At first, everyone thought Xixi was just a little scared and didn’t dare to come out. But after more than twenty minutes passed, no matter how people outside called to it, it didn’t respond at all.
Du Qingqing was terribly worried. After speaking to the director, she stepped forward, trying to coax the cat out of the cage.
But for some reason, the cat inside seemed to suddenly not recognize her anymore. Noticing her approach, it even hissed at her twice, sounding fierce.
Startled, Du Qingqing jumped back a step. Even when Xixi first came to her home, it had never shown such a strong aggressiveness.
She frowned tightly and looked at the director. “What should we do?”
The director hadn’t expected Xixi’s socialization to be this poor, and everyone looked at each other in dismay.
Li Xiaoyun thought for a moment and suggested, “Why don’t we put Xixi in a quiet place inside the villa first? Maybe once it’s alone, it’ll slowly calm down.”
Everyone felt that made some sense, so the director had staff step forward to carry the carrier into the villa.
But unexpectedly, whenever anyone other than Du Qingqing approached, Xixi became even more agitated, even baring its claws.
The staff considered putting on gloves and forcibly carrying the cat, but Du Qingqing’s heart clenched and she stopped him. “Why don’t I do it instead? It’s very scared. It’s already in a bad state. If it’s stimulated again, it might have a stress reaction.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Du Qingqing, while Li Wan looked thoughtful.
It seemed the female lead’s character wasn’t much different from the original novel. She really was a kind person.
Du Qingqing slowly crouched in front of the cage and reached out her hand. The cat inside glanced at her, still looking terrified, but upon recognizing her, it didn’t show any intent to attack.
Du Qingqing managed to rest her hand on Xixi’s head. Feeling her reassurance, the cat gradually calmed down, though it still had no intention of coming out.
Zhou Jia offered, “Sister Qingqing, since Xixi still trusts you, why don’t you just carry the carrier straight inside?”
Fu Shilin finally spoke as well. “Xixi is timid. We should hurry and move it to a quiet place.”
Of course, Du Qingqing knew this made sense. She gritted her teeth, nodded, and bent down to lift the carrier. But no one expected—a sudden change!
Xixi suddenly panicked, yowling loudly, its cries sounding especially pained. It even tried to stick its paw out to scratch Du Qingqing.
Although she had prepared herself mentally, its sudden frenzy still gave her a big fright!
Fortunately, her reason was intact. She instinctively held the carrier tighter, afraid of dropping it and scaring Xixi even more.
But seeing how terrified Xixi was, she couldn’t keep carrying it. She had no choice but to set it back down.
Once placed down again, Xixi seemed to feel safe. It calmed, curled up quietly inside, and warily watched the outside world.
Li Xiaoyun and the others looked worried. “Sister Qingqing, are you okay?!”
Du Qingqing shook her head. Xixi had accidentally scratched her just now, but the wound wasn’t too big.
Compared to her minor injury, she was far more worried about Xixi inside the carrier.
Fu Shilin noticed the red mark on the back of her hand, his gaze darkening. “Let me do it.”
“We’ll just carry it in by force and let it calm down on its own. Qingqing, your hand is injured, you need to be treated.”
But Du Qingqing blocked him.
“No! Xixi is already very scared. If it has a stress reaction, then—”
Fu Shilin, barely able to control his emotions, blurted out, “But it’s just a—”
He at least remembered the cameras were rolling, so he swallowed the rest of his words.
Du Qingqing sensed something in his tone and looked puzzled, but no one lingered on his slip.
Because just then, they heard another sound—a soft, tiny meow.
“Meow?”
—”Are you okay?”
Everyone instantly turned toward the little white kitten that had stepped forward. It shook out its fur and walked straight toward the cage.
Du Qingqing was stunned and looked toward Chi Yan. “She…”
Li Xiaoyun exclaimed, as if realizing something, “Is she talking to Xixi inside the carrier? Is she comforting it?!”
Fu Shilin, upset from seeing the woman he cared for get hurt, felt sour at the sight of the two cats. He immediately sneered. “How is that possible? Cats can’t be that smart. It’s not like they’re humans in disguise!”
【Wanwan big points!!】
【Wanwan is so kind!! Just now it ignored the freeze-dried treats, and now it’s even comforting another cat!!】
【No way, does anyone really believe that?】
【Fun fact: cats rarely use vocalizations to communicate with other cats. Comforting? LOL. Cats don’t have human emotions.】
While people were talking, Li Wan had already walked up to the carrier. To avoid startling Xixi again, she even brushed against Du Qingqing’s skirt to nudge her back a little.
Du Qingqing felt the tug and froze. “You… want me to step back a bit?”
