Chapter 75: Troublesome, Someone Come Up to Claim Your Pet

Chapter 75: Troublesome, Someone Come Up to Claim Your Pet

"Alright, alright, is tummy ache good enough?" Jiang Yuduo asked.

The orange cat tried to wriggle free, but Jiang Yuduo insisted on holding it, scolding, "You ungrateful little thing, you've eaten my cat treats for nothing. What's wrong with me holding you?"

"Lu Nanqing, where's its cat food?" Jiang Yuduo inquired.

"On the top shelf of the cabinet. Open one can and give it two scoops of dry food," Lu Nanqing replied.

Hugging the cat close, Jiang Yuduo opened the cabinet door. Seeing that he was getting its food, the little orange cat stopped struggling.

"Only two scoops? Isn't that too little?" Jiang Yuduo said.

"It's enough. The vet said it needs to lose weight during the last checkup," Lu Nanqing explained.

"You know it's fat too," Jiang Yuduo commented wistfully. "It's still called Little Orange, but I'd say it's Fat Orange or Plump Orange."

"Do you believe it will scratch you?" Lu Nanqing said nonchalantly.

"Cough, let's not talk about that. In my heart, it will always be Little Orange," Jiang Yuduo promptly pleaded for mercy.

Placing the canned food and cat kibble in their respective spots, he gently sets the cat down. As Orange devours its meal with large bites, Jiang Yuduo seizes the opportunity to stroke the cat's back.

"A little food, and you'll be purring like a contented cat," Jiang Yuduo chuckled.

Observing the cat eating, he found more and more similarities between Lu Nanqing's manner of eating and that of a feline, as if they were in perfect synchronization.

"You're too stingy, not even a cat tree for them to play on." After watching the cats for a while, Jiang Yuduo ventured out.

"Office space is limited here, unlike yours which can accommodate a cat mansion," Lu Nanqing replied without lifting his head, focusing on his computer with his right hand.

"How do you know I have a cat mansion in my office?" Jiang Yuduo asked, hands on his hips, surprised.

Lu Nanqing paused for a moment before casually responding, "I didn't know that. It was just a metaphor. Your office is large enough to fit one."

Jiang Yuduo huffed, "And how would you know my office is big?"

"Because CEO Jiang is affluent and has a grandeur that suggests a spacious office," Lu Nanqing explained.

With a pleased smile, Jiang Yuduo modestly replied, "It's nothing much, just twice the size of your office."

Lu Nanqing chuckled and popped another shrimp dumpling into his mouth.

After a while, Little Orange had its fill and went looking for its owner. Seeing that its master still had some food left, it tried to approach but was scooped up mid-way.

"Let me hold you, you ungrateful cat," Jiang Yuduo said.

Using its paws to push against his chin, Little Orange resisted his affection. It heard its owner say, "Don't scratch people, or I'll have to pay medical bills."

Whether it understood or not, the cat turned its head away in a 'glorious yet humiliating' manner. Meowing incessantly, it endured being stroked repeatedly.

Knock, knock. The sound of someone knocking on the office door echoed.

"Come in," Lu Nanqing said.

"The CEO, there was a strange man who delivered breakfast just now. I felt something was off about him. I couldn't find him after searching around and then I heard he came to your office…" The receptionist had barely pushed the door open before she started reporting, only to realize that the man in question was indeed in Lu Nanqing's office.

Jiang Yuduo shot her an icy glare and questioned, "Strange man? Something off??"

The receptionist was flabbergasted. "Uh... President Jiang? It really is you?!"

"Hey, hey, are you calling me cheap?" Jiang Yuduo protested, turning to Lu Nanqing with an accusatory look. "Do you not control your employees? She just insulted someone!"

"No, no, it's the character 'jiàn' in 'have seen,' not the one for 'cheap,'" the receptionist hastily corrected herself. "I meant to say I've seen President Jiang and was greeting you."

