Shang Xuci spent the entire night dreaming, his chest feeling heavy, as if a large boulder was pressing down on it.
In the dream, his breathing was a little difficult. His nose felt blocked, making it hard to draw breath, and there was a strange, unfamiliar fragrance in the air.
Yet, at the same time, his sleep quality seemed much better. Even though the dream was strange, he showed no signs of waking.
As dawn broke faintly, the man opened his eyes to find a sprawled-out cat lying across his body. One front paw was pressing against his nose, head tilted back with mouth slightly open, completely motionless—a sleeping posture that looked almost like a death pose.
Shang Xuci adjusted the cat’s position, moving it off his body. During the entire process, the cat didn’t stir in the slightest. He had never seen the cat sleep so deeply before. What was even more remarkable was its bizarre posture—its body twisted like a bent noodle, the upper half lying on its side, the lower half stretched straight, its head twisted halfway down… truly wild to behold.
Narrowing his eyes, Shang Xuci studied the cat carefully and noticed its mouth moving as if chewing—perhaps dreaming of dried fish. It even stuck out its tongue to lick its lips, with a suspicious bit of drool hanging from the corner of its mouth…
Shang Xuci froze. Lying on his side, he instinctively reached for his phone, taking pictures of the cat from various angles, then continued to stare at it.
So it was true—cats really were that flexible. Saying they were like a puddle of water wasn’t an exaggeration at all. The white, round belly rose and fell gently, white whiskers twitching slightly. Coupled with its sleeping position, the sight was irresistibly cute.
When the alarm rang, Shang Xuci finally came back to his senses—he had been watching the cat for half an hour!
If someone had told him in the past that he would one day sleep with a cat, Shang Xuci would have thought they were crazy. But now, the truth was he had grown used to having the cat sleep beside him. Even the sound of its snores seemed to improve his sleep quality… provided that Suisui behaved and stayed quietly at his side like before.
He washed up, had breakfast, and grabbed his coat.
Before leaving, Shang Xuci rapped his knuckles against the bedroom door. “Sui Sui, I’m heading out.”
The cat, who had been lying on the bed and had just shifted into a more comfortable position, stretched, gave a big yawn, opened its eyes, twitched its ears, then leapt off the bed and bounded toward him.
“Meow meow!”
I’ll see you off!
Jian Xun dashed ahead, finally stopping at the doorway. Looking up at the man, he meowed again.
Come back early today.
I’ll cook for you.
Shang Xuci finished putting on his shoes, didn’t pat the cat this time, and simply walked out the door.
The apartment he was living in now was quite far from Yin Feng Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Shang Corporation—about twice the distance to the headquarters. Sitting in the car, Shang Xuci habitually reached for his medicine, but when he put his hand into his pocket, he pulled out a piece of candy instead.
Judging from the packaging, it was one of the little gifts from the kitten. Shang Xuci had no idea where Sui Sui got these candies from, but every now and then, one would mysteriously appear on the study desk or tucked into his pocket.
The bitter medicine left a lingering, sour-bitter taste in his mouth, seeping into every corner of his palate. Even after swallowing it with water, the bitterness clung stubbornly, refusing to fade.
Shang Xuci frowned slightly. He was about to put the candy back, but then changed his mind.
With pale, slender fingers, he unwrapped the paper. Inside lay a bright orange candy. After hesitating for two seconds, he popped it into his mouth.
The fruity sweetness quickly washed away the bitter aftertaste of the medicine, and a warmth unlike anything he had ever felt spread from his mouth down his throat, settling deep into his stomach. Instantly, his mood eased.
The car started moving, and Shang Xuci set the navigation toward Yin Feng Entertainment.
Fifty minutes later.
Shang Xuci sat in his office, reading a newly released report.
He had already gone through the earlier sections and had directly approached the person in charge to resolve any issues. The related projects were all ones he had personally assigned, so he was confident in them.
His eyes immediately caught a problem. Looking up at the department head, he said coolly, “Why is there so much external investment in this project? Are we still working with Yuanqu Company?”
Yuanqu Company was considered a “sibling company” to the Shang Corporation. Later, however, the families split. His eldest uncle established a tourism company—though “independent” in name, it was actually built with the support of his younger brother, Shang Jue.
Yuanqu Tourism Development maintained close business ties with the Shang family’s industries. In his previous life, Shang Xuci knew very well that half of the Shang family’s later financial crisis had been caused by them. Of course, now that he no longer managed the Shang Corporation headquarters, this had nothing to do with him.
