Chapter 19

Chapter 19

When Bai Li woke up again, he was not in Xie Chen’s cat nest, but on a soft big bed.

Dark-colored sheets and a duvet of the same tone.

Bai Li sat up confused, looked around left and right, and after a while finally realized where he was.

This was the master’s bedroom.

He—he had slept on the master’s bed!

“Meow meow!”

Allowed to sleep in the bedroom, Bai Li sat on the bed, tilting his head back, meowing at the master.

After a few calls, Xie Chen, dressed in home clothes, indeed came in from outside.

“Awake?”

Xie Chen carried a bowl of water, approached him, and waved his hand.

“Come here, drink some.”

Bai Li went over and, cupping it with his paw, drank several sips of the sweet water.

“Meow, meow ow?”

Master, have the other cats been rescued?

“They have.”

Xie Chen put the water aside, picked up the little kitten with his head tilted back: “I contacted the local stray animal rescue center; from now on, those people will be responsible for the follow-up.”

Hearing that the animal rescue center was involved, Bai Li finally relaxed.

He rubbed Xie Chen’s hand: “I want to go back under the overpass to see Meimei.”

Meimei ran out yesterday. If nothing happened, she should be back under the overpass by now.

“Alright, I’ll take you there later.”

As Xie Chen spoke, he already carried him outside. The newly fried small dried fish from the kitchen, cat yogurt on the table, and fresh goat milk were all piled in front of Bai Li.

“Eat.”

Xie Chen opened the drink and handed him a small dried fish.

After a whole day at the hatchery base, Bai Li had hardly eaten anything, plus livestreaming all night. His stomach was already empty. This food filled his stomach and warmed his heart."Meow."

Bai Li used his paw to grab a small dried fish and handed it to Xie Chen: "Meow meow."

Delicious, for you to eat.

The fried dried fish was freshly prepared, without salt, suitable for both humans and cats.

Xie Chen, who had cleanliness OCD, lowered his eyes to look at the dried fish in the paw and was silent for a few seconds.

"Meow."

Eat it.

Bai Li persistently wanted to share his favorite food with him.

Xie Chen met those beautiful amber eyes, which gleamed with bright anticipation. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out, pinched a piece of dried fish, and put it in his mouth.

"Tastes good."

Seeing that he was willing to eat, Bai Li didn’t care whether it was fed by himself or not. He ate until his belly was round and full, even letting Xie Chen touch it before finishing breakfast—or rather, this should be afternoon tea.

After eating, Bai Li actively asked to take a bath.

Normally, cats shouldn't bathe frequently. Cats are afraid of water, and too frequent bathing is not good for their health. But Bai Li was not a normal cat; he was a monster cat.

Xie Chen knew his abnormality, so he let him bathe as he wished.

In the bathroom.

Xie Chen’s long, beautiful fingers ran through his fur, and his deep, pleasant voice sounded.

“Li Li, can you turn into a human?”

Bai Li was startled, then shook his head sadly and meowed, “I can’t turn into a human.”

Only by finding his fiancé and being with him could he have a chance to become human.

Right now, he didn’t even know where his fiancé was.

Xie Chen didn’t feel much when he heard that Bai Li couldn’t become human.

This chubby little kitten in front of him—he could raise him. If he really turned into a boy, he was afraid he wouldn’t want to raise him.

He didn’t like anyone getting close to him, whether male or female.

After the bath, Xie Chen changed clothes and drove Bai Li back.

Before leaving, he packed all the food he had prepared for Bai Li.

He knew Bai Li was raising a few cats. The food would lose its flavor if kept too long, so it was better to let him take it back and share it with the cats he cared for.

Bai Li stared blankly at the food and drink.

“Master.”He tugged on Xie Chen’s pant leg and meowed, asking, “Am I what the book calls ‘returning home in glory under the bridge’ now?”

“Returning home in glory” was something he’d read about in books—coming back home in great honor and fanfare.

Now, since he lived under the bridge and was personally sent back by Master, that meant he was “returning home in glory under the bridge!”

Hearing the new phrase he’d made up, Xie Chen raised a hand to pinch his face teasingly. “You’ve read books too?”

“Meow!”

I’ve read plenty.

Bai Li proudly told Xie Chen, “I’m not an illiterate cat.”

He not only read and recognized characters but also attended human student classes.

If calculated by human years, he was seventeen this year, old enough to graduate high school.

But by his true form’s condition, he was still a little kitten who never grew up.

Xie Chen was infected by his proud tone and asked him several questions on the spot. Unexpectedly, this seemingly cutesy little kitten could actually answer them all.

“I underestimated you.”

Xie Chen praised him, “A cat like you, if you debuted, there’d definitely be many comments asking you to go to school for them.”

Xie Chen occasionally watched some videos, especially recently, when he had indeed searched for cat and dog videos to watch.

Under some videos where cats and dogs acted especially smart, there were comments like—

“I’m not even as good as a cat. Let it go to school for me; I don’t deserve to go.”

The comments were exaggerated, but watching them, Xie Chen felt none of those cats or dogs were as clever or adorable as the little kitten on his lap.

Although the little kitten got wronged and looked at him tearfully, loudly complaining, Xie Chen knew he was never weak.

