Chapter 47

Chapter 47

After two months of devoted care from You Nan and You Ruan, 007, once a mere kitten, has now been weaned and can independently eat cat food.

However, the two-month-old feline still struggles with one particular issue.

Its hind legs lack strength.

When squatting in the litter box, if it lingers a moment too long, its tiny body begins to sway, inevitably toppling over into its own mess.

007, a fastidious little cat at heart, would immediately detect the odor on itself. It would then unleash a series of high-pitched cries, demanding the brothers' attention for a cleanup.

When either brother was home, they would promptly wash it. If no one was around, 007 would curl up beside the litter box, its fur dirty and disheveled, feigning a loss of spirit.

While cats are known for self-grooming, licking itself clean was currently out of the question—an absolute impossibility, even under duress.

Fortunately, 007 was no ordinary kitten. You Nan and You Ruan bathed it three or four times a day, yet its fur remained lustrous and undamaged, free from any skin ailments—a small blessing indeed.

Once 007 became more alert, it wasted no time in relaying this world's plot and the role-playing tasks required to You Nan.

Without activating the mission and initiating energy point collection, You Nan, despite his interactions with the protagonists, would be unable to receive any energy points from them.

You Nan closed his eyes, quietly absorbing the world's narrative.

This world centered on a school heartthrob protagonist, pursued by three obsessive love interests.

Upon seeing the heartthrob's name, Jiang Songen, You Nan's expression flickered with momentary surprise.

He hadn't expected to encounter that name.

Of the three relentless pursuers of Jiang Songen, one was intimately familiar, one he had met once, and the third remained unknown.

They were Zhang Chun, Yi Jiahe, and Cheng Mi.

Beyond the main characters, there were also supporting roles and numerous individuals secretly enamored with the protagonists.

You Nan's role was to portray a pitiable character within the school.

You Nan quickly scanned the character introductions before delving into the plot.

Jiang Songen was handsome and popular from childhood. His family was affluent but not quite among the true elite.

Many resources were monopolized by the truly wealthy.

This often compelled his family to humble themselves and curry favor with others to earn more money and advance socially.

After Jiang Songen enrolled in the nation's top private high school, he consistently drew the attention of the three other love interests.

Zhang Chun, in the same class as Jiang Songen, developed feelings for him over time. Initially disdainful of Jiang Songen's beauty, he gradually found himself unconsciously drawn to him, often resorting to childish pranks to capture his attention—a classic case of self-initiated infatuation.

Yi Jiahe, the class president of Class 2 and You Nan's classmate, was academically brilliant, often outperforming peers and even older students.

Jiang Songen was the sole individual who could rival him academically. The more Yi Jiahe observed him, the more his affection grew.

Cheng Mi, on the other hand, was purely attracted to Jiang Songen's looks—a true aesthete.

Yet, these three hailed from genuinely wealthy, elite families—a status Jiang Songen could not match.

Once they recognized their feelings, the trio relentlessly pursued Jiang Songen, only to be rejected each time, suffering devastating setbacks. Unaccustomed to rejection due to their popularity, their determination only intensified.

Later, they even turned against each other.

However, the appearance of one person united them once more.

That person was You Nan, the minor character.

According to the plot, You Nan, burdened by long-term financial and academic pressures, worked himself to exhaustion and collapsed in the cafeteria. He was coincidentally spotted by Jiang Songen, who escorted him to the infirmary.

Jiang Songen, sympathetic to You Nan's plight, lent him a substantial sum of money.

You Nan requested Jiang Songen's contact information, promising repayment when he could afford it.

That was their sole encounter.

The incident was then spread by gossips, igniting widespread outrage.

Yi Jiahe was the first to act.

Under the guise of one-on-one tutoring as class president, he subtly influenced You Nan during their interactions, gradually molding his behavior to increasingly resemble Jiang Songen's.

Unbeknownst to him, You Nan became a substitute for Jiang Songen.

