Chapter 7
【Tiedan, Erya, Goudan, Cuihua, Sufen, Qiuxiang】
【Xiaohuang, Xiaohei, Xiaobai, Xiaohua】
【Zhaocai, Jinbao, Yuanbao, Wangcai, Qianduoduo】
The chat was flooded with pet names—whether the viewers were joking or what, there wasn’t a single cute name among them.
Xu Xiaozhi chuckled lightly, “Don’t be like that. If
[efn_note]”Beishan” (北山) literally means “North Mountain” in Chinese.[/efn_note]
Beishan knew, he wouldn’t be happy.”
【Beishan?】
【Who’s Beishan? Who’s Beishan?】
【Does the streamer not recognize characters? Where did those two characters even appear?】
“Beishan is the little kitten we just found,” she said as they reached the old tree from before.
【We can’t just call it Beishan because it’s from North Mountain.】
【Fairness, equality, rule of law, oppose dictatorship!】
“Ha,” Xu Xiaozhi laughed at the chat, “Now there’s even opposition to dictatorship.”
Besides the half-square patch of grass from before, the surroundings were covered in dense bushes. As they walked, several cockleburs stuck to her clothes, pricking her all over through the fabric.
The bloodstains on the dry grass had already dried up. Xu Xiaozhi lowered her head to observe carefully.
【Looks like the blood is leading somewhere.】
【Maybe behind that pile of grass.】
【Streamer, go check it out.】
【No, what if there’s danger?】
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Drops of dark reddish-brown blood on the ground pointed the way, but disappeared once they reached the bushes.
From time to time, hoarse, guttural cries echoed through the dense forest.
Xu Xiaozhi pushed aside the bushes, and sure enough, bloodstains appeared again on the ground. Next to the bushes, there was a large patch of blood smear marks.
Blood trails were on both sides, and the lower bushes had been crushed under pressure, as if a fairly large injured animal had passed through.
But Uncle Wang clearly said there were no large animals in this forest.
Ahead, in the damp forest, blood traces could still be seen among the fallen leaves and pebbles.
Seeing that Xu Xiaozhi was about to move forward, Chouba kept circling around her legs, refusing to go on.
Every time she tried to step forward, Chouba would rub against her legs, and in the end, even bit her pant leg, trying to pull her in the opposite direction.
Xu Xiaozhi stopped.
【Why isn’t the streamer moving forward anymore?】
【Don’t go, the baby is scared.】
【We’re about to catch the culprit who hurt the kitten!】
This sounded okay at first, but some viewers carefully reviewed what had happened earlier.
【Who hurt whom?】
Xu Xiaozhi patted Chouba’s head and turned to walk back, remembering to pick up the dried grass nest where the little Beishan kitten had been.
In order to divert the viewers’ attention, she said, “So, the little nickname for Beishan is
[efn_note]“Zhao Cai” (招财) is a Chinese name that literally means “bringing wealth” or “fortune bringer.”[/efn_note]
Zhaocai?”
【No!!!】 The chat’s focus instantly shifted.
【’Cream Sweetheart’ sounds better.】 A calm viewer analyzed.
“But Beishan is a little male kitten!” Xu Xiaozhi laughed, “Don’t you all know?”
【If you don’t say it, who will know?】 Would any feline beastman willingly tell that?
“Tiedan is good too. Beishan’s young but already showing signs of dominance. When he grows up, he’ll definitely win over all the cats at the farmhouse.”
【Is the streamer saying Beishan’s… you know… is bigger?】
【Truth revealed by the person above!】
“Alright!” Xu Xiaozhi walked to the courtyard gate, feeling increasingly pleased with the nickname. “The little name will be
[efn_note]“Tiedan” (铁蛋) is another humorous and very common name in Chinese — it literally means: “Iron Egg.” It’s often used as a joke name or a nickname for boys or pets to imply toughness, strength, or stubbornness — a kind of “country boy” or “macho baby” vibe.[/efn_note]
Tiedan!”
The kitten, still asleep, seemed to sense something, sneezed once, then went back to sleep.
The staff installing the house number plate at the gate all looked at her in unison after hearing her words.
“Ahem,” she cleared her throat awkwardly and casually pulled the shrimp trap full of crayfish through the crowd.
“I’m back!” Xu Xiaozhi put down the basket on her back and handed the shrimp trap to Grandma Gui. On the way back, she had collected the trap from the creek. Inside, there were dozens of pounds of small crayfish, each fiercely waving its claws.
This was great — whether it was spicy, garlic-flavored, or anything else, they could enjoy it all. After all, there were a dozen young guys who could eat a lot.
“Wow, so many!” Grandma Gui knew there were plenty of crayfish in the creek, but since she and her husband were old, they usually didn’t like eating them. She didn’t expect to catch so many in such a short time today.
“Grandma, I’ll come help you later!” Xu Xiaozhi said as she walked toward Boss Wang.
Boss Wang was standing in the courtyard, looking at the design plans, his face showing satisfaction. The construction crew was very efficient, and the farmhouse had already been completely renewed.
Although they had only promised to repair the damaged parts of the farmhouse,
Boss Wang had still pushed his team to do a little more within their means.
The floor had a fresh coat of polishing wax, all doors and windows were replaced, curtains were cleaned and rehung, and even the ground at the entrance was compacted and leveled.
Finally, his staff cleaned up once more, and now the farmhouse finally looked livable.
Boss Wang saw Xu Xiaozhi and said, “Boss Xu, this time I’m really doing this at a loss. But look, the farmhouse looks pretty good now, right?”
