The underground parking garage.
BEEP BEEP~
Gu Yizhou pulled the remote from his pocket and unlocked his flashy CFMOTO 450SR.
That’s right!
Gu Yizhou didn’t drive a car, but a motorcycle. He had just bought this CFMOTO 450SR from the secondhand market last month, after getting paid and borrowing a little money from his dad.
What could he do?
He was poor!
After all, this wasn’t his previous life on Earth. He was no longer Gu Yizhou, the financially free top investor, but a miserable nine-to-fiver—a fourth-year university intern slaving away at a corporate job.
This world was different from his past life’s Earth. Before he had a clear grasp of the situation, Gu Yizhou didn’t dare to make any rash moves. After all, the fatal car crash from his past life was still fresh in his mind.
Alright!
Actually, none of that was the main point!
The main point was that he was poor. Right now, he couldn’t even scrounge up five thousand yuan, let alone fifty thousand.
Sigh~
’Even a hero can be stumped by a single penny,’ Gu Yizhou thought, shaking his head with a self-deprecating snort.
"Meow~"
Just as he was about to get on his motorcycle and leave, he heard a cat meow.
"Hm?"
Gu Yizhou paused. He looked down and saw a cat lying next to his rear tire.
It was a little white cat, its fur a pure white without a single stray-colored hair. Right now, however, its snowy coat was stained with dust from the ground, making it look a bit dirty.
Its eyes were a beautiful, sapphire blue.
Gu Yizhou looked at it, and it looked back at Gu Yizhou.
Their eyes met.
One large, one small, the two pairs of eyes just stared at each other.
"Mimi, what are you doing here?"
Gu Yizhou put his motorcycle back on its kickstand and said to the little white cat on the ground, "It’s dangerous here. You should leave quickly!"
"Meow~"
"Meow... Meow meow..."
The little white cat didn’t leave. Instead, it started meowing at him.
Its cries were urgent, as if it were trying to tell him something, but unfortunately, Gu Yizhou couldn’t understand a thing.
"Uh..."
"Mimi, are you hungry?"
Gu Yizhou thought it was hungry and looking for food. "But I don’t have anything for you to eat on me!" he said.
"Meow~!"
The little white cat kept meowing, refusing to leave, which put Gu Yizhou in a difficult spot.
Although the little white cat’s fur looked a bit dirty, it didn’t seem like a stray. It was most likely an abandoned pet.
In a big city like Modu, this kind of thing was a common sight.
Sigh~
’Another poor kitten who ended up with an unreliable owner!’
Seeing it meow at him nonstop, its cries sounding so pathetic, Gu Yizhou wondered, ’Should I just take it with me?’
’In this situation, if I don’t take her, she’ll probably be run over by a car in this busy garage in less than half a day. And there’s nothing to eat here, either!’
Seeing its pitiful expression, Gu Yizhou was suddenly reminded of his own tragic childhood from his past life.
’I live alone now anyway. Getting a cat doesn’t seem like a bad idea.’
After some thought, he decided to take the little white cat with him. After all, it was a life.
"Mimi, you must have been abandoned, right? Why don’t you come home with me?"
Gu Yizhou walked up to the little white cat and spoke to it softly.
Hearing that Gu Yizhou wanted to take it away, the little white cat suddenly panicked. It tried to run but was swiftly grabbed by the scruff of its neck and lifted up.
"There we go. Since you’re not saying no, I’ll take that as a yes. From now on, you’re my cat. Be a good kitty and come home with me!"
Gu Yizhou said with a slight smile.
"Meow~!"
At his words, the little white cat grew even more frantic. It meowed at Gu Yizhou and began to struggle with all its might.
"Meow~"
"Meow... Meow meow..."
It kept crying out, the sound seemingly saying: "Don’t you touch me, let me go..."
However, its fate was sealed, the scruff of its neck held fast by Gu Yizhou. No amount of struggling was of any use.
Since Gu Yizhou was on a motorcycle, he had nowhere to put the little white cat. After a moment’s thought, he opened his backpack, placed the cat inside, and swung the bag around to his chest.
"Xiaobai, you’ll have to stay in the bag for now. And don’t you dare pee in there!"
Gu Yizhou said to the little white cat.
"MEOW!"
"HISS~SS...!!"
Hearing this, the little white cat’s fur stood on end. It cried out at him, looking for all the world like it was cursing him out.
"Oh?"
"You actually understood?"
Gu Yizhou said, surprised.
At his words, the little white cat suddenly froze. It shot Gu Yizhou a look one would give an idiot, then silently turned its head away.
"Er... (⊙o⊙)..."
Gu Yizhou froze.
’Did I just get scorned by a cat???’
’What happened to the rule about animals not being allowed to become spirits after the founding of the nation?’
’Oh, right, I almost forgot this isn’t Earth...’
Gu Yizhou shook his head, thinking self-deprecatingly.
He glanced down and saw that Xiaobai had stopped fussing, so he started the engine, twisted the throttle, and headed for the garage exit...
*
*
*
「Wuyi Road, Starlight Pet Hospital.」
This was a pet hospital not far from the apartment complex where Gu Yizhou lived.
At this moment, Xiaobai was being held down in a washbasin by a young woman from the pet hospital, its face a mask of utter despair as it was being bathed. Gu Yizhou stood to the side, watching silently.
An hour later, Xiaobai had been bathed and blow-dried. Its fur was now pure white without a single stray-colored hair, looking incredibly fluffy and elegant!
’Her looks are pretty top-tier!’ Gu Yizhou thought.
Next, the young female vet began to give Xiaobai its vaccinations and deworming treatment.
While getting the shot, Xiaobai resisted fiercely, struggling nonstop!
Seeing this, Gu Yizhou just assumed it was scared, so he helped the vet hold Xiaobai down and successfully administered the vaccine.
After that, Xiaobai completely gave up struggling. For the nail trimming and everything else that followed, it couldn’t even be bothered to move, letting the vet do as she pleased. It just stared at Gu Yizhou with a resentful look.
Seeing its very human-like expression, Gu Yizhou didn’t think much of it, merely finding the little white cat to be quite smart.
"Oh?"
The vet suddenly spoke up. "Hey handsome, your little female cat is almost of breeding age, and it looks like she hasn’t been spayed yet. Do you want to get her spayed while you’re here?"
"HISS~!"
"SS~!!"
The moment her words fell, Xiaobai’s fur suddenly stood on end!
It wrenched itself free from the vet’s hands, leaped to the floor, and dove under a nearby table. From there, it hissed menacingly at the vet, baring its teeth.
"..."
Both Gu Yizhou and the vet were completely stunned by this sudden turn of events.
"This..."
Gu Yizhou glanced first at the little white cat under the table, then at the stupefied vet, his face a picture of awkwardness.