After five bigwigs in Beijing's elite circle fell into their trap, I fled.

Chapter 36 Shopping with a Cat
When Jiang Shu returned to Xinghua Lane, the clock hands pointed to exactly eight o'clock in the evening.

Jiang Shu rummaged through the pile of clutter and found a large cat bed, laid it out near the door, and put the cat inside.
"This is the cat bed you prepared yourself. You should rest for a bit. I'll take you out to buy some things later—I'll pay for it in advance, but remember to pay me back later."

"Meow." The Bengal cat meowed haughtily and lazily lay down in its cat bed.

"Want some water?" Jiang Shu found a broken bowl, filled it with some water, and threw it in front of the cat. She then opened a bottle of mineral water and drank some herself. "You went through a lot of changes a few days ago, so stay in this state for a while. Starting next week, you can stay from midnight to 6 a.m. every day, as per the contract."

The leopard cat kicked the bowl in disgust, then wobbled onto Jiang Shu's lap and reached out its paw to grab the bottled water in her hand.

Jiang Shu sighed softly, "Alright, I'll spend the money to buy you a special bowl later."

After feeding him a few sips of water, Jiang Shu held him in her arms and, somewhat clumsily, used a ride-hailing app to call a car.

On the way to the city center, the taxi driver was very talkative: "Young lady, your cat is really cute. What breed is it? I'll buy one for my daughter later."

Jiang Shu casually asked, "Bengal leopard cat—Master, how much do you taxi drivers typically earn in a month?"

The driver chuckled and said, "A few years ago I could make 15,000 a month, but with the construction of more subway lines in the last two years, it's only a little over 10,000."

"If it's part-time..."

"If you work part-time, and can guarantee four or five hours a day, earning two hundred a day is not a problem. In a big city like Beijing, three hundred is possible."

Jiang Shu was quite tempted and lowered her head to send a text message to Li Yubai:
"Does what you said last time about lending me a spare used car to drive as a taxi still count?"

Li Yubai replied instantly: "Hmm—when do you want it?"

“Probably…” Jiang Shu calculated the time, “It should be around May Day. In these two months, I’ll hurry up and finish mending all your things so we can submit the orders as soon as possible.”

"Okay." Li Yubai asked again, "Want some late-night snack? I'll bring you some over."

"No need, Ali and I will eat out."

Li Yubai's eyes darkened as he continued attending the business dinner.

Ah Li...that's such an affectionate way of calling me...

He hesitated for a moment, then finally couldn't help but ask, "Outside? Where are you shopping now? I have a lot of super member discount cards for various stores..."

Jiang Shu replied quickly: "Bring your membership card and come to the West Street flea market."

Li Yubai was stunned for a moment.

Then, he politely asked his business partners who came to offer him a toast, "Which of you has a membership card for the West Street area?"

West Street.

In Jiangcheng's flea market, known for its affordability and low prices, signs were plastered everywhere saying "Everything for ten yuan" and "Twenty yuan off clearance items from major brands, choose any." Jiang Shu, carrying her cat, first went to the department store at the street corner.

In the home furnishings section, under the strange gaze of the salesperson, Jiang Shu pointed to a row of bowls and asked the cat, "Which one do you like? Choose one yourself?"

The cat stretched out its paw and touched the price tag of the most expensive item.

Jiang Shu hesitated for a moment, then moved the most expensive bowl aside and pointed to several of the cheapest ones: "They all have certificates of conformity, so they won't kill you. You can choose one of these."

The leopard cat let out a pitiful cry.

Jiang Shu tugged at his ear: "Our family isn't rich. If we raise you too delicately, my mother might secretly give you away to someone else when she sees you..." The leopard cat's eyes reddened, and he buried his head in Jiang Shu's chest...

Jiang Shu put a white cat-ear bowl into her shopping cart and then went to the knitwear section.

"Ali, pick out another set of blankets you like." She glanced around at the prices. "You can only choose from the special offer section, and it can't be more than a hundred."

The leopard cat cautiously jumped down from her arms, rolled twice on the ground, and walked with unsteady steps, looking disdainful from one end to the other. Finally, it pointed to the dark plush blanket, which was priced at ninety-nine after the discount.

Jiang Shu put the blanket into the shopping cart as well, looking at his disgusted expression: "Who told you to elope with me secretly! You don't dare bring any good stuff out of the house, and you don't dare use your bank card. You eat my food, use my things, and rely on me to support you, so you have to spend according to my spending power, what do you say?"

The leopard cat gave her a cold, aloof look.

Jiang Shu squatted down and picked him up: "I used to raise a local dog in the village. Not to mention spending money on it, it was the one that went out to catch pheasants and rabbits to feed the whole village. It usually made a nest out of thatch and used a rag as a blanket. Sometimes it would even go to the chicken coop and squeeze in with the chickens."

The leopard cat shuddered.

After Jiang Shu finished her nagging, she started to offer sweet words: "You are naturally different from them. I will not only buy you a bowl and a blanket, but I will also take you to buy clothes later. Our Ali is delicate and precious, so her clothes should be good. We will go to the high-end section later. You can choose whichever one you like. We will not look at the price. We can choose ten or eight sets to change into, okay?"

far away.

Several sales clerks whispered among themselves:
"Is this young lady keeping a cat or a lover? I think their way of getting along is a bit strange."

"These days, many people treat cats and dogs like sons or fathers, so it's not surprising that they treat them like lovers—but that cat is really intelligent! Look at how it picks and chooses, looking at all the different kinds of things it finds unattractive..."

"I have a feeling it actually recognizes prices... Wait, what's it doing now? Looking at... English?"

Jiang Shu was choosing toiletries. At her feet, the leopard cat leaned lazily against the shelf, casually flipping through an all-English instruction manual with its paw, carefully scanning line by line, and finally using its paw to pull out a pure cotton premium A-grade high-end face towel, which it then put into its shopping cart.

The sales clerks who witnessed this scene looked at each other in bewilderment:
"Even a cat has learned to read instruction manuals and choose fabric materials?!"

Jiang Shu keenly sensed that her cat had become the object of attention. She quickly selected her items, paid at the cashier, and then half-hid the cat under her coat before heading to the clearance sale next door.

"See that, Ali?" Jiang Shu pointed to the store sign, "Big brands from department stores, clearance sale... everything is 20 yuan, cheap and good quality, you can choose yourself."

The leopard cat clung tightly to her clothes, refusing to let go.

“You don’t have to choose…” Jiang Shu cleared her throat, “but the moment you turn back, you won’t have any clothes to wear…”

The leopard cat stared at Jiang Shu with a resentful look in its eyes for a good ten seconds before reluctantly pointing to a few items and then deliberately marking the specifications and models with its paw.

Jiang Shu didn't agree immediately. Instead, she took down the items she had selected and, under the sales assistant's disapproving look, compared them one by one to the cat.

"This one suits your skin tone, it's not bad. This white one is also fine, it can tone down your gaudiness... Let's skip this black one, how about blue instead? The black one is a bit rough, I'm afraid your delicate skin won't be able to handle it."

The sales assistant stood to the side, her eyes slightly horrified.

Should she suggest that the other person go to the pet store in front to choose pet clothes?
And that cat, why can such a series of human emotions such as aloofness, arrogance, irritability, and shyness appear on the face of an ordinary cat?

She swallowed hard: "Um... what kind of high-intelligence breed is your cat?"

Jiang Shu paused for a moment: "I'll tell you the types of clothes. Can you give me a discount on these clothes?"

A soft, elegant laugh came from outside the door, and a tall, slender figure slowly walked in.
"Mr. Jiang, I can give you a much better price."

(End of this chapter)