Chapter 54: Parted for Twenty-Two Years

Ye Qingxu’s heart was in turmoil. He held the kitten in his arms tightly and feigned composure. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Ye Lian seemed to see through his concerns. He sighed, his tone gentle and calm. “Mr. Ye, I know what you’re worried about. I also know this cat is Jiang Xiaoyu. Please believe me—I have no ill intentions.”

Perhaps because the man had previously given him Jiang Xiaoyu’s information, or perhaps because of the man’s elegant and noble demeanor that made it hard to harbor any defenses, Ye Qingxu glanced at the kitten in his arms, which was burning hot and whimpering uncomfortably. With a heartbroken expression, he handed him over. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He broke out in a lot of rashes, and then he turned into a cat.”

Ye Lian took the cat into his arms. The familiar cool fragrance made Jiang Xiaoyu instinctively seek comfort. He painfully twisted his head to nuzzle against the man’s chest, mumbling unconsciously, “Uncle… I feel so dizzy…”

Ye Lian’s movement to take out his phone paused. He folded the phone into his palm with three fingers and pinched the bridge of his high nose with two others. This action blocked his amber eyes, so Ye Qingxu couldn’t see his expression. He only heard the man chuckle softly before dialing a call. “Have Liu Xishui come over. Bring some antihistamines and the like.”

The person arrived quickly. Ye Qingxu went to open the door and was startled by the two tall and burly men at the entrance.

He recognized Yan Feilang—tall and upright. But this man was even taller and more robust than Yan Feilang. Standing at the door, he looked like a member of the Black Hand Society.

“You’re… the doctor?” Ye Qingxu asked uncertainly.

Yan Feilang rasped in his smoky voice to reassure him. “Relax. Don’t let his bear-like appearance fool you—his medical skills are pretty solid.”

Ye Qingxu wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He barely tugged at the corner of his mouth and led the two inside. Along the way, he answered some of Liu Xishui’s questions about Jiang Xiaoyu’s symptoms.

Ye Lian sat by the bed. Without turning his head at the sound, he said, “He probably ate something that caused an allergic reaction. His breathing is a bit heavy, but there’s no throat swelling.”

Liu Xishui grunted in acknowledgment. Without saying much, he directly opened his medical kit. After one injection, Jiang Xiaoyu’s breathing soon lightened. His temperature was still high, but it had dropped considerably.

“These are the meds—one pill twice a day. Once he’s stable, take him for an allergen test.” Liu Xishui packed up as he gave concise instructions to Ye Qingxu, who was still tense beside him.

“Okay, okay.” Ye Qingxu nodded. Seeing there were no special precautions, he breathed a sigh of relief and sat by the bed.

“That’s it?” Yan Feilang craned his neck to look at the bed, wanting to reach out and pet the cat. But Ye Lian lifted his eyelids and gave him a faint glance, forcing him to withdraw his hand resentfully. He turned to gripe at Liu Xishui. “Hey, you quack—can you actually do this? It’s over just like that?”

“You wanna find out if I can or not? Try it yourself.” Liu Xishui’s voice was steady. He then said to Ye Lian, “Young Master, I’ll head out if there’s nothing else.”

Ye Lian acknowledged it. He glanced at Yan Feilang, who was acting like a dog, and instructed, “Feilang, see Xi Shui off.”

Yan Feilang raked his hair and led the door-board-sized Liu Xishui away.

Ye Qingxu affectionately stroked the now-relaxed black cat. Only after confirming he was stable did he have the chance to ask Ye Lian, “Can you tell me what’s going on? How did Xiaoyu… turn into a cat?”

Ye Lian picked up the Colorful Civet Old Cat, which had snuck into the room from some crack and was hiding at the foot of the bed trying to climb up. He placed it on the bed next to Jiang Xiaoyu, then gestured to Ye Qingxu. “Let’s talk outside.”

In the living room, Ye Lian poured a glass of water and handed it to Ye Qingxu, moving with the familiarity of being at home. “Judging by Mr. Ye’s reaction, your family ancestors probably didn’t have any Atavists?”

Ye Qingxu shook his head, gripping the cup with both hands. “My parents passed away early, but I’d never heard them mention anything like that in the family. What… does Atavist mean?”

Ye Lian sat across from him, crossing his legs with one hand resting on his knee. “Some people awaken their bloodline during growth, allowing them to transform into animal forms. Modern research calls this phenomenon Atavism and people with this shapeshifting ability Shapeshifters. Those with this ability can usually understand the language of their own kind and communicate with them, just like people talking to each other.”

Ye Qingxu pursed his lips, suddenly understanding. “No wonder this kid is always muttering to cats and dogs…” He’d previously thought Jiang Xiaoyu had grown up in an environment lacking affection, with no one to talk to, so he spoke to cats and dogs. Now it seemed they were chatting about the world in a language he couldn’t understand.

Ye Lian said, “Generally speaking, when Shapeshifters turn into animals, they can only communicate with animals of the same family—like Feline Shapeshifters with felines, Canine Shapeshifters with canines. But Xiaoyu is special; he can understand both cat and dog language.” He glanced faintly at Ye Qingxu, his gaze calm without scrutiny, just stating facts. “This ability can result from genetic mutation, but most cases are hereditary from the family. Especially since Xiaoyu can understand both cat and dog speech, the chance of it being a personal mutation is slim.”

Ye Lian paused for a second, then continued, “If your family has no special hereditary genes, then it must come from Xiaoyu’s maternal side.” He took a sip from his cup, smiling lightly. “And a very special maternal side at that—likely a bloodline combining Feline and Canine Shapeshifters.”

Ye Lian referred to the maternal side because he’d seen plenty of Shapeshifters, and the Ye family sheltered many, but he’d never heard of men giving birth. He naturally assumed Ye Qingxu was Jiang Xiaoyu’s father, and that Jiang Xiaoyu naturally had a mother.

Ye Qingxu’s hands trembled slightly. He lowered his head and rubbed the side of the cup without speaking.

Ye Lian watched with interest, thinking to himself that, as expected of father and son—they even had the exact same look when hiding something.

“Thank you for your help, Mr. Ye.” Ye Qingxu’s voice was a bit hoarse. “If there’s nothing else, please head back first. I’ll take good care of Xiaoyu.”

Ye Lian raised a brow at his dismissive attitude. He couldn’t muster any coldness toward that face so similar to Jiang Xiaoyu’s. He curved his eyes and said, “Then I’ll be troubling you.”

Trouble this, trouble that.

Ye Qingxu locked the courtyard gate and hurried back to Jiang Xiaoyu’s room. In this short time, several cats and dogs had already climbed onto the bed, including the Yellow-White Patch that had just been rescued a few days ago.

Ye Qingxu softened his expression and tiptoed over to sit by the bed. He reached out to stroke Jiang Xiaoyu, who was huddled in the Colorful Civet Old Cat’s arms, and softly said to the Old Cat, “Thank you for taking care of him.”

The Old Cat couldn’t understand human speech, but it was affectionate toward this man who looked so much like Jiang Xiaoyu. It rubbed against his hand, holding Jiang Xiaoyu’s head with its paws and grooming his fur meticulously.

Ye Qingxu watched quietly. He didn’t particularly like kittens or puppies, but now that he’d discovered his child could turn into a cat, he found himself liking them more and more.

“Why is the fur so curly?” He chuckled, pinching Jiang Xiaoyu’s curly fur with two fingers. “Like a little coal ball, all messy. When you wake up, Daddy will give you a bath, okay? Last time you were still wearing a rosy pink skirt… so cute. If you like wearing skirts, Daddy will buy you more, alright? No wonder you like eating those little shells—little cats should like the fishy taste of seafood. But why don’t you like fish? You even named yourself Little Yu.”

He chattered on to the soundly sleeping kitten, who was snoring deeply. For a long time, he just sat there quietly watching, comparing his child’s human form in his imagination to his cat form. “Except for the black hair and green eyes, they’re really not alike at all… How can he turn into a cat?”

He murmured softly while pulling out his phone to search online. Shapeshifters were probably regulated; he found no related reports or records.

Ye Qingxu stared blankly at the search bar for a moment, then pursed his lips and typed three words: Wan Keyao.

The encyclopedia entries on Wan Keyao were all about the man’s recent glorious achievements and life experiences. He searched Wan Corporation too, and as expected, found nothing.

Ye Qingxu’s eyes darkened. He was certain Wan Keyao couldn’t turn into a cat or dog. He pinched Jiang Xiaoyu’s pudgy pink paw, as if asking him, “Whose genes from the Wan family do you have?”

*

Wan Keyao rubbed his temple, listening to his subordinate’s report.

“President Wan, is your migraine acting up again? Should I call the family doctor?” his life assistant asked from the side.

