When the Heartthrob Meets the Cold-Hearted Ex - Chapter 26

After returning home, Tang Yeran added a new daily routine: checking Su Yang’s social media updates.

Su Yang’s social media had always been set to show all historical posts, but she rarely updated perhaps once a month at most.

However, that was before. From this day onward, the style of Su Yang’s posts began to change.

Morning: [Cat photo 1][Cat photo 2][Cat photo 3]

Noon: [Cat photo 1][Cat photo 2][Cat photo 3]

Evening: [Cat photo 1][Cat photo 2][Cat photo 3]

Not a single word of description, yet every day without fail, she managed to fill a nine-square grid.

Tang Yeran would admire Yuanbao’s adorable face the moment the posts went up and then like every single one.

Because of this unusual cat-centric activity, Su Yang received quite a few calls over the next few days people asking if her account had been hacked.

Explaining it one by one gave her a headache, so she finally posted another update: Sharing photos of my newly adopted kitten. No, I wasn’t hacked.

Not long after this post went up, she received another call.

“President Su, good evening. Are you busy right now?” Thanks to Yuanbao, Tang Yeran had become much warmer and friendlier toward Su Yang lately.

“Not particularly.” Su Yang glanced at Yuanbao playing with a ball on the sofa, her tone indifferent.

“Good. I’ve been looking at the photos you’ve been posting of Yuanbao recently, they’re really well taken. Crisp quality, lively and cute.” Flattery never failed, and Tang Yeran never held back on praise when she was in a good mood.

“Get to the point.” Su Yang wasn’t swayed by the compliments. Instead, a faint sense of foreboding flickered in her mind.

“Well! It’s just, don’t you think it’s a bit monotonous to only post pictures without any text?”

“Most people’s updates include both images and captions. Maybe you could try adding some text to the photos like what Yuanbao’s been up to lately or any funny new antics.”

Tang Yeran knew this request was a bit excessive, but as a first-time virtual cat owner, nine photos a day no longer satisfied her cravings. She had to cautiously propose a new demand.

Su Yang sat on the sofa with the phone in hand. Yuanbao promptly climbed onto her lap and sprawled out comfortably.

As a cat, Yuanbao’s life consisted of eating, sleeping, and playing, what new antics could there possibly be?

Su Yang picked the cat up with one hand and set it down on a soft cushion on the sofa. “What, are you trying to turn me into a pet blogger now?”

“Not exactly.” Tang Yeran waved her hand on the other end of the line.

“Pet bloggers have to write scripts, film videos, and even do voiceovers or appear on camera. I doubt you’re at that stage yet.”

At that stage?

So she actually did want her to develop in the direction of a pet blogger?

Su Yang pressed the phone to her ear, irritation creeping into her voice. “No time. If you’re that concerned, you can come see for yourself.”

“Wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you?” Sensing Su Yang’s displeasure, Tang Yeran quickly backtracked.

“On second thought, given your reserved personality, writing captions every day might be a bit of a stretch.”

“How about this whenever you’re free in the evenings, let me video call with Yuanbao. Just fifteen minutes no, ten minutes. Actually, five minutes is fine!”

Su Yang, the reserved one gripped her phone tightly, as if it were a lump of clay. “Fine. Fifteen minutes a day.”

“Deal!”

The next second, Tang Yeran hung up the call and immediately video-called her.

Su Yang had just finished showering and was wearing a dark blue silk pajama set. A second before answering, she quickly straightened her collar with one hand.

When the video connected, Tang Yeran’s freshly washed, makeup-free face took up most of the phone screen. The first thing she said was, “Yuanbao.”

Su Yang: …

She scooped up Yuanbao, who had been flicking its tail while grooming itself and placed it in the center of the sofa, then propped her phone on a stand beside it.

Yuanbao, interrupted from its leisurely playtime, was initially displeased.

But upon spotting the figure on the screen, it seemed to find something intriguing and began curiously poking its head around the edges of the phone.

The clever little expression was utterly endearing.

On the other end of the screen, Tang Yeran’s maternal instincts overflowed as she meowed incessantly through the phone.

Su Yang couldn’t bear to listen. “If you two are catching up, do you even need me here?”

Tang Yeran was about to say no, but despite Yuanbao’s small size, it was surprisingly strong.

With a few nudges of its head, the phone and stand toppled over together.

“President Su, both Yuanbao and I really need you to hold up the phone.”

Su Yang: …

The phone stand couldn’t stay steady on the soft sofa, so Su Yang resignedly picked it up.

While the two on either side of the screen happily video-chatted, Su Yang dutifully played the role of a human phone stand NPC.

Three minutes later, the NPC spoke up. “I’ve been thinking posting one caption a day on social media isn’t impossible.”

Tang Yeran’s face lit up with joy. “Really? President Su, you’re such a good person.”

Su Yang, the “good person,” continued, “So we can skip the daily video calls from now on.”

“Nooo!” Tang Yeran fake-wailed.

It was easy to go from frugality to extravagance but hard to go back. Now that she was enjoying their video calls, canceling them outright was unacceptable.

After some bargaining, they settled on one daily post with photos and a five-minute video call.

