Chapter 46 – The Meow-ster’s Counterattack
Zhong Jingyi and Madam Zhong followed Uncle Yan into the garage. After instructing their driver to park the car and stay quiet, they saw Uncle Yan get into a car with the cans. He opened the window a crack, and they could faintly hear a few meows.
Zhong Jingyi frowned, piecing together what had happened. He discreetly took out his phone and sent a message to Min Yunlu: [Yunlu, is Miss Qin’s cat a little calico? I think I just saw one in the garage, but I didn’t get a clear look.]
“How could Miss Qin’s cat be a little calico?” Min Yunlu frowned and said aloud.
Unfortunately, this was overheard by Qin Taotao, who was rushing out. As the birthday girl, she was wearing a limited edition Haute Couture dress today, her hair styled in beautiful curls with the ends gently tied up, looking both exquisite and cute.
“Did you see Thorn Ball?” Qin Taotao’s elegant tone was laced with urgency.
This was the first time Min Yunlu had spoken to Qin Taotao at such close range. In an instant, delight replaced her confusion, and she said softly, “My friend said it seemed to be in the garage.”
The servant beside Qin Taotao was about to go over.
“Wait, I’ll go with you,” Qin Taotao, who had a bit more energy than other wealthy young ladies, lifted her skirt and headed for the garage.
With this development, a group of rich second-generation kids also flocked after them.
Lin Ganzhi and Yan Shengping stood where they were for the time being. After some thought, Lin Ganzhi said, “I have a strong feeling that we’re about to get into trouble again.” He looked at the crowd he couldn’t possibly squeeze through.
Yan Shengping nodded, agreeing with Lin Ganzhi’s point for the first time. “Be more confident. Drop the first part of that sentence.”
Since they got married, trouble had never been far away. Either he was in trouble, or the other was, and each time, both of them would end up being scolded.
But for some reason, now when this kind of thing happened, Yan Shengping no longer felt a sense of helpless isolation. Instead, he could accept it with unusual calmness.
“Shall we go?” Lin Ganzhi invited.
Yan Shengping nodded calmly. “Let’s go.”
After entering the garage, Qin Taotao began to call for Thorn Ball anxiously. The servants and guests also started calling out from all directions.
At that moment, a faint meow caught Qin Taotao’s attention. She lifted her skirt and hurried over, tracing the sound to its source: a Bentley.
Qin Taotao pressed her face against the window and saw Uncle Yan feeding Thorn Ball canned cat food. Lured by the can, Thorn Ball became a bit more cooperative, but it wouldn’t lower its head. It insisted on being fed by Uncle Yan, slowly licking the food one bite at a time, looking like an arrogant little emperor. The timidness it had shown with Lin Ganzhi was completely gone.
“Thorn Ball! You scared me to death!” Qin Taotao was furious. It was her birthday, and she had planned to dress up her cat lord after getting herself ready, but when she went to find him, both cat and food were gone.
Thorn Ball looked up at Qin Taotao, then turned back to lick the spoon. But this time, the spoon wasn’t offered to him. Uncle Yan was frozen, holding the spoon. Why were there suddenly so many people gathered outside?
“Why is Miss Qin’s cat in someone else’s car?” Min Yunlu exclaimed, her sarcastic tone implying that someone might have done it on purpose.
The surrounding socialites also began to whisper among themselves, wondering who would be so foolish as to steal the second young lady of the Qin family’s cat. Did they not want to make it in this city anymore?
Nervous, Uncle Yan put down the cat food can and got out of the car.
“Miss Qin,” Uncle Yan said respectfully as he got out.
Qin Taotao didn’t have a deep impression of Uncle Yan but nodded politely.
Uncle Yan continued, “My master and his husband saw the little calico sunbathing on the road and brought it back with them.”
Qin Taotao thought for a moment. She knew Thorn Ball’s little emperor personality best. To be able to bring the cub back safely… “Was it Ganzhi?”
Uncle Yan nodded.
“If you found the cat, why didn’t you give it to Miss Qin directly? What’s the deal with putting it in your own car and feeding it cat food?” Min Yunlu asked with a frown. Her words gave the crowd, who were already unhappy about Yan Shengping and Lin Ganzhi attending the banquet, more to talk about. The whispers immediately started up again.
Lin Ganzhi, standing in the crowd, nudged Yan Shengping with his shoulder. “Your circle is really bored.” He was one step away from grabbing a big melon and starting to munch.
Yan Shengping reached out and ruffled Lin Ganzhi’s hair but didn’t deny it. He just said, “Let’s go over.” After all, Uncle Yan was being used as a target.
“Miss Qin.” Lin Ganzhi walked through the crowd, with Yan Shengping following behind him.
“I was going to look for you in a bit. The crowd is too big, and the kitten might get stressed,” Lin Ganzhi explained politely.
Before Qin Taotao could speak, Min Yunlu stepped forward with a frown. “Then you should have told Miss Qin as soon as you arrived. Why explain only after you’ve been found out? Even if it was inconvenient for you, you could have asked your butler to go and tell her. Is it really okay to leave the cat in the car and let a stranger feed it whatever they want?”
“That does seem to be the case.”
“Yeah, why did they only say so now?”
“It’s obvious they had ulterior motives.”
…
A low murmur of discussion arose from the crowd, but when Lin Ganzhi looked over, they selectively fell silent, a bunch of two-faced hypocrites.
Just then…
Qin Taotao stepped forward and took Lin Ganzhi’s hand. “Thank you for helping me find Thorn Ball. This is the second time. I’m so embarrassed.” Qin Taotao spoke sweetly, completely unaffected by Min Yunlu’s words.
The crowd: ??? How is this not going the way we thought it would?
Lin Ganzhi was taken aback when Qin Taotao grabbed his hand. It wasn’t until he felt Yan Shengping’s somewhat cold gaze that he politely pulled away. How could he openly hold a girl’s hand in front of his boss? Even if it wasn’t his choice, he couldn’t do anything to make his boss lose face.
Lin Ganzhi politely freed his hand from Qin Taotao’s. It was good that there was someone here he could communicate with. He added, “It’s nothing. Thorn Ball has an active personality. Just keep a closer eye on him next time.” Thorn Ball’s “active” was not active in the usual sense.
“Mhm, I will!” Qin Taotao now looked at Lin Ganzhi with what could only be described as admiration. Thorn Ball, who was fierce to everyone, had been brought back twice by Lin Ganzhi without a single scratch on him!
Just as Qin Taotao was about to say more, a commotion erupted behind them. When she turned, she saw that someone had opened the back door of the car. Uncle Yan must have forgotten to lock it in his hurry to get out. Min Yunlu stood at the very front, reaching out to pick up the kitten.
Inside, Thorn Ball had been leisurely licking its paws. Suddenly, it smelled a pungent perfume and saw long, slender fingers with pale purple nail polish reaching for it. All the fur on Thorn Ball’s body stood on end.
“Meow!” It let out a piercing cry and then lunged out, swiping viciously at Min Yunlu’s hand.
Terrified, Min Yunlu randomly grabbed someone to use as a shield in front of her. The woman who was inexplicably pulled out as a shield turned pale instantly!