I Became the Rich Family’s Stepfather and Couldn’t Stop Laughing - Chapter 14

With two families recording at the same time, the show’s production team simply rented out the entire Cat Customs Museum.

As it happened, the museum was a new establishment and needed publicity. The female owner was very cooperative, volunteering to appear on camera to explain the museum rules to the two pairs of fathers and cubs.

In keeping with the unique name “Customs Museum,” the thirty-two cats in the house were referred to as “courtesans” (flower belles). Aside from seven cats that the owner had raised since they were kittens, the rest were either rescued strays or cats that had been abandoned.

Unlike ordinary cat cafes, this place provided “cat petting” services, offering overnight stays or hourly room rentals. However, the prerequisite was that the customer had to be able to charm the little cats.

The owner led the two groups of guests to a row of cabinets filled with all sorts of toys and snacks. Customers had to use these to win the hearts of the “courtesans.” Toys were unlimited, but snacks could only be fed in small amounts.

“If you want to invite more than two at the same time, also pay attention to the little cats’ social preferences,” the owner reminded them after noticing Mingming being attracted by a cold and aloof, odd-eyed lion cat by the window. “That white lion cat is named Princess; she doesn’t like playing with other cats.”

Mingming nodded, only half-understanding: “Then will she like playing with me?”

Chu Xinnian smiled and crouched down: “The owner means that if you want to choose Princess, you can only choose Princess as your one little cat.”

This type of cat cafe was still quite rare, and the barrage began to discuss it after hearing the introduction:

[Cat lovers rejoice! Give me the address of this shop in three seconds!]

[I’ve been to this kind of place, let me save you guys some trouble; it’s not as good as everyone thinks, especially the service attitude, which can be said to be very poor (I’m talking about the little cats, QAQ)]

[Hahahahaha, dying of laughter, what can you do if the cat’s attitude is bad? This is a cat-ball after all /slurp slurp]

Because Mingming had a clear target, the staff let Chu Xinnian take his child in first to try. On the surface, it was to see if the child could successfully “bring home a beautiful meow.”

In reality, they had known from the owner early on that Princess was a proud and arrogant Queen. She wasn’t close to cats or people and didn’t even spare a glance for the owner, who had fed her for years. They wanted to capture some footage of the child getting “snubbed.”

However, after Mingming entered the cat house, he became so spoiled for choice that he started mumbling indecisively before he could even touch a cat’s fur: Should he choose Princess alone? Or should he choose a bunch of cats to be surrounded left and right?

The result was an immediate, ruthless slap in the face from reality. Not only did Princess run away with a whoosh the moment she saw him, but the other little cats also showed no interest in the toys and snacks in the hands of the Chu father-son duo.

Ten minutes inside, and they hadn’t managed to pet a single cat. The show’s results were ridiculously good.

[Hahahahaha dying, isn’t this me when I was a kid? Struggling for ten years between Tsinghua and Peking University, only to end up not being able to touch a single hair!]

[Damn, the person above made me cry while laughing. Wuuuu, who doesn’t have a Tsinghua-Peking dream? The core of comedy really is tragedy.]

[Is it staged? How could not a single one like them? The little stray under my building is much easier to pet than this…]

A hint of astonishment flashed across the owner’s face, but she smiled to smooth things over: “The ‘courtesans’ might not be ready to start work yet.”

Little Mingming pursed his lips in grievance, leaving Chu Xinnian speechless: “These little strays are too difficult. Shall we try the Ragdolls over there?”

The production team had achieved their desired effect, so they let Xi Ling carry the cub inside.

Xi Ling placed the cub, who was wearing his little tiger onesie, next to a lazy, big orange cat. This was his target from the outside; the chubby ginger cat was sleepy and too lazy to run away, even if he wasn’t willing to “entertain guests.”

“Come on, let’s take a photo with the ‘little brain-tiger’ (a cute nickname for tiger) in the same skin.” Xi Ling picked up his phone and snapped a picture.

