Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“Sir, on your hand…”

At the dining table, Xie Bo hesitated after seeing the sparkling ring on Xie Chen’s finger and finally spoke up.

Over the years, Xie Chen never wore any jewelry — no necklaces, no rings, nothing. He had no interest in buying such things, let alone something that looked as crudely made as that ring.

“I’m just wearing it for fun,”

Xie Chen said casually.

Although he wanted to throw away this mysterious item, he couldn’t take it off now.

If he forcibly removed it, it might hurt his knuckle. Recently, he had some inspiration and planned to compose music and write songs, so his hands were especially important now.

Though the ring was tight, it didn’t actually constrict him. As long as he didn’t yank it off, it wouldn’t affect the flexibility of his finger.

Considering these factors, Xie Chen lowered his eyes, thought for a few seconds, and let the ring stay on his hand.

“Xie Bo, I have a banquet to attend tonight. Don’t wait for me.”

“All right.”

Xie Bo was getting old. He didn’t have anything urgent to do, and every night no matter how late Xie Chen came back, he always waited until he saw him enter before going to sleep.

Back then, when the Xie couple disappeared, leaving behind a still immature Xie Chen, surrounded by dangers, he took on the heavy burden of the Xie family.

From being a young master to a capable man in charge today, Xie Bo knew better than anyone how perilous and difficult Xie Chen’s journey had been.

Because of this, he stayed by Xie Chen’s side, supporting and accompanying him until now.

After talking with Xie Bo, Xie Chen finished a few bites of breakfast, took a bottle of wine from the cellar, wrapped it, and took it with him.

This bottle of wine was a gift prepared for the banquet; he could bring it directly to the venue after leaving the company at night.

Outside, the sun was climbing higher.

Under the overpass, Bai Li, tired from the whole night, struggled to sit up inside the cardboard box.

“Meow.”

So sleepy.

This little sleep was far from enough for Bai Li, who was still essentially a little kitten in his original form.

He sat inside the box, his beautiful amber eyes moist, as if he was so sleepy he was about to cry.

“Meow, meow meow,” Bai Li lowered his head and meowed weakly.Older brother, older sister, why haven’t you come yet?

The sleepy little kitten, feeling wronged, buried his head in his paws, thinking about the older brother and sister who hadn’t appeared yet.

After thinking for a while, Bai Li finally perked up, shook his head, and climbed out of the cardboard box.

“Meowow!”

He cheered himself up.

Before seeing older brother and sister, he was the big brother of Dian Dian and Da Hui.

As the big brother, he couldn’t be discouraged!

After this self-encouragement, the energetic little kitten slung a cloth bag over his back and firmly ran out.

A new day, working hard.

“Li Li.”

The grocery store owner called Bai Li’s name, poured him a bowl of water, then sat down in an old rattan chair, cracking walnuts while talking to him, “Do you think pulling the cart job is good?”

“Meow.”

It’s good.

Bai Li meowed while drinking water.

The pay for pulling the little cart was fast; even running for one day earned quite a bit.

Hearing this, the owner’s walnut cracking slowed down.

“Well then. Li Li, I have to go back to my hometown tomorrow to handle some matters. I might not be able to come for a while.”

After the owner said this, Bai Li, who was drinking water, instantly froze.

“Meow?”

Are you leaving?

The owner sighed, “Yes, I have to go. The young wolf cub in my family caused some trouble. I need to go back and deal with it.”

His family’s underage wolf cub went missing, and no one could find it. Now they suspect it might still be hiding somewhere in the hills, so he has to go back to look for it.

Hearing the owner’s definite answer, Bai Li immediately wilted.

“Meow.”

I, I’m going to be unemployed.

Hearing this soft meow, the owner felt a bit helpless inside.

“ahem” Clearing his throat, he suddenly said, “Li Li, while I’m not here, would you be willing to help me clean the area outside the door?”

“I’m afraid if I come back, the entrance will be too dirty.”The owner said, “I’ll make you a little outfit. After you put it on, you just need to wipe the ground at my door.”

The owner’s shop entrance was paved with bluestone slabs, so it wasn’t really easy to get dirty.

Bai Li nodded his little head busily: “Meow meow.”

Willing, willing.

Eager to work and earn money, Bai Li wasn’t picky at all about the job.

Sweeping at the door was an obviously not very tiring task. So, the owner paid Bai Li ten yuan for the day’s work.

Bai Li thought the wage was reasonable. He put on the little outfit the owner made for him, rolled around on the ground a bit, and wiped the floor clean with the clothes.

“Very good.”

The owner praised, “When I come back, I’ll still hire you to pull the little cart.”

“Meowow!”

Thank you.

On the last day pulling the little cart, Bai Li worked harder than the previous two days.

He ran from morning till night, Meimei simply couldn’t keep up with him.

To spend more time pulling the cart, Bai Li even hurriedly took just a few bites of steamed buns. After running all day, Bai Li’s little universe exploded; he pulled the cart 32 trips and earned 160 yuan.

After returning the little cart, Bai Li’s whole cat body was nearly worn out.

His paws had some worn skin, and when he walked, the paw pads felt a slight sting.

