Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Chapter 57 – First Published on Jinjiang Literature City

“Li Li?”

Bai Liu slowed down the car and turned his head to glance at his little brother, who was sleeping in the passenger seat.

Bai Li was snoring softly. The even sound of his breathing sounded rather soothing in the night.

Halfway through the drive, Bai Liu got out of the car to buy some food for his little brother by the roadside, intending it to be a late-night snack.

Soon, they arrived at Tan Yi’s villa.

Bai Liu didn’t even glance at Xie Chen, who had followed behind in his own car. Carrying his little brother, he strode directly into the villa.

At the door, he gave Xie Chen a polite smile.

“President Xie, it’s quite late. I won’t be keeping you.”

With that, Bai Liu firmly and politely closed the door in Xie Chen’s face.

He had just come back from the lab—of course he wanted his little brother with him for the night.

Xie Chen stared at the closed door. His expression didn’t show anger, but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either.

The little kitten was sleeping sweetly in Bai Liu’s arms, completely ignoring the gentleman left outside.

The night deepened.

Bai Liu, now in pajamas after his shower, was video calling with Tan Yi.

“Little Six, when are you coming to visit Third Brother on set?” Tan Yi’s eyes were glued to Bai Liu’s side. “Bring Li Li too—Third Brother misses you both.”

Tan Yi’s gaze stayed locked on Bai Li for ages, completely unwilling to look away.

Bai Liu sneered, “That’s rare. You actually remember to miss me, huh.”

Tan Yi shamelessly lied with a straight face, “Third Brother doesn’t play favorites. I miss both you and Li Li.”

Bai Liu didn’t expose him, just sat down and chatted casually.

“Third Brother, have you found the thing yet?”

Tan Yi’s expression immediately turned tense. He pressed his lips together and after a moment, shook his head. “No. I’ve been paying attention everywhere, but there’s still no clue at all.”

Bai Liu frowned.

The elders said a treasure had been lost on Demon Beast Mountain. Without it, the mountain’s spiritual energy weakened, and it had become increasingly difficult for the young demons to take human form.

Li Li was born physically weak, and now, with the lack of spiritual energy on the mountain, he still hadn’t been able to transform.Bai Liu rubbed his forehead. “Third Brother, let’s keep being vigilant. Li Li... can’t afford to wait any longer.”

“I know.”

After hanging up, Bai Liu transformed into a gray-white kitten, circled his little brother into his embrace, and even lowered his head to groom his fur.

Bai Li, disturbed by the grooming, kept his eyes closed and tried to crawl away. But before he could go far, Bai Liu swatted him back with a paw and resumed licking.

Bai Li: “……”

Half-asleep, Bai Li weakly kicked his paws. “Meow meow.”

He wanted to sleep.

Cats have many ways of expressing affection, and grooming is definitely at the top of the list!

Tan Yi had previously tried grooming Bai Li, but due to the younger brother’s resistance, he hadn’t succeeded much.

Bai Liu was different. He pinned down his brother and gave him a thorough grooming, cleaning him spotless, and even checked his body in the process.

“Meow.”

No illness.

Only after confirming his brother was healthy did Bai Liu let him go.

That night, Xie Chen barely slept. He looked at the various medicines in the drawer of his bedside table, reaching out his hand—only to pull it back again.

All medicine carries some degree of toxicity.

These medicines didn’t actually help his condition much.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Then he pulled up all the videos related to the little kitten on his phone and started watching them one by one.

He had always felt like he was letting Li Li rely on him too much.

But now…

As long as Li Li wasn’t there, he couldn’t sleep at all.

In the end, who was really relying on whom?

The next day.

Xie Bo looked at Xie Chen’s complexion. Having accompanied him for many years, he knew Xie Chen better than anyone.

“Sir, you didn’t sleep well.”

“Handling some things,” Xie Chen replied calmly.

After breakfast, Xie Bo watched Xie Chen’s departing figure and sighed.

