MTL - 10

I’ve never been a particularly rational person. I’m capricious, tsundere, and even a bit domineering.

Tang Yu, I’ve really been patient with you, you know.

— From the Diary of a Little Rich Girl

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“Why?” Huo Chendong paused for a moment, clicking his tongue. “Little Tang, you’re already twenty-seven or twenty-eight. How can you still be so conservative? Are you seriously thinking that pursuing your best friend’s crush and then going after Tang Xin is morally corrupt and inhumane?”

Tang Yu didn’t respond. His gaze drifted to the flickering neon lights across the street as he slightly lowered his eyes.

Huo Chendong sighed sympathetically. “Forget it. Tang Xin isn’t really your type anyway.”

The two had grown up together in the same courtyard since childhood, their relationship akin to that of brothers. Huo Chendong knew that Tang Yu had his own stubborn principles when it came to matters of the heart, rarely willing to change or break them. Even the women he liked—from his school days until now—had always been of the same type.

Tang Xin was sweet and cute, but she definitely wasn’t Tang Yu’s type. Her personality was too unpredictable.

Huo Chendong had originally called to discuss work, and bringing up this topic was mostly a joke. Since Tang Yu didn’t want to talk about it, he let it go, and they ended the call.

Images of Tang Xin’s sweet smile flashed through Tang Yu’s mind—her casually calling out “President Tang” this and “President Tang” that, occasionally even using his name, playful yet mischievous. Tang Xin and Ming Zhu were close friends; he knew how strong their bond was.

She was a good girl—adorable, optimistic, and full of quirky charm. Even scrolling through her social media feed could make one unconsciously smile.

Suddenly, Tang Yu frowned. He pulled off his towel and turned back to continue his workout.

________________________________________

That night, Tang Xin lay on her bed and sent a message to Tang Yu on WeChat: “President Tang, should I come to the company tomorrow to find you?”

Tomorrow was Saturday, and most people would be resting. However, Tang Yu usually went to the office on Saturdays if he had no other engagements. When the boss showed up, the secretaries upstairs wouldn’t dare slack off either. So, Saturdays were often considered overtime days.

As a screenwriter, Tang Xin was relatively free unless a project had officially started or a topic was finalized. She didn’t have to clock in regularly. With fewer people at the company on weekends, she quite enjoyed going in, especially to Tang Yu’s office—a delightful bonus.

Tang Yu had returned late from the fitness club that evening. As he drove into the underground parking garage, the headlights of his car illuminated a small box placed squarely in the middle of his parking spot. He paused, gripping the steering wheel, and narrowed his eyes to examine it. After stopping the car, he got out and walked over to the box.

Inside was a tiny white kitten.

Tang Yu was speechless. He glanced around but didn’t see anyone nearby. He had no idea who had left it there. Crouching down with his pants leg hitched up, his forearm resting on his knee, he looked down at the fluffy little creature. The kitten’s eyes glowed blue, unafraid as it stared back at him.

Tang Yu furrowed his brow, stood up, and returned to his car to grab his phone, intending to call property management.

Before he could dial, Tang Dingding’s call came through. Whenever Tang Dingding called him, it was usually for one of two reasons: either she was out of money or almost out of money.

With an impassive expression, he answered, “What is it?”

Tang Dingding chirped cheerfully, “Aren’t you going to Goliah and Malaysia in a few days? I’m coming with you!”

At that moment, Tang Yu nudged the box with the tip of his shoe, startling the kitten, which meowed loudly. In the quiet garage, the sound was particularly clear. Tang Dingding heard it and exclaimed, “Brother, why do I hear a cat meowing over there?”

“I don’t know who left it in my parking spot,” Tang Yu replied, sounding somewhat irritated.

Tang Dingding laughed. “It must be some neighbor or tenant who has a crush on you! Who else would do something like that!” Excitedly, she asked, “What breed is it?”

