After finishing his meal and washing the dishes, Xiang Ye followed the vet's advice and fed the little kitten every three hours or so, skipping the nighttime feeding. Watching the kitten suckle on the bottle, Xiang Ye never imagined that the first time he would feed milk wouldn't be for his own child, but for a cat.
Xiang Ye was never a cat fan or a dog fan—after all, he ate dog meat himself. But that didn't mean he was extremely hostile toward cats or dogs. Nowadays, the internet tends to push people to extremes—either completely for or completely against something, with no middle ground.
In Xiang Ye's view, dogs had been part of the dining table for thousands of years. Why couldn't specially farmed meat dogs be eaten?
Some dog lovers claimed the dog meat sold was actually from pet dogs caught by dog traffickers, but in reality, meat dogs usually weighed over 100 Jin (around 50 kg), while most pet dogs were small breeds that couldn't grow that big, so there wasn't much meat. There might be some extremists who rescued those pet dogs, but the number was definitely small.
Besides, many dog traffickers used poison to catch dogs, and those toxins couldn't be fully broken down inside the dog's body. Eating such meat would cause poisoning, and those shops would get shut down.
Large breeds were an exception, but cities didn't allow large dogs anyway.
So, in Xiang Ye's opinion, dog meat was best when farmed in a regulated way—just like pork or beef. Meat sold on the market should come from licensed slaughterhouses supplied by legitimate meat dog farms. That way, buyers would feel safe eating it, farmers could raise them without issues, and pet dogs wouldn't be harmed.
Of course, some might argue dogs are man's best friend and shouldn't be eaten. Xiang Ye could only say he was powerless to argue. Maybe he was a lost cause, since any Han Chinese ancestor surely ate dog meat—before the Song Dynasty's invention of pig fattening methods, ordinary people ate dog meat, and only nobles could afford mutton. It was that simple.
Well, maybe he rambled a bit too much—he just said his piece.
After the kitten finished drinking, it fell asleep. Xiang Ye washed the bottle and then decided to check the neighboring apartment. He pulled out the property deed and keys from the system and headed to unit 2901, carrying the kitten in one arm.
Upon opening the door, he saw the place was much like his own—similar layout, basic appliances, simple decoration, likely bought for rental.
"Tomorrow I'll have the agent downstairs list this place for rent," he thought with satisfaction. Four thousand yuan a month wasn't much, but it was a steady income.
As he finished inspecting, he stepped out—and noticed that 2903's door was open. His neighbor was coming out. Unlike her plain morning outfit for the breakfast shop, now she wore makeup and a long trench coat, with stockings and high heels beneath.
Seeing Xiang Ye, she paused, surprised.
"Uh, how come you're coming from..." She pointed between 2901 and 2902, confused.
"Oh, I bought this one too," Xiang Ye said, Jingling the keys.
The girl sighed quietly. "Wow, a real property tycoon."
"What about you?" Xiang Ye asked.
"Part-time work. How else could I live here?" She opened her trench coat, revealing a tight undershirt and a short skirt with a beer ad printed on it, looking both sexy and cute.
"Oh, you sell beer part-time?"
"Yeah, it pays better. I work at a bar along the main street. If you want a drink, come find me—I'll give you a discount."
Xiang Ye smiled and nodded—people were free to do what they must, and he wouldn't judge.
"Aww, such a cute little guy." As she started to pass by, the girl noticed the kitten in his arms.
"Yeah, found him today—probably abandoned by his mom," Xiang Ye said, stroking the kitten's fur with a smile.
The girl's eyes briefly darkened at the mention, but she quickly masked it.
"Lucky he met a good person like you. Does he have a name?"
She reached out gently to pet the kitten. The kitten, sensing a stranger's touch, waved a paw and flipped over to continue sleeping. Its adorable face almost made the girl call out.
"We call him Shaoqing," Xiang Ye said, seeing the kitten was male. Since he looked like the main character in that animation with the white cat, why not name him after the character's official title?
"Shaoqing? Hmm, that's not very nice. Might as well call him Mimi, Kiki, or Qiaqia..."
"Bengbeng and Lala, right?" Xiang Ye joked, remembering a recent meme.
"Hehe, yeah." The girl laughed. "Oh no, I'm running late, gotta go!"
With that, she hurried to the elevator.
Xiang Ye returned home, placed the kitten in its little house, and glanced at Ai Bai's room.
In the past few days, he'd moved all his stuff out; it seemed just him and the kitten now, starting their life together.
"Hope this rain stops tomorrow—today's been a bit costly."
Lying on his bed, scrolling through videos, he watched the rain outside and prayed both the rain and the system's glitches would end. If the system still threw him curveballs like shrimp farming tasks, he'd have to face them—for those rewards were too good to miss.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]