Chapter 22

Book Transmigration Bureau Chief Engineer – Cheng Feixue: 【There’s no trace of him in the Book Transmigration System. If he were a book transmigrator, his abilities would include but not be limited to teleportation, shapeshifting, and some special ability that’s very easy to earn affection with—plus the power to transmigrate without relying on the Book Transmigration System.】

That was too terrifying!

Teleportation and shapeshifting could still pass as ordinary among a handful of book transmigrators; some of them even possessed those powers. But the scariest part was that special ability to so easily win favor.

All four bosses wanted to destroy the world—how could they possibly take a liking to someone so effortlessly? And yet, they all adored him, accepting him so naturally and smoothly.

What a horrifying power!

Book Transmigration Bureau Chief Engineer – Cheng Feixue: 【We’re more inclined to believe he’s an anomaly—one that thrives on being loved.】

Book Transmigration Bureau Chief Engineer – Cheng Feixue: 【Whenever someone directs affection toward him, he feels deeply pleased and satisfied. Among the current book transmigrators, he likes Dong Man the most—precisely because she feels affection for him.】

Dong Man hurriedly clarified: 【Not that kind of love! Sure, I love sleeping with male celebrities, but I don’t have a single thought like that about him. I see him as a savior!】

Book Transmigration Bureau Chief Engineer – Cheng Feixue: 【It doesn’t matter what kind of love it is—he likes it all.】

Book Transmigration Bureau Chief Engineer – Cheng Feixue: 【So for your next missions, make sure you don’t harbor any malice toward him. Instead—love him.】

Book Transmigration Bureau Bureau Chief – Shen Jian: 【Your next task is to figure out exactly who this person is and give him your full cooperation. As long as those four bosses keep orbiting around him, our world stays safe.】

Book Transmigration Bureau Bureau Chief – Shen Jian: 【Thanks for your hard work, everyone. Good luck.】

After those words, the Book Transmigration Bureau fell silent. But the System Group blew up like a pot boiling over, the discussion raging on in shock and excitement.

No one was more stunned than Du Feili, who had transmigrated into the book countless times. He knew better than anyone just how cold and indifferent those four bosses were—even the novel’s protagonist, Qiao Qingshuang. He had devoted his life to exorcising anomalies not out of any love for humanity, but simply because he viewed it as his personal mission.

If anomalies weren’t the ones wreaking havoc—if it were some other dangerous creatures harming people—he probably wouldn’t spare them a glance.

How could they all come to adore one person like this?

As these thoughts raced through Du Feili’s mind, his gaze drifted to the stubby-legged little cat rubbing against the boy’s ankle—against Jiang Yuanmu.

After their last community welfare delivery, they had established contact with the boy. Posing as temporary community workers, they had helped him land two jobs.

The first was as a tutor; naturally, the paying students came from players on their team.

The second was one they had scouted far and wide for him, recommending he apply: a clerk at a pet shop.

The boy was just heading out for a simple interview when the freshly awakened little cat came scampering over to nuzzle him, acting as if it couldn’t bear to be parted.

With the new mission demanding full cooperation toward this individual, Du Feili suggested, “Why not bring the little cat along? When the store manager sees you have a cat—and that you take such good care of it—he’ll be even more eager to hire you.”

Jiang Yuanmu took the advice and scooped up the little cat. It immediately pressed its round head against his cheek, purring with deep contentment and joy.

Just as Du Feili had predicted, the boss took one look at his cat and hired him on the spot for weekend shifts, no questions asked.

The pet shop was a sizable operation, offering services like pet boarding. Those jobs picked up during holidays and festivals, when owners jetted off on trips or headed home for family gatherings, dropping off their pets for safekeeping. That was when things really got busy.

“Your job will be to come in during those holiday periods and look after the pets—feeding them, caring for them,” the boss explained with a sigh. “Put your heart into it. These animals get so anxious away from home; they start thinking their owners have abandoned them. The little cat doesn’t understand any of that—it only knows its owner, waiting every single day to be picked up. Pretty heartbreaking, really.”

Jiang Yuanmu nodded. Taking the boss’s sigh as a cue, he looked down at the kitten in his arms, his expression softening even more. “Boss, can I bring my kitten along? It only has me, after all. I don’t want it to spend the holiday alone at home, waiting.”

Du Feili: “……”

Its owner wasn’t its only companion. It had a brother, a dad, and a big-shot fan who lavished it with gifts.

Even as this crossed Du Feili’s mind, he caught the little cat glancing his way and quietly made his exit.

The boss still had job details to go over with the boy, and lingering would make Du Feili look overly focused on him. Besides, he had spotted genuine Everbright Street staff nearby, so the impostor beat a hasty retreat to a familiar alley.

While most of his teammates were off earning money, Du Feili and Niu Lingyu were keeping watch from the shadows.

Niu Lingyu said, “There are tons of Everbright Street staff going door-to-door today. I overheard them saying the area’s getting developed by Faraway Group—something about demolition compensation.”

Everbright Street sat right next to a thriving commercial boulevard. Every resident dreamed of the day demolition would come, and now it finally had.

