Chapter 140: Love Pursuit Failure
He Zhi Ting, standing by, looked surprised: “Miss Xu, so Aunt Li is also one of your signed artists? I thought she was just the lady who takes care of the cats and dogs.”
Xu Youyou, seeing the certainty on both their faces, started to have some doubts herself.
Xie Ran said, “Although Aunt Li is not suitable to be an actress, she’s perfect for making self-media content.”
“There’s a golden rule in advertising: beauty, animals, and children are visually appealing. With all these cats and dogs, it’s a natural gimmick.”
Xu Youyou hadn’t considered these factors before—she originally just wanted to do charity—but hearing Xie Ran’s words, it suddenly clicked. It seemed he hadn’t made the wrong call.
She thought to herself, no wonder Xie Ran managed to bounce back in his previous life. He’s quick-witted, with sharp insight. No matter which field he’s in, he’ll excel.
Aunt Li, who loved learning, had once worked in making cat food. When she was approached with the offer and heard the full story, she immediately said, “I’ll do whatever you say, but I don’t know how to do it. Is there a special teacher I can learn from? Won’t it take up too much time away from caring for the little ones?”
Xu Youyou thought of showing her a few videos from pet influencers.
But Xie Ran shook his head and said, “Pretending in front of the camera for a lifetime is difficult, so Aunt Li, you don’t need to learn anything extra. Just keep being yourself. However, we might set up a lot of cameras around the villa, so your life will have no privacy.”
Aunt Li smiled openly and said, “I’m just an old lady, what privacy do I need to worry about? Anyway, the cameras won’t be in the bathroom.”
Everyone laughed at her response.
After discussing, Xie Ran and Xu Youyou had Aunt Li sign a new contract, which only added a clause for revenue sharing from the self-media videos.
However, Aunt Li didn’t want the money: “I’m not the one filming the videos, nor am I editing them. The staff behind the scenes costs money, so I don’t want any of it.”
Xie Ran and Xu Youyou were both firm on this point: employees should receive the benefits they deserve, even if they refuse it. As their bosses, they couldn’t forget that money is the driving force behind work.
In the end, Xu Youyou’s reasoning persuaded Aunt Li: “You love the little ones. Having money means you can take care of more stray animals.”
Aunt Li reluctantly agreed.
[Congratulations, host. You have completed the task of picking up the leak: Self-media influencer Aunt Li. Task reward: Fluent in Cat Language.]
Xu Youyou froze for a moment, hearing the sound of “meowing” in her ears.
“Meow, Grandma’s dried fish is so delicious, how can I get her to give me more?”
Xu Youyou looked at the cat that spoke—it was a skinny black cat she had just taken in. Its two glass-like eyes were fixed on Aunt Li.
Xu Youyou turned to Aunt Li and said, “Aunt Li, could you bring me a few more dried fish? I want to feed the cat.”
Aunt Li immediately agreed.
The black cat meowed, “Meow, the litter box operator is getting the dried fish! I can’t be too obvious!”
Xu Youyou watched as the black cat pretended to be indifferent, slowly moving toward her feet.
“Meow! Litter box operator, look at me! Dried fish, dried fish!” The black cat meowed loudly, looking up at Xu Youyou.
Xu Youyou struggled to hold back her laughter as she picked it up and hugged it.
“Meow, you touched me, but don’t think you can get away with not giving me my dried fish!” The black cat meowed.
He Zhi Ting looked on with envy and said, “Miss Xu, this black cat is quite arrogant. I tried petting it just now, but it didn’t seem to enjoy it.”
Xu Youyou smiled. “This is a snobbish little cat. Whoever gives it dried fish, that’s who it’ll be nice to.”
Aunt Li handed the dried fish to Xu Youyou, and just as she did, she nodded and said, “Miss Xu is right. Little Black really likes the dried fish I make.”
He Zhi Ting looked at Xu Youyou with admiration.
Xu Youyou grabbed a piece of dried fish and handed it to He Zhi Ting, but the black cat’s eyes immediately followed him.
“Meow! Dried fish! It’s mine!” The black cat was so eager it almost jumped up.
“He’s looking at me! Little Black, come here and let me pet you,” He Zhi Ting called out to the cat.
Little Black immediately jumped out of Xu Youyou’s arms.
Xu Youyou felt her lap lighten, and before she could comment on the cat’s quick change of attitude, her thigh suddenly sank.
A plump orange cat had jumped onto her lap—it was Fu Yatou, the same cat that had jumped onto her lap last time when she found a silver coin.
“Meow, ten pieces of dried fish, I’ve got a little secret to tell you,” Fu Yatou meowed.
Xu Youyou raised an eyebrow, then grabbed ten pieces of dried fish and handed them to Fu Yatou.
Seeing this, the black cat immediately meowed in frustration: “Meow, the litter box operator is biased! I want ten pieces of dried fish too!”
Fu Yatou looked at the black cat disdainfully, then turned to Xu Youyou and said, “Meow, when you go out, turn left and check the third trash bin by the road. There’s something valuable inside.”
Xu Youyou immediately stood up and said to He Zhi Ting and Xie Ran, “You guys chat here, I’ll take Fu Yatou out for a walk.”
Outside the villa’s gate, Fu Yatou immediately jumped down from her arms. “Meow! Hurry up, the great cat is in a hurry!”
Xu Youyou sped up to keep up with it.
Although Fu Yatou was as fat as a pig, she was a nimble little pig-cat.
With four quick legs, she darted forward so fast that Xu Youyou had to run to keep up.
From a distance, Xu Youyou saw a Chinese-style trash bin. After Fu Yatou received the dried fish, she got to work—she ran, jumped up, and kicked the trash bin as if trying to knock it over to spill whatever was inside.
Xu Youyou quickly ran over, putting on disposable gloves. “Be careful, don’t break the trash bin, let me find it…”
Before she finished speaking, she realized she didn’t need to look much further.
The contents of the trash bin were oddly familiar.
A bouquet of roses.
From her angle, she could see the edge of a red box peeking out from the flowers. She immediately guessed it was probably another failed love pursuit’s evidence.
Xu Youyou reached in, pulled out the red box, and opened it. Inside was a Cartier Love bracelet made of rose gold, with small diamonds embedded in it.
Market price: 210,000 yuan.
Just as she had thought, the system popped up again.
[Congratulations, host. You have completed the task of picking up the leak: The bracelet of a failed love pursuit. Task reward: A little hint.]
Xu Youyou: ?
“This ‘little hint,’ what is that?” Xu Youyou couldn’t help but ask.
The system cheerfully responded, “Sometimes, we’re just one little hint away from true success.”
Xu Youyou felt that this answer was as good as not saying anything.
She walked back to the villa with the orange cat in her arms, feeling no interest in keeping the unwanted Cartier bracelet. The only reason she’d come this far was to collect the reward from the leak-picking system.
Back in the villa, she ran into Xu Fang, casually handing her the Cartier bracelet. “Here you go.”
