She raised her hand delicately, choosing the title “Big Brother,” and waited expectantly for David’s response.
Although she wasn’t sure if David was a male or female cat, for Xu Ye, “Big Brother” transcended gender, symbolizing her platonic affection for David that went beyond species and gender boundaries.
Given how deeply David was influenced by CEO-themed novels, Xu Ye firmly believed the title David would choose for her would undoubtedly be “Little Girl.”
No CEO novel enthusiast, human or feline, could escape the charm of “Little Girl” tropes.
Sure enough, a moment later, the notification confirming David’s acceptance of the relationship popped up. Xu Ye looked at it with confidence, and there it was: next to her avatar, David’s chosen title for her—“Little Girl.”
“Nobody knows David better than I do,” Xu Ye thought smugly, giving herself a thumbs-up.
This was a relationship exclusive to the two of them. Xu Ye’s intimacy list only had David the cat, and David’s list only had Xu Ye.
Xu Ye was moved to tears and sent David a message in the game:
[David the Invincible: Big Brother, I knew you’d choose this title. The only regret is that there isn’t a title like ‘CEO’ here. It leaves an otherwise perfect relationship with a slight flaw.]
[Not David: Little Girl, if you think about it, I believe ‘Chairman’ suits me better. I watched a video by the ‘Anti-CEO Novel Association’ creator. He said that CEOs are just high-ranking employees, while the chairman holds true power.]
[Not David: If we’re pursuing titles, we might as well go all the way.]
Xu Ye twitched her lips. Anti-CEO Novel Association?
[David the Invincible: Bug brother David, you really watch anything, don’t you…]
[Not David: He also said that most fictional CEOs are bald with receding hairlines. The idea of gatherings filled with handsome CEOs is purely fictional; in reality, it’s more like a middle-aged uncles’ disco party.]
[Not David: And forget those prince-meets-commoner love stories. In reality, it’s all about being well-matched in status.]
[David the Invincible: So… if everyone knows CEOs are fictional, why does my dear Big Brother still read these novels?]
[Not David: Life as a cat requires some space for fantasy, or else it’d be too exhausting.]
[David the Invincible: Your philosophical depth is truly ahead of its time.]
[Not David: Thank you for the compliment. It’s late. Get some rest, Little Girl.]
[David the Invincible: Goodnight, my Big Brother + Chairman.]
Their chat unexpectedly veered into deep topics. Under the influence of novels, David’s thoughts had grown more profound by the day.
After bidding goodnight, David logged off quickly. Xu Ye, utterly captivated by their new “Intimacy Relationship,” admired it for a good while, taking several screenshots before a system warning about inactivity prompted her to log off as well.
Earlier, she had checked the profiles of the “Cake Hands” duo. Their intimacy titles were exclusively with each other: Little Dog was Big Dog’s little brother, and Big Dog was Little Dog’s elder brother.
If her intimacy points met the requirements, she also wanted to form a relationship title with them.
In the past, Xu Ye, a mature woman, had always disdained these intimacy titles. She believed that adults didn’t need these frivolous connections.
Of course, she’d never admit it was because no one had ever wanted to form one with her.
But when it came to cats and dogs, it was a different story. Who could resist having adorable cats and dogs in their intimacy list?
After tidying up some stray cat hair, Xu Ye tossed her clothes into the washing machine and sanitized her phone. It wasn’t until 3 a.m. that she finally finished her bath and climbed into bed with damp hair.
She intended to watch a live stream before sleeping, but the god of dreams had clearly been waiting. The moment she opened the stream, her eyes closed peacefully, leaving only her steady breathing and the cheerful chatter of the streamer in the quiet room.
The next morning, her plans for a lazy lie-in were shattered by a phone call. Having fallen asleep at dawn, her energy was at rock bottom. It took several rings before she begrudgingly picked up.
On the other end, a familiar, spirited female voice greeted her. Wei Lin’s decisive and bold nature hadn’t waned over the years, and the sound of wind through the receiver made Xu Ye frown.
“I just got off the plane. I’ll be at your complex in an hour. I brought you a little something from home. I’ll call you when I arrive—come get me then.”
With her hair still damp from sleeping on it, Xu Ye felt groggy. The sound of wind whipping past was dizzying, and after a long pause, she managed, “Mom, don’t open the car windows on the highway.”
Hanging up, Xu Ye rubbed her eyes and noticed that she had somehow wandered into a streamer’s room last night—a streamer named “Xiao Yu.” She’d apparently stayed in the stream all night until the streamer logged off.
The chat was filled with a few people casually chatting, one marveling that Xu Ye’s account had stayed in the room all night, concluding she must be a die-hard fan of the streamer.
The screen displayed that the streamer had logged off at 5 a.m. Still half-asleep, Xu Ye didn’t notice his game ID and quickly closed the app before dozing off for a few more minutes.
Knowing she had to meet Wei Lin soon, Xu Ye forced herself to wake up. She dragged herself out of bed, washed up, and changed clothes.
Wary of Wei Lin criticizing her for being unkempt, she hastily tidied her apartment, sweeping the floor and hanging up her laundered clothes in the closet.
As she stashed last week’s sweater, she froze at the hard object hidden in the shallow pocket.
It was a red bead.
The bead resembled a popular good-luck charm sold in accessory shops, with a color similar to her vermilion bracelet—deep red with a glossy sheen, almost twinkling like starlight.
Yawning, Xu Ye retrieved her bracelet from the jewelry box and compared the bead under the light.
Although she wasn’t skilled at judging the quality of vermilion, purely based on appearance, this bead seemed superior.
