Chapter 22: The 22nd Day of Crossing into the Book – The Stray Cat Xiaobai… (1)

Ming Yi: “Fate? No, what I follow—are the people’s wishes.”

Chao Ying: “The person I love is Ming Yi, nothing else matters.”

Su Ling Qiu: “I am willing to follow the general, to end this chaotic world.”

Yan Qing Zhi: “Will you come to see me when I return?”

…

Saintess Qi Ling: “What exactly is it that I am protecting?”

The audio isn’t long; each character says just one sentence, adding up to no more than three minutes. In these three minutes, it feels as though they witnessed the young man riding his horse with a whip, saw the decay and downfall of the dynasty, and felt the steadfastness and love of the young girl.

Fans of any character couldn’t find a single flaw in these voice-overs.

They listened intently, unaware that the progress bar was slowly approaching the end.

“What exactly is it that I am protecting?” This was the final line of the audio, the confession of the Saintess.

When everyone heard this sentence, they felt as though their souls had been lifted, their entire beings cleansed.

Before this, they only knew the Saintess had a beautiful voice, ethereal with a touch of compassion for all living beings, but they never thought about what her voice would actually sound like.

Even if they did think about it, they could never imagine it. Such a voice could only exist in books.

But when they heard this voice, their first thought wasn’t that the Saintess’s voice actress was the one behind it. Instead, they thought, “So, this is what the Saintess’s voice really sounds like.”

In that instant, the vague and blurry image of the Saintess in their minds suddenly became vivid.

If there really were a Saintess in this world, her voice should be exactly like this.

When the listeners snapped out of it, they didn’t rush to reply on Weibo. Instead, they rewound the progress bar and listened again.

Again and again, no matter how many times they listened, every time they heard that voice, a shiver ran through them, and goosebumps rose on their skin.

In this world, there really was such a beautiful voice—unpretentious, not at all affected or exaggerated, just a natural, unprocessed sound.

It felt as if the voice actress was simply speaking the words in her most ordinary, calm tone.

Some of the Saintess’s fans couldn’t hold back tears when they heard the voice. This was their Saintess!

The biggest fan of the Saintess, who had been most vocal in protesting, wrote a heartfelt apology on their own Weibo after listening to the audio several times.

He wasn’t the type of crazy fan who would charge into battle for his idol. Initially, he was just standing up for the Saintess, thinking that the choice of voice actress was critical to the character. He didn’t want people who had only heard the Saintess through radio dramas to think of her as just an ordinary person.

But after hearing the audio, he realized he was wrong—wrong in his arrogance, wrong in leading fans to attack the voice actress without verifying anything first.

He thought, no one in the world could voice the Saintess’s character.

“In this moment, I sincerely apologize to Shu Yan. I am so sorry, I shouldn’t have…”

He was the Saintess’s biggest fan, and once his message was posted, many fans who had refused to listen to the audio hesitantly clicked to hear it.

And then:

“Am I dying? Why else would I be hearing an angel’s voice?”

“Mom asked me why I was kneeling while listening to the audio. I told her it’s because I don’t deserve to stand.”

“Listening to this voice, I suddenly became teary-eyed. This is our Saintess—loyal to the dynasty, but even more so to the people of the world.”

“I also need to apologize for my previous attacks. I’m sorry. I now understand how difficult it is to find a voice actress that fits the Saintess character. The production team didn’t lack effort; in fact, they went above and beyond.”

…

The public relations team saw the rapid shift in the online reception and, thinking back to the intense criticism they received earlier, they gave a sly smile. On the top comment that hadn’t been deleted yet, where fans were petitioning to replace the Saintess’s voice actress, they replied:

“Thank you for your feedback. We have passed your suggestions along to the higher-ups. Please stay tuned.”

When others browsing the Weibo saw this response, they immediately began replying in panic:

“No, we were wrong! Please don’t report it to the higher-ups, don’t replace the voice actress!”

“Little official, we were wrong, please leave Shu Yan with us.”

“Who posted this comment? Quickly delete it!”

“Help! I just listened to this audio, and suddenly, this comment popped up.”

“Please don’t change the voice actress! If you do, I’ll kneel and beg you.”

The administrator, seeing nearly a hundred replies in just a few minutes, was startled and quickly calmed the fans with this message under the comment:

“We’ve received everyone’s opinions. If everyone likes it, the voice actress won’t be replaced. Thank you for your attention and support.”

When fans saw this reply, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank God.”

“Little official, you did great.”

