The four kittens were two months old in the blink of an eye. He fed the few little ones until they were chubby, and the price he paid was a pair of looming dark circles under his eyes. His skin was pale, so it was a bit obvious. Xu Hengxing was taken aback when he came to pick up the kitties. He crouched on the floor and stuffed them into a crate, asking: “Someone who didn’t know might think you have a fox spirit hiding in your house, sucking out your vitality…..”

As soon as he finished speaking, a tall man wearing an apron came out of the kitchen and asked while holding a spatula: “Will your friend stay for dinner?”

Xu Hengxing: ……

Fuck! A fox spirit!

Lu Qi lowered his head and asked: “Do you want to eat here?”

Xu Hengxing’s voice trembled. “Who…..who is this? You’ve been doing good deeds for more than twenty years,  so has a cat or dog finally transformed to repay your kindness?”

He picked up a kitten and said: “Transform! Transform for me!”

“……” Lu Qi lightly kicked him on the hip and coughed. “This is my neighbor. He…..he doesn’t have a kitchen, so he often comes here to cook…..”

His guilty eyes wandered, darting around.

Xu Hengxing whispered to Lu Qi, “Brother, aren’t you lying? The watch on his hand could buy a small restaurant, but he still lacks a kitchen?” After looking Lu Qi up and down, he suddenly hehe’d. “Is he pursuing you?”

Lu Qi couldn’t deny it, and muttered faintly.

“Then I must stay for dinner!” Xu Hengxing was eager to start. “Rich men play around a lot. I need to guard the pass for you so that you aren’t deceived!”

He gave Mu Nanqiao a meaningful look.

Mu Nanqiao was all smiles, and no matter how he looked at that smile, it seemed as if he had a card up his sleeve.

When it was time to eat, Xu Hengxing faced the six dishes on the table and swallowed his saliva. “I admit, I spoke a little loudly just now.”

When Mu Nanqiao chatted with him about the operation of the rescue center, Xu Hengxing became more serious. Mu Nanqiao listened attentively, and didn’t forget to peel shrimp for Lu Qi.

“I can fund the rescue center.” Mu Nanqiao said: “Mr Xu, you can contact my assistant later to confirm the relevant procedures with him.”

Mu Nanqiao had brought this matter up with Lu Qi two days ago, so Lu Qi was not surprised. He had a detailed discussion with Mu Nanqiao at that time and hoped that the other party wasn’t spending money just because of him. Mu Nanqiao said that Mu Group had a special expenditure every year that was used for public welfare. After Mu Chuansong came to power, all of the funds were given to Mu Rui for food and drink, prostitutes, and gambling.

He was just reusing this money in the right place.

Xu Hengxing’s eyes lit up when he heard that Mu Nanqiao was going to donate to the rescue center every month, and he reached out tremblingly to pat Lu Qi’s shoulder.

“Boss, he’s yours,” Xu Hengxing said. “I can also help you guard the door. No matter how loud he screams, I won’t open the door for him.”

Lu Qi almost choked. He kicked Xu Hengxing’s calf with burning ears, silently reprimanding him for neglecting their friendship over wealth.

Mu Nanqiao noticed his small movements and just chuckled, raising his hand to push a small plate of shrimp toward Lu Qi.

Xu Hengxing suddenly felt like he had been fed full of dog food.

The four kittens were taken away by Xu Hengxing. After finding suitable adoptive families, they would start new lives. The mother cat, Xiao Sanhua, was kept by Lu Qi and officially joined his family.

After sending Xu Hengxing away, Lu Qi went to the kitchen to wash the bowls. When he came out again, he found that Mu Nanqiao was still in the small living room and was teasing Xiao Sanhua with a cat teasing-stick. When he saw Lu Qi come out, he raised his eyes and smiled: “Your friend is quite interesting.”

“What’s so interesting about him? Isn’t he especially hypocritical?” Lu Qi couldn’t help but want to laugh when he thought about Xu Hengxing’s cheap appearance. “He was completely convinced by Boss Mu’s wealth…..but aren’t you going to work this afternoon?”

