15: The cub makes a mistake
In the corridor, separated by only the width of a doorway.
Their eyes met.
Silence. Speechlessness.
Only a palpable sense of awkwardness hung in the air.
“…Hmm.”
Ye Susu turned her head, tucking all ten fingers into her sleeves, her ears burning red.
Her rosy lips moved with difficulty.
“I was just…”
Li Yun frowned.
Finally puffing out her cheeks, Ye Susu managed, “…disposing of some garbage.”
She quickly finished speaking, not daring to remain in front of the cardboard box any longer.
She was afraid that if she looked at it again, her hands would itch to touch it and engage in another three hundred rounds.
But she couldn’t expose herself in front of this top-grade catnip, so she tried her best to make a disdainful expression.
She immediately turned to walk back to her room, but after just a few steps, her exercise-flushed face still pink, she turned and walked back.
“This cardboard… seems decent quality. Maybe I can throw a few more things in.”
With that, she coolly dragged the large, mangled cardboard box away from the floor.
Li Yun narrowed his eyes, his scrutinizing gaze shifting from the thoroughly disfigured box to her figure.
The water-pink coral fleece tracksuit accentuated the soft curves of a woman’s body. From behind, the black hair tied in a ponytail swayed rhythmically against the graceful line of her back and waist.
Her walking posture was also different from ordinary people’s. Even while carrying the box, each step seemed measured with a ruler—standard, yet filled with a flowing grace. Looking closely, the waist hidden beneath her clothes swayed slightly in a subtle, rhythmic motion.
Li Yun’s brow furrowed tightly, and he looked away in distaste.
On the very first day, she resorted to such cheap, laughable tactics to get his attention.
How long had they known each other? How desperate was she for male attention?
Irritated, he threw the book in his hand onto the glass table in the small living room and walked downstairs.
“Liu Zhen, have you found any available food and beverage properties? Speed it up.”
Meanwhile, as soon as Ye Susu returned to her room and was about to sit down, her phone rang with an unfamiliar number.
“Miss Ye? I’m an employee of Evergrande Games. The game account you registered with our company earlier has been drawn as the grand prize winner—1 million yuan in ‘Dream Fund.’”
Ye Susu stared, dumbfounded. “Meow?”
“We are collaborating with the Evergrande Group’s Food and Beverage division. We can grant you the operational rights to a 50-square-meter restaurant. Upon presenting your ID card, we will immediately process the handover for you. Simple interior decoration and staff recruitment will also be handled by our side.”
Ye Susu blinked. “Games? Restaurant?”
What on earth was this?
The customer service representative’s voice was gentle yet formulaic. “Yes, you previously played our company’s mobile game ‘Chinese Little Chef,’ a food management simulation, so the prize is connected to a food establishment.”
Ye Susu was stunned for a long moment before finally retrieving a distant memory from the original owner’s mind.
Back when the original owner was still with the talent agency, she had once livestreamed playing this food game along with nineteen other female streamers as part of an official promotional campaign.
But winning a prize?
Humans sure had a lot of peculiar tricks!
“Miss Ye, are you still there? A colleague from our Food and Beverage department will personally coordinate with you. I’ll send his contact information to your phone shortly. Is tomorrow, Monday, convenient for you to visit the dream shop?”
“Sure.”
Ye Susu blurted out immediately.
Free stuff? Of course, take it.
The corners of her eyes instantly curved upwards.
She knew it. As a noble and beautiful cat, as long as her start wasn’t as a stray, she was destined for an effortless victory.
Naturally, there would be a caretaker to provide for her.
What’s so great about being a born lucky fish?
Those were just food for her, a cat!
She was the great cat standing at the top of the food chain, above lucky fish~
“Perfect!”
After hanging up, Ye Susu felt all her pressure vanish.
Earning money? Apparently, you could just lie down and it would come.
But as soon as she put her phone down, a WeChat message popped up.
[Ye Wan: Susu, I discovered a new livestreamer today. On her first livestream, she had over a thousand viewers and received more than a hundred yuan in donations. With my tailored plan, she’s definitely going to skyrocket, with an annual income surpassing a million. It’s such a pity… all of this could have been yours, but you gave up on your own. I hope you won’t regret it later.]
Seeing this, Ye Susu snorted with laughter.
“This is Luzhu… that female lead?”
So, this was the female lead from the novel who shot to fame through livestreaming, married the male lead, and then retired to focus on being a wealthy wife?
