The cool beauty forcibly bids for top A: Chapter 48

The spring in Hong Kong always seems to be trapped in those endless, damp days of the “returning south” season.

A calico cat with glossy, sleek fur leaped gracefully onto the soft, large bed.

This “young lady” was exceptionally beautiful, with sharply defined patches of black, yellow, and white across her back. She trotted along with an elegant, haughty gait, her tail held high, and stopped before a mound of rumpled silk bedding.

She tilted her head to observe for a moment, then without hesitation extended her plump, pink paw pad and pressed it gently onto the cheek of the sleeping person with a soft plop.

“Mmm…” The person under the covers let out a very soft, nasal hum.

Silver-gray hair flowed like moonlight, scattered messily across the dark blue velvet pillow, making that face look almost translucent in its fairness. Shen Yanzhou’s eyelids were thin and delicate, his long eyelashes like butterflies about to take flight, pitifully lovely.

“Meow—” The calico cat called out, her fluffy tail sweeping boldly across Shen Yanzhou’s nose.

“Milk Tea, stop it…” Shen Yanzhou was roused by her.

He didn’t open his eyes immediately, but by instinct reached out a pale, slender arm from the warm covers and accurately scooped that fluffy bundle into his embrace, saying lazily, “Be good, let me sleep five more minutes.”

The calico cat, pressed against his chest, didn’t struggle at all. Instead, she started purring comfortably. Her pink paw pads pressed rhythmically through the thin silk pajamas against the soft flesh over his heart.

But the “Her ladyship” seemed off today. After kneading for a while, she jumped off the bed and anxiously meowed toward the door.

Shen Yanzhou opened his silver eyes with effort, rubbed his aching forehead, threw off the covers, and stepped barefoot onto the carpet. He followed the calico cat lazily out of the bedroom, down the stairs, his tone full of indulgence: “What’s wrong, Milk Tea?”

Before he finished speaking, his footsteps halted.

In the corner of the sofa, the little Tang dog who usually loved to wag his tail and enthusiastically pounce on him was now curled up pathetically into a tiny ball. The little guy’s nose was dry and peeling, and even when Shen Yanzhou approached, he only weakly lifted his eyelids and let out a thin whimper.

The laziness in Shen Yanzhou’s eyes vanished instantly. He immediately crouched down, carefully lifted the little Tang dog into his arms, and his beautiful brows furrowed tightly.

“Pudding, could you be sick?”

Half an hour later, a black Maybach stopped discreetly outside Hong Kong’s top private pet hospital.

“Mr. Shen, you’re here.” The young Dr. Lin came running out.

He had met Shen Yanzhou last winter. At that time, he had just finished emergency surgery on a golden retriever hit by a car and was exhausted, eyes glazed. When he walked out of the operating room, he ran straight into Shen Yanzhou, half his face buried in a scarf, his nose red from the cold, holding a weak calico cat in his arms.

To this day, he still somewhat regretted it. If only he had known he would meet someone like that, even if he had just come off the operating table, he should have gone to wash his face, cleaned all the dog hair off himself, and dressed up a bit more presentably before coming out.

“Dr. Lin, please take a look at Pudding.” Shen Yanzhou’s voice pulled him back from his memories.

“Yes, put him up here, I’ll, I’ll give him an exam.” He stammered.

Shen Yanzhou placed the little Tang dog on the examination table. To comfort the dog’s emotions, he leaned down slightly, a few strands of silver hair slipping down and inadvertently brushing across the back of Dr. Lin’s hand holding the stethoscope.

Dr. Lin’s heart skipped a beat. He forced himself to turn his attention back to the puppy.

“I… I’ll take a baseline temperature first.”

The thermometer beeped.

“39.8 degrees, feverish. No wonder his nose is dry.” Dr. Lin put on medical gloves, pulled back Pudding’s lip, and pressed his gum with his fingertip. “Mr. Shen, Pudding’s gum mucosa is noticeably pale. He’s currently in a state of anemia or poor peripheral circulation.”

Shen Yanzhou gently stroked Pudding’s head and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Hong Kong has been in the returning south season recently. The climate is humid and muggy, and the ticks in the grass are very active.” Dr. Lin looked up, his gaze unconsciously meeting Shen Yanzhou’s shimmering silver eyes, his voice softening. “Mr. Shen, have you taken Pudding out to play recently?”

Shen Yanzhou nodded: “Yes, yes, I occasionally take him and Milk Tea to stroll in the park.”

