When Hu Lu carried Qilan out of the cage, Qilan didn’t bite her.
Her jewel-like eyes were wide open as she stared at Hu Lu.
Initially, when Hu Lu had taken Qilan in a carrier to the other house, Qilan hadn’t had a stress reaction. She had thought her kitten’s body had grown accustomed to external stimuli. But what happened with Lin Anyuan had triggered a reaction again, proving she was wrong; the stress response was still there when danger came.
It seemed Lanlan was immune to Hu Lu.
How strange. Was Hu Lu really that Affinity?
For some reason, Qilan couldn’t stop thinking about it. When Tong Tong returned, she mentioned Hu Lu.
Tong Tong handed Qilan a cleaned apple. “Hu Lu? I thought you had a conflict with her; you usually don’t even want to hear her name. Why bring her up today?”
Qilan chewed on the apple, her words a bit muffled. “I was wondering if my judgment of her was too subjective.”
Tong Tong took off her shoes and crossed her legs. “Your personalities… they’re like two different substances. You’re water, and she’s fire. Hu Lu is aggressive and forceful in everything she does, while you’re considerate and gentle. You’re like oil and water; neither appreciates the other. But from my perspective, I like your style, but I don’t dislike Hu Lu’s approach either. Have you ever considered that maybe she’s not as bad as you imagined?”
Qilan now agreed with Tong Tong’s viewpoint.
Earlier, when Liang Jianshi had chosen Hu Lu to take care of the cat, Qilan had been angry at his poor judgment. But after seeing Hu Lu protect the cat in the garden yesterday, Qilan gradually felt that Liang Jianshi’s decision might have been right.
Aside from Hu Lu, that reckless fool, who in a star-rated hotel centered on service would dare to confront a guest like Lin Anyuan so head-on? Back then, Hu Lu had scared Lin Anyuan so much that she was stunned; she had never expected a mere employee to treat her like that.
Feeling relieved that one of her grudges had lessened, Qilan remembered the tuna cans she had borrowed from Lanlan’s storage and happily went to get them to share with Tong Tong.
“Why are you eating fruit like me? I have something good.”
“I’m on a diet. Don’t go to the trouble.”
Tong Tong leaned over to stop her, but couldn’t. Qilan had already opened the can.
Seeing what was inside, Qilan’s expression changed.
“How could this be…”
The meat inside had all turned black and green, covered in white mold.
Tong Tong helped her throw the can away. “Don’t be upset. I’ll figure out a way to get you some meat.”
Qilan was in a bad mood. After all her hard work carrying those cans, what she had transported turned out to be spoiled goods.
Tong Tong tilted her head and brushed aside Qilan’s bangs, winking playfully. “So upset over food? How about I tell you some good news to cheer you up?”
Qilan didn’t expect Tong Tong to say anything particularly joyful. She listlessly asked, “What news?”
“You’ve been rehired. Starting today, you can go back to your old job!”
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Qilan’s photo was rehung on the employee wall, and the hotel formally signed a contract with her.
Going back to her old job meant returning to Liang Jianshi’s side as his private butler.
Liang Jianshi returned on the afternoon after the day Lin Anyuan had broken into the garden. Qilan overheard people talking, saying that during construction on one of Liang Jianshi’s sites, an ancient tomb had been unearthed.
The building definitely couldn’t proceed. She wondered if he was upset about it.
After thinking it over, Qilan decided not to risk being the target of his frustration.
Standing at the door, she took a few deep breaths and placed a sticky note on Liang Jianshi’s desk.
Besides a polite greeting, it also contained necessary inquiries.
Before she had first come to serve Liang Jianshi, the director had gone over many things with her, including allergies, schedule, biological clock, dietary restrictions, and more. But since all communication had been between his assistant and the hotel, not Liang Jianshi himself, preferences weren’t set in stone. So the director required Qilan to follow up promptly and make service adjustments as needed.
Her first attempt at communication had ended without resolution. Qilan set aside all the unpleasantness and tried a different approach, caring for the guest’s daily needs.
She had rewritten the note multiple times, carefully choosing her words. After reading it over several times, she nervously tucked it under the base of the desk lamp.
As she left, her back was damp with sweat.
Qilan clutched the corner of her shirt and let out a long breath.
She wondered if Liang Jianshi would respond to the note.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
The sun set. Another day spent waiting by the phone.
That night, when she turned into a cat, Qilan jumped onto Liang Jianshi’s desk and dug through his piles of documents with the same intensity she would use to bury something in a litter box.
After searching for a long time, she finally found the note in the trash bin, soaked in tea until it was nearly pulp. The cat was so angry that her fur stood on end.
There was no doubt that the paper with the rose pattern was the same paper she had used to write the note to Liang Jianshi!
She had imagined countless scenarios, but never this; he hadn’t even glanced at it and had thrown it straight in the trash.
Liang Jianshi was typing at his computer when a frantic cat leaped up and smacked him on the head with a few solid “thumps”. Her paws danced across the keyboard, sending a jumble of gibberish to the company group chat. Liang Jianshi was stunned.
After pulling the cat into his arms and soothing her for a long time, he finally calmed her down. When he looked back at the computer, he saw that the dead-quiet group chat had suddenly accumulated dozens of new messages.
Following Liang Jianshi’s name, amidst the mess of random characters, there were five words that, when read together, miraculously formed a coherent sentence: “Tonight team building disco.”
