Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Chapter 65 Jin｜Jiang｜Literature｜City Leader

The topic of the childhood betrothal was unilaterally ended by Xie Chen before they arrived at the company.

To distract Bai Li, after getting out of the car, Xie Chen even started telling him some precautions at the program set.

“Remember to protect yourself well.”

Xie Chen led him toward the scene and gently asked, “If someone wants to bully you, Li Li, what should you do?”

“Fight them.”

Bai Li answered without hesitation.

When he was a cat, if he was bullied, he would scratch back. Other monsters did the same.

Xie Chen paused, reminding him, “Fighting is not allowed in the program.”

Bai Li frowned and began thinking of new ways.

After a while,

Xie Chen personally gave the answer: “If someone bullies you, or if you feel something’s wrong, come to me immediately and call me, okay?”

Bai Li nodded.

“Okay! I understand.”

He always obediently nodded and took Xie Chen’s words to heart.

At the program set, Tan Yi also came.

He and Bai Liu didn’t find anyone at Xie Chen’s place in the morning, so they came to the program set to wait for someone.

Bai Li saw Third Brother and Sixth Brother with messy white curly hair beside him, his eyes brightened, and he broke free from Xie Chen’s big hand, running over quickly.

“Third—”

Before he could finish calling out “Third Brother,” Tan Yi interrupted him.

“Wait a moment.”

This was still a public place, with many people watching. Tan Yi didn’t want others eavesdropping.

He stepped past Bai Li and walked over to Xie Chen to say something.

Bai Liu was an outsider, so naturally he didn’t have the same concerns as Tan Yi.

“Li Li, is that really you?”Bai Liu stared intently at the boy in front of him, his fists clenched tightly from overwhelming emotions.

Bai Li blinked and called out crisply, “Sixth Brother!”

Hearing the familiar Sixth Brother made Bai Liu’s eyes warm. He grabbed Bai Li and turned, going into an empty lounge.

Some people were curious about their relationship, but since none of them knew Bai Liu, they couldn’t guess anything.

Inside the lounge,

Bai Liu hugged his transformed precious younger brother tightly, his voice choking with emotion.

“Luckily, luckily you’ve transformed.”

He had finally transformed before the dangerous timeline of turning eighteen.

Bai Li let Sixth Brother hold him, raising a hand to comfortingly pat Sixth Brother’s back.

“Sixth Brother, from now on, I’ll be just like you all.”

Just like them, he could transform and didn’t have to stay a cat forever.

Bai Liu held his brother tightly for a long time before barely calming down.

The two talked in the lounge, and before long, Tan Yi and Xie Chen also came in.

“Li Li, let Third Brother see!”

The brothers were happily excited, while Xie Chen watched from the side.

After everyone finished their excitement, Tan Yi got down to business with Bai Li.

“Li Li, I just talked with Xie Chen and we made a decision.”

“What?” Bai Li asked confusedly.

“We’re going to step down from the judges’ seats. Of course, we’ll still participate in the program.”

If they completely quit, it would be hard to explain to Xingguang, and the audience would feel deceived.

Bai Li was a contestant, so both he and Xie Chen had to avoid conflicts of interest.

Otherwise, the online public opinion wouldn’t let Bai Li be, no matter how he performed, he would be maliciously speculated about.

Rather than that, it was better to let Bai Li stay cleanly in the program team.

Bai Li rarely used the internet; the high-tech phone Xie Chen gave him was mostly used just to chat with Sir and his brothers via WeChat and calls.

So naturally, he wasn’t as aware of the online situation as Xie Chen and Tan Yi.

“Good boy.”

Tan Yi ruffled Bai Li’s hair: “We probably won’t keep filming today. You go back first, I need to talk with the others here.”

Tan Yi’s decision to stop being a judge was sudden, so there was still more to discuss.Xie Chen didn’t need such a complicated approach; he just needed to say something to Xie Mao on WeChat.

After all, as a special guest judge, he was basically a figurehead and didn’t have much power to decide the contestants’ fate.

After spending half a day at the program team, sure enough, the director announced a halt to filming.

When Bai Li was about to leave, he was called back by a fellow contestant.

Right now, Xie Chen and Bai Liu were waiting outside and weren’t here.

Bai Li hadn’t made any friends, so he was always alone.