Seems this female lead wasn’t all that impressive.
A mere million a year? That was about the same as the money she got just by lying around.
Xia Ningmeng looked up. “Who is it?”
“Ah, nothing important.”
Ye Susu tossed her phone aside.
She didn’t want the male lead, and the female lead had nothing to do with her.
She decided to keep the Dream Fund news to herself for now and surprise Xia Ningmeng later.
On the other side, after sending the message, even though there was no reply, Ye Wan put down her phone with a pleased smile.
“Sister Wan, Su Luzhu’s video has already received 180 yuan in donations and over ten thousand views in the last 24 hours. Our promotional push hasn’t started yet. Should we schedule the major recommendation for just after midnight?”
A junior assistant knocked and entered.
Ye Wan opened her tablet and glanced at the company’s backend data. “Good. Midnight to 1 AM is still peak activity time for otaku. Schedule the recommendation for then. She should set a record for us this year, become a dark horse in the industry.”
As she spoke, she opened an image—Su Luzhu’s profile picture on the livestreaming platform.
The girl wore a lotus-pink organza dress, simple and without any filter effects. Yet her delicate features carried a certain girl-next-door charm, easily evoking a protective instinct in men.
“Send her the script the copywriting team prepared. Tell her to incorporate it appropriately in her livestream tomorrow.”
The assistant nodded and left. “Understood.”
Ye Wan put down her tablet, a trace of amusement curling at her lips.
Every internet celebrity was built with money.
In the era of traffic, what still relied on genuine talent or natural beauty?
This Su Luzhu, if you really judged her looks, wasn’t even as attractive as her naturally beautiful cousin, Ye Susu.
The former just fit the ‘girl-next-door’ archetype, hitting the preferences of average men.
Ye Susu, in her youth, was pure and sweet. After having a man at eighteen, her appearance gained a hint of subtle allure. Coupled with her noteworthy figure, she appealed to everyone from campus otaku to working men—her target audience was broader.
But so, what?
Thinking of this, Ye Wan almost laughed out loud.
Ye Susu had no brains. She blindly idolized early internet celebrities, loved using heavy filters during livestreams, overdoing skin smoothing and face editing until she turned herself into a generic, sharp-chinned face with no distinguishing features. Add to that her foolishness and mindless livestream content—she never managed to get popular.
That was just fate!
Moreover, even if she did become popular, her record would forever bear the label ‘had a child out of wedlock,’ and now being a kept woman… her history was just a string of scandals.
Gritting her teeth, Ye Wan sent a message to the family group chat—the one that specifically excluded Ye Susu and her son.
[After Susu left my company, she didn’t have much savings. She’s raising a child alone, but it seems she’s moved into a wealthy neighborhood. @Everyone, does anyone have Susu’s mom’s number? I’m really worried.]
After sending it, she flashed a wide smile.
Such a shady, sensational story should definitely be shared with more people.
Why had she only thought of this now?
That evening, Ye Susu promptly received the WeChat contact for ‘Evergrande Food & Beverage, Director Zhang.’ After arranging to meet at nine o’clock the next morning, she felt the idle, carefree life beckoning to her.
In high spirits and with no shortage of funds at hand, she happily took Xia Ningmeng and Ye Xun out for a lavish fish hotpot dinner. Then, they charged into a children’s clothing store and bought three large bags of adorable kids’ outfits.
It wasn’t until eight in the evening that she and Ye Xun—his little belly now round—waved goodbye to Xia Ningmeng.
Passing by the stray cats’ territory, Ye Susu even had Ye Xun personally feed two specially made dried fish to the stray kitties, so they’d all be familiar from now on.
But when they got home and Ye Susu stepped inside, she sniffed her own scent and frowned.
“Cub, play by yourself for a while, okay? Mommy needs to take a shower first.”
A clean-loving cat couldn’t stand having strange smells clinging to her hair.
Li Yun, who had just stepped out of his room for water, happened to pass by.
He glanced downstairs and saw the little one nod obediently, looking very well-behaved.
Clearly, this child was used to letting his mother shower first.
“Mm, Mommy needs to investigate the environment first. I’ll call you in when it’s safe.”
Ye Susu wore a serious expression.
Li Yun raised a mocking eyebrow.
But Ye Susu’s face, lifted as she spoke to the child, was flushed a delicate pink as if brushed by the early winter wind. It wore a look of heroic sacrifice.
