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Alex splashed some water on his face at a roadside faucet, then quickly headed back to his rented place.
Right outside the entrance, there was a mahjong table set up, and four middle-aged men and women were deep in a game.
The landlady, cigarette dangling from her lips, saw Alex come in. While fiddling with her tiles, she said, "Alex, rent's due!"
Alex paused. "I already called my folks. As soon as the money comes, I'll pay."
"Bamboo Two!" The landlady threw down a tile, clearly annoyed. "If you can't pay, just say so. I need time to find a new tenant."
"Got it."
"Single wait on Eight Wan, self-drawn! Haha, pay up, pay up!" The landlady won big and was in a great mood. She licked her fingers and started counting her winnings one by one. While doing that, she waved at Alex. "Go on, go on."
Alex turned and left.
"Alex, just take a quick shower, turn off the lights early, and don't waste water and electricity!" she shouted after him, not even bothering to look up as she kept playing mahjong.
"Yeah, yeah!" Alex called back casually as he jogged a few steps and ducked into his room.
Calling it a "room" was a stretch—it was more like a makeshift storage shed, maybe five or six square meters at most. Just enough space for a single bed. The only upside? It was cheap. Water and electricity included, two hundred yuan a month. You couldn't rent a proper place for less than five hundred.
The landlady wasn't exactly a saint. She didn't rent it to Alex out of pity for a broke student. That tiny space wasn't legally a living space—it was a storeroom. Most people wouldn't even rent it for storage at 100 yuan, so she figured she might as well rent it out to him.
So even though Alex was always late with rent, and the landlady kept saying she'd find someone else, she never really meant to kick him out.
Back in the room, Alex tossed down his backpack, pulled out two packs of instant noodles, ripped them open, and dumped them into a stainless steel bowl to soak. He set some chopsticks across the lid, grabbed a towel and soap, and went to the bathroom to take a quick rinse.
When he came back, he picked up the bowl of noodles, ready to eat.
But the moment he lifted the lid—he froze.
The bowl was completely empty.
The noodles were gone. Vanished. Not even a drop of broth left. The inside of the bowl was squeaky clean, like it had just been washed.
Did someone sneak in while he was showering?
Totally confused, Alex glanced around the room. He checked his clothes—his change was still there. Backpack hadn't moved. His knockoff phone was right where he left it. Didn't seem like anything was stolen. And honestly, what kind of thief breaks in just to eat a bowl of instant noodles and leaves everything else?
Had he gone mad?
He checked again—nope, definitely not hallucinating. The noodles were really gone. Freaked out, Alex shivered and jumped onto the bed, scanning the room cautiously.
A few minutes passed. Everything stayed quiet. No creepy sounds, nothing strange. Seemed… normal.
Alex carefully climbed down from the bed, ripped open another pack of noodles, and soaked it again in the same stainless steel bowl.
Soon, the savory smell of noodles filled the air.
He grabbed a napkin, wiped down his chopsticks, and tossed the napkin onto the nightstand.
Rustle!
His backpack at the head of the bed twitched slightly...
No way. Alex blinked hard. Was he seeing things?
But just as he brought the bowl to his mouth and took a few bites, he heard a faint rustling from the bed. He paused. The sound stopped. As soon as he resumed eating—it came back.
He tested it a few times. Every time he ate, the rustling returned. When he stopped, it went silent.
This wasn't his imagination. Not at all.
A rat. There was a rat in his room!
The missing noodles suddenly made sense. Alex's eyes narrowed. That damn rat stole his food—and had the nerve to stick around, hiding behind his backpack?
"Damn rodent, not only did you steal my food, you didn't even have the decency to run?" he muttered, grabbing a roll of toilet paper and hurling it at the backpack.
"Aooow!"
A furry "rat" jumped up with a squeal, nimbly dodging the toilet paper and landing on the mat. Its beady eyes darted around, and it stared at Alex with a shifty look.
Alex froze. What… the hell?
That rat was bold. It didn't even run. It just sat there on its haunches, giving him side-eye like some cartoon villain.
"Scram!" he shouted on instinct, startled.
But what happened next was even weirder—the "rat" didn't run. It looked up at him with a pitiful little face and shook its head.
Did it... actually shake its head?
Now Alex was sure—he wasn't hallucinating. That thing understood him. And it didn't want to leave.
"You—don't tell me you wanna sleep here?" Alex glared at it and asked like a madman.
It nodded.
This… this rat was a freaking magical creature or something. Alex had seen plenty of rats in his life, but never one that wasn't afraid of people—and could understand human speech.
"Hey, where'd you come from?" he asked, nodding his chin at it.
Right on cue, the "rat" turned its head toward a little gourd lying nearby, like it was saying, I came from there.
Dear god. It really did understand him.
Alex's eyes went wide. His eyeballs nearly popped out.
"You, y-you—don't move, I—I need to ask you a few things." The shock made him stammer.
The "rat" obediently stayed put, not moving a muscle. Its bright little eyes blinked at him innocently.
Alex braced himself against the bed frame, leaned in, and stared at it. "You're a rat spirit or something, aren't you?"
The little creature quickly shook its head and looked a bit hurt.
"Then… what are you?" Alex pressed.
The not-a-rat seemed more anxious than him. It tilted its head, thought for a second, then started wagging its tail.
Only then did Alex notice something off. The tail wasn't long and skinny like a rat's. It was short, fuzzy, and the same thickness from base to tip.
So… not a rat? Some kind of rare animal?
Curious now, Alex carefully reached out and picked it up.
It was tiny—barely the size of his palm. Warm, soft, and completely still in his hand. Its fur was brown on the back and head, with a white crescent shape on its forehead. Its belly and legs were snow white. Two perky ears stood up straight, and its big eyes sparkled with intelligence. Its proportions were perfect, and the fuzzy little tail swayed gently.
So… freakin'… cute.
Suddenly, it stuck out its tiny pink tongue and gave Alex's palm a gentle lick.
"....."