Chapter 55: The Landlord’s Silly Son

"Okay." The young man nodded emphatically.

An ice-blue ring of light swirled around the tip of his index finger once more. The young man closed his eyes, sensing the power of the Critical Stone. This time, however, they received no guidance. The translucent ring flickered a few times, then abruptly vanished.

"Sorry, I can’t feel anything." His eyelashes trembled, and the young man looked dejected. He lowered his head, murmuring, "Maybe I’m just too weak..."

An Inspection Envoy’s sensory range was related to the strength of their power. ’If Father were here,’ he thought, ’he might have actually been able to sense something.’

"It’s not your fault." Wen Qian was slightly taken aback, then comforted him gently. After a pause, she added, "The Little Fox probably left long ago."

Wen Qian believed in Li Jiu’s ability. ’Aside from power levels, there’s another reason he might not be sensing anything... the Critical Stone isn’t even here.’

She had given the Critical Stone to the Little Fox, but that was a whole ten years ago.

’Who would wait so long for someone they’d only met once...’

’Besides, the original tiled-roof house has been demolished. Even if the Little Fox was patient enough to wait, how would he have supported himself?’

"Let’s go back." Gazing at the towering high-rises in the distance, Wen Qian felt a pang of bitterness. This time, it wasn’t because of the Critical Stone.

The car pulled over at the shopping mall next to the residential complex.

Gu Mian helped Wen Qian buy some fruits and vegetables, then drove off.

There weren’t many people in the complex at this hour; they barely saw anyone on their way. The young man followed behind the girl, carrying the plastic bags, looking exceptionally well-behaved.

Li Jiu was still a bit intimidated by humans, so whenever a stranger got close, he would timidly hide behind Wen Qian.

It wasn’t until they reached the entrance of their building and he saw the cats sitting around that the color returned to his pale face.

’Good thing our family is under the Young Master’s protection...’

As if spotting a familiar face, the young man paused for a moment, then happily bounded over to the bushes.

He crouched down, clutching the bag full of apples tightly with both hands, his eyes fixed on the cat sitting on the steps.

Then, under Ling Xuan’s bewildered gaze, the young man let out a "meow" in his clear, sweet voice.

Ling Xuan: "?"

’Isn’t he a bird? What’s he doing meowing like a cat?’

Ling Xuan was baffled by his actions. When he came to his senses, he thought, ’Is this guy mocking me?’

But before he could figure it out, another meow came from Li Jiu’s mouth.

Ling Xuan: "..."

’Is this guy looking for a death wish?’

He was a member of the Silver Tiger Clan, the Young Master’s right-hand man. Learning to meow was something he’d been forced to do... For a member of the fierce and majestic Silver Tiger Clan, this was a disgrace.

’And this kid... he dares to copy me?’

"Meoow~~" Seeing that Ling Xuan had finally reacted, Li Jiu went all in.

Ling Xuan: "..."

’Idiot.’

His pristine white whiskers twitched. As if sensing Ling Xuan’s fury, the surrounding cats began to gather around him. Tails held high, they looked ready to pounce on whoever was bullying their boss.

’The boss rarely gets angry. This guy must have done something really, really awful...’

Wen Qian, equally baffled by Li Jiu’s behavior, suddenly snapped out of it. To prevent him from further inciting public outrage, she quickly stepped forward... and, surrounded by the pack of cats, yanked him to his feet.

"So sorry, he’s a bit of a silly kid..." The girl gave an awkward smile, tugged on the young man’s arm, and started dragging him toward the apartment building.

The young man clearly hadn’t given up. He kept looking back every few steps, trying to greet Ling Xuan. Each meow had a different tone than the last.

Seeing the murderous look in the cat’s eyes, Wen Qian screamed internally, ’What kind of hopelessly naive protagonist is Li Jiu?!’

Finally getting Li Jiu home, Wen Qian breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as she was wondering whether she should tell Li Jiu to find a new way to greet the "kittens," her phone rang.

She glanced at the bewildered young man beside her, sighed, and decided against saying anything.

’I shouldn’t crush his enthusiasm for making friends.’

Taking out her phone, Wen Qian saw that it was a message from Gu Mian.

Gu Mian: Qianqian, there’s something I think I should tell you.

Gu Mian: I watched the surveillance footage from your accident.

Gu Mian: Chi Heng didn’t attack.

A few seconds later, a video was sent over.

...

Wen Qian opened the video. It was a clip from the car crash.

The man in the black leather jacket came roaring in on his motorcycle, closing in on Wen Qian at an incredible speed. But each time, as if on purpose, he would swerve away just as he was about to hit her.

If, at first, he was playing a game of "cat and mouse," enjoying the terror on the girl’s face as death drew near, what happened next... was truly baffling.

When Wen Qian fell to the ground, Chi Heng had more than enough time to finish her off.

But he didn’t.

The combat knife was gripped tightly in the man’s hand. When he finally seemed to resolve himself and plunged the knife toward Wen Qian, he stopped his hand just two centimeters from her heart.

Gu Mian had checked his communication device and discovered that one of the emergency calls made that day was from him.

After watching the video, Wen Qian fell into deep thought.

After a long while, she replied to Gu Mian.

Wen Qian: Okay

Whatever Chi Heng had been thinking at the time, for Wen Qian, that Chapter was already closed.

To others, this might seem like a misunderstanding that needed to be cleared up, but to Wen Qian... it wasn’t important at all.

Still, she was happy—happy that Gu Mian had told her about it.

Putting her phone away, Wen Qian’s gaze fell on Li Jiu. Her voice was gentle as she said, "I’m going to wash the apples."

...

It was already nine in the evening when Yin Zhi got home.

He was standing downstairs, talking to a gray and white kitten about something. His figure looked exceptionally tall and lean under the glow of the streetlight.

Wen Qian watched from the window for a while, but eventually got bored and went to sit on the sofa to watch *Tom and Jerry* with Li Jiu.

Li Jiu claimed he didn’t like the cartoon, but his eyes were glued to the television. He was still watching with great relish long after Wen Qian had grown drowsy.

So, when Yin Zhi walked in the door, this was the heartwarming scene that greeted him.

The young woman was resting on the sofa, her head tilted back, with a soft, thick blanket covering her. Meanwhile, a handsome young man sat cross-legged beside her, taking small bites of an apple.

If it had been anyone else, Yin Zhi might have actually gotten angry. But the one meeting his gaze was Li Jiu, with those innocent, clueless eyes, as clear as a college student’s... Yin Zhi felt that even if he hit the kid, he would just blink and ask him why.

Yin Zhi looked up at the ceiling, speechless. His anger instantly vanished.

Glancing at the dishes on the table covered by a bowl, the man unbuttoned the front of his shirt. Under Li Jiu’s confused gaze, he walked over to the sofa and scooped Wen Qian up into his arms.

As he neared the dining table, he shifted to holding her with one arm, freeing the other to pick up Wen Qian’s cup from the table and calmly take a sip of water.