Dian Dian and the others didn’t know how hard Bai Li had worked. After Bai Li left them at the pet shop and went home alone, as he walked ahead, Meimei followed behind and told Dian Dian and Da Hui how hard Bai Li had worked today.

“Meowoo, woo woo woo.”

It’s all because we were sick that made big brother work so hard.

Dian Dian and Da Hui hugged each other and cried, and seeing them cry, Da Mei couldn’t hold back either and started crying too.

The little brothers felt both pity for big brother and guilt for getting sick themselves.

After finally stopping their tears, the three little kittens, with their eyes red, stacked their paws together and vowed to spoil big brother well from now on.

“I won’t let big brother pull the cart.”

Dian Dian choked out a meow, “I’ll pull it. Let big brother sleep.”

Bai Li didn’t hear the little kittens’ meowing and talking.

He sat by the roadside, curling his paws, looking longingly at his paw pads.

It hurts.Bai Li sniffed, carefully blowing on his paw pad that had some worn skin.

Back when he was on the mountain, there was a time he accidentally got hurt, and Second Sister came over to blow on his wound.

After blowing, Second Sister also kissed his little head, soothing him very gently.

Now there was no Second Sister to blow on his wound, nor to kiss his head. Bai Li lifted one paw to touch his own head, pretending to be kissed by Second Sister.

He was very tired and couldn’t walk anymore, so he could only sit by the roadside.

A cool breeze blew by. Bai Li gave up looking at his paw pads and instead took out a steamed bun from the pouch hanging around his neck, and ate it right there to regain strength.

A black Maybach had been parked by the roadside for an unknown amount of time.

The driver gripped the steering wheel, hesitated several times, and finally spoke.

“Sir, this little kitten looks kind of pitiful…”

Blowing his own wounds, patting his own head, and eating only cheap plain steamed buns—no matter how you looked at it, he was a poor little thing.

Xie Chen said nothing.

Through the window, he looked at the little kitten not far away; his deep eyes showed no emotion.

Without him speaking, the driver didn’t dare get out to pick up the cat.

After a moment.

Bai Li, having eaten a few bites of the bun, yawned and considered whether to go back under the overpass first or go directly to Xie Chen’s place.

Xie Chen’s window wasn’t easy to climb to. After thinking about it, Bai Li decided to go try climbing the window earlier.

He got up from the ground and turned toward where Xie Chen lived.

But after only a few steps, his short little leg twisted, and he fell hard onto his bottom.

“Meow.”

His leg felt a bit weak.

Bai Li shook his head, forcing himself to overcome the weakness and kept moving forward. After stumbling and sitting down several more times, suddenly, a pair of large hands lifted him up.

“Meowow! Ow!”

Bai Li turned his head and upon seeing the familiar handsome face, his eyes lit up.

It was Master!

Hearing this joyful sound, the displeasure originally building up in Xie Chen’s heart eased a little.

“What happened?”

Xie Chen held him in his arms, looking down and asked, “Drunk again?”

Bai Li tilted his head, his wet eyes full of confusion: “Meow.”No drunken milk.

He didn’t have any goat milk to drink.

Xie Chen was a person picky about sounds—in simple terms, he was a voice control fan—but over the years, there had been almost no voice that perfectly satisfied his voice control.

Only this little kitten in his arms, whether it was the slightly milky meow of his true form or his clear youthful voice, precisely hit the points that pleased Xie Chen’s voice control.

The rare patience he had for this little kitten, besides because the kitten was really cute and good-looking, was largely because of this voice.

“Want to come back with me?”

Xie Chen suddenly asked this question again, one he had asked before.

He had expected to be refused, but unexpectedly, since Bai Li really couldn’t walk anymore and the destination was indeed Xie Chen’s home, he nodded at him.

“Meowoo.”

I want to go back with you.

After answering, Bai Li thought in his heart, sneaking into his room at night would be even more convenient this way.

Xie Chen was momentarily stunned.

Then, he turned and carried the little kitten into the car: “Let’s go.”

“Before going home, we’ll stop by somewhere else. Don’t worry, after I deliver the things, I’ll take you home.”

Most cats were afraid of humans, but this working little kitten even dared to work for humans, so he was pretty brave. Just entering that place for a short time today probably wouldn’t scare him.

Xie Chen placed the little kitten on his lap. The hand wearing a cheap ring was tightly held by the kitten’s little paws.

“Looks good.”

Bai Li happily admired the hand wearing the ring, silently giving himself a thumbs up.

I really have good taste, he thought; this ring looked just as good as the one Tan Yi wore in the poster.

Xie Chen let him hold his finger and play, while his other hand checked messages on his phone.

There was a group chat on WeChat.

Xie Chen casually glanced at it and found they were talking about Tan Yi attending Mr. Zhou’s banquet.

Mr. Zhou had a good relationship with Xie Chen.

Right now, Xie Chen, sitting in the car, was headed to Mr. Zhou’s banquet.

In other words, Xie Chen would see Tan Yi at this banquet.

He looked at the group chat discussing Tan Yi, then coldly withdrew his gaze.

Tan Yi was just Tan Yi. Matters of cooperation would be handled by the business department.As for him, he would just go in to deliver a gift and then take the little kitten in his arms back home.