The piano music suddenly faltered, and Charcoal Ball Eunuch had jumped onto the keys, causing chaos.
Qilan immediately snapped awake, jerking her head up just before it could touch Liang Jianshi’s shoulder.
Still dazed, she took advantage of the moment when Liang Jianshi was shooing the cat off the piano to stand up, make an excuse, and bid farewell.
She ran all the way back with her face burning and her heart racing, burying her head in her pillow to let out a silent howl.
“What had possessed her? What had possessed her!”
That was way too forward. What would Liang Jianshi think of her?
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
She turned into a cat around noon the next day.
As soon as she woke up, a delicious cat meal was waiting for her.
A pasteurized egg, two grilled tuna sushi rolls to aid digestion, topped with nutritious caviar.
While eating upstairs, she heard voices downstairs.
“According to our investigation, the one truly obstructing our research is the Zheng family, Zheng Yongyu. Your guess was correct. He has already made several moves before this.”
“The Zheng family is at its peak right now, and that Zheng Yongyu is especially ambitious. He’s constantly trying to replace our Lanxing Group. He’s already been causing trouble both openly and secretly, and now he’s reaching into this area. Should we take some measures?”
Qilan lay sprawled on the carpet, her legs crossed, looking thoughtful.
Liang Jianshi’s position as the richest man had always been unshakable. If someone could threaten Lanxing, this Zheng Yongyu must be quite a figure. She wondered if he would be a match for Liang Jianshi.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Since her disappearance and return, Liang Jianshi had been even more meticulous in caring for her.
After finishing the food in her bowl, Liang Jianshi picked up the cat, placed her on his lap, and fed her some vitamins.
Charcoal Ball Eunuch was beside them, his head buried in his cat food bowl like a little excavator.
Both of them looked away from the black cat and met each other’s eyes. Liang Jianshi brushed the cat’s fur with a small comb. “Compared to him, you’re definitely smarter. You know what tastes good.”
Qilan rolled over and nuzzled her head against his arm.
“Of course. She was the smartest little cat in the world.”
Her little show of affection pleased Liang Jianshi greatly. The man pinched her chubby cheeks, picked up the cat, who was now quite heavy, and carried her upstairs.
He filled the tub with warm water and added some cat shampoo. Once the bubbles had formed nicely, Liang Jianshi stood up and patted her head. “Bathe yourself nicely. I’ll come back after my meeting.”
Even though she was a cat, Qilan wasn’t afraid of water at all. In fact, she loved taking baths. The room had a temperature control system, so as long as she was careful, she wouldn’t catch a cold.
As soon as Liang Jianshi left, she plopped into the water, her wet head popping up, paddling back and forth with her paws a few times.
When she got tired, she leaned against the edge of the tub.
Her two paws rested on the rim, her body leaning back, the layers of fat on her belly rippling; she looked exactly like one of those content uncles at a bathhouse.
She scrubbed herself skillfully in the water. When her paw touched her belly, she frowned, looked down, and seemed to realize she was getting a bit too fat, almost unsightly.
“Tsk… maybe she should lose some weight.” She adjusted the little towel wrapped around her head like a sheep’s horn.
After drying off with the blow dryer, Qilan started belly dancing.
Hip twists, waist turns, shakes.
Her primordial pouch jiggled with each movement, every shake sending ripples through her fat.
If she had a bell in her paw, it would be even more entertaining.
The black cat watched, dumbfounded.
When she got tired of belly dancing, Qilan grabbed one of Liang Jianshi’s ties and started skipping rope in the room.
After being a cat for so long, she had already learned to stand on two legs.
She got tired after three jumps and beckoned the black cat over.
Though not as smart as Qilan, Charcoal Ball Eunuch was still fairly clever for a cat. Qilan swung the tie back and forth a couple of times, demonstrating for him. To her surprise, he actually understood. The fifteenth time she swung the tie behind him, he lifted his paw and stepped through it.
Qilan patted his head approvingly with her paw. Charcoal Ball Eunuch happily nuzzled against her paw pad. The scene of a cat petting a cat was both strange and harmonious.
While Liang Jianshi was in his meeting downstairs, Qilan was upstairs playing double-cat jump rope with Charcoal Ball Eunuch. Though they were slow, they were having a great time.