Usually, it was Xi Ling doing the candid shots, but this time, the cub voluntarily looked at the lens and even curled the corners of his mouth upward. The sweetness of the little “glutinous rice ball” rose by a grade instantly.

Xi Ling immediately imitated the praise in the comment section: “Oh my god, as expected of our super-cute Mianmian cub. Daddy’s heart is about to melt!”

Hearing this, the cub pursed his little mouth and lowered his head to pet the cat. Being praised as cute after someone else had been praised as cute hmph, he wasn’t “super cute” anymore.

The big orange cat curled in the cat bed was indeed very obedient. After being petted by the cub for a while, it took the initiative to expose its belly to the father and son, rubbing its head back and forth looking like it was completely “worthless” (an internet term for being easily bought).

Huo Xingmian had thought he was already great, but he didn’t expect he would be this amazing. He couldn’t help but tug at the corners of his mouth and ask a question he already knew the answer to in his soft, milky voice: “Da-Da, cat-cat, why, like, this, duck?”

Xi Ling replied as expected: “Because the cat likes Mianmian and wants to be petted by Mianmian. Look how much it’s enjoying it.”

After saying that, he also began frantically petting the fat ginger cat’s belly. The orange cat was so happy it couldn’t be helped, its happy purring roaring like an engine.

Whether or not the effect of the father and son petting the ginger cat was too good, other cats also gathered around to be petted. Xi Ling immediately imparted the technique he had accumulated from years of petting stray cats to the cub: “Right, pet the head, the chin, and near the base of the tail…”

The father-son duo worked from left to right, petting with four hands simultaneously. Not only did they capture four cat “courtesans,” but there were also many other cats watching from the sidelines, as if they were watching a live advertisement for a massage parlor. Even Princess, who had disappeared, poked her head out, eager to try.

The barrage was stunned:

[Is Xi Ling carrying catnip?]

[So it was waiting here. A cat cafe actually designs scripts like this?]

[(Subway old man.jpg) Is there a possibility that Xi Ling and Mianmian have a “catnip constitution”?]

The cat house was very large, but the joyful exclamations emitted by Huo Xingmian every now and then were successfully transmitted to the other end of the room.

Mingming had managed to trick a Ragdoll cat by relying on extra catnip provided by the owner. When he turned his head and found that almost all the cats in the cat house were surrounding Xi Ling and Huo Xingmian, little Mingming suddenly felt that the beautiful Ragdoll in his hands wasn’t fragrant anymore.

Mingming’s attention had always been on the cats. Now, seeing Xi Ling surrounded by them, he remembered what his assistant brother had told him last night: that person was the big bad guy who had bullied his father!

First came the hatred of bullying his father, then the hatred of “stealing” the cats. It instantly made Mingming’s little chest boil with fury. But he had promised his father he would be obedient on the show—couldn’t he snatch the cats back even if he couldn’t take revenge?

“Daddy! They are my cats! Make the cats surround us!”

Chu Xinnian looked at Xi Ling with a complex expression. If it weren’t for experiencing it himself, he would have suspected it was scripted.

He liked cats too, but for some reason, the cats he met today didn’t seem to like them. Even the clingiest Ragdoll was only barely “working” because of the catnip. Could it be the new citrus body wash that the cats disliked?

What he couldn’t understand most was how someone like Xi Ling could be so popular with cats. Not only did he not understand it, but he was also very envious.

Chu Xinnian patted his son’s furry head and sighed bitterly: “Daddy wants to too.”

The barrage exploded in laughter instantly:

[Hahahahaha, I want to too, envious in real name.]

[Facts have proven that the one using catnip isn’t Xi Ling, but Chu Xinnian and Mingming. Laughing to death, how could it be like this!]

[Isn’t it said that small animals have spirituality? Is there a possibility that Xi Ling himself has a big contrast?]

[Absolutely impossible. I only believe at most that he isn’t a criminal. The one the cats like is our Mianmian.]

