Accident

Huh? Little Flower really is his child?

Yun Jin's body hair stood on end slightly as she looked at Shen Yi'an in disbelief, her eyes reflecting the man's face that had instantly lost all color.

Shen Yi'an subconsciously took a half step back, and the coat that was originally draped over his arm fell to the ground. His face was even paler than the special effects makeup he had applied before, and his lips trembled, but he could not say anything.

The set fell silent at first, then erupted into whispers, and some people even took out their phones to secretly film.

"What's going on? Isn't this the little girl who was trending on social media yesterday?"

"Abandoning his wife and children, is this even a man? What if something happens to the children?"

"She looks just like Shen Yi'an. Wow, the rumors online are actually true."

"If you believe the fans' clarification, you'll have this for life."

"Little girl, tell Uncle what happened, okay?" A stagehand wearing a plaid shirt squatted down, holding his phone close to Xiaohua.

As if bitten by a snake, Xiaohua suddenly took a few steps back, her back slamming against the prop shelf with a "thud," and several prop books crashed to the ground.

Her small body trembled violently, and large tears rolled down her flushed cheeks.

Yun Jin leaped down from the windowsill and quickly darted to Xiao Hua's feet, protecting her and creating distance between them.

Shen Yi'an finally snapped out of his shock. He strode forward and roughly shoved aside the meddlesome stagehand: "Enough!"

The director then seemed to wake from a dream, clapping his hands loudly: "Clear the set! Everyone out!"

Some staff members hurriedly began to disperse the crowd.

But those whispers, like spreading vines, grew wildly in the dark corners.

Yun Jin saw that Shen Yi'an seemed to want to say something to Xiao Hua, but he gave up and just gave her a cold look.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Yi'an grabbed Yun Jin, pushed through the noisy crowd, and his steps were quick and heavy, making a dull thud on the floor.

Yun Jin felt a tightness on the back of her neck and before she could react, she was shoved into the man's arms.

Shen Yi'an's chest heaved violently, and the hand he was holding was abnormally cold, even trembling slightly involuntarily.

Yun Jin dared not move rashly; this time she was truly angry.

On set, Yan Fei began to tidy up the mess.

"Attention, everyone," his voice wasn't loud but carried a great deal of authority, "today's content involves the privacy of the artists. All footage must be sealed immediately. According to the contract, if it gets out, I'm sure none of you want to see the penalty for breach of contract..."

Inside the speeding nanny van, Xiaohua had stopped crying and was looking down at Chen Yi'an.

The interior of the moving van was filled with a suffocatingly low pressure.

Xiao Hua huddled in the corner of the back seat, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes. Yun Jin could sense her emotions—fear mixed with helplessness. She smelled bitter, like the bitter melon she had bitten into before.

Shen Yi'an, sitting in the driver's seat, gripped the steering wheel tightly, radiating a deep anger that fermented into an almost pungent sense of oppression in the enclosed car. Yun Jin felt that Shen Yi'an was like a chili pepper about to explode.

"Did Xie Xinrou ask you to come?" Shen Yi'an's knuckles made a slight "click" as he gripped the steering wheel.

Xiaohua froze, her breathing becoming barely audible.

"I used to think you were innocent, but now it seems you and Xie Xinrou are cut from the same cloth, exactly alike..."

Shen Yi'an spoke through gritted teeth, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times before he swallowed the rest of his words.

"I'm sorry, I..." Xiaohua stammered, her voice barely audible.

"Stop talking, just go back at the next intersection. Xie Xinrou is still waiting for your good news." Shen Yi'an took a deep breath and interrupted her directly.

Yun Jin felt extremely uncomfortable in the passenger seat, as if she were sitting on pins and needles, with a thorn in her side and a fishbone stuck in her throat. She curled up into a ball like a cat, and if she could make a hole and crawl under the car right now, she would disappear without hesitation.

The scenery outside the window had become a blur of colors. As the speedometer needle continued to veer to the right, Yun Jin clung tightly to the edge of the seat, silently praying to all sorts of cat gods in her mind.

"Nine-Lives Cat Fairy above, I, your humble servant, vow never to eat the most expensive canned meat again in my life, just please don't let me die in Shen Yi'an's car..."

Half an hour later, Yun Jin's paws finally landed on solid ground. Thanks to the protection of all the cat gods, she was safely home—no, safely home to Shen Yi'an.

Upon entering, Shen Yi'an went straight into his room and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

"I said this is the last time." Shen Yi'an's voice came through the crack in the door, followed by a series of hurried footsteps.

"Crash!" The sound of glass shattering made Yun Jin unconsciously swallow.

The footsteps grew closer and closer. Before Yun Jin could retreat, the door suddenly slammed shut with a loud "thump!" as if Shen Yi'an had kicked it with all his might.

She could even hear his heavy breathing, the rustling of clothes, and the muffled voice coming from his phone receiver.

"...Xiao Hua's matter..." Xie Xinrou's voice could be faintly heard from the other end of the phone, but it was quickly drowned out by a burst of static.

Yun Jin quietly took a few steps back, her tail swaying nervously from side to side, before returning to the sofa in the living room and letting her mind wander.

