Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Chapter 54 Jin｜Jiang｜Literature｜City Premiere

The staff knew Yaya was Zhou Zhi’s dance fan, so they comforted her and let her sit down by the stage first.

As soon as Yaya sat down, someone took the seat next to her.

“Where’s Lili?”

Seeing only her returned, and Zhou Zhi had already taken the stage, Xie Chen frowned and asked.

Yaya hesitated; she was a little afraid of Xie Chen.

“Lili, Lili ran off. He told me to go ahead. I don’t know what he wants to do.”

As soon as Yaya finished speaking, Xie Chen stood up, walked around the seat, and prepared to go backstage.

But the performance had already started, and at this time, no one was allowed backstage.

Backstage, there were dance costumes and various things; letting people in was risky, and no one could be held responsible if something happened.

“My cat is backstage.”

Xie Chen looked coldly at the staff who stopped him, a chilling gleam in his eyes: “Step aside.”

The staff who blocked him also knew there was a cat backstage and hesitated before saying, “Sir, please wait here a moment. I’ll go find your cat.”

“No need, I’ll find him myself.”

Xie Chen’s tone remained unrelaxed; he stared at the path leading backstage, clearly refusing any mediation.

Meanwhile, backstage,

At this moment, Baili’s plump body had already fallen on his backside several times while running.

His head was heavy and paws light; he felt like his brain was full of glue.

The glue was still hot, almost burning him.

The dressing room door wasn’t locked; Baili’s body swayed and he fell inside.

Once inside, Baili drowsily closed the door.

Hot.

Very hot.

Baili lay on the floor from the heat, his beautiful amber eyes watery.

“Meow.”Sir.

Baili felt utterly uncomfortable all over and instinctively called out to Xie Chen.

But this time, Sir did not descend from above.

The floor was clean and cold; Baili struggled to support himself with his paws to stand up...

Before his eyes, a double image flickered, and all memories in his mind became muddled and blurred.

Time seemed to split at this moment.

Baili curled up on the ground, eyes closed, his round plump body and four paws all bathed in dazzling white light.

When the light faded,

The snowy white little kitten was no longer on the ground; in its place was a still-curled-up teenage boy.

The boy’s skin was fair and flawless, like the most perfect jade with not a single blemish. His closed-eyed face was delicate, with soft cheeks that looked very pinchable.

Overall, he was exceptionally good-looking.

Even in the entertainment industry, which was not lacking in beauties, this face and this boy would make anyone have to admit he was truly stunning.

After lying like that for a few minutes, maybe longer, Baili’s fingers trembled, then slowly opened his eyes.

He was without clothes, which was very cold in the late autumn.

His mind was blank; at this moment, Baili couldn’t even remember his own name.

He leaned against the door and slowly stood up.

Used to walking on four padded paws, now with two legs, Baili walked very carefully, practicing a few steps to adjust.

In the dressing room lay new dance clothes, still in their packaging.

Baili struggled to unwrap them and put them on.

Just as he finished dressing, the door was pushed open.

In came Zhou Zhi, who had just finished her performance; she came both to look for the cat and to retrieve something.

“Ah, you are—”

Zhou Zhi’s question stopped abruptly when she saw his face.

She had trained in dance for many years, traveled far and wide, and met many people.

But the boy before her was the first to astonish her like this.

“Ahem.”

Zhou Zhi cleared her throat and asked again, “Who are you, and how did you end up here?”

Baili did not know who he was either.He shook his head in confusion, then unconsciously uttered two words.

“Lili.”

He seemed to be calling that.

Zhou Zhi: “...”

Zhou Zhi was completely stunned: “You’re Lili?!”

Baili stood still, the confusion in his eyes slowly fading.

Zhou Zhi looked at him in disbelief and couldn’t help but use her own method to confirm.

“Can you… dance?”

Lili could dance; she had taught him.

So many cat dances—if Lili really turned into a human, he should still be able to dance some of them.

Zhou Zhi was a dancer herself, but privately she had a little hobby—she liked researching various stories about spirits and strange legends.

If Lili could become human, though shocked, she wouldn’t feel horrified. Instead, she’d feel excited.

Baili stood blankly, not moving.

Until Zhou Zhi started a familiar dance, and Baili cautiously took a step.

