Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The despair on Tan Yi’s face, Xie Chen only pretended not to notice. The little kitten in his arms was still sleeping soundly. It seemed he would sleep for quite a while.

Xie Chen wasn’t returning the cat, and Tan Yi had firmly decided not to leave.

“Sir, you should take Li Li back to sleep,”

Xie Bo looked at the little kitten who had just cried. It was windy outside, and if he cried and then caught the wind, it might not be good.

Having been the steward of the Xie family for many years, Xie Bo gently comforted Xie Chen, “Leave those who beat Li Li to me, rest assured.”

Now Xie Bo looked kind and gentle, but years ago, he was no saint.

Too kind-hearted, how could he have protected the young master back then?

Xie Chen glanced at Xie Bo, nodded, and holding white Li Li, turned and went inside.

Tan Yi hurried after him, following him in through the door.

Not long after,

Inside Xie Chen’s bedroom, white Li Li was carefully placed by Xie Chen into the cat bed by the head of the bed.

Li Li slept deeply; when placed inside, he stretched out his body, spread his paws, and exposed his soft, chubby belly, completely unguarded.

Tan Yi looked longingly at his sleeping precious younger brother, wishing he could reach out and pet him a few times.

Back on the mountain, he couldn’t beat his older brother and second sister above, nor could he compete with the sly Fourth Brother and cunning Fifth Brother below, so even wanting to hug his brother was very difficult.

“Mr. Xie.”

Tan Yi lowered his voice, looking at the cat bed Xie Chen had prepared for Li Li, and said, “How much have you spent raising Li Li? I’ll transfer the money to you.”

If he did, they could just call it even.

Xie Chen glanced at him, seeing clearly through his scheming: “No need.”

“Spending money on Li Li is only right.”

Tan Yi was speechless. In his heart, he thought angrily that if his second sister were standing here today, the situation definitely wouldn’t be like this.

His second sister was such a ruthless woman.

After shamelessly lingering in the bedroom for a while, in the end, it was Xie Bo who came back and temporarily asked Tan Yi to move to the living room.

“Our young master doesn’t like others staying in his bedroom,” Xie Bo said gently, “Please understand.”Tan Yi waved his hand: "I'm not interested in his bedroom either."

He was only interested in the younger brother inside the bedroom.

Inside the bedroom.

The white Li Li, who caught Tan Yi’s interest, after sleeping for nearly an hour, had his right paw cramp, and was forced awake by himself in the cat bed.

“Meow meow.”

Li Li closed his eyes, moving his paws, still not fully awake, but started calling Xie Chen.

Xie Chen sat beside him, holding a file to read. Hearing the sound, he dropped the file and looked down at the little kitten who was half-awake.

“Li Li.”

Xie Chen rubbed his paws and said softly, “Wake up.”

Li Li, half opening his eyes in a daze, saw Xie Chen’s face and meowed pitifully, “I... I had a nightmare.”

In the dream, he was chased by someone on the street holding a stick, but this time, he couldn’t find the master.

Seeing his expression, Xie Chen knew it was a nightmare: “Don’t be afraid.”

“Dreams aren’t real.”

Xie Chen told him, “What happens in nightmares can’t happen in reality.”

Li Li looked confused: “Really?”

Sometimes, in his dreams, there seemed to be things he couldn’t remember clearly during the day.

“Yes.”

Xie Chen answered firmly, then patted the kitten’s furry head: “Are you hungry? Want to eat?”

“Yes, hungry.”

Li Li honestly stretched out his paw toward Xie Chen. His beautiful amber eyes were full of only Xie Chen: “Master, want to be held.”

Xie Chen picked him up steadily.

In Li Li’s heart, Xie Chen, who had saved him many times, had unknowingly become someone who made him feel very safe.

Xie Chen sensed this dependence, and let it deepen.

As the man and the cat almost walked out the bedroom door, Xie Chen’s steps paused.

“Li Li, if someone wanted to take you away to raise, would you want to go with them?”

Hearing this question, Li Li’s instinctive thought was that someone wanted to adopt him.

“Meow meow meow.”

