The guests downstairs heard the commotion and quickly came up.
Seeing the scene before them, they instantly understood what was going on.
No one could utter a word, until Du Qingqing, covering her mouth in shock, finally exclaimed, “You actually treated Qiu Tian like that…!”
Fu Shilin’s heart gave a jolt. Cold sweat soaked his back. He instinctively stepped forward to explain, “No, I didn’t! It was the dog who tried to attack me!!”
【See? I told you, there’s no way A’Lin would hurt a dog. He’s totally innocent!!】
【At the start it was Chi Yan who brought the cameraman upstairs on purpose, he wanted everyone to see that scene. He’s clearly framing our A’Lin!!】
【I knew it, Chi Yan is no good!!】
【Oh please, Fu Shilin’s fans are unbelievable, still defending him even now.】
【He could bring down the sky and his fans would still prop it up with their mouths. And you still say someone’s framing him?】
【Everyone knows the cameraman’s camera was livestreaming the whole time. We all clearly saw Wanwan heading upstairs to play first; Brother Chi and the cameraman just followed.】
【Then that means it’s the cat targeting A’Lin!! That cat’s so clever, did you see it? It can even open doors!!】
【It understands everything; it just wants to frame our A’Lin!!】
The barrage of comments turned into a wave of ridicule.
【I’m not even a Chi Yan fan and I can’t stand this. I’ve seen people falsely accuse someone, but blaming a cat for everything? Really?】
【No matter how smart a cat is, it’s still just a cat!!】
【I can’t stop laughing, who was it again who kept promoting himself as born to be a furry magnet?】
No matter how desperately Fu Shilin’s die-hard fans tried to whitewash the situation, plenty of fans unfollowed him on the spot, and his public reputation plummeted.
Meanwhile Fu Shilin kept trying to explain, “I didn’t mean to hurt him on purpose, he really jumped at me himself!!”
Du Qingqing stared wide-eyed at Qiutian, who lay on the floor barely clinging to life. “You say it wasn’t on purpose?!”
“Fu Shilin, then tell me, what is that in your hand?!”
Fu Shilin froze. Instinctively he tried to hide the controller behind his back. “I…”
Du Qingqing pressed on, “This afternoon I already suspected it wasn’t some sudden stress reaction. Qiu Tian obviously isn’t timid, how could he suddenly be startled like that!!
“You were shocking him!!”
Everyone’s attention snapped to her words.
Li Xiaoyun instinctively hugged Da Huang beside her. “Shocking? How?”
Du Qingqing didn’t dare look at the near-lifeless Qiu Tian on the ground. Just imagining it made her think of her own pet Xixi.
She couldn’t bear to imagine how much pain Qiu Tian felt when Fu Shilin pressed that button!
“You said you loved animals, that’s why you joined this cute-pet reality show!
Fu Shilin, you’ve really disappointed me!!”
Fu Shilin had pursued her for quite some time and always seemed decent. She’d even thought that after this show they might get together. But she never expected—
He turned out to be this kind of person!!
It was all an act!!
If he could treat his own dog like this, what if she stayed with him, clueless—how would he treat her Xixi then…?
A cold sweat broke out all over Du Qingqing.
On the other side, Zhou Jia quietly explained, “It’s probably through the collar around Qiu Tian’s neck. They sell those online, mostly labeled as ‘anti-bark collars,’ but anyone with eyes can tell what they really are…”
Everyone shuddered.
【I know about those too!!】
【I follow a blogger who rescues stray animals, two of the dogs they saved were wearing those collars!!】
【Fu Shilin is disgusting!! He even marketed himself as someone who loves animals, but he’s actually abusing his dog!!】
【No wonder he never puts a muzzle or leash on Qiu Tian, he had a secret way to control him all along.】
【The more you think about it, the scarier it gets. No wonder Qiu Tian never seemed close to him.】
At that moment Fu Shilin’s fan group also stirred. Many fans left the group, while a major fan tried to calm things down:
【Everyone, don’t worry.
【Please trust our A’Lin. He’s not that kind of person. We just need to wait for the studio’s official clarification.】
But it still couldn’t stop the rapid drop in his Weibo follower count.
“Qingqing, I…”
Facing the look of disappointment in the girl he loved, Fu Shilin was so furious he almost felt sick!
How could this happen!!
He had clearly checked beforehand. Everyone was supposed to be downstairs.
How did they suddenly come up!!
Right! It was Chi Yan!!
His eyes widened. He suddenly glared at Chi Yan and that hateful cat in his arms!!
It was Chi Yan who, for some unknown reason, brought the cameraman upstairs and exposed everything!!
Chi Yan had framed him!!
Despicable!!
Fu Shilin’s fists clenched until his knuckles cracked, but remembering the livestream, he had to swallow his anger.
A wise man knows when to submit.
Gritting his teeth, he wanted to defend himself, but just then the director from downstairs arrived and signaled to cut the livestream.
He ushered the guests away, then turned to Fu Shilin and said, “Mr. Fu, I expect you to give both our production team and the audience an explanation.”