…

The Bright Morning Song is such a huge IP, and shortly after this audio was released, its popularity began to soar. With efforts from both the production team and fans, the topic ‘The Bright Morning Song radio drama promo’ quickly trended on Weibo.

More and more netizens began listening to the audio.

While praising the effort put into the radio drama, everyone couldn’t help but ask: “Who is the voice actress for the Saintess?”

The official account only revealed her name, but didn’t tag her on Weibo or give any clues. No one knew where to find her.

Fans of Shu Yan, who overlapped with The Bright Morning Song novel fans, began to ask in Shu Yan’s fan group:

“This sounds like Shu Shu’s voice. Did I hear it wrong?”

“I think so too. It sounds even more ethereal and distant than when Shu Shu is live streaming. It seems like the voice has been processed a bit, giving it this distant, ethereal feel.”

“It’s definitely Shu Shu. This voice has accompanied me through so many sleepless nights. As soon as I heard it, I knew.”

“Did you guys not see the official name? It’s Shu Yan.”

“Oh my God, my favorite streamer is voicing my favorite character. Is there anything happier than this in the world?”

“Me too. I was initially hopeless about the Saintess’s character being voiced, but today… it feels like…”

“It feels like I thought the building was about to collapse, but it not only stood firm, it got reinforced with all kinds of beautiful decorations.”

“People outside are asking who the Saintess’s voice actress is. Should we…”

“Let’s go, let’s spread the word about Shu Shu to the whole world!”

Thus, under the questions asking who the Saintess’s voice actress was, a group of people quietly replied:

“Shu Yan is a streamer on Jinli Live, just search her name and you’ll find her.”

“Shu Yan is an incredibly good streamer. Her voice is so beautiful, and it even helps with sleep. Since I started listening to her streams, my mom no longer worries about my insomnia.”

“Shu Yan streams for an hour of calligraphy practice at 9 AM every day and half an hour of bedtime stories at 10 PM. If you want to hear her voice, you should check out her live stream.”

When you love someone, you always want to introduce them to the whole world.

Under normal circumstances, these responses might attract hate for the idol, but since Shu Yan had just been criticized, these fans felt guilty, so they didn’t argue and instead continued to share their thoughts.

As a result, when Yun Shuning streamed that evening, her live stream’s popularity skyrocketed.

However, she rarely looked at her phone during her streams, so she didn’t realize just how popular the stream had become.

She continued as usual, with the same voice, reading The Little Prince.

The Saintess’s fanbase was huge, and whenever a female character was up for voting, the Saintess had never ranked lower than first.

Even in polls for both male and female characters, the Saintess almost always made the top three, and some official merchandise sales were also off the charts.

So, even if only half of the Saintess’s fans came to Yun Shuning’s live stream, it was still a massive number.

These fans initially came to show support and maybe send a few gifts before leaving, but then…

Why couldn’t they click the gift option? Was there a bug with Jinli Live?

Why couldn’t they even post comments?

Just as they were about to angrily seek answers from the official team, Shu Yan had already turned to the part of the book she had been reading yesterday and continued her live stream.

A soft and gentle voice flowed through each person’s room, like a spring breeze that swept away the shadows in their hearts, and the sunlight gradually filled every corner of their hearts.

It was so warm and so moving.

At that moment, they forgot the purpose of coming here, forgot the image of the saintess in their hearts, and became completely absorbed in listening to the live stream of Shuyan.

No wonder some fans of Shuyan say that her voice helps with sleep. It’s not an exaggeration; it’s simply stating a fact.

Listening to her voice, you can’t help but relax your mind, and before you know it, you drift into a peaceful sleep.

In the last second before falling asleep, their final thought was: So this is what an angel’s voice sounds like.

So many viewers entered the live stream room. Even though the live stream didn’t allow bullet comments, gifts, or interactions, Shuyan’s live stream still reached the top of the homepage of Jinli live streaming due to its incredibly high popularity.

Every anchor has their own fanbase. Although Jinli live streaming has fallen out of the spotlight, the top anchors still make significant revenue and have a loyal fanbase.

Originally, a few big-name streamers took turns staying in the top spot, but suddenly, an unexpected challenger appeared.

Not only were the anchors unhappy, but their fans were upset as well.

They had worked hard to send gifts and comments, slowly helping their favorite streamer climb to the top, only for someone to suddenly take over their spot. They couldn’t accept it.

They gathered together and stormed into Shuyan’s live stream room, trying to teach her a lesson.

