Chapter 22

Zhong Ning looked down. The special ringtone meant it was Xie Shiqing, she had set her as priority contact.

“Okay.”

So tolerant.

When she wasn’t angry, Xie Shiqing seemed quite easygoing.

Zhong Ning replied with a grinning golden retriever emoji and a message: “Thank you!” with an exclamation mark.

Getting the card was quick. In about ten minutes, she had it in hand.

Zhong Ning transferred all the money and exited the bank, intending to hail a taxi home, when she heard a cat’s meow.

Her ears perked up and her eyes were sharp—she turned her head quickly and spotted a small calico kitten hidden in the shrubs. It was just palm size, filthy all over, a piece of its ear missing and its eyes crusted over. It was emaciated to the point where its ribs were almost visible.

This….was not a healthy kitten.

Zhong Ning stood there, looking at the cat briefly before approaching.

Helping stray animals was one of her few consistent habits. Though, to be honest, she simply liked cats and dogs. Most of the money she saved went into treating and nurturing them.

“Hey, kitty.”

Zhong Ning took off her sun-protection jacket, spread it out on the ground, crouched down, and made a clicking sound to the calico.

The kitten didn’t seem wary at all. Meowing, it walked over and allowed itself to be wrapped up in her jacket and picked up.

She still waved down a taxi, but her destination changed to the nearest pet hospital. The kitten was very obedient in her arms, lying quietly the whole way without making a fuss. Zhong Ning took out her phone, snapped a photo, and sent it to Xie Shiqing.

“Picked up a kitten! So cute, but it seems sick. I’m taking it to the vet.”

With a matted gray-black fur, tear-filled eyes… What was cute about that? It was just a dirty cat. Listening to the AI image recognition commentary in her earphones, Xie Shiqing felt utterly baffled.

Messages came almost one after another.

Zhong Ning was talking about the dogs and cats she saw at the hospital. How cute they were, how obedient the little calico was—even during the checkup, it didn’t fuss.

So annoying.

Wait, no.

No, no, no…

She remembered—Zhong Ning used to hate small animals.

In her past life, she and Zhong Ning hadn’t interacted much. But compared to herself, Zhong Ning detested Madam Zhong and Zhong Zinuan even more. During a crisis at the Xie Corporation, when everything was in turmoil, perhaps out of a shared sense of misery, they occasionally managed calm conversations.

Once, Zhong Ning had brought up pets.

She used to love cats and dogs when she was little and had always wanted to have one. But her mother was allergic to fur, so she had to hold back. Later, when Madam Zhong married into the family and somehow learned about her fondness, she had someone gift her a cat.

She hated Madam Zhong, but the cat was innocent. After ignoring it for a few days, she couldn’t help but grow fond of it.

But one day, the cat suddenly went berserk for some unknown reason and scratched Madam Zhong’s arm. That led to vaccinations and stitches. Madam Zhong cried to the Head of the Zhong family, claiming Zhong Ning had allowed the cat to run wild indoors and had deliberately let it scratch her. She insisted it wasn’t the first time.

The Head of the Zhong family didn’t investigate. Maybe it was because she had been misled, or maybe she simply favored her new wife. She ordered the cat to be strangled, and as for Zhong Ning—the so-called “culprit”—naturally, she didn’t fare well either.

Her cat, Little Mimi, had been a docile ragdoll cat, never one to run around the house, let alone go berserk. She had dug through the trash to find the cat’s corpse and saw the wound on its tail. That was when she realized the whole thing had been staged by Madam Zhong.

From that point on, she began to stay away from small animals and never had another pet.

What she loathed wasn’t the pets, but her own helplessness.

This incident happened during the first year Madam Zhong entered the family. Now, three years have passed.

Would a Zhong Ning like that ever accept a cat again?

It would be one thing to put on an act for herself, but what was the point of pretending in front of animals? Whether she liked cats or hated them, it had nothing to do with her status as an heir.

Xie Shiqing tapped her phone and replayed the voice message again.

She felt increasingly puzzled.

————————

Zhong Ning (running around): “Wow, blue sky! Wow, green trees! Wow, kitty!”

Xie Shiqing: “Hmm… strange…”

Chapter 12

Xie Shiqing: 【You want to keep a cat?】

Zhong Ning: 【No, no. I’ll find a good home for it.】

Xie Shiqing: 【Isn’t that a hassle?】

Zhong Ning: 【Well, I’ve got money and time, so why not?】

【The kitten is really pitiful. Since I can help and I want to help, why shouldn’t I?】

【Maybe some people think it’s a waste of time, thankless work. But I gain a sense of purpose, I gain happiness. Other people may not see the same, but to me, that’s enough.】

【I only care about the kitten, and the kitten only wants to survive.】

So noble!

Xie Shiqing leaned back in her chair, laughing uncontrollably, yet her face showed a trace of contemplation.

Could it be that she was doing all this—for me?

It wasn’t narcissism. Right now, Zhong Ning had nothing. The Head of the Zhong family clearly favored Zhong Zinuan, and Zhong Ning herself was doing poorly in school, lacked ability, had no money or investments. Rumor had it she often got her allowance docked for causing trouble—she was practically penniless. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have cared so much about the tens of millions Xie Shiqing transferred to her.

To Zhong Ning, she was her lifeline.

Wasn’t it only natural she’d try her hardest to curry favor?

But what was with the stray cat rescue? Was she using this dying cat as a metaphor for herself? That if she could save a cat and give it warmth, she could also care for her?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep