Baiquan"s theory was proven right.
After their stare-down, Elizabeth eventually released his finger. Shallow bite marks could be seen on his skin, but there was no trace of blood.
The ragdoll cat looked at him guiltily.
"It"s alright, Elizabeth. Just don"t go biting other people," he cooed, patting the top of her head, "Are you unwell?"
Baiquan asked because he knew that she was able to understand his words.
Elizabeth shook her head discreetly, then cast a dirty look in Zhao Yao"s direction.
"Zhao Yao, I am going to literally die if you don"t give me the wifi pa.s.sword!" she yelled at him through their shared consciousness.
"You, my dear, seem to be suffering from internet addiction. It stops right now," he responded.
This caused Elizabeth to collapse on the ground, her eyes filled with nothing but despair.
It had been two long days since the pa.s.sword was changed. The first few hours were perfectly fine because she could watch the episodes that she had downloaded to her phone.
Everything went downhill from there.
Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days. Anguish had settled in her heart. Elizabeth found herself lifeless and lethargic. She had lost interest in things that once made her happy, like her favorite cat food. She had even stopped grooming herself and going to the bathroom.
"Bossman, has Elizabeth fallen sick?" Coco shouted across the cafe.
"She"s fine. It"s just a bit of indigestion. She just needs rest," Zhao Yao replied in a tone that was devoid of the worry in Coco"s voice.
Matcha had joined in the commotion. He appeared next to Elizabeth and started pawing at her back.
Bright red hearts practically shone from Coco"s eyes when she saw this. "Oh, how cute! He"s worried about you too, my darling Elizabeth."
"Aww, this is so adorable!" Xiao Qing chimed in, stroking Matcha"s body, "This Scottish fold is a bit of an oddball, but he cares about his sister. Such a sweet thing."
As Matcha enjoyed the affection that the two girls were giving him, he shot Elizabeth a gleeful look.
"Lizzie, do you want to know the wifi pa.s.sword?" he asked in a sing-song voice.
Elizabeth returned his smile with an icy expression. She knew that there was no way this idiot would be nice to her if he was not getting anything in return. He must be up to something.
"Call me oppa and I"ll tell you," Matcha added, giving credence to her suspicions.
"Leave," Elizabeth commanded as her eyes glowed red.
Matcha"s body became stiff as a board before he lost control of it. Elizabeth had compelled his body to do a high jump and leap away.
His mind, however, was still very much under his jurisdiction.
"Did you really think you could control me? I can freeze time!" he chuckled.
In the next moment, he had used his power and stopped time for the rest of the world. While everyone was motionless, he alone fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Ow, ow, ow. That hurts," Matcha complained, twisting his body to get back on his feet, "I forgot that time doesn"t stop for me. Oh s**t, I need to get back in the air, if not…"
When time resumed, Elizabeth saw him fall from mid-air to the floor in a flash.
"As I said, I"m unbeatable," he said, slightly out of breath.
He turned around to walk, or rather, limp away.
Coco Sun"s eyes were glued to him. She was gaping.
"That cat fell impossibly quickly, didn"t it?" she wondered aloud.
"Yeah, I blinked and he was already on the floor," Xiao Qing agreed.
"Well," Baiquan reasoned, "This is absolutely normal because cats tend to jump from great heights at great speeds. It"s how they are built."
Elizabeth was not at all interested in their conversation. She had turned her head in Zhao Yao"s direction again, fuming.
"Zhao Yao! What must I do to get the wifi pa.s.sword?"
"Don"t get mad, Elizabeth. I"m cutting you off for just one week. Treat this as a form of mental training," he responded, "Internet addiction is that little devil on your shoulder. If you want to beat him, you need courage and perseverance. If you can stay away from the internet for a week, you would gain the kind of determination that would make your powers invincible."
"But I can"t beat him!" Elizabeth exclaimed, "I can feel a woman"s voice in my ear repeating the same words - get wifi, get wifi, get wifi."
