No Escaping the CEO's Palm

"I suspect you're doing this on purpose to torment me," Lu Linyuan said as he stood in front of the cat tree, looking at Ruanruan in the cat bed.

Ruanruan really wasn't sleeping soundly. She dreamed of the moment she had saved someone, her whole body feeling as though it had been crushed to the point of falling apart. Even in her sleep, her brows remained tightly furrowed. But soon she felt her body settle against something solid, and her brows slowly relaxed.

She felt secure because Lu Linyuan had picked her up and cradled her in his arms.

Seeing that its brows were no longer furrowed, Lu Linyuan returned to his chair and sat down. He looked at the computer in front of him, then at Ruanruan, who was sleeping soundly in his arms, his feelings complicated.

Had his sister given him a cat or an ancestor? It actually needed to be held while it slept.

When Special Assistant Zhang came in carrying some documents, he found the CEO sitting in his chair with a kitten in his arms, while the documents previously placed on the desk seemed not to have been opened at all.

This...

The CEO was usually a workaholic who always put work first whenever there was any to be done. But now, with a pile of documents on his desk, he was still holding a cat. He looked just like someone utterly obsessed with cats, yet his expression was unusually silent and calm. The contrast made Special Assistant Zhang even more cautious after he came in, and he placed the documents in his hands on the desk with a serious expression.

Could it be that the CEO was dissatisfied with all the recent proposals and projects, so he would rather hold a cat than review them?

"This is the proposal you asked to have revised last time."

"Mm."

Special Assistant Zhang stole a glance. He had the feeling that the CEO had been sealed away-yes, sealed away by a tiny kitten.

After Lu Linyuan told him to leave, Special Assistant Zhang immediately went online to warn the others who might need to visit the office later to be careful.

"The boss doesn't seem to be in a very good mood. You're on your own; I've said all I can."

"Got it!"

"Got it!"

Because of Special Assistant Zhang's words, everyone spent the entire morning trembling with anxiety and working hard, afraid that the slightest mistake would make them the one to get scolded.

Actually, "scolded" wasn't quite accurate, because Lu Linyuan had never scolded a subordinate. But if you failed to do something properly and met his eyes, that look, that bearing-even if he didn't say a word, you would feel as though you were walking on thin ice, as if a thousand pounds were bearing down on you.

Lu Linyuan had no idea that not reading the documents and simply holding a cat for a while had caused such a big misunderstanding. After watching Xiao Zhang leave, he glanced down at the kitten still sleeping sweetly in his arms. It showed no sign of waking, so he finally decided to keep one arm around it and use his other hand to open the documents in front of him and read them one by one. To focus on work, he deliberately ignored the cat hair clinging to his arm.

Normally, never mind an armful of cat hair-even a single strand would have had him cleaning it off before getting back to work. But now, looking at what was on his arm and chest, he thought, Great, there's too much to count. It had completely cured that little bit of compulsiveness he had.

He had originally thought that Ruanruan had been so lively in the middle of the night and seemed to be in such good shape that she probably wasn't stressed. If she was still doing well today, he would let it play alone in the cat room tomorrow. But seeing how insecure it looked in its sleep, Lu Linyuan abandoned the idea of leaving it alone in the cat room.

I'd better keep her company for another two days.

Working with one hand was a little slower, but he managed to finish as much of the morning's work as possible. Ruanruan woke up at noon, just as Lu Linyuan had finished working and called for his assistant to take the documents away.

Still half asleep, Ruanruan opened her mouth in a yawn and gazed hazily at her surroundings. Where is this?

Then she turned to look at Lu Linyuan, who had switched arms to hold her. It's the boss. Is this another one of his studies?

As she pondered this, she raised her upper body, rested her two front paws on his shoulder, and looked behind him. When she saw the city view beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, she finally woke up.

After taking a very careful look around, she confirmed that this was the boss's office!

Wow, why did he bring me here?

Ruanruan thought smugly, Sure enough, no human can resist a tiny kitten, not even the great CEO! So the great CEO couldn't resist me and even brought me to the office. Tiny kittens really are the strongest, hehe.

With that thought, Ruanruan lay in the crook of the boss's arm, her two paws resting on her belly, and looked up at Lu Linyuan as he looked down at her. Her meaning was clear: This kitty is hungry. This kitty must dine.

