Chapter 8

After making a full circle, the little kitten realized there was nothing left to buy. Dragging her fluffy tail, she trotted out of the shop and directly into the heart of the shopping mall.

At that moment, the kitten was incessantly asking the system how to "buy" the game she had just played—wanting to control it however she pleased. After a lengthy explanation, the system realized it couldn't make a illiterate cat understand, so it drew a flow chart and opened a stock trading app.

"Right here. If you buy enough of these, it counts as owning a piece of the game," System 0521 said lazily.

The little kitten twitched her ears, memorizing the steps. Her phone didn't seem to have this app, but the tablet Li Jingxing had given her did. Once she got back, she would buy that game.

With this thought, the kitten resumed wandering through the mall. That was when she ran into Li Mingyue and her college classmate. Li Mingyue was pleasantly surprised to see the little white cat. She pulled her friend over and introduced her, "Look, this is the little cat who wanted to compensate me for the emerald necklace earlier. I wasn't exaggerating—the cat kept by my crush is truly over-the-top."

Li Mingyue’s classmate looked at the small cat wearing a jewel-encrusted collar, then at the two bodyguards tailing her, and found it hard not to believe. She knew the lives of the wealthy were different from those of ordinary people, but this was absurd. A cat with two bodyguards and a diamond collar? Just how rich was her friend’s crush? Mingyue was already enough of a spoiled princess, but this was on another level.

The kitten, not expecting to meet an acquaintance, stopped in her tracks and tilted her head up to greet Li Mingyue.

"Meow."

Li Mingyue was delighted. "See? She remembers me! I told you, the cat at my crush's place loves me. The first time we met, she even wanted to give me her necklace."

The kitten: "...Meow."

Not exactly. Wasn't that just a repayment? The kitten wanted to protest, but she just padded her paws and let the two girls stroke her fur. She wasn't a cat who let just anyone touch her—she was a white cat, and she wasn't very dirt-resistant; if her fur got messy, she’d have to clean it herself. But these humans were different. They were quite wealthy humans, and since the kitten had once been a poor cat, she knew that a poor cat of the past needed a rich person to help her spend money.

Thinking this, the kitten lifted her fluffy face and meowed at Li Mingyue again.

The classmate was convinced. "You’re right, she really does seem to like you. Look, she keeps meowing at you, like she's actually talking to you."

Li Mingyue smiled smugly. "I told you so."

The two cat assistants, seeing that these girls seemed to know the "Missy Cat," didn't stop them, though they stepped forward to verify the situation with Assistant Wang. When Assistant Wang heard it was Li Mingyue, he knew this young lady had a crush on President Li, so it should be fine for the little white cat to tag along. He certainly couldn't block the social activities of the "Missy Cat."

And so, the kitten naturally joined Li Mingyue’s group. Every store they entered, the kitten followed, and any shop that tried to block the kitten’s path ended up being bought out by her.

When Li Mingyue discovered that Li Jingxing had actually given the cat his card, she became even more excited and took the cat and her classmate to a top-tier pet paradise.

The kitten: !

There is such a place in the world!

The kitten felt a new world had opened up for her.

Meanwhile, during his spare time at work, Li Jingxing opened his phone and saw the bill for his cat’s new expenses, falling into deep thought.

*Sweetie Cat Club?* That couldn’t be a respectable place. What was this cat up to?

She had only been away from him for half a morning, and she had already learned how to indulge in luxury? Li Jingxing rose in anger and called Assistant Wang on the internal line. "Didn't you say the cat went out to play? What kind of people did you find to take her out? Why is she in such disreputable places now?"

Assistant Wang was shocked. In this day and age, cats had disreputable places? As expected, as long as there was money, even cats couldn't resist the corrupting influence of luxury. Assistant Wang scrambled to investigate. Soon, he returned to report: "President Li, the cat ran into Miss Li at the mall, and Miss Li took her to a pet entertainment center. It's a legitimate center; many pets are there."

Li Jingxing’s expression remained grim. A club was one thing, but those who went there were called "pets." While the little cat didn't have a formal title in his house, she wasn't just some random creature to be treated like a pet by others.

"Li Mingyue took her? From now on, the cat is not allowed to associate with Li Mingyue." How long had it been, and she was already being corrupted?

At the pet paradise, the kitten was waiting in line for the slide when she heard a "ding" in her head:
[Male Lead's favorability toward the Vicious Supporting Female character -30.]

The kitten: ?
What is wrong with the male lead? Why does favorability drop even when he's at home?

