Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Before they reached their destination, Xie Chen put down his phone and lowered his gaze to look at the little kitten playing with his hand.

“What’s your name?” he suddenly asked.

Bai Li tilted his head and looked at him, “Meow meow.”

His name is Lili.

The elders on the mountain, as well as his older brothers and sisters, all called him that. Bai Li liked hearing close people call him that; it made him feel very close to them.

“Lili.”

Xie Chen said the name aloud, a familiar flutter crossing his heart.

He felt like he’d heard this name somewhere before.

But after searching his mind, he couldn’t recall when or where he had heard those two characters.

Hearing Xie Chen call him Lili, Bai Li buried his round little face in Xie Chen’s clothes, seeming a bit shy.

The master called his name—such a nice sound.

Bai Li snuggled deeper into Xie Chen’s clothes, then suddenly raised his head, staring at Xie Chen with confusion.

Wait.

How is it that no matter what he says, Xie Chen understands?!

Bai Li finally realized this huge bug in his thinking, his head buzzing.

Could it be... that without realizing it, he used cat hypnosis on Xie Chen?

Xie Chen didn’t understand the confusion in his eyes and just lowered his gaze, pinching his paw.

“Meow!”

It hurts!

The sharp pain from his paw made Bai Li twitch reflexively.

Hearing the sound of pain, Xie Chen opened his paw and carefully examined it.

Originally pink, the little paw pads were now noticeably darker, and some spots were slightly raw.

Xie Chen frowned deeply and immediately told the driver to stop the car by the roadside. He got out to buy some supplies and then returned.

After a moment...Bai Li’s chubby little body sat steadily on Xie Chen’s lap.

Xie Chen held his paw, disinfecting and applying medicinal powder to the pad in the middle.

“Does it hurt?” Xie Chen asked softly while applying the medicine.

In Bai Li’s beautiful amber eyes shone an honest look of grievance: “Meow meow.”

It hurts.

Xie Chen subconsciously softened his movements even more as he applied the medicine. After finishing, he suddenly remembered the scene from earlier — the little kitten sitting by the roadside, blowing on his paw.

Instinctively, Xie Chen leaned forward slightly and gently blew on the paw he had just treated.

Bai Li’s eyes instantly widened.

Wow.

The master blew on him.

The little kitten, happy beyond words, tilted his head back, his wet amber eyes fixed on Xie Chen, unable to resist making a bold request: “Meow, meow meow.”

He still wanted a kiss on the head.

Hearing the hopeful yet anxious tone in that lovely young voice, Xie Chen looked at the palm-sized little kitten, who was hooking his paw around him, trying to lean on him to stand up.

With a flicker of thought, Xie Chen looked again and gave the little head a gentle “chu” kiss.

If it weren’t for the fur blocking it, Bai Li would probably have turned completely pink all over.

“Meow ao.”

Overexcited, Bai Li climbed off Xie Chen’s lap and, before Xie Chen could react, directly gave Xie Chen’s handsome face a “chu.”

Reciprocity—he wanted to give Xie Chen a kiss too.

Xie Chen: “…”

Xie Chen grabbed the little kitten by the scruff, his cold eyes narrowing as he scrutinized him.

Over the years, many had tried to get close to him, openly or secretly. But with his cold nature and high standards, he hadn’t favored any of them, let alone gotten close.

In fact, this little kitten was the only one who had successfully gotten close to him.

Bai Li flailed his paws in the air, his clear eyes full of confusion.

Why was he being picked up like this?

Xie Chen found his flailing amusing and watched him for a moment longer before setting him back on his lap.

Besides buying medicine, the driver had also bought a box of goat milk from the supermarket—Xie Chen had seen the master feed him this last time.

Just as Xie Chen was about to open the goat milk to feed him, the car stopped.

“Stay in the car, I’ll be back soon.”Xie Chen placed Bai Li in the back seat, letting him sit alone, while he planned to get out of the car.

Seeing this, Bai Li immediately refused.

He didn’t want to be left there.

“Meow!”

Hug!

Bai Li reached out with his paw, trying to get him to pick him up.

Xie Chen paused as he got out of the car, then turned back to meet the little kitten’s pleading eyes.

The next moment—

“Why are you so clingy?”

Xie Chen frowned, his tone sounding annoyed, but with both hands he scooped up the little kitten who was trying to stand.

Bai Li nestled in his arms, watching the growing number of people around them—people dressed very well and all quite good-looking—and almost got stunned.

Xie Chen held the wine with one hand, supported the kitten with the other, and walked straight toward the entrance without looking away.

“Brother Xie.”

At the entrance, they were greeted by Mr. Zhou’s eldest son, Zhou Fa. Zhou Fa took the wine he brought, his honest face full of smiles: “My dad was just talking about you a few days ago. He’ll be happy to see you here today.”

As Zhou Fa spoke, he gestured for the others to receive the guests, then personally led Xie Chen inside to see his father.

Mr. Zhou was a highly respected elder in the vocal music world. When Xie Chen was at his lowest, Mr. Zhou had helped him out, and Xie Chen had always respected him.

The main hall was already filled with many people—various handsome men and beautiful women, as well as some heavyweight figures—all attending today’s banquet.

As Zhou Fa led Xie Chen through the crowd, he encountered quite a few people trying to strike up conversation.