He himself didn’t notice the familiarity of this sentence, as if they were very close friends or a couple living together.

Mu Nanqiao knew that Lu Qi was just asking a question and had no other meaning, but he didn’t care, and was busy digging some sugar out of this simple question. His smile became more cheerful, and his fox eyes were shining brightly.

“I actually don’t have to go to the company on Saturdays and Sundays.“ He picked up the cat and put her on his knees, using his fingers to play with her ears. “Various departments in the company were in the handover stage previously, and things were inevitably a little more complicated. Everything is good now, so I plan to give myself a day off today.”

Mu Nanqiao looked at Lu Qi and grasped the cat’s front paw, shaking it. “Do you want to go out for a walk together? Hike a mountain? A picnic? Archery?”

Lu Qi was a little moved, and his round little deer eyes lit up. Then he thought of something again, and his raised eyebrows drooped. “Forget it, I’m afraid I can only take a half-day tour of my living room today. I took an urgent commission that needs to be handed in tomorrow. I have to concentrate on catching up with the progress.”

Mu Nanqiao nodded: “Oh.”

After waiting for a moment, Lu Qi blinked. “You’re still not leaving?”

“To go where?” Mu Nanqiao looked at Lu Qi, and he and Xiao Sanhua tilted their heads in unison. The big fox and little cat both gazed at Lu Qi with equally innocent eyes. “The place next door is damp and dark. Do you really want me to go back?”

“You…..” Lu Qi reached out and picked up the cat to prevent her from learning bad things. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t go. Speak politely and don’t act coquettish!”

Having achieved his goal, Mu Nanqiao took out freeze-dried cat food from the small drawer of the coffee table. He called Xiao Sanhua back and sat on the sofa to focus on feeding the cat.

Lu Qi went to the bedroom to take out his equipment, and shrunk into a small corner to draw. He clearly didn’t want Mu Nanqiao to know what he was drawing, and put his back to the wall while facing him, as nervous as a little hamster secretly collecting food.

But a prompt popped up on Mu Nanqiao’s mobile phone, and he paid special attention to a live broadcast. 

Mu Nanqiao: ……

He didn’t mean to peek, but as a qualified “captain,” wasn’t it right for him not to miss any of wifey’s broadcasts?

A lot of fur was rubbed onto his chest when he picked the cat up and nestled them both on the small sofa. Pretending to check his phone, he entered the live broadcast room.

As soon as he entered, Mu Nanqiao raised his eyebrows and reached out to cover the cat’s eyes.

Xiao Sanhua: “Meow?”

The drawing was nearly completed, and the final rendering was in progress. Mu Nanqiao didn’t recognize this character, and only after looking at the barrage did he realize that it was fanart for a certain game.

There were special effects when a captain entered the live broadcast room, and Mu Nanqiao heard Lu Qi’s soft gasp. After a moment, the barrage appeared slowly and Lu Qi typed out a welcome to him with his own hands.

[Why isn’t wifey speaking today? It always feels like something is missing when the wife doesn’t speak. I refuse to hand over my pants.]

[555~ Two of my favorite elements, wifey is drawing my favorite idol]

[This pixelation is a bit strange]

[Although, aren’t the abs drawn by wifey not so natural, ah?]

[Yes, it’s a shortcoming. Fortunately, most of the time wifey likes to draw more subtle things, so they usually have clothes]

[Today’s sponsor daddy specifically asked for no clothes]

[Hot, hot~ You are all experts, but I only know hot~]

Mu Nanqiao silently threw out two gifts, and heard Lu Qi huddled in the corner let out a small sound again, like a little frightened animal.

After a moment, the barrage appeared slowly: Thank you @Lionid for the tip. Just watching is enough, no need for gifts.

Mu Nanqiao thought and then sent a message.

