Chapter 27 Part 2

Ye Lian let out a short, light chuckle. He reached out and tapped Jiang Xiaoyu’s straight nose. “Uncle’s over thirty, not three. He’s not some little kitty who buries his head in the blanket and sticks out his tail when he’s upset.”

The words, combined with the memories, exploded in Jiang Xiaoyu’s mind. His cheeks heated up rapidly. If he weren’t wearing shoes, even his bare toes would probably be visibly red. The man often called himself “uncle” in front of him, but only in cat form—this was the first time he’d heard it in human form.

He felt both shy and annoyed, inwardly cursing the bastard for messing up the seniority.

“Officer Jiang.” The man’s deliberately lowered voice was husky as his breath brushed Jiang Xiaoyu’s ear tip. He whispered, “You look just like my disobedient cat. When you’re shy, even your ear tips turn red.”

His mom and brother were still right there! Jiang Xiaoyu’s head was already ducked so low it was nearly buried in his chest. He abruptly shot to his feet like an ostrich and rushed to the door, twisting the handle several times before finally wrenching it open and bolting out.

Ye Lian couldn’t hold back a light laugh. He clapped softly, as if delighted by an actor’s performance in an opera, leisurely applauding in appreciation.

Ji Wangan looked at his usually reserved and elegant older brother in bewilderment, not understanding why he was laughing so happily. Ye Lan took out a handkerchief to cover her lips, surprised by Ye Lian’s unmasked display of emotion. Separated from her son for so many years, this was the first time she’d seen him truly smile, and it filled her heart with sourness.

She masked her emotions and patted Ji Wangan again. “Lie still. It’d be bad if your stitches burst. Lunchtime’s almost here—want me to buy you something to eat?”

Ji Wangan was a bit dazed from her patting. He vaguely remembered she’d been carrying a food box when she arrived that morning. If she’d brought one, why buy more? Besides, he was on IV nutrition and couldn’t eat solids anyway. But after a few soft words of comfort, he forgot all about it. After he refused, she said, “Then Mom will go eat first.”

She didn’t mention Ye Lian at all, nor the food box she’d specially prepared for him.

—

That day when he got home, Jiang Xiaoyu finally calmed down. He came out of the bathroom wiping his hair, sat on the floor with a muffled grunt, and took a fluffy one to pet. Ye Lian had seemed fine—no signs of sadness, and he’d even teased him. Jerk… The cat had run off, but he wasn’t upset at all. He even called the cat disobedient!

At the thought, Jiang Xiaoyu gripped a bit harder. The Little Calico Cat whose paw he was holding let out a squeak and meowed cutely, “Boss, kitty hurts.”

Jiang Xiaoyu quickly loosened his grip and rubbed its paw.

The Yellow-Eared Cat bumped the Flower-Arm Cat’s butt with its own. “It’s what humans call a scheming bitch, right?”

The Flower-Arm Cat nodded deeply, flexed the muscles on its forelegs, then flipped its expression in a second and meowed in a high-pitched voice as it pounced toward Jiang Xiaoyu. “Boss, kitty’s super strong and not afraid of pain. Pinch kitty!”

The Little Calico Cat suddenly leaped up with claws out, and the two cats instantly rolled into a fight.

Jiang Xiaoyu didn’t stop them. His home was full of fluffballs utterly oblivious to human bodies. He tossed the towel aside, bare-chested. His black short hair was messily draped over his forehead, his skin very fair, with the blue-purple veins clearly visible under the skin at his neck.

Fresh out of the bath, his chest was flushed red from the hot water. He had a lean build with tight waist and abs—good-looking no matter how you sliced it. He stretched lazily, and the next second, a little black cat poked out from his dropped pants.

Jiang Xiaoyu jumped onto the table. He’d finally remembered to log into the streaming app. It had been a while, and the backend comments were exploding. He scrolled nonstop—mostly concerns about his situation, and questions like: Has the little cat come back to you? Can you return the little cat to its second owner? Its living conditions there are clearly better!

He knew they meant well. He opened the live stream to show everyone he was fine now, that he could take care of himself, and they didn’t need to return him to the second owner…

【！He’s live!!!】

【OMG let auntie kiss him, auntie’s missed you so much!】

【What’s this? Scribbly little kitty? Kiss!】

Jiang Xiaoyu meowed at the screen, then picked up a pre-written cardboard sign beside him. It read: Thanks for everyone’s concern. The little cat is doing great. It ran off on its own a while ago and came back on its own. It can take care of itself, so no need to worry, everyone.

To him, there was nothing wrong with what he’d written, but to outsiders, the whole thing sounded like it was all about the cat handling everything itself. What did “it can take care of itself” even mean? Then what’s the point of you as the owner?

【What? Crazy? Expecting the little cat to take care of itself?】

【Streamer’s toxic? “The little cat ran off on its own”? Wasn’t it really you who didn’t seal the windows and let the cat escape? And it “came back on its own”—have some shame!】

【Exactly. The little cat made it back by luck, because cats are loyal and miss their owner. Why write it so matter-of-factly?】

Jiang Xiaoyu was stunned by the scolding. He’d learned to auto-filter insults and weird stares, but this was different—everyone was genuinely worried about him, so that’s why they were cursing. They just didn’t know he and his “owner” were the same person…

He opened his mouth, not knowing how to explain. Just then, a bunch of fluffballs jumped onto the table and crowded the camera, meowing to bail him out.

This was the first time other cats had appeared in the stream. Normally, when Jiang Xiaoyu streamed, they stayed obediently on the ground, assuming he was working and didn’t want to disturb.