Wan Keyao stopped his hand. His head hurt badly, so he irritably told the reporter, “Get out and redo it. Find out exactly what’s going on with Yang Guo.” He wasn’t a fool. Having decisively taken over the Wan Corporation for twenty years with iron-fisted efficiency, he knew Yang Guo wasn’t the delicate flower he appeared—there were no truly clean people in the entertainment industry, after all?

“If that thing with Jiang Fei is really connected to Yang Guo, blacklist him directly for me. Halt the drama production too—wait until we find a suitable lead before resuming.”

The subordinate smiled awkwardly, hesitating. “But President Wan, we’ve already invested tens of millions. The crew is almost fully assembled, and the early promo was all under Yang Guo’s name. Stopping now…”

Wan Keyao’s gaze turned icy. “What? Are you questioning my decision?”

The reporter stiffened under that eagle-like, cold and sharp gaze, nearly dropping to his knees like a servant from the old society. He hurriedly said, “President Wan, you’ve misunderstood. Th-that’s not what I meant.”

Wan Keyao shook his head, his headache splitting. Too lazy to listen to his excuses, he waved him off directly. Then, to the special assistant who had hurried over, he said, “Fire him.”

The special assistant acknowledged with a “Got it,” glanced at the life assistant to signal him to fetch the medicine, then walked to Wan Keyao’s side, bending at the waist to whisper lowly, “The Old Madam called again from her side.”

Wan Keyao leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed, his sword-like brows furrowed in clear impatience. “What now? I said I’m not going back—doesn’t she understand plain words?”

He treated even his own mother with barely concealed avoidance, as if he couldn’t tolerate her. He wasn’t good-tempered to begin with, and age hadn’t mellowed him one bit—he was as irritable as if he had a grudge against the whole world. The special assistant had been with him since university, over twenty years now. The only one who could get a good look from him, who could make him settle down for a midday nap in his idle afternoons, was probably that man named Ye Qingxu.

Unfortunately, the two had broken up early on, leaving Wan Keyao with ever-deepening furrows between his brows and increasingly severe headaches throughout these long years since.

“President Wan, the medicine’s here.” The life assistant brought over the tray of pills and carefully placed it beside Wan Keyao.

The man opened his eyes, grabbed the water cup, and messily shoved the pills into his mouth, swallowing them down. The painkillers took time to kick in, so his brows remained tightly furrowed as he said to the special assistant, “Get more people on it and investigate Yang Guo thoroughly.”

Wan Keyao already had a bad premonition in his heart, his fingers tapping irritably on the desk. “Check on that body double of his too. If Yang Guo really gets into serious trouble, have the body double step in and take over Yang Guo’s popularity directly.”

Having a body double replace the criminal lead actor— what a headline that would make. He had no strong moral compass, and he felt no particular pity for his artists. It was all about making money; black or red, it didn’t matter.

Besides, if someone courted death and crossed a bottom line, how could the company protect them?

As the two conversed, Wan Keyao’s private phone rang from the special assistant’s pocket. Wan Keyao caught the assistant’s troubled look and tsked. “Forget it, give it to me. You two, get out.”

He picked up the call but didn’t bother speaking first, listening as the other side said, “A-Yao… how much longer are you staying in Pine City?”

Wan Keyao asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Sigh, your dad hasn’t been in good spirits lately. He huddles in his nest sleeping a whole day away. When he occasionally wakes up and shifts back to human form, he keeps muttering about wanting you to have a child.”

Wan Keyao’s expression turned icy cold. Seeing no response, the other side sighed and continued, “I know the thing back then was Mom’s fault. I know you went to Pine City because Little Ye returned to the country… Mom let him down. If there’s still a chance… try to win him back, alright?”

Too fed up to listen anymore, Wan Keyao hung up. The medicine finally took effect, the headache slowly receding—but now his heart began to ache densely, painfully.

Win him back? Win what back? He still didn’t know why Ye Qingxu had exploded in rage back then, didn’t know why he’d looked like the sky had fallen, why he’d gone abroad with dead ashes in his heart.

“I won’t forgive you, and I won’t forgive myself either. Wan Keyao, that’s it—we’re done.”

Ye Qingxu had said it so mournfully, as if he himself had done something unforgivable and irreversible. He hadn’t given him a chance to explain, hadn’t clarified what exactly had happened. With that, he’d swept off abroad.

He himself hadn’t taken anything away, but he’d taken Wan Keyao’s soul with him.

Twenty-two years apart, and Wan Keyao thought he’d let it go. But that day on the stairs, when he saw Ye Qingxu, his sky had changed.