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nTranslator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations

nThe next day, Zhao Yao’s cafe was officially open for business.

nHe was in the store by early morning, along with Shi Yu and Baiquan. The three of them were wearing the tailor-made, albeit cheap, black-and-white uniforms he ordered from TaoBao.

nIt was at exactly eight a.m. that morning when an update appeared in the mission panel.

nMonthly Mission: Grand Openings Require Hard Work Too

nObjective: Make a profit from the cat cafe by the end of the month

nReward: Gain 100 experience points for every RMB 50,000 profit earned (all points will be added to your account at the end of the month)

nPunishment: None

nZhao Yao’s face lit up as he read through the new mission details. This was an excellent opportunity to earn money and experience points at the same time.

nThe best part? This was not some one-off mission. It was a recurring one, which meant that he could be raking in lots of cash and points every single month.

nIt was perfect.

n“Thank God I kept the operating costs low,” he smiled.

nHis gaze surveyed the cafe until it landed on Elizabeth, who was elegantly perched on the highest platform of the kitty tower. Her eyes were glued to the television show lighting up her phone screen.

n“Elizabeth,” he started, “Turn on Celestial Beats now, won’t you? Do that whenever you’re here. Fill the entire cafe.”

n“Got it,” Elizabeth replied.

nWith an irritated swish of her tail, a wave of inaudible beats gradually fanned across the cafe, reaching every nook and corner.

nThe effect was instant. The mood in the cafe was lifted. The air was transformed with an almost ethereal and other-worldly lightness.

nEveryone could feel it. Baiquan, Shi Yu and Zhao Yao were washed over with a sense of relaxation like they have never experienced before. Each particle in their bodies was dancing with unadulterated joy. Every ounce of stress was released from them into the air, where it evaporated into nothing.

n“It’s the Hell Aura again!” Baiquan beamed.

nHaving become a frequent visitor at Zhao Yao’s home, he had grown accustomed to the aura and enjoyed bathing in its glow.

nHe once asked what exactly this feeling was. Zhao Yao responded that they were experiencing Hell Aura, which made you stronger the more you spend time in it.

nOf course, Baiquan had no idea that this was a complete lie. Zhao Yao had fabricated it to motivate him to work harder at his house duties.

n“Ah, I get Master Zhao’s master plan now,” Baiquan pondered, eyes shining with excitement, “He’s opened a cafe here to corrupt college students and spawn thousands of demons! He truly is a cut above my Troll-faced Devil.”

nLike Baiquan, Shi Yu was deep in thought as well. The bliss brought by Elizabeth’s Celestial Beats had eased all the tension pent up in her body. A goofy grin was plastered on her face. At that moment, she understood why Zhao Yao described the cafe that way on the board by the entrance.

nShe moved towards Zhao Yao, smile still in place.

n“So, this is the power of your supercat?” she asked quietly.

nZhao Yao nodded with a grin.

n“Yes. Don’t tell anyone,” he put a finger to his lips.

nShi Yu nodded in response, her eyes falling onto Matcha, Roly Poly, and Elizabeth. The three of them had arrived at the cafe today with little backpacks swung across their tiny shoulders, each holding a mobile phone. Anyone could see that they were not just normal cats.

nAs she watched them, she could not help but wonder if Zhao Yao had more than one supercat.

n“Could all three of them be supercats?” she thought.

nShe was determined to observe them and find out.

nDust Ball had completely evaded her attention because it had no interest in mobile games and needed no bag to carry a phone.

nRight now, it was busy sniffing around the cafe and rubbing its body against walls, chairs, and tables to mark its territory. These were behaviors it picked up as a stray cat. It had spent so much time on the streets that it could not lose these habits long after being awakened.

nIts territory marking spree was soon interrupted by Zhao Yao, who started briefing all the supercars through their collective consciousness.

n“Remember, do not use your powers openly when you are interacting with customers. Do not show that you are intelligent. And finally, please, please, please, do not use your phones when there are people around. Treat the customers well,” he said firmly.

n“No scratching. Definitely no biting,” he continued, then turned to Elizabeth, “Elizabeth, you’re in control here. If someone’s about to attack a customer, stop it.”

nAfter the lengthy reminder for the cats, Zhao Yao directed his attention to Baiquan and Shi Yu. He assigned Baiquan as the cashier and Shi Yu as the barista. The two of them worked out how to wait on the customers among themselves.

nWith everything ready to go, Zhao Yao could finally slump into a seat at the corner and watched the cats played.

nFor the next 30 minutes, that was all he did. Not a single customer crossed the threshold and stepped foot into the cafe.

nThe three of them sat in three separate corners with absolutely nothing to do.

n“C’mon guys, chins up! Business is bound to be slow on the first day. There’ll be customers soon enough,” Shu Yu said bracingly.

nZhao Yao was not worried either. He was completely confident in the irresistible draw of the Celestial Beats.

nThere were other things he had to think about.

nWhipping out his tablet, he lay it on the table before him and opened a web browser. A map of Jiangmen city appeared, peppered with various markings. Lines of text appeared when you mouse-over each one.

n“Terrifying ghost captured on camera in East Garden…”

n“Carnivores spotted partying in the zoo…”

n“Theft at St. Michael’s Hospital…”

nZhao Yao had created this map to consolidate the supernatural events he found from combing through blogs and online forums. He needed to collect intel in order to track the gang of cat thieves that had been causing quite a stir in his city. He might as well get started now since there were no customers to tend to.

nAfter all, this was the mission he had neglected as he busied himself with the cat cafe business. It was time to pay more attention to it.

n“If only Inspector Ho would tip me off about what’s going. He’s bound to know more about that gang of cat thieves than I do,” he thought, rubbing the bottom of his chin absent-mindedly, “But there’s no way he’ll share that kind of info with me.”

n*

nTwo hours later, a girl with short hair passed the cafe.

nShe was wearing a cat t-shirt beneath her suspender romper.

nThe girl was Yan Xiao Qing, a sophomore at one of the colleges nearby. She had decided to drop by the shopping strip because there were no classes today.

nHer eyes shone with excitement when she crossed Zhao Yao’s cafe.

n“Cat Haven Coffee House?” she wondered, taking a second look, “Could this be a cat cafe?”

nThe combined growth of cat ownership and social media usage had caused an explosion of adorable, funny, and sometimes downright amazing, cat photos and live streams online.

nThis was great for students like Xiao Qing, who loved cats but could not have one because of strict dorm rules. She liked them so much she needed an outlet to release it. Watching and gushing over cat videos helped with that a little. Visiting a cat cafe to play with actual cats was way better.

nUnfortunately, the nearest cat cafe was hours away, so she resorted to feeding the strays around her neighborhood.

nUntil now.

nXiao Qing pushed the door to the cafe gingerly to reveal a magnificent scene.

nCats were everywhere. They were rolling around on the floor, chasing each other, or lounging on pieces of furniture.

nShe could not help but grin.

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