“Then it’s highly likely a blood parasite infection caused by tick bites.” Dr. Lin immediately typed up an examination order on the computer, his tone becoming very rigorous and professional. “Ticks can transmit canine babesia and canine ehrlichia. Babesia destroys red blood cells, causing severe hemolytic anemia and jaundice, while ehrlichia causes thrombocytopenia. This is also why Pudding is listless and has a fever.”

Actually, he had no need at all to explain such obscure, difficult professional knowledge to a pet owner. But he hoped that through this method, he could attract Shen Yanzhou’s attention, or rather, spend a bit more time with him.

After speaking, he stood up and took a blood collection needle from the nurse: “Mr. Shen, we need to draw blood immediately for a blood smear to look for the parasite, and also rush a PCR nucleic acid test for confirmation. Additionally, we need to do a complete blood count and C-reactive protein to check the inflammation markers and the severity of the anemia.”

“Alright, whatever the doctor says, give him the best medicine.” Shen Yanzhou said.

When drawing blood, Pudding whimpered softly in pain and shrank back.

“Pudding, it’s okay.” Shen Yanzhou extended his well-proportioned hands and gently wrapped them around Pudding’s body, trying to give him a sense of complete security. “It’ll be over soon.”

After the blood draw, Pudding was carried by a nurse to the oxygen chamber inside for an IV drip.

Shen Yanzhou stood outside the glass window, quietly watching for a while. After confirming that the little guy had fallen asleep, he tightened his trench coat, turned around, and thanked Dr. Lin softly: “Dr. Lin, I’ll leave Pudding in your care. Call me when he gets better.”

“Mr. Shen, rest assured, this is what I should do.” Dr. Lin nodded repeatedly, his eyes unwilling to move away from him for even a second.

Until his figure disappeared through the hospital’s glass doors, Dr. Lin still stood in place.

“Oh come on, Dr. Lin, stop looking, your soul’s been hooked away!” The head nurse at the front desk walked over and nudged him with her elbow, teasing.

Dr. Lin snapped back to his senses, his face flushing red: “Don’t talk nonsense, I was just thinking about Pudding’s condition…”

“Cut it out, the way you were staring could have knitted a sweater.” A young nurse beside him sorted through medical records while leaning in to whisper, “But I advise you, give up on that idea early. Don’t you know who he is?”

Dr. Lin pushed up his glasses: “How could I not know.”

“Then you definitely don’t watch financial news or gossip magazines!” The young nurse clicked her tongue twice. “He’s already taken. Early next month, he’s getting engaged.”

“But, half a year ago there was gossip saying that he…” Dr. Lin hesitated to speak.

“Half a year ago that was just baseless fake news!” The head nurse waved her hand. “The eldest young master of the Fu family personally came out to refute the rumors, saying the person in that photo was himself. Think about it, how could someone as aloof and noble as Mr. Shen possibly keep some wild man as a kept lover?”

“Exactly.” The young nurse agreed. “But speaking of which, just joking, don’t get mad Dr. Lin, if Mr. Shen gave you a chance to be the other man, would you be willing, hahaha.”

Forget being the other man, fourth, fifth, sixth man wasn’t out of the question either. And he and Shen Yanzhou had common topics. He could accompany Shen Yanzhou to chat about how to do fur care for Milk Tea, how to match nutritional meals for Pudding. He could take care of Mr. Shen’s pets meticulously.

Thinking of this, Dr. Lin patted his burning cheeks and turned to go check on little Pudding in the oxygen chamber.

*

After completing the procedures, Shen Yanzhou walked out of the pet hospital.

The early spring sunlight was excellent, driving away the dampness of the returning south days, and falling warmly on his body.

Shen Yanzhou got into the driver’s seat of the Maybach, started the car, and drove toward the Shen Group building.

The traffic was originally smooth, but after driving two blocks, Shen Yanzhou’s brows furrowed slightly.

In front of his car, there was now an extremely eye-catching Lamborghini. The car’s movements were very strange, speeding up and slowing down unpredictably, not only changing lanes for no reason, but also occasionally swerving left and right on the wide road.

A new driver? Or a rich second generation deliberately looking for thrills on the road?

Shen Yanzhou glanced at his watch. He had an extremely important board meeting soon and had no time to waste here. He put on his turn signal, preparing to overtake from the side lane.

Just as the Maybach was about to accelerate and pull alongside that Lamborghini—

“Screech—!”

The Lamborghini in front suddenly slammed the brakes to the floor without any warning!

It happened so suddenly that even with Shen Yanzhou’s quick reflexes, slamming on the brakes, the car’s inertia still sent the Maybach lurching forward and crashing hard.

“Thud!”