Not going, not going.Li Li pressed tightly against Xie Chen’s chest, meowing anxiously, “I only want Master, I don’t want anyone else to raise me.”

“Anyone else?” “?”

Just then, Tan Yi walked over, having overheard the meowing clearly, feeling like his heart was about to burst.

“Li Li.”

He called out, “Look at me.”

Li Li, instructed to look at someone, blankly turned to look at Tan Yi.

“Meow?”

Li Li tilted his head and asked, “How do you know my name is Li Li?”

Tan Yi: “...”

Tan Yi took a few steps forward and looked at his face-blind younger brother straightforwardly: “I’m Bai Yi.”

“You’re Tan Yi,” Li Li reminded him. Although he felt Tan Yi’s scent was familiar, since it was just recent contact, he hadn’t recognized it in time.

“Dummy Li Li, I changed my surname.”

For a monster, the real name is very important. So, to be safe, Bai Yi always went by Tan Yi when out in the world.

This Tan Yi didn’t want to explain this in front of Xie Chen; after all, he used the name Tan Yi for cooperation with the Xie family — actually, this name was fake.

Li Li stared at Tan Yi without blinking. On the mountain, Third Brother had always kept his cat form to play with him. Li Li didn’t remember clearly the human forms of Third Brother or other older brothers and sisters.

Since he couldn’t transform, his older brothers and sisters stayed with him and only used their original forms to play.

After staring at him for about a minute, Li Li finally tentatively reached out his paw.

“Meow.”

Third Brother.

Hearing the long-lost Third Brother and seeing the familiar little kitten, Tan Yi’s eyes grew warm.

“Hey, good Li Li.”

Xie Chen raised his eyebrows, realizing this was Li Li’s Third Brother.

That was strange. Since Tan Yi was in human form, why did Li Li say last time that he couldn’t turn human?

The two brothers looked at each other. Li Li, in Third Brother’s almost tearful gaze, finally felt that familiar connection was real — this was indeed Third Brother.

“Li Li, let me hold you,” Tan Yi reached out his hand to Li Li.

Li Li hadn’t seen Tan Yi for a long time. Ever since the older brothers and sisters left the mountain, he hadn’t seen them again.

Now seeing Third Brother, Li Li didn’t hesitate and crawled toward him.Xie Chen lowered his gaze and saw the little kitten moving in his arms, frowning slightly.

A few minutes later.

Tan Yi finally held his younger brother. He weighed him in his hands and sadly said, “Li Li has lost weight.”

Hearing this, Xie Chen’s eyes fell on the little kitten’s round, plump body.

How had he not noticed? The little one didn’t look thin at all.

“Li Li used to eat at least four meals a day at home,”

Tan Yi thought of what Xie Chen had told him earlier and felt even more heartbroken: “Now, he probably can’t even get four meals.”

Bai Li looked at him innocently. He had some dried fish and steamed buns with him and actually ate quite a lot every day.

The more Tan Yi looked at his brother, the more he felt his brother had suffered greatly.

He felt both heartache and fear.

If the big brothers and second sister, or Fourth Brother, Fifth Brother, and the elders and juniors on the mountain found out the suffering Li Li had endured in City A...

He... he was done for.

“Meow meow.”

Bai Li saw Third Brother’s emotionless expression and took the initiative to rub against him.

If it weren’t for the outsiders, Tan Yi wanted to transform back into a cat now, play with his brother for a while, and then lick his fur again. When a big cat licks a kitten, besides showing affection, it also has an important meaning: checking health.

Big cats check the health of their young by licking their fur to see if there are skin diseases, parasites, or other issues.

Since conditions didn’t allow it now, Tan Yi could only suppress the urge to lick his brother’s fur.

“Li Li’s cat food is ready.”

Xie Bo came over with a smile and said to Tan Yi, “Let Li Li come eat.”

The world is vast, but eating is the most important thing.

Already feeling that his brother was too thin, Tan Yi certainly wouldn’t let him go hungry anymore.

He followed Xie Bo and quickly walked to the dining room.

On the table, exquisite bowls were filled with freshly made cat food by Xie Bo, with a water bowl beside them.

Bai Li was placed on the table, holding the food bowl and started eating eagerly.