She distinctly remembered finding a rose quartz stone in this same pocket before. With no clue about its origins, she had stored that stone in a separate box.
Fetching the rose quartz, she lined it up with the new bead on her coffee table and pondered, resting her chin on her hand.
After much fruitless deliberation, she recalled the pet shop employee’s prayer-like rhetoric from yesterday and decided to trust in mysticism.
Standing before her sweater, she clasped her hands together earnestly and made a wish.
“Oh great Sweater God, I wish for lots and lots of money—legitimate, legal money. Enough to never work again. Enough to buy my parents a grand double-decker villa.”
Having made her wish, Xu Ye eagerly reached into the pocket, only to come away with a handful of lint.
Ever since discovering that cats and dogs could access the internet, her acceptance of inexplicable phenomena had significantly increased, even daring to entertain some outlandish ideas.
So when she found the second bead in her sweater pocket, her immediate reaction was to think she had become the chosen one, like the protagonist of Aladdin, destined to bind with a system, gain golden fingers, unlock a personal space, and ascend to the peak of life.
However, just as she was not the Cat God that the shopkeeper wanted to worship, this sweater also lacked any magical properties. She remained an ordinary person.
After some consideration, Xu Ye put away all her other clothes, leaving only the sweater hanging on the otherwise empty balcony, invested with all her hopes.
Fifteen minutes after Wei Lin’s last call, Xu Ye lay on her bed with a face mask, scrolling through forums to pass the time.
The dog section’s homepage had been taken over by Snowball, who had posted three threads in just a few minutes. The first featured its big, round head, the second showed group photos with neighborhood dogs, and the third was a lovely heart-shaped corgi butt.
[Today, I finally met my idol, Lover of Butt, near the lawn. Here’s a commemorative group photo.]
[2F: This is the third time—why do I always come across this damned butt when eating?]
[3F: Second commenter, my condolences.]
Snowball’s photography skills were also impressive. The photo’s atmosphere rivaled that of the Chinese Rural Dog.
On the left side of the frame was half of Snowball’s round head; on the right was the smooth curve of the Lover of Butt. Both dogs’ proudest features were captured, with a sliver of green grass and blue sky between them, creating a harmonious and beautiful composition.
The photo depicted a perfect coexistence of a head and a butt. Xu Ye saved the adorable photos and accidentally clicked into Snowball’s profile.
She was about to exit when she remembered that browsing someone’s profile now wouldn’t notify them. Since she was already there, she decided to take a bold look at Snowball’s past posts.
The sheer number of posts from this sociable dog left Xu Ye in awe. She scrolled through page after page, once again marveling at Snowball’s unwavering commitment to its round head.
[My head is definitely rounder than Da Bai’s!]
[I looked in the mirror today and noticed the hair on this side of my head is longer. I’m not round anymore! (Marmot scream.jpg)]
[The kids from my sister’s relatives are so annoying; they flattened my hair! I’m not round anymore. (Angry.jpg)]
[Off to get my hair groomed today! Any brothers or sisters in the shop? You can see my round head for free~ (Innocent.jpg)]
Xu Ye kept scrolling until she could hardly recognize the characters for “round head” anymore.
When her eyes landed on the first post, she suddenly thought of the golden British Shorthair with a head even rounder than Snowball. She figured it was time to show the little white dog some perspective.
Xu Ye clicked into the post and carefully selected two photos of Da Bai, taken from angles and perspectives very similar to Snowball. Then she uploaded them.
[5F: OP, are you here? This is the Da Bai you’ve been dreaming of.]
It seemed like Snowball practically lived in the forum; a reply came in seconds.
[6F: What… what did you say? This photo is Da Bai!?]
[7F: Yes.]
[8F: I don’t believe it. That head must have been photoshopped. How could a cat’s head be that round?]
[9F: Straight from the camera, no editing.]
Xu Ye calmly left the post, leaving Snowball behind, clutching its head and crying.
She continued browsing Snowball’s posts. Just as she was about to exit after enduring another barrage of “round head” content, a post without the term caught her attention.
Even though Xu Ye diligently tried to keep up with posts she’d missed the previous day, she still overlooked many. Like this one:
[I wonder if the human who saved me that day received my thank-you gift~ She’s such a cute lady, so I gave her a cute little trinket~]
[2F: What did you give her?]
[3F: A rose quartz! I hope it brings her good luck~]
She reread “rose quartz” in the post, then checked the rose quartz she had pulled out of her pocket.
The timing, location, and details all matched up. Snowball had clearly stated that it gave her a rose quartz.
So, the high-quality rose quartz was actually a gift from a dog?
If the rose quartz was Snowball’s thank-you gift, could the red cinnabar bead also have been from another animal she had helped? Perhaps the tabby cat or the Chinese rural dog?
But the tabby cat had been rescued from a trash can by Huo Shuyan, so Xu Ye didn’t think she deserved the credit for that.
Following her hunch, she found the Chinese rural dog’s profile and scrolled down. Sure enough, she found a similar post.
[I gave a beautiful human lady a cinnabar bead. Wishing her peace and happiness~]
So, the two beads weren’t gifts from a genie or the sweater god. They were thank-you gifts from animals she had helped.
Xu Ye frowned deeply. What had she just done to that innocent little white dog? She had mercilessly shattered its confidence, then nonchalantly left its post without a care.
Feeling guilty, Xu Ye quickly returned to Snowball’s post and replied under the one comparing heads:
[10F: I think the OP’s head is rounder. Believe in yourself and don’t let external opinions affect you.]
Snowball was incredibly easy to appease. Xu Ye’s comment instantly restored its confidence.
[11F: I knew it! My head is rounder! The people’s eyes are sharp!]
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