However, just like the fans of the saintess who came before them, they found that they couldn’t comment or send gifts either.

What had started as anger quickly turned to frustration as they realized they couldn’t do anything.

How could an anchor with no comments or gifts have so much heat in their live stream? It must have been bought, right?

They couldn’t accept it and decided to stay to find fault with the anchor.

In the end, they never left.

The other anchors saw their fans venting their anger in the most popular live stream room, but none of them returned.

The anchors: ???

Yun Shuning looked at the time, which indicated the live stream was about to end. She gently closed the book in her hand, picked up the phone beside her, and prepared to sign off.

As she looked at the 40,000 people in the live stream, her hand froze for a moment, and a slight surprise appeared in her eyes.

Why were so many people suddenly here?

Recently, when she streamed at night, her room had about 6,000 viewers, so what had happened to make her live stream suddenly explode with so many people?

She didn’t plan to ask directly in the live stream. Since the interaction channel had been closed, even if she asked, they wouldn’t be able to answer. Besides, she suspected that at least 38,000 of the 40,000 people had already fallen asleep.

With this thought, her gaze softened, and she smiled gently, saying, “Good night, and sweet dreams.”

After closing the live stream, she finally had time to check what had happened.

Recently, aside from her daily live streaming, the only other thing she had been doing was voicing the saintess.

She opened Weibo and navigated to the official account, clicking in.

“So this is what happened,” she murmured, after reading a few comments, her thoughts turning.

After she finished the voice acting, she hadn’t paid much attention to the process. She had thought it would take some time before the promotional work began, but to her surprise, it had already started.

She knew that many times, production companies wouldn’t consider everyone’s feelings. Their goal was maximizing profit.

Sometimes, conflict and controversy were the hallmark of a good promotion. They didn’t care about the thoughts of small characters; all they cared about was gaining the most benefit for the least cost.

Having worked in the entertainment industry for so long, she could almost guess the mindset of the marketing people.

She was well aware of the impact a famous character with a large fan base would have when compared to an unknown voice actor. She understood what would happen.

That’s why she didn’t care much about the promotion—because she knew that even if she did care, it would only make her angry.

What surprised her, however, was that the production team had done something she didn’t expect. They had almost immediately used the audio to clear her name.

Looking at the string of apology comments under the official account, she felt a strange emotion well up inside her—one that was unfamiliar yet warm.

The next morning, she began her live stream as usual.

Even though she knew many people would be watching, she still focused on practicing calligraphy first.

She felt that practicing with a brush had already become more than a task to complete; it was now something that allowed her to calm her mind and immerse herself in.

Half an hour later, she looked at the progress in her writing and nodded in satisfaction.

When she picked up her phone and checked the live stream, even though she thought she was calm enough, she was still startled by the densely packed bullet comments and countless little red hearts.

These people seemed a bit too enthusiastic.

The night before, the live stream had attracted both fans of the saintess and other anchors. However, they all shared one common trait—they were now fans of Shuyan.

Originally, they had entered the live stream to pass the time, wondering what made this anchor so popular, or to make up for their previous comments. But when they woke up, the sky was already bright.

In today’s fast-paced society, it’s rare for anyone to have a good night’s sleep, and many people suffer from insomnia to varying degrees. But last night, under the influence of the anchor’s voice, they experienced the pleasure of a dreamless, deep sleep.

Early this morning, they were all searching for news about Shuyan.

When they learned that Shuyan’s live stream started at 9 AM every day, that only small gifts of twenty yuan were allowed, and that there was an unpaid live stream in the evening, they switched from casual listeners to her most loyal fans.

They knew they couldn’t miss out on an anchor like her.

As for the saintess’s fans, when they first entered the live stream, they came to apologize for their previous comments. In their hearts, there was also a small, unspoken reason.

They wanted to treat Shuyan as a substitute for the saintess.

But as soon as they heard her speak, they knew Shuyan wasn’t the saintess.

Shuyan’s voice was gentler, and if the saintess’s voice could shatter a person’s spirit and send shivers down their spine, Shuyan’s voice was the complete opposite—gentle with a hint of warmth, offering no sense of hostility.

Listening to her voice, everything in the world seemed to quiet down.

Yun Shuning was struggling to decipher what the comments said when suddenly, she saw a fleeting message:

“Shushu, I’m single. Can I marry you?”

She had been expecting this kind of comment, but she didn’t know if it was because she gave off an ethereal vibe, but very few people had made such jokes with her.

She couldn’t actively say that she already had a boyfriend or lover, so this issue had remained unresolved—if they didn’t ask, she wouldn’t say anything.

