Li Wan froze for a moment when she heard the sound.
Qiu Tian lifted its head and gave Fu Shilin a single glance, but after just that one look it barked again: “Woof! Woof! Woof! Woof!!”
It was even fiercer than before, as if it wanted to pounce on Li Wan!
This time Li Wan was truly frightened. She was standing on the highest level of the cat tree. While the dog couldn’t climb up there for now, all she had to do was lower her head and she’d meet Qiu Tian’s vicious, glaring eyes and the sharp teeth bared below.
“Meow! Meow!!”
In the original novel, she had been literally bitten to death by Qiu Tian!!!
She was about to panic. Instinctively she stepped back two paces, but the space there was small; one step back and—her foot slipped and she tumbled down!!
Li Wan : “Meeow!!”
—”Oh no!!!”
Her tail fur stood completely on end!!
The height wasn’t enough to kill a cat, but it would definitely hurt if she hit the ground!
And judging by the way Qiu Tian was eyeing her like prey, the moment she fell it would definitely lunge!!
Exactly like in the original plot!!
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the painful impact—but the next instant she landed in a pair of arms that felt absolutely safe.
…Huh?
Meow? Meow?
Before she even opened her eyes, she caught a whiff of the clean, cool scent that belonged to the man holding her.
It was her own human!
Everyone around them let out a breath of relief, but Qiu Tian still bared its teeth, glaring at her as though ready to spring at any moment!!
Li Wan instinctively burrowed deeper into her human’s embrace, burying her whole head against his chest.
—Wuwuwu, that scared the poor kitty, meow meow.
Chi Yan fixed the dog with a cold stare and said in a low voice, “Qiu Tian!”
The Akita seemed to sense the threat radiating from him and backed up two steps. But just as everyone started to relax, its hind legs suddenly tensed, about to charge straight at them!!
“Be careful!!”
Du Qingqing, eyes locked on them, stood up and shouted instinctively!
Fu Shilin cursed inwardly, this was bad!
That lunatic Chi Yan! What was he trying to prove?!
The dog had been chasing that cat from the start. If it only injured the stray, well, it was just a stray. If it died, it died.
But now Chi Yan insisted on protecting that wretched cat. If Qiu Tian accidentally bit him, the internet would explode in a storm of outrage!!
And Du Qingqing—she already had a good impression of Chi Yan because of that stupid cat. If this guy actually got hurt saving it…
No way!!
Fu Shilin shouted, “Qiu Tian!!”
This time, Qiu Tian acted as if it hadn’t heard him and charged straight toward Chi Yan and the cat!!
Everyone was startled.
“Watch out!! Teacher Chi!!”
“Be careful, you two!!”
Damn!
Fu Shilin swore under his breath, no longer caring about the live-stream cameras. He pressed the button in his hand!!
Suddenly the collar around Qiu Tian’s neck tightened. The huge dog froze mid-leap, then collapsed to the ground, convulsing as if struck by an electric shock!!
In moments, its eyes rolled back, tongue lolling long, white foam dripping from its mouth.
Everyone was stunned. For a long moment, no one dared move.
Finally Li Xiaoyun, still shaken, asked, “Wh-what’s wrong with it?”
Du Qingqing clutched little Xixi tighter, frowning as she stepped forward, only for Li Xiaoyun to pull her back. “Careful, Sister Qingqing.”
Du Qingqing shook her head, worried. “Did it have some kind of seizure?”
Li Xiaoyun thought that might be possible and quickly called to the director, “Hurry, get a vet to check it, this looks dangerous.”
The director was already calling someone and tried to calm them. “Don’t be scared. Just keep your distance from Qiu Tian.”
“Teacher Chi? How are you and Wanwan?”
Chi Yan’s gaze swept impassively over the dog on the floor; a moment later his usual gentle expression returned. He gave a slight shake of the head. “We’re fine.”
Li Wan poked her head out and waved a paw at the director. “Meow meow!”
—”I’m fine too!”
—It’s just that dog…
Li Wan pressed her lips together and looked at the dog’s body, still trembling slightly.
Was it her imagination, or did that dog’s reaction look less like a seizure and more like… being electrocuted?
Her furry ears twitched. Casually, she glanced toward the dog’s owner—Fu Shilin.
He was watching Qiu Tian on the ground, his face apparently full of concern. But Li Wan noticed that, while everyone else was distracted, he quickly slipped something into his pocket.
Her eyes flickered. A suspicion formed in her mind, but without evidence she didn’t act rashly.
The vet arrived soon after. He took one look at the dog on the floor and frowned. “This—”
All eyes turned to him at once.
Fu Shilin’s heart tightened and he instinctively took a step forward. “Doctor, is there something wrong with Qiu Tian?”