Furthermore, Yi Jiahe instructed You Nan on how to attract Jiang Songen's attention and how to converse with him.

Whenever You Nan and Jiang Songen interacted, Yi Jiahe would naturally interject, boosting Jiang Songen's favorability.

However, these lessons on "vying for attention" were never explicitly stated; instead, the sensitive You Nan gradually inferred them himself.

You Nan initially became Yi Jiahe’s follower. When the other two discovered Yi Jiahe’s tactics, he became the shared follower of Zhang Chun, Cheng Mi, and Yi Jiahe.

While pursuing Jiang Songen and threatening him with his parents’ company, they also psychologically manipulated You Nan.

Jiang Songen resisted, but each time he did, they had people undermine the Jiang family’s business. Jiang Songen’s parents, unaware of who they had offended, worked themselves to exhaustion, their hair turning white from worry, their lives nearly falling apart.

Heartbroken for his parents, Jiang Songen was eventually driven to consider drastic measures, but he feared retaliation against his family. In the end, he had no choice but to clench his teeth and meet them.

Unexpectedly, he encountered You Nan, restrained and whom he hadn't seen or spoken to in a long time.

In You Nan, he saw many familiar traces.

Jiang Songen instantly understood their wicked intentions. But with too many weaknesses and his defenses stripped away, he had lost the ability to fight back.

The world’s final outcome was the gentle and kind-hearted Jiang Songen trading himself to secure You Nan’s freedom, choosing to live with them instead.

After reading the entire storyline, You Nan: "..."

You Nan frowned, feeling a tightness in his chest and even slightly nauseated, disgusted by it all.

Why would someone as good as Jiang Songen have such an ending?

The memory of Jiang Songen playing basketball with Zhang Chun recently was still fresh in his mind.

Jiang Songen, energetic and vibrant, running across the field, his bright and beautiful face dazzling everyone who saw him.

Jiang Songen was such a good person—You Nan had never imagined such an ending for him.

But now, the development had already departed from the original story.

The Yi Jiahe You Nan knew was also different from the one in the plot.

And these changes happened exactly on his first day of school here.

He had made up his mind to study hard, so he went to the supermarket at noon to buy notebooks and ran into Jiang Songen hiding in the grove.

Later, Jiang Songen, after hearing from someone, went to the place where he worked to have a meal.

When the two first met was also much earlier than in the original storyline.

It was like the flutter of a butterfly's wings—a small, subtle movement that unknowingly altered the original plot, creating a butterfly effect.

While You Nan was reviewing the storyline, 007's backend finally received the Energy Point messages, delayed by two months. They kept pinging nonstop, almost crashing its little server.

007 carefully examined the Energy Point notifications. Almost all of them were from the protagonist shou, Jiang Songen, with only a handful from one of the protagonist gongs, Yi Jiahe.

As for the other two protagonist gongs, they hadn't contributed a single Energy Point so far.

007 couldn't help but complain inwardly, "Zhang Chun and Cheng Mi are so cheap!"

You Nan's attention was drawn back by 007's grumbling.

You Nan couldn't help but laugh. He reached out and stroked the kitten's soft fur, saying, "I haven't interacted with them yet."

007 understood.

It had been small and awake for only a short time, and it hadn't transmitted the worldline to You Nan yet. Since You Nan didn't know who the protagonists were, it was understandable that he hadn't made contact with them.

But Jiang Songen had contributed so many Energy Points even without You Nan's knowledge, which made the other protagonist gongs seem to fall short!

007's expectations had been raised by Yao Xianqing and the cat from the previous world, who had spoiled it rotten.

It now looked down on the paltry contributions from Yi Jiahe.

Currently, 007 only liked Jiang Songen. If an affection meter could be displayed, You Nan would see that 007 would give Jiang Songen full marks.

It would give Yi Jiahe one point, and deduct a hundred from the other two.

"It's fine not to deal with them. None of them are as good as Jiang Songen! Let's just play with Jiang Songen!"