She didn’t look like she was going to shower; she looked like she was heading into a tiger’s den.
Her little face remained grave all the way, seeming anxious and uneasy, making little Ye Xun behind her clutch the hem of his shirt nervously, his small expression equally on high alert.
Both mother and son seemed so immersed in their own emotions that they didn’t notice the man sitting on the second-floor sofa.
One was muttering under her breath, the other looking down at the floor. Carrying a strong smell of hotpot, they entered their room.
Soon, their door closed, and quiet settled within.
Li Yun raised an eyebrow.
He sat silently for a moment.
Glancing around the newly partitioned second-floor area with the children’s bookshelf and play mats, he pondered, then finally picked up the carefully selected illustrated edition of One Thousand and One Nights from the table. He stood and walked to their door.
After checking that he was wearing casual, approachable home clothes, he knocked.
A long time passed before the door cautiously opened a crack.
A fluffy little black head with two tufts of hair tousled by the wind peeked out.
Li Yun took a step back and met the child’s alert, inexperienced, round grape-like dark eyes. They were bright, like a young animal that had just finished nursing, yet held a trace of fear toward an unfamiliar adult beast.
“Good evening, little one.”
Li Yun bent down, his heart softening. He instinctively lowered his voice.
Ye Xun bit his lip, seeming a bit at a loss.
Li Yun’s heart ached.
When he was four, he’d already been teaching the eight-year-old Han family kid a lesson in the backyard hills.
Yet this child was as timid as the little girl next door.
“Don’t be afraid. We saw each other yesterday and this morning too, remember?”
Li Yun suppressed the irritation in his heart.
He used to think nothing in this world could trouble him except life and death.
But now, he felt utterly helpless, even wanting to summon a parenting expert on the spot.
“You can call me… Uncle Li.”
Li Yun tried to pull up a small, friendly smile.
However, his face was accustomed to sternness, and combined with his inner self-loathing over his absurd past, his smile wasn’t quite genuine at the moment.
Ye Xun, already sensitive, saw this smile, click, and flustered, took a step back.
He nearly tripped over a shopping bag on the floor, wobbling unsteadily.
“Careful.”
Li Yun reached out to steady him.
But the little one retreated further, looking at him warily.
Li Yun’s heart tightened.
Countless negotiation experiences told him the child was even more tense now. It wasn’t the right time to continue.
“I just wanted to tell you, there are some storybooks on the bookshelf outside. You can read them if you like.”
He took a deep breath, hiding the carefully chosen One Thousand and One Nights behind his back.
Giving a gift during the first interaction with a child was too abrupt.
He couldn’t rush.
This child was very shy around strangers.
“Good night, little one.”
Li Yun slowly straightened up, feeling as if his knees weighed a ton.
A child having such a frail temperament was a responsibility both parents share, one they cannot escape.
And he, as a man, as a father, had been absent from the child’s life for four or five years. No matter what, he was at fault.
His expression grim, he turned away, his heart feeling as if sliced by knives.
However, the sound of rushing water immediately spilled from the room.
“Ah—!!”
Before he could take a step, he heard the woman’s sharp, terrified scream.
Inside the room, Ye Xun froze for a second, his little face instantly paling. The next moment, his small body dashed toward the bathroom inside the room.
Li Yun’s expression also shifted rapidly.
Soon, soft whimpers came from the room.
He frowned and took a step into the room. “Miss Ye?”
Meanwhile, little Ye Xun, panicked and disoriented like a little cannonball, charged headlong and banged against the bathroom door, forcing it open.
The sound of rushing water immediately became much clearer.
Even Li Yun, now standing at the doorway to the room, could see every stream of water from the showerhead—
And the slender, curvy silhouette of the woman inside…
Li Yun: “!”
At the same time, the screen of the phone in Ye Xun’s trouser pocket flashed wildly.
[What’s happening? Who screamed? The child’s mom?]
[Who’s the man that rushed in later? The child’s dad?]
[Clearly not the dad! Didn’t you hear him call her ‘Miss Ye’? And he said he’d only met the child twice!]
[Oh my god, that man’s voice is so deep~]
[Shocking! Late-night cute baby livestream suddenly invaded by a man! Woman’s mysterious screams fill the air!]
[Exciting! Donation of 500 gold melon seeds! Please don’t stop!]
**