Su Yuqiu listened to the end of the song, weighing the matter carefully several times, but she still decided it was best not to pry further into the topic.
Every family had its own problems, after all… Yezi had said that her closest family member tormented her with some kind of big sack contraption?
The most straightforward way to put it—that sounded an awful lot like domestic abuse!
Little Qiu knew her own limitations. She was an outsider, not some saint, and it wasn’t her place to pass judgment on a netizen’s family affairs.
So, out of basic human decency, Su Yuqiu could only offer the help that was within her power.
“Yezi, from now on when we chat in the group, I promise I won’t snap at you anymore. Your admin position is permanent, and you’ll never get banned.”
“……”
With that, Little Qiu pulled out her phone and opened the group admin honorific title granting interface.
As for how she suddenly gained supreme power in the group, complete with the group leader bestowing upon her the title of “Hundred Refinements into Steel”…
Maybe this was just one of the perks that came with meeting up in person?!
Once the official Comic-Con exploration kicked off, the meticulously planned itinerary that Little Qiu had brewed over many days finally proved its worth.
Things like the New Anime Awards Stage, the New Game Info Release Zone, and the VR experience hall—Ye Zhibai’s head was already starting to ache just hearing the names, and she hadn’t even picked up the exhibition map yet!
Luckily, Little Qiu had done her homework ahead of time. She’d even asked Ye Zhibai in advance about the areas she wasn’t interested in and screened out the prime spots perfect for the two of them to wander aimlessly.
And so.
The very first exhibition zone they reached was an absolute jackpot, one that left Ye Zhibai utterly satisfied!
~~~
Cute Pet Exhibition Zone!
“Oh… it’s a Persian cat. Two-eyed one.”
“Uh… Yezi, that phrasing of yours is a bit off. Healthy cats all have two eyes. Did you mean an odd-eyed cat, where the two eyes are different colors?”
“I know, it’s shorthand. Shorthand.”
Ye Zhibai finished disinfecting her hands with alcohol wipes and was now expressionlessly furiously rubbing the Persian cat’s head!
Good thing she was still wearing her mask; otherwise, the comical sight of her clearly loving cats but showing zero expression on her face would surely have made these poor working kitties think she was incredibly rude!
Ahh… Persian cats.
This was Ye Zhibai’s first time getting up close with a cat breed other than a domestic shorthair.
The fur felt nothing special, but the important thing was how docile it was! Completely unlike that rascal cat back home!
Suddenly.
Through a mind transmission, Ye Zhibai heard a yelp from the rascal cat at home, right beside her.
“Ow, that hurts!! Ye Zhibai! This scumbag, it actually bit our hand!!”
“Like repels like—simple as that. Guang Yu, don’t be reckless. Also, can cats even see you?”
“Nope, these cats are biting blindly. They’re such highly coordinated creatures; even chomping at thin air, they hit steady, accurate, and hard! Damn it… ow!! It bit us again! Twice now!… We’re not taking this lying down—we’re biting back!! Grrr!!”
“Meow!!”
Holy crap, don’t actually do it!
Aren’t you just asking for it?!
Ye Zhibai’s furious head-rubbing had technique to it; she could rub a cat until it rolled on the spot in bliss.
But look at Guang Yu’s brute-force method: those tiny hands wrapping around the cat’s head for a savage scrub-down! Like she was prepping ingredients for a stir-fry!
Who else would the cat bite if not you? It was going easy on you!
Guang Yu tussling with the cat there—Ye Zhibai had long since grown used to it.
By comparison, what was happening on the other side was the real oddity.
Ever since a moment ago, Ye Zhibai had been hearing faint gasps of surprise and admiration from the visitors in the cat exhibition hall.
And those sounds had only started after Little Qiu entered the hall.
Ye Zhibai took a closer look.
And immediately understood what had everyone so astonished.
This scene… it really was pretty magical, wasn’t it?
Su Yuqiu was just walking normally through the hall, but about a dozen cats trailed behind her, pacing back and forth, circling around her—as if she were the boss cat!
Cats were proud, unruly pets by nature, yet some were actively approaching Little Qiu, rubbing their heads against her little short legs in friendship. They were suddenly acting super clingy.
Su Yuqiu, the cat lover that she was, was naturally delighted.
She smoothed down her skirt and half-squatted, her cherry-pink long hair with tips just brushing the ground. A blissful, healing smile lit up her cool little face as she reached out to pet the kittens.
—like stars surrounding the moon.
The stars being the cats, the moon the loli.
Ye Zhibai suddenly felt that the two-hundred-yuan Comic-Con ticket was totally worth it!
Yeah, Ye Zhibai was pretty touched.
Then she immediately stood up, walked over, grabbed Little Qiu’s arm, and yanked her out of the cat pile, hurriedly retreating from the cute pet cat exhibition hall.
“Huh?! Don’t pull me! I haven’t petted that Garfield yet! Yezi? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I just thought about most people’s play experience.”
“What… do you mean? Oh…! I get it, ahahaha… sorry about that. I love cats so much, I got totally lost in the moment.”
“It’s fine. Knowing your mistake and fixing it makes you a good lol… good adult.”
The meaning was crystal clear, and Little Qiu caught on quick.
There were only about a dozen cats in the whole hall, and over ten of them had been swarming around Little Qiu.
Meanwhile, there were dozens of people lined up waiting their turn to pet the cats!
People would point and gossip about us like that, you know!
Not to mention Guang Yu, who had come out with a mouth full of cat fur.
You actually bit their cat!
You are a dog, aren’t you!
That said, Ye Zhibai had to give credit where it was due.
“Surprisingly, Little Qiu, you sure attract cats. You didn’t put catnip on yourself, did you?”
“Who carries catnip when they go out? Hmph, this is small potatoes! Hey, Yezi, didn’t I send you photos before? Of the cats I have at home—the scale’s way bigger than that hall, a full fifteen of them. Ragdolls… Garfields… orange tabbies… The Ragdoll’s named Xiao Hua! My favorite is Xiao Hua, and then there’s…”
Su Loli suddenly started counting on her fingers, rattling them off like prized treasures.
No need to count, no need—fifteen cats total? Those ten little fingers of yours won’t even be enough.
If Yun’er hadn’t already looked into it and confirmed your family runs its own business, I’d think you were a cat dealer with fifteen cats. Isn’t it a hassle to take care of them!
It was a hassle, sure~ but Su Yuqiu just genuinely loved cats.
Ye Zhibai could see the little sparkles lighting up her eyes as she introduced her home cats.
Ye Zhibai nodded along repeatedly, patiently waiting for her to finish before straightening her arm and pointing toward the Puppy Pet Pavilion next to the cat exhibition hall.
“Over there, looks like there are puppies too. Wanna check it out?”
“Dogs?! No way, no way… Yezi, let’s go somewhere else… How about the arcade hall? Retro fun.”
But the claw machines were pretty good too.
Ye Zhibai had spotted a big golden retriever inside and wanted to give it a pat.
After some back-and-forth tugging, Little Qiu shrank her neck.
Finally, she revealed why she didn’t want to see the dogs.
“You go look at the dogs yourself, Yezi… I… I’m not too brave around them. Ever since I was little and went back to my grandma’s in the countryside—got chased across the whole township by a local mutt named Wangcai on my bike—I’ve never been able to face dogs straight on.”
“But Wangcai aren’t all bad. Most are good Wangcai.”
“You never know when one might go rabid…!”
Su Yuqiu got halfway through her words.
Then abruptly cut herself off.
She had originally planned to firmly declare she absolutely wouldn’t go.
But… she vaguely sensed that Yezi really wanted to check it out.
It was fine for her to go alone, of course.
But Little Qiu understood—this was a rare in-person meetup, something the two of them were doing together.
Yezi was the only friend willing to come out and play with me.
I don’t want to kill her buzz or make today’s memories anything less than perfect.
Su Yuqiu patted her cheeks, steeling herself against her fear of Wangcai, and marched with a stiff “smile” toward the puppy exhibition hall!
Even if her steps were already wobbly, scared into walking with her arms and legs all tangled up.
“I-It’s… fine! Yezi, follow me. Thinking about it, this… this is nothing! It’s just Wangcai, little animals. With so many people around, it wouldn’t dare bite me! Pr… probably?”
But that trembling body of yours, setting your big headphones quivering along with it—it’s giving away your fear loud and clear, you know?
Well…
If you’re scared, you should just firmly say “no” and be done with it.
Ye Zhibai didn’t dislike people who pushed themselves.
But she supported knowing your limits even more.
Don’t be like me in my past life… defying heaven and earth, never considering your own capabilities, ignoring whether your mind could handle the pressure, shoving everything until the breaking point brought tears.
So, by the time Ye Zhibai snapped out of it.
She had already gently gripped Su Yuqiu’s trembling arm, subtly stopping her from heading further toward the puppy pavilion.
“Ye… Yezi?”
“No dogs.”
“Huh?”
“I suddenly don’t feel like looking at dogs anymore.”
“But you just said…”
“Dogs aren’t that interesting anyway. Time’s limited—better head straight to the next hall. Little Qiu, what’s next? Little Qiu, Little Qiu, Little Qiu?”
“Huh?!”
Don’t just zone out on me like that!
If you suddenly go unresponsive and freeze up, in this huge venue, I won’t be able to tell directions at all, you know!
Uh, speaking of which…
What the heck had she just been zoning out about?
