Chapter 1: Turned Into a Cat?

Outside a fancy apartment building, a guard stopped a nice car.

"Hi, do you have an appointment?"

The man driving gave his phone number, and the guard let them drive in.

"Why does Tan Chen live here? It's so small!" said the woman in the front seat..

She flipped her hair and looked at the buildings with a sour face. "They call this place 'fancy,' but everyone's squeezed together. If he still lived in the family's big house, we wouldn't have to drive so far to find him!"

Song Yijiang ignored her complaining and said, "It's close to his company. Only ten minutes walking. If he lived at the big house, it would take hours to get to the city."

"Then why doesn't he build the company near the house!"

Song Yijiang: "......"

If he hadn't grown up with Li Jiaojiao since they were kids, he really wouldn't want to deal with her.

True to her name, Li Jiaojiao had been spoiled rotten by her family since she was little. To put it nicely, she was innocent and never worried about anything.

To put it not so nicely, she just got more foolish as she got older.

After thinking this to himself, Song Yijiang felt a little guilty and glanced at her.

Then he explained again, patiently.

"If the company were near the house, and it's hours from the city, how would they even find workers?"

Li Jiaojiao heard the slight scorn in his voice. She made an annoyed sound and turned to look out the window.

Right at that moment, Su Jiujiu's soul arrived in this new world and opened her eyes.

After hearing what they said, she quickly figured something out.

Song Yijiang — the male lead's best friend. Li Jiaojiao — the story's evil "Woman Number Three."

Good, now she understood who was who. Next, she just had to play the evil "Woman Number Two"... wait! Su Jiujiu suddenly felt something was wrong.

Why was she looking at things from so low down?

Why did she see metal bars in front of her, like she was in a little jail?

Why had her hands turned into two furry paws?

Su Jiujiu lifted up her paw. Her cat eyes were full of very human shock. She had turned into a cat!

"System!!! Get out here now!"

The system spoke up, sounding nervous: [Uh, coming, coming.]

Su Jiujiu was mad. "What is going on? Weren't you supposed to send me into the book as a human, to play the bad supporting character, finish the job, and go home? Why am I a cat now?"

The system coughed a little. [Well... actually, something small went wrong when we sent your soul in. We didn't have enough points to trade for a human body. So we had to pick a cat instead...]

Su Jiujiu stared at it, suspicious. "Are you kidding me? You didn't have enough points, but you still went ahead and picked a body for me anyway?"

Faced with her anger, the system finally broke down and started crying loudly.

[Fine, I'll admit it! When I was new, I was young and silly, and I spent all my starting points buying myself a cute look. I only found out later those points were supposed to be used to give you a human body after you went into the book... but pandas are just SO cute!]

While crying, it took shape in the air — it looked exactly like a baby panda sitting on the ground, crying its eyes out. Only Su Jiujiu could see it.

[New systems usually look like an ugly camera! I didn't read the manual in time. I just wanted a cuter look, so I spent almost all my points on it...]

Su Jiujiu took a deep breath. She had no choice but to accept this bad news.

"Okay, let's not talk about that right now. The real problem is — how am I supposed to finish this job like this?"

If she had a human body, all she had to do was stay near the male lead, act sweet but sneaky, and earn points to go home. But now she was a cat — how could she do any of that?

The system scratched its head. [Why don't you just be a sneaky, sweet-acting cat instead? It's still doing the job, right? Not that different!]

Su Jiujiu: "...That actually makes sense."

Since the problem seemed solved, the system got excited again. [Your job is to play an evil, sneaky "Woman Number Two." In the story, you're supposed to fight hard with "Woman Number Three" — she also loves the male lead. But the male lead doesn't care about either of you at all. He's still waiting, staying pure, for the one true female lead to show up. Then he'll break every rule for her!]

Su Jiujiