Yingqu Liuzi was pampered by her wealthy daddy.

After leaving the registration office, Xize didn't go straight home. Instead, he drove Shen Yu'an to a small restaurant by the Thames.

The two sat by the window. Shen Yu'an took the certificate out of his pocket, looked at it again, folded it, and put it back.

While waiting for his food, he leaned back in his chair and watched the sky outside the window slowly darken.

It started raining outside halfway through the meal. At first, it was a fine drizzle, almost invisible on the glass, but then the raindrops became denser, making a loud pattering sound as they hit the window.

Shen Yu'an turned to look out the window. The streetlights were on, and the raindrops were stretched into slanted lines in the light.

"It's raining heavily," Shen Yu'an said.

Xize glanced out the window, then lowered his head to finish the last few bites on his plate: "No rush."

After finishing the meal, Xize paid the bill.

The two walked to the door, and Xize picked up a long-handled black umbrella from the umbrella stand by the door and opened it. Shen Yu'an stood next to him, her shoulder against his arm, and they walked into the rain together.

A puddle had accumulated on the sidewalk. Xize tilted the umbrella slightly toward Shen Yu'an's side, leaving half of his shoulder exposed outside the umbrella.

After getting into the car, Shen Yu'an leaned back in his seat and looked at the rain outside the window.

Xize started the car, and the windshield wipers swept back and forth across the windshield.

The car slowed down after turning a few corners because the rain was too heavy and the road ahead was not very visible.

Shen Yu'an looked at the street scene outside the window and found it becoming more and more familiar. He recognized the bus stop and the eaves.

The first time he met Xize was on a rainy autumn night. He was huddled there, clutching his art supplies case, when a black Rolls-Royce pulled up in front of him. The back window rolled down, and a deep, cold face looked at him, asking if he needed help.

The platform is still the same as before, the eaves are empty, and the streetlights illuminate the rain curtain in a warm yellow light.

But Shen Yu'an saw something else.

A tiny tabby cat was huddled against the wall, trying to avoid the rain.

It huddled up in a ball, rain splashing in from the eaves and soaking its fur, which clung to its body, revealing its extremely thin skeletal outline.

Its tail was tightly wrapped around its body, and its light yellow eyes were gazing in the direction of the rain, as if waiting for the rain to stop, or as if it didn't know where else it could go.

Shen Yu'an looked at the cat, the platform, and the eaves. He said, "Daddy, stop the car."

Xize stepped on the brakes and followed his gaze to the bus stop.

He saw the kitten huddled in the corner, then turned to look at Shen Yu'an in the passenger seat.

Shen Yu'an didn't look at him; she was still looking at the cat.

"It came to take shelter from the rain," Shen Yu'an said, "just like me that day."

Xize looked at him for two seconds, then turned off the engine and reached out to open the driver's side door.

Shen Yu'an was taken aback: "What are you doing?"

Caesar didn't answer and got out of the car. He went around to the back of the car, opened the back door of the Rolls-Royce, and took the long-handled umbrella from the door storage compartment.

The umbrella has a black canopy, silver ribs, and the Leicester family coat of arms engraved at the end of the handle.

This umbrella is always kept in the back door of the car as a spare; it's rarely taken out to use.

He opened his umbrella, walked around to the passenger side, and opened Shen Yu'an's car door.

The sound of rain suddenly rushed in. He stood by the door, tilting the umbrella to cover the open car door and block the rain from blowing in.

"Come down," Caesar said.

Shen Yu'an looked at him and saw that his knuckles holding the umbrella handle were clearly visible under the light. The umbrella covered the sky above his head, and only the rain slid down from the edge of the umbrella.

He bent down, unbuckled his seatbelt, got out of the car, and stood next to Xize.

Xize tilted the umbrella slightly toward his side, and the two of them sat shoulder to shoulder.

Shen Yu'an reached out and touched the end of the umbrella handle, his fingertips tracing the outline of the engraved emblem, a very shallow groove, the same as the pattern on Xize's ring.

The two of them walked together across the flooded sidewalk and squatted down in front of the bus stop.

Shen Yu'an reached out first. When his fingers touched the cat's back, he felt a cold sensation, with wet fur clinging to the bones.

The kitten looked up at him, its pale yellow eyes reflecting the light of the streetlamp and the silhouettes of two people holding umbrellas behind the rain.