By now Qiu Tian had already been taken away by the vet for examination. Because the vet that afternoon hadn’t found anything wrong, the director suspected the vet might be involved with Fu Shilin and had already replaced with another vet.
The director himself loved animals—his own home was full of pets—and he often took part in rescuing stray cats and dogs.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have spent so much money filming this kind of cute-pet variety show that isn’t even that popular in China.
As for shocking cats and dogs with electricity, no one who keeps pets at home could possibly tolerate something like that.
The director’s whole face had gone cold, though he still kept in mind the capital backing Fu Shilin; otherwise, he would have thrown him out on the spot.
Fu Shilin’s face twitched at those words, but he still managed to force a stiff smile. “I know. I will.”
Because of this sudden incident, the program team paused the live broadcast and told all the guests to take their pets back to their rooms to rest.
Back in the room, Li Wan was plunked down on the sofa to stand.
The man’s dark, slightly fox-shaped eyes carried a faint, elusive smile as he looked down at her. “You don’t like him?”
He couldn’t even be bothered to ask whether she had done it on purpose. To outsiders, this cat might just seem a little cleverer than most. But as the one who spent the most time with her, he knew very well—
She was smart like a person.
What had just happened was obviously the cat deliberately leading him upstairs so the camera would broadcast everything Fu Shilin had done.
Only… why?
Li Wan’s body stiffened. Then she blinked her wet, shining eyes and put on an innocent act: “Meow, meow~”
—Brother, what are you talking about? Little kitty doesn’t understand~
Chi Yan narrowed his eyes. “Don’t pretend.”
“……”
Seeing that she couldn’t bluff her way out, Li Wan decided she was very clever. Tilting her head, she rubbed her fluffy head against the man.
Once.
She pricked her ears, secretly peeking up at him.
Okay, no reaction.
Rub again.
She stole another glance, feeling guilty.
Still no reaction. He even took a step back.
Her butler’s heart is as hard as iron, wuwuwu QAQ.
She refused to give up. Once more she arched her fluffy body and fawned against him.
Only to miss that she was standing at the edge, and her paw slipped right off!
“Meow!!” Li Wan yelped in fright, but the next instant she was grabbed by the scruff of her neck and set back on the sofa.
“That’s enough.” Chi Yan couldn’t help but laugh, clicking his tongue low. “Such a fawning cat.”
With that, he casually ruffled the fur on her head, coming away with a handful of loose hair.
Looking disgusted, he picked her up off the sofa and set her on the floor. “Why are you still shedding? You’ve been eating fish oil for so long.”
Little kitty : “Meow.”
—No idea.
Well, it made sense. The original body was just a little stray, poorly fed, so of course her fur wasn’t great.
Even though she’d been eating fish oil, it hadn’t been long enough to show much effect.
Chi Yan couldn’t understand her meows. He just stared at her for a while; in appearance, there still wasn’t anything different from other cats.
…If he had to say, maybe being exceptionally cute counted.
Chi Yan pondered.
He couldn’t figure it out, so he simply set the matter aside for now.
Honestly, he was quite pleased with this cat—especially after seeing all the other animals the production had brought.
Two dogs: silly and clumsy. Xi Xi: big but timid. And that dumb rabbit—no comment.
Only his cat was, well, barely presentable.
Though he didn’t know why the cat had targeted Fu Shilin, the outcome pleased him.
As long as Fu Shilin was upset, he was happy.
After a moment’s thought, he fetched a can of cat food and put it in the bowl.
Li Wan : “!! Meow-woo meow-woo!!”
—Butler is so generous!!
The unexpected reward left her dizzy. She buried her head in the bowl and devoured it wildly.
When she finally lifted her head, satisfied, she saw the butler picking up his clothes and heading for the bathroom.
She padded over and leapt onto the small desk. “Meow meow~”
—Kitty will wait for you~
But who knew what was going through the man’s head. He just gave her a disgusted look and flicked her on the forehead.
“Not bringing you. I’m taking a shower. Lewd cat.”
Li Wan : “…!!!”
She so did not want to go!!!
“Meow meow meow!!!”
She lashed her tail several times in protest, even bared her teeth at him. Watching Chi Yan enter the bathroom and close the door, she decided all these gestures had worked as intimidation.
Hmph!
Impudent two-legged creature!
Only because the great Master Cat chooses not to hold it against you! Hmph hmph hmph!!
The sound of running water came from the bathroom. The little kitten knew perfectly well it wouldn’t splash on her, but she still stepped back a bit.
Left alone in the room, Li Wan grew a little bored. After making a perfunctory patrol of her territory, she hopped onto the desk and switched on the computer.
One glance, and she quickly pulled her head back.
There was a password.
Darn it.
Kitty, dejected-face.jpg.
Thinking of her two-legger from earlier, the tips of the little cat’s ears twitched.
This butler was so different from the night he’d had that episode.
Li Wan drifted into thought.
If Fu Shilin hadn’t stirred up all that trouble, if the world hadn’t been so biased against Chi Yan, then surely he would have always been this kind of man—
A man whose smile bloomed like peach blossoms touched with sunlight.