He was very skilled at cat dances.

And now, he was still skillful.

“Let’s go!!!”

“We can go on stage!”

Coincidentally, one of Zhou Zhi’s backup dancers had a problem, and the thing she came here to get was ointment, prepared to apply it to that dancer.

Since the backup dancer couldn’t perform, Zhou Zhi planned to improvise a new dance.

Unexpectedly, Lili, this little savior, appeared!

Baili was confused but was brought onto the stage.

He had watched Zhou Zhi’s dances more than anyone else. Moreover, he was patiently taught by Zhou Zhi herself.

The moment he stepped on stage, as expected, gasps sounded from the audience.

Xie Chen had searched backstage for the little kitten but couldn’t find even a shadow.

The little kitten was small; if it curled up somewhere unnoticed, it would really be hard to find.

“Wow, look at the stage!”A staff member was watching the stage and whispered to their companion, “Zhou Jie’s backup dancer is amazing! He coordinates with Zhou Jie so perfectly!”

“I can’t take it anymore; I feel like my eyes don’t even deserve to see such a divine scene!”

Those praises triggered Xie Chen’s reflex, and he glanced at the stage as well.

From the side of the stage, you could still clearly see the stage, but the effect was definitely not as good as from the front.

Even from just the side, when Xie Chen saw the young backup dancer, his eyes couldn’t look away.

The boy was stunningly beautiful.

But the reason Xie Chen couldn’t look away was that such a beauty had appeared in his dreams before.

For a moment, Xie Chen even furrowed his brows.

Having lived over twenty years, almost thirty, he always thought he wouldn’t let anyone into his life.

Except for that little kitten.

But now, he dreamed of a boy, and the boy truly existed in this world—not just his imagination, not a false creation from his dreams.

He just stood there, watching the boy finish the entire dance.

After the dance ended,

thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Zhou Zhi and Baili’s dance was brilliant.

Zhou Zhi hadn’t expected Baili to dance so well; she curved her eyes, took Baili’s hand, and bowed deeply to the audience.

Walking down from the stage,

Baili, who still knew nothing and was relying solely on instinct, unexpectedly made eye contact with Xie Chen.

Just one look.

Since waking up, the fearful, uneasy heart inside Baili suddenly settled.

He broke free from Zhou Zhi’s hand and ran like the wind toward Xie Chen.

However—

Before reaching Xie Chen’s embrace, Xie Chen sidestepped and dodged him.

“Sorry.”

Xie Chen’s voice grew cold: “I don’t like strangers getting too close to me.”

Lili still hadn’t been found, and Xie Chen felt he had really lost his mind, wasting time here.

No matter how much the boy’s appearance related to his dream, Xie Chen didn’t want to acknowledge it.

To him, the boy was just a stranger.Xie Chen wasn’t about to be swayed by a dream.

The urgent task was to find his Lili.

Xie Chen turned and walked away.

Behind him, Baili stretched out his arms, his wet eyes full of grievance.

“Hold me.”

He whispered softly behind the man.

He wanted a hug.

But the man was too cold, didn’t want to pay him any attention, didn’t want to look at him.

Watching the man walk farther away, a thought suddenly flashed through Baili’s mind—

He didn’t want to become human anymore.

He still wanted to be a cat.

As the thought passed, his body’s discomfort returned.

Baili didn’t have time to greet Zhou Zhi; he took a few steps chasing after the man.

At a corner, the light was dim, and nothing was clear.

Baili leaned against the wall, his body slowly collapsing.

“Pop—”

The snow-white little kitten suddenly appeared.

“Meow meow.”

A meowing sound reached Xie Chen’s ears, even though he had already walked far away.

He turned around and hurried back, finally finding his little kitten.

“Lili.”

Xie Chen scooped up the little kitten and carefully checked him over.

Fortunately, no one had bullied him.

“Lili? Where did you go just now?”

Xie Chen frowned and asked; he had searched everywhere backstage but hadn’t found the kitten.

Baili turned back into a cat, cradled in Xie Chen’s palm.

He opened his paws, looking very aggrieved: “Meow. Meow meow.”Sir, hug.

Xie Chen held him close, his warm chest pressed against the little kitten’s cheek, giving the kitten all the security he wanted.

Baili finally got his hug, tilted his head, and fell asleep.

