Luo Jianyuan, still skeptical, took out his phone and pushed it in front of Su Yu.
Su Yu affectionately rubbed his head against Luo Jianyuan’s hand and softly let out a “meow~.”
The suspicion in Luo Jianyuan’s eyes only deepened.
Luo Jianyang, on the other hand, with his older brother taking the lead, wasn’t worried at all.
With great interest, he reached out and gave Su Yu a firm rub on the head.
Su Yu nearly got pressed flat onto the table, and he growled low in frustration at Luo Jianyang, who was grinning happily.
Luo Jianyang widened his eyes in surprise and said to his brother, “Bro, you have to admit, this cat acts exactly like Ayu when he was little. Could it be his secret pet?”
Luo Jianyuan & Su Yu simultaneously glared at the still-laughing Luo Jianyang.
‘What did I say wrong?’
Su Yu gave his younger uncle a disdainful look and silently tapped open the phone.
The screen lit up.
Su Yu stared at the lock screen.
He knew it—this uncle was never going to make things easy!
Glancing silently at the older uncle’s meaningful gaze, Su Yu reluctantly curled his paw and began entering the passcode.
First try—Uncle’s birthday.
Incorrect password.
Uncle’s birthday didn’t work.
He tried Auntie’s birthday.
Still wrong.
Su Yu gave his uncle a reproachful look and scratched his fuzzy ear, determined to try again.
He didn’t notice that after two password attempts, Luo Jianyuan’s gaze had darkened significantly.
Even Luo Jianyang, usually clueless, now wore a serious expression.
With his paw tapping at the screen, Su Yu thought: if it’s not Uncle’s birthday, and not Auntie’s, then it must be Tangyuan’s!
He patted the table and gave his uncle a defiant look before confidently entering his younger cousin Tangyuan’s birthday.
The lock screen unlocked.
Su Yu lifted his chin and looked triumphantly at his uncles, his eyes full of pride—“You think this little trick could stump Cat Grandpa?”
Luo Jianyuan seemed to understand that look and finally spoke in a strained voice, “You’re really Ayu? What on earth happened? You turned into… a cat? Then who’s the one lying in the hospital?”
Su Yu expertly opened the message editor and typed with his curled paw, “I don’t know either. I woke up like this after the car accident. That one in the hospital is also me—just without a soul, I guess. Like my soul left my body and ended up in this cat?”
Luo Jianyuan fell silent, then calmly said, “You can’t stay like this. When we get back, we’ll find a few trustworthy masters to take a look at you.”
Su Yu nodded and continued typing, telling Luo Jianyuan everything he had discovered at the villa—from his mother suddenly sending him away, to Su Qingwen preparing to introduce Su Cheng’an at Old Master Su’s 70th birthday banquet—and shared his own suspicions in full.
Su Yu was still young and only knew parts of the past through the stories his mother had told him casually.
Some details were fuzzy. But the Luo brothers knew the full history of their sister’s marriage.
Thinking back on their strange phone call with her, and then what Su Yu just shared—how their sister suddenly arranged to send Su Yu away without informing them—Luo Jianyuan’s expression turned pitch black.
Luo Jianyang also seemed to have realized something, his face flashing with anger.
Seeing his uncles’ grim expressions, Su Yu shrank back a little and typed, “What do we do now? I don’t even know where my dad locked my mom away. I’m really worried about her…”
Luo Jianyang, seeing how down his nephew had become, gently patted his cat head and reassured him, “Don’t worry. Leave your mom to your uncles. We’ll bring her home safe.”
Luo Jianyuan added, “And don’t worry about Su Qingwen either. Our two families are evenly matched—he won’t dare go too far.”
With his uncles’ promise, Su Yu finally felt more grounded.
The feeling of struggling alone had faded, and for the first time in a while, he was able to relax.
Su Yu checked the time, stretched his body lazily, and then pulled over the phone to type out a line, “It’s getting late. I need to head back now. I can’t make calls on my side—if anything comes up, contact me by email.”
He pushed the phone over for his two uncles to see and sat crouched on the table, flicking his tail.
“You’re not coming back with us?”
Luo Jianyuan frowned.
“I forgot to ask—where have you been all this time? Why didn’t you come to us sooner?”
Thinking about the crazy snake-like man back home, Su Yu silently rolled his eyes.
He wanted to go home, but it wasn’t like he could just walk out the door.
Shaking his head, Su Yu typed, “I was adopted by Tengfei’s CEO, Qin Shou. I snuck out today. If I don’t go back, he’ll worry.”
“And… he’d probably be very sad.”
That man acted all aloof like a big bad wolf outside, but in truth, he was childish and shameless.
Most importantly, he was really, really good to him—so good that Su Yu was starting to feel reluctant to leave.
Su Yu felt a strange sensation in his chest.
His ears grew hot, and he couldn’t help rubbing them with his paw.
Luo Jianyuan obviously hadn’t expected Su Yu to be involved with someone like Tengfei’s CEO.
Thinking of Qin Shou’s towering 190cm frame and the cold, stay-away aura he exuded, Luo Jianyuan couldn’t help a headache.
Waving his hand dismissively, Luo Jianyuan relented.
“Fine. If you want to stay, then stay for now. Once I find someone suitable, I’ll come get you.”
After reaching an agreement, Su Yu prepared to leave—but suddenly, Luo Jianyang reached over and scooped him up.
Luo Jianyang grinned.
“Don’t move. Uncle will take you back. Qin Shou lives nearby, right?”
Su Yu nodded and gave a soft “meow” in response.
The two brothers had arrived empty-handed, but now they were leaving carrying a cat, earning them some odd looks from the café receptionist as they walked toward Su Yu’s neighborhood.
At the gate, Luo Jianyang gently put Su Yu down and rubbed his fluffy body one last time.
“Take care of yourself, okay? If anything happens, call us. If you can’t talk, just meow once. You still remember our numbers, right?”
Su Yu nodded, and after bidding farewell, happily trotted back home.
***
When Qin Shou returned from work, he noticed that today’s little furball was unusually clingy.
He was even delighted, thinking, “Has Ah-Zai finally realized how great his daddy is? Is he trying to be a good son for once? My boy’s so thoughtful!”
He picked up the cat rubbing its head against his legs, gave him a kiss, nuzzled him affectionately, and then went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Today’s Ah-Zai is especially sweet and adorable—definitely deserving of a tray of dried fish snacks!
Lying on the couch, Su Yu watched the figure bustling in the kitchen.
The man’s silhouette reflected vaguely in the frosted glass, while warm-toned lighting from the ceiling cast a soft glow around his tall frame.
The man’s facial features were sharp and defined, his height overwhelmingly dominant—he always appeared cold and dangerous to outsiders.
But at home, he was completely different.
He liked warm-colored furniture.
He liked noise.
He liked burying his face in Su Yu’s furry belly.
He liked…
Even when he made Su Yu mad, he’d shamelessly use dried fish as an apology.
He made chew toys.
Played games together.
Did all sorts of things no one would ever expect.
Su Yu even felt a bit proud, thinking, “Maybe I’m the only one who’s seen this side of him—childish and adorable.”
Burying his head into the pillow, Su Yu finally realized—he was a little reluctant to leave this man.
Coming from a special family background, most of Su Yu’s peers were very mature and always calculated the value of friendships before making them.
He’d grown up with his mother and never got involved in high-society power games, so he didn’t have many friends.
When he got to college, his family background meant classmates either fawned over him or avoided him.
At first, he’d hoped to make some true friends in college—but over time, he came to realize, friendships based on unequal footing don’t last.
So, from childhood to now, Su Yu never really had playmates.
But now, he had Qin Shou.
Qin Shou was the best person to him outside of his mom and uncles.
Su Yu saw Qin Shou as a close friend.
But Qin Shou… treated him like a son.
Frustrated, Su Yu rolled on the couch.
If he turned back into a human someday, Qin Shou probably wouldn’t treat him the same.
He might not even recognize him.
He might adopt another cat, treat it well, feed it delicious dried fish, sleep with it…
And then… completely forget about him.
Unable to stop spiraling into imaginary heartbreak, Su Yu glared angrily at the clueless man in the kitchen.
“If this guy dares to get another cat, I’ll never talk to him again! No more friendship!”
***
“Baby! Guess what yummy treat Daddy made for you today?”
Qin Shou, hiding dried fish behind his back, leaned in with a playful grin.
Su Yu wrinkled his nose, shot him a disdainful glance, but decided to play along.
After all, having a slightly dumb poop-scooper wasn’t easy either.
“Myaaooooo~~~”
Su Yu deliberately softened and drew out his voice while rubbing against Qin Shou’s body.
Qin Shou was completely caught off guard by the sudden display of affection.
“Today’s Ah-Zai is unbelievably adorable—just one ‘meow’ and Daddy’s heart is melting!”
Unable to keep the surprise any longer, Qin Shou offered up the dried fish like tribute.
“Ah-Zai, call Daddy again. Just once more. Daddy’s dying of cuteness here.”
Su Yu rolled his eyes, slowly and coolly ate the dried fish—acting as if that shameless display a moment ago had never happened.
Qin Shou didn’t mind at all and watched with a blissful smile as Su Yu ate.
Halfway through, Su Yu noticed that Qin Shou wasn’t eating his own dinner—just watching him.
Annoyed, Su Yu let out two sharp meows, “Go eat, dummy! What are you staring at!”
But Qin Shou just grinned even wider, looking completely satisfied.
‘Why do I suddenly feel a chill down my back?’
Bumping his head against Qin Shou, Su Yu nudged the plate of dried fish toward him and meowed once more.
Get it now, idiot?
Qin Shou blinked in confusion at Su Yu’s actions.
When Su Yu pushed the plate again, he finally asked uncertainly:
“Ah-Zai… do you want to eat together with Daddy?”
“Myao~!”
Su Yu nodded proudly.
Finally, he gets it!
Qin Shou was over the moon, absolutely glowing in pink happiness.
Completely lovestruck, he reached into the plate and popped a dried fish into his own mouth.
‘You actual idiot!’