“Sigh, without Li Li around, even Sir’s appetite isn’t what it used to be.”

When Xie Chen knocked on the door of Tan Yi’s villa, it was exactly 7 a.m.But the one who opened the door wasn’t Bai Liu.

A pair of British Shorthair twin kittens opened the door, tilting their heads up to look at him.

“Meow meow.”

Big Brother isn’t home.

The twin kittens tried to inform Xie Chen, but he could only understand Bai Li’s meows, and not a word of what these two were saying.

He couldn’t understand, but he could at least make sense of their gestures.

Frowning, he called Bai Li.

The ringtone rang several times before the call was finally picked up.

“Li Li.”

Xie Chen asked, “Where are you?”

Bai Li, who had just woken up, rubbed his eyes with a paw and meowed, “I don’t know.”

Xie Chen: “?”

Xie Chen’s frown deepened. “Where’s Bai Liu? Is he with you?”

“He is.”

Bai Li answered obediently, “Sixth Brother said we’re going to teach a scumbag a lesson.”

“Li Li, sit properly.”

Bai Liu, hearing his little brother meowing, raised his voice and put the call on speaker.

“Mr. Xie, I’m taking my little brother out to have fun today. If there’s nothing urgent, I’ll hang up first.”

“Bai Liu, how long do you plan to keep Li Li out playing?” Xie Chen asked coldly before the call was cut off.

Without hesitation, Bai Liu replied, “I don’t know. We’ll come back when we’re done playing.”

Back on the mountain, he had carried his little brother around to every corner.

Now that they were down the mountain, of course he had to take his brother out to explore more.

In the car.

Bai Li glanced at the phone, his kitten face a little downcast. “Sixth Brother, I miss Mister.”

He hadn’t spent the night with Mister yesterday, and this morning Sixth Brother had whisked him away again.

Bai Li lowered his head, counting his paw pads, trying to calculate how many hours it had been since he last saw Mister.Bai Liu freed a hand and gently stroked his little brother.

“Be good, don’t miss him.”

Bai Li shook his head in frustration and meowed, “I can’t control it.”

Lately, he seemed even more clingy to Mister than before.

Seeing this, a dark glint flashed in Bai Liu’s eyes.

The reason he took his little brother out today was partly for a subtle purpose.

He didn’t want his brother to be too clingy to Xie Chen. He didn’t know Xie Chen’s reputation outside, but Bai Liu had clearly investigated.

That kind of person was too dangerous.

Bai Li flopped onto the seat, silently thinking about Mister.

“Sixth Brother.”

After a moment, Bai Li suddenly lifted his head: “I want to sit in the back.”

“Alright.”

Bai Liu let him change seats and move to the back row.

The back row had more space, so Li Li could roll around freely.

Bai Li, now sitting in the back, twisted around and plopped his chubby little butt toward Sixth Brother.

He touched his phone and switched to the WeChat page.

[Sir!]

The little kitten’s chat window popped up, and someone who had just arrived at the company, feeling low-key, suddenly raised an eyebrow.

He pressed the elevator button and after a minute replied.

[I’m here.]

Maybe thinking text messages were too stiff, Xie Chen sent an emoji package.

[Patting the kitten’s head jpg /]

The emoji kitten was exactly Bai Li himself.

Bai Li was stunned seeing his own emoji.

[Sir! It’s me!]

Bai Li tapped on the keyboard, typing to Xie Chen and using several exclamation marks.

Finding his reaction amusing, Xie Chen sent a few more emoji packages.

[Cat angry jpg /][Cat sleeping jpg /]

[Cat eating jpg /]

A series of emojis, all starring a tiny snow-white little kitten.

Bai Li stared, stunned.

[All made by me, Li Li, what do you think?]

Looking at the new message from Xie Chen, Bai Li tapped his left paw on his right paw, feeling happy but a little shy.

He didn’t even know that Mister had secretly taken so many photos of him.

One person and one cat chatted on WeChat. After a while, Bai Li even learned to use Moments.

