Chapter 12 – Genius

“What’s up, Aunt Hui? Did you come to see Ning Ning?” He Rong threw his keys on the cabinet, the sound making Xu Hui’s hand tremble. She forced an unnatural smile.

“I… I came to see you,” Xu Hui looked up, her hands rubbing together. “Your father couldn’t reach you on the phone, so he asked me to check what’s going on.”

He Rong didn’t look at her, his attention on Xiang Ning, who had just come out of the bathroom. He was holding one kitten in one hand, the other two lying in his right arm, meowing pitifully.

“Did you give them a bath?” He Rong walked past Xu Hui and helped Xiang Ning with one of the kittens.

Xiang Ning nodded, noticing Xu Hui’s expression, and gave her an apologetic smile.

He Rong followed his gaze. Xu Hui, caught off guard, hastily looked down, gritting her teeth. “Your father wants you to visit him at the hospital.”

“He seems fine to me,” He Rong said, putting the kitten down and rolling up Xiang Ning’s wet sleeves. “Didn’t he fire two nurses and a driver? The hospital said there’s nothing wrong. I think I’d just be in the way.”

Xiang Ning, understanding, played with the kittens, giving the two of them some space.

He Rong rubbed his empty fingers, looking at Xu Hui. “You’re here, so I’ll leave it to you to take care of him.”

Xu Hui couldn’t stay any longer, forcing a smile. “Well, I’ll be going then. Visit your father if you have time.”

“Sure,” He Rong nodded, sitting on the sofa. “I won’t see you out.”

The door clicked shut. Xiang Ning, holding the kittens, sat next to He Rong, showing him a message on his phone: “Is your father sick?”

“He’s fine,” He Rong’s furrowed brows relaxed slightly as he picked up a kitten, stroking its fur. “You don’t need to worry about him.”

Xiang Ning nodded. He didn’t want to get involved, but seeing He Rong so troubled, he asked.

The kitten used its tiny, sharp teeth to gnaw on He Rong’s finger, drooling. He Rong held up his slightly red finger and showed it to Xiang Ning. “Look what your cat did.”

Xiang Ning took a tissue and wiped it, symbolically tapping the kitten’s head as punishment, and gave He Rong a reassuring smile.

He Rong grabbed his hand, ignoring the young man’s momentary stiffness and embarrassment, holding it tightly. The TV played a meaningless shopping channel, the host exaggeratingly waving a display board. Xiang Ning felt the room was unusually quiet, his heartbeat clear.

The trial hand-holding ended when the kitten placed its paw on He Rong’s hand.

He Rong gently flicked the kitten, which bared its teeth and retreated. He pinched the kitten’s scruff and put it in the cage. “Reflect on what you did wrong.”

The kitten, confused, shook its head and started a trio with its siblings outside the cage.

Xiang Ning, ears red, went to prepare kitten milk, hiding his heated right hand behind his back, wiping the sweat.

In the evening, Director Lin reminded him to retweet. Xiang Ning did it on time and went upstairs to sleep.

He didn’t expect the situation to change when he woke up.

As a newcomer, Zhou Yi’s first song release was expected to have little attention. Even with the company’s established artists promoting it, the team didn’t have high hopes. They planned to have Zhou Yi thank the seniors who retweeted, hoping to gain some goodwill. However, the tweet exploded at 10 PM, and by the time the team leader noticed, it had already climbed the trending list.

“Ahhh, Sister Lin!” Director Lin held her phone away, annoyed by the mask. “What’s with the screaming?”

“Check your Weibo!” Xiao Zhang’s voice was filled with uncontrollable joy. “Check Zhou Yi’s tweet!”

Director Lin glanced at Weibo, quickly removing her mask and hanging up on the still screaming Xiao Zhang. She called Zhou Yi.

“Hello, Sister Lin.” Zhou Yi sounded groggy, clearly just waking up.

“You’re sleeping at this hour? You’re still a kid,” Director Lin teased. “Have you seen your Weibo?”

“No… What Weibo?” Zhou Yi rubbed his eyes and sat up, mumbling, “Isn’t the account managed by the company?”

“You can log in yourself! Go check now!”

“Okay…” Zhou Yi, half-asleep, turned on the light and opened Weibo.

!!!

“Did you see it?” Director Lin, holding the phone, opened her computer and assigned tasks. “Quickly, thank everyone for their support.”

Zhou Yi was still in shock, his chest filled with surprise and joy. He jumped out of bed and ran to knock on his brother’s door. “Bro! Bro! Ye Wu said I sing well!”

The tweet was simple: “The lyrics and singing are a bit raw, but very appealing. The melody is catchy, and the singer’s voice is rare. It’s a great piece.”

Who is Ye Wu? A national singer from a few years ago, a musical genius who swept all the awards when he debuted. At the peak of his career, he retired to study abroad, and everyone speculated he was running out of talent. But after getting his degree, he stayed to teach at the music school.

A legendary figure.

Zhou Yi, without waiting for his brother’s response, logged into Weibo, struggling to come up with a reply. After half an hour of deleting and rewriting, he still wasn’t satisfied and called Director Lin.

“Forget it, I’ll do it for you,” Director Lin typed quickly, then sent a message to Xiang Ning.

“Sister Lin, can I write it? It might seem more sincere,” Zhou Yi said, his voice getting softer.

“…” Director Lin, too lazy to argue, wrote a message and sent it to him.

Zhou Yi, still excited, retweeted and quickly followed.

His brother came out, surprised. “Is your company that rich?”

Zhou Yi, realizing what he meant, went back to his room, sulking.

Xiang Ning was woken by He Rong’s late return and realized what had happened. He shook his hand happily. He Rong smiled, asking, “Have you had dinner?”

It was already 11 PM, so of course he had. Xiang Ning looked at He Rong curiously and nodded.

“I haven’t,” He Rong sighed, sitting down. “I’m a bit hungry. Can you cook something?”

“Want noodles?” Xiang Ning thought for a moment, nodded, and checked his phone.

He Rong smiled. “Whatever you make is fine.”

Xiang Ning, feeling uncomfortable, avoided his gaze and went to the kitchen.

He Rong, seeing the kittens climbing his pants, picked them up and put them in the cage.

The three kittens huddled together, meowing and scratching the cage.

“Tomorrow, I’ll give them away,” He Rong said, poking one of their heads.