All of this is still too complicated. Previously, it was speculated that Xiaohua was not Shen Yi'an's child, but given the current situation, it's still an unknown.

After following Shen Yi'an for a while, she had become fairly certain that he wasn't the person portrayed online—a womanizer with countless illegitimate children and a complete lack of interest in filming…

Yun Jin admitted that she had developed feelings for Shen Yi'an after her opinion of him changed during this period, but the addition of Xie Xinrou and Xiao Hua made Yun Jin have to carefully consider her feelings for Shen Yi'an.

Even if all of this is Yun Jin's unrequited love, she still has to let it go. The cat's first crush ended so abruptly.

Yun Jin jumped onto the coffee table, looked down at her sad reflection in the glass, and tried to cheer herself up, determined to play the role of a cat well today.

"Meow..." She meowed softly at her reflection, trying to control her facial expression like an ordinary cat, but the eyes in the glass were filled with too many emotions that did not belong to a cat.

She remembered when Shen Yi'an picked her up and comforted her, remembered Shen Yi'an's relationship with her, remembered the vulnerable look in Shen Yi'an's eyes that he only showed when they were alone...

A drop of warm water suddenly hit the glass, blurring her reflection. Yun Jin frantically tried to wipe it away with her paws.

How could a cat cry over something like this? It's ridiculous. She blinked hard and began frantically licking her front paws.

The sofa in front of her sagged slightly under her weight. Yun Jin didn't dare to look up; Shen Yi'an would definitely be able to tell that she was crying.

So Yun Jin turned around and left, pretending to go to the French windows to look at the rain scene.

The sky outside grew even darker, and the drizzling rain pattered against the window, leaving streaks that blurred the view into various patches of color.

"Xiaoyun, do you also think I'm a terrible person?" Shen Yi'an's voice came from behind, but Yun Jin didn't turn around or respond.

Cats shouldn't care about this kind of thing.

“I brought this on myself,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “I’m just sorry for wasting your kindness on someone like me.”

The sound of rain outside the window gradually grew louder, but Shen Yi'an's voice still pierced Yun Jin's heart clearly.

Yun Jin didn't leave Shen Yi'an lying there, because she still couldn't bear to look at him lying there on his back, his once bright eyes now bloodshot, with an unnatural redness at the corners, and his slender arms hanging limply at the edge of the sofa.

Shen Yi looked at himself sadly.

Seeing Shen Yi'an like this, Yun Jin felt a strange, sharp pain in her chest, so she slowly approached him.

Shen Yi'an's hands suddenly trembled. He slowly bent down and buried his face in her fluffy fur. Yun Jin felt the warm liquid seeping into her fur.

She stood frozen, too afraid to move, but her fluffy tail unconsciously wrapped around his arm.

The rain intensified, isolating the world from the outside world. In the living room, only a weeping person and a calico cat that could have walked but chose to stay behind were left alone.

After an unknown amount of time, the door was suddenly flung open, and Yan Fei stood in the doorway, soaked to the bone, water droplets dripping from his hair, clearly having run all the way through the rain.

Shen Yi'an quickly turned his face away to wipe his eyes, while Yun Jin awkwardly licked the hair on his back that was wet with tears.

"How is it?" Shen Yi'an spoke first.

"It's under control for now. Fortunately, when she arrived, there were only a few student extras on set, and the company has already signed a confidentiality agreement." Yan Fei paused, his hand crumpling the soaked tissue into a ball.

"It sounds like things are better than I expected." Shen Yi'an gave a wry smile.

"It's hard to say. The second male lead is definitely out, and..." Yan Fei paused, "I'll stop here for now. You should get some rest during this time."

Shen Yi'an sighed and ran his fingers over the cigarette pack a few times.

"It's okay, at least you have Xiaoyun with you," Yan Fei patted her shoulder.

“Indeed, I can take a vacation now.” Shen Yi’an tossed his cigarette aside and reached out to rub Yun Jin’s head.

Yun Jin meowed a few times.

"Um..." Yan Fei suddenly became hesitant, "Teacher Shen, there's something I need to ask you."

"What is it?" Shen Yi'an suddenly looked up at Yan Fei.

Yan Fei scratched his head. "Here's what happened: I bumped into someone on my way to the opening..."

Yun Jin froze upon hearing this. Shen Yi'an slowly raised his head, his brows furrowing into a knot: "You hit someone."

"No, I hit a dog."

Yun Jin and Shen Yi'an both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Of course it's not because a dog's life is inferior to a human's," Yun Jin thought silently.

“I took it to the vet for a check-up, and there’s nothing seriously wrong,” Yan Fei said, rubbing his hands together, which was unusual for him. “There’s just one small problem: it doesn’t have an owner; it’s a stray dog.”

“At the time, I was afraid of being recognized, so I brought it here. You know, I can’t keep it at home for the time being, so I plan to leave it here with you for a while.”

Shen Yi'an sighed and facepalmed. "Do you think my situation isn't chaotic enough? You've added a dog to it."

“Isn’t this my wife’s pregnancy? It’s not suitable to bring her home,” Yan Fei sighed. “Teacher Shen, I’ve suffered a lot following you, so please help me with this.”

"..."

"All right."

In the end, Shen Yi'an compromised.