Chapter 36: Identity Exposed

Chapter 36: Unmasked

At six in the evening, at the kindergarten

The children gradually left the campus, and the lively kindergarten fell silent again.

A gentle breeze brushed over the tips of the grass, making a faint rustling sound.

Suddenly, two long-haired lion cats, one large and one small, emerged from the grass.

The big cat pricked up its ears and craned its neck, its round eyes wide and alert, looking around cautiously.

After waiting quietly for a long while, the big cat felt at ease and turned to instruct the little cat beside it.

"Baby, follow Dad later."

"Calico Sister is pregnant and very wary right now. We need to be careful and must not startle her."

"Okay." Suisui nodded solemnly, his fluffy head bobbing, his mouth set in a firm line, expression resolute, as if carrying out a secret mission.

The two cats moved through the grass in single file, slowly approaching the treehouse.

Fei Yu pushed aside the hanging vines with his head, following the scent, and cautiously made his way deeper.

Afraid of disturbing the calico cat, he gently swished the tip of his tail, taking each step very slowly, making soft purring sounds deep in his throat to send out friendly signals.

Suisui toddled along on his short legs, following closely behind his dad.

The little kitten tried to imitate the big cat, awkwardly wiggling his tail tip and meowing in a childish voice.

But the moment he caught sight of the calico cat in the distance, he completely forgot all those principles and dashed forward in a panic.

The calico cat, who had been lively just yesterday, was now lying weakly on the ground.

Its body was small and thin, most of it hidden in the messy grass, its round belly pressed heavily against the ground, rising and falling faintly.

Upon seeing the two cats suddenly appear, the calico cat didn't even have the strength to stand up and speak.

It barely lifted its head, then fell back heavily.

Its whiskers were taut, eyes filled with pain, and it moaned weakly, "Belly... hurts so much..."

"Dad, what do we do? Calico Sister is sick."

Suisui ran in anxious circles, his front paws constantly pawing the ground, his ears flattened.

Fei Yu calmly circled the calico cat a couple of times, twitching his nose.

A pungent, fishy odor hit him, and his heart tightened instantly.

This calico cat was about to give birth, and the labor was going poorly. She had to be taken to the hospital immediately!

Fei Yu's eyes grew sharp, and he made a quick decision. He looked at Suisui and said, "Is my baby the bravest little meow in the world?"

Suisui: "Yes!"

"Calico Sister is about to give birth to kittens, but she's too weak to leave right now. We need Suisui's help."

In a soothing tone, he reassured the little one. "Can the brave little meow turn into a human and go outside to find a teacher for help?"

"Dad and Calico Sister will wait for you here, and we'll all go to the hospital together, okay?"

"Okay!" Suisui nodded his little head earnestly, recalling his dad's instructions.

He turned into a human right there and ran out.

Before he could push through the vines, the hanging curtain was pulled open from outside.

The dim space suddenly brightened, and Chen Yu's sullen face appeared.

Before Suisui could speak, Chen Yu snapped harshly, "Ah, so that's it. I was wondering why you two were here yesterday – no good reason, huh?"

"You were up to no good – you didn't even go home after school, and now I've caught you red-handed."

Fei Yu arched his back and let out an angry hiss.

Fei Yu cast a contemptuous glance, sweeping over the two cats behind Suisui, and curled his lips in a cold sneer.

"Bringing cats to school? What do you think this is, a zoo?"

The kindergarten clearly forbids pets in school.

If he sees the director and exaggerates the story, this kid might be sent home for not adapting.

Chen Yu said, "You're a liar and a bad kid. I'm taking you to the director right now!"

With that, he reached out to grab Suisui.

Fei Yu's fur bristled instantly. He shot forward like lightning and sank his teeth into the back of Chen Yu's hand, biting down hard!

Who gave you the right to bully my baby!

"Agh!" Pain shot through his hand; Chen Yu's face went pale.

He stumbled backward, swaying, flailing his arm violently in a desperate attempt to shake off the big cat that wouldn't let go.

Fei Yu was flung off, rolled across the ground, and quickly scrambled back to his feet.

"Kitty!" Suisui's eyes instantly turned red as he ran toward his dad.

Fei Yu shook the fur on his neck and said calmly, "Dad's fine. Baby, hurry – go find the teacher. Calico Sister needs help more urgently."

"Okay!" Suisui looked at the weakening calico cat, held back his tears, and stumbled toward the playground.

Chen Yu stood up, panting, propping himself on his knees.

He was furious. "This is outrageous! A cat attacking a teacher? I'm going straight to the director!"

He turned to look at the sick cat on the ground, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Still trying to get away? I'll take this evidence to the director – see how you deny it then!"

He staggered forward, a malicious grin on his face as he approached the sick cat.

The calico cat whimpered softly, backing away, too weak to flee.

Fei Yu's eyes went wide, and seizing the moment, he leaped up, lunged at his face, and swiped hard with his sharp claws!

He yowled in anger, swinging his claws without pause: "Who said you could bully Suisui! Who said you could bully the weak little cat!"

"Ahhh!"

Chen Yu screamed in agony.

Playground

The Director said with a warm smile, explaining to the man in front of him, "Rest assured, Mr. Song, our kindergarten has always upheld the principle of caring for children."

"We treat every employee's child equally, ensuring they receive good care at school..."

Song Ji remained silent, listening half-heartedly, his gaze occasionally drifting toward the distant bushes.

The family driver hadn't picked up Fei Yu and Suisui, and Uncle Zheng said the father and son hadn't returned home.

