Chapter 17
Bai He didn’t notice anything unusual. He even carefully shifted his position, and the friction caused Qin Yao’s entire body to heat up.
Until Bai He’s legs were no longer numb, he stood up, and the Alpha on the sofa didn’t say a word.
Bai He said to Qin Yao, “Good night.”
“Good night,” Qin Yao responded, then turned over on his side, facing away from Bai He.
Bai He went back to his room. He was no longer thirsty or feverish, and soon fell asleep. He didn’t know that Qin Yao had a rather unpleasant rest of the night.
During the day, Qin Yao greeted Bai He before going back to his own place, and Bai He left for school.
Standing in his own apartment, Qin Yao suddenly felt a bit empty, and the irritability was about to resurface.
Alpha’s heat periods always had this problem – irritability, volatile emotions, and unstable pheromones.
Qin Yao’s expression darkened, he took out his phone and scrolled through the contacts, finding a number and dialing.
Beep beep beep—
After a few seconds, the other side picked up, a woman’s loose voice came through, “Busy with something? What’s up?”
Qin Yao suppressed the corner of his lips, “I’m coming over now, have the nurse at the hospital take a break.”
The other side was silent for two seconds, “Causing trouble at my place during your heat? Really?”
“……” Qin Yao pondered how to explain, the irritability furrowing his brows, “I’ll come over and explain in person, can’t explain it clearly over the phone.”
With that, he hung up, gave himself a suppressor shot, put on a high-collar windbreaker, and left the apartment.
Bai He’s morning classes were quite full, and he didn’t have any in the afternoon, but he had to go to Jinyu in the afternoon.
Xia You had contacted him, saying he could come to the company first to get familiar with the environment. Bai He planned to go over around 3pm and meet with Xia You at the agreed time. He put down his phone, ready to continue listening to the lecture, when the phone on the desk suddenly vibrated twice. He picked it up again and saw a message from Dr. Zhou of the pet hospital.
Dr. Zhou: [Do you have time? Can you come over for a bit?]
Regarding Dr. Zhou, Bai He actually felt quite guilty in his heart. He had adopted Ling Ling, but then quickly lost him. If he hadn’t taken Ling Ling away at the time, and just let him stay with Dr. Zhou, the Maine Coon might have been doing very well.
Bai He felt bad in his heart, he had never stopped looking for Ling Ling, but now there was still no news at all. He was very distressed and self-blaming.
Bai He typed a reply to Zhou Luoluo: [I do.]
Dr. Zhou: [Then I’ll see you soon.]
Bai He looked at the other’s message and replied with an okay.
Approaching noon, Bai He didn’t go to the cafeteria, he left the teaching building as the bell rang, went to the supermarket outside and bought a bread roll, casually eating it on the way to the pet hospital.
Pushing open the door of the pet hospital, the bell on the door jingled crisp and clear, Bai He went in and closed the door behind him. Backlit by the sun, his body seemed to be gilded, warm and glowing.
“Dr. Zhou, what did you want to see me for…”
Bai He’s words had just finished when he noticed a sensation on his calf. Lowering his head, he made eye contact with the Maine Coon sitting next to his right leg, its tail curled around Bai He’s calf.
Ling Ling was very quiet, seeing Bai He’s gaze, he seemed to hesitate for a few seconds, then slowly opened his mouth and meowed a few times at Bai He.
Still soft and kitten-like.
Bai He froze in place, his face as calm as a dead pool, but the emotions churning in his eyes were obvious. The Maine Coon was huge in size, but crouching on the ground, he still had to look up to see Bai He. From Qin Yao’s angle, he could see the water glistening in the corners of Bai He’s eyes. The alpha was stunned for a moment, then Bai He squatted down, reaching out to gently hold Ling Ling’s face, his voice suppressing the surging bitterness.
“Ling Ling, where have you been…”
In that instant, Qin Yao’s heart seemed to have something shattered, crumbling into pieces, the alpha who had left without saying goodbye was now full of guilt. He wanted to reach out and hug Bai He, apologize to him. These thoughts made him unconsciously raise his front paws, putting them on Bai He’s knees. The Maine Coon rubbed his head against Bai He’s bowed head, licking the tears at the corner of his eye.
After doing all this, Qin Yao finally came back to his senses, realizing that Bai He was looking at him. Dr. Zhou Luoluo beside them also had an inscrutable expression.
“…Meow.”
Qin Yao felt guilty, Bai He’s expression was blank, but then he broke into a smile, burying his head and kissing Ling Ling on the forehead.
This time, Qin Yao completely froze, the front paws on Bai He’s knees no longer continuing to rub. Until Zhou Luoluo spoke.
“This morning when I just came to work, I found him at the door,” Zhou Luoluo said the words Qin Yao had given her to Bai He, “He came by himself, this cat has a good memory.”
Zhou didn’t ask if anything had happened to the cat, Bai He pressed his lips, standing up and apologizing, “I lost Ling Ling, I’m sorry.”
Zhou Luoluo paused for a moment, glancing at the Maine Coon, who was clearly staring at her with a serious expression, so the alpha doctor smiled, “I believe you, you didn’t do it on purpose, right?”
Bai He didn’t speak, just shook his head, “Losing him was my fault, I didn’t take good care of Ling Ling, I’m not a qualified owner.”
The Maine Coon couldn’t sit still, he stood up and circled Bai He’s legs, this kind of clingy behavior that would never happen to Qin Yao made the alpha extremely uncomfortable, and even the actions he was doing now were not proficient, even a bit clumsy.
Zhou Luoluo saw this and suppressed a smile, resting her fist on her chin and pretending to cough, “I know you feel guilty, I won’t pry into what happened, but I believe you will be good to Ling Ling, look how much he likes you.”
Bai He lowered his head at Zhou Luoluo’s words, the two of them looking at the Maine Coon who was about to raise his front paws to scratch Bai He’s legs, the sudden gaze making the Qin Yao who was trying his best to act clingy immediately freeze.
The Maine Coon sat up straight and didn’t move his paws, instead starting to groom himself busily.
Bai He’s heart softened, he had originally decided to let Ling Ling stay with Dr. Zhou, but he couldn’t bear to do it. Under the persuasion of the cat and the person, he finally decided to take Ling Ling home.
Zhou Luoluo showed a relieved smile, “You will be a good owner.”
Dr. Zhou’s trust made Bai He pleasantly surprised, he nodded, thanking her, then hugged Ling Ling and left.
Seeing the person and cat disappear, the smile on Zhou Luoluo’s face finally dropped, her expression becoming blank as she picked up her phone and sent a message to her old classmate Qin Wei.
At this moment, Qin Wei, the CEO, was enjoying the lunch his wife had lovingly prepared for him in the office. He picked up his phone and glanced at it.
Zhou Luoluo: [CEO Qin, your son is done for.]
Qin Wei narrowed his eyes: ?
Qin Yao didn’t feel like he was done for at all, he was in high spirits, walking in small steps in front of Bai He, turning his head back every few steps to check if Bai He was keeping up, the Maine Coon’s fluffy tail was like a big broom.
With Ling Ling in front and Bai He behind, one cat and one person, it was like going back to when Bai He had just adopted Ling Ling. The heavy weight that had been pressing on Bai He’s heart finally loosened.
He called out to Ling Ling, the Maine Coon stopped and turned his head to look at him. Bai He squatted down, seeing Ling Ling sit down in front of him, the sapphire-like eyes looking at Bai He. The cat’s eyes were very beautiful, the word “gorgeous” would not be an exaggeration. The Maine Coon looked majestic, and his eyes were not round and cute, the corners turned up, sharp and powerful.
Bai He suddenly thought of Qin Yao, Qin Yao’s eyes were also like this, very beautiful, sharp yet soft.
Bai He snapped out of it, cupping Ling Ling’s face, his forehead pressed against Ling Ling’s, gently saying, “Thank you for coming back, I won’t lose you again.”
