Shen Zhixing was driving, traveling down the avenue late at night.

The air conditioning in the car was warm, the windows were closed tightly, and there was no noise. The cedarwood fragrance was light and calming.

At this time, there weren’t many cars on the street.

Half an hour later, Shen Zhixing drove back to the neighborhood.

After parking the car, he turned to look, and saw that the little cat curled up in the passenger seat had already fallen asleep.

The little fellow treated his coat as a nest, half of its body tucked inside, only its head exposed. It was sleeping soundly, even letting out a purring sound.

Shen Zhixing moved lightly, got out of the car, and picked up the kitten.

Yun Mian was startled by the movement and suddenly opened her eyes.

She looked around uneasily until her gaze met Shen Zhixing’s deep eyes, then she slowly relaxed.

“…”

She had just had a nightmare.

It was too terrifying. She never wanted to recall it again.

“Awake? We’re almost home.”

Shen Zhixing walked forward while holding her.

They were now in the garage. This was a high-end residential area with strict security, and non-residents could not enter. Shen Zhixing had a special status, and when he lived here, he almost never went through the front gate, always going straight in and out of the garage.

But the garage had dim lighting and was large and deep. Shen Zhixing was afraid the little fellow wouldn’t recognize the way, so he walked very slowly.

After entering the elevator, he even pressed the floor number twice on purpose and tapped the little cat’s head in his arms, “Remember this, our home is on the 32nd floor. Don’t go to the wrong place next time.”

Yun Mian: “…”

He really acted as if she could understand him.

After entering the house, Shen Zhixing set her down and turned around to change his shoes at the entrance.

After a whole day, Yun Mian was truly exhausted and worn out.

At this very moment, she just wanted to forget everything and fall into a deep sleep.

But she also knew how awful her current appearance was.

From childhood to adulthood, Yun Mian had never been in such an embarrassing state.

This time, she had really been hit hard.

Before, she had thought that by rejecting her parents’ arrangements and relying on her own ability, she could live a brilliant life.

But now, reality had told her—

She only knew how to mess everything up.

After changing his shoes, Shen Zhixing turned around and saw the little cat lying listlessly in the corner, a dirty little ball. It even lifted its mud-stained paw and looked at it again and again, letting out low whimpers. It looked both pitiful and funny.

A hint of amusement flashed in his eyes, and he walked over.

Yun Mian saw him approaching and turned her head to face the wall, not wanting to talk.

“Now you know you’re dirty?”

He bent down and leisurely tapped her little head.

“Meow~” Yun Mian cried out at him in shame and anger.

Seeing the little fellow annoyed, Shen Zhixing didn’t tease it further.

He picked it up and went to the bathroom.

There was a large bathtub in the bathroom. He filled it with warm water, preparing to give the little fellow a bath.

But as soon as Yun Mian saw his setup and guessed what he was going to do, she began to struggle wildly.

No!

So shameful!!

She didn’t want Shen Zhixing to bathe her ah ah ah!!!

“Xiaobai, be good, listen. You’re so dirty, you have to be properly cleaned.”

Ah ah ah ah!

Yun Mian was practically going crazy.

She was a real girl, not a cat.

Even if she had to bathe, couldn’t she do it herself? Please, just leave!

Shen Zhixing held her up and was about to lower her into the tub, but Yun Mian tightly hugged his wrist, flailing like crazy, refusing to get in the water no matter what.

No, no, help!

When cat fur got wet, it stuck to the body, becoming slick and bare. How was that different from being naked!

Seeing that Xiaobai was strongly resisting the bath, after a long standoff between man and cat, Shen Zhixing could only sigh helplessly.

Although he knew that newly arrived cats shouldn’t be bathed before they had fully adapted to the environment, the current situation was different. She had gotten herself this dirty. How could she not be washed?