His WeChat contact list was pitifully short, only Xie Bo, Third Brother, Sixth Brother, and the Mister he liked very much.

Not many people, but the Moments content was quite rich.

Third Brother and Xie Bo both loved posting on Moments.

Bai Li also saw lots of cat content on Xie Bo’s Moments. One post was a cat video, with the caption—

[A little kitten has many worries, but he doesn’t post on Moments.]

Seeing this video, Bai Li’s cat face turned serious and he posted his first Moment.

[A little kitten has many worries, but a little kitten can post on Moments.]

Mister bought him a phone. From now on, he was a little kitten who could post on Moments!

Right after Bai Li posted, Xie Chen liked it.

Bai Liu, driving ahead, watched his brother quietly for a long time and couldn’t help but ask, “Li Li, what are you doing?”

Bai Li was engrossed in chatting with Xie Chen.

Xie Chen was a pro at coaxing cats.

Without even raising his head, Bai Liu heard him reply to Sixth Brother, “Meow.”

Sending messages to Mister.

Bai Liu squinted.

This Xie Chen, why was he so difficult?

After driving a bit more, the car arrived at the entrance of an apartment.

“Stop chatting.”Bai Liu picked up his brother and started to leave. “Sixth Brother will take you to play somewhere else.”

The owner of the apartment was the long-haired man from the yacht. Knowing Bai Liu was coming, he had been waiting early.

The door opened.

The man welcomed them in, and upon seeing the little kitten, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

“How did this kitten end up in your hands?”

“Mine.”

Bai Liu said this, then put his brother down to let him get familiar with the place.

“Xiao Liu, there’s food on the table.”

The man actually had some doubts about Bai Liu. He didn’t remember knowing this boy before, yet suddenly this boy had some connection to him.

Moreover, he knew everything about him and Bai Lin’s matter.

Not only that, the boy was very warm-hearted and wanted to help him get rid of a jerk.

Thinking about this, the man helplessly repeated, “Xiao Liu, that person is not a jerk.” Since Xiao Liu didn’t know the other person’s name, it seemed he hadn’t revealed much information.

Otherwise, he really suspected Xiao Liu might have other plans.

They talked while Bai Li was exploring the new place.

There was a lot of alcohol in the apartment, all kinds, and it looked very expensive.

Bai Li ran around the apartment, then finally stopped at Sixth Brother’s feet.

“Meow meow.”

Sixth Brother, pick me up.

Tired from running, Bai Li spread his paws, letting Sixth Brother pick him up onto his lap.

Sitting on Sixth Brother’s lap, Bai Li started to seriously listen to Sixth Brother talking with the man.

“He invited me to meet… at the hotel.”

The man hesitated when he said this, seeming unsure whether to go or not.

Hearing this, Bai Liu expressionlessly emphasized—

“Really a jerk.”

“Li Li.” Bai Liu lowered his head and gave his brother a lesson on the spot: “Remember, people who ask to meet at a hotel usually don’t have good intentions.”

If it’s something to talk about, there are plenty of open, respectable places like cafés, restaurants, hotels—why insist on a hotel?

Bai Li nodded vaguely, firmly remembering this point Sixth Brother said.

And because of remembering this, later when someone tried to hand Xie Chen a hotel room card, the kitten in Xie Chen’s arms was so angry he puffed up on the spot.“Meow meow.”

At this moment, Bai Li obediently held Sixth Brother’s hand: “I understand.”

“Are you going to the hotel?” Bai Liu looked up and asked the man.

The man said nothing.

Bai Liu raised an eyebrow, holding his brother: “You stay at home, I’ll go over.”

The man: “...”

That’s not very appropriate.

Bai Liu usually didn’t meddle or like gossip, but hearing the man’s unrequited love story and the apology after sleeping with the other party—

Those things just made him angry.

“Yu Yin.”

Bai Liu freed one hand and patted the man’s shoulder: “I recently learned about the current popular trends.”

