Ba Ye had originally wanted to casually ask about the little hamster’s health.
However, the look in Bo Yutong’s eyes told him clearly: either talk about business, or get lost.
Ba Ye silently withdrew the smile he had aimed at the little hamster and said to Bo Yutong, “Well, that black panther belonging to District Chief Lu… it was indeed bought from me…”
“Mm.” Bo Yutong said expressionlessly, “Quality, price?”
Ba Ye wiped his sweat. “Well… about that…”
Bo Yutong appeared to reach out to stroke Ruan Tao’s head, but in reality he applied a little pressure with his fingers and pushed her back into his pocket.
“Hmm?” he spoke casually. “You didn’t tell Lu Yingzhu?”
He tapped Ruan Tao lightly.
The meaning was obvious—you told Lu Yingzhu everything about the pet I bought from you. So why can’t you tell me about the one he bought?
When Ruan Tao heard the name Lu Yingzhu, she became even more curious. If her head had not been pressed down, she definitely would have stuck it out to take a look.
Lu Yingzhu was exactly the name of the male protagonist in the original novel.
Across from them, Ba Ye coughed twice, truly feeling miserable.
Bo Yutong had bought a small pet just for amusement. But the magical beast Lu Yingzhu bought was meant to stay by his side as a trump card or secret weapon during battle. How could they possibly be compared?
Ba Ye had never revealed buyers’ information before. That was precisely how he had managed to travel between different regions for so long.
Relationships between Residential Areas involved both cooperation and competition. They were extremely sensitive.
It had not been easy for him to survive until now! Was he really going to die here because of one careless remark?
And why did Lu Yingzhu have such a big mouth? Just mentioning one thing had already allowed Bo Yutong to find out!
Ba Ye was filled with regret.
Bo Yutong was not a very patient person either. His finger lightly tapped the top of Ruan Tao’s head. Soon his patience ran out, and he said coldly, “This transaction ends in three days, doesn’t it?”
When Ruan Tao heard that, her whole body trembled.
What did Bo Yutong mean by that? Was he planning to eliminate him within three days?
Standing on her toes, she raised her tiny paws and grabbed Bo Yutong’s fingertip with all her strength.
Bo Yutong paused and looked down at Ruan Tao inside his pocket.
Ruan Tao was frantically shaking her head at him.
Bo Yutong: “……”
Although Ba Ye was the middleman for this magical beast transaction and his guarantee was essential, even if he had eight times the courage he would never dare use that to threaten Bo Yutong.
All he could do was rub his hands together and speak politely. “Young Master Bo, look, we’ve known each other for so long. When have I ever spread rumors outside? I really didn’t know this time that even mentioning the fact you kept a small pet wasn’t allowed…”
Bo Yutong barely listened to Ba Ye at all. He only knew that the little creature in his pocket was pleading for Ba Ye.
Could it be that this little fellow even knew her “first owner”?
First owner.
That thought made Bo Yutong feel even more displeased.
He glanced sideways at Ba Ye and changed the topic on his own initiative. “Has the magical beast from District D8 arrived?”
Ba Ye finally relaxed and quickly replied, “It’s here. I’ve been keeping it with me. Shall I take you to see it?”
Bo Yutong said, “Mm.”
He began walking. Ruan Tao quietly grabbed his pocket again.
Bo Yutong would not let Ba Ye off so easily.
Ruan Tao understood his personality well.
She herself had been bought by Bo Yutong from Ba Ye. By pleading for Ba Ye, she had indirectly admitted that she was standing on Ba Ye’s side.
The more Bo Yutong distrusted others, the more he hated betrayal.
If he said nothing now, it was probably because he intended to observe for a few more days.
Ruan Tao calculated the time. She planned to find an opportunity to slip away while Bo Yutong was observing the magical beast and see if she could run into the male protagonist of the novel.
If she was lucky, she might even say a few words to him and try to reconcile the relationship between him and Bo Yutong.
If she was unlucky, at worst she simply would not find him.
There was still plenty of time. It was not a big problem.
Bo Yutong’s physical condition was extremely strong, but his senses were not very sensitive. His skin would not even be harmed by washing with boiling water.
When his consciousness entered his portable storage space to choose a beast stone, he closed his eyes. Ruan Tao seized the opportunity to climb out of his pocket and slid down by gripping his clothes.
This was no different from rock climbing at ten thousand meters in the air.
Ruan Tao had always been bold. She was not afraid at all and climbed downward quickly.
When she reached near his tall boots, she finally lost her foothold.
He was wearing leather long boots with no place to grab or step on. Ruan Tao stepped into empty air, and her entire hamster body rolled down along his boot.
Plop.
She landed on the top of his foot.
The movement finally gave Bo Yutong a slight sensation. He took a beast stone out of his portable storage space and lowered his head to look at his foot.
Ruan Tao was dizzy from the fall.
But the instincts of a small animal were screaming warnings. Before she could even stand firmly, she used the momentum to roll again.
The round little hamster rolled rapidly behind a pile of cages.
Only then did Ruan Tao realize where she was.
This was the place she had stayed when she first arrived in this world. It looked like a huge factory workshop, filled with countless cages of various sizes.
She rolled all the way forward in a daze and accidentally rolled into a large cage that was casually covered with plastic sheets.
Ruan Tao crashed into the cage bars and finally stopped.
Before she could steady herself, she saw a black shadow pouncing toward her—
Ruan Tao quickly rolled to the right again.
Where she had been standing just moments ago, a plump “cat paw” appeared.