Shen Zhixing didn’t want to forcefully press Xiaobai into the water either, which would make her even more resistant. He had no choice but to take a towel from the vanity, dampen it with water and body wash, and wipe her fur clean.

Yun Mian: “…”

She lay in the basin in shame, just hoping all of this would end quickly!

*

Across from Shen Zhixing’s residential complex.

A black SUV was parked far away outside the greenbelt.

Inside the car, two men sat. One of them held a telephoto camera, adjusting the focus toward the building across the street.

“Boss, after Shen Zhixing entered the community, we haven’t been able to get any shots.”

They had tailed Shen Zhixing all day. When they saw him driving out, they thought he was going to meet someone, so they immediately followed. If they could catch some juicy gossip about the popular movie king’s private love life, the traffic would explode.

The two of them excitedly followed in their car, thinking he was meeting a female star he had worked with, or going to a bar to find some young model, or perhaps staying overnight at a rich woman producer’s home—those were the kind of things they were hoping to capture.

But they ended up watching Shen Zhixing roam the streets all day. At first, they thought he had spotted them and was deliberately trying to shake them off.

It wasn’t until nightfall, when they saw Shen Zhixing pick up a cat in an old neighborhood and take it into his car, that they realized he had actually spent the entire day looking for a cat.

The two of them were speechless.

They had thought they would catch something explosive.

“Boss, what now? Should we still post today’s footage?”

The man called ‘Boss’ scratched his head in annoyance, “Post what! He just shared a photo of his cat yesterday. If we post this stuff now, aren’t we just helping him build his cat-loving image? Save it. Maybe it’ll come in handy later.”

Three days ago, the news about Shen Zhixing’s accident was shot abroad by these two.

Especially this ‘Boss’—he had been tailing that batch of new-generation stars since entering the business. In the end, most of the other young actors had faded away, while Shen Zhixing became the youngest double Golden Film Emperor with only two or three films.

It could be said that he had followed Shen Zhixing for five or six years, and had never gotten any truly ‘explosive’ material.

“I just don’t believe it. How could there be anyone clean in the entertainment circle? They’re just better at hiding it.”

The black SUV silently drove away under the cover of night.

*

Yun Mian had thought she would be extremely resistant to someone not close to her crossing such a ‘boundary’ with her.

But the truth is…

After Shen Zhixing wiped the mud off her body, he wrapped her in a soft fluffy towel, then set the hair dryer to a gentle warm setting. While gently stroking her, he blew her fur dry. The fluffy fur on her body was blown warm and comfortable, the buzzing sound of the hair dryer filled her ears, and there was a pleasant incense in the bathroom.

It didn’t take long before Yun Mian’s eyelids grew heavy.

By the time Shen Zhixing finished drying her fur, she was already completely asleep.

Shen Zhixing looked down and saw the now clean and pretty little cat lying obediently and quietly in the crook of his arm. Her small belly rose and fell with her breathing, and a soft purring sound came from her throat. The tips of her ears would occasionally twitch.

Shen Zhixing gazed at her gently for a while, then carried the little thing back to the cat house.

When he was about to place her into the cat bed, he suddenly remembered that in the morning he had noticed there were no signs that the cat bed had been used, while the bedding in the other guest bedroom was messy.

The little white one probably didn’t like the cat bed, which was why she had gone to the guest bedroom next door.

Thinking it over, Shen Zhixing simply carried her to the guest bedroom. But when he opened the door to the guest room, he changed his mind again.

Since she was already sleeping on a bed, what difference did it make whether it was the guest bedroom or the master bedroom?

Besides, with a room between them, he still wouldn’t feel at ease. He was afraid she’d disappear again in the morning.

He only had these few days off. He had to let her get used to the home environment as soon as possible. In two weeks, he would be going back to work and needed to feel at ease leaving her at home alone.

Shen Zhixing directly brought the cat back to his room and placed her on one side of the bed.

After showering, he came out of the bathroom, changed into pajamas, and lay down on the bed. Seeing the little cat sleeping soundly, he lay down next to her and slowly fell asleep.

