Chapter 22 – Stepping Forward
After finishing Meiqiu’s bath, Lin Yan picked up the towel Meiqiu had been lying on earlier and gently dried the little creature.
Meiqiu no longer struggled. It patiently endured Lin Yan’s rubbing from every direction, its mouth rising and falling with Lin Yan’s movements, the entire expression looking strangely comical.
But instead of finding it odd, Lin Yan was completely charmed. He laughed at once.
“Our Meiqiu is such a cute little baby.”
For some reason, Lin Yan found himself staring at Meiqiu in a daze. From certain angles, Meiqiu looked remarkably like his big boss, Lu Heng — especially just now, when Lin Yan was drying its fur. That twisted, slightly offended expression looked exactly like the one Lu Heng occasionally revealed during meetings, when he couldn’t quite hide his disdain for everyone present.
Once the comparison took hold, Lin Yan couldn’t unsee it.
The difference, of course, was that Meiqiu was adorable, while Lu Heng was always stern.
He muttered, “Nothing like our boss. He always has that stiff face.”
Meiqiu: Hah. Aren’t we the same person?
Lin Yan turned on the hair dryer in the bathroom. It was mounted on the wall, and for convenience he always used it after showering — just standing in front of the mirror cabinet, lowering his head, turning it on, and finishing in a few minutes.
He placed Meiqiu on the sink counter. Worried that the cat might get stressed by the noise, he started with the lowest setting and carefully blew Meiqiu’s fur. Seeing that Meiqiu didn’t resist too much, he continued.
The warm air parted the fur, lifting the loose fluff into the air until the entire bathroom was filled with Meiqiu’s floating hair.
Although Lin Yan didn’t feel anything unusual, the skin on his face and body that was exposed could clearly sense that it was being covered by a layer of fur.
He sniffed and continued drying Meiqiu. Then he suddenly remembered that cats might need deworming after baths — but he had no idea what medicine to buy. He decided he would ask Chen Xin about it tomorrow.
Meiqiu was a long-haired cat, so drying took quite a while. Afraid the little thing might catch cold, Lin Yan was extremely thorough. Even the tiniest hairs on Meiqiu’s paws were carefully dried — he would lift each paw and make sure it was completely dry.
The whole process took half an hour. Lin Yan didn’t feel tired at all. This was far easier than working for thirty minutes.
Meiqiu shook its head, sending more loose fur floating into the air. After the bath, its fur had become much fluffier, softer, and smoother to the touch.
Lin Yan set the kitten down and began cleaning the bathroom.
Ever since he started raising Meiqiu, all of Lin Yan’s exhaustion from work would vanish the moment he saw the little cat. All he wanted was to hug it, kiss it, and lift it up high.
Even the frustrations of work were chased away by the kitten. Thinking of work, Lin Yan suddenly remembered that the document Chen Xin had asked him to revise before getting off work had some problems. He quickly turned on his computer and started fixing it.
Soon, Lin Yan was typing seriously again, while Meiqiu — as usual — sat on his lap, supervising.
He didn’t know why, but every time Lin Yan worked overtime at home, this little thing would come running over, just like a tiny foreman.
Meiqiu’s front paws rested on Lin Yan’s wrist pad, its back paws stepping on Lin Yan’s thigh, a low purring sound rumbling from its chest.
Looking at the little Meiqiu so focused, Lin Yan couldn’t help wanting to explain what he was doing. So he opened the document and slowly told it, line by line, what he was working on.
Then the document scrolled to the very bottom.
There, a string of special symbols appeared.
Meiqiu stared at them, completely absorbed.
Lin Yan noticed that Meiqiu seemed to genuinely understand. It stared at that spot intently, as if waiting for him to explain what it meant.
“Meiqiu, look,” Lin Yan said seriously. “This symbol at the very bottom — it isn’t connected to the ones above. Technically, it doesn’t really matter, but to me, it’s very important.”
He lowered his head and carefully explained it to Meiqiu, pointing at the bottom of the document, then sliding his finger upward.
“See? This right here — isn’t this my name?”
The crease between Meiqiu’s brows finally smoothed out. So that’s what it meant.
The little one nodded again.
Lin Yan gently patted Meiqiu’s head.
…
The company’s weekly meeting. Everyone was already gathered in the conference room, waiting.
Lu Heng strode in quickly, arriving just on time.
He had left home later than usual this morning. Just as he was about to get up, Lin Yan had pulled him back into his arms.
Whenever Lin Yan woke up, he would cling to him, showering him with kisses, murmuring, “Whose little kitty is so fragrant?”
Then he’d refuse to let go for a while.
Even though Lu Heng had wanted to escape, his body had been completely trapped, which resulted in him leaving ten minutes later than usual.
“President Lu.”
One greeting after another followed as he entered the room.
Lu Heng gave a brief nod.
After reaching his seat, Secretary He pulled the chair out for him. Lu Heng sat down, glanced over everyone in the room, then turned to Secretary He and said, “Let’s begin.”
Each department began reporting their recent work.
Lu Heng lowered his gaze; whenever a department reported, Secretary He would hand him their submitted documents.
Lu Heng listened attentively, meticulously flipping through the pages, his eyes shifting back and forth between the documents and the screen.
When He Lingchen passed him the next file, he was able to observe President Lu from close range. The more he looked, the more he felt that his boss’s condition had been improving — far better than when he had first taken over the company.
His complexion was healthy, his skin clearer and visibly more full of life, and the fatigue at the corners of his eyes was no longer obvious.
A few months ago, when Lu Heng had brought Secretary He into the company, he had been staying up late every day, sometimes even pulling all-nighters.
During that period, He Lingchen had needed several days of IV drips at the hospital just to strengthen his immunity — otherwise he truly wouldn’t have been able to hold on.
Seeing his boss now, practically rejuvenated…
He Lingchen couldn’t help making a bold assumption: their CEO was about to fall in love.
So Madam Lu had been right — raising a kitten meant falling in love.
At first, he hadn’t seen any connection between the two.
But now… it really did seem related.
He Lingchen nodded along with President Lu.
Then he snapped back to himself.
Department Four of Technology was giving their report.
Lu Heng glanced at the submitted document. This was the project he had personally assigned to Lin Yan.
So why was Lin Yan’s name missing from the file now?
Lu Heng closed the document.
Zhao Ming was still standing beside the screen, continuing his presentation.
Lu Heng’s patience ran out. He let out a heavy breath.
“Pause for a moment.”