“I don’t know.” Tang Yu wasn’t particularly interested in cats. He glanced down at it and felt a faint sense of familiarity. Suddenly, he remembered that last Spring Festival, Tang Xin had posted a picture of a cat on her social media that looked very similar to this one. She had replied to someone about it.

If he recalled correctly, it was called… a Chinchilla?

“Its fur is pretty long.”

Tang Dingding urged him again, “Take a picture and send it to me! If it’s cute, bring it home for me.”

Tang Yu sneered. “If you want a cat, why don’t you buy one yourself?”

Tang Dingding pressed on, “Then what are you going to do with this one? You can’t just leave it here!”

“Leave it to property management.”

“What if they can’t handle it and end up throwing it away?” Tang Dingding insisted. “Brother, show a little humanity… I mean, a little compassion! Bring it back for me. If you bring it home, Mom will let me keep it.”

Annoyed by her persistence, Tang Yu grunted impatiently, “Alright, I’m hanging up.”

Tang Dingding cheered happily but suddenly remembered that he hadn’t agreed to take her to Malaysia and Goliah.

...How sly of him! He deliberately changed the subject.

Tang Yu kicked the cat’s box to the side, parked his car, and stood staring at it for a while before finally taking it upstairs.

The box was spacious and contained enough cat food. He placed the kitten on the balcony, where it stayed surprisingly calm and didn’t cause any trouble. After all the commotion, it wasn’t until eleven o’clock that he saw Tang Xin’s message. Unsure if she was still awake, he hesitated for a moment before replying with a simple, “Okay.”

Tang Xin, who had been scrolling through Zhihu on her phone, had set a special notification for him. Seeing the message immediately, she exited Zhihu and replied almost instantly: “Got it, President Tang, see you tomorrow!”

She followed up with a small crescent moon emoji.

He responded with a crescent moon emoji of his own.

Tang Xin rarely initiated casual chats with Tang Yu. She figured he was so busy that he wouldn’t have much time for WeChat conversations. Being considerate, their exchanges were limited to a couple of messages per week.

She was easily satisfied.

See? She was so patient with Tang Yu.

________________________________________

Early the next morning, Tang Xin carefully picked out her outfit from the previous night and applied meticulous makeup before heading out.

After having breakfast downstairs at the company, she took the elevator upstairs. As soon as she stepped out, she saw Gao Heng talking to a secretary. Several people noticed her arrival and fell silent. Tang Xin remembered how Gao Heng had mercilessly betrayed her in the elevator the night before. Unable to help herself, she pursed her lips and muttered under her breath.

Gao Heng remained unfazed, smiling politely. “Miss Tang, good morning.”

Tang Xin forced a smile. “Good morning.”

“You can go straight in. President Tang is inside.”

“Oh.”

Tang Xin ignored him, knocked on the door, and upon hearing the man’s deep voice inviting her in, pushed the door open.

Tang Yu set down his coffee cup and raised his eyes to glance at her.

Bathed in the morning light, the young woman greeted him with a sweet smile. “President Tang, good morning.”

A faint smirk tugged at the corner of Tang Yu’s lips as he lazily leaned back in his chair. With a tilt of his chin toward the low table opposite him, he immediately got down to business. “Your things are still there, untouched. Tell me what you want to shoot.”

“I had some more inspiration last night.”

Tang Xin placed her bag on the sofa, picked up her notebook and pen, and walked over to his desk. Placing the notebook on the desktop, she added a few more strokes before looking up at him. Tang Yu abandoned his relaxed posture, stood up, and circled around the desk to stand beside her, gazing down at her crude drawings with a chuckle. “Alright, tell me. What is this supposed to be?”

Tang Xin ignored his dismissive tone and pointed to the notebook with her pen. “It’s a house. Can’t you tell?”

Tang Yu: “….”

…He honestly couldn’t.