Getting carried away, Qilan tried to demonstrate a yoga pose on the bed, hoping he would learn.
The white cat stood gracefully on one leg, her right paw holding her right heel, her left paw stretched straight ahead. Her chubby body slowly leaned forward, her back leg lifting.
Charcoal Ball Eunuch tilted his head, looking even more confused.
After a long time of trying, he only ever managed to do downward dog, and only as a stretch. Qilan gave up.
“Never mind. Let’s do sit-ups instead.”
After some effort, Qilan finally taught Charcoal Ball Eunuch to crouch on her feet. Once that was set, she wrapped her paws around her head and started doing crunches.
“Such a disciplined cat today!”
On her fifth rep, the door suddenly opened. Liang Jianshi walked in.
Startled, Qilan kicked Charcoal Ball Eunuch, who had been crouching obediently, and launched herself at Liang Jianshi with lightning speed.
Her instinct had been to cover his eyes or block his view, but it looked more like she was throwing herself into his arms.
Liang Jianshi caught the cat that had suddenly lunged at him with some difficulty. A flash of confusion crossed his face, then he looked at Charcoal Ball Eunuch, who had gotten up and was hissing at him, and seemed to understand.
“Are you bullying Lanlan again?”
Charcoal Ball Eunuch:?
Liang Jianshi settled the cat more securely in his arms and gave the black cat a stern warning. “Hiss again, and you’ll get a can of cat meat.”
Charcoal Ball Eunuch understood. He suppressed the streetwise attitude he’d had from his days on the streets, hesitated for a moment, then obediently picked up the tie from the floor and brought it over to Liang Jianshi.
When Liang Jianshi saw his tie, his eyebrows rose. Qilan guiltily buried her face in his chest.
“Not mine. Don’t bring it to me.”
Liang Jianshi picked up the tie and looked at it for a long moment, speechless. But he wasn’t about to hold a grudge against a cat.
If they liked to play, they could play. He took a teaser wand from the drawer and hung it on the door. The black cat’s eyes lit up at the sight. He bounced around excitedly, chasing the “mouse,” looking like he could play tirelessly until the next morning.
Charcoal Ball Eunuch was overjoyed, as if he had been given the whole world. Liang Jianshi watched him for a moment. Compared to the white cat, this black cat was far easier to please.
That only highlighted how clever and adorable his little white cat was.
Liang Jianshi rubbed Qilan’s warm forehead with satisfaction and carried her slowly downstairs.
“You should put away your own tie after playing with it. Don’t just pounce on me when you’re being bullied. What good does pouncing on me do? What if I’m not around?”
He teased the cat gently, his fingers pinching the tip of her ear.
Qilan meowed.
“Did he expect a cat to put away her own things?”
Even though she found it ridiculous, she rolled over in his arms a couple of times and let out a few mews, pretending she understood.
Charcoal Ball Eunuch was furious at Liang Jianshi’s double standard!
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Liang Jianshi placed Qilan on the desk and left for the study.
Bored, Qilan lifted her paw to look at it. It looked a little dirty. Having just taken a bath, she refused to have any black spots on her fur. She reached into a nearby glass, dampened her paws with a little water, and started rubbing them together.
When Liang Jianshi returned, he picked up the cat, held her in his arms, turned on his computer, and continued the meeting.
After speaking a few words, he unhesitatingly picked up that glass of water and downed it in one go.
Qilan’s paw movements stopped mid-rub. Her eyes went wide as she stared at him.
“Liang Jianshi hadn’t stopped drinking from glass cups!?”
Meanwhile, all the employees in the meeting stared in stunned silence at the scene before them. The company group chat remained calm, but the smaller department group chats exploded.
[Holy crap, the chairman just drank his cat’s paw-washing water!]
[He didn’t hesitate! That smooth motion breaks my heart!]
[Downed it in one go! He could probably go for another cup!]
[It doesn’t seem like he noticed anything strange about the taste…]
When the meeting ended, the employees, who had been holding it in with great difficulty, finally let loose in the chat after turning off their videos.
Liang Jianshi had felt something stuck in his mouth, somewhat uncomfortable.
