4: Meal Task Completed with footnotes
Card?
Ye Susu almost leaned forward, wanting to bring her nose closer to the man and take a deep sniff.
But the unexpected word brought her back to her senses.
Her slightly dazed, flickering eyes cleared instantly, and she shook her head lightly.
“No, it’s not…”
The original host only had Huabei credit left. virtual credit card” or a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service
“Miss, please look again. This is a universal card. We just saw you drop it on the ground.”
A friendly voice suddenly chimed in beside them.
With some effort, Ye Susu shifted her gaze and finally noticed a shorter man in a brown jacket standing next to the catnip-scented premium man, smiling amiably.
“I heard this card can be used for spending at many stores and also works as a debit card. You just need to enter the initial password on the back to withdraw money or shop.”
The jacket-clad man chatted familiarly.
Seeing her look over, he smiled and nodded at her.
Ye Susu was completely lost.
But the jacket-clad man glanced around, then mysteriously lowered his voice. “This is a gold card. You need to top it up with over 500,000 to get this gold trim.”
He spoke very quickly, emphasizing a certain number.
After speaking, he glanced sideways at the tall man beside him, then turned his kindly gaze toward the little boy who didn’t even reach his waist.
This must be the future young master, right?
Handsome, just like the boss!
“Please hold onto the card properly. Don’t drop it again.”
Liu Zhen adjusted his jacket and flashed a sincere, toothy grin.
Yep, he was here with the boss to deliver money to the young master’s mother!
But despite his confidence, Ye Susu shook her head again.
She forcefully suppressed the instinctive feline urge to pounce toward the catnip-scented man and took a deliberate step back.
“You’ve mistaken someone else.”
Liu Zhen’s enthusiastic expression froze on his face.
“Huh?”
“Thank you, but this card isn’t mine.”
Ye Susu was certain.
After saying this, she looked down and confirmed with little Ye Xun that this wasn’t a card he’d brought home from kindergarten either.
Liu Zhen: “But…”
According to the recent investigation, she was planning to attend a hotel event today, serving CEOs in their forties or fifties, in exchange for resources and money.
That’s why he’d urgently topped up a card and hurried over with the boss, hoping to give her the money to solve her immediate financial struggles.
“Okay, congee and small wontons, plus a cup of soy milk, please. Alipay.”
Ye Susu turned back, struggling a bit with her phone as she pulled up the payment QR code for the cashier to scan.
Liu Zhen was still stunned.
But Ye Susu had already taken Ye Xun’s hand and headed to the only empty table.
Liu Zhen had sharp hearing and could still faintly catch her soft, gentle words to the child as they walked past.
“Cub, when you have money in the future, don’t put it all on one card.”
“Only fools with more money than sense wouldn’t change the default password.”
“Hah, lucky they ran into a noble and elegant breed like us who return lost valuables.”
Jacket-clad Liu Zhen: “!?”
He awkwardly glanced beside him, at the tall, aloof man who, for today’s first official ‘secret’ meeting with his son to deliver money, had spent an hour with child development experts and tried on thirty different casual outfits to appear approachable and leave a good impression…
This was the very definition of ‘more money than sense’… the epitome of it!
“Ahem, Boss, the investigation report seems… inconsistent with reality.”
The child’s mother appears to have strong moral principles, not bending for money at all.
Your plan to establish a helpful image in front of your son while funding the child’s mother to prevent her from selling herself at the hotel… seems to have utterly failed.
Liu Zhen looked at his boss’s hand still hovering mid-air, not yet withdrawn, and his lips twitched.
Yet the next second, the card worth 500,000 was tossed into his arms.
“Boss…”
Liu Zhen looked over and saw the tall, solemn man narrow his long, dark eyes slightly.
His face as cold as ice, he turned and walked toward the table where Ye Susu and the child had sat, following behind them.
With his left hand, he unbuttoned his trench coat and rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt. He soon sat down at a newly vacated four-person table behind them, directly facing little Ye Xun, seated right behind Ye Susu.
Liu Zhen immediately caught on and quickly followed.
The boss wanted to see his son.
Gritting his teeth, Liu Zhen sat beside the silent boss, careful not to block his view of the child.
The dining hall wasn’t quiet, with servers moving about from time to time.
The tables were unusually close together, separated only by narrow walkways. Conversations at neighboring tables could be heard quite clearly unless deliberately whispered.
It was peak lunch hour, and the mixed aromas of various meat and vegetable dishes were strong and not entirely pleasant.
But when Ye Susu sniffed the air, her slender fingers nearly tearing through the paper napkin on the table.
Had the human-shaped catnip she’d barely managed to distance herself from… just sat down behind her?
Truly exciting for a cat!
“Your orders are all here.”
A server timely delivered their trays.
Ye Susu finally let out a relieved breath.
Control.
Control.
Eat!
She forced herself to shift focus, pulling a pair of chopsticks from the table and handing them to little Ye Xun.
“Hungry? Eat while it’s hot.”
The humans she’d served all liked hot food. Unlike cats, humans could handle hotter temperatures.
The little one gave a soft “Mm,” taking the chopsticks with his left hand somewhat clumsily.
But halfway through the motion, he seemed to remember something and stopped, looking uneasy and flustered.
Hastily putting down his left hand, he glanced quickly at Ye Susu, his wet, dark eyes filled with anxiety.
“Huh, wait a second.”
Sure enough, Ye Susu spoke up.