Below were replies,
“Received”
“Received”
“Received”
…
He had clearly typed that by mistake. What were they replying to?
He was about to send a work notice to stop this absurdity when his assistant came in.
“Chairman, I’ve booked the venue for tonight’s disco, the most exclusive place in the city. Usually, reservations need to be made a month in advance, but I got it handled.” Assistant Wu looked proud, his expression practically begging for praise. “The venue is booked through tomorrow morning. And considering our company’s policy of free drinks for everyone…”
Liang Jianshi: “Get out.”
Anyone listening would think he was celebrating the ancient tomb unearthed at his construction site.
The employees all went disco dancing. Liang Jianshi’s plans were put on hold.
He seemed like someone accustomed to planning. The sudden change left him slightly unsettled. All the staff had left, leaving him, a solitary chairman, with nothing to do in the hotel.
So Liang Jianshi decided to play with the cat.
Qilan was crouched on the windowsill, watching the neon-lit city nightscape, her tail draped behind her, swaying lazily. She looked completely at ease.
Liang Jianshi came up behind her at some point, quietly accompanying her as she enjoyed the view, then began scratching under her chin.
Qilan’s cat body tensed, her eyes wide.
“You lecher! Who gave you the nerve to touch me? Asking for trouble, are you?”
She turned and started biting his hand. At first, Liang Jianshi didn’t react, as if he felt no pain. But when Qilan’s teeth pricked his palm, he finally frowned and pulled his hand back.
Qilan hissed at him, her tiny body putting on an impressive show, imitating a tiger’s fierce growl.
“Still want to pet me? Who do you think you are?”
Liang Jianshi stood frozen half a step away, staring at the cat, who was full of hostility and in an attacking posture, his eyes filled with unfathomable confusion.
The scene was hurtful. He couldn’t understand it, couldn’t accept it; the cat he had worked so hard to win over had, upon his return, become a stranger again.
Hadn’t he treated her well?
He looked down at the bloody marks on his palm, his back teeth clenched. Pain and reluctance spread through the shadows.
Liang Jianshi was angry, but there was nothing he could do about Qilan. His face dark, he turned and walked away.
Qilan, completely unaware of his feelings, triumphantly jumped off the windowsill and elegantly padded over to the sofa.
After playing with her tail for a while, she started parkouring around the room.
It turned out that a kitten’s agility was quite impressive; jumping from the sideboard to the sofa was actually fun.
Rumor had it that a cat’s tail and the cat itself were two separate entities, and this proved true. When she was causing trouble, she and her tail seemed to operate independently, though she didn’t notice.
As she bounded around the room, Liang Jianshi, who had gone out to cool down, returned.
He followed silently behind her. When her tail swept a cup off the table, he caught it. When her hind legs knocked against a bookshelf, he steadied it. When she misjudged a jump and her front paws scrambled at the edge of a surface, he kept his hands underneath to catch her if she fell.
Liang Jianshi followed behind like a ghost, but Qilan didn’t pay him any mind. She didn’t care what he was doing; she didn’t even look back. As long as he didn’t touch or rub her, she would indulge his affection, letting him gaze at the back of her cat’s head to his heart’s content, to ease his longing.
It was time for Lanlan’s snack. A bodyguard brought over a cooler from the hotel and took out portion after portion of delicacies.
Qilan lay on the floor, eating bite after bite of black cod.
The fresh, air-shipped seafood was truly delicious; it had a rich, creamy sweetness, and the texture was unbelievably tender.
It was a rare, top-tier, limited delicacy that even the hotel’s procurement system couldn’t secure. If it weren’t for Liang Jianshi’s personal connections, Qilan wouldn’t have been able to eat it.
But she didn’t know that.
Liang Jianshi brought it upon himself. Qilan was eating happily when he snatched the food away, insisting on feeding her. When she wouldn’t let him, he ran around the room with it, teasing her, making her chase him for a single bite.
Qilan knew exactly what he was up to. She refused to indulge him. With a fierce meow, she shot up like a little rocket, climbing his trousers all the way to his shoulder, then scratched at his face before they tumbled onto the sofa. She came down on him like a tiny whirlwind.
After successfully grabbing a piece of fish, she happily picked it up in her mouth and jumped onto the coffee table.
Just as she was about to give Liang Jianshi a triumphant look, she saw him wipe the side of his neck, his brow furrowed. Beads of blood welled up on his skin, staining his shirt collar red.
She might have gone too far.
Later, a doctor came. Liang Jianshi’s wound was properly treated.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
The next day in the dormitory, her human form curled up on the bed, hugging her knees, feeling deeply guilty.
Tong Tong had later told her that Liang Jianshi had had no idea she had been fired. The heartless hotel had simply bullied the weak, afraid of offending an important person, so they had quickly made her the scapegoat and fired her. If Liang Jianshi hadn’t sent someone to personally clarify the situation, the hotel wouldn’t have rehired Qilan, and those responsible wouldn’t have been disciplined. Qilan wouldn’t have gotten that satisfaction.
But yesterday, Qilan had hit Liang Jianshi.
She felt she needed to make it up to him. She rushed to the door on impulse, then hesitated.
Remembering her few, less-than-harmonious interactions with Liang Jianshi, she wasn’t sure how much concern would be appropriate.
The room was empty. Qilan was performing her nightly turndown service, tidying up, when she noticed a note tucked under the lamp on the bedside table.
Qilan could hardly believe it.
This was… a note from Liang Jianshi.