As he went to the kitchen and turned on the faucet, Qilan stood on her hind legs and placed her paw on the hand he was about to put into his mouth.
Her lake-blue eyes looked at him earnestly, “Trust me. Just rinse your mouth with water. The truth might be more than you can handle.”
Liang Jianshi clearly didn’t appreciate her good intentions. He reached into his mouth, found the culprit, and pulled out two white cat hairs.
Liang Jianshi: …
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
In the evening, some people came to move things.
Qilan, who had been playing with her paws, sat up in surprise. Liang Jianshi, holding her with one hand, shifted her onto his shoulder and carried her to another room.
She didn’t understand what he was up to.
Seeing her confused look, Liang Jianshi curved his lips and pressed his forehead against hers. “I’ll take you to see something later.”
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Beneath the starry night sky, Yicheng was ablaze with lights. In the terrace garden on the C building of the hotel, several socialites strolled and chatted, heading from the C building’s connecting bridge to the top floor of the E building.
“I’m so curious about what it’ll be like.”
“Yeah, this terrace is Wanwan’s favorite spot. It had a lot of character before. I wonder what they’ve transformed it into. We get to see it thanks to Wanwan.”
Lin Anyuan seemed a bit embarrassed by her friends’ teasing. “It might not be for me, you know.”
Her friends thought she was just being shy. “Didn’t Liang Jianshi send you flowers? And he invited you here today. Don’t worry, it’s definitely for you.”
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
The terrace on the E building was above Liang Jianshi’s presidential suite. After being closed off for some time, a construction team had come in to renovate, and now it was complete.
Liang Jianshi took Qilan through a VIP passage to a private elevator that went up to his suite. A room to the left had been modified, the door was removed, the frame widened, and a staircase had been added inside.
The staircase led directly to the large terrace above.
When Liang Jianshi carried her up, and she saw the view, Qilan could hardly believe her eyes.
Before her was a large, warmly decorated hall. The spacious, square room was bright and airy, with various cat toy combinations arranged in different zones. It must have been specially designed; on the left was a play area modeled after hamster obstacle courses. When activated, wheels and elevators would start moving, allowing Qilan to explore different routes, collect little gifts, and complete various challenges. Advanced safety mechanisms and soft materials would protect her from harm.
And there were many other, even more interesting play sets, more than Qilan had ever seen, waiting for her to explore later.
“If you get tired of these, we can change them anytime.”
Liang Jianshi spoke as he carried her to her own dedicated room.
Qilan was already in shock, unable to react. What she saw next completely overwhelmed her.
A wall of closets filled with countless little dresses, all sorts of costumes, novel animal-themed outfits… everything she could imagine and more. There were miniature houses and scenes faithfully recreated from fairy tales, from large treehouses to small hot air balloons from “The Wizard of Oz”, all waiting for her to open doors and discover step by step.
These were the kinds of things that would normally cost people a fortune in amusement park tickets, but now they belonged to a cat.
As Liang Jianshi spoke to her with a smile, Qilan felt like she couldn’t hear anything, only an overwhelming emotion welling up inside her.
She had misunderstood Liang Jianshi before, after hearing all that gossip.
It had never occurred to her that he would build a cat amusement park for her.
The terrace on the E building’s top floor wasn’t a gift for Lin Anyua; it was for her.
And all those carts of flowers, because Qilan couldn’t be around flowers as a cat, Liang Jianshi had agreed to let Lin Anyuan take them when she asked.
Liang Jianshi held her paw, guiding her to hold the scissors. His voice was soft as he lowered his head, speaking to her like a child. “Miss Lanlan, let’s cut the ribbon together. This place is yours.”
As the little red ribbon was cut, Qilan felt something inside her snap as well.
Assistant Wu watched with a beaming smile, applauding in congratulations, but inwardly, he was weeping.
“In his next life, he wasn’t going to be human!”
Wiping away a tear of heartfelt sorrow, he picked up his walkie-talkie, his voice choked with emotion. “The ribbon-cutting is done. You can close off the passage from C building to E building now.”
Lin Anyuan and her friends had just stepped off the connecting bridge when the passage in front of them was sealed.
Lin Anyuan, who had thought the terrace was a gift for her?
One of her friends hurried forward. “What are you doing!?”