He checked the kindergarten surveillance, which clearly showed the two meeting up and leaving hand in hand through the main gate.

But a back-gate surveillance camera caught a large and a small white cat sneaking through a gap in the fence into the campus, vanishing in an instant.

Song Ji had someone delete the back-gate footage, but his heart felt as heavy as a stone, making it hard to breathe from worry.

He didn’t know what Fei Yu and Suisui intended to do.

Was it because of him that they couldn't freely turn back into cats?

He had pretended not to notice, quietly caring for the father and son, watching over them.

He hoped Fei Yu would one day accept him and share this secret.

But now, Song Ji felt deep regret and guilt.

Allowing Fei Yu and Suisui to stay by his side, walking on eggshells and hiding their true nature—

Wasn’t that another form of imprisonment?

How was this different from when he thought he knew what was best for Pearl and decided to have her spayed without asking her?

He had been wrong again.

At this thought, Song Ji felt a pain in his chest, could barely breathe.

The Director, completely unaware of Song Ji’s mood, kept smiling and continued his introduction.

"Mr. Song, this is our newly built teaching building. This year we added more activity rooms. Look—"

Before he could finish, a child suddenly burst out from the path to the flower house and treehouse at the back of the kindergarten.

The child looked panicked, running unsteadily, and upon seeing them, ran straight toward them.

Seeing the Kind Uncle, Suisui couldn't hold back his tears anymore; they rolled down his cheeks. "Kind Uncle!"

Song Ji's heart tightened.

Without a second thought, he walked quickly forward, bending down to pull the little one into his arms: "Suisui, Uncle is here."

Suisui buried himself in his arms, gripping the front of his shirt, sobbing.

Song Ji had never seen Suisui like this. It felt like a giant hand was squeezing his heart, each sob sending a sharp pain through his chest.

He fought to suppress the turmoil inside him, patting Suisui’s back gently.

In a hoarse voice, he comforted, "Uncle is here. Can you tell Uncle what happened?"

The Director was startled and quickly stepped forward to ask, "Little one, what's wrong?"

Suisui was crying so hard he could hardly breathe, unable to speak clearly.

"Daddy... calico..."

He worried about his father and the Calico Sister, but couldn't articulate it.

His wet eyes fixed on Uncle, he anxiously clutched his clothes and kept looking back toward the treehouse.

Song Ji instantly understood Suisui’s meaning: "Suisui wants Uncle to go over there, right?"

When Suisui nodded, he immediately lifted the little boy into his arms and strode in the direction he pointed.

The others quickly followed.

Passing the flower house, a messy treehouse came into view.

The grass was trampled and covered with footprints, a complete mess, with vines torn and scattered everywhere.

Chen Yu knelt on the ground, holding his face covered in bloody scratches, weeping.

Song Ji instinctively shielded Suisui’s eyes and walked forward.

Next to Chen Yu were two cats, one lying weakly on the ground.

The other, a white cat, sat calmly, standing guard in front of it, licking its paw leisurely.

Hearing the noise, Fei Yu looked up unhurriedly.

The next moment, his eyes met Song Ji’s deep black ones.

Fei Yu froze, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Song Ji?!

What is he doing here!

Seeing Chen Yu’s face, the crowd erupted in commotion.

But Chen Yu seemed oblivious, his face pale with fear. He crawled on his knees step by step toward the Director.

Then, gripping the Director's leg, he sobbed: "Director, I was wrong, I was wrong!"

He rambled incoherently, confessing earnestly: "I shouldn’t have treated the children differently, I shouldn’t have slacked off at work."

The Director broke out in a cold sweat, trying to shake him off by lifting his foot, but he held on too tightly.

He stammered, "I, I..."

Chen Yu whimpered, "It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your connections to throw my weight around and constantly tried to get rid of the disobedient children."

"There's justice in the world—today is my comeuppance!"

Song Ji's eyes were devoid of any warmth as he looked at the Director, his tone chillingly heavy: "Is this what you call 'caring for the children'?"

"You've been the director for eight years, and you've disheartened so many Song Corporation employees."

The Director's face instantly drained of color, losing all strength as he slumped to the ground, knowing it was all over for him.

At that moment, the calico cat lying on the ground let out a few mournful cries; her belly was hurting badly, and she was losing consciousness.

Fei Yu quickly approached with concern, meowing softly to soothe her.

Suisui, who had been having his eyes covered by his uncle the whole time, now heard the sounds and wiggled anxiously in his uncle's arms.

He said urgently, "Calico... Calico is about to have her babies! Uncle, uncle, help her quickly!"

Song Ji quickly set Suisui down and signaled for his assistant to hold him.

He himself strode forward and carefully observed the calico cat's condition.

Seeing Song Ji lean down and slowly draw near, Fei Yu's mind went blank, his heart raced, and his instinct was to flee.

But the next moment, the man's low voice was right next to his ear.

"Let's take the calico cat to the hospital first, okay?"

Song Ji looked into the round, golden eyes of the Lion Cat, parted his lips slightly, and for the first time truly called his name: "Fei Yu."

His voice was very soft, like a whisper.

But Fei Yu was stunned, his eyes widening in shock as he raised his gaze in disbelief.

Song Ji had known he was Pearl, all along?

Those eyes, deep and cold as a frozen pool, locked onto him, filled with emotions that Fei Yu couldn't comprehend.

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Author's note: Today's Xiao Yu is protective and angry.

And those who reflect...

Will get a wife!