Chapter 5

Kong Xiyan woke from a dream to find it was already past ten. She blinked, taking in her surroundings, then glanced down at the sheets and quilt, and finally spotted Yanyan playing by herself in the room.

She had almost forgotten where she was.

Seeing that she was awake, Yanyan leaped from the floor onto the bed, prancing happily between her legs, staring at Kong Xiyan with bright blue eyes and meowing incessantly.

Kong Xiyan scooped her up and pressed her forehead against the cat's. "What's wrong? Hungry?"

Yanyan tilted her head and licked her twice at the base of her thumb. The barbs on her tongue tickled. Kong Xiyan chuckled and set her down.

She got out of bed, washed up in the bathroom, and went downstairs, with Yanyan trailing at her feet the whole way. After descending, Yanyan tugged at her pants leg and planted herself in front of her food bowl.

Kong Xiyan: ...

This cat had to be a spirit, didn't she?

Looking at those hopeful eyes, Kong Xiyan felt helpless. She hadn't asked Chi Wanzhao where the cat food was last night, so she rummaged through cabinets and drawers but came up empty. Discouraged, she fetched her phone from the coffee table, and her gaze landed on a white piece of paper resting there.

The size of a sticky note.

She hadn't noticed it earlier.

The note read: "Don't feed Yanyan anything; she needs to lose weight. Miss Kong can take her for more exercise."

Yanyan was rubbing against her pants leg, meowing in a way that would soften anyone's heart. Kong Xiyan finally understood why Chi Wanzhao had hired her: her owner probably couldn't bear to be strict.

Such a soft, adorable little thing—just looking at her made you want to scoop her up and give her a good squeeze.

Not to mention that pitiful meowing.

But the weight loss—she looked down at Yanyan's big eyes. It was going to be a challenge.

Yanyan hopped and danced, getting no response, until she finally curled into a ball of snow on the sofa in defeat. Kong Xiyan's heart ached, but she gritted her teeth and turned away, refusing to look.

She unlocked her phone and saw several WeChat messages: two from Tong Yue, the rest from Xiao Cheng.

Tong Yue had sent her schedule and the contact information for the new assistant.

As for Xiao Cheng—

He was just making conversation out of nothing.

Around ten last night, he had sent: "Sister Kong, good night."

This morning, he'd sent two more.

—Sister Kong, have you checked Weibo? Don't mind it. It'll blow over in a couple of days.

—Sister Kong, want to go out for a stroll?

Kong Xiyan thought for a moment and replied.

—Sorry, my phone was off. I still have some personal matters to attend to, so I can't go out. Hope you have fun.

Xiao Cheng responded quickly: "Mm, don't overthink it, Sister Kong. See you tomorrow."

They were shooting the promotional stills tomorrow, and Xiao Cheng would be there, too.

Kong Xiyan typed: "See you tomorrow."

And that was that. Her fingertip hovered over the messages he'd sent.

Weibo?

What was on Weibo now?

She opened Weibo and saw trending topics like #Wei Yan Returns to the Country#, #Celebrities Doing That Too#, #Did You Gossip Today?#—all sorts, but nothing about her. She scrolled and found her name in the rising hot search list.

#The Banned Star Suspected of Making a Comeback? Starring in 'Breaking the Cocoon'?#

#Wei Yan Reunites with Old Flame at Jingyan#

She tapped into the topic and found quite a few fans attacking her.

—Don't ruin my 'Breaking the Cocoon', okay? It's only been three years, and you've already forgotten what you did? What, ready to pay a PR team to whitewash yourself?

—Is anyone else still calling Kong Xiyan a mistress? Like if you agree!

—Shame the mistress! Shameless! She broke up my male and female gods' relationship. I'll curse you to death!

—PR bots, come on! Come one, get shredded; come two, get shredded as a pair! After what you did, you still have the nerve to make a comeback?

—'Breaking the Cocoon' doesn't accept this scum.

—Mistress sister, aren't you embarrassed? @Kong Xiyan @Kong Xiyan Fan Club @Kong Xiyan Official Weibo @Kong Xiyan Baidu Tieba.

No one responded.

Kong Xiyan followed those mentions from the accounts. The account she'd abandoned had zero Weibo posts—cleared years ago. The fan club still had a few hundred thousand followers, and the official account a bit more.

These were familiar faces. Back when she used to post, they'd scramble to get in the front row, cracking jokes to earn likes. Clicking in, the official account's latest post was from three years ago: "Assume I just loved the wrong person."

She went quiet for a moment, then set the phone down.

By now Yanyan had wandered around the whole place, and after confirming there was no cat food to be found, she trotted back to Kong Xiyan's feet.

And pulled at her pants leg.

Always worked with Chi Wanzhao.

Useless on Kong Xiyan.

Refusing to give up, she nuzzled her head against Kong Xiyan's ankle and licked her instep. Kong Xiyan reached down, scooped her up, and pressed her nose to the cat's, murmuring, "We really are in the same boat."

In the living room, the human and cat in the same boat played for a while, then Kong Xiyan quietly carried her upstairs to the room. It was noon. She hadn't eaten much last night and had slept through breakfast, so her stomach was empty. She quickly cooked a bowl of noodles, sneaking glances at the upstairs door as if she were stealing something. Seeing no movement, she finally sat down to eat.

She hadn't had two bites when Yanyan hopped onto the dining table, plopped down in front of her bowl, and started lapping at the broth.

Kong Xiyan: ...

Diet plan number one: fasting—failed.

After the meal, Kong Xiyan tried to take Yanyan out for a walk, but the moment they left the apartment door, the cat slumped onto the ground and refused to budge. No amount of coaxing worked; Kong Xiyan even steeled herself and pulled on the leash.

Yanyan lay there like an oversized salted fish, getting dragged along.

Kong Xiyan said in frustration, "If you keep this up, you won't eat at noon tomorrow, either."

No sooner had she said it than Yanyan, sprawled on her back, gave a sudden twist, scrambled up, and strolled over to Kong Xiyan's side. She walked past her, wandered along the flowerbeds, and craned her head back from time to time.

As if urging her to hurry up.

Kong Xiyan: ...

What could she do? She was increasingly convinced this cat was some kind of demon in disguise.

They did two laps around the flowerbeds, then Kong Xiyan brought her to the park for a bit before heading back to the apartment. The weather wasn't hot, but the back-and-forth still worked up a good sweat. Kong Xiyan carried Yanyan into the bathroom for a bath, and just as she finished cleaning up, Tong Yue called.

Tong Yue's voice came crisp through the line: "Did you check Weibo?"

Kong Xiyan hesitated. "Yes."

Tong Yue was typing on her end, the click of keys clear. "Don't look, don't respond. Just act like nothing happened. We're handling the Weibo matter. Tomorrow I'll have Xiao Qiu pick you up for the promo stills. All you need to do is keep a positive attitude."

Kong Xiyan listened to her rapid speech, then asked suddenly, "Sister Tong, do you believe what they're saying online?"

Tong Yue's typing stopped, and after a two-second pause, she replied evenly, "I only believe what you say."

"Better to trust my artist than some strangers."

Kong Xiyan's fingertips tightened against the phone's edge. "Thank you, Sister Tong."

After hanging up, she half-lay on the sofa. Three years—that incident had been three years ago, and Tong Yue was still the first to tell her, "I only believe what you say."

Emotion churned in her chest, and she pressed her lips together, looking away. Yanyan, fresh from her bath and blow-dry, padded over and curled up on her lower belly.

Five minutes later.

Kong Xiyan picked her up. "You really need to lose weight."

Yanyan let out a soft "Meow..."