Du Feili had visited this novel world so many times, though, and Everbright Street had never changed. It remained that gritty slum lurking behind all the glamour.

Niu Lingyu continued, “Dong Man says Bai Chen re-entered showbiz as a spokesperson for Faraway Group. The Group might have ties to the Living Dead, so this could be something Bai Chen—that little cat—pulled off.”

“Demolition means the boy gets a payout,” Du Feili remarked. “No more scraping by, starving. He really looks out for him.”

It had even been the one to stop the boy from going ice fishing last time.

“Not like us,” Niu Lingyu said. “He probably really isn’t a book transmigrator.”

“If he were,” Du Feili replied, “I’d want to die. Our whole team busts our asses just to line up a job for the boy, but he snaps his fingers and hands him a fortune—without raising a single suspicion. The boy just accepts it naturally.”

An hour later, Jiang Yuanmu emerged from the pet shop. He took a side path back to Everbright Street, prompting two patrolling street staffers to instinctively step back.

Du Feili was used to it by now. The boy always thought he was unlikeable, often shunned by others. In truth, it wasn’t dislike—his power was so overwhelmingly terrifying that it instinctively repelled people and anomalies alike, especially those sensitive to such forces.

These staffers who had nearly bolted were probably anomalies themselves.

They recovered quickly, pulling back their retreating legs and addressing the boy stiffly. “Jiang Yuanmu, Everbright Street’s up for demolition. We were just coming to talk to you about it. You okay with your little courtyard being torn down?”

“How much compensation?” Jiang Yuanmu asked. The sudden news caught him off guard.

He had heard neighbors chatter about demolition since he was little, day after day, but it had never materialized.

He did not pine for it daily himself. But ever since getting A Nuan, he had fantasized: If demolition came with a decent payout, he could move to a house with winter heating and a big garden for A Nuan to romp in—feeding it meat every day.

Such dreams stayed just that—dreams.

“360,000 per square meter. Your place totals ninety-six square meters including kitchen and bathroom, plus forty-nine for the courtyard—for a grand total of 145 square meters. That’s fifty-two million, two hundred thousand in compensation.”

Jiang Yuanmu’s fingertips trembled; he could hardly believe it. He glanced at the others on the street, their eyes alight with excitement, hurrying along. Only then did he trust the staffers weren’t lying.

Bai Chen happily nuzzled the boy’s cheek, who seemed momentarily stunned.

He had tried every trick to funnel money to the boy before, but nothing worked. In the end, demolition seemed the most seamless way to get funds into his hands.

So he had tentatively asked Chu Xuzhou, “Doesn’t Everbright Street have potential? Should Faraway Group develop it?”

Chu Xuzhou had asked why Everbright Street specifically.

“Because that’s where I live,” Bai Chen had said. “I want to make it better.”

Back when he first entered the industry, he had crashed there for convenience—that night he dragged Chu Xuzhou home was to the rental on Everbright Street.

It was just a casual probe; Bai Chen knew Chu Xuzhou and Faraway Group had money to burn, but he had no real grasp of it. When the Faraway Group president later told him, after thorough analysis, that they would develop the area, Bai Chen finally got a sense of what “money that can’t be spent” meant.

Now the money was finally heading to the boy. Bai Chen nuzzled his cheek several more times, ears perking at the boy’s laughter. The boy’s steps grew light, almost like he might float away.

“A Nuan, we’re going to be rich.”

“Ah~”

“A Nuan, the moment I get the money, I’ll find us a warm, bright house.”

“Ah~”

“With a sunny garden, grass turf, and flowers that won’t harm you. You can nap in the sun, chase butterflies.”

“Ah~”

“Every day meat for you, A Nuan—three meals of gourmet cat food combos.”

“……Ah.”

Lost in visions of their blissful future, boy and cat suddenly looked up. Seconds later, a tall young man emerged from the alley behind them.

Chu Xuzhou glanced their way.

Bai Chen: “……”

He had never hidden his powers from Chu Xuzhou from the start—sharing his real name, showing his true self. He had even figured Chu Xuzhou wouldn’t mind learning he was a cat. But catching him mid-nuzzle and roll in the boy’s arms still sparked an uncharacteristic twinge of guilt.

Sensing something, the boy turned and spotted him too.

Chu Xuzhou approached, chatting casually like a neighbor. “Heard about the demolition? Everyone seems thrilled.”

The boy tucked the cat securely against his chest and eyed the casually dressed but clearly out-of-place man. “You from Everbright Street?”

“Half-Everbright Street, I guess.” Chu Xuzhou’s gaze dropped to the half-exposed cat head peeking out. “That cat of yours… so cute. Feels familiar, actually. He carries the scent of someone I know well.”

The boy’s wariness sharpened. A nagging worry he had avoided surfaced: A Nuan was too adorable to have always been a stray. Had it belonged to someone before?

“Who?” the boy asked hoarsely.

“The guy who just recently asked if I’d take a part-time gig as his boyfriend,” Chu Xuzhou replied.