A week later, Shang Xuci returned home to recuperate, with Meng Jingxue, his attending physician, staying to take care of him.
Jian Xun was being closely tended to by the veterinarian Gu Ming had introduced. Every evening, when Meng Jingxue wasn’t around, he would sneak back to Shang Xuci’s house on three legs and howl at the window.
Shang Xuci would open the door for him. He always told the cat not to come while he was recovering, but Jian Xun never understood. The very next day, whenever Meng Jingxue was away, the cat would sneak in again.
That day, Jian Xun’s leg had improved slightly, and he could even open the door himself. Without meowing, he walked in, intending to surprise his boss.
In the living room, Shang Xuci had turned on the TV to listen to the local news. The broadcast was about a recent surge in cat thefts, with many residents reporting their pets missing.
The interviewees, both men and women, spoke through tears as they described their stolen cats, their voices full of worry for their furry companions’ safety.
Some of the owners of these missing cats had even formed a team dedicated to rescuing animals stolen by cat dealers.
The host advised cat owners to keep doors and windows securely closed and not allow their pets to roam freely.
Shang Xuci felt an inexplicable worry creep in. His fingers twitched, and he stood to pour himself a glass of water.
The cat padded toward him quietly.
Shang Xuci suddenly turned and stepped on something soft. He immediately lifted his foot.
Jian Xun stifled a cry, holding his tail and blowing on it.
It hurt.
“Sui Sui.” Shang Xuci’s heart raced in panic. Instinctively, he squatted down to check the cat. Remembering he had just stepped on him, he stroked his round head and asked, “You’re here again? Does it hurt?”
“Meow.”
Jian Xun held his tail and leaned closer, wanting to touch him.
Shang Xuci stepped back to avoid it.
“What’s wrong?” Meng Jingxue had returned to retrieve something. She hadn’t yet noticed the cat hiding in the corner, but as she approached, she began sneezing repeatedly.
“It’s fine. Sui Sui snuck in again.” Shang Xuci took out his phone and called Dr. Deng.
After he hung up, he beckoned the cat over and petted him again.
In a stern tone, he said, “Don’t wander around. What if you run into bad people again? What if those cat traffickers kidnap you? Can you outrun them?”
“And your leg—if you don’t let it heal, do you want to be crippled for life? Don’t make people worry.”
Shang Xuci was furious with himself for stepping on the cat, and his words came out sharper than he intended.
The lion cat’s ears tilted back. His white front paws pressed together, his head lowered as he looked at his tail.
He wanted to open his mouth to defend himself, but all that came out was a meow.
I just wanted to see if your eyes were feeling better.
There was no reply. After calming down, Shang Xuci sighed and stroked the cat, his voice low and gentle.
“Just stay at Dr. Deng’s house and recuperate. I’ll come get you when you’re better.”
Jian Xun was taken back to Dr. Deng’s.
Because of Shang Xuci’s harsh words, Jian Xun behaved more docilely over the next few days. One day, he saw on his dashboard that he still had some points left and decided to go back to the boss’s house. He planned to slip the candy he had saved into Shang Xuci’s pocket and then leave.
To avoid dirtying the candy, Jian Xun wrapped it in a handkerchief, picked it up, and limped determinedly toward Shang Xuci’s home.
Dr. Deng’s house was very close, which was why Jian Xun dared to “commit the crime” again. But this time, he was more cautious—he would only leave his gift, take a quick look from afar, and then head back.
In the yard, Xiao Sanhua was gone, likely taken away by Grandpa Sanhua.
Without stopping, Jian Xun slipped into the house through the cat hole. As he emerged, a fragrant aroma drifted from the kitchen.
On the sofa, Shang Xuci was resting. In the kitchen, Meng Jingxue, wearing an apron, was cooking.
After dinner, Meng Jingxue wheeled Shang Xuci outside for a walk.
“Do you want to see Sui Sui? I can take you there.”
“No, thanks.” He was afraid to see Sui Sui—the cat’s coquettish meow would make him want to take him home. He wanted to kiss the cat, sleep with the cat, and spend time with the cat.
Shang Xuci never thought this day would come.
Sui Sui wasn’t even a year old yet, and he had already injured his leg twice.
Shang Xuci touched the sandalwood bracelet on his wrist, his hand resting on his lap.
After this round of treatment, he decided, he would spend more time playing with the cat.
“Hey, there’s a candy stall across the street—it looks just like the ones we had when we were kids. Wait here, I’ll go buy some.”
Three minutes later, Meng Jingxue returned and placed a piece of candy in his hand.
“The packaging is exactly the same as when we were kids. I remember Aunt Shen loved stuffing these into your pockets.”
When Meng Jingxue was little, she rarely saw Shang Xuci eat snacks—not even desserts. In elementary school, everyone brought homemade lunchboxes from their mothers, but Shang Xuci always ate alone in the cafeteria.
Later, during a PE class, Meng Jingxue fell while running, tearing her skirt. Her classmates laughed, and she couldn’t help but cry. Only Shang Xuci, expressionless, walked over, helped her up, and gave her a piece of candy.