The one who called him was Diao Ling, who stared at him directly and asked bluntly,

“What’s your relationship with Xie Chen?”

This question had been answered on trending searches, but Diao Ling still thought it was impossible.

Everyone knew Xie Chen was cold-hearted and indifferent—how could he really have feelings for a little boy?

If not, then he was just looking for a plaything. If it was a plaything-master relationship, her question would definitely humiliate the other party.

Bai Li looked at Diao Ling and could sense her ill intentions.

Since that was the case, he didn’t see any reason to respond.

“I don’t want to tell you.”

Bai Li said bluntly, “We’re not even close.”

So why did she have the right to come over and ask about his Sir?

Bai Li left those words behind and turned to leave.

The cool girl who originally liked Bai Li laughed heartily, amused.

“So cute.”

The cool girl watched Bai Li’s back and smiled, “I thought he didn’t have a temper.”

Unexpectedly, when he did get angry, it was so entertaining.

Embarrassed, Diao Ling bit her teeth angrily and turned to call Lin Chao on her phone.

Lin Chao was a generous sponsor who usually granted many of her requests.

This time, she wanted Lin Chao to help her get back at him.

Outside,

Bai Liu and Xie Chen stood together, with Bai Liu asking about the details of Li Li’s transformation.

Xie Chen avoided some details but told him everything he knew.“Now that Li Li has a human form, you two can’t sleep together anymore.”

Bai Liu glanced warily at Xie Chen beside him and issued a warning: “Li Li is still young. It wouldn’t be good if he’s too close to you. Mr. Xie, what do you think?”

Xie Chen naturally knew to keep his distance from Bai Li.

He said in a calm voice, “Don’t worry, I’m not that kind of beast.”

He could sleep holding the little kitten but wouldn’t really hold Li Li’s human form to sleep.

The two roughly reached an agreement, and just then, Bai Li came out.

“Six Ge, Sir.”

Bai Li approached to look at them: “We can go back now.”

Bai Liu had stayed up half the night and hadn’t slept well, so he didn’t last long and went back to the villa room, turning into a cat and sleeping soundly.

And there was still plenty of time.

Bai Li accompanied Xie Chen to the company.

Inside the company, once Xie Chen appeared, passing employees couldn’t help but look at him.

Bai Li clenched Xie Chen’s fingers, feeling a bit uncomfortable under all those gazes.

“Sir, so many people are looking at us,” Bai Li said softly.

Xie Chen’s expression remained calm as he comforted him: “They’re looking because you’re good-looking. Don’t be afraid.”

Bai Li wasn’t quite sure if he was good-looking. Having seen many beautiful faces like Sir and his brothers, and viewing himself through the filter of them, Bai Li felt like the worst-looking one.

A few minutes later,

Bai Li was led by Xie Chen into the office. Anna, who had been waiting eagerly, finally saw the boss’s rumored partner and smiled.

“Boss.”

Anna handed a cup of coffee to Xie Chen and asked, “What’s the name of the one you brought? I’ll prepare some drinks and snacks for him.”

“Bai Li.”

Bai Li, who often came to the office to accompany Xie Chen, was not unfamiliar to Anna at all.

He answered proactively, “You can also call me Li Li.”

“Li Li?”

Anna was momentarily stunned. “Boss, your little kitten…”

Isn’t it also called Li Li?

Facing Anna’s confused expression, Xie Chen calmly explained, “That little kitten is raised by him, so it’s called Li Li.”

Anna was speechless.Damn.

So that little kitten, wildly popular throughout the company and doted on by the boss, actually belongs to this young boy.

And the boy’s name is Bai Li, so the kitten is called Li Li.

The reason the boss usually hugs and kisses the kitten so much was because of this.

After imagining this, Anna’s gaze toward Bai Li grew firmer.

She understood.

This Li Li was the real owner, the true official partner of their Sir.

“Boss, Li Li,”

Anna said, “I’ll go prepare some things now.”

“Go ahead,” Xie Chen instructed.

Only the two of them were left in the office. In the past, Bai Li would always lie on Xie Chen’s lap to sleep, but now that he had taken human form, he no longer wanted to sleep all the time.

“Sir.”

Bai Li stood in front of him, looking at him eagerly, asking, “What should I do?”

If he wasn’t sleeping, he didn’t know what else to do.

“Watch some TV or play games.”