[You can do it, wifey~ It will be even better with the abs drawn well~ I look forward to wifey’s progress~ (holding heart)]

“Meow~”

Xiao Sanhua licked her paws. She didn’t understand what this human was doing, but she could see that this man had a cunning smile on his face, almost like a fox wagging its tail. Cats and dogs were naturally incompatible with each other. She instantly forgot the friendship of being fed freeze-dried food and yelled at Mu Nanqiao, jumping away by stepping hard on his belly.

Mu Nanqiao: ? ? ?

What kind of ungrateful rebellious girl had he been feeding in vain?

However, Xiao Sanhua ran to Lu Qi’s feet in the blink of an eye, circling around him as she purred coquettishly and said in a soft and delicate voice: “Miwu~”

Lu Qi endured it for two minutes before he finally couldn’t resist the temptation. He leaned over and picked up the cat, stroking her in his arms. “What are you doing? I’m at work…..”

Mu Nanqiao hadn’t turned on the sound, so he heard this sentence directly, and the people in the live broadcast room obviously heard it too. The barrage stopped for a few seconds, and then a series of ahhhhs filled the screen.

[Wifey, you’re acting coquettish with me, I know it]

[I told wifey earlier to livestream and lull me to sleep. I’m sleepwalking so much that I could spin around thirty times. I’m so busy that I’ll put the donkeys in the fields out of work]

[Laughing to death. The more I listen, the more energetic I become. Finally, some unspeakable program has been opened]

For a moment, Mu Nanqiao felt sour.

He sat up and asked softly: “Do you want to go out to eat tonight?”

Lu Qi replied subconsciously: “What should we eat? Do you want to go to that Sichuan restaurant from last time?”

Mu Nanqiao: ……

He shouldn’t have asked this question, and simply said they would go eat seafood.

Who would have thought that this pale, clean person like a soft butter cake turned out to be filled with hot pepper flavor, but it happened that Mu Nanqiao couldn’t eat spicy food. He almost couldn’t maintain his dignity last time and cried in front of Lu Qi.

Nothing could make a boss shed tears, and if so, it was abnormally spicy.

But Lu Qi’s eyes were bright, as if he was looking forward to testing it. “No? Then let’s…..”

“Yes.” Mu Nanqiao smiled with difficulty. “We’ll just eat at that one.”

“Okay,” Lu Qi agreed immediately. “Then I’ll treat you this time.”

The barrage: ……

[Fuck~ A mysterious wild man]

[He hesitated, he hesitated! He’s not sincere! Let me go with wifey! I can show off my tolerance for chili seeds]

[It sounds so good that my ears are numb]

[Are they roommates? Is this the friend wifey mentioned last time? That super handsome one!]

But Lu Qi didn’t say anything else. In order to go to dinner early, he focused on completing his task, and successfully uploaded it before dinner.

After booking a seat, Mu Nanqiao planned to go back and change clothes. He stood up and stretched his stiff muscles, casually informing Lu Qi, but received no response.

When he looked down, Lu Qi was gazing at his waist, lost in thought. After a moment, he reached up and pinched his own waist.

Mu Nanqiao: ……

If he lifted his clothes to see if Lu Qi’s waist was red, would he be invited out by the Holy Sword of Physics? 

But he had pinched really hard and was cruel to himself.

“What are you thinking about?” He vaguely guessed the answer, but pretended to be puzzled and asked: “Why did you pinch yourself?”

Wife Xiao Lu sat on a small stool and held his chin, frowning in distress as he asked: “Do you exercise? I don’t seem to have seen you working out.”

“……” Mu Nanqiao said: “While you’re sleeping, I get up early for a run. Sometimes when I come back late, it’s not always because I’m working overtime. There is a gym downstairs at the company.”

Lu Qi: ……

My goodness, Boss Mu secretly one-upped everyone and stunned them.

“Then you…..” Lu Qi’s eyes sparkled with anticipation: “Do you have abs?”

Ah, the little fish took the bait.