From then on, Meng Jingxue also fell in love with buying candy. Even now, as an adult, she would instinctively pick up a pretty piece to try.
But she had never again tasted the kind Shang Xuci once gave her.
Today, by chance, she came across it—and ended up buying an entire bucket.
“What color is this one?”
Shang Xuci pursed his lips and shoved his hands into his pockets, finding them empty.
In the past, the cat would always slip a piece of candy into his pocket. Now, there was none.
“This one has a deep red wrapper…”
Shang Xuci unwrapped the candy and tossed it into his mouth. The sweetness spread across his tongue, but something still felt missing.
Behind a tree, the cat watched as Meng Jingxue carried the bucket of candy. His eyes flickered, the light in them dimming as he lowered the candy bag to his paw.
He only had one.
The lion cat lifted his front paws, stamping them in slight embarrassment.
Last time, he had spent nearly all his points saving Shang Xuci, leaving him with only a few candies to redeem. He also knew treatments took a long time—if something happened to the boss later, all his efforts would be for nothing.
Even though he knew the two candies had different effects, he still couldn’t suppress his frustration.
Cooking.
Walking.
Changing dressings.
Meng Jingxue took meticulous care of Shang Xuci.
The two of them truly looked like a perfect match.
But no matter how hard he tried, he was still just a cat.
He couldn’t give the same companionship Meng Jingxue could.
The snow-white cat cautiously pulled back his forward paw, his ears drooping. Lowering his head to sniff the candy, he picked it up and turned to leave.
Jian Xun didn’t want to cause any trouble for the veterinarian, worried she might panic if he went missing.
But just as he turned around, a group of children crowded near.
“Wow! It’s a lion cat! What’s that thing in its mouth?”
“So cute! Is he hurt? His leg is bandaged.”
“What should I do? I want to steal it and keep it.”
Jian Xun wasn’t alarmed by the first few comments, but when he heard them talk about stealing him, he leapt up and bolted.
Not far away, Shang Xuci heard the words lion cat and turned toward the noise.
“Is that Sui Sui?”
Meng Jingxue glanced in the same direction but saw nothing.
“No way. Sui Sui’s at Dr. Deng’s house. How could she be out? The kids must’ve seen another lion cat.”
Even so, Shang Xuci’s heart was restless. He fiddled with his beads and murmured softly, “Let’s go back.”
People always like to act like scoundrels.
When he had sent Sui Sui to Dr. Deng, he’d thought it would just be a temporary stay—a treat for both the cat and the humans.
Now there were no meows, and Sui Sui hadn’t sneaked over, leaving him uneasy. He wondered why the cat hadn’t come to see him today. Perhaps it was still frightened by his harsh tone the other day—Sui Sui was so timid.
Shang Xuci reached for his phone, intending to call Dr. Deng to confirm.
He had just started to turn his wheelchair when Meng Jingxue interrupted him.
“Wait, I think I see someone I know.”
She stared intently at the man and woman entering the cinema arm in arm, nervously pulling out her phone to take a photo.
Zooming in, she saw that it was indeed the woman she suspected.
“Huh? Who?” Hearing the surprise in her tone, Shang Xuci looked up slightly.
“Shang Ye, and…” Meng Jingxue hesitated.
When she had just started elementary school, Meng Jingxue noticed Shang Xuci smiling less and less. Later, she learned he had a half-brother—an older brother. Wasn’t this the result of infidelity?
It was one of the reasons she disliked Shang Ye.
After their encounter on the cruise ship that day, Meng Jingxue realized she still liked Shang Xuci just as much as before, and she quickly searched for information about him.
That was when she discovered he had a fiancée.
Her heart had dropped instantly.
Curious about what kind of woman Shang Xuci liked, she had looked up Jiang Yuanqing’s profile.
Later, she found out their engagement seemed to be purely for marriage arrangements—Shang Xuci didn’t truly like her.
That knowledge had brought her relief.
Now, seeing Jiang Yuanqing and Shang Ye walking together, their gestures intimate, she felt surprised, angry, and—deep down—secretly pleased.
Did Shang Xuci know? Did he care?
“You’re hesitating. That’s not like you. Who else could it be besides him?”
“Your fiancée,” Meng Jingxue said at last, pausing and glancing at Shang Xuci’s expression.
Unfortunately, the man’s eyes were covered with a cloth, his lips pressed into a straight line, revealing no discernible emotion.
“Let’s go back.”
Shang Xuci didn’t care about Jiang Yuanqing at all. Right now, his unease was for another reason—he had a strong feeling that the cat earlier had been Sui Sui.
Meanwhile, after his panicked escape, Jian Xun had headed straight for Shang Xuci’s house. This time, he slipped in through the cat hole, went straight to the study, quickly placed the candy on the table, and then returned to Dr. Deng’s treatment center.
Whether Shang Xuci would notice the candy remained uncertain.
Jian Xun was preoccupied, walking and thinking. When he returned to the house, he saw Dr. Deng sprawled across the table, asleep.