"This just proves how severe your addition is. You cannot let it control you, Elizabeth. You can live perfectly well without wifi!" Zhao Yao said bracingly.
She flopped on her back lifelessly, staring up at the ceiling.
"I can"t. All I see are hundreds of phone screens, each one showing a different award-winning drama series."
"Think about it Elizabeth. For thousands of years, cats have lived fulfilling, happy lives without wifi. Why can"t you do the same? Without the internet, you can pursue other hobbies. You can try a teaser wand, or chase a fake mouse, or enjoy a scratching post. You can even play hide and seek with Mango and the rest."
"That is not helping. You"ve painted for me a life that I would detest. It would be a life without meaning. I would never want to wallow in ignorance and stupidity like Mango."
Zhao Yao pursed his lips. Elizabeth usually seemed indifferent and haughty, as if everything was beneath her. He would never expect that she needed the internet so much.
His train of thought was suddenly derailed by a quick succession of updates in his Book.
It made him jump to his feet instantly.
"Everything okay?" s.h.i.+ Yu asked, peering over.
"It"s fine! Everything"s fine!" he replied hysterically.
He threw his mouse on the table and marched towards Elizabeth.
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 10
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 10
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 10
"Oh my G.o.d!" Zhao Yao screamed internally, clutching his head with both hands.
He felt like he was going insane. Elizabeth"s loyalty was free-falling at an exponential rate. If this kept going, it would be falling into negative levels soon. What would happen then?
"Jesus, all I did was cut off your internet connection! Did I say something wrong just now? This is complete madness."
He used the power of illusion to conceal both himself and Elizabeth from the eyes of everyone else in the cafe. To the customers, Elizabeth was still lying on the table while he was still playing his game.
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 10
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 10
Zhao Yao scooped Elizabeth into his arms.
"Alright, alright, I"ll tell you the pa.s.sword right now, okay?"
In the short time that it took for him to walk to her, 50 loyalty points had already been deducted. This made it very clear that Zhao Yao was not as important to her as wifi was.
"Really?" Elizabeth asked, looking up at him with bright eyes, "You"ll let me go online?"
"Yes, yes, yes. The pa.s.sword is "Zhao Yao is the handsomest man in all the land". Use capital letters for my name."
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 1
"How has my pa.s.sword offended her?!" Zhao Yao thought to himself, feeling slightly hurt.
"My phone! Where is my phone?!" Elizabeth asked, looking around frantically.
The despair and lifelessness that bogged her down had disappeared.
"Here," Zhao Yao said, pa.s.sing the phone to her.
Elizabeth grabbed it instantly and started typing in the wifi pa.s.sword rapidly. When she managed to once again be connected to the internet, Zhao Yao"s Book started experiencing changes again.
Elizabeth"s Loyalty + 1
Elizabeth"s Loyalty + 1
Elizabeth"s Loyalty + 1
"I guess your real owner is the wifi, not me," Zhao Yao grumbled to himself.
"Don"t play with your phone when you"re at work, okay? Wait till the cafe closes," he said to Elizabeth.
"I beg your pardon?" Elizabeth glared.
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 20
"Oh, fine! Fine, fine fine. You"re the boss here, you do your thing," he said, exasperated.
This brought a smile to Elizabeth"s face. She clicked on a new episode of Downton Abbey.
Her loyalty towards Zhao Yao continued to grow as she watched the show, which was a relief.
"I doubt she"ll work at all today. I"ll just continue to hide her absence with the illusion," Zhao Yao thought to himself as he settled back into his usual seat.
Elizabeth was gnas.h.i.+ng her teeth at the screen as the plot thickened.
"Oh, am I outraged! O"Brien is a vicious woman who should die the most horrible death! Why is she still alive?!"
Elizabeth"s Loyalty - 1
"?"
Zhao Yao, who was in the middle of a new match, looked at Elizabeth incredulously.
"How are O"Brien"s failings my fault? What"s wrong with this loyalty point system? It doesn"t make any sense."