…

Yun Mian had another dream.

In the dream, she was dragged into the sea by a falling airplane. She swam and swam in the cold seawater, unable to find the end.

She felt helpless, afraid, and very cold.

Just then,

In the dream, she suddenly saw a beam of light shining from afar, and she also felt a warm presence beside her.

Instinctively, she swam in that direction and leaned her whole body over to absorb the warmth.

The first rays of morning sunlight filtered through the white gauze curtains.

Yun Mian opened her eyes, fully rested.

Ah, indeed, sleep can repair emotions.

After a good sleep, she felt refreshed and her mood had calmed a lot.

Suddenly, a man’s jawline appeared in her field of vision.

Following the jaw down, there was a pale throat, the collar of the loose sleepwear half open, exposing one shoulder…

Yun Mian’s gaze froze.

Damn it, why was she on Shen Zhixing’s bed?!

Last night, Shen Zhixing had bathed and dried her fur. She had been muddled and didn’t remember how she fell asleep.

Yun Mian stared at Shen Zhixing’s overly handsome face, recalling what happened last night, lost in thought.

Shen Zhixing…

What exactly had he gone through over the years? He had really changed a lot.

Not in looks—actually, Yun Mian had always known he was quite good-looking. It was just that back then, he had neither the means nor the time to care about such things. All his energy had been focused on studying. He was diligent and intense.

At that time, Yun Mian had felt that he would definitely become an excellent architect in the future.

But seven years later today, he had entered the entertainment industry and become an actor.

Not that there’s anything wrong with being an actor. After all, Yun Mian herself had once had an actress dream in her youth. Because of her idol, Mo Lin, she also wanted to be someone with that kind of influence.

But was Shen Zhixing’s dream to become an actor and a star?

Yun Mian recalled the few conversations they had back then… um, she couldn’t remember. It seemed he had never mentioned it. Usually, it was her chattering away, while he quietly listened beside her.

Just as her thoughts were wandering, Shen Zhixing woke up.

Those long straight eyelashes slowly lifted, and Yun Mian fell into a pair of deep, serene eyes.

Right after, those black eyes showed a faint smile. A long slender hand reached over and rubbed her head. His just-woken, slightly hoarse and deep magnetic voice sounded beside her ear: “Xiaobai, good morning.”

“…”

Yun Mian involuntarily blushed.

If Shen Zhixing could recognize her face.

Shen Zhixing still wanted to reach out and rub her head again, but Yun Mian quickly leapt off the bed with a swoosh, walked to the door, stuck out her tongue at him, and ran out of the room.

Shen Zhixing saw that the little one had finally returned to her previous mischievous and proud self, and his expression relaxed as he lifted the blanket and got out of bed.

…

Originally, yesterday they had planned to go buy new cat supplies, but it had been delayed.

After getting up and tidying up, Shen Zhixing sent a message to his assistant Zuo Yao, asking him to bring some light breakfast when he came over later.

Around nine o’clock, Zuo Yao arrived.

“Boss.” Zuo Yao, holding breakfast in one hand and a phone in the other, hurriedly changed his shoes and entered, “Brother Guang said your cat went missing yesterday. Did you find it?”

Yun Mian, who was stretching in the living room, turned her head and gave a “meow” to the assistant upon hearing this.

Shen Zhixing came out from the corridor and looked at him, “Found it. What about it?”

Zuo Yao saw the little white cat safe and sound, sighed in relief, and took out his phone to show Shen Zhixing, “Didn’t I snap a photo the night before last when I was leaving? I posted it on your personal Weibo. And it went viral! Now tens of thousands of fans are begging for updates, saying they want to be the internet mommies of the kitty. I need to take more pictures quickly and save them for future posts, hehe.”

Shen Zhixing frowned slightly.

“Photo?”

What photo? How come he didn’t know?