Xi Ling had originally only intended to pet the big orange cat for a bit with the cub. Unexpectedly, other cats took the initiative to come over, so he simply sat on the ground, scooped the cub onto his lap, and petted them all around.

Originally, Chu Xinnian and his son had each pinned down one cat with catnip, but Xi Ling’s side was as hyped as a cat party. The Ragdoll and Silver Shaded cat on Chu Xinnian’s side also became jealous.

Even though little Mingming tried hard to learn the massage techniques from across the room, the Ragdoll cat in his hands abandoned him, becoming the last straw that broke the cub’s back.

Mingming let out a wail and threw himself into his father’s arms. He was a brave boy, a man doesn’t shed tears lightly, but the cats were truly too much: “Wuuu-wah! Cat-cat-cat-cat wuuu…”

Mingming’s loud crying instantly made both Xi Ling and the cub look up.

Xi Ling’s eyes lit up, this child’s crying was so loud! Thinking about his own cub, who sounded like a sickly kitten when he cried, he was so envious.

Huo Xingmian had been in a great mood, but when he looked up and saw Xi Ling’s gaze, which was forty percent appreciation, thirty percent joy, and thirty percent yearning, the little lightbulb in his eyes suddenly went out.

Heh, men.

Chu Xinnian coaxed him for a long time without any effect. Xi Ling didn’t feel right just watching, and with the staff’s constant suggestive glances, Xi Ling picked up his cub and walked over.

As soon as he moved, the cats that had been “rua-ed” until they were hyped followed along, issuing grumbling meow-meows as if they were very dissatisfied with the father and son suddenly leaving.

On the other side, Chu Xinnian, who was coaxing his son, was worried. Little Chu Fangming was a relatively sensible toddler, but this child didn’t cry easily; once he cried, he couldn’t stop.

He had come full of anticipation to pet the cats, only to be disliked by the cats and treated with double standards the cats were all surrounding the “big bad guy,” and the cats were bad guys too! Mingming, who always felt he was very popular, was heartbroken.

Xi Ling carried the cub and watched from the sidelines for a while before putting the cub down, still sighing in his heart that a sturdy “little bull” was different.

His own “little sickly cub” would become breathless with sobbing after crying twice, but the male lead cub before him not only had a loud cry, but also a particularly large lung capacity.

Xi Ling wasn’t just envious; he also felt it was a bit magical as expected of a male lead…

Huo Xingmian grabbed the Ragdoll cat that had abandoned Mingming. His peripheral vision stayed fixed on Xi Ling. Seeing Xi Ling reach out toward Mingming, his ink-jade black eyes narrowed instantly, a flash of cold light flickering in his eyes.

The stepfather is indeed still a bad guy!

However, no matter how unhappy Huo Xingmian was, Xi Ling still reached his hand toward Mingming. Just as Huo Xingmian was suppressing the jealousy in his heart and cursing “big bad guy” a hundred times, Xi Ling’s hand covered Mingming’s mouth.

Huo Xingmian: …?

Relying on his gifted lung capacity, Mingming’s crying was ultra-long. Xi Ling couldn’t resist his hands—he cupped his palms into a bowl shape and tapped Mingming’s mouth one after another, turning the loud wailing into “Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh…”

Huo Xingmian: “…” Chu Xinnian and his son: “…” Everyone else: “…”

Only Xi Ling alone was playing extremely hyped. Mingming froze for a moment before realizing he was being toyed with; he immediately closed his mouth and stopped crying, his teary eyes full of anger toward Xi Ling.

Although Xi Ling hadn’t had enough fun, seeing the “toy cub” not playing along, he laughed naturally, like a mature adult with special coaxing skills: “Mingming stopped crying? Great! Uncle will reward you.”

As he said this, he scooped up a little cat from the side: “Come, let you pet the kitty-cat head.”

The chubby little calico cat was being held very comfortably by Xi Ling, purring non-stop. When Mingming touched it, the purring didn’t stop. Mingming followed Xi Ling’s guidance to rub the cat’s ear base, and the little calico cat instantly became like a roaring engine.

Although there were still tears hanging on Mingming’s eyelashes, the little wound in his heart was instantly healed by the furry touch, and his head was filled with cute cat heads.

He bared his little white teeth and shared excitedly with Chu Xinnian: “Daddy! The cat likes me! I forgive the cat!”

Although anyone with a discerning eye could see that the cat was only letting him pet it because it had been rua-ed so happily by Xi Ling, Chu Xinnian still smiled and nodded.

With Xi Ling’s help, little Mingming’s cat-petting activity went smoothly. However, when it came to choosing a cat to sleep with, problems arose again. Obviously, Xi Ling, who had unexpectedly gained the favor of the cats, had become the “hot cake.”

Thirty-two cats, and not one was willing to go with Mingming. The little ball’s mouth sloped, on the verge of tears.

Chu Xinnian was in a difficult spot; it was disappointing that the cats wouldn’t follow them into the room, but he couldn’t forcibly snatch them: “Mingming, shall Daddy tell you the story of Classic of Mountains and Seas?”

Mingming’s eyes were moist; he didn’t care about his favorite storybook, his eyes filled only with the cats who had abandoned him again.

Although Xi Ling had gotten along well with the little strays at the construction site before, it was quite unexpected to suddenly become a “cat magnet.” Seeing this, he spoke up: “Why don’t the four of us sleep in one room.”

This way, they wouldn’t have to separate. And since it was his first time taking the cub to sleep over, he hadn’t prepared any bedtime stories. Chu Xinnian seemed to have a lot of experience with children, and Mianmian could listen in.

Chu Xinnian looked at Xi Ling with some surprise: “Is that okay?”

Unexpectedly, he encountered an obstacle when communicating with the owner: “The rooms in the museum are relatively small, and the bed sizes aren’t enough for two adults and two children…”

Little Chu Fangming, sitting in his father’s arms, saw his mouth droop again. Xi Ling waved his hand with a smile: “I looked at the room introduction; they are all Japanese tatami mats. Wouldn’t it be fine to just take two and put them together in the middle of the cat room?”

Mingming immediately lifted his little face, full of hope: “Please, please…”

How could the female owner have the heart to let the child with red-rimmed eyes down? She thought for a moment and nodded: “The mattresses are very heavy; it might need the staff to help.”

Hearing this, Mingming immediately perked up, stood up, and jumped with joy.

After the bedding was laid out, Xi Ling put the very resistant cub in the middle—it was impossible for him to sleep with Chu Xinnian.

Although Huo Xingmian didn’t want to be next to Mingming, considering that it was either him or his stepfather next to him, he endured it.

After all, although this kid named Mingming looked silly, it couldn’t be ruled out that his stepfather’s aesthetics were abnormal and he’d think the other was cuter.

He naturally didn’t bother to fight with other cubs; it was just that life had been quite good lately, and he didn’t want it to be broken.

That’s right, that’s exactly how it is.

After the two adults and two children lay flat on the tatami, thirty-two cats circled the bedding. Several of them even ran onto the quilts and burrowed into the covers, making Mingming so happy he couldn’t care about any grudges anymore, letting out excited laughter from time to time.

Huo Xingmian closed his eyes and silently petted the cat, feeling deep disdain in his heart. Letting him nap next to this kind of cub what would the stinky stepfather use to repay him for this debt!

Xi Ling, petting Princess, who was kneading milk in his arms, yawned and urged naturally: “Aren’t you going to tell the Classic of Mountains and Seas?”

Before the words were out, the two cubs in the middle looked at Chu Xinnian simultaneously. Along with Xi Ling, all three had expectant expressions.

Classic of Mountains and Seas was Chu Fangming’s favorite bedtime story; he looked forward to it at any time. Huo Xingmian was curious since he had never heard bedtime stories, and Xi Ling was equally curious since he had never systematically read Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Thus, within Chu Xinnian’s field of vision, there wasn’t just a row of cat heads aside from his own “fifty-month-old” baby and the other family’s “thirty-six-month-old” baby, there was also a “two-hundred-plus-month-old”…

Chu Xinnian: “…”

Chu Xinnian cleared his throat: “Since everyone wants to hear it, I’ll start with Gonggong slamming his head against Mount Buzhou.”

Chu Xinnian had a clear voice and distinct articulation. He had specifically practiced emphasis and rhythm for acting, so his bedtime storytelling was no less professional than a broadcaster.

Xi Ling’s eyes lit up at the opening. He didn’t have these skills; wouldn’t it be great if the cub could蹭 (listen in on) the Chu family’s bedtime stories every day?

The viewers in the live broadcast room on both sides were already numb:

[What happened to the “a father must be strong and will definitely fight for his cub”?]

[Xi Ling is listening so intently… Has he forgotten that Chu Xinnian is the “illiterate” he once stepped on?]

[The “main” and the “counterpart” sleeping together, the sense of visual… Heartache for Chu Xinnian’s fans.]

[To be fair, Chu Xinnian tells it really well. I’m a “three-hundred-month-old” baby and I like listening too!]

[Front, can you stop talking nonsense? There are clearly two children in the middle, and our Nian-Nian is also for Ming-bao…]

The tearing apart and stepping on each other that was imagined never happened. The two pairs of fathers and sons spent the day happily in the cat house.

Not to mention the live broadcast viewers, when parting, Chu Xinnian looked at Xi Ling not far away waving his hand like a windshield wiper, smiling brightly and saying goodbye, and felt it was all very dreamlike.

Looking at his son beside him, laughing until his gums were exposed, he was clearly deeply captured by the other party’s cat-making friends. Chu Xinnian frowned with concern.

On the way home, Xi Ling rested one hand on the steering wheel. While waiting for a red light, he rua-ed the cub’s already messy hair even messier.

Huo Xingmian looked at himself in the rearview mirror and puffed out his little cheeks.

Xi Ling had played very happily and wanted to ask the cub what type of cat he liked after experiencing it personally.

He laid the groundwork first: “Did Mianmian have fun today?”

Huo Xingmian thought of the cub who even burrowed into the stepfather’s arms just to pet the cat. His little face puffed out a little more. After a moment, he said dully: “Average.”

After saying that, he tilted his head and started snoring against the back of the seat, the intention to refuse communication being very obvious.

Xi Ling: ?

This cub was clearly having a super-hyped time petting the cat.

After arriving home, Xi Ling tidied up photos and posted them on Weibo to show off his cub. It just so happened that he witnessed himself being “bought” for a trending search.

#XiLingFirstJoiningAsiaInfoLiveBroadcast# landed on the trending list with zero comments, and after refreshing, it already had hundreds of robot comments.

Xi Ling clicked into the entry, and at the very top was an advertisement for AsiaInfo Smart Home, marked with the fact that he was going to go to the AsiaInfo live broadcast room to bring goods at 8:00 tomorrow night…

The person concerned looked confused. Hadn’t he already clearly rejected Fu Hao?

Xi Ling thought it was just Fu Hao making trouble to annoy him. In reality, the situation was even more troublesome than he imagined. This live broadcast for goods wasn’t just a simple business deal.

AsiaInfo Technology was a competing company that had challenged CreaThink many times. This news was equivalent to Xi Ling publicly supporting AsiaInfo, and the original owner had been as high-profile as could be before, who didn’t know his wealthy husband was the CEO of CreaThink?

Live-streaming for a competitor wasn’t just outrageous and low-class; it was a slap in the face of his wealthy husband, pa pa pa pa pa.

Xi Ling had originally been lying lazily on the sofa playing with his phone, but he perked up the moment he searched this.

Posting some black history was fine, but destroying his money-strong marital relationship with his “ATM husband” was going too far. Messing around and actually “gouging out his eyes”!