Qin Yao was completely numb, he somehow felt that Bai He’s words sounded like a love confession, the alpha got carried away with his own thoughts, then quickly stopped himself before his dangerous thoughts went further. He meowed at Bai He.
He still wasn’t used to meowing at others, he was a big macho alpha, what kind of thing was this? If his dad and grandpa saw this, they’d kill him!
Qin Yao was relieved, the clingy behavior he was displaying would not be known by his family. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Bai He received a phone call. The call lasted less than a minute, then Bai He stood up holding the massive Maine Coon, hailing a cab.
Lying in the backseat, Qin Yao suddenly stiffened: What? No, at least not now!
This time his dad would definitely be feeding CEO Qin!
“Meow…”
Qin Yao weakly meowed at Bai He, Bai He patted his head, “What, being clingy again, little Ling Ling?”
Qin Yao: … Damn it! He was a big macho alpha! Not a little Ling Ling!!
Going to Jinyu was inevitable, the only people in the company who knew of his cat form were his dad, grandpa, and Liu Wen. Bai He going to the company probably just to deal with the internship matters, the administrative department and CEO Qin’s office were several floors apart, it was highly unlikely they would just happen to run into those three.
Qin Yao felt a little relieved in his heart.
Bai He had one hand stroking Ling Ling’s back, the other hand looking at his phone.
Xia You had messaged him.
Xia You: [Little Crane, just come to the 19th floor directly, we’re handling work here, you can learn something.]
Bai He replied okay.
The taxi soon arrived at Jinyu, Bai He got out of the car holding Ling Ling, looking up at the towering skyscraper in front of him, this was the Jinyu headquarters.
Xia You said he could just go in and tell the receptionist her name, Bai He did as instructed, the receptionist made a record for him, looking up at the cat in his arms, “That’s a huge cat, is it a Maine Coon?”
Bai He used his right hand to register the information, then nodded.
“Maine Coons are not very common, your cat is very beautiful,” the receptionist smiled, “Registration is done, you can go up, the elevators are to the right.”
“Thank you,” Bai He nodded, holding Ling Ling and waiting for the elevator. It was during office hours, so he was the only one waiting for the elevator. The people coming out of the elevator were hurrying, they just gave a simple glance at Bai He and his cat, not paying too much attention. Bai He got into the elevator and pressed the button for the 19th floor.
Qin Yao was crouching by Bai He’s feet, he didn’t see which floor Bai He had pressed, because he knew the administrative department was on the 13th floor.
As the elevator went up, Qin Yao started grooming himself again, a habit of the feline species, when there was nothing to do, he liked to groom himself.
Until the elevator dinged, Bai He bent down again to pick up Ling Ling, Qin Yao skillfully settled on Bai He’s shoulder.
Upon exiting the elevator, Bai He walked forward, and Qin Yao, lying lazily on his shoulder, let out a yawning meow.
Suddenly, he made eye contact with Nan Yu, who had just delivered the afternoon tea, the other only glanced at him briefly before shifting his gaze, then Nan Yu suddenly faltered, quickly turning his head back to meet those cat eyes again.
Qin Yao: “…”
Nan Yu: “…”
In the face of Nan Yu’s interrogating gaze, Qin Yao could only play dumb, burying his head in Bai He’s neck.
Nan Yu didn’t leave either, holding a thermos and following behind Bai He at a distance.
Bai He was completely oblivious, following the location provided by Xia You, winding his way until he finally found the destination.
The employees of the administrative department were in a meeting, Xia You, sitting in the back, waved to Bai He, indicating for him to find an empty seat. Bai He nodded, holding the cat and quietly taking a seat in the back corner. Just then, CEO Qin, who was listening to the employee’s report at the front of the meeting room, looked up and saw his good-for-nothing son-in-law clinging to someone else.
Qin Wei’s calm gaze showed a few traces of cracks, then he suddenly made eye contact with Nan Yu standing outside the meeting room door.
For a moment, they were both silent.
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