Ruan Tao took a deep breath.
Since arriving in this world, this was her first time traveling such a long distance on her “long legs.” She had never gone as far walking as she had just rolled.
She caught her breath and looked carefully at the large “cat” in front of her.
—It was not a cat at all.
It was a chubby snow leopard cub, blinking a pair of blue-gray eyes curiously at her.
At the same time, the little snow leopard lifted its soft paw. Ruan Tao saw the dusty pink pads beneath its fluffy paw—
She rolled again, barely dodging another potentially fatal slap.
The snow leopard cried out twice, its voice sharp and thin like a little bird.
Who would not like such soft, fluffy animals? Of course, that was only if they did not slap you to death with one paw.
Ruan Tao escaped from the cage at lightning speed.
“Roar.” The snow leopard stared at her and grinned foolishly. “Hello?”
Ruan Tao: “……”
Ruan Tao: “Did you just speak human language, or did I suddenly understand animal language?”
“Roar?” the snow leopard repeated in its childish voice. “Human language? Animal… language?”
Ruan Tao: “……”
No, something was wrong.
She had tested this before in front of Li Yudong. When she spoke, Li Yudong could not understand her at all.
When she was a hamster, she could not speak human language. If this snow leopard was copying her speech, then it probably was not human language either.
That meant she could communicate with animals!
Ruan Tao had no time to celebrate.
Ba Ye had already heard the snow leopard crying loudly and was walking toward this direction.
Ruan Tao did not know whether the snow leopard could communicate with Ba Ye, so she hurriedly raised her pink paw to her mouth, signaling for silence.
“Don’t say you saw me!”
Without waiting for the snow leopard’s reaction, she immediately fled.
Because she had read the original novel before, she naturally knew where the male protagonist should be at this moment.
On the surface, Lu Yingzhu was the Regional Chief of a Residential Area. In reality, he managed an even larger Residential Area behind the scenes.
But he had the halo of a male protagonist.
What kind of halo did a romance novel’s male protagonist possess? Besides being strong, handsome, and nearly omnipotent, he also had the most unbeatable halo of all:
He did not really need to work.
Male protagonists in CEO novels could even ignore their companies and chase the female protagonist every day.
Similarly, Lu Yingzhu did not really have anything he needed to manage personally within his Residential Area.
He could abandon several Residential Areas of his own and wander here with only two subordinates.
All just to find Li Yudong.
The Residential Area managed by Bo Yutong was very large, but Lu Yingzhu would never go to the Lower-Class Residential Area.
The world had always been like this. A small amount of wealth was scattered among most people, while most wealth was concentrated in the pockets of a small group.
The Upper-Class Residential District was very small—roughly only the size of three or four modern residential compounds.
Ruan Tao was tiny but extremely fast.
The first thing she needed to do was not to find Lu Yingzhu directly. Instead, following the route Li Yudong had previously told her, she went to find Li Yudong’s small house outside.
Although the world had experienced an apocalypse, the current Residential Areas had already been rebuilt extremely well—especially the Upper-Class Residential District. Subways, buses, taxis—everything was available.
However, since Earth’s energy resources had been depleted, most vehicles were powered by supernatural abilities.
There were also some privately operated electric vehicles powered by small household generators.
As an inconspicuous little mouse, Ruan Tao risked being stepped on at any moment and squeezed onto the crowded subway.
She had confirmed the stations and travel time with Li Yudong before.
Originally she thought she might not make it in time and might have to hide in the subway restroom waiting for help—or wait until the time limit of her transformation ended.
Unexpectedly, Ba Ye’s territory happened to be closer to Li Yudong’s house.
Little mouse Ruan Tao successfully arrived at Li Yudong’s home before transforming back into a human.
Since she had no key to open the door, she could only squeeze inside through the drainage pipe.
A pampered little hamster was now forced to become a thief, turning into a sewer rat.
Li Yudong’s small house was compact but fully equipped.
When Ruan Tao entered, her fluffy fur was filthy and her beautiful original color was completely unrecognizable.
She could not tolerate it at all. The moment she transformed into a human, she immediately ran into the bathroom to take a shower.
After bathing and changing into clean clothes, Ruan Tao recalled what Li Yudong had told her and rummaged through the bedside cabinet until she found Li Yudong’s other portable storage space—a bracelet.
Portable storage spaces became rarer and more expensive the larger they were.
This small type was like backpacks in the past—almost everyone had one.
The space inside Li Yudong’s bracelet was only about the size of a backpack. Ruan Tao hurriedly stuffed one set of clothes and two bottles of emergency nutrient solution into it.
She did not know what other useful things she could bring.
After finishing everything, the time limit for her human form was almost over.
Ruan Tao lay down on the bed.
After she turned back into a hamster, she planned to wear the bracelet around her neck like a necklace.
…If that did not work, she would treat it as a crossbody bag.
Just as she quietly waited, a knock suddenly sounded at the door.
“Is Miss Li at home?” a polite voice came from outside. “I’m your neighbor.”
Ruan Tao froze in shock and immediately became nervous.
If she remembered correctly, this was very likely part of the original plot—
Li Yudong had secretly returned home to retrieve something, and just at that moment Lu Yingzhu arrived with his people!
The enemy had already reached the battlefield and would break through the door in three seconds!
In the original plot, Li Yudong escaped through the window at this moment.
But she was about to turn back into a hamster. Jumping out the window would only kill her…
Surely she could not crawl through the sewer again—she had just finished bathing, okay?! QAQ