From then on, Su Yang’s social media feed took on this style:

Monday: Eating, sleeping, playing with yarn balls. [Pic 1][Pic 2][Pic 3]…[Pic 9]

Tuesday: Tried a new flavor of cat food. Yuanbao’s adjusting. [Pic 1][Pic 2][Pic 3]…[Pic 9]

Wednesday: Spent an hour assembling a nearly two-meter-tall cat tree. Yuanbao loves it. [Pic 1][Pic 2][Pic 3]…[Pic 9]

Thursday: Won’t buy bell toys for Yuanbao anymore. Now it carries around a little fish with a bell, jingling everywhere it goes. [Pic 1][Pic 2][Pic 3]…[Pic 9]

Friday: Left work early today and tried making Yuanbao a homemade meal chopped carrots, corn, beef, pork, and chicken, slow-cooked. Before it was even done, the little rascal was circling me and rubbing against my legs. What if it stops eating regular cat food after this? [Pic 1][Pic 2][Pic 3]…[Pic 9]

As it turned out, writing skills could be honed. In less than a week, Su Yang’s social media captions evolved from fewer than ten words to full-blown recipes and mini skits.

At this rate, she was one step closer to becoming a pet influencer.

Tang Yeran was quite pleased with this development. Just a couple of days ago, she’d been dropping all sorts of hints for Su Yang to write a bit more.

Now she didn’t even need to remind her Su Yang had gradually developed her own writing style.

On Saturday evening, Tang Yeran camped out on WeChat as usual, waiting for Su Yang to post on her Moments.

6 PM, nothing. Maybe the caption was too long this time, requiring more thought.

6:30 PM, still nothing. Maybe Su Yang was busy with something and needed more time.

7 PM, still no response. Maybe…

But how many “maybes” could there be? Had something happened to either her or the cat?

The more Tang Yeran thought about it, the more convinced she became. Unable to hold back, she dialed Su Yang’s number. “Su Yang, are you okay?”

When Su Yang answered, she had just finished putting a little coat on Yuanbao.

She was deeply moved this time, Tang Yeran’s first question was about her well-being, not Yuanbao’s.

A week ago, that would have been unthinkable.

She settled Yuanbao on her lap, stroking the cat’s head as she spoke.

“I’m fine. It’s Yuanbao she’s been sneezing nonstop since this morning, and nothing seems to help.”

Tang Yeran grew worried. “Did you take her to the vet?”

“We went for a checkup. The exact cause isn’t clear, but I think it might be because of the recent cold weather. The vet prescribed some medicine, and I put this coat on her.”

Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!

As if to confirm, Yuanbao let out three perfectly timed sneezes right after Su Yang finished speaking.

Tang Yeran’s heart leapt into her throat. “Kittens shouldn’t take medicine carelessly. You’re at home, right? I’ll come over and check.”

Evening, no traffic. It only took Tang Yeran half an hour by taxi to reach Su Yang’s place.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Yuanbao curled up in the plush cat bed in the living room, sneezing one after another.

Tang Yeran had rushed over in a hurry, her body still warm from the trip. She touched Yuanbao’s cotton coat and frowned. “Isn’t this too thick for the weather? Could she overheat?”

“Probably not. Cats have lower body temperatures,” Su Yang said, handing over the vet’s report.

“We checked earlier today no allergies, no viral infection. So it must just be a cold.”

Tang Yeran skimmed the report. It did seem that way.

She wasn’t a cat expert, but seeing Yuanbao sneeze repeatedly while struggling to wriggle out of the coat broke her heart.

Kneeling by the cat bed, she wrapped Yuanbao snugly in a small blanket. “Be good, Yuanbao. You can’t take off the coat, you need to sweat it out to get better.”

Her knowledge was limited, so she could only apply the same logic as when humans caught a cold.

Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!

Faced with being bundled up like a tiny dumpling, Yuanbao didn’t seem too appreciative. After three more sneezes, she arched her back and hissed at them.

Tang Yeran had never seen the kitten so angry before something felt off.

She grabbed Yuanbao’s front paws and leaned in for a closer look, barely dodging another sneeze aimed at her face.

The frequency of the sneezes was unusually high. The angrier Yuanbao got, the stranger it seemed.

Determined, Tang Yeran asked Su Yang for a face mask and had her hold the cat from behind.

Bracing against the sneezes, she cupped Yuanbao’s head and examined her inch by inch.

And sure enough, she found something unusual.

“There’s a hair stuck in its nose slit,” Tang Yeran said, taking a tissue to carefully extract the strand.

The hair had lodged itself quite deep in the nasal passage, requiring considerable effort to fully remove.

After showing the hair to Su Yang on the tissue, Tang Yeran tossed it into the trash.

By now, Yuanbao had finally stopped sneezing, abandoning its earlier defensive stance to nuzzle affectionately against Tang Yeran’s palm.

Tang Yeran let out a relieved sigh and proceeded to ruffle Yuanbao’s little head into a mess.

“You scared me to death. I really thought you were dying just now, turns out it was just a single hair.”

Su Yang, now also at ease, leaned back on the sofa to rest. “You really don’t trust me, do you? With me around, how could Yuanbao possibly die?”

You didn’t even notice the hair in Yuanbao’s nose.

In too good a mood to argue, Tang Yeran picked up Yuanbao and settled onto the sofa as well. “I’m parched. Got anything to drink here?”

“Been too busy dealing with the cat all day didn’t have time to boil water.” Su Yang clearly no longer treated Tang Yeran as a guest.

“Even a soda’s fine. I’m not picky.” With just the two of them, Tang Yeran also dropped the earlier formalities.

Su Yang fell silent for three seconds. “Then wait a moment.”

A minute later, she returned to the living room with an armful of brightly colored bottles.

“Xu You’s quitting alcohol lately, so she left these with me to dispose of. Take your pick.”

Tang Yeran grabbed a red bottle pomegranate-flavored cocktail, practically a soft drink. Good enough.

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