She read the comment again and softly replied, “No.”

“Because I have someone I love very much. Apart from him, I won’t fall in love with anyone else.”

When she spoke about this person, the coldness that had faintly been there vanished in an instant, and for the first time, there was a rare smile in her voice—as if she was reminiscing about something.

It was true that there was someone who made her feel warm and happy whenever she thought of them.

Su Muqing, listening to the sound from the speakers, gripped the cup with both hands so tightly that his fingertips turned pale.

He had tried so hard, but he could never surpass the name He Yan.

Feeling the subtle pain in his hands, he placed the cup on the table and stretched out his hand to loosen his fingers.

The voice from the speakers continued.

“I thank you for your affection, and I hope that in the future, you will meet someone who loves you deeply and whom you can also love deeply.”

Su Muqing, who had been moving his wrist, suddenly stopped. His gaze darkened as he stared at the door, as if trying to see through the two closed doors to what the person in the opposite apartment was doing, what expression they had.

Even if he didn’t look, he could guess.

If you listened closely, you could hear the slight tremor in her voice as she said these words.

It was especially annoying.

The live stream soon ended, and Su Muqing stared at the door absentmindedly. A mysterious smile appeared on his face as he seemed to remember something.

Yun Shuning had been avoiding Su Muqing and hadn’t left her apartment for a while.

Since she had cleared things up with him some time ago, it seemed like he had truly let go and hadn’t bothered her in recent days.

Today, she felt at ease and decided to go out for a walk and have lunch.

She had lived a difficult life before, which had made her adept at finding joy in tough situations.

Even though she was stuck at home every day and had a man who could be considered a stalker living next door, she still accepted it well.

Staying at home was the dream of many people, and now she had money, a career, and so many fans who loved her. She was content.

While thinking this, she put on her coat.

The coat was a light beige overcoat, not very thick, and when worn, it made her look very slender.

Before going out, she always took time to adjust herself, and today was no different.

Just as she closed the door to her apartment, the door next door opened.

Su Muqing smiled youthfully at her: “Shushu, what a coincidence. Are you going out to eat too?”

Yun Shuning looked at him calmly, her eyes clearly showing distance, with a hint of surprise.

Was this really a coincidence?

It seemed like he had been listening by the door!

No matter how much she complained internally, her expression was still composed: “It’s quite a coincidence.”

“Right?” Su Muqing didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he leaned in and said, “I knew we were really destined to meet.”

He glanced at her face cautiously, then softly said, “Shushu, I’ll find a place to eat myself after we go downstairs. You don’t need to worry…”

Worry that I’ll cling to you.

He swallowed the rest of the sentence, but his gaze betrayed the words he wanted to say.

Anyone who saw his current look would be unable to resist feeling soft-hearted.

However, Yun Shuning was not one of those people.

She gave him a small nod, showing no emotion in her eyes.

Su Muqing looked at her unchanging attitude toward him and felt no frustration. He calmly accepted her attitude and walked with her to the elevator.

Su Muqing tried to match her pace, making an effort to walk beside her, but even as he tried to get closer, the atmosphere between them still felt like that of strangers.

From a distance, they looked like two strangers who happened to be walking together.

As they passed by the green area on either side of the residential complex, Su Muqing suddenly stopped in his tracks and asked nervously:

“Shushu, did you hear something?”

Yun Shuning wasn’t sure what he was up to. She shook her head and responded to his question.

“I think I heard a cat meowing,” Su Muqing said with an embarrassed smile. “Maybe I misheard.”

He had only taken two steps forward when a louder meow came from the bushes under a tree.

There was no way both of them had misheard it.

Yun Shuning frowned. She had lived in this residential area for a while now, and even though she rarely went out, she had almost never seen stray cats.

Even when she did, it was only a fleeting shadow. The stray cats here were very wary and wouldn’t easily let people spot them.

“Is it a stray cat?” she turned around and asked softly in the direction of the sound.

“Should be.” Su Muqing tiptoed to the source of the sound and gently parted the low-hanging branches that were in the way.

From Yun Shuning’s angle, she could see an orange cat lying there with faint traces of blood on its leg.

Her first reaction wasn’t pity or worry, but fear.

How could it be such a coincidence that just as she and Su Muqing stepped out, they happened to run into an injured stray cat?

Was it really just a coincidence?

She thought of Su Muqing’s expression earlier, and a dark glint flashed in her eyes.