The child immediately flinched, a flicker of dejection crossing his delicate face.
He hung his head low and obediently extended his right hand to take the chopsticks.
He’d forgotten again.
Mommy said to eat with the right hand.
Using the left would make him a weirdo that everyone stared at.
Not having a father already made him stand out enough.
He bit his lip, struggling to grip the restaurant’s long chopsticks with his right thumb and forefinger.
But with even a slight effort, the unwieldy chopsticks almost slipped from his grasp.
After several failed attempts, Ye Xun’s small face paled with anxiety.
The next moment, Ye Susu’s hand reached toward him.
Ye Xun’s eyelashes trembled, and his little hand shook slightly.
After a tense pause, he helplessly closed his eyes, shakily offering the hand holding the chopsticks to Ye Susu, palm open.
When he did something wrong, Mommy would hit him.
If he made a mistake with his right hand, she hit his right hand.
People kept moving around the restaurant.
Ye Xun’s face tightened, fighting back the urge to cry.
Being hit… in front of so many uncles and aunties… he couldn’t cry.
He shut his eyes tightly, afraid to open them.
But as the footsteps beside him gradually faded, the expected pain never came.
Instead, he felt his hand lighten.
Ye Xun was stunned for a moment before carefully peeking through one eye.
“Ah… I think I forgot to bring your little spoon with us.”
Ye Susu blushed, smiling apologetically and shyly.
The warm sunlight outside cast playful spots of light on the tip of her nose and cheek, swaying with the leaves beyond the window.
For a moment, Ye Xun was mesmerized.
Meanwhile, Ye Susu stuck out her tongue.
The little one’s hand was so tiny, clumsily struggling with the restaurant’s thick, heavy chopsticks.
She glanced around and saw a family with a child at a nearby table, using their own small spoon and child-sized chopsticks.
She realized she, as a novice parent, had made another mistake.
“Cub, try using the restaurant’s spoon. If that doesn’t work, we can take it home to eat.”
As she spoke, she handed him a soup spoon.
“Mommy, I… I just used my left hand…”
Ye Xun murmured in a daze.
Mommy hadn’t scolded him or hit him. Had she not noticed?
“Next time, I… I…” I’ll definitely remember not to mess up.
He secretly resolved.
But before he could finish, he heard Ye Susu chuckle softly.
“Silly cub, as long as you get fed, eating with your toes is a skill too.”
Little Ye Xun was instantly bewildered.
Seeing his adorable, confused expression, Ye Susu couldn’t help but laugh. She picked up a spoon from a container, scooped a mouthful of congee from the bowl in front of her, and blew on it gently with a smile.
“Want me to feed you?”
She’d noticed the child at the next table being fed a bite by their parent.
Her words snapped Ye Xun back to reality. He quickly shook his head, his face flushing red.
He was a big boy now.
He ate by himself at kindergarten.
As if eager to prove he could manage, he hurriedly used the large spoon to scoop up a small wonton from his bowl, opened his mouth wide, and stuffed it right in.
Instantly, his cheeks puffed out like a little squirrel’s, round and full as he chewed, yet he made almost no sound.
Ye Susu’s heart melted.
This obedient, cute cub made her want to meow!
But seeing him eat contentedly, she felt reassured.
She picked up her spoon and took a sip of the congee in front of her. Immediately, her eyes lit up.
It tasted pretty good.
The century egg and pork congee, even after cooling slightly, remained smooth. The rice grains seemed to melt with almost no chewing required.
However, after four or five consecutive bites, Ye Susu reached for her water glass.
To her, it was a bit too salty.
Still, it was better than regular cat food!
Ye Susu quickened her pace.
For the rest of the meal, neither mother nor son spoke much, both silently focused on their food.
One had endured hardship in past lives, cherishing every bite of food.
The other rarely got to eat out, feeling everything tasted far better than what he usually made.
Both took small bites, chewing each mouthful over a dozen times before swallowing.
In her focused state, Ye Susu completely forgot about the catnip-scented man behind her.
She naturally didn’t notice the focused yet somewhat detached gaze resting on her and the little boy from behind. Those cool, profound dark eyes occasionally flickered with pensive thought.
After finishing, Ye Susu contentedly patted her full stomach and finally remembered the parenting mission.
The task to let the cub eat a satisfying meal still hadn’t shown as completed.
She was a bit puzzled.
But as she looked up, ready to take the child’s hand and leave, she couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight of him.
There was a white ring of soy milk residue around the little one’s mouth.
“Come here, little one.”
She smiled, reaching out to him.
Little Ye Xun froze.
The next moment, soft fingers carrying his mommy’s unique fragrance gently pressed against his cheek.
“Hold still.”
Ye Susu rolled up a napkin and carefully wiped the edges of his little mouth from left to right.
“Our cub has turned into a little messy kitten…”
Ye Xun’s mouth parted slightly, his dark grape-like eyes dazed.
Ye Susu’s faint scent, so close, enveloped him instantly.
The small fists he’d just clenched unconsciously loosened.
[Task: Have the cub eat a satisfying meal, completed!]
[Reward: Parenting Points +1.]
Ye Susu’s fingers paused.
Looking down, she saw the little boy had lowered his head, his soft hair slightly messy, his dark eyes blinking in a bewildered, distant light.
She couldn’t help but smile.
This child… did enjoy being petted after all.
At that thought, a shiver ran down her own spine to the base of her tail.
Hmm…
When was the last time a human had patted her head?
How nostalgic.
**