“There’s a popular ‘chasing-wife cremation’ mode. But you? You can’t catch her, just get cremated.”

This time, Bai Li was stunned.

“Meow meow.”

Sixth Brother, should we cremate him?

“That’s right. If anyone dares to treat you like that in the future, Sixth Brother will cremate them on the spot.”

Hearing this, Bai Li quickly added: “Xiansheng wouldn’t do that, Xiansheng is very good.”

Bai Liu’s expression darkened; he didn’t want to hear any talk about “Xiansheng this, Xiansheng that.”

They left Yu Yin at home, and the two brothers got in the car and headed to the hotel.

On the way, Bai Li fell asleep again. After waking up, he poked his phone and drowsily called Xie Chen.

“Meow.”

Wanting to see Xiansheng.

At the office, Xie Chen, hearing the somewhat dazed meow, immediately checked the location.

It was a hotel.

“Anna, postpone the upcoming meetings, I need to pick up Li Li.”

“Okay.”

Anna received the instruction and quickly rearranged the schedule.At the company entrance, just as Xie Chen’s car drove away, one or two old black cars followed behind.

Inside the car, a woman gripped the steering wheel, her eyes red from staying up all night, full of hatred.

“Li Li, come here.”

Bai Liu parked the car, opened the door, and carried his younger brother down: “Were you on the phone?”

“Finished.”

Bai Li shook his head, his consciousness clearing from the earlier drowsiness.

“Sixth Brother.”

After meowing, Bai Li touched his throat and reported to Bai Liu: “My throat feels uncomfortable.”

It seemed even meowing after a nap was difficult.

Bai Liu made him open his mouth and said “ah,” but couldn’t see anything wrong.

“Did you not drink enough water?”

Bai Liu held him and walked while saying, “I’ll get you some warm water.”

There was a water dispenser at the hotel front desk; Bai Liu got a cup and handed it to his brother to drink.

At the same time, he kept walking straight upstairs.

Since they had a room number, Bai Liu hadn’t openly said he was looking for someone; instead, he booked a room on the same floor as that scumbag.

One person and one cat went upstairs, and Xie Chen followed right behind.

Inside the hotel room.

The man with a still not fully healed wound on his back was wrapping the bandage tightly in front of the mirror.

He was tall, nearly 1.9 meters, with sharp brows and bright eyes, strong facial features. His skin was a healthy wheat color, muscles bulging but not exaggerated when clothed.

After finishing tending the wound, he glanced at the time.

It was ten o’clock.

Yu Yin still hadn’t arrived.

Just as he was thinking this, the door was knocked, but only once, followed immediately by strange noisy sounds.

There were panicked meowing sounds and a woman’s piercing screams…

He frowned and walked toward the door.

In the hallway outside.

Bai Liu, originally holding Li Li, knocked once on the door; behind them, Xie Chen walked over.

Bai Li saw Xie Chen, patted Sixth Brother’s arm, and happily meowed.“It’s Mr. Xie!”

Xie Chen and Bai Liu exchanged a glance for a second, Xie Chen calmly said, “What a coincidence, I just booked a room here.”

Bai Liu didn’t believe him at all.

But the younger brother in his arms was panicking, opening his paws wanting Xie Chen to hold him.

Xie Chen reached out, about to take the little kitten.

Suddenly—

Bai Liu’s gaze fell behind him, and after seeing what the rushing woman held in her hand, he shouted sharply, “Watch out!!!”

Xie Chen reflexively dodged to the side, and just then realized the woman was about to pour the thing in her hand onto Bai Li.

He couldn’t stop it in time, so he stretched out his hand to block it.

The smell was pungent and sharp; Bai Li must not come into contact with it.

Bai Li watched wide-eyed as the unknown liquid stained Xie Chen’s arm, and the liquid was corrosive.

He was terrified.

“Meow!”

Mr. Xie!

The little kitten, having reacted, instantly teared up and fiercely scratched the crazy woman.