With a dull sound, the front of the Maybach kissed the rear of the Lamborghini solidly. The seatbelt forced tight against him, and Shen Yanzhou was knocked so hard his chest felt stuffy, his silver-gray hair scattered messily over his shoulders.

He took a deep breath, unfastened his seatbelt, and pushed the door open to get out.

At the same time, the Lamborghini’s exaggerated scissor doors also swung upward, and the car’s owner got out as well.

The man was extremely tall, wearing a black luxury hoodie with the hood up, and a black mask covering his face, hiding most of it completely, only revealing somewhat messy chestnut-colored bangs and a pair of dark, deep eyes.

Looking at the man approaching step by step, Shen Yanzhou’s breath caught for an instant.

His first thought was, too similar.

The upright figure, about a head taller than him, and his walking posture, almost instantly made him think of that person in his memory.

But when Shen Yanzhou’s gaze met the man’s eyes, his suspended heart dropped back into place, denying this absurd thought in his heart.

The eyes were completely different.

The way that person in his memory looked at him, the eyes were always wet, too direct and too passionate. But the eyes of the man before him, dark and deep, were full of aggression.

There was also no familiar cedar scent on him.

There were countless people in the world with similar figures. How could someone who left be so easily encountered again.

“Sorry, the cars collided. The main responsibility is mine, I didn’t maintain a safe following distance. But I have urgent business to rush back to the company for a meeting. This is my assistant’s phone number. Contact him, and you’ll be fully compensated.”

Saying this, Shen Yanzhou pulled a business card from his trench coat pocket and held it out.

The man didn’t take the card. Instead, he stepped forward, his tall figure instantly blocking the sunlight and casting Shen Yanzhou in his shadow.

“I heard that some people specifically use the trick of leaving a fake business card and claiming they’re in a hurry to avoid responsibility for a rear-end collision.”

Shen Yanzhou’s hand holding the card paused slightly, a flash of displeasure crossing his beautiful silver eyes.

He had been in Hong Kong’s business world for so many years, and no one had ever dared to question to his face whether he was a deadbeat leaving fake cards.

“Are you a local? Don’t you know who I am?” Shen Yanzhou lifted his chin slightly.

In Hong Kong, this Maybach, and his face, how could anyone not recognize him?

Looking at Shen Yanzhou’s lively, eye-catching appearance due to his annoyance, a thick, dark color flashed extremely quickly through the depths of the man’s eyes.

“I don’t know.” The man let out a low, soft laugh. “I just returned to the country yesterday, I’m not familiar with Hong Kong yet. So, to be safe, let’s add each other on WeChat.”

He extremely naturally pulled out his phone, opened the QR code, and held it before Shen Yanzhou.

“Fine.” Shen Yanzhou replied.

He didn’t want to leave his contact information with a stranger, but he had no choice. The person before him didn’t look friendly, and he really was in a hurry now, so he reluctantly took out his phone and scanned the code.

Just as he put away his phone, the man across from him suddenly spoke coldly: “Do you also raise dogs?”

Shen Yanzhou’s eyelashes trembled slightly: “Hmm? How do you know?”

He subconsciously lowered his head, brought his nose close to his collar to sniff, then sniffed his hands. He had clearly washed his hands with hand soap at the pet hospital. Where was there any dog smell?

In that instant while he was lowering his head in confusion, the man suddenly extended his hand and used his index fingertip to lightly touch Shen Yanzhou’s cool nose tip.

The rough fingertip carried an unusually burning hot temperature.

Shen Yanzhou’s whole body went rigid. Before he could step back, that burning fingertip traced along his high nose bridge, carrying a scalp-tingling tenderness, slowly rubbing past his thin, reddened eye corner.

“There’s a dog hair.” The man’s voice was very soft.

Shen Yanzhou quickly stepped back half a pace, pulling distance between them, and raised his hand to rub his eye corner: “Where?”

The man slowly withdrew his hand, his thumb and index finger rubbing together extremely secretly. He looked at Shen Yanzhou’s guarded appearance, his dark eyes curving slightly.

“It was blown away by the wind.”

“Then… thanks.” Shen Yanzhou gave a perfunctory thanks, turned and walked toward the Maybach, pulled open the door, and said flatly: “When the damage assessment comes out later, send it to me on WeChat, and I’ll transfer the money directly to you.”

“Alright.”

The man stood in place, watching the Maybach merge back into traffic until it completely disappeared from sight, before slowly pulling down the black mask on his face.

In the sunlight, that face was handsome and unruly. Even with dyed chestnut-colored hair, it couldn’t hide the wildness in his bones.

He slowly raised the hand that had just caressed Shen Yanzhou’s eye corner, and deeply pressed that finger into the seam of his own lips.