The kitten couldn't figure it out. It was her turn on the slide. She pressed her belly against the surface, splayed her limbs out like a starfish, and whooshed down, letting out a happy meow.

When Li Jingxing returned home, he found that his meticulously maintained garden had sprouted a large slide. The cat was currently whooshing down it, then using her little paws to scramble back up and slide down again—

Li Jingxing was displeased. "Who let her put a slide here?"

The butler came out, chuckling. "Missy wanted to put it in her room, but the room was too small to maneuver, so it's better outside. This way, if Missy makes other little friends, they can play together."

Li Jingxing: "She hasn't even finished her books, and you're rewarding her with playtime with other kids??"

What a joke. An illiterate cat didn't deserve such long hours of play. He walked to the bottom of the slide, and as the cat slid down, he scooped her up.

"Time for class."

Ignoring the kitten’s struggles, Li Jingxing handed her over to the tutor. The tutor was shocked. As a top-tier educator, he had been nervous about being hired in this prestigious neighborhood to teach the "young lady" of the house. He had heard the legends of these second-generation heirs and done his homework, expecting a human child. He never imagined that after waiting all day, his student would be a cat!

Was he just too old to keep up with the times? Did wealthy families really need to send their cats to school now?

The old teacher looked into the kitten’s wide, sparkling eyes, which didn't look like those of a student capable of focused study. He took the cat, feeling dazed, as the famous CEO—often seen online—instructed him: "Her foundation is a bit weak. Please help her build it up. I want her to finish the elementary school curriculum in a week."

The tutor: "Huh?"
The kitten: "Huh? Me?"

After Li Jingxing left, the kitten tilted her head, locking eyes with the teacher.

"Meow."

The tutor: "...Let's begin." The parents had paid, after all.

The kitten began her lessons in agony. During a ten-minute break, she finally had a chance to play. She took the tablet Li Jingxing had left for her. "System, System, how did you say I buy that game’s stock again?"

System 0521 popped up. "Tap this app—no, the one next to it. Forget it, I'll do it for you."

After realizing that commanding this cat wasn't very effective, System 0521 took over. She was feeling quite triumphant lately. A while ago, she had feared that binding with a cat as a substitute host would mean failing the internship, but this cat was lightning-fast at completing missions. Not only did she get the male lead to publicly announce her existence on the second day, but she also disrupted the bond between the male lead and his "white moonlight" and lowered his favorability toward the villainess. Was there a better host cat in the world? No! Since her host wanted to play the stock market, how could she refuse such a small request?

System 0521 carefully helped the kitten buy the stocks, explaining as she went: "You're a cat now; it's unrealistic to buy the whole game company, but buying their stock is fine."

The kitten listened, half-understanding, and voiced her own opinion: "When can I just buy his game company outright?"

System 0521 replied casually: "When the male lead of this world can understand your meows."

The kitten made a mental note. She wouldn't just learn human things; she had to make humans learn cat knowledge. That way, more people would understand cat commands, making it easier for cats to rule over humans.

The old tutor didn't know what the cat was tapping at on the tablet, assuming she was playing games. He had a cat at home, and his grandson had downloaded games for it; his cat could play for hours. Without his glasses, the screen looked like a blur of colors to him.

System 0521: "All done. You've bought a 5% stake. Wait for the public filing. You're forbidden from buying more during this period, but based on your stake, you can even attend the shareholder meeting! Haha!"

Hearing this, the kitten grew happy. Her ears perked up as she stared at the interface she couldn't understand, her tail tip twitching.

"Alright, back to class." The tutor scooped the cat up, placed her in front of the textbook, and dutifully continued teaching her arithmetic. The pay was high, and he had to earn it. Besides, the room was monitored.

The kitten grew drowsy listening to the lesson. When it finally ended, she had to listen to the teacher assign homework.

The kitten: "..." Do humans really live in such miserable conditions during their childhood?

After the teacher left, the kitten walked out of the room, dejected. At this moment, only a slide and some salmon could save her mood.

As she reached the living room, a warm, yellow floor lamp illuminated the area around the sofa. Li Jingxing sat there, the top button of his shirt undone, his fingers holding a flickering flame as he stared into space, lost in thought.

The kitten, originally planning to jump onto the sofa, snuck around him and ran into the garden, cheering as she went to play on the slide.

In the living room, Li Jingxing suddenly received a phone call. After listening for a few seconds, he retorted in disbelief: "How is that possible? Why would I buy his company’s stock? And as a retail investor at that!"

"Am I sick or something?"

Had he gone mad? Why would he buy stock in his love rival’s company?