Chapter 9 – Falling Ill
Lin Yan shook his head, shaking off that absurd dream.
Meiqiu was still lying safely at the corner of his blanket, not waking up no matter what he did. Lin Yan found this a little strange.
In the past few days, Meiqiu would wake up the moment Lin Yan moved and immediately jump down onto the floor.
But today, no matter how much Lin Yan moved, Meiqiu didn’t wake up at all.
Lin Yan reached over and gently rubbed Meiqiu’s small head.
“Meow~”
The meow dragged on at the end, sounding soft and weak, completely different from its usual loud and energetic cry.
Something didn’t feel right.
Lin Yan immediately took out his phone and recorded Meiqiu’s current condition, then sent the video to the group chat.
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Video]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Meiqiu looks listless this morning and not as energetic as before. What’s going on?]
After waiting for a while with no replies, Lin Yan’s heart started to panic. Meiqiu didn’t want to move at all — that was definitely not normal.
With no other choice, Lin Yan called Chen Xin.
The ringing tone echoed in his ears, each sound pounding against his heart.
“Hello.”
The familiar female voice came through, and Lin Yan immediately said, “Sorry for bothering you so early. Meiqiu doesn’t seem right — it’s very sluggish.”
“It’s okay, I’m already up. I just went to the bathroom,” Chen Xin replied. “I haven’t seen your video yet. Let me take a look.”
“Okay.”
“Touch its nose. Is it dry?”
Lin Yan acted immediately. When he touched Meiqiu’s nose, the pads of his fingers felt dry, cracked lines.
“It’s dry.”
Chen Xin thought for a moment. “It’s hard to tell for now. Check around the house to see if it vomited anywhere, or look at the litter box and see if there’s diarrhea or soft stool.”
Lin Yan started moving.
Meiqiu suddenly jumped off the bed, struggling as it ran out.
Lin Yan’s gaze and body followed closely behind Meiqiu — he didn’t want Meiqiu to leave his sight for even a second.
He followed Meiqiu and saw it run into the bathroom, its body swaying unsteadily, making gagging sounds as if it was about to vomit.
Chen Xin could hear it over the phone. “It might be indigestion or a stomach issue. Check what it throws up — that’ll help determine it.”
Lin Yan looked over. Meiqiu’s stomach convulsed, and it vomited a puddle of liquid. “It looks yellow-green.”
“Yellow-green? Then it’s most likely a gastrointestinal problem. You can give it some lactic acid bacteria tablets.”
“I don’t have any.”
“Buy some downstairs — that’s something every cat owner should have,” Chen Xin said. “Crush a small piece into powder and mix it with water. Also buy a syringe. If it won’t drink it on its own, you can feed it directly into its mouth.”
“Okay.”
“Then observe it for another half hour. If it doesn’t improve, take it to the vet immediately.”
“Alright. I’ll take a leave this morning. I’ll submit the request in the system in a moment, inform Director Zhao, and I’ll also trouble you to let me know.”
“No problem.”
Their company’s leave process was simple — as long as the department director approved it in the system, it was valid.
Lin Yan was originally about to head out to buy medicine, but after thinking it over, he turned back to the computer. The pharmacy was far away, and if he came back after working hours had already started, the leave request wouldn’t count anymore.
Especially that bastard Zhao Ming — he would reject the request on the excuse that it wasn’t submitted before work officially began.
Lin Yan hurried to the computer, logged into the company’s internal system, and submitted the leave request.
The screen remained on that page.
After soothing Meiqiu for a moment, Lin Yan quickly threw on some clothes and rushed downstairs.
Meiqiu had just finished vomiting and had recovered a little. Dragging its heavy body, it jumped onto Lin Yan’s desk.
The familiar work interface was displayed before its eyes.
Using its small paws, it pawed at the keyboard, logged into its own account, and opened the chat window with the secretary.
This system was for internal company use and connected everyone. Lu Heng was a kitten now, and his paws weren’t good for typing, so he pressed the voice button.
The voice message was being sent.
Lu Heng felt that he probably wouldn’t be able to turn back into a human today.
This had happened once before.
He had caught a cold, his body extremely weak, and stayed home.
He Lingchen had come to his place to get him to sign an important document, but after ringing the doorbell several times, no one answered.
All he saw was a small cat standing by the door, looking at Secretary He.
It was only then that He Lingchen learned that President Lu kept a cat.
From that incident onward, Lu Heng understood that when he became a kitten due to weakness, he would only be able to turn back into a human after fully recovering. So, in order not to affect his normal life, he tried his best not to catch colds.
But life is always full of countless unexpected events.
After suddenly turning into a cat yesterday, all of Lu Heng’s belongings and clothes were left in the office. He could only inform Secretary He in this way that he wouldn’t be going to the company for the next few days.
As for how many days —
Lu Heng didn’t know either.
Last time he caught a cold, it took about a week before he turned back into a human.
On the way to work, He Lingchen — as President Lu’s personal secretary — was always in work mode.
He was driving, with his phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth, music playing in the cabin.
Suddenly, he received a message from his boss.
The next second, the car automatically played the voice message.
He Lingchen turned the volume knob on the steering wheel all the way up, afraid he wouldn’t hear President Lu’s instructions clearly.
“Meow, meow meow, meow meow meow meow.”
…
Uh — the entire eleven-second voice message was nothing but meowing.
After passing an intersection, He Lingchen pulled over and stopped the car. He thought he might not have heard it clearly just now, so he tried to listen again.
But the message had been withdrawn.
The next second, several broken, fragmented messages came through.
President Lu: [I.]
President Lu: [These.]
President Lu: [Days.]
President Lu: [Going out.]
Maintaining his professional composure, He Lingchen replied:
He Lingchen: [Understood, President Lu. I’ll wait for your return.]
First rule of being a secretary: Never ask where the CEO is going.
After Lu Heng finished sending the last message with his little paws and saw the reply, he logged out of his account and returned the system to its original screen.
With a flick of his rear, the entire cat collapsed flat on the desk.
A kitten’s paws weren’t suited for typing — it kept mis-tapping. Just sending those few words had already drained Meiqiu of all his strength.
Wuwuwu~
Lin Yan rode his electric scooter to several pharmacies, but none of them were open. In his anxiety, he ended up riding another three kilometers.
He had to hurry back.
After buying the medicine, he carried the plastic bag and left immediately.
When he returned home, Lin Yan saw Meiqiu dragging its weak body, stumbling and swaying as it walked toward him.
Lin Yan rushed over at once. “Meiqiu, if you’re uncomfortable, just lie down and rest. You don’t have to come greet me.”
Meiqiu was always so well-behaved. Seeing it suffer made Lin Yan feel just as bad.
Following Chen Xin’s instructions, Lin Yan broke off half a tablet, placed it on paper, crushed it with a cup, and sprinkled the powder into Meiqiu’s water bowl.
Meiqiu staggered over to the bowl and began drinking, one sip at a time.
As if it understood that Lin Yan was trying to save it.
The little one drank quietly and obediently.
Lin Yan squatted beside him, watching quietly.
Half an hour later, Lin Yan felt that Meiqiu’s condition still wasn’t right, so he recorded another video and sent it to Chen Xin.
Chen Xin: [It still doesn’t look good. Take him to the hospital as soon as possible.]
Lin Yan Yan Yan Yan~: [Do you have any reliable pet hospital recommendations?]
Chen Xin sent two or three options in a row. Lin Yan chose the closest one.
He took a shoulder bag, put Meiqiu inside, zipped it up, then left Meiqiu’s head sticking out.
With the bag slung in front of him, Lin Yan held it with both arms, pulling Meiqiu close to his chest.