Xie Bo stood beside Tan Yi and lowered his voice to say,

“I consulted experts specifically for Li Li’s diet. The cat food we make now is very nutritious.”

“The meat he eats was just airlifted in at Master’s order... The water he drinks is the same brand as Master’s, and his snacks, fried dried fish, are fresh and carefully selected.”

Tan Yi understood. The ingredients Xie Bo mentioned, and the empty water bottle on the table, all confirmed it.He could mentally calculate just how much care and how expensive this meal was.

“Thank you.”

Tan Yi thanked Xie Bo, “Thanks to you all for taking care of Li Li.”

Otherwise, his Li Li would still be suffering outside.

Xie Bo smiled gently, “No need to thank us. Our Master likes Li Li, and Li Li likes Master. Now he’s part of our family, so eating this is only natural.”

Tan Yi’s sudden surge of emotion was instantly pulled back.

“Li Li belongs to my family,” Tan Yi corrected.

Could they stop always grabbing his little brother?

His brothers and sisters were not in City A. When they parted, they didn’t even have phones, so no contact information was left.

However, now that Tan Yi had become a big star, it was actually super easy for the other siblings to find him.

They just didn’t bother.

Tan Yi looked at his brother and was sure that if those people knew Li Li was with him, they would all definitely come looking.

Not wanting to get beaten up by big brothers, second sister, Fourth and Fifth Brothers for now, Tan Yi decided to take this chance to hide his precious brother for a while.

He would spoil his brother enough first, then reveal his whereabouts.

Li Li ate heartily, shoveling big mouthfuls of food into his mouth. After a while, Xie Chen reminded him to drink water.

Glug glug glug.

Li Li didn’t taste anything special in the 2400-yuan-per-bottle water.

Full and satisfied, the round-bellied little kitten habitually climbed onto Xie Chen’s leg, rolled onto his back, and let Xie Chen rub his belly.

“Mmm, I’m full.”

Xie Chen rubbed his belly, inspecting the result of the hearty meal.

Tan Yi watched his brother letting someone else touch his belly, his jealous eyes almost turning red.

“Li Li, come home with me.”

Big brother was here. The little brother couldn’t still be living at someone else’s place; that would be unacceptable if word got out.

Bai Li sat up from Xie Chen’s leg. Of course, he wanted to go back to live with his brother.

After all, brother was family, and living together was nothing strange.

But Master…

Bai Li clung to Xie Chen’s finger with his paw, lowering his head, looking very conflicted.After a while.

Bai Li rubbed Xie Chen’s big hand with his face. Just when Xie Chen thought Bai Li would choose him, Bai Li pitter-pattered down from his leg and walked toward Tan Yi.

Tan Yi was deeply moved by his brother’s initiative.

“Third Brother.”

Bai Li climbed onto his shoulder, pressed close to his ear, and whispered, “At night, I want to sleep with Xie Chen.”

This sentence almost made Tan Yi lose his breath.

His face turned dark as iron, and he briskly took Bai Li to the balcony outside.

With no one named Xie around, Tan Yi’s voice finally lost its restraint.

He took his brother down from his shoulder and held him in front of him: “Li Li, what do you mean by ‘sleep with Xie Chen at night’?!”

His voice trembled on the last word.

Having spent years in the deep entertainment circle, the word “sleep” was a verb to Tan Yi!!!

Although he didn’t want to sleep with anyone, many in the circle wanted to sleep with him.

The verb kind of sleep.

A few days ago, he was kidnapped by someone—a very unruly big shot who wanted to sleep with him.

“Li Li, can you transform now? Did you transform and sleep with Xie Chen?”

Tan Yi, full of nonsense thoughts, asked Bai Li in panic.

Bai Li didn’t understand what was wrong with Third Brother at all. Why was he so scared about the idea of sleeping with Xie Chen?

He tilted his head and honestly said to Third Brother, “Sleeping with Master is really good. I like sleeping with Master.”

Tan Yi: “…”

At that moment, Tan Yi felt like everything went black before his eyes.

Author’s note: Tan Yi says: Sis, you come handle this. QAQ