out of place. Its golden eyes watch attentively as its master cradles Sui Yuan gently to his chest, placing a bowl filled with low fat cow's milk in front of the dog. Being an intelligent creature, it understands it absolutely cannot provoke the dog as long as Liu Mingzhou is in the vicinity. Swis.h.i.+ng its tail resentfully, the black cat turns its head haughtily and walks away.

　　Curled up in Liu Mingzhou's embrace, Sui Yuan absent-mindedly laps the milk from the bowl, still keeping an eye on the departing cat.

　　"Its name is Ah Yan," Liu Mingzhou says meaningfully as he strokes Sui Yuan's fur. "Surely Little Snow recognises it, right?"

　　Sui Yuan: "……"

　　"I didn't expect him to bring his Nightmare beast over!" 5237 is utterly amazed.

　　Naturally, Sui Yuan is more astonished than his system. "Is it possible to take living animals with you from one world into another?"

　　"Of course. But it does cost quite a considerable amount of points to do so," 5237 stage-whispers, not bothering to hide his disdain for this local tyrant's way of handling things. "He truly has too many points in his hands that he doesn't know how to spend it!"

　　"The Nightmare beast has been brought over…makes me wonder how Ah Li is doing." Sui Yuan feels a little despondent, as though he has lost something constant in his life. After all, having lived together for so long in the previous world - and being accustomed to the Crystal beast's innate gift of acting cute - Sui Yuan sincerely loves it from the bottom of his heart. However, he never thought he would be able to bring his spirit pet together with him when he left that world. Nevertheless, even if he wanted to his meagre points is not enough.

　　Because he has been sick for the entire day, he hasn't had the chance to eat anything. Now that he has fully recovered, the first reaction is naturally hunger. Licking the bowl of milk clean, he still feels unsatisfied.

　　Sui Yuan has never gone hungry before ever since his creation, so he automatically turns famished eyes on Liu Mingzhou as the man takes the bowl into the kitchen, hoping he will bring more food out to fill his stomach. As expected, Liu Mingzhou doesn't disappoint him - only, Sui Yuan can clearly see the evil intentions lurking in the man's eyes.

　　"…Will dogs avoid eating half of their owner's meal?" Sui Yuan inquires 5237 as he stares unwaveringly at the half-eaten ham sausage.