We moved to Golden Courtyard

"Everyone thinks it's impossible, but you believe it, right, Ritsuki?"

Xu Qi's words left both women somewhat stunned.

Cheng Lixue stared blankly at Xu Qi for a long time before downing the tea in her cup in one gulp and saying nonchalantly, "Whether you believe it or not... it doesn't matter."

"I have a bold guess, would Miss Lixue be willing to hear it?"

Cheng Lixue tilted her head slightly – “Speak freely.”

"That narrow alley we wandered into earlier, isn't it actually the old site left over from Twilight Street? There were a lot of stray cats there."

Cheng Lixue nodded.

"It's obvious that those homeless stray cats have made that place their gathering place. But I have a question—what do they eat?"

Indeed, this place is close to areas with high foot traffic, so you can rummage through trash cans, and there's always some edible garbage to be found on the street. But the stray cats all roam freely...

With such a large number of stray cats scattered about, they would not only attract the attention of the owners of the flower and bird market, but it's also impossible for us to walk on the street without seeing a single cat.

So they have always stayed in that place and haven't left.

Cheng Lixue remained silent for a long time before saying, "What do you want to say?"

"That light brown chinchilla steals things, it steals cat food, not for anything else. It's for the sake of those stray cats on the streets, so they can survive."

"Ridiculous!" Cheng Lixue said mercilessly, "It's just a cat! How could it possibly have this kind of intelligence! Are you insulting my intelligence? Or..."

"Or did you actually know everything about that cat all along?"

As soon as Xu Qi finished speaking, Cheng Lixue's expression changed completely.

"You're actually a New Type, aren't you... Ms. Ritsuki?"

"You!..." Cheng Lixue was startled. Just as she was about to ask, she sensed the powerful spiritual energy emanating from Xu Qi, as majestic as the Yangtze River.

So that's how it is...

She sighed, feeling as if her underwear had been seen through.

“Indeed, Mr. Xu Qi, like you, I can manipulate mental power, and my ability is—to understand the language of animals.”

"So now you're calling me Mr. Xu Qi?"

Cheng Lixue was stunned.

　Xu Qi smiled and said, “We’re already friends, aren’t we? You call me Xu Qi, and I call you Li Xue. Isn’t that nice? Why are we suddenly becoming distant?”

……

"Pfft!... Hahaha!" Cheng Lixue suddenly laughed heartily, this time truly carefree, saying, "I was wrong! You're right, Xu Qi, we're friends!"

Alicia watched from the side, her lips curving into a smile and her eyes narrowing.

"Since we're friends, can you please stop hiding things from me this time, Lixue?"

Cheng Lixue nodded gently. She glanced out the window, her eyes filled with a hint of reminiscence.

"That was back in my university days. At that time, Huanghun Street was still under renovation, and I happened to be passing by on my way, and then... I saw a scene that I will never forget."

······

"Meow!"

"Brother, this cat is acting strange. Should we leave?"

"Go away! What a joke! We're human, why would we be afraid of cats!?"

"But……"

"But what? There are so many stray cats here, no one will know if I catch a few to play with. Hmm? How about this one? Look at those short legs, if we cut off all four, it'll be so much fun~~ Hehe~~"

A light rain was falling, and Cheng Lixue, holding an umbrella, stopped in her tracks.

Two people and a cat faced off in a narrow alley. Behind the cat lay a stray cat, still barely alive, its blood flowing into the sewers along with the rainwater.

"Look at me... Ah!"

Using her umbrella as a sword, Cheng Lixue quickly chased away the two cat-abusing perverts.

She crouched down, held the umbrella over the dead stray cat, and glanced at the light brown chinchilla beside her, which was also soaked to the bone by the rain.

Are you protecting it?

"Meow……"

Cheng Lixue's face fell.

"Come with me, I can take care of you."

"Meow."

Cheng Lixue stared blankly at the kitten.

"That's impossible. There are too many of them. If they're discovered, they'll definitely be driven away to another place."

"Meow!"

"Have you thought this through? It's practically impossible to do."

"Meow."

Cheng Lixue frowned.

"You want me to leave?... You're thinking too simply. Those people are only here today because I'm here. If I leave, they'll definitely come back."

"Meow!" (Then I'll protect them too!)

Cheng Lixue fell silent...

