Shu Bai stared intently at Li Yuheng, who was closing in step by step, his tail taut like an iron rod.

"stop."

Li Yuheng didn't stop; instead, he started jogging: "Good bro, let's stick it out—"

"Come here and I'll scratch you to death!"

"Come on, scratch me and then keep applying!"

A cat and a dog were engaged in a chase in the alley.

The cat ran wildly ahead, and the dog chased after it wildly behind.

Finally, Shu Bai scrambled onto the wall in a disheveled state, yelling, "If you chase me again, I'll gouge out your eyes and soak them in wine!"

Li Yuheng bounced around happily under the wall: "Soak as much as you want! After you're done, my dad can get me a new pair!"

Shu Bai stood on the wall, staring intently at the stupid dog that was still jumping around below, its paws digging into the bricks, his mind in turmoil.

Jump down and rub this idiot to the ground.

But it will definitely be licked.

I can't swallow this anger if I don't jump.

But it will preserve one's innocence.

Li Yuheng jumped around on the ground for a long time, but seeing that Shu Bai still wouldn't come down, he suddenly stopped.

He tilted his head and examined the cat on the wall.

"Tsk."

Li Yuheng made an ambiguous smacking sound, and his tail slowly drooped down.

He took two steps back, found a relatively clean spot on the ground to sit down, and his tone suddenly became calm:

"Hey, you stinky cat. Do you hate me that much?"

Shu Bai was taken aback by his sudden change, and his prepared attack stance froze.

"You hate me so much that you can't even touch me?" Li Yuheng continued to ask, his tone revealing no grievance, but rather stating a fact. "You'll avoid me for days if I touch you?"

Shu Bai stared at him without saying a word.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Li Yuheng twitched the corner of his mouth, but that calmness was quickly replaced by familiar mockery:

"Alright. Looks like I was just being presumptuous."

他往后退了两步，甩了甩尾巴，语气又恢复了那副欠揍的调调：

"I was just kidding when I said I'd chase after you and lick your boots. Since you don't like it that much, I'll just stay away from you from now on."

After saying that, he turned around and made a move to leave.

Shu Bai watched his retreating figure, her throat bobbing.

Li Yuheng took two steps, then stopped, turned back, and added:

"However, there's something I need to make clear."

He stared into Shu Bai's eyes, speaking slowly and deliberately:

“From childhood to adulthood, I’ve had countless people who wanted to be my brother. But you’re the first one I’ve taken the initiative to call on.

"If you're not happy about it, that's your loss."

After saying that, he really turned around and walked away.

His figure looked rather lonely in the autumn alley.

Shu Bai stood on the wall, watching the brown and white figure walk further and further away, unconsciously rubbing his paws against the brick wall.

The awkwardness and annoyance he felt from being licked suddenly dissipated, for some reason.

Instead, a more complex emotion emerged.

That stupid dog...

Was that act just now an act?

It's definitely an act.

With that bastard's temper, how could he possibly give up so easily?

but……

Shu Bai slapped the wall bricks with its paw in frustration.

Li Yuheng walked slowly down the alley, but his ears were perked up, listening carefully to the sounds behind him.

There was no sound of a cat jumping down.

There was no cursing.

His initial sense of pride gradually faded.

Tsk.

This tactic of feigning retreat seems to have backfired?

That stinky cat wouldn't really just let him go like that, would he?

Li Yuheng ground down his molars.

unwise.

He should have held on a little longer.

Just as Li Yuheng began to seriously consider whether to launch a counterattack and continue to pester her relentlessly.

Finally, they heard movement behind them.

"……stop."

Li Yuheng stopped in his tracks instantly.

But he didn't turn around, he just flicked his tail and said lazily, "What? Don't you hate me? Why are you calling me?"

There was a moment of silence on the wall.

The autumn wind swept a few withered leaves through them.

Shu Bai's voice rang out again, lower and less shrill than before:

"I don't hate you."

Li Yuheng's ears twitched, but he still didn't turn around: "Oh? What's that? You like me?"

"Stop patting yourself on the back," Shu Bai retorted immediately, her tone once again laced with her usual barb. "I just..."