Worried he’d get bored, Xie Chen got up and took him to the sofa, setting up a projector so he could play games.

The game’s sound wasn’t muted either.

Listening to the sounds of him playing, Xie Chen didn’t feel disturbed; instead, he felt comforted by having a child nearby.

Time passed bit by bit.

That night.

Having stayed on the trending searches long enough, Xie Chen posted a Weibo post amid widespread anticipation.

【Xie Chen V: Regarding yesterday’s clarification livestream, I apologize for the mistake. There really is someone living at my place, but currently not in a relationship. He’s still young, so I hope everyone won’t disturb him too much.】

After posting this, Xie Chen even picked some hot comments to reply to.

For example, some boldly speculated whether the boy was an illegitimate child who secretly moved into Xie Chen’s home, and that’s why Xie Chen hadn’t known before.

Xie Chen replied seriously: “Not illegitimate, he’s my kid.”

Others asked how young the boy actually was.

For this comment, Xie Chen personally asked Bai Li.“Li Li, when is your birthday?”

“Twelfth lunar month, twenty-second day.”

Bai Li was standing in front of the bedroom wardrobe looking at new clothes and didn’t even turn his head when answering.

Twelfth lunar month, twenty-second day.

Xie Chen checked the calendar; there was still a month left before Bai Li’s birthday.

“Sir.”

Just as Xie Chen was thinking about how to celebrate Bai Li’s birthday, Bai Li spoke first.

“No pajamas.”

He reached out and rummaged through the wardrobe, starting to pick out Xie Chen’s clothes.

Sensing something was wrong, Xie Chen walked over quickly.

“What do you want pajamas for?”

When he bought clothes today, he bought many full sets, including innerwear, but indeed forgot pajamas.

But he thought since Bai Li turned back into a cat when sleeping, pajamas weren’t needed.

Looking at the situation now, it seemed off.

Sure enough.

Bai Li didn’t disappoint his guess.

“I don’t want to turn into a cat to sleep today.”

The cat was too small, so he could only snuggle close to Sir a little.

If he slept in human form, he could hug Sir big and tight!

“No.”

Xie Chen held down his hand, his Adam’s apple moving as he stopped him with his voice, “Li Li, if you want to sleep in human form, then we can’t sleep on the same bed.”

“You sleep here, I’ll go to the guest room.”

The master bedroom bed was big, and Bai Li was used to sleeping there. Xie Chen had long planned that if Bai Li kept human form to sleep, he would give the room to Bai Li.

Bai Li tilted his head in confusion, asking, “Why can’t we sleep together if I turn human?”

“Because… because only partners sleep like that.”

After saying this, Xie Chen expected Bai Li to follow up with questions or be unhappy.

But unexpectedly, Bai Li just softly said, “Oh,” then plop turned back into a little kitten.

“Sir.”The little kitten sat steadily on the top of his foot, its chubby little butt pressing down, tilting its head up and meowing at him: "Now we can sleep together!"

Bai Li was carefree, and he had already realized it during the day.

Sir still didn’t recognize their childhood engagement.

So, before turning Sir into his fiancé, he still needed to work hard—not just be a rogue little kitten forcibly taking from Sir. The kitten on his foot had a pair of moist amber eyes, soft and innocent.

Xie Chen’s heart softened as he bent down and picked up the little kitten.

Bai Li, transformed into a cat, still earned the right to keep sleeping with Sir.

For several days in a row, he recorded variety shows during the day, and after wrapping up at night, he was the first to rush out.

Luckily, the seafood shop owner was busy accompanying his wife and daughter, so Bai Li could temporarily skip working.

As for the grocery store, he arranged to visit again with Meimei.

When seeing Meimei, Bai Li still took the form of a cat.

“Big Brother.”

Meimei looked at the grocery store’s front door worriedly: “This owner really hasn’t come back for a long time.”

Bai Li nodded in strong agreement.

The two cats cleaned the floor at the door and sat down together to watch the entrance.

While watching, a strange howl entered their ears.

“Awooo—”

The sound was odd, somewhat like a dog but not quite barking.

Bai Li and Meimei exchanged a glance and got up from the ground.

“Big Brother, should we go check it out?”

Bai Li hesitated briefly: “Let’s go take a look.”

To see if it’s some big dog brother, maybe really in trouble.

Author’s note: Li Li: Work hard to chase husband!