“By the way,” Zhou Fa whispered gossip as they walked, “My sister is here too. She’s been chasing after Tan Yi lately, but Tan Yi doesn’t seem to like her, didn’t come over tonight.”

Hearing this, Xie Chen had no particular reaction; he never cared about Tan Yi.

Zhou Fa continued with his gossip: “Tan Yi didn’t come, but ‘Little Tan Yi’ did.”

“Watch out for that one—this ‘Little Tan Yi’ is full of tricks.”

Xie Chen gave a perfunctory “Hmm.”

This “Little Tan Yi” Zhou Fa referred to was the stage name Liu Yi, who was twenty years old this year. At first glance, he looked somewhat like Tan Yi, but anyone with sharp eyes could tell this wasn’t a natural resemblance—it was deliberately made to look like him. Even the name Liu Yi was reportedly intentionally chosen to imitate Tan Yi.

From the start, he used the nickname “Little Tan Yi” for marketing. He seemed simple and gentle, but many in the industry knew he was very skilled at fake marketing stunts.

Tan Yi had been popular for several years, attracting plenty of envy. Yet Tan Yi never accepted anyone or any unspoken rules. As a result, those who were desperate to get to him eventually turned their attention to this “Little Tan Yi.”Zhou Fa picked up on the recent unpleasant drama of Little Tan Yi changing sponsors and force-fed the gossip to Xie Chen.

Xie Chen listened indifferently, but Bai Li, who had never seen the world, was completely absorbed.

“Meow.”

After hearing about Little Tan Yi’s seductive tricks, the innocent kitten was stunned.

Hearing the meowing, Zhou Fa looked down and saw the little kitten’s dumbfounded expression from eating gossip, scratched his head, and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.

This little kitten seemed to understand what he was saying, making him feel like he was corrupting the kitten.

Xie Chen just realized the little kitten in his arms had been listening to their conversation.

Without showing it, he covered the cat ears and calmly reminded Zhou Fa, “Stop talking about this, I see your father.”

“Then you should go over.”

Zhou Fa smiled, “I’ll go attend to other guests.”

After Zhou Fa left, Xie Chen took a few steps toward Mr. Zhou, bowed slightly, and exchanged quiet greetings with him, who was seated on the sofa.

Mr. Zhou was indeed very happy to see him.

“Ah Chen,”

The elder smiled warmly, “Still busy recently?”

“A bit.”

While Xie Chen was talking with Mr. Zhou, Bai Li lay in his arms, looking around.

And what he saw caught his eye.

That young man in a suit was holding a wine glass, looking over at him.

Bai Li looked closely at the man’s face and found he did indeed resemble Tan Yi from the posters.

A light bulb went off in his head—he recognized him.

This was the Little Tan Yi who faked everything!

Bai Li blinked and stared straight at Little Tan Yi, but the latter’s gaze stayed fixed on… Xie Chen.

That look made Bai Li a little uncomfortable.

He withdrew his head, quietly tugging Xie Chen’s clothes tighter with his paw.

“Meow?”

Seeing Xie Chen no longer talking to Mr. Zhou, Bai Li politely called him, “Meow meow.”

Are we going home?

If we don’t leave soon, he feels like that Little Tan Yi is going to come over and cause trouble.Because the other party hadn’t actually come to cause trouble yet, Bai Li couldn’t clearly tell Xie Chen about his bad feelings toward him.

Hearing the urgent meows in his arms, Xie Chen reached out and gently rubbed his head to soothe him.

“Be good.”

Xie Chen said this, then chatted a few more sentences with Mr. Zhou before turning around.

However, he still didn’t leave.

The elder said many people had come this time, some old acquaintances, and asked Xie Chen to greet them before leaving.

Xie Chen was cold and indifferent by nature, avoiding contact with others. He knew the elder was worried he was too lonely and wanted him to mingle more, soak up some life energy.

For the elderly Mr. Zhou, Xie Chen did not refuse his kindness.

“Wait ten minutes.”

Xie Chen lowered his eyes and negotiated with Bai Li in his arms: “In ten minutes, I’ll take you home to eat dried fish.”

Bai Li saw Little Tan Yi getting closer and didn’t want to wait even a minute.

He anxiously patted Xie Chen’s arm and looked up meowing.

He wanted to go back.

He didn’t want Xie Chen to be taken advantage of!

Xie Chen only heard him say he wanted to go back but didn’t hear why, so naturally didn’t know why Bai Li was so anxious.

Seeing the normally gentle little kitten getting more and more restless, Xie Chen frowned.

“Mr. Xie—”

A gentle male voice sounded in front of him. Xie Chen looked up and saw Liu Yi holding a wine glass, walking toward him.

Just as Liu Yi was about to reach him, someone passing by accidentally bumped into Liu Yi.

Immediately, Liu Yi’s body straightened and crashed toward Xie Chen.

Bai Li’s heart tightened, his paws instinctively tensed.

Here it comes!

The troublemaker aiming at Xie Chen was coming!

Tense all over, like facing a great enemy, Bai Li suddenly stretched out his paw just as Liu Yi was about to fall on Xie Chen, trying to push him away.

To prevent Liu Yi from touching Xie Chen’s handsome face, Bai Li even let out a threatening meow from his throat.

“Ah—”

Liu Yi cried out in surprise, face full of panic as if crashing into Xie Chen was a complete accident.