Still, he hadn’t expected their cooperation to extend even to the small Yin Feng Entertainment.
While Shang Xuci was lost in thought, Xiao Zhang, the person in charge, hesitated slightly before saying, “We’ve always had an ongoing partnership with Yuanqu Company. The contract runs until the end of this year.”
Xiao Zhang had only recently taken over the Investment and Partnerships Department. Matters involving Yuanqu had always been handled by his former supervisor, who had just been reassigned to another department. He had only started familiarizing himself with the situation these past few days. Yuanqu specialized in tourism development but also had a significant presence in the entertainment industry. Their company dealt mainly in venues, while Yin Feng focused on cultivating talent for the entertainment sector.
“There’s no need to wait until the end of the year. Pay the penalty fee and pull out this month,” Shang Xuci said, setting down his pen and interlocking his index fingers.
“Understood.” Zhang Wen nodded firmly.
He was actually quite curious about Shang Xuci’s reason for doing this, but as a newly promoted employee, it wasn’t his place to question the boss’s decisions.
Before he left, Shang Xuci told him to send Secretary Fu in.
Fu Qian had once been the assistant to Shang Xuci’s grandfather, Shen Tianlei. He hadn’t worked with the old man for many years, but after Shen Tianlei passed away, Shang Xuci had personally recruited him to his side, later bringing him along to the subsidiary company as well.
“President Shang, you wanted to see me?” A sharply dressed man with an elite air walked up to Shang Xuci.
“I want you to help me investigate someone.”
Shang Xuci placed a photo of a man in his sixties on the desk.
His name was Du Guan, a director at a foreign company. At present, he had no business dealings with the Shang family, and according to Shang Xuci’s investigation in his previous life, he’d had no connections with them whatsoever. Yet, somehow, this man had a subtle link to both his grandfather’s death and the car accident that happened to him afterward.
Shang Xuci had already uncovered the truth behind his grandfather’s death in his previous life—it had been orchestrated by Xu Rong, who had hastened his grandfather’s demise.
After Shen Tianlei’s passing, the company fell into mismanagement, sliding from decline into outright losses, and was eventually acquired.
His own car accident had also been arranged by Xu Rong. At the time, blinded by hatred, he had been obsessed only with revenge, impatient to dig deeper. When his investigation dragged on, he lost patience and ended it prematurely.
Looking back now, Xu Rong’s intellect and means were not enough to have pulled all that off. There must have been someone advising and guiding her from the shadows. And this time, he was determined to uncover that person’s identity.
Whatever debts they owed him, Shang Xuci would make sure to settle them—one by one.
…
Meanwhile, ever since Shang Xuci left the house, Jian Xun had first gone to the automatic feeder to nibble on kibble, chewing slowly for seven or eight minutes. After sipping some water and eating his fill, he returned to his cardboard box to “rest.”
Though calling it rest wasn’t quite right—he was actually checking his planner.
The first household task on his list—cooking—was already completed, though regrettably, he hadn’t received any praise from the big boss for it.
The second category was career skills. His livestream earnings were still too low; he hadn’t even reached a hundred yuan, so he hadn’t withdrawn a single cent.
Jian Xun went out, picked up his tablet in his mouth, hopped onto the cat tree, then jumped down again to steal a dried fish snack before climbing back up. Settling in, he logged into his account on the tablet.
The first thing he saw was a string of private messages from the same online friend—seven or eight in a row. Opening them, he found they were from his buddy “Brother Tutu.” Jian Xun carefully replied to every single message from his big brother before returning to the creator interface—only to get the shock of his life.
His latest video had broken one million views!
The dried fish in his paw slipped and fell in fright.
What on earth had happened?!
Jian Xun opened the video to watch—it was still a gaming livestream, but unlike before, this time it was the real little cat appearing on camera while playing. White paws tapped against the screen, and those beautiful sapphire-blue eyes stayed fixed intently on the game. His movements were nimble, his reflexes lightning fast—no matter how you looked at it, this was not something an ordinary cat could pull off.
Sui Sui is one clever kitty!
Jian Xun scrolled through the live chat and comments—every single one was full of praise, with no suspicion of any trickery.
Everyone was marveling at the cat’s intelligence.
[Oh my god, that’s amazing!]
[Has to be a spirit beast by now hahahahaha!]
[I’m a fan now. Followed! From now on, I’m supporting the feline gaming career!]
[Damn, it even plays better than me.]
[It’s over. From now on, your teammate might just be a cat.]
[I tried opening the game for my cat—she didn’t even glance at it.]
[My 16-inch screen is now completely claw-marked!]
[Hahaha, stop playing. Come with me to buy some fish.]
[So smart, so cute, I want to steal it!]
[Can you do livestreams? I’d totally send cat treats!]
[Cat-san! Keep it up, the future of e-sports has a meow now!]
…
There was also a long list of mentions, all suggesting other games for him to try.
Jian Xun’s heart was pounding with excitement. If cats could blush, his fur definitely wouldn’t be white right now.
It wasn’t surprising—back in his old world, he had always been disliked and rejected by others. Even after becoming a cat, that hadn’t really changed… until now. To so clearly feel others’ affection made him both flattered and a little overwhelmed. For the first time, he wondered—could he really do this?
Could he really be praised… and liked by so many people?
He politely replied to each comment, his paws typing so fast they were almost smoking. Most of his replies were little heart-shaped emoji stickers, but he was determined to respond to everyone.
It was exhausting work.
The little white cat flopped belly-up on the cat tree, round eyes staring at the ceiling. He decided that from now on, all videos would be full-face recordings of the cat playing games. After each video, he’d pick one game from the fan recommendations in the comments to play next time.
“Meow!”
Jian Xun rolled over happily—
Thump!
Not paying attention, the kitten rolled right off the cat tree. Luckily, his reflexes kicked in, and one paw hooked onto the sofa cover. By then, the distance to the floor was already low, so he slid down safely.
That was close!
The little cat’s heart was still racing.
He picked up the dried fish that had fallen, blew on it, gave it a little wipe, then clutched it and took a bite to calm his nerves.
After all the praise, Jian Xun sat on the sofa and went right back to playing online games—looking every bit the picture of a young cat with an internet addiction, eyes never leaving the screen.
He didn’t turn on the TV for now. With Shang Xuci out of the house, he was afraid of ending up like yesterday—accidentally stumbling across a horror movie. Being the only meow at home was nerve-wracking enough.
At lunchtime, Jian Xun sat dutifully beside his food bowl, eating right on schedule. After his meal, he took a nap, and when he woke up—it was time to start doing housework.
Before his nap, the little white cat made a full patrol around the house.
He took note of which parts of the floor were dirty and needed mopping, which corners had shed cat fur, and which laundry baskets had clothes that needed washing… He had a pretty good mental checklist.
Today, he was also going out to buy groceries!
Mm, better finish the chores first.
Jian Xun made a little “rolling up the sleeves” gesture, then went to the bathroom to grab a clean towel. He jumped onto the sink, tossed the towel into the basin, and carefully placed his paw under the touchless hot-water sensor. The moment water came out, he yanked his paw back at lightning speed.
When the stream stopped, he tentatively stretched his paw out again—only to pull it back just as fast when the water started flowing. He repeated this game until the basin was full enough to soak the towel.
During the whole process, Jian Xun was having the time of his life. He hated water, so playing this “game” was a huge personal challenge.
Dragging the wet towel out and wringing it dry was another major hurdle. Aside from using all four paws, he tried his best to keep the rest of his fur from getting wet. It was a difficult task, but in the end, he succeeded. Clamping the damp towel in his mouth, he lifted his head high and wobbled into the living room, starting to mop the floor from the hallway entrance.
Placing both front paws on the towel, he kept his hind legs still and pushed forward, his body leaning like he was doing yoga, paws nudging the fabric to leave a damp streak on the floor.
The moment Jian Xun saw the mark, his interest spiked. He pushed the towel back and forth with his paws—once he reached the end of a straight line, he turned around and started again. As he dragged it, the towel gradually spread out, covering more area. He began to enjoy the process, occasionally stopping to rest and curiously glance around with wide, bright eyes before resuming his mopping. His movements were a mix of elegance and clumsiness, but undeniably adorable.
And this was exactly the scene Shang Xuci saw when he checked the surveillance feed.
A white Maine Coon was running into the living room, dragging one of the shirts from his clothing pocket in its mouth.
The shirt was too big and long, and the cat was running so fast that it tripped several times over the short distance.
Shang Xuci raised an eyebrow—at first, he thought Sui Sui was simply “stealing” his clothes.
He expected the cat to carry the shirt back to the cardboard box, but to his surprise, it headed for the balcony instead.
What was it trying to do?
Lifting his teacup, Shang Xuci took a slow sip. When he set it down and turned his eyes back to the monitor, he was greeted with a scene that made him question reality—The cat… was actually washing his clothes!