Seeing how happy the supercats were, Zhao Yao coughed and announced, "So... Everyone is now in charge of earning money. The harder you work, the better the business and the more money everyone earns. I'll need everyone's cooperation to focus on getting us more customers. Let's keep our phones away when we work. No one is allowed to use them or even secretly keep them with you. Is everyone agreeable? "
"Yeah!" The supercats meowed in unison.
"In future, I'll feed you half the amount of food for your eating breaks. The customers will buy you guys food so if you guys eat too much during your meal, you won't be able to eat what they feed you."
"Alright!" The supercats were fully supportive of his proposal.
"The more customers we get, the more money we earn. I, Zhao Yao, managed to get so far solely by my bravery and cats. As long as everyone works hard together and succeed, I will be sure to reward everyone accordingly. So please be approachable and bear with our customers. We can do this. "
"Yeah!" The supercats cheered once again.
Following Zhao Yao's pep talk, the supercats handed their phones over to Zhao Yao, ate half their usual amount for breakfast and proceeded to wait for the customers patiently.
Elizabeth activated Celestial Beats at its maximum capacity in an effort to make every customer that comes in feel so relaxed and happy that they wouldn't even think about leaving.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yao came up with an ingenious plan to expand the radius of Celestial Beats to the fence. This would then attract customers from outside the cafe without the need for them to enter.
Though this may attract more attention due to the extensive use of his superpowers, it is all for the accelerated growth of the café and Zhao Yao couldn't care less about the repercussions. After all, this determines how much money and experience points he could gain.
...
It was bright and early in the school campus as Yan Xiao Qing woke up from her sleep.
Her roommate was woken up by the sound of her wearing her clothes as she got up. Yan Xiao Qing's face was glittering with radiance. Her roommate yawned and asked, "Xiao Qing, why are you waking up so early in the morning recently? Didn't you sleep late yesterday night?"
Yan Xiao Qing was a cat lover. Besides being a cat lover, Yan Xiao Qing is completely a "stay home" type of girl in the eyes of her roommate. Besides going for lessons every day, she spends the rest of the time surfing the net, reading blogs, playing video games and watching cat videos in her room. She does all these things until late at night before she goes to sleep. That was basically a summary of a day in Xiao Qing's life.
Because of that, her face was often covered with pimples and her neck always sore from spending too much time in front of the computer. Huge eye circles surrounded her eyes which made her look like a lifeless person who severely lacked sleep.
However, what Xiao Qing's roommate just saw was a complete opposite of what she used to be. Her face was overflowing with energy and completely did not look like someone who had stayed up all night.
Yan Xiao Qing smiled and replied, "Mmm, I've been spending loads of time with cats these days and it seems like I've been sleeping better too." Xiao Qing washed her face and look at herself in the mirror. She smiled brightly as she noticed the pimples on her face have begun to slowly fade away.
Ever since she visited the cat cafe to stroke the cats, she could feel herself getting more and more energized each day. She slept much better than before and it seemed like her hormonal balance had improved lately as well.
Despite sleeping merely five to six hours a day, she still felt incredibly lively and tireless. Even the pimples on her face were beginning to fade away.
Yan Xiao Qing rubbed her neck and did a neck rotation. Due to her prolonged use of the computer, Xiao Qing always had a chronic neck problem. Miraculously, after several trips to the cat cafe, she no longer has a stiff neck and it felt a lot easier to move her neck around.
At the thought of visiting the cat cafe again today, Yan Xiao Qing jumped in excitement and couldn't wait to see the cats again.
"Should I play with the cats at the cafe today?" Xiao Qing thought to herself but noticed how empty her wallet was. "No no... I can't go there anymore for now or I won't have enough money for the month."
Half an hour later, Yan Xiao Qing sent a message to her mother.
'Mum, how are things over at home? Is everything well?"
"How much?"
"What do you see me as? Mum, I'm just concerned about you."
"Is RMB200 enough?"
"Okay okay, that's enough. Mum, stay healthy and take care. Your slave shall take her leave! Talk to you next time! "
Yan Xiao Qing happily accepted the RMB200 from her mum and just as she was about to wear her clothes and leave the house, her mum sent her a load of messages all of a sudden.
"Treasure your life, stay away from drugs."
"University students have to face 12 different types of temptations."
"Don't ever inhale white powder in the nightclub."
Seeing how concerned her mum was, Xiao Qing felt a little guilty about what she just did. But at the thought of going to the cat cafe, she forgot about it quickly and changed into a new set of clothes as she comforted herself. "This is all for my health. This is technology from MIT and because of my studies, I can only sleep five or six hours a day. Time is money; is my time not worth the RMB200?"
As she left the campus, Xiao Qing dragged a female student along with her as she headed for the cat cafe.
The girl wore a headband on her bob head and was petite in size. She resembled the looks of your average high school student.
The girl was Yan Xiao Qing's roommate, An Xin.
An Xin seemed pretty unhappy as Xiao Qing forcefully dragged her to the cat cafe.
She shot a glare at Xiao Qing, her eyes surrounded by two dark circles. "Xiao Qing! Would you please let me go? I have to revise for the upcoming test. I've already skipped two lessons and if I fail this retest, I'll have to retake this module next year again!"
Xiao Qing replied, "This is precisely why I brought you along to the cat cafe. Once you spend time with the cats, you'll feel very energetic and relaxed afterward and you'll be able to revise much more effectively."
An Xin looked extremely lethargic with her heavy-looking eyebags. She shook her head impatiently as she whined, "But I don't even like cats!! I was bitten by cats when I was young. Look! The scar is still there. I'm afraid of them..."
Xiao Qing continued to drag her along as she reassured An Xin. "Don't worry, the cats there are very friendly and approachable. They won't bite or scratch you even if you touch them. Give it a shot! Nothing bad will happen. If you tried and still wish to leave, I'll leave with you."
"But I still have to revise..."
"Aren't we close sisters? When did I ever do anything to hurt you? Let me tell you something. During Year 3 of high school, I was extremely stressed out with the workload but these cats helped me to de-stress and I managed to survive that tough period. Trust me, just spend one or two hours in the cat cafe. You'll feel so relaxed and comfortable afterward."
An Xin rolled her eyes as she couldn't believe how obsessed Xiao Qing was with cats.
An Xin took a quick glance at Xiao Qing's clothing which were covered in cat fur. She secretly swore to herself to never fall in love with cats; she didn't want her clothes to be covered in fur like Xiao Qing.
Being the good sister she was, An Xin was unwillingly dragged all the way till they reached the cat cafe. They stood outside the cafe and could see seven customers in the cafe already. For some reason, they seemed to be in some kind of trance.
There was something strange about the customers in the cafe. One of them was a middle-aged uncle who was teasing the cats in a really disturbing manner. He seemed to have no regard as to how he looked to everyone around him. One of the girls hugged the cat by her arms and buried her head into the cat's belly. Another middle-aged man was mumbling to the cats in a manner that made him look like a mentally ill person.
But all of them shared one thing in common. You could tell from each of their faces that they were completely enjoying themselves and immersed in a world of blissfulness.
The weirdest one was a male teenager. He did not play with the cats, instead, he arranged several chairs in a row and simply laid down on the chairs without a thought for his own image. He smiled happily to himself as he dozed off.
An Xin knew right away that something wasn't right. Her mind told her to get out of this place but before she could react, she was already being dragged inside by Yan Xiao Qing.