Feng Jiuxiao walked over and saw Ling’er eating breakfast. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief. He glanced at Xiao Jiu. With him accompanying her, Ling’er would certainly eat more.

“I have work to deal with. I’ll accompany you for lunch at noon.”

Ling’er did not want to pay Feng Jiuxiao any attention, but, with Xiao Jiu around, she bit her tongue and nodded.

Feng Jiuxiao saw her nod and turned to leave.

Xiao Jiu watched his grandfather leave before turning to his grandmother and asking, “Grandma, did Grandpa bully you?”

Ling’er stopped chewing. Could Xiao Jiu have seen through the tension between her and Feng Jiuxiao?

“Why do you say that?” She asked.

“Grandma doesn’t look like she wants to talk to Grandpa. Whenever Daddy makes Mommy angry, she ignores him. Daddy is thick-skinned, though. He’ll do anything to sneak into Mommy’s good books; he usually succeeds after spending a night with her,” Xiao Jiu said as if it was a matter of fact.

Ling’er knew that Xiao Jiu was a smart young lad, smart enough to read the situation for what it was. “That’s right. Your Grandpa made me very, very angry.”

“Grandma, don’t bother yourself with Grandpa. I’m sure Grandpa will do his best to appease you afterwards. Even so, I doubt Grandpa is as capable as Daddy when it comes to making amends.”

Although Xiao Jiu said as much, he still felt a spike of worry.

Ling’er smiled, agreeing with Xiao Jiu’s view. Fu Tingyu and Feng Jiuxiao were not people of the same character.

Speaking of Fu Tingyu… She remembered warning him against pursuing Xiao Bao. Who would have thought he would ignore her and do as he liked? She, at least, had not thought of the possibility.

It was not that she did not approve of them being together, but she did not want Fu Tingyu to appear and remind Xiao Bao of the past.

Now, it seemed her worries were unfounded.

When Xiao Bao praised Fu Tingyu, she knew that their relationship was very good. How else could they have produced such a cute and sensible grandson in her Xiao Jiu?

So long as Fu Tingyu treated her daughter well and shared a good relationship, other trivialities were a secondary concern.

Thinking of Xiao Bao, she asked, “Xiao Jiu, where’s your mother? Why hasn’t she joined us for breakfast?”

“Mommy went shopping. She’ll probably be back in the afternoon,” Xiao Jiu answered honestly.

Ling’er thought of Xiao Bao. She still had many things to ask. After she left, how did life treat her daughter?

Had she been bullied?

Did Qin Hai bring that woman back after she left?

Ling’er was many things, but she was not blind. She knew that Qin Hai had a mistress.

She recalled mentioning a divorce, but Qin Hai was unwilling to see it through.

She did not care that he had a mistress – no love loss there – but she did care what it meant for their marriage. Marriage was sacred, and some things just were not done.

Ling’er had always wanted a divorce, but she convinced herself that it could wait until Xiao Bao grew older and more sensible.

She had already drafted the divorce papers; the only thing left was for them to append their signatures to the document and have it notarized.

That plan went out the window when Feng Jiuxiao suddenly appeared.

She would wait for Xiao Bao to return before asking how she was.

At Xiao Jiu’s cheerful cajoling, Ling’er enjoyed breakfast, eating more than she thought possible with her nonexistent appetite. Pregnancy was exhausting, and she felt sleepy, so she took a nap.

–

Xiao Jiu went out to look for President Ba to play.

He saw Ye Luo squatting under a tree with a black cat dressed in a white and blue checkered dress when he went out. It looked really cute in its outfit.

President Ba could not understand the need for clothes; he thought his luscious coat of black fur was more than good enough.

Xiao Jiu jogged over.

“Uncle Ye Luo, isn’t President Ba a lot cuter like this?”

Ye Luo stared at President Ba. It was his first time seeing President Ba dolled up in a dress. ”

This was the first time he saw it wearing clothes, and it was even a little fresh dress. “Jiaojiao suits it,” He said expressionlessly.

Xiao Jiu could not help but laugh when he heard this. “Jiaojiao sounds better than President Ba. He definitely looks better in a dress.”

“Meow!” President Ba let out a disgruntled cry. The big human and its smaller counterpart were mocking him!

Ye Luo expressionlessly called out again, “Jiaojiao.”

President Ba was, as many would describe, a tsundere. To express his dissatisfaction at being called ‘Jiaojiao’, he turned tail and ran, his four short legs carrying him away in a burst of speed. Soon, he disappeared.

This was not the first time President Ba had scampered off in anger. Ye Luo was already used to his tantrums.

President Ba was an expert at hide-and-seek. Unless he sought you out, no one would be able to find him.

Ye Luo knew the temperamental cat would return for lunch later, so he was not worried.

President Ba ran away with his white and blue checkered dress whipping at his heels. He looked around, surveying his surroundings with his dark green eyes. The coast was clear. He leveraged off a heavyset tree’s trunk and onto one of its many branches.

It was a habit of his whenever he was angry.

He also hid in trees when he stole dried fish.

Up in the waiting arms of the tree’s branches, President Ba had an unobstructed view of the city streets. Feng Yi was a prosperous country.

At this moment, it suddenly heard a mechanical voice.

[ Yaoyao: The experience card has expired. Host, please choose the next experience target. ]

President Ba opened his eyes wide and looked around in fear. “Meow?”

[ Yaoyao: I forgot, you can’t speak the human language. Please wait a moment for voice conversion. ]

[ Yaoyao: Host, please choose your next target. ]

President Ba blinked his eyes and looked around in confusion. “Meow?”

[ Yaoyao: … Host, you can now speak the human language. ]

President Ba had been a cat for forty years. He had long forgotten his true identity as a spirit. He had only wanted to be a cat for the experience, nothing more.

Though his sense of smell improved tremendously as a cat, the same could not be said of his memory.

Therefore, when President Ba heard a strange sound, almost as if speaking to it through his mind, he chose to run away.

President Ba leapt down, landing on his paws. He quickly ran back towards Ye Luo, frightened by what it was hearing. When Ye Luo came into sight, he increased his speed and pounced into his human friend’s arms, burying his head in the man’s shirt. He was so scared that his tail puffed up, resembling a large dandelion.

Ye Luo eyed President Ba with an upturned brow. Seeing its appearance, he thought that someone had tried to bully it.

“Who’s bullying you?”

President Ba did not so much as ‘meow’ because he heard the strange voice again.

[ Yaoyao: Host, you have not selected a target for your next experience. Therefore, it will be randomly selected. ]

A trace of doubt flashed in Ye Luo’s eyes. President Ba had always been fearless; it was his first time seeing him so frightened that he would run away with his tail tucked between his legs.

After a while, President Ba did not hear any other strange voices and peeked out from where he had buried his head in Ye Luo’s shirt. His dark green eyes flitted back and forth, searching for some unseen foe only to find none. Confirming that the voice was gone, he mumbled, “I was scared to death…”

President Ba realised that he could speak the human language and was so startled that his mouth clicked shut as he finished speaking.

Although his voice had not been much more than a whisper, Ye Luo still noticed, and his eyebrows shot to his hairline. Was that President Ba who just spoke?

“President Ba?”

President Ba raised his head to look at Ye Luo. His pair of dark green eyes were wide open, but he did not dare to make a sound.

Ye Luo stared at the cat, puzzled. “Maybe I’m hearing things…”

President Ba blinked to indicate that he had indeed heard wrongly, but his mouth remained shut.

…

Qin Shu went out for a stroll. Her mother was getting married, and her father had already prepared everything that needed to be prepared, so there was nothing she needed to do on that front.

Just then, she received a text message. She knew who it was as soon as she looked at the screen.

Chao Yan.

She thought they would never meet again… so it was unexpected to receive a message from him.

She clicked on the message and read its contents.

[ Chao Yan: I’d like to see you one last time. Location: North Court Building. ]