He was exhausted from everything, having pushed himself until now, utterly drained.

Listening to the purring of the little kitten in his arms, Xie Chen looked down, and when he saw the kitten’s soft belly rising and falling, all the coldness in his eyes disappeared, replaced only by warmth.

Giving up on contacting that youth and coming to find his Lili was indeed the right choice.

His Lili, even doing nothing, was cute enough to soften his heart.

Xie Chen held the sleeping kitten and left early.

He never had much interest in this dance party anyway.

At first, when he let Lili go backstage with Yaya, he didn’t really regret it.

Going backstage to see Zhou Zhi was nothing to do with him, and since he had no relationship with Zhou Zhi, there was no reason for him to force his way in. For Yaya, who had lost her right leg, it was a rare chance to see Zhou Zhi.

Baili slept from the car all the way back to the villa.

Bailiu’s experiment had reached a crucial moment, and he stayed directly in the lab.

Tanyi was busy working and couldn’t come back.

Right now, in terms of ownership of the little kitten, Xie Chen could be said to have gotten a great deal.

Back at the villa.

Xie Bo saw Baili was still sleeping and worried: “Lili has been sleeping too much these past two days.”

“Sir, do you think we should have Doctor Qiu He check Lili again?”

Xie Chen naturally didn’t mind the trouble of giving the little kitten a checkup.

He called Qiu He over.

A few hours later, Qiu He rubbed his forehead helplessly.

“Mr. Xie,”

“Trust me, Lili really isn’t sick. He’s just tired, undergoing deep sleep.”

Tired.

Xie Chen didn’t know what the little kitten had been doing backstage. Could it be that he ran around so much that he got tired?

Qiu He repeatedly emphasized that Baili was fine. With the doctor’s words, Xie Chen and Xie Bo couldn’t say anything else.

Worried, Xie Bo could only think of ways to feed Baili more.

“Then I have to give Lili some extra nourishment.”Xie Bo watched Baili every day, truly caring for him with all his heart.

These past two days, Baili had no energy, and Xie Bo was very worried.

“Sir, you should pay more attention to Lili and not let him work anymore. Let him rest well.”

Xie Bo reminded Xie Chen to focus all his attention on Baili for now.

Without being told, Xie Chen was already giving all his focus to Baili.

“Make some cat food for Lili; he hasn’t eaten for quite a while.”

Xie Chen said, carrying Baili into the bedroom.

On the big bed in the bedroom, the sheets and blanket had been changed—from the original black-and-white checkered pattern to a soft yellow four-piece set printed with chibi Ultraman.

The set was personally chosen by Baili, who sat in Xie Chen’s arms and poked the shopping page with his paws.

Xie Chen placed the kitten on the yellow sheets, lowered his eyes, and carefully observed him.

After watching for a while, he didn’t find anything wrong.

Besides always sleeping, the little kitten showed no other abnormalities.

After an unknown amount of time passed,

Xie Bo knocked on the door and brought in freshly made cat food.

“Sir, feed Lili a bit. He eats a lot; if he sleeps without eating, he’ll definitely be hungry.”

Xie Chen gave a “hmm,” took the cat food, and placed it on the bedside table. “Lili, wake up.”

He bent down and reached out to gently pat the kitten’s head.

Baili raised his paw to cover his head, refusing to be touched.

“Meow.”

He whimpered, curling his chubby body into a ball, resisting Xie Chen’s big hand.

Xie Chen couldn’t let him sleep hungry, and after several hours without food, his stomach must be hungry.

“Be good now.”

Xie Chen patiently coaxed the unwilling-to-wake little kitten: “After you eat, I’ll play with you with the teaser wand, okay?”

“And there’s yogurt to drink.”

“There are dried little fish snacks to eat.”

“You can even sit on my shoulder, and we’ll go walk in the yard.”

One offer after another was made, breaking down the little kitten’s will to keep sleeping.“Meow-ow.”

Finally, Baili couldn’t resist the temptation, slowly opening his eyes, then slowly sitting up, and finally slowly stretching out his paws.

Hug.

Seeing this, Xie Chen reached out and picked up the kitten.

Author’s note: Human-turned Baili says: Hug. QAQ

The big shot coldly walks away.

Later—

Really good :)