Shen Yu'an felt something very thin spreading out in his heart. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but he knew that this rainy night overlapped with that night many years ago in the same place, under the same eaves, in the warm light of the same street lamp.

He was taken in there, and this cat today was taken in by them together.

Xize tilted the umbrella a little more towards Shen Yu'an, so that the umbrella could completely cover the two people who were squatting. Rainwater flowed down from his shoulder and slid down the texture of his suit fabric.

He didn't say he was cold, nor did he tell Shen Yu'an to hurry up. He just held up the umbrella, half-squatting, and watched Shen Yu'an reach out his hand to the cat.

The kitten hesitated for a few seconds, then stood up, slowly took two steps toward Shen Yu'an's hand, and stepped into his palm.

Shen Yu'an lifted it up, held it close to his chest, and then stood up.

Xize also stood up, the umbrella always held over his head, covering him and the cat in his arms.

The rain pattered against the umbrella, making a dull sound, rhythmic and continuous.

They walked back to the car.

Shen Yu'an sat in the passenger seat first, holding the cat protectively in his arms. Xize closed his umbrella, bent down and climbed into the driver's seat, then closed the door.

The sound of rain was kept out.

Shen Yu'an looked down at the kitten curled up in his palm. It was trembling, its fur was soaked, and its light yellow eyes were taking in the new space inside the car.

He unzipped his coat a little and wrapped it inside the fabric.

When Xize started the car, he did not immediately shift into gear.

He glanced at Shen Yu'an, his gaze sweeping over his wet sleeves and the kitten in his arms that was slowly stopping trembling.

He reached out and turned up the heater, directing it towards the passenger seat.

Shen Yu'an didn't look up at him; she was still looking at the little thing in her arms.

He spoke a few words, softly, as if to the cat, or perhaps to himself: "It's just like you; when it sees someone stop, it follows them."

Xize's hands remained on the steering wheel.

He glanced at Shen Yu'an for a few seconds. That rainy night, he had seen a thin, trembling Eastern boy huddled under the platform in the back seat, carrying a box of art supplies, but he hadn't asked him for help.

He told the driver to turn around.

"You were the one who moved first," Shen Yu'an looked up at him, "I didn't go with you. You were the one who stopped."

Xize's fingers moved slightly on the steering wheel.

The rain was still flowing down the windshield, and the wipers slowly swept across it again and again.

He glanced at Shen Yu'an, then shifted into gear, and the car started moving smoothly.

He didn't reply, but Shen Yu'an noticed a very slight curve at the corner of his mouth, a little more relaxed than usual.

As the car passed the streetlight, its light flashed across the windshield and then went dark again.

Shen Yu'an lifted the cat up a bit, changed to a more comfortable position to hold it, and looked down at the small tuft of white fur on the tip of its ear.

Its breathing had calmed down, its body had warmed up, and it began to make very soft purring sounds.

The car drove through the gate and slowly stopped in front of the house along the gravel road.

Shen Yu'an held the cat protectively in his arms. Xize got out of the car first, opened his umbrella, and went around to the passenger side to open the door for him.

Shen Yu'an got out of the car carrying the cat, and followed Xize up the steps and into the eaves of the foyer.

As Xize closed the umbrella, Shen Yu'an stood in the foyer, looking down at the warm, fluffy ball of fur in his palm. It was looking up, surveying its new place.

Shen Yu'an heard the sound of Xize closing his umbrella behind him; the umbrella ribs made a soft metallic clanging sound as they closed.

As Xize walked past him, he reached out and touched the cat's head. The cat raised its head and rubbed against his finger.

He didn't say anything, took two steps toward the living room, then stopped and looked back at Shen Yu'an and the cat.

Shen Yu'an stood in the warm light of the foyer, looking at him. The certificate was still in his pocket, with the letter attached.

The warm, life-giving creature in my arms was breathing evenly.

The person in front of me was the first intersection we crossed together, and we ended up here together.

"I've decided on a name for it," Shen Yu'an said. "It'll be called 'Rain Stops'."

Xize looked at him for two seconds: "Has the rain stopped?"

"Um."

Xize didn't say whether it was good or bad, and turned around and continued walking.

But Shen Yu'an heard him say "Stop the rain" very softly as he turned around, as if he was repeating it to confirm the pronunciation, and then the sound blended into the warm light and the sound of rain in the hallway.

Shen Yu'an looked down at the kitten in her palm and whispered, "Welcome home."

It called out softly, its voice very faint, as if it understood.

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