Chapter 515 - 514: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 83

Chapter 515: Chapter 514: What-If: Did the Big Shot Vie for Favor Today? 83

’What in the world am I doing?’

Yan Huoshui could never have imagined it. He was a man in his thirties, and he was always the one making other people angry. To think that he’d resort to such a childish tactic over a woman was unbelievable.

’Slapping someone with a cat’s paw?’

’Heh, leave it to me to come up with something like that.’

However, perhaps his emotions were in too much turmoil. One moment he had just jumped off Shi Lan and landed on the floor, and the next, he was sitting up in bed.

He braced his hands on the soft, king-sized hotel bed, his chest heaving. The collar of his pajamas was wide open, revealing taut pectoral muscles and the veins that pulsed beneath his skin.

After a long moment, Yan Huoshui let out a slow breath and then gave a humorless laugh.

’So Benefactor is actually a person? Looks like I’ll have to come up with a new form of punishment.’

"He Hanshi... oh, He Hanshi. You hid this so well..."

It was a good thing he’d been suspicious. Otherwise, he might have never uncovered a secret like this.

Yan Huoshui took out his phone. As he was looking for Zhang Chen’s contact information, he saw the name he’d saved for Ye Ming.

Even though Ye Ming had shared that video of Benefactor with him, he didn’t feel any obligation to tell him that the cat they were searching for was actually a person.

He scrolled past the name without a moment’s hesitation and contacted Zhang Chen. He told him to clear his schedule for the next month; he was going to be staying in L City for a while.

When Zhang Chen heard this, his head immediately started to throb.

He had been planning to capitalize on the buzz from the concert. With Yan Huoshui’s popularity at its peak, it was the perfect time to sign more collaboration deals and ride the wave. But now, he wanted to take a break again.

He couldn’t help but try to reason with him. "Brother Yan, your popularity is at an all-time high right now, and we have a lot of offers from luxury brands. The pay is excellent. Are you sure you want to turn them all down? Oh, and there’s that detective drama script you were interested in."

"Yes. Not only am I turning them down, but in a little while, I’m also going to announce my retirement from the entertainment industry."

"What???"

While Yan Huoshui stated his plan nonchalantly, the color drained from Zhang Chen’s face. "Brother Yan, you have to understand, you’re a top-tier star in the entertainment industry right now! You could coast from here on out and still make more money than you could count. Why would you choose to retire at a time like this?"

Yan Huoshui leaned back against the headboard indifferently. "Zhang Chen, I think you’ve forgotten. I told you from the beginning I’d be in this industry for two years at most."

It had been almost two years now, and he was sick of it.

He wasn’t short on cash. He’d gotten into showbiz purely for something to do and to piss off his parents. Now that he’d had his fun, it was time to take over the family business.

’There was no way he’d let the Yan Family’s assets fall into someone else’s hands.’

’That applied to the company... and to people.’

Zhang Chen did remember. That was precisely why he had maintained his frugal habits while working as Yan Huoshui’s manager. Even though he’d made a lot of money, he never spent it extravagantly.

A flash of deep regret crossed his eyes, but he knew Yan Huoshui well enough. The man was strong-willed, and there was no changing his mind once it was made up.

After a moment of silence, he said, "Alright. Well, your new song, ’Benefactor,’ is scheduled for official release tomorrow. Do you want to ride this wave of popularity and release some merch to draw in the fans?"

"No need."

Yan Huoshui didn’t need the money and had no interest in taking it from his fans. He especially didn’t want to use ’Benefactor’ as a cash grab. It was a good thing he wasn’t signed to an agency; otherwise, they would have already taken his copyrights and done all this and more.

He knew what Zhang Chen was thinking. Considering how long the man had worked for him, he said, "Pick one luxury brand deal. I’ll do one final collaboration before I announce my retirement."

Luxury brand deals usually involved a one-time payment plus a one percent cut of the annual profits, with contracts typically lasting about five years. Yan Huoshui planned to give that one percent share to Zhang Chen. After all, Zhang Chen was the one who had, in a way, brought Benefactor to him. Besides, he had been a completely dedicated manager. Yan Huoshui was willing to give him a little something extra.

Hearing this, Zhang Chen didn’t try to argue further. At the very least, if this was to be Yan Huoshui’s final project before retirement, there would be significant room to negotiate the price with the luxury brand.

"Alright."

He nodded and said no more.

After hanging up, Yan Huoshui picked up the file folder he’d left on his bedside table the previous night. He pulled out the photos inside and looked at Shi Lan smiling intimately with He Hanshi. The sight was suddenly an eyesore.

’Shi Lan... Benefactor...’

He repeated the two names over and over. Staring at the photograph, he felt he was beginning to understand He Hanshi’s intentions, and a bold idea sprang to mind.

Benefactor had been the one to choose him, only to abandon him—her master—so ruthlessly. ’Oh, right,’ he corrected himself, ’her meal ticket.’

A playful smirk touched his lips. In that case, he would play the part of the heartbreaker for once and let Shi Lan get a taste of what it felt like to be ruthlessly abandoned.

’Yes, that seems like a fine punishment...’

Shi Lan, completely unaware that Yan Huoshui had discovered her secret and now had her in his sights, felt an inexplicable shiver run down her spine at home. She then saw Ping’an jump to the floor and happily trot over to the pet room to chow down, which made her laugh. "Haha, so you finally realized you’re hungry."

The very first day Ye Ming moved into his new home with the cat, he noticed Fei Mo had started hiding from him and refusing his touch.

At first, he thought the cat was sick and even took it to the vet. But the doctor said there was nothing wrong; Fei Mo was just a little stressed.

Ye Ming didn’t think much of it initially. After all, it was a new environment, and he had stayed home with Fei Mo all day to help it adjust.

It wasn’t until another day, when Fei Mo approached him with a timid gaze and meowed softly as it rubbed against his ankle, that he froze. He vaguely sensed that something had changed.

Ye Ming observed Fei Mo for a solid week. He patiently continued to make the cat’s favorite homemade meals, but Fei Mo seemed to prefer kibble and treats now. The chef he had planned to hire to prepare the cat’s food was no longer needed, and the bags of cat food in his house grew lighter by the day.

One day, he was online trying to research the causes of stress-induced personality changes in cats when a recommended video of a cat rolling its eyes popped up.

Suddenly, he remembered the video he had deleted from his phone and asked a friend to help him recover the original file.

He watched the video over and over, and each time he became more certain: Fei Mo’s expression had changed. In the video, the cat’s gaze was full of confidence; it was a happy, gentle cat. Even when it rolled its eyes, its twitching whiskers radiated a clever sort of energy.

The current Fei Mo, however, was different. After a week together, while it no longer hid from him, it was still jumpy. Every time he came home, if his voice was even slightly loud, the cat would startle and bolt into a dark corner. It would only emerge after a little while, cautiously identifying his face and scent with a timid gaze before slowly approaching.

It was the same cat, and yet it didn’t seem to be the same cat he had named Fei Mo.

He thought back to Fei Mo’s change in behavior before and after the eye-rolling incident. It seemed to have happened right after the cat learned that the person who had organized the event was Yan Huoshui.

And so, that day, he contacted Yan Huoshui. Only then did he learn that there was indeed another soul inside the cat’s body.

Ye Ming had read countless books. When he wrote his academic papers, he always had to find clear sources and base his arguments on real, scientific examples. And yet, he found himself believing Yan Huoshui’s absurd theory.

And then, he made a bold decision: he told his advisor he wanted to change his major.