If this was something Su Muqing had orchestrated, what was his goal? To create an opportunity to spend time with her?

What frightened her more was: how did he know she would go out today?

If he wasn’t certain when she would step out, then how many injured stray cats had there already been?

Her hands trembled slightly from fear, and her already pale face turned even paler.

“Shushu, it’s hurt,” Su Muqing said anxiously when he saw the injured cat lying there. “The wound is deep.”

He didn’t mind the blood and dirt on it at all. He reached out to check its temperature and breathing. “It’s still alive. Let’s take it to the hospital quickly.”

Yun Shuning took a deep breath, calming the chaos in her mind. She absolutely couldn’t afford any mistakes right now.

She walked over to Su Muqing, her steps hurried. “While it’s still alive, let’s pick up the pace.”

As she got closer, she saw the wound on the cat’s body. It looked like it had been bitten by another animal. The wound wasn’t large, but it was deep and bleeding heavily.

Su Muqing picked up the tremor in her voice and turned around to see the rare urgency in her eyes.

So she wasn’t completely indifferent to the world after all.

He didn’t mind at all as he cradled the dirty cat in his arms, quickly getting a few stains on his clothes.

“Meow~”

Sensing his touch, the stray cat let out a low meow without resisting at all.

“Let’s go, I’m afraid it won’t hold on much longer.”

His expression was tense, his eyes glued to the injured cat in his arms, not paying attention to anything else.

Yun Shuning watched his every move and became even more cautious.

“Okay.” She looked at the cat in his arms, her eyes unconsciously filled with anxiety.

Soon, the two arrived at the nearest animal hospital.

After a series of examinations, the vet said the cat was likely bitten while fighting a stray dog over territory. Fortunately, they brought it in time, so it wasn’t too serious.

With proper care, it could make a full recovery.

Hearing the vet’s words, Yun Shuning slowly relaxed her tightly wound nerves. She didn’t want anything bad to happen to this stray cat.

In her past life, she had also met a stray cat. It was a black-and-white one, like a dairy cow.

It wasn’t cute like other cats. It looked like a scruffy little old man who’d been through a lot, with a huge black ring around its eye. No one wanted to adopt it.

Even those who fed it were few.

At that time, she only had a five-square-meter place to live and had no ability to adopt it.

She could barely afford to feed herself, let alone bring cat food for it.

Sometimes, she would tear off a piece of her steamed bun to share with it. Over time, it began to warm up to her. A lonely cat and a lonely person, clinging to each other for warmth.

She named it Xiao Hei (Little Black).

At that time, a film crew had asked her to play a supporting role with four or five scenes, even reimbursing her train ticket. Before leaving, she cooked a piece of chicken breast for the cat and watched it devour it hungrily.

The sunlight stretched their shadows long. Under the sunset, the scene looked like a beautiful painting.

“When I come back, I should be able to rent a bigger place. Then I’ll take you home,” she said, stroking its scruffy little head with a smile.

“I’ll let you eat and live well.”

But when she returned from Shanghai, she never saw that ugly little dairy cat with a wrinkled face again.

She silently hoped that someone kind had adopted it and given it a warm, loving home.

That it was spoiled, well-fed, and no longer had to envy the stray cats that were fed by others.

Even though she knew the odds were slim, that was all she could hope for.

Because at that time, she could barely survive herself.

She had lost twelve pounds for that role, from ninety-five to eighty-three, looking like a stick just for those few episodes.

But perhaps because she worked too hard and tried too much to shine in the limited screen time, overshadowing the lead actress, her scenes were all cut.

Fortunately, the director paid her in advance, so she didn’t starve in a strange city.

She bought a pizza—something she’d never dared to splurge on before—and sat where Xiao Hei used to appear, eating it bite by bite.

After all, life had to go on.

“Thank goodness, the doctor said it’s nothing serious. It’ll recover after a couple of days in the hospital,” Su Muqing said happily after hearing the vet’s diagnosis. He turned to Yun Shuning, his face full of relief.

“What’s wrong?” Su Muqing noticed her blank expression and the tear streaks on her face. A sudden panic rose in his heart. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m fine.” Yun Shuning’s voice was as calm as ever. If not for seeing her face, no one would’ve known she was crying.

“Then why are you crying?” Su Muqing looked at her, his eyes filled with complicated emotions.

“I… cried?” she blinked, and another tear slid from the corner of her eye.

She reached up to wipe her tears and said softly, “Maybe I’m just really happy… that we were able to save a life.”