“Boss, that Smelly Big Cat said we can help you stream and make money too, meow~”

Smelly Big Cat… Jiang Xiaoyu chuckled helplessly and scratched his head—probably disliked Jin Ge’s cigarette smell.

“Yeah, yeah! Cats saw it—something went boom in the phone, and Smelly Big Cat said that’s money!” That was the fireworks from viewer gifts—money indeed.

“As long as we meow, we can make money, right?!”

The group of cats crowded around the little black cat in the middle, tumbling and meowing nonstop. The viewers in the stream were melting from the cuteness.

【How does the streamer have so many cats at home?】

【So many! Ah, there’s even a dog!】

【Is the streamer rescuing a bunch of strays?】

【Probably! Rescuing too many, missing one or two is normal.】

【No wonder he said the little cat ran off on its own.】

【OMG so cute, can I adopt?】

Jiang Xiaoyu pawed at Little White, who had shifty eyes nearby. Just as he was about to speak, he saw fireworks exploding one after another on the screen, flashing by so fast it was dazzling.

Each firework was 999. In just moments, the other had sent nearly two hundred. Stunned, Jiang Xiaoyu saw the gifter’s ID: Ye Lian. His eyes widened in disbelief as the other abruptly sent over a hundred more.

“What are you doing!” Jiang Xiaoyu meowed loudly, raising his paw to smack at Ye Lian’s cat-profile pic avatar on the screen.

【Ah~ Hit by kitty.】

【Grab that paw and kiss hard!】

【Little kitty hehe, why so black but paws so pink?】

【Where’d this tycoon come from… Over 700 fireworks already, my god, how much is that?】

Jiang Xiaoyu spun in anxious circles. “Why waste money!” He smacked hard with his paw. “Stop exploding them—the platform takes half as fees!”

Ye Lian heard his petty little meow and couldn’t help laughing before stopping. With the final firework’s bloom, the count hit exactly 1000.

He was indisputably the top lister, his comment pinned at the top: Hello, please take good care of my little guy. Remind him to come home when he’s done playing outside.

Jiang Xiaoyu’s face flushed red. With a smack, he shut off the phone screen and buried his head between his paws, not making a sound for a long time.

“Boss?” The rather ugly Little Milk Cow poked its head over. “Your ears are so hot. Are you sick?”

Jiang Xiaoyu huffed aggressively at it, baring his teeth. “Cats aren’t!”

The Little Milk Cow froze at his roar, then pitifully twisted its butt away. “Fine, if not, then not.”

He buried his head again, playing ostrich for a good while before lifting it with both paws cupping his now-cooled face. The fluffballs all looked up at him curiously. Pretending to be calm, he said, “Everyone, go to sleep!”

“Ah? Sleep? Now? But it’s still a while before their bedtime!” The fluffy ones wore aggrieved furry faces, but the boss’s authority was unquestionable. So, in twos and threes, they pushed and shoved each other as they headed to their nests.

After calming down, Jiang Xiaoyu picked up his phone again. Naked, he slipped under the covers and tapped on Ye Lian’s profile picture—a photo of himself sprawled on the desk.

“When was this taken…” he muttered, feeling a bit hot and pulling the covers down. A moment later, he pulled them back up to cover half his face, leaving only his eyes peeking out as they darted around the screen, staring at the phone.

The man’s profile was blank, save for the bio that boldly declared: Owner of the little guy.

“Asshole! Lies!” He kicked the covers off the bed.

One of the kittens sleeping at the head of the bed tumbled off with the covers from his kick. It sat on the floor with a dazed look for a moment before curling up comfortably and going right back to sleep.

Jiang Xiaoyu took a deep breath and opened Ye Lian’s private messages. There, prominently displayed, was the message he’d left some time ago: Hello, are you the original owner of this Little Black Cat? High price to buy back his custody—contact me if interested ^ ^

He typed rapidly: What does “high price buyback” mean!

The reply came quickly: High price to take back the unwanted Little Slob—Uncle can give you as much as you want.

Bastard! Jiang Xiaoyu tossed the phone aside, grabbed a pillow, and smothered his face with it. His heart went out of control, ignoring its owner’s wishes as it pounded wildly against his chest.

When he woke up the next day, Jiang Xiaoyu had a stuffy nose. Turns out he’d fallen asleep just like that the night before… Even though the AC had made him cold overnight and he’d automatically shifted back to cat form, he still couldn’t avoid catching a cold.

The Case Handling Office was bustling today—several shapeshifters who’d been out on cases had returned. They greeted Jiang Xiaoyu politely when they saw him.

Jiang Xiaoyu replied softly, “Good morning. Cases go smoothly?”

“Not bad…”

He nodded and headed into the inner Archive Room.

Once he was gone, the colleagues started muttering: “That’s Jiang Xiaoyu? He actually spoke?” No wonder they were surprised; they’d been coworkers for a while now, and the guy was super aloof—usually he’d just grunt in response to greetings, never once initiating a question.

“What happened lately? He doesn’t look as dead and listless as before.”

Jiang Xiaoyu didn’t care what they were chatting about. After sitting down, he grabbed a tissue and started blowing his nose noisily. He rarely got colds all year, but when he did, it was always a bad one. Right now, his eyes were red-rimmed, his nostrils stinging and runny—he felt miserable. And then he got hit with another scam text: 2000 a month, no fooling young or old.

Jiang Xiaoyu tossed the tissue in the trash and replied: XX District XX Road, right? Police are on the way.