It was already evening when Jin Liwei's private jet landed in the country. He was exhausted but also extremely excited to finally see his baby girl. He missed her so much. He wanted to embrace her and kiss her as soon as possible, and also to congratulate her for the release of her new album.
His subordinates picked him and Xu Tian up from the airport. They were the ones who helped carry the purchases for the kittens before to Iris' condo unit and even ate dinner there.
"Did you bring the things I instructed to be prepared?" Jin Liwei asked.
"Yes, Master. Everything is packed in the car."
"Good. To the penthouse."
Jin Liwei planned on taking a nap until they arrived at the condo. He was already feeling the effects of jet lag. He was about to sleep when his eyes caught the news playing on a nearby public TV outside.
"Wait." He stopped the driver who was about to start the car.
He continued to watch the news on the big TV screen outside. He couldn't hear the audio, but the big texts were clear enough. Then he noticed the newspapers some of the people were reading.
"What the hell happened?" he demanded.
Why was his baby girl all over the news?
"Find out what happened!" he ordered Xu Tian. "Who the hell attacked her?!"
Xu Tian immediately obeyed, checking the news sites on his phone.
His subordinate who was sitting on the front passenger seat cleared his throat.
"Master, I know what happened. It's all over the news, especially last night when it happened."
"Tell me."
Then his subordinate explained everything that happened at the launch party according to what was shared on the news. When he mentioned the Alarm Girls, Jin Liwei exploded.
"It's them again?! Didn't I already tell you to destroy them? Why are they still bothering my Xiulan?!"
"I apologize, President. I wasn't thorough enough in dealing with them," Xu Tian said. "I didn't expect that they'll attack Miss Long when they're already blacklisted from showbiz."
The atmosphere inside the car was very cold and tense. Nobody dared breathe too loudly or make any noise, afraid of angering their master even more.
The driver immediately obeyed and the car started moving.
Jin Liwei took deep breaths, trying to control his fury. He wanted to hunt those three girls and strangle them himself. He was about to call Xiulan on the phone and hear what really happened from her own words, but decided that it was better to wait until he saw her and talk in person.
Simmering in fury, he felt that the drive was taking too long. Damn the traffic!
Finally, they arrived in front of the condo building. He called his baby girl but she wasn't answering his call. He tried a couple more times before giving up. Perhaps her phone wasn't with her. So he called Dominic instead.
Dominic picked up quickly. His excited voice could be heard by the others inside the car even when the phone wasn't on speaker. He was so excited that he even went down to the lobby to pick up Jin Liwei in person.
###
Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights" played inside the cat room.
Iris laid on the sofa, still feeling a little unwell, waving a teaser toy in time with the music's aggressive melody. The two kittens were playing, trying to catch the feathers at the end of the toy.
Ice Cream was already very graceful, even if her tiny feet were not stable yet. She would observe the prey first, calculating the best time to pounce. Smart girl. Unfortunately, she was still too small. Iris imagined that Ice Cream's judgment might already be accurate based on the initial trajectory of her jumps, but her body couldn't keep up yet. Nonetheless, the kitten already had the makings of a calculative hunter.
Iris wondered if Ice Cream absorbed all the brain power while the siblings were still in their mother's womb, leaving nothing for her brother. Although Popcorn wasn't too smart, he had a lot of energy. Too much energy, in fact. He would still be raring to play more when Ice Cream already had enough and went back to sleeping.
These differences between their personalities made Iris adore her kittens all the more. She was glad that she adopted them. She wanted pets in her previous life, but her mother didn't allow her, telling her that pets would make her more softhearted than she already was.
The original Iris had a few pets before, but they didn't last long with her. She would play with them like dolls for a few days before getting bored. Then she would just end up giving them away.
Now in this new life, she was able to accomplish this simple dream of having pets.
The two kittens suddenly stopped playing and ran to the door. Ice Cream sat and stared at the closed door quietly while Popcorn was scratching it and meowing loudly.
"Hm?" Iris watched their actions in confusion.
Then the door opened revealing Jin Liwei.
Their eyes met.
This time, Iris actually noticed her heart skipping a beat. He was back. She wanted to run to him and jump in his arms but was too lazy to get up. Well, it was only a few steps. The man could reach her more quickly with his long legs. So she continued to lay on the sofa like a queen waiting to be served.
He bent down and scooped them up in each of his hands. "Hm? Are these my kids? Why are they so fat?"
