Chapter 17 – A Mix-Up
Lin Yan stood there, staring blankly at his phone.
He had heard similar things before and always ignored them, but now that he had actually received a message, his feelings became conflicted.
Earlier, when he rushed home, he had overheard the conversation between the cat café employees — he had simply pretended not to care.
He should have deleted that post a long time ago.
But it was his conscience getting in the way. As long as the post was still there, it felt like proof that he had tried to find Meiqiu’s original owner.
Just self-comfort, really.
Meiqiu had followed him, ended up in the hospital because of him, and could be in danger at any time.
This time he was lucky — nothing bad happened.
But what about next time? What if someone broke in again?
The consequences were unthinkable.
Lin Yan’s mood dropped to freezing point.
The security guard was still watching the footage.
“There’s no one here. Are you done looking or not?”
Lin Yan didn’t respond.
He no longer cared whether someone had really been in his apartment.
“If you ask me, since nothing was stolen, just change the door code,” the guard said, cigarette in his mouth, blowing smoke.
“And don’t set it as your birthday or something like 888888. Someone upstairs had that problem before.”
“Mm.” Lin Yan replied absentmindedly, his eyes hollow as he watched frame after frame of footage, his heart sinking.
Seeing that Lin Yan was still staring at the screen, the guard continued, “The apartment upstairs — the one next door — over two hundred square meters. The woman living there set her door code to six zeros. She lives alone. That’s dangerous.”
He finished speaking and exhaled a ring of smoke.
The haze drifted across Lin Yan’s vision.
He thought carefully about the message he had just received.
They had only said the cat looked like theirs.
What if it wasn’t?
Clinging to that small bit of hope, Lin Yan’s emotions steadied slightly.
“Right before you came, someone broke into that apartment. Two hundred square meters — if someone hid inside, who would even know?” the guard continued.
“Luckily that lady was alert and called the police in time. Otherwise the outcome would’ve been terrible. After that, she moved out and rented the place. I heard she’s planning to sell it soon.”
Lin Yan thought: If Meiqiu wasn’t from the café, then he could truly, completely be his.
The guard stubbed out his cigarette and glanced sideways at Lin Yan.
“These password locks aren’t safe. You won’t see anything useful on the cameras. When you go back, install a latch on the inside of the door.”
Lin Yan suddenly understood something — working people empathize best with other working people.
If Meiqiu really belonged to the café, then the cat’s sudden disappearance would be a serious work mistake for those two employees.
So Lin Yan decided to take the cat over.
If it truly was their cat, he planned to buy Meiqiu from them.
That way, he wouldn’t have to worry anymore.
Lin Yan suddenly bowed.
The guard was startled.
“Thank you, brother,” Lin Yan said with a sudden smile. “I’ll take care of it when I get back.”
“No problem. Just doing my job.”
After returning home, Lin Yan put Meiqiu into the cat carrier, slung it over his shoulder, and went out.
He had just messaged the café employee, sending several photos.
The employee said they weren’t sure either and sent a few photos back in response.
After comparing the photos, the two cats did indeed look alike.
Lin Yan didn’t think any further.
He only wanted to confirm it as soon as possible — he only wanted Meiqiu to become truly his.
Otherwise, it felt like a sword was always hanging over his head.
Living in constant anxiety like that wasn’t sustainable.
This was just how Lin Yan was.
When something happened, he needed to resolve it first — otherwise, he couldn’t focus on anything else.
He would be distracted.
Meiqiu was held securely in Lin Yan’s arms.
Even while riding the electric scooter and passing over many speed bumps, Lin Yan didn’t feel a single jolt.
It was much more comfortable.
Meiqiu even started kneading with his little paws inside the carrier, purring softly.
Lu Heng thought: If Lin Yan weren’t a programmer, he would probably be a very competent driver — about as steady as Uncle Chen.
When they arrived downstairs at the office building, Lin Yan parked the scooter and carried Meiqiu into the mall.
Through the transparent shell of the carrier, Meiqiu looked around at the surroundings.
The more he looked, the more familiar everything seemed.
Wait — was this guy bringing me to work overtime?
This employee is pretty dedicated… not bad, not bad.
Looks like bonuses really do motivate people to work.
Lin Yan changed direction.
Meiqiu noticed that they were getting farther and farther from the company building.
Where is this guy going if not to the office?
They soon arrived at the cat café.
When the employee saw Lin Yan approaching, the young woman felt a little excited at the sudden appearance of a handsome guy, pretending to notice him only casually.
After Lin Yan explained why he was there, the employee asked him to go inside and wait.
As Lin Yan walked deeper into the shop, Lu Heng finally realized where he had been brought.
Little Meiqiu’s eyes widened dramatically, full of shock and disbelief.
Wait — Lin Yan, are you broke or something?!
Why did you bring me here?
Are you making me work at a cat café?
To help support the household??!
Lu Heng’s emotions were extremely complicated.
Now that he was a kitten, coming to a cat café felt like selling his looks.
At least, that’s how he saw it.
“Meow!” Lin Yan!!!
Separated by the carrier, Lin Yan couldn’t hear Meiqiu’s desperate cries — or his furious complaints.
Lin Yan sat there quietly, waiting for the final verdict from the staff.
He was a little uneasy.
His legs kept swinging slightly back and forth, trying to make himself look natural.
At that moment, an employee walked over and handed him a cup of water.
“Sorry to trouble you to come all the way over at this hour.”
“It’s no trouble. If it really is yours, it’s a relief for everyone.”
Lin Yan took a sip and realized his throat was dry
He had been so anxious that his body was already reacting, even though he had mentally prepared himself.
“Well, it’s like this — our shop has a cat named Tuanzi,” the employee said, pausing.
“He ran away a few days ago.”
As she spoke, her gaze drifted slightly.
“Mm,” Lin Yan said, gesturing for her to continue.
“We didn’t really notice how he got out,” one of the employees added.
“A few days ago?”
Lin Yan stroked Meiqiu’s round little head, only to get swatted by a paw.
“Do you not know the exact time?”
At that, the two employees looked at each other.
For a long while, neither of them spoke.
Lin Yan understood immediately.
“As employees of a cat café, shouldn’t you be checking the number of cats every day?”
The two exchanged glances again, saying nothing.
“I looked around your shop. You don’t even have many cats — I counted eight.”
Lin Yan raised his eyes at the two in front of him.
“You two — no, your shop should have three employees. How can you fail to keep track of just eight cats?”
They were speechless.
Finally, the person on the left spoke.
“That really is our fault. It’s mainly because we’re not very familiar with each cat. When one suddenly went missing, we honestly didn’t notice at the time.”
“You said you’re not familiar with each cat,” Lin Yan seized on the flaw in her words.
“Then how can you be certain this cat belongs to your shop?”
At first, Lin Yan had thought it was merely a work mistake that let the cat slip out.
Now it seemed the two of them were simply careless.
That kind of work attitude was deeply problematic.
Today it was just one cat missing — but if they kept going like this, what if all the cats went missing?
Those were lives.
Lives shouldn’t be treated so casually.
“Our boss is on the way,” the employee on the right explained.
“That cat is one he’s raised for four or five years. He knows him best.”
Four or five years.
Meiqiu was four and a half years old.
Lin Yan’s attitude softened slightly, no longer as aggressive as before.
“Your boss doesn’t know the cat is missing?”
“He went hiking a few days ago and we couldn’t reach him.”
“As soon as we finally got in touch, he said he’d come to the shop. He doesn’t know about the missing cat yet.”
“Alright.”
After the conversation ended, Lin Yan waited.
He reached into the carrier midway to pet Meiqiu, only to have Meiqiu bat his hand away several times.
Lin Yan found it a little strange.
Did Meiqiu dislike this place?
Well… if he really was a cat from a cat café, who would want to come back to their workplace?
After waiting a few minutes, the door of the café opened and someone walked in.
The two employees turned their heads and immediately stood up.
It should be the boss.
Lin Yan could feel the tension in their bodies.
When the man entered, he was holding a kitten tightly in his arms.
Lin Yan looked up — that kitten looked exactly like Meiqiu.