He paused again, seemingly considering his words or suppressing some emotion.

"I just hate that you barge into other people's lives so casually and laugh so self-righteously."

Li Yuheng finally turned around slowly.

He looked up at the black and white cat on the wall.

Shu Bai stood there, his back to the pale autumn sky, his eyes filled with complex emotions. It was no longer just anger or disdain, but rather a mixture of something that Li Yuheng had never seen on his face before, something like a troubled expression.

Li Yuheng tilted his head, and the cynical expression on his dog-like face softened a bit.

"I laughed as if it were perfectly natural, did it bother you?"

"It's in my way," Shu Bai replied decisively, a hint of annoyance flashing in his cat-like eyes. "What gives you the right?"

"Hello? I can laugh whenever I want, what right do I need to do that?"

"It's necessary. You have no idea what that means."

"What does it mean?" Li Yuheng took a few steps forward and stopped at the base of the wall. "It means I found this street interesting, and I thought it would be fun to fight and argue with you, so I came here, and I laughed. What's wrong with that?"

"The problem is that you're too casual!" Shu Bai's tone suddenly rose, with a sharp edge of offense. "If you think it's interesting today, you can come and cause a ruckus, you can just...just get close to me."

"If you feel bored tomorrow, can you just pack your bags and leave as if nothing ever happened?"

"What do you take other people's territory for? A playground? And what do you take other things for? Toys to amuse you?"

Li Yuheng listened quietly until he finished speaking, and the last trace of a joke on his face completely disappeared.

He did not immediately refute.

The autumn wind rustled the downy hairs around his ears, and he stared at Shu Bai for a long time.

Then, he twitched the corners of his mouth, revealing an expression that could hardly be called a smile.

"So that's what you were worried about."

"You think I'm just having a passing fancy, that I'll leave sooner or later, so you don't want to get too involved with me to avoid future trouble. Is that right?"

Shu Bai neither admitted nor denied it.

He just stared intently at Li Yuheng, as if trying to glean something from his always expressive dog-like face.

Li Yuheng raised one of its front paws and casually fiddled with a pebble at its feet.

“You’re right. I really don’t know how long I can stay here.”

"Maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, maybe longer. It's not entirely up to me."

He raised his eyes and met Shu Bai's gaze once again.

"but,"

"Everything I did and every word I said was what I wanted to do and say at the time."

"I challenged you to a fight because I don't like the look of you and I also want to stretch my muscles."

"I admit that I come and go as I please, and I do things entirely based on my mood. But I never play games. I like what I like, I hate what I hate, I get close to people I want to get close to, and I fight people I want to fight."

"You think I barged into your life?" Li Yuheng scoffed. "Is this street yours? Who can't come here? I came, stood here, fought with you, cursed at you, and even did some things together. That's what happened. There's no such thing as 'casual' about it."

He took a step forward, and although he was standing under the wall, his imposing presence was in no way diminished.

"As for whether I'll leave in the future..." Li Yuheng stared into Shu Bai's eyes, "If I leave, will all these things that happened disappear? Will the beatings you suffered be for nothing? Will you take back the words you said to me?"

No, it won't.

"What's done is done."

"You think it's perfectly natural for me to laugh? Why can't I laugh? I feel good, I find it interesting, so why can't I laugh?"

"Am I supposed to wear a long face and worry every day, thinking, 'Oh no, I might leave someday, so I can't be too happy now'?"

Li Yuheng shook his head, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"That's something only an idiot would do."

"I don't care about the future."

“I only care about the present. Right now, I think this street is alright, and I think it would be fun to fight and argue with you. So I’m here right now, doing what I want to do.”

"If you feel offended, or think I'm too 'casual' and have disturbed your peace and quiet..."

Li Yuheng shrugged. "Then you can continue to avoid me, or find a way to get rid of me. As long as you can do it."

After he finished speaking, he stopped talking and just quietly looked at Shu Bai, waiting for his response.

Only the sound of the wind remained in the alley.

Shu Bai remained silent for a long time.

So long that Li Yuheng almost thought he wouldn't say anything more and was about to turn around and leave.

A very faint sound came from the top of the wall, almost carried away by the wind.

"...fallacies."