The cat breathed a sigh of relief and curled up on the cat mat he had brought from home, wrapping his tail around himself.
He soon drifted off.
A few minutes later, the phone rang. Half-asleep, he heard Dr. Deng say the cat was still there, and the camera panned over to him.
Then a gentle female voice followed.
“Sui Sui is asleep.”
After a period of recuperation, Jian Xun’s injuries had healed back to their previous state.
He happily jumped and spun around in the yard.
Dr. Deng filmed the scene as requested by her employer.
The cat could finally go home.
Jian Xun purred excitedly, imagining himself leaping onto Shang Xuci’s lap, wrapping his front paws around the man’s narrow waist, and rubbing his head against his belly.
He missed the faint scent of alpine pine snow on him.
When the time came, he would meow sweetly, and a pair of large hands would gently stroke him—from his head, down his neck, along his back, to his belly—before softly patting his rump…
The cat looked up, picturing that heartwarming scene, and couldn’t help but close his eyes.
“Sui Sui, come on. I’ll take you to see Boss Shang first. You must miss him too.” Dr. Deng, having packed her things, smiled as she walked over to him.
She still remembered the first time she had come to pick up Sui Sui—how he had waited nervously, clutching a cat mat in his mouth, looking distraught at the beautiful couple behind him.
Boss Shang had agreed to bring some cat toys. But instead of choosing Qiuqiu’s or the others, the white cat had struggled to pull a shirt from a cardboard box and place it on his cat mat.
At night, he would sleep with the shirt in his arms.
It seemed the cat really liked Boss Shang.
Hehe, she liked Boss Shang too. Handsome, rich, and kind.
Most importantly, he was generous—one month’s pay from him was worth three years of her usual salary.
“Don’t you agree, Sui Sui? Your master is so handsome!” Dr. Deng looked at the cat with motherly tenderness. “And Dr. Meng is such a beautiful woman. Aren’t they a perfect match?”
Jian Xun, who usually meowed at every question, remained silent this time.
He lowered his head, staring at his paws.
But the thought of meeting Shang Xuci quickly lifted his spirits.
Eager to see him, the cat followed as they headed out.
…
Shang Xuci’s house.
The yard.
Dr. Deng waved at Meng Jingxue with a smile. “Dr. Meng, what are you busy with in the yard?”
Meng Jingxue, squatting on the grass, looked up and smiled. “I’m planting flowers.”
She set down her shovel, stood, dusted the dirt from her hands, and added, “I want the first thing Xuci sees when his eyes heal to be a yard full of flowers.”
“Dr. Deng, what brings you here now?”
“I came to drop off the cat.” Dr. Deng turned and lifted the carrier she was holding.
“Oh, I forgot,” Meng Jingxue exclaimed.
“It’s fine, I’ll just bring him over.”
“No,” Meng Jingxue said, a little embarrassed. “I’m allergic to cat hair.”
“Huh?!”
Just as Dr. Deng began to take the cat out, her hand froze.
“Wait here, I’ll go get Shang Xuci.”
As Meng Jingxue left, Dr. Deng’s hand resumed its motion.
“Poor Sui Sui.”
The hostess was allergic to cat hair. She could already imagine what Sui Sui’s future life here might be like…
But the peaceful cat in her arms suddenly wriggled free, leapt to the ground, and darted inside.
Why didn’t you come get Sui Sui?
Jian Xun ran into the house and found no one. He headed straight for the bedroom and study, moving faster than Meng Jingxue. He reached the study first.
Shang Xuci sat in his office chair, a cup of coffee in hand, his tone sharp and displeased.
“Why has Liji’s project been halted again?” He paused. “I want to hear the truth.”
The coffee cup had just landed on the table.
Thump, thump, thump—
A heavy ball landed on his lap. Before Shang Xuci could even register what it was, a pitiful meowing sound continued without pause.
The cat stretched its head forward, waiting for him to touch it.
Shang Xuci tentatively extended his hand, and the furry head leaned in to meet it.
Purr—
A look of satisfaction and comfort spread across the cat’s face.
At the doorway, Meng Jingxue paused. She saw Shang Xuci smiling—a smile she hadn’t seen in a long time. It was a joy so unguarded, so genuine.
She quietly stepped back and went downstairs to greet Dr. Deng.
….
The study.
Shang Xuci stroked the cat’s ears, rubbed the top of its head, and lightly kneaded its paw pads. With a smile, he asked, “Baby, why didn’t you wait for me to pick you up?”
His gentle smile and warm voice carried across the video conference, and on the other side of the ocean, the employees froze in horror.
Baby?
The boss’s… baby?!
Before Jian Xun could make a sound, Shang Xuci’s tone suddenly turned cold.
“The person in charge will write me a report and a remedial plan, and send it to Secretary Fu Qian within three days.”
With that, he ended the meeting.
Jian Xun was still lost in the bliss of being petted. When he heard that affectionate nickname, tears welled in his round eyes. Hugging Shang Xuci’s waist, he whimpered and rubbed his head against him.
I really missed you so much.