The young master loved me after all

"Good morning, Li Yi." Yingjun opened the door for him enthusiastically. "Did everything go smoothly at the bar yesterday?"

"Very smoothly. Thank you."

The first thing Li Yi did every morning was scoop Sheriff's litter box, but today it was unusually clean. He turned to ask Yingjun.

"Did you scoop Sheriff's litter box today?"

"No, the young master did. He kept complaining about the smell while he scooped. I don't know what got into him."

"He came back to sleep at the villa yesterday?"

"Yes. Instead of sleeping in the middle of the night, he went to play with Sheriff. They played ball until after two, and he scooped Sheriff's litter box in the morning before leaving."

"It's really hard to imagine such a big-shot domineering CEO deigning to scoop litter for a little stray cat like Sheriff."

"Right." Yingjun offered a rare word of praise for his young master. "The young master may act like cats and dogs are dirty, but he donates to the animal protection association every year, and quite a lot, too."

Li Yi was utterly stunned. None of this had been described in the novel. Even Shi Yan's family had rarely been mentioned. It had only said that he was a bit of a psycho and everyone feared him.

He hadn't expected the villain, beneath that sinister, unhinged exterior, to actually be a good person who donated to the animal protection association.

"Do you know why Doggy Paradise has never had a dog?" Two huge question marks appeared on Yingjun's display, looking rather funny.

"Why?" Li Yi asked, holding back a laugh.

"The young master said he wasn't confident he could take proper care of a little life yet, so he wasn't getting one for now."

"Why... did he say that?" The smile froze on Li Yi's lips. That was a very unexpected answer.

As far as he was concerned, with Shi Yan's wealth, he could keep ten thousand dogs well cared for if he wanted. As long as he had money, he could hire people specifically to look after them.

But did he actually mean he wanted to take care of one himself?

"The young master said dogs need walks, someone to play with them, and an environment where they can be happy. You can't just make them keep you company. You have to keep them company too. That's what makes you companions." Yingjun huffed. "He makes it sound nice, but he's really just lazy. I never see him come keep me company."

"He probably does keep you company," Li Yi said. "He comes back a few times every month. That's probably to spend time with you."

"Now that you put it that way, you're right~" Little hearts appeared in Yingjun's eyes. "The young master loves me after all~ Even though he always looks so grumpy, Yingjun still loves him to death."

Yingjun was in a good mood all day, even taking the initiative to send Shi Yan a sticker with a heart on it.

Shi Yan ignored him completely.

Only after Yingjun sent him a secretly taken photo of Li Yi and asked whether he was coming back today did he reply, "Yes."

Hmph!

Inwardly, Yingjun gave his young master, who put romance before friendship, a scornful middle finger.

On WeChat, however, he replied respectfully: "All right, I'll arrange for a chef to come prepare dinner."

As soon as it was time to get off work at five thirty, Li Yi was about to leave when Yingjun called him back.

"Li Yi, there's a new chef coming today. Aren't you staying for dinner before you go?"

"A new chef?" Li Yi licked his lips. "Then I'll go to the nursing home after dinner."

He had nothing to do once he got home today, so he had planned to stop by the nursing home on the way to see the elderly residents.

The new chef had just brought the dishes to the table when someone pushed the front door open from outside.

Shi Yan had his suit jacket draped over one hand and was tugging his tie down with the other. His movements were casual and uninhibited, carrying a fair amount of mature masculine charm.

"Mr. Shi." Li Yi felt a little awkward. He hadn't expected Shi Yan to come back.

Why hadn't Yingjun said anything!

If I'd known, I wouldn't have stayed just for this meal.

"Mm." Shi Yan tossed his suit jacket onto Yingjun's head as Yingjun raised his hands to catch it, making Yingjun mutter curses again, saying he had done it on purpose.

"Why are you standing there? Let's eat." Shi Yan unfastened his shirt cuffs and rolled them up twice, revealing his muscular forearms.

"Oh." Li Yi picked up his bowl and reservedly took only the dishes in front of him.

"Have you offended anyone lately?" Shi Yan suddenly asked.

"Huh?" With a piece of tofu in his mouth, Li Yi hurriedly swallowed before asking, "Why do you ask?"

"Someone's been investigating you. They followed you all the way to the villa." Shi Yan picked up some food with his chopsticks. "I've already dealt with it. Don't worry."

"Thank you." Li Yi bit his chopsticks. "Will it cause you trouble?"

"It's fine. This villa uses the most advanced security system. If anything happens, I'm notified immediately. You're safe inside the villa.

"But once you leave, I can't guarantee that. You should think about whether you've offended anyone lately."

The only people he had offended were the Lu family and Zhou Xuanze.

Until they got the shares, none of them would harm him.

Sending people to follow and investigate him now was nothing more than an attempt to find out whether he had contacted Lawyer Song in advance.

"It's all right. They won't do anything to me for now," Li Yi said. "They're probably just looking into my movements."

"Do you need my help?" Shi Yan offered an olive branch, his dark eyes fixed on him.

Should I accept his goodwill?

Li Yi was torn. He still hadn't figured Shi Yan out. First, he had deleted him as a friend without a word, then suspected him of having ulterior motives.

After helping his friend yesterday, he had suspected him of knowing everything all along.

Last night, he had insisted on adding him back as a friend.

Now he was suddenly offering to help him.

Just what was he planning?

Was he still suspicious of me and trying to test me?

When faced with something he couldn't handle, Li Yi liked to do the opposite.

With Shi Yan being so friendly, he must expect me to refuse, but I'm going to accept!

"Sure. Thank you, Mr. Shi. Having someone tailing me really isn't very safe."

"All right. I'll handle it for you."

*???*

He agreed just like that?

Nothing else? No conditions?

Li Yi stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth and secretly observed Shi Yan across from him.

"Am I so good-looking that just staring at me helps you eat?" There was a smile in Shi Yan's long, sharp eyes, lending him a casual handsomeness that made it hard not to stare.

"No." Caught sneaking looks, Li Yi hurriedly lowered his head and stuffed rice into his mouth. He accidentally choked and couldn't help patting his chest as he coughed.

"What are you so nervous about?" Shi Yan poured a glass of coconut juice and handed it over. "Drink slowly."

"Thank you." After taking a moment to recover, Li Yi finally stopped feeling uncomfortable.

"Were you staring at me because you wanted to ask something?" Shi Yan asked.

"You..." Li Yi looked into his eyes. "Why are you helping me?"

"You mean the tail?" Shi Yan didn't make much of it. "It's no trouble. I don't like riffraff hanging around my villa."

"Oh." Li Yi nodded, accepting that reason.

On his first day here, Yingjun had said Shi Yan didn't like strangers in the villa. He probably didn't like strangers constantly snooping around it either.