Fu Shilin frowned. “It’s just a cat. What could it possibly do? We should just carry Xixi inside.”
—Hmph!
Li Wan got annoyed the moment she saw that guy. She blatantly rolled her eyes at him, then patted the girl’s knee with her soft, pale mangosteen-like paw. “Meow~”
—”Yeah, that’s right.”
Du Qingqing was completely baffled.
She didn’t know why, but she kept feeling like… this little kitten could actually understand what she was saying.
Following her cue, she stepped back a couple of paces. Everyone’s gaze, just like hers, was now fixed on the long-haired white kitten outside the carrier.
Including Chi Yan.
His peach-blossom eyes deepened slightly, as if he was pondering something.
He knew the kitten was smart, but he hadn’t expected her to be this smart.
Sensing his gaze, Li Wan suddenly turned her head, flicked her ears toward her two-legger, and went, “Meow~”
—”Don’t worry! Master Cat said she’s got your back!!”
Li Xiaoyun chuckled. “Why does it really feel like she’s talking?”
Chi Yan paused a little, but there was now a faint smile in his eyes.
Li Wan shifted her attention back to Xixi inside the carrier and softly mewed: “Meow~”
—“Are you okay?”
Xixi froze at her voice, then his ears quickly flattened back into airplane mode. “Hiss!!”
—“Go away!!”
Fu Shilin burst out laughing right then. “See? I told you, this cat can’t be trusted. If it ends up agitating Xixi even more, things are just going to get worse.”
Ugh, this male lead is so annoying!
Li Wan wanted to slap him across the head with her paw, but now wasn’t the right time. She continued soothing Xixi: “Don’t be scared. The humans outside don’t want to hurt you. They’re all very friendly.”
Xixi gradually quieted down. “They moved me away from my home and brought me here. They just want to hurt me!”
Through the gaps of the cage, it looked at her and frowned. “You’re so clean, you must’ve been raised by humans since you were little. Don’t trust them too much. Humans are bad!!!
“You don’t know because you’ve never experienced it. I wandered outside for a long time! They’ll lure you with food on purpose, then torture you! They’ll rip out your claws, forcefully!! It hurts so much!!
As it spoke, it seemed to recall the pain, whimpered pitifully, and licked its paw.
Li Wan knew some people abused cats, but she’d never truly heard it from a victim before. Just listening to it made her feel the pain herself.
She thought of Xixi’s past.
It was a purebred Maine Coon, bought from a pet shop by its first owner. But when the owner had to move, afraid of the outside world, the man simply abandoned it.
It wandered outside for a long time. When the show crew found it, it was badly injured. Its tail and paws were broken, and its claws had been deliberately torn out.
It was miserable.
Thankfully, later it followed Du Qingqing, who treated it very well.
Xixi said sadly : “If you have a good owner, that’s a blessing. But if your owner treats you badly, you should leave him quickly. Stay away from humans.”
Li Wan felt like it was about to cry, so she quickly comforted it clumsily: “Hey, my owner really is nice to me! And your owner treats you well too!”
Xixi snapped back angrily: “No, she doesn’t!! She’s siding with the humans outside, trying to hurt me!!”
It was hard for Li Wan to explain that they were on a variety show right now. She could only insist : “Really, really! If you don’t trust humans, can’t you at least trust me?! Isn’t she your human Mama? How could she hurt you? She just thinks you’re scared and wants to hold you away from these people.”
Xixi wavered, “But… it was her who brought me here.”
“Uh…”
Li Wan racked her brain, then explained the live broadcast in terms a cat could understand: “This is Mama Qingqing’s task too! If she doesn’t complete her task, she can’t take you home. By being here, we’re also showing humans how wonderful us kitties are! That way, fewer bad people will abuse cats!!”
Xixi glanced at the camera. According to this little white kitten, many humans were watching them through that dark hole.
He slowly started to believe her and relaxed a little.
Seeing this, Li Wan boldly walked into the cage, rubbed her head against it, and greeted it in the feline way of showing friendliness: “So don’t be afraid, okay? Your human Mama will protect you! If you keep hiding from her, she’ll be really sad!!”
Xixi instinctively turned its gaze to Du Qingqing, who was watching it with deep concern.
She really did look worried about it.
Xixi remembered it had accidentally scratched her just now, and flicked its tail irritably.
Li Wan pressed on : “You should go comfort her.”
Xixi agreed. With a “Meow~” he finally stepped out, rubbed against Du Qingqing’s ankle, and purred, “Meow, meow.”
—”I’m sorry, Mama.”
Du Qingqing’s eyes widened. “!!!”
She immediately turned to Chi Yan. “Teacher Chi! Your cat Wanwan really coaxed Xixi out!!!”