The doctor seemed to pick up on something, looked up at him, then quickly shook his head. “We can’t be certain yet. I’ll take him for some tests first.”
Fu Shilin let out a breath of relief and smiled. “Alright, thank you for taking care of him, doctor.”
These two are working together!!
Li Wan saw it clearly: the doctor carried the dog outside and, just as the two men brushed past each other, she caught sight of Fu Shilin slipping a hand into his pocket, as if taking something out that he’d put in earlier.
From her angle their clothes blocked the view. Anxious, Li Wan instinctively pawed at Chi Yan’s shoulder, trying to stand up for a better look.
But the next moment, she was suddenly pressed—her whole cat body—into someone’s arms. Then the base of her tail… basically her butt, was lightly patted by a big hand.
“Behave.”
Li Wan : “…!!!”
Her whole cat face flushed scarlet in an instant!!
Wicked, wicked, wicked!! Meow meow meow!!
What is he doing, what is he doing, what is he doing?!
He touched the kitty’s butt!!
Shameless pervert!!!
Fuming, she sprang out of the two-legged creature’s arms, leapt back onto the cat tree, and flicked her tail irritably with her back to the man.
Hmph!!!
Du Qingqing, who had been watching the doctor leave, turned her head and, noticing something, said in surprise, “Wanwan’s angry?”
She looked at Chi Yan teasingly. “What’s this? Even sweet-tempered Wanwan can get mad?!”
Li Xiaoyun, not very familiar with cats, asked, “Angry? How come all of a sudden? Did she get scared just now?”
“Don’t say that, even I was startled by the way Qiu Tian looked just now.”
At her feet, Da Huang barked twice—“Woof woof”—as if to comfort her, its tail still wagging high.
Du Qingqing laughed. “No, no, this is what a little kitty does when she’s angry. She’ll sit all by herself up high, back to you, and her tail will swish like a fishing line.
“Xixi does the same. I figure what the kitty means is: ‘Pay attention to me, come coax me.’”
Zhou Jia looked over, interested. “Coax her?”
Chi Yan raised an eyebrow, a certain guess forming in his mind, and glanced over too.
At those words, the little kitten’s body stiffened. In a flash—*whoosh*—she tucked that disobedient tail away.
Du Qingqing burst out laughing at the move. “Hahahahaha, Teacher Chi, what did you do to make Wanwan this mad?”
Chi Yan : “……”
【Hahahahaha, I’ll answer that. What did he do? Teacher Chi acted like a rascal and patted the little kitty’s butt!!】
【The little kitty didn’t give him a paw swipe on the spot, that’s already merciful!!】
【Wanwan: ‘Detestable human with no sense of boundaries.’ .jpg】
【Guess Chi Yan just isn’t close enough to the kitty. My cat’s been raised by me since she was tiny; you can touch her anywhere.】
【Uh, buddy above, just because you’re close to your bro, does that mean you can drop your pants and let him have fun?】
【…Well that’s crude but not entirely wrong.】
【That was really scary just now, I got spooked too.】
【What’s going on with Qiutian? He completely ignored Fu Shilin calling him.】
【Maybe he’s just not used to him. Dogs are usually the most obedient.】
【Fu Shilin must be bad with dogs. Remember Qiu Tian was once an abandoned stray.】
【Lol, how can you tell he’s bad with dogs from that? Akitas are naturally fierce; they’re not really suited as pets.】
【Must be the production team’s fault. What if he really went crazy and bit a guest?】
【When a dog goes crazy it doesn’t recognize anyone.】
【Did you notice how he looked just now? Something was off. Does this dog have some illness?】
【I knew it, the production team is bullying our A’Lin. Why assign him a sick dog?】
【??? What are you talking about? When filming with pets, guests can refuse the assignment, okay?】
【Why not put a muzzle on Qiu Tian? Everyone knows Akitas are fierce; why no muzzle?】
【Fu Shilin is exactly the kind of dog owner I can’t stand.】
【He just wants the dog to attack Brother Chi!!】
【Oh please, Li Xiaoyun’s Da Huang isn’t muzzled either. Why single out A’Lin? You’re just haters.】
【Li Xiaoyun’s got hers on a leash and Da Huang is well-behaved, okay?】
The livestream viewership kept climbing. Staff sensed something was wrong and hurried to ask the director for instructions.
The director thought for a moment. “Whatever, our show will just issue a statement clarifying Qiu Tian’s health.”
Before long, Qiu Tian was brought back. The doctor said he’d already examined him: nothing wrong health-wise.
He explained the earlier reaction was probably because Qiu Tian was frightened and stressed.
He recommended giving Qiu Tian some medicine and letting him stay alone in a room for now.