Heard a Woman’s Voice… 

Ever since Bai Shan Hall was shut down by the authorities, only two medicine halls remained in Dongfeng Town: Chen Miansheng’s Tong Yao Hall and Yao Gui Hall in the southern part of town. 

Yao Gui Hall was run by a lame man, and compared to the complete range and high quality of herbs in Tong Yao Hall, it simply couldn’t measure up. 

As the bitter cold swept in, most of the townsfolk in Dongfeng came down with colds. Yao Gui Hall couldn’t replenish the relevant herbs in time, so more and more patients came to Tong Yao Hall to get their medicine. 

Fei Yan looked at the steady stream of patients in the hall and felt a complicated mix of emotions. 

She had seen the days when Tong Yao Hall was all but deserted, so now that the business was picking up day by day, she was naturally happy for Chen Miansheng. 

But with too few people to help, even though picking herbs wasn’t physically demanding for the average person, it was a different story for someone as frail as Chen Miansheng. 

Once things got busy, he’d start coughing after barely fifteen minutes. Even when Gu Wu tried to persuade him to rest, he wouldn’t listen. 

Fei Yan had worked so hard to help nurse him back to health, so seeing this made her heart ache. But Chen Miansheng seemed to enjoy it, so she couldn’t force him to stop and could only let him be. 

One day— 

Fei Yan was curled up on a wooden chair taking a nap. As she shifted sleepily, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure from the corner of her eye. Her senses instantly sharpened, and she jumped up with a start. 

The person was the same woman who had bad-mouthed Chen Miansheng at the market before. She was holding Yinyin’s hand, hesitating at the entrance of the hall for a long time before awkwardly stepping inside. Just as she was about to avoid Chen Miansheng and go to Ah Chu for medicine, a flash of orange darted up to her. 

Startled, the woman took a second to steady herself before realizing it was that same orange cat Chen Miansheng often carried around. 

She still vividly remembered being intimidated by that cat before, and now that she was seeing it again, her reaction was mostly one of irritation. She waved her hand in front of the little orange cat, shooing it away: “Stupid cat, go away. Don’t get in the way of me getting medicine for my Yinyin.” 

That was the last straw for Fei Yan. Every strand of her orange fur bristled up, and she bared her teeth at the woman with a low growl, completely unafraid. 

Pah! Wasn’t this the same woman who had been gossiping about Chen Miansheng behind his back, saying there was no way she’d ever come to him for medicine? And now here she was—what a nerve. 

And to call her a stupid cat on top of that? Fei Mao Mao was absolutely not going to let that slide. 

Off to the side, Chen Miansheng glanced over, his calm gaze falling on the little orange cat, and he let out a helpless smile. 

He had only looked away for a short while, and already his little cat was acting up again. 

He set down the scale in his hand, apologized to the patient in front of him, and turned to walk toward the orange cat. With practiced ease, he reached out and gently grabbed the scruff of her neck. 

Just moments ago, the little cat had been fierce and fiery, but now her arrogance deflated in an instant. Her tail flopped against the counter as she let out two soft, disgruntled meows. 

“Xiao Wu, help this customer get her medicine,” Chen Miansheng said while lifting the orange cat into his arms. 

Gu Wu had just finished with another patient and had already noticed the commotion. Hearing this, he immediately came over and took the prescription from the woman’s hands. 

It wasn’t until she’d been carried quite a distance by the scruff of her neck that Fei Yan finally came to her senses. 

She turned her head and saw Gu Wu helping that woman select herbs—and immediately flew into a rage. 

Chen Miansheng, you traitor! She was just standing up for him, and what did he do? Showed up without a word and drag her away like that. 

Fine, she could take that—but to let that awful woman get away with it? She was furious. 

But Chen Miansheng seemed completely oblivious to the little orange cat’s resentment. He calmly placed her on a wooden chair cushioned with soft padding, crouched down to meet her eyes, and asked in a gentle voice: 

“Little Orange, why did you just act so fierce toward that customer?” 

Fei Yan was still fuming. She ignored him entirely, turning her cat head away and drooping her furry ears. 

A clear sign she was sulking. 

Chen Miansheng was momentarily surprised, but not annoyed. He chuckled quietly and reached out to scratch under her chin with cool fingertips. “Come on, be a good cat and talk to me.” 

Fei Yan had originally wanted to keep sulking a bit longer, but his scratches felt so good. Her tail twitched, a soft purr rumbled in her throat, and she slowly turned her head back around. 

Hmph. She was only responding because Chen Miansheng lowered himself to coax her. That was the only reason. 

Definitely not because the chin scratches felt nice. Nope. Not at all. 

Seeing the little cat finally look at him, Chen Miansheng raised his brows slightly, eyes curving as he tried again: “Hmm?” 

Fei Yan stared at him, clearly still venting, her fluffy tail lifted high and swaying forcefully behind her. 

Chen Miansheng was both amused and helpless. Still smiling patiently, he said, “I’m a bit slow—why don’t you give me a little hint, Little Orange?” 

Luckily, there was no one else in this corner except Chen Miansheng and Fei Yan. If Gu Wu had heard him talk like that, he probably would’ve dropped his jaw in shock. 

Was this really something their young master would say? 

Fei Yan, naturally, couldn’t resist this kind of soft coaxing. Flustered, she twitched her ears rapidly, then dramatically flicked her tail toward the woman. 

Afraid that wasn’t clear enough, she even raised her paw and pressed her toe beans repeatedly against his face. 

Chen Miansheng didn’t mind being covered in a bit of cat fur. He followed the direction she indicated, his gaze landing softly on the woman’s face. After watching her for a while, something suddenly clicked. 