Lu Linyuan told his special assistant to have someone prepare the kitten's food, then put her on the floor and let her waddle over to the cat bowl on her own.

Tiny kittens waddled when they walked, and Ruanruan was no exception.

This time, Ruanruan ate much more daintily. Unlike her frantic feeding in the middle of the night, she used her tongue to lap up her food bit by bit.

Lu Linyuan was satisfied when he saw it. Apparently, she at least knew to save him some face in public.

Then he used his computer to ask a professional.

"The cat seems quite lively during the day. She eats well and has fun playing, but after she falls asleep, she seems very uneasy. What should I do about that? Is it because she was frightened that day?"

"Very likely. Does it get any better when you keep her company?"

"If I hold her while she sleeps, she looks much better, not as restless and uneasy as when she sleeps alone."

"Some pets are like that. You play with them, and they have a good time, so it seems as though they aren't stressed. But after they fall asleep, they have nightmares and feel intensely insecure. You still need to spend plenty of time with them. Once they get through this stage, they'll be fine."

After reading that, Lu Linyuan was even more certain that his sister's gift wasn't a tiny kitten, but a little ancestor.

"All right, I understand."

After replying, Lu Linyuan raised his eyes to glance at Ruanruan, who was eating with her head down, and decided not to eat at the restaurant. He would stay in the office and keep her company, so he had his special assistant bring lunch to the office.

Xiao Zhang contacted the company restaurant and had them send over a set meal, then asked a young secretary from the CEO's office to deliver it to the CEO's office while he slipped away to eat at the restaurant.

The young woman carried the lunch into the CEO's office with her eyes fixed straight ahead. Having read the message the special assistant had sent that morning, she was afraid that doing something wrong would displease the CEO.

After going in and explaining why she was there, she placed the lunch box on the desk. The CEO gave a hum of acknowledgment, and she turned to leave, only to spot the little fellow nearby eating with her head down. The sight nearly melted her heart. She was far too cute!

The young woman took a couple more looks before leaving. On her way to the restaurant, she took out her phone and sent a message to the group chat.

"I just took lunch to the CEO and saw that little cat. She's so pretty, all creamy-colored and fluffy-looking. I really want to squish her! If she weren't the CEO's cat, I'd definitely pick her up and give her a couple of kisses."

"When I took documents to the CEO for his signature, I saw him holding the cat too! That cat was sleeping so soundly! It feels like the CEO gave every last bit of tenderness he had left to the kitten!"

A male colleague sent a photo of his own cat to the group and said, "Isn't my cat cute? All my colleagues are welcome to come pet him, hehe."

"Why does your cat look like Zhang Fei?! Tiny kittens are still cuter!" Actually, they were all cute, but who could resist a tiny kitten?

"He was adorable as a kitten too. Who knew that after being fed by my parents, he'd grow big and burly? Add that long ruff of fur like Oboi's, and even I never expected him to have the bearing of Zhang Fei."

"Did anyone get a photo of the CEO's kitten? I really want to see her!"

"Me too!"

"I got one!"

"?! How did you get it?! Send it over, quick!"

"I didn't go to the restaurant. I ordered delivery to my cubicle, and she seemed to smell the food and came out of the office. I got pictures!" He quickly sent several photos of Ruanruan coming out of the office to make an inspection.

"Wow! She's way too cute, all chubby and squishy! You didn't pick her up and give her a couple of squishes?!"

"How would I dare? I just called to her a few times. She had just started trotting toward me when the CEO came out and carried her back inside..." He even sent a photo of Lu Linyuan walking away with Ruanruan.

In the photo, Lu Linyuan had his shirt sleeves rolled up and was holding Ruanruan lightly in his palm. Ruanruan appeared to be struggling, trying to escape the CEO's hand.

"Haha, she must have just eaten, right? Her belly's so round, and her head's round too. It's not too much to want to hold her and bury my face in her fur, right?!"

"Not too much. I want to do it too!"

"I'll just gaze at the photo and pretend!"

In an instant, the CEO's cat became a sensation in the company's internal group chat.

Clearly, no one could resist the allure of a tiny kitten.