You Nan found 007's sulky remarks amusing, and the heartache he felt for Jiang Songen seemed to ease a little.

He also felt awkward now and was afraid he wouldn't be able to face Yi Jiahe for a while.

"Alright, we'll do as 007 says."

You Nan agreed without hesitation.

007 puffed up with pride, its little whiskers twitching.

You Ruan, having had a full nap, ran out of his room and curled up in You Nan's arms, acting spoiled.

"Brother!" You Ruan was still young and sounded clingy. "Brother, I finished my homework. Can you check it for me?"

After losing his other relatives, You Ruan had become especially attached to You Nan. Wherever his brother went, he followed.

He wanted his brother by his side for everything.

"Okay," You Nan agreed.

You Ruan was older than the cat, but not by much. You Nan couldn't help but empathize with the obedient You Ruan, doting on him dearly.

As the two brothers were talking, You Nan's phone on the coffee table suddenly rang. Both the brothers and the cat saw the name flashing on the screen. It was a call from Jiang Songen.

You Nan answered, "Hello?"

Jiang Songen on the other end seemed to be walking, a little breathless. "Are you home today?"

You Nan, not understanding the reason, replied, "Yes, why?"

Jiang Songen pretended to sound natural as he said, "Ah, well, today I went out to eat with my friends, but we overestimated how much we could eat and ended up ordering too much. I thought, since you're my friend too, and I didn't invite you to today's gathering, I could drop some off for you to try."

Afraid that You Nan might mind, Jiang Songen quickly added, "These are all completely untouched and still fresh. They were served just as we were almost full."

"The restaurant was really busy; the kitchen was probably swamped, which is why the food came so late. Also, you don't really know my friends. I wanted to invite you, but I was afraid you might feel awkward, so I didn't."

007: "..."

"Meow! Meow! Meow!" 007 rushed to You Nan's phone and let out a series of meows at Jiang Songen on the other end.

Weird! You Nan only asked you one question, and you, Jiang Songen, launched into this long explanation. There's something off about you!

Ah! I, 007, can already hear the restless thoughts of a teenage boy in the height of puberty!

And from the sound of your breathing, you're walking right now, aren't you? You're probably already headed over to You Nan's house!

You'll be at the door in a few minutes, won't you!

Ah! Isn't that right, Jiang Songen!

Answer me! Tell me why!

You Nan, who could understand 007's meows, wiped nonexistent sweat from his forehead, amused.

He didn't quite understand how the little cat could pick up on so much information from just a few words.

While 007 was meowing, Jiang Songen on the other end stayed quiet and didn't interrupt its cries.

Only after 007 finished did Jiang Songen praise You Nan's cat. "So you have a cat! It sounds really cute from its meows!"

"As it happens, there's a pet shop nearby. What flavor of canned food does your cat like? I'll buy one for it. It has to be thirsty after meowing so much."

007: "!!!"

There's such a good thing?! The protagonist shou is so nice!

007's voice instantly softened, and it even made its voice extra sweet as it leaned in again, meowing, "Meow~ meow~"

Jiang Songen laughed, as if he understood what it said. "Okay, got it. I'll be there soon."

After saying that, he hung up without giving You Nan a chance to refuse.

You Nan looked at the ended call, sighed, but then smiled.

Jiang Songen is really so thoughtful!

You Ruan, seeing his brother smile, also grew excited about the friend who would be arriving soon.

He looked up and asked, "Is that brother's friend?"

You Nan responded, taking his younger brother's hand and saying seriously, "In the future, if you have close friends who want to come over to play, you can also let me know in advance."

You Ruan's eyes instantly lit up, and he nodded obediently.

Meanwhile, Jiang Songen, who was being discussed by them, came to a halt.

As 007 had expected, he was almost at You Nan's doorstep.

The young man carried food he'd brought for You Nan in one hand while using the other to pull up navigation on his phone, searching for the nearest pet store.