“Just now… did Little Orange act like that because she heard that woman say something about me you didn’t like?” 

Fei Yan’s eyes rolled slightly. What Chen Miansheng said… actually made sense. So she flicked her tail. 

Chen Miansheng stroked his chin and asked in a questioning tone, “So just now, you did that to her… because you were standing up for me?” 

Fei Yan flicked her tail again, then burrowed into his arms and curled up into a ball, clearly acting like she’d been terribly wronged. 

Seeing this, Chen Miansheng’s lips twitched. His heart unexpectedly softened, and he gently placed his warm palm on the little orange cat’s back, soothing her fur. “Thank you, Little Orange, for standing up for me.” 

Fei Yan gave a little snort in her heart. Hmph, at least Chen Miansheng still had a shred of conscience. 

“But… no need to do that in the future,” Chen Miansheng continued, lowering his gaze. A few strands of black hair fell across his face. Sunlight slanted in through the entrance of the medicine hall, casting soft shadows across his features. “We can’t control what others think. In a world full of people…” 

Before he could finish, the little orange cat in his arms suddenly raised her tail high, as if about to smack him in the face. 

Just when he thought it was going to hit him, the tail stopped mid-air, gave a warning twitch, and then slowly lowered. 

Fei Yan shifted her position, turning her round orange backside toward him, ears drooping in visible displeasure. 

As expected, he’s a total bookworm—always blabbing about those big lofty principles. Who wants to hear that? 

Almost as if he knew what his little cat was thinking, Chen Miansheng gave a soft chuckle and held her a little tighter. 

“All right, if Little Orange doesn’t like to hear that, I won’t say it. How about I make you a grilled fish tonight to make it up to you?” 

Fei Yan stayed motionless in his arms, but where he couldn’t see, she stuck out her pink tongue and licked around her lips. Her tail swayed unconsciously behind her. 

If Chen Miansheng could make cumin-flavored grilled fish, maybe she’d consider forgiving him. 

Of course, Chen Miansheng had no idea that his little orange cat was already planning the flavor of her dinner in her head. 

By now, the woman had finished getting her medicine and left. Chen Miansheng looked up at the steady flow of people coming and going in the medicine hall. His eyes lowered slightly as he fell silent for a while, then, as if something amusing had occurred to him, he suddenly chuckled quietly. 

The more he thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. He, Chen Miansheng, had lived over twenty years in this world, weathering all kinds of storms. Even after becoming deaf and giving up everything that should have been his, he endured it all alone. 

And now? He was actually protected over such a trivial matter—by a little cat barely half the size of his arm. 

At that thought, his gaze fell onto the small orange cat in his arms. 

Her head was lazily resting in his palm, her usually lively eyes now squinted shut. She looked utterly content and relaxed. 

He smiled faintly. 

Well… if this little cat was his Little Orange, then maybe it wasn’t so bad after all. 

No doubt about it, sleeping in Chen Miansheng’s arms was way more comfortable than that wooden chair he’d prepared for her. 

If not for the sudden jarring chime of Thirteen’s system notification in her head, Fei Yan really thought she might have dozed off right there in his embrace. 

[Affection level detected between Host and Designated Target. Congratulations, host. “The Siren’s Three Phrases” has been upgraded.] 

Fei Yan was so startled by the unexpected system notification that her whole body stiffened. Instinctively, she blurted out, “Scared me to death.” 

The moment she spoke, both she and Gu Wu, not far away, froze. 

Gu Wu had been standing in front of the medicine drawers gathering herbs when he suddenly heard a soft, unfamiliar female voice. He immediately turned his head toward the sound. 

All he saw was Chen Miansheng sitting with the cat in his arms, taking a break. His expression froze, and he began doubting his own ears. 

Chen Miansheng noticed Gu Wu’s baffled reaction and looked up. “What’s wrong?” 

Gu Wu hesitated for two seconds, then signed honestly, “Young Master, just now I heard a woman’s voice… and it came from your direction.” 

Chen Miansheng raised an eyebrow slightly, his expression calm, clearly not taking it seriously. “Maybe you misheard.” 

Gu Wu scratched the back of his head, thinking that sounded reasonable. After all, there was only one man and one cat over there—it’d be strange to hear a woman’s voice. 

He nodded and quickly tossed the incident from his mind. 

Little did he know, Fei Yan was practically sweating cold bullets. Unfortunately, with Chen Miansheng holding her so close, she had to fight hard to stop herself from trembling. 

For once, she was so glad that Chen Miansheng couldn’t hear. At this distance, if he had, there was no way she wouldn’t have been exposed. That would’ve been the end. 

“Thirteen, come out.” 

[Hello, Host. Thirteen is at your service.] 

“What just happened? Why could I suddenly talk again?” 

[Your attribute “Siren’s Three Sentences” has been upgraded to a premium version. You can now freely switch between human speech and cat speech. Upon upgrading, it defaults to human speech.] 

Fei Yan: “…” 

Human speech, my butt. 

Now she really understood—this system wasn’t here to help her. She’d be lucky if it didn’t sabotage her. 

Grinding her little cat teeth, she barely kept her temper in check. “Switch me back to cat speech mode.” 

[Understood, Host. Settings successfully switched.] 

Fei Yan had been scared out of her wits by Thirteen. Even after hearing the confirmation, she still nervously pressed her soft paw over her mouth and gave a tiny, cautious “meow.” 

Only when she heard a tiny meow come out did she breathe a real sigh of relief. Her tail gave a small, unconscious sway behind her. 

Sigh. 

Life as a cat was way too hard.