Early the next morning, Yuan Li was startled awake by the sound of an alarm.
The noise, similar to an air raid siren, made her bolt upright from the bed in an instant. She clutched her chest, her face filled with shock and uncertainty.
The little Shuangtang that had just been flung off the bed: “？”
It looked at Yuan Li in confusion, then padded over and rubbed against her hand. “Mimi~”
Feeling the little creature’s concern, Yuan Li gradually calmed down. She picked up little Shuangtang and nuzzled it gently. “I’m fine, I was just startled. Was our little Shuangtang scared too?”
Little Shuangtang rubbed against her chest, sounding aggrieved. “Mi~”
“It’s okay, be good, we’re not scared.” Yuan Li rubbed its tiny head. Only then did she notice the light outside—and realized she had slept from yesterday afternoon all the way until this morning.
What was even stranger was that she didn’t feel hungry at all.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
Yuan Li opened it and saw the doctor standing outside, neatly dressed.
The doctor spoke quickly, “This is an A-level alert. I’ll be busy soon and probably won’t have time to look after you. We’ll talk about your new job later. I’ll send you a contact—if you want to go back to the hotel job, just inform him.”
Yuan Li’s heart skipped. She grabbed the doctor’s sleeve. “Wait—does this alarm have anything to do with Hong Yuan-sis and the others?”
“…It does.” The doctor hesitated for a second but didn’t hide it. She nodded. “It was their report that triggered the A-level alert in the city. But don’t worry—they’re fine.”
Even with the doctor’s reassurance, Yuan Li couldn’t help but worry.
But worrying wouldn’t change anything.
After lying there for a while, she reached out and stroked little Shuangtang. “Come on, let’s go eat breakfast first.”
No matter what, food came first.
At the cafeteria, she ordered a meal with two meat dishes and one vegetable—five yuan—and a small bowl of milk for three yuan.
Compared to the meal, the milk seemed a bit expensive.
But little Shuangtang ate happily, and Yuan Li was happy too.
She stroked its small head apologetically. “Sorry, I accidentally slept through yesterday. Were you really hungry? I’ll buy extra milk to take with us later—I promise I won’t let you go hungry today.”
Little Shuangtang, who hadn’t had a proper, peaceful sleep in a very long time, rubbed against her finger and let out two soft mews.
It wanted to say it wasn’t hungry.
It drank milk only because it liked things that carried Yuan Li’s scent.
Sleeping on Yuan Li yesterday had greatly soothed the violent and destructive impulses buried deep within it.
So as long as it could stay with her, that was enough.
Unfortunately, Yuan Li didn’t understand the language of young creatures. Seeing how well-behaved little Shuangtang was only made her heart melt even more.
As soon as she finished eating, she bought two bottles of milk.
They came in glass bottles, labeled with a shelf life of only eight hours. Yuan Li put them into her bag, picked up little Shuangtang, and left the cafeteria.
She had already sent a message to the contact the doctor gave her. By the time she reached the entrance of the Cleaning Department, someone was already waiting.
He was a tall, long-legged young man, dressed in a simple white shirt and black trousers. Yet because of his excellent physique, even such ordinary clothes looked refined on him.
“Yuan Li?”
The young man looked up, revealing his face beneath a baseball cap.
It was a face with excellent bone structure—handsome and refined. His peach blossom eyes seemed filled with affection when he smiled slightly.
But if one looked closer, his eyes were actually full of indifference.
“Hello.” Yuan Li jogged over, staying within the shade to avoid the harsh daylight. “Sorry to trouble you with picking me up and dropping me off today.”
“No problem.” The young man introduced himself. “My name is Ji Huan. Just call me by my name.”
Ji Huan’s car was nothing like a small compact vehicle. Its base alone was higher than ordinary cars by a noticeable margin. When Yuan Li got in, she first placed little Shuangtang inside, then climbed up using the car door for support.
She really had to climb.
By the time she got in, Ji Huan was already seated.
Seeing her glance, he reminded her, “Seatbelt.”
Yuan Li responded with an “oh, oh,” fastened her seatbelt, and held little Shuangtang in her arms.
Ji Huan glanced at it. “Is that your pet? Aren’t you going to work? Why not leave it at the Cleaning Department?”
Yuan Li had expected this question. She looked down at the little creature. “It’s too small. I’m afraid something might happen if I leave it alone.”
“If you bring it to the hotel, your coworkers will be afraid of it.” Ji Huan turned the steering wheel, heading toward Haoguang Hotel as he spoke. “If you don’t mind, I don’t have much to do today. I can watch it for you. I may not know how to take care of animals, but if anything happens, I can notify you immediately.”
Ji Huan’s suggestion was thoughtful, and Yuan Li felt a little tempted.
The mutant disturbance from the day before yesterday, combined with the fact that she was associated with the Cleaning Department, would definitely affect her workplace.
And animals were also considered unsafe.
She looked down at little Shuangtang. “Little Shuangtang, would you stay with this uncle for a day? Sis will come back tonight.”
Ji Huan glanced at Yuan Li in the passenger seat, who was lowering her head to coax the little creature.
The girl’s face was pale and gentle, with a hint of innocent softness.
The furball in her hands was round and fluffy, equally pleasing to look at.
It was like a perfectly composed painting.
But Ji Huan’s eyes remained unmoved. He even found it boring.
Accompanying—or rather, monitoring—Yuan Li was simply a task he had been assigned.
He only wanted to complete it perfectly. Nothing more.
“Mimi!”
For the first time, little Shuangtang showed resistance—and even a hint of ferocity, though that ferocity was directed entirely at Ji Huan, the “bad guy.”
Anything that tried to separate it from its mother was bad.
Just as a trace of red began to surface in little Shuangtang’s eyes, a soft hand covered its head.
Like it had been frozen in place, the little furball stiffened.
“Little Shuangtang, that’s not polite. And I’m going to work to earn money for us. If you scare my coworkers, how am I supposed to work?”
Yuan Li tried to reason with it patiently.
But little Shuangtang only wanted to say: Then I won’t eat. I don’t even need to eat in the first place.
Unfortunately, it couldn’t speak.
And with a sliver of regained rationality, it also sensed Yuan Li’s strange fragility. It didn’t even dare to show its true form in front of her, afraid of scaring her.
In the end, the little furball hugged Yuan Li’s finger stubbornly, refusing to let go.
Even without words, its resistance was obvious.
Yuan Li felt troubled.
She even began to wonder if she should change jobs—perhaps one without coworkers, so no one would be frightened.
The two remained in a stalemate for a while.
Then suddenly, little Shuangtang let go of her finger.
Yuan Li thought it had finally agreed to stay behind.
But instead, it climbed onto her bag, grabbed the zipper with its tiny paws, and tugged hard.
The zipper slid open.
Under Yuan Li’s shocked gaze, it crawled inside.
Then, from within the bag, came a muffled “mimi” sound.
“…You mean you want to stay inside the bag? Can you stay quiet and not get discovered?”
A small head poked out from the zipper, nodding firmly. “Miu!”
Yuan Li couldn’t bring herself to be harsh. Seeing how sensible it was, she was about to agree.
But at that moment, she felt an intense gaze.
She turned her head—
—and saw that Ji Huan had already parked the car. His burning gaze was fixed on her bag, as if trying to see through it and pull little Shuangtang out.
“It really does look… very smart.”