"Why did you skip that character then? Clearly, you were insulting me," Jiang Yuduo argued, not convinced.

Lu Nanqing felt like he had two heads. He stood up to mediate the situation.

Looking at Jiang Yuduo, he said, "I apologize for my employee's slip of the tongue; she didn't mean to insult you. Please don't misunderstand."

Then, addressing the receptionist, he continued, "The person who just entered wasn't a stranger—it was President Jiang. You can go back to work now. Your vigilance is commendable."

The receptionist nodded, and Jiang Yuduo, in a magnanimous gesture, let the matter drop. However, as she reached the door, she couldn't resist turning back to ask, "President Lu, why did President Jiang come here? Is he... here to fight you? If there's a problem, just say so. We'll all protect you."

Saying this, she glared at Jiang Yuduo with hostility.

Jiang Yuduo: ...

"Hmph." Jiang Yuduo chuckled coldly. "Yes, I'm here to fight. If you've got the guts, come at me. Let's see who comes out on top."

Lu Nanqing rubbed his forehead and said, "He's here to deliver breakfast. Don't read too much into it. The relationship between our two companies... Well, it's somewhat eased up."

The receptionist still looked at Jiang Yuduo with suspicion, full of questions like why the despised boss would bring breakfast to the esteemed boss. Was this a fox's visit to a chicken on New Year's Day?

But she didn't ask further and eventually left the room slowly. As the door wasn't fully closed, she accidentally overheard their conversation:

"It's just somewhat eased up? Lu Nanqing, you have no heart! You're made of stone! You're so cold-hearted!"

"I've done so much for you. Who took care of you when you were in the hospital? Who carried you to the bathroom? Who sent you home last night? Huh?"

...

The stunned receptionist outside the door: !!!!

Help! What earth-shattering news is this! The despised boss took care of the esteemed boss during his hospital stay? And they were together last night??

The receptionist felt as if her world was collapsing. Their companies had always been rivals, and they usually couldn't stand each other when they met in the elevator. But now, she was told that their bosses were actually close friends with an unbreakable bond...

Receptionist: No, I need to calm down. I have to coordinate the story with the group.

She returned to her workstation and began tagging colleagues in the group chat, asking if they knew about this. Apparently, they were more shocked than she was and found it completely inconceivable.

[Comical, our President Jiang serving your President Lu? Is this the latest smear tactic from downstairs?]

[Even if the Yellow River and the Yangtze River merge one day, President Jiang would never stoop so low as to curry favor with your boss!]

[Is this news true? I also find it hard to believe that President Jiang would do such a thing. He's so arrogant and self-important, he'd wish for President Lu to serve him instead.]

[While we're competitors, we don't engage in cutthroat competition. This time, our front desk will handle the matter internally.]

...

In the group, some were arguing, while others tried to mediate sensibly. Little Fatty, who was silently observing, typed a response but deleted it. The downstairs receptionist had indeed shared a genuine incident, but how did she know?

Nonetheless, it didn't really matter. As long as she denied it, there wouldn't be an issue. If it were to get out that their boss was serving President Lu, not only would their boss lose face, but their entire team upstairs would be humiliated. She could already imagine the smug and mocking expressions of those downstairs.

[If what I said isn't true, how do you explain President Jiang's appearance at our company?] the receptionist posted again.

[Could the person upstairs who sent him please come and retrieve him? Thank you. He's currently in our CEO Lu's office.]

[By the way, he came to deliver breakfast to CEO Lu, wearing a mask and a cap, looking sneaky and furtive.]

These three messages dropped another bombshell. Nobody expected to have gossip so early in the morning. The replies flooded in:

[Is this the odd delivery guy you were asking about?]

[Now that you mention it, he does resemble a sly character. He couldn't even find CEO Lu's office, I had to direct him.]

[He had a hoarse voice when he spoke. I wondered what was wrong, turns out he was disguising himself!]