Somewhat exasperated, he casually pulled a pen from the pen holder, dragged the notebook out from under her hand, and leaned forward slightly without raising his head. “You explain, and I’ll draw. What do you want to depict?”

Tang Xin paused for half a second, frowning. “Is it really that ugly?”

Ugly enough to not even look at!

Tang Yu’s lips twitched faintly as he teased, “Even worse than my four-year-old nephew.”

Tang Xin: “….”

Resigned, she began pointing at the sketches and explaining, “This is an old house. There’s a door here, and stepping out leads to another parallel universe… Here’s an elevated bridge…”

The man’s hand rested on the notebook as he glanced at her messy scribbles. With a fine-liner pen, he slowly sketched out what she described. On his wrist was a Piaget men’s watch. His hand was large, slender, and well-proportioned, with clean, smooth nails. His hands were not only handsome but also moved slowly and precisely, translating her ideas onto paper.

Tang Xin tilted her head, gazing at his handsome profile—the dark, striking brows and elongated, narrow eyes exuded an air of detachment and aloofness.

But she didn’t feel that distance.

His appearance had struck a chord deep within her heart.

She adored him completely.

Tang Yu set down the pen and turned his head to glance at her.

Tang Xin quickly snapped out of her reverie and continued, “So that’s it…”

Tang Yu shifted his stance, relaxing against the edge of the desk, and lazily glanced at her. “Honestly, Tang Xin, the genre you’re proposing won’t pass censorship. Even if it does, it can only be streamed online, not broadcast on TV.”

Shiguang Films intended for this project to be aired on satellite television.

Tang Xin knew this as well. She pouted. “I know, but I’m not interested in other genres. I feel like everything else has already been done to death, or this one won’t pass, or that one won’t pass…”

There were too many restrictions.

Shiguang Films didn’t appreciate her wild imagination.

Life as a small-time screenwriter was tough, wasn’t it?

Tang Yu was silent for half a second before letting out a soft laugh. “So, the script you mentioned before, the one you wanted me to produce—is this it?”

“No!” Tang Xin shook her head. “That’s for a movie script.”

“How much have you written?”

“I’ve just finished the character biographies…”

Tang Yu paused, straightened up, and looked down at her from above. Suddenly, he remembered that she had once mentioned selling two copyrights to Shiguang Films to get her foot in the door. That was four years ago, right after he took over the company.

She must have just graduated at the time.

Back then, Shiguang Films would stockpile IPs, even from unknown screenwriters and authors, and the prices they offered weren’t too low. He knew her family was wealthy, and she had sold copyrights. Otherwise, with her track record, she’d probably be starving by now.

However, after all these years, none of those IPs had been produced. They had been sitting idle for so long that their contracts were likely nearing expiration.

Seeing Tang Yu remain silent for a while, Tang Xin realized her proposal had been rejected. She pouted and muttered, “Daddy Tang, you’re really hard to please. Don’t look down on web dramas, okay? Web dramas can be excellent too, you know!”

Tang Yu: “….”

Crossing his arms, he coldly glanced at her. “What did you just call me?”

Tang Xin's face flushed slightly as she realized her slip of the tongue. She quickly corrected herself, her voice soft and almost inaudible: “Tang Yu…”

Tang Yu couldn’t help but let out a low chuckle, though his expression remained cool and composed. He tapped her lightly on the back of her head with the pen he was holding, then walked past her toward his desk. Without looking back, he tossed out a dry remark.

“I don’t have a daughter as foolish as you.”

“...”

Tang Xin glared at his retreating figure. She had clearly heard him laugh, yet he still chose to pretend otherwise and ask!

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Author’s Note:

Little Rich Girl: One day, Tang Yu will suffer a very ugly fate.

Little Boss Tang: ...

Your funeral pyre is arriving soon—be prepared to receive it. I wish I could transform into a typing machine and churn out three or four chapters at once. I’ll update with more content tomorrow, and there will be bonus chapters next week.