The chinchilla seemed to realize how difficult this was, and after hesitating for a long time, it looked at Cheng Lixue.

"Meow?" (Can you help me?)

……

"Okay! I'll help you."

539. Miss Paddy is a hero among mortals.

"That's how it all happened. Later, I used the money I earned from part-time jobs in college and from winning competitions to open a cat café in this flower and bird market."

I've gotten used to this kind of life, though sometimes I really think... I might be pretty stupid.

"This isn't stupidity, Miss Ritsuki!" Alicia suddenly stood up!

Her eyes were bright and piercing as she stared intently at Cheng Lixue in front of her, as if she had discovered some treasure.

"Because of a promise, you have guarded them here for four whole years—Miss Lixue, you always say, who in today's society would still believe in chivalrous heroes?"

But aren't you... a true knight-errant?!

"!"

Xu Qi looked at Ai Li, who was unusually excited beside him, and smiled.

Perhaps in Alicia's eyes, Miss Ritsuki seemed to be shining with light.

The brilliance of humanity.

Ellie suddenly turned her head to look at Xu Qi.

"Xu Qi, let's tell Pado all this. She'll definitely understand! Maybe she'll even..."

"If that's the case, then we need to seize it even more."

The sudden sound made all three people present look towards the door in surprise.

There, Pado appeared at some unknown time.

Xu Qi found it hard to imagine that one day he would see such a complex emotion on the face of this usually carefree girl.

Ellie said in a daze, "Pado?"

"Like this... all it gets in the end is suffering!"

Cheng Lixue frowned. She subconsciously wanted to refute it, after all, to her, that Chinchilla was like a friend she had known for several years.

Before she could say anything more, Pado rushed out the door!

"Pado!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Alicia got up and chased after them.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Lixue was slightly taken aback, but she also chased after him!

She guessed what the cat-like girl was going to do; she was definitely going to catch that chinchilla!

Xu Qi, however, remained seated in his original position.

He finished the tea in his cup, recalling Pado's expression just now.

Why... was it so sad?

······

"Brother Jie, do you think it's not sustainable for Pado to go out and steal every day? Doesn't she have a proper job?"

"Being a thief is her job."

"Forehead……"

“That’s how it used to be on Huanghun Street. Back then, I would move goods for people, while she would buy goods from outside. She wouldn’t keep the money for herself; she would give it all away.”

"Rob the rich to help the poor?"

"They're just out of their minds. They're all homeless people gathered there. They have hands and feet, what can't they do?"

"I'm still hoping that life can get a little better... Maybe for Pado, we're all from Twilight Street, and it's always right to support each other."

"Yes...they're all from Twilight Street..."

Qianjie sneered as he finished speaking.

"Later, Huanghun Street was included in the planning area, and all the homeless people living there were to be driven away. A bulldozer was brought in and demolished those makeshift sheds."

That day, Pado just spent a little too long sunbathing outside. When she came back... the once familiar Dusk Street was now a ruin, and all the familiar people had disappeared.

I finally found a place to live on Twilight Street, and now it's all gone.

"what……"

"For Pado, everything she had done before seemed like a joke. Twilight Street was gone, and the wanderers were once again homeless."

Life went on year after year, nothing changed, and things even got worse.

This silly cat... what needs to change isn't about having more or less money.

······

That's why I have such a strong impression of the name Twilight Street, and that's why... when Pado left earlier, her eyes were filled with such heartache.

That chinchilla, wasn't it once a Padre?

……

"Boss! My wish is actually very simple: to have enough to eat and wear, and to be able to bask in the sun and take a nap every day!"

……

It is precisely because my wish is simple that I hope that everyone I know can at least live this kind of life.

But for Pado when she was a child, and for most people on Twilight Street at that time, even such a simple life was not guaranteed.

They were starving, cold, and lived in dark, damp corners, as if they would never see the sun in their entire lives.

What needs to be changed is never about having more or less money.

Padre learned this lesson from the pain she had experienced.

How could such a kind person want others to follow in her footsteps? Even if it's just a cat.

Xu Qi sighed softly.

A powerful spiritual force, centered on him, began to spread outward continuously.

Fu Hua and Fu Xian'er, who were shopping and sightseeing with their master, sensed it. While sensing Xu Qi's spiritual power, they also sensed another fluctuation of spiritual power that Xu Qi had simulated.