Next, Zhao Yao sought out Red Packet.
He felt that their trip to Chuan Xiao District had helped them bond. He trusted him enough to let him roam freely in the belly. The cat was now flopped on the floor, eyes glued to an anime that lit up his tablet screen.
He immediately tensed when he noticed Zhao Yao approaching.
"Don"t stab me! Don"t stab me!" he cried, scrambling to get onto his feet.
Zhao Yao rolled his eyes. It seemed like Red Packet"s impression of him was very much shaped by his performance at Chuan Xiao.
He patiently explained what really happened to the frightened cat, whom gradually calmed down. Zhao Yao tentatively reached out to stroke his back.
"Hey," he started, "I still don"t know what your power actually is."
Red Packet eyed the human suspiciously.
"Good luck, I guess. I seem to be able to make money more easily from anything I do."
"Make money more easily from anything you do?" Zhao Yao repeated, his eyes lighting up like a jackpot machine.
He always knew that this fortune cat could roll in cash, but now he understood how it worked.
He had a plan.
"Red Packet, I run a cat cafe. Do you want to try working there?" he asked.
"Cat cafe?" he shook his head profusely, "That would mean selling my body. I"m not ruining my good name by doing - ."
He swallowed the rest of his sentence when he noticed the murderous look on Zhao Yao"s face.
"That"s utter bull," he said firmly, "We operate a clean, family-friendly business where cats and people can interact and form friends.h.i.+ps. Sell your body? What an insult. Get ready to start work tomorrow."
"..."
Zhao Yao did not wait for a response. He spun on his heel and left the belly.
He made his way home, where he started checking off the usual list of daily tasks.
When night rolled around, Baiquan brought the troupe of supercats to the house.
Zhao Yao looked up when the front door swung open. The first thing he saw was Matcha"s gloomy expression as he shuffled in.
When the ginger cat pa.s.sed the food bowls, he swatted them forcefully, sending them flying. He let out a hmpf, then leapt onto the ma.s.sage chair. He then started punching the backrest manically.
Zhao Yao watched this with furrowed brows.
"What"s up with him?" he asked Baiquan.
Baiquan laughed good-naturedly, "According to Elizabeth, the power his beloved Lu Ban used to pack has been weakened. He"s lost every match he played today."
"Playing on the job again, has he?" Zhao Yao shook his head at the angry cat, "I"ll handle this. Thanks for running the cafe today, Baiquan. Everything okay with Old Man Zhuang?"
Baiquan lifted his hand, his index finger and thumb meeting in an "OK" sign.
"All went well. Elizabeth and I worked together to serve him."
The next person to enter the house was Hanako, who had Rice Cake in her arms. The Scottish Fold sprung from her and darted straight for the study table. She switched on the laptop, then launched her favorite game, all with an eager expression on her face.
Hanako had stopped in her tracks. She was staring at Lightning with widened eyes. He was still cleaning the floor diligently.
"Why is Lightning mopping? Zhao Yao, why are you bullying the poor thing?" she demanded.
"Me? Bully him?" Zhao Yao said incredulously.
He recounted in vivid detail what Lightning had done. As she listened, Hanako"s expression morphed from indignation to disgust.
"Lightning!" she shouted, glaring at the cat.
He flopped onto his belly in fear, ears flattened against his head.
As Hanako lectured the cat, Zhao Yao made his way to the ma.s.sage chair.
He patted the top of Matcha"s head.
"What"s wrong? Are you angry about something?"
"Mmm."
Matcha turned away from him, so Zhao Yao started gently scratching the side of his neck. He tried to evade his touch, but eventually succ.u.mbed to the enjoyable contact.
"I heard Lu Ban has been weakened?" Zhao Yao mentioned casually.
That was the trigger that got Matcha to finally speak.
"How could they do that?! Don"t they not know that all the top players use Lu Ban? And they weakened him? Have they gone mad?"
Zhao Yao tried to console the livid cat. Rice Cake, whom was already immersed in a match of PUBG, spoke up.
"Matcha, why don"t you play PlayerUnknown Battleground with me?" she suggested.
"PlayerUnknown Battleground?" Matcha asked.
"Yeah. Aren"t you already the number one in King"s Glory? You"ll get the hang of PUBG in no time," she responded, "Plus, I found cheats we can use. We"ll be unbeatable together."
"Number one?" Matcha was momentarily stunned, but he regained composure quickly, "Yeah, we"ll be unbeatable."
"Cheats?" Zhao Yao was stunned as well, "Yeah, you guys will make an unbeatable team."
It seemed like Rice Cake was really taking the game seriously.
"Exactly. We"ll be great. You should play with me. PUBG is the hottest thing right now. We can even live stream our matches. One day, we"ll climb right to the top and be one of those top streamers that earns millions a year," she concluded.
"Millions a year?" Elizabeth piped in.
She had been agonizing over her complete lack of popularity on Weibo.
So far, she had received a grand total of one like. She had 12 followers, of which two were her own secondary accounts and the remaining 10 belonged to promoters that were trying to sell her stuff.
It was miserable.
Elizabeth got onto her feet.
"How do I play PUBG?" she asked.
Rice Cake was more than happy to teach her. The two cats wasted no time to begin a discussion on the game.
Matcha did not join in.
He rubbed his face, then let out a yawn.
"Count me out. I still prefer King"s Glory. Also, I don"t have a laptop. I can"t play," he said simply.
His true reason for deferring was more complicated than that.
"I can"t play! What if I lose to Rice Cake? She"ll never believe that I"m number one at anything!" he thought.
Elizabeth turned to Zhao Yao.
"We got quite a bit of money from Chuan Xiao, didn"t we? Can"t we use some of that to buy new laptops?"
Matcha laughed to himself.
"How naive, my dear Elizabeth. No one is stingier than Zhao Yao. He would never buy you a laptop," he mused.
"Sure!" Zhao Yao agreed instantly.
There were millions" worth of cold, hard cash lying in a bag somewhere in the belly. Buying a few laptops would not put a dent to it.
"I"ll buy five. It"s time for me to get a new one anyway."
Matcha gawked at Zhao Yao, then clamped his jaw down onto his owner"s arm.
"Imposter!"
For the next few days, Zhao Yao resumed his usual lifestyle. The one difference he had made was to cater time to watch the Sphynx train.
The atmosphere in the house had changed. At night, the vicious smacking of keyboards echoed through the halls, coupled with feverish meows and yelps.
Rice Cake, Elizabeth, Matcha, and an unwitting Roly Poly, had formed a clan and embarked on their PUBG journey together.
Two weeks later, at Jiangmen City International Airport.
A handsome, young man made his way down the steps of an airport. He had on samurai armor.
He looked up at the sky, then let out a derisive snort.
"Well, China, I hope you do not disappoint."