Su Muqing looked at her. He didn’t tell her that despite the lack of expression on her face, the grief emanating from her was so overwhelming it seemed like it might crush her.

How could that be happiness?

He clearly realized—he didn’t like her like this. He hated this expression on her face.

He just wanted to do whatever it took to make her return to how she was before meeting this stray cat.

At that moment, he felt regret for the first time. He shouldn’t have used this method.

But he quickly pushed that unfamiliar emotion down. Regret was meaningless.

“I think if we send this cat back to where it came from, it’ll just get bullied again…”

He wouldn’t give up saying or doing anything just because of guilt—not now, not ever.

“Although I’ve been busy with work lately and won’t have much time for it…”

He hadn’t finished when Yun Shuning, having wiped away her tears, interrupted him: “I’ll adopt it.”

Su Muqing’s eyes widened in shock. “But Shushu, you don’t like people—”

Realizing something halfway through, he quickly covered his mouth. “I forgot. A cat isn’t a person.”

While the two were talking, the vet had already treated the stray cat and put it on an IV.

Su Muqing and Yun Shuning walked to its room and stood by the cage, watching it intently.

As if it knew they had saved it, the cat stood up, staggering to the side closest to them, and rubbed hard against the cage.

Watching it, Yun Shuning’s expression softened unknowingly.

“Let’s give it a name,” Su Muqing said, feeling the change in her mood. His smile brightened. “What should we call it?”

“Let’s call it Xiao Bai (Little White),” Yun Shuning said softly.

“But it’s an orange cat! Why not Xiao Huang (Little Yellow)?” He sounded dissatisfied.

After saying that, he glanced at her face—unchanged, still staring blankly at the cat—and scratched his head, quickly backpedaling. “Shushu’s name is great. On second look, the cat is kind of orange and white anyway.”

He gave a couple of dry laughs and added, “There must be a ton of orange cats named Xiao Huang, but the name you gave not only reflects its uniqueness but also stands out.”

Yun Shuning didn’t respond to him. Instead, she spoke to herself, her voice distant and faint, “Maybe, somewhere unknown, it has a brother named Xiao Hei.”

Her voice was too soft, and Su Muqing didn’t catch what she said. “What?”

She shook her head gently.

Looking at her pale profile, Su Muqing suddenly had a thought: Was her emotional outburst really because of this stray cat—or because of He Yan?

The cat that had been injured and hiding in the corner waiting to die… really would make her think of the missing He Yan.

He had forgotten—rather than calling him “missing,” it would be more accurate to say he was dead.

Back then, even He Yan’s heavily modified car had been turned to ashes. How could the person inside have survived?

The police had labeled it a missing persons case.

Partly because there was no body, and also because the He family couldn’t afford a scandal. As one of the top aristocratic families in the capital, the sudden death of its head would cause massive turmoil.

So, the police handled it as a missing person case according to protocol.

After all this, Yun Shuning had lost her appetite. After paying Xiao Bai’s treatment fees, she went straight home.

Elsewhere, Su Muqing returned to his own home, the smile completely gone from his face.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking at the view outside, his emotions gradually settling.

Forget it. As long as the result is what he wants, the process doesn’t matter.

Just as he was thinking about when to visit Yun Shuning and see Xiao Bai, his phone suddenly rang.

“Boss, do you still need an injured stray cat?”

“No.”

“Alright.” Xu Zheng’s voice carried a hint of regret. “Oh, and one more thing. Yu Cheng’s secretary recently tried to buy the unit next to Miss Yun Shuning’s. I stopped it, but he probably already knows.”

“Mm.” Su Muqing’s voice was calm and unreadable.

Sometimes, being a step too late means the game is already over.

This round, he had won.

“Okay, I won’t bother you further then.” Xu Zheng heard the impatience in his tone and sensibly ended the call.

Looks like he wouldn’t be able to play with cats on the company’s dime anymore.

After hanging up, he glanced at a nearby tortoiseshell cat with a long scratch on its face—probably from a fight—and lured it into a cage with snacks.

Then he carried it to a nearby pet hospital. “This cat is injured and needs treatment. I’ll cover all the costs.”

He looked the overly skinny cat up and down and said helplessly, “Feed it well and fatten it up a bit. Otherwise, it’ll just keep getting bullied. If someone can adopt it, even better…”

He stood there, rambling to the nurse. Just before she ran out of patience, he added one last thing:

“Oh, and make sure to schedule a neutering package for it.”

---

Secretary Ming thought that sometimes, Yu Cheng’s pride was truly useless…