“Yes, yes, Boss Wang, you’ve really worked hard,” Xu Xiaozhi replied. “Stay for a simple lunch. The farmhouse might not have much else, but we have plenty of fresh ingredients here that you can’t get outside!”
Not to mention the dozens of pounds of wild crayfish—very few places could offer that.
Boss Wang had been thinking about the elm seed buns all morning, and when Xu Xiaozhi came in pulling the full shrimp trap just now, he saw it all clearly. Besides, he had a favor to ask.
“Oh, how could I? I have so many people working for me, it wouldn’t be right to freeload.” Boss Wang finished politely but was already imagining the crayfish feast.
“How about this, Boss Xu, if there’s anywhere else you need fixed, just say the word. We won’t freeload either.”
Xu Xiaozhi thought: Is this kind of good deal even real?
“No problem, how could that be freeloading? Boss Wang, you’ve already helped me so much!” Xu Xiaozhi politely declined. “Alright then, I’ll go take a look first.”
“Alright!”
The small building on the south side was the main focus of this repair. All eight guest rooms needed to be renovated one by one.
The wooden floorboards in the corridor had all been refurbished, and the railings were empty. Xu Xiaozhi thought to herself that next time she should hang some plants there.
Some trailing green plants and fresh flowers hanging down from the second floor, swaying gently in the breeze, would definitely look beautiful.
She pushed open a door to a single room. The style of the room’s decoration was no different from her own room. Now she was a bit glad that back when her uncle renovated, he had enough budget and didn’t just slap a plain white wall in the room.
The room was furnished entirely with solid wood furniture and flooring. The ceiling was sloped, with exposed natural wood, full of an original, rustic feel.
The floor-to-ceiling window faced a dense forest. The southern sunlight was abundant, and the sunlight poured in perfectly onto the bed.
She then went to the main building. The first floor visibly restored its original luxurious look right after renovation. The clutter on the second floor had all been moved away, and the young men thoughtfully repaired the game machines. The outside terrace was all thoroughly cleaned.
Xu Xiaozhi couldn’t help but think: This isn’t just a repair crew, they could practically be an important team in a cleaning company, entering a second spring of their career.
After browsing around, she found a corner where no one was paying attention and opened her phone.
She had wanted to do this for a long time!
She wanted to see what she could ask Boss Wang to build. The buildings in the points mall all required way too many points—she had no idea when she’d ever save up enough.
“Let me check… This most expensive one… obviously impossible!” Xu Xiaozhi shook her head as she spoke. The viewers in the chat couldn’t see her phone screen, only knowing she was choosing what to develop in the farmhouse.
【Open interstellar routes, I want to play!】
【Streamer doesn’t have that ability!】
【Sigh, can’t enjoy that, huh?】
“This one’s good, this one’s good, this points requirement is reasonable.” Xu Xiaozhi clicked on a building marked 50,000 points, smiling so wide it seemed to stretch to the sky.
【System Friendly Reminder: The accepted sponsorship value cannot exceed the current points value owned by the host.】
“Tsk,” Xu Xiaozhi frowned. “Even the points I earn by my own ability are limited.”
The cheapest buildings in the points mall all cost several hundred points, but she only had 12 points in her account.
“Goods worth 12 points,” Xu Xiaozhi searched specifically, filtering out items that didn’t fit the farmhouse theme.
“All that’s left are a luxury doghouse, an ornamental fish pond, a deluxe cat climbing frame, a hamster villa, an ornamental plant—a cherry blossom tree, and another ornamental plant…”
One plant was too few, so she crossed that option out.
“Chouba sleeps with me every day, who needs a doghouse? Cross it out!”
“Cat climbing frame? No, bad reviews, our kitty won’t listen!”
“Hamster villa—I have that already, my luggage has been delivered,” Xu Xiaozhi said, recalling the pile of packages she saw by the door.
【Haha, cat climbing frame—just by the name you know what it is. Miaomiao don’t listen.】
【Why doesn’t Chouba need a doghouse? It could relax in the yard. Every time Chouba enters the room, Xu Xiaozhi has to wipe its paws, so it doesn’t want to go back during the day.】
【What’s a hamster villa? I want to see! Mouse people are excited!】
【I want to see too, so curious!】
“So many people want to see it, then I’ll stream assembling the hamster villa this afternoon,” Xu Xiaozhi looked at the chat. “Let’s have Boss Wang help fix a small fish pond at the farmhouse.”
“A fish pond?” Boss Wang was washing lobsters with his team, all the young men wearing gloves and aprons, crouched by big basins scrubbing the lobster shells.
Some got pinched by lobsters but tried to hide the pain with awkward grins—not making a sound—looking quite comical.
“No problem, no problem, that’s easy. After fixing it, we’ll catch a couple of fish in the creek to raise. When you want to eat, just grab one. Boss Xu, you really know business!” Boss Wang gave a thumbs-up with one hand while holding a lobster in the other.
Xu Xiaozhi: Alright, alright, putting grass carp in the ornamental fish pond, yes, that’s exactly what I mean.
She turned to help Grandma Gui, and passing by the north building, she thought to check on the kitten.
She quietly opened the door, signaling Chouba not to come in, and saw the kitten curled up fast asleep.
The kitty lay sprawled on the bed, and upon hearing the noise, wiggled its rear and softly meowed while still lying there, all fluffy and relaxed.
【Aww, my heart just melted.】
【Why doesn’t the interstellar have such cute kittens!?】
【Where are there still uncivilized little kittens nowadays?】
【I’ve wanted to ask for a long time—is there only one unknown star streamer?】
【Who said there’s only one?】