For the sake of living, he could haul heavy carts repeatedly, work at brick factories, look for various jobs. Apart from eating a little dried fish here, the kitten’s usual food was cheap white steamed buns costing just a few cents each.

Thinking of this, Xie Chen suddenly furrowed his brows.

“Li Li, in the future you—”

Before he could finish, the car stopped. From several cardboard boxes under the bridge, a few cat heads poked out one by one.

“It’s Big Brother!”

Dotting his twitching nose, unsure if he truly hadn’t caught Bai Li’s scent, he climbed out of the box, ready to rush out with Big Grey.

Mei Mei was here too.

He noticed late last night that Big Brother hadn’t come out yet, so he asked Black-footed Cat Brother to help rescue Big Brother, but Big Brother was rescued earlier.

Mei Mei didn’t want to leave with the rescue center people, so after sneaking away with Black-footed Cat Brother, he ran back under the bridge to wait for Big Brother here.Bai Li, carried down from the car by Xie Chen, saw Mei Mei and the others all there and immediately happily patted Xie Chen’s hand, signaling him to put him down.

Dian Dian and Da Hui saw Xie Chen for the first time. Watching Bai Li being carried down, they felt uneasy inside.

Big Brother seemed very close to this human.

As cats once raised by humans, Dian Dian and Da Hui knew that if a cat was liked by a human, many cats would choose to go home with the human.

Dian Dian lowered his head, already imagining what would happen to himself and Da Hui if Big Brother went home with the human.

They didn’t collect many scraps, and in the future, they definitely wouldn’t be able to afford cat food.

“Dian Dian.”

Bai Li looked at the lowered Dian Dian and handed him some food: “Come eat something.”

Seeing Big Brother bring this kind of food, Dian Dian felt even more like it was a farewell meal.

Bai Li handed all the food to the younger brothers, then turned to look for Xie Chen behind him.

“Master, you should go back.”

Bai Li tilted his head up and said goodbye to Xie Chen: “I have to go to work soon, can’t stay with you anymore.”

The brick kiln job was gone, Bai Li needed to find a new one. After thinking back and forth these days, he now had a plan to find his brothers and sisters, and to find his fiancé.

That was to work hard and advertise!

His current goal was to earn a thousand yuan, use that thousand to make flyers with the names of his brothers and sisters, then distribute the flyers all over City A.

Xie Chen lowered his eyes, looking at Bai Li’s serious expression about going to work, and swallowed the words he had been about to say before the car stopped.

Since this little kitten who refused to be fragile insisted on working, if he insisted on holding him back, it probably wouldn’t be a good thing.

“Alright, go.”

Xie Chen crouched down and patted his furry head: “If anything happens, come find me.”

“Meow.”

Okay!

After Bai Li gave a crisp reply, he watched Xie Chen get into the car.

“Big Brother.”

Dian Dian, who had no mood to eat, ran over quickly and whispered, “Are you going home with this human? Going to be his cat?”

Bai Li shook his head: “No.”

He didn’t want to be a cat who only ate free meals; he still owed Master several hundred yuan.

The urgent task was to earn money, earn money, and keep earning money!

“Mei Mei, stay with Dian Dian and the others today. I’m going out to find work.”After Bai Li finished speaking, Mei Mei asked in confusion, “Big Brother, what about your paw-clapping job at the brick kiln?”

Bai Li didn’t respond.

Under the gazes of Mei Mei, Dian Dian, and Da Hui, he finally spoke.

“The job is gone.”

Bai Li felt a little sad recalling it: “The boss at the brick kiln didn’t pay the wages.”

He had clapped his paws for a long time but didn’t receive a single cent.

Mei Mei: “???”

Mei Mei was stunned.

How dare the heartless boss withhold Big Brother’s wages?!

Bai Li thought about how so many people at the brick kiln didn’t help him when he asked for his pay; if he went back, no one would pay attention to him.

Alone as a cat, he definitely wouldn’t succeed against the heartless boss.

Bai Li patted the heads of his younger brothers one by one and comforted them: “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find a new job.”

After soothing the younger brothers, Bai Li didn’t delay any longer. With time left in the afternoon, he hurried to find work.

Mei Mei watched Big Brother’s back, unable to swallow his anger.

“Dian Dian, Da Hui.”

Mei Mei instructed, “I have to follow Big Brother to protect him from being bullied again.”

“If you two don’t want to go back to the cardboard boxes, just pick up scraps nearby for a while, and remember, hide whenever you see people.”

After being betrayed by humans several times, Mei Mei was now very distrustful of them.

Dian Dian and Da Hui obediently nodded. The twins were still very young and needed to grow up more.

Bai Li went alone to various markets to scout for opportunities.

Jobs suitable for cats were too few. Bai Li carefully analyzed tasks he could handle.

In the end, he reached a conclusion: He was very good at delivering goods.

Now he could specifically look for a job as a courier!

Bai Li was smart and soon found discarded cardboard that others didn’t want.

He asked passersby to write a few words on the cardboard, and after they finished, they even added a simple smiley face—

“Cat delivering goods. Anything to deliver? ^_^”

After thanking the kind passersby, Bai Li tied the cardboard with a string, hung it around his neck, and began to promote himself at the market.