Chapter 21 – How Can It Be So Delicious?!
“I am not saying anything silly! I’m telling the truth! Stop treating me like a child!”
Tang Yu’an shouted, like a little lion with its mane bristling.
“Alright, alright, I was wrong.”
Zhou Qi pulled him back into his arms, resting his chin on the boy’s head and rubbing gently. “I apologize to you. I’m sorry.”
Tang Yu’an’s aggressive demeanor instantly deflated.
He leaned into his big brother’s embrace, listening to the strong heartbeat. The more he thought about it, the more worried he became. “I don’t want your apology. I just want you to be okay and stay with me always…”
Hearing the sob in his voice, Zhou Qi felt his heart soften. “Okay, as long as you don’t dislike me, I’ll always stay with you.”
“I would never dislike you, and you can’t dislike me either!”
Zhou Qi smiled slightly, ruffling his hair again. “Alright, you said it.”
Under Zhou Qi’s gentle comfort, Tang Yu’an’s emotions gradually stabilized. He sniffed and, somewhat embarrassed, wiped away his tears.
“Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?” he asked with concern.
Zhou Qi hesitated.
Before he could speak, Tang Yu’an gritted his teeth and said, “Tell me the truth!”
Obviously, Tang Yu’an was still upset about Zhou Qi hiding things from him. With careful observation, he easily noticed that something was off.
Zhou Qi sighed helplessly and finally told the truth. “I usually don’t feel much, but…”
Hearing his explanation, Tang Yu’an was stunned.
“You said that when Grandpa Li took out that stone, you felt like you were being controlled?”
As he spoke, he took out the blue crystal from his portable warehouse.
When the blue crystal appeared, Black Pearl, who had been lying on the sofa secretly observing the two boys, suddenly raised her head. A greedy look appeared in her golden eyes.
However, before she could react, the older human boy—whom she hadn’t originally taken seriously—suddenly looked in her direction.
His black eyes flashed with a sharp, bloodthirsty red light.
Black Pearl’s fur stood on end instantly.
She arched her back suddenly. Although her appearance was that of an adorable white Pomeranian, she still retained feline habits.
The little dog puffed up into a furball, claws gripping the ground, teeth bared—a stance of wariness and fear, ready to fight at any moment.
Her movements naturally caught Tang Yu’an’s attention.
Tang Yu’an turned to look at her. “You’re awake?”
He got up and walked toward Black Pearl. As the blue crystal in his hand moved away, clarity returned to Zhou Qi’s eyes.
Realizing that he had lost control again just now, cold sweat broke out on Zhou Qi’s back. He clearly sensed the desire to seize the blue crystal.
Zhou Qi took a deep breath, striving to suppress that urge.
“You don’t have to be afraid; it’s safe here.”
Tang Yu’an’s voice, speaking to the little dog, reached his ears, calming his rapidly beating heart.
An An…
Zhou Qi silently repeated Tang Yu’an’s nickname in his heart. As his gaze became more determined, the red in his eyes gradually faded, and the consciousness trying to seize control retreated once more.
Under Tang Yu’an’s soothing, the bristling Black Pearl gradually calmed down.
She still regarded Zhou Qi with vigilance. Although his eyes had returned to normal and that terrifying aura had vanished, she no longer dared to underestimate this human boy.
Tang Yu’an also noticed something and turned to look at Zhou Qi.
“Brother Qi?”
“Mm, I’m fine.”
Zhou Qi showed a slight smile. Indeed, there was something strange inside him, but what had just happened at least proved that the thing was not invincible.
Tang Yu’an walked back to his side, carefully checking him over. Confirming that he was okay, he then displayed the blue crystal in front of him.
“Do you still feel controlled now?” he asked.
Zhou Qi could sense a voice whispering in his ear: Take it… hurry, take it…
However, he shook his head at Tang Yu’an.
“It’s okay; it won’t affect me anymore,” Zhou Qi said. “You should put it away for now and avoid using this thing.”
Since it was what the parasite wanted, how could he let it succeed?
“Oh, alright.”
Tang Yu’an put the stone away. Seeing that Zhou Qi indeed looked normal, he turned and went to the kitchen to get Black Pearl’s portion of food.
The other three little ones had already licked their bowls clean. Seeing Tang Yu’an bring out new food, they couldn’t help but look at him with expectant eyes.
“This is for Black Pearl; you’re not allowed to snatch it,” Tang Yu’an said solemnly.
Hearing this, the three little ones, though drooling profusely, obediently didn’t approach.
Black Pearl looked at the small bowl placed before her by Tang Yu’an, then glanced at the two dogs and one cat opposite. Noticing that even the four-eyed dog obeyed this boy, a thoughtful look appeared in her eyes again.
She actually wanted that blue crystal very much, but when the boy approached her, she had no desire to snatch it.
Only after the boy put the crystal away did she feel a bit annoyed, but she still had no intention of attacking him.
So strange…
Though suspicious, it was clear that with her level of intelligence, she couldn’t figure out why.
Noticing that the two dogs and one cat were all looking eagerly in her direction, Black Pearl finally gathered her thoughts and looked at the bowl of white liquid before her.
It was a scent she had never smelled before…
Black Pearl lowered her head and cautiously licked the milk. As the wonderful taste spread across her tongue, she finally understood why the four-eyed dog and the others had looked at her that way.
What is this? How can it be so delicious?!
“Awoo—awoo—”
The little white dog buried her head in the food, continuously making protective growling sounds from her throat—a habit entirely feline.
Tang Yu’an chuckled and didn’t bother her further. Instead, he returned to Zhou Qi’s side. “Brother Qi, are you really okay? I think I saw your eyes turn red earlier.”
“Mm, it’s probably related to that thing,” Zhou Qi said.
Looking at him, Tang Yu’an was very worried, but for now, there seemed to be nothing he could do.
He could only say, “I’ll keep an eye on your panel information at all times.”
They could only rely on the grocery store system now, hoping it might provide more useful clues.
“As for that blue crystal… tomorrow we’ll go find Grandpa Li and ask him what it is and what it does.”
Such a small stone being worth 200 credits—it must not be simple.
“Alright.”
Zhou Qi agreed.
They organized their gains for the day and made simple plans for the next day, then prepared to bathe and sleep.
There wasn’t much to do at night, and staying up wasted electricity, so they decided to sleep early and conserve energy.
As Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi finished tidying up and were about to turn off the lights and go upstairs, they suddenly sensed something and turned to look at the empty space behind the shop.
Yin Bi had pinned down Wang Cai, pressing the little kitten under his paw and enthusiastically slobbering all over its face.
The four-eyed puppy had already curled up in a corner, eyes closed in sleep. As for Black Pearl…
Tang Yu’an picked up the empty bowl from the floor and searched around the shop but couldn’t find any trace of the little pomeranian dog.
Finally, he found a window near the shop entrance that had been pried open, with a few black hairs left on the wooden board.
Looks like she ran off while we were bathing.
Tang Yu’an scratched his head, looked at the pet panel showing Black Pearl in good condition, then opened the map for a glance. Sure enough, there was an orange dot on it.
This orange dot should represent a pet; it only appeared on the map after leaving the grocery store.
Watching the dot move quickly away, Tang Yu’an ultimately chose not to recall her.
Take it slow; Black Pearl is a cat, and cats naturally love freedom.
Since Yuan Bao could freely switch between his original form and a puppy, Black Pearl should be able to as well.
When they met her in the afternoon, she was even overpowering Yin Bi; she should be considered strong among mutant creatures and not afraid of being bullied.
However, Tang Yu’an still made some settings on the pet panel.
[Automatically recall to pet slot when in a critical state]
[Cannot actively attack humans unless threatened]
Then he returned to the back room, petted the three little ones who remained, laid out sleeping mats for them, and after saying goodnight, went upstairs to sleep with Zhou Qi.
It had been an incredibly fulfilling day.
As soon as the two boys lay down, they fell into a deep sleep.
Nothing happened during the night.
The next day, when Tang Yu’an got up, he found that today’s daily tasks had new changes.
He saw on the task panel:
Daily Tasks (Updated daily at 00:00)
1. Complete transactions (0/2)
2. Purchase goods from the wholesale market (0/20)
3. Use the item list function to complete inventory check (0/1)
4. Clean the store (0/1)
5. Complete transactions and gain profit (0/2)
Still five tasks, but except for cleaning and inventory, the quantities of other tasks had increased, possibly related to his merchant level increasing to Level 2 yesterday.
Tang Yu’an told this news to Zhou Qi.
Zhou Qi nodded. “Fortunately, today’s tasks aren’t too difficult.”
They now had regular customers. Not to mention Granny Guo and Kang Kang, Grandpa Li was still recovering from serious injuries and would likely need to trade.
Then there’s Lin Zhen; they could develop her into a stable customer.
“Yes, luckily we don’t have to find two new customers,” Tang Yu’an said with relief.
If the number of daily tasks increased with each level up, it would become quite challenging. Thankfully, they had useful items like Daily Task Refresh Cards.
“Let’s get up.”
“Okay!”
When they came down from the loft, they saw Yin Bi running over with the little orange cat perched on his head, wagging his tail enthusiastically to greet them.
Yuan Bao also wagged his little tail but didn’t run over, just squatting in place and watching them.
Tang Yu’an greeted them one by one. Just as he was about to wash up, Yin Bi bit his clothes and pulled him toward the store door.
“Do you want to go out and play?”
Tang Yu’an opened the door but smelled a scent of blood wafting in from outside. Standing behind him, Zhou Qi’s expression changed.
He pulled Tang Yu’an behind him, then cautiously peeked outside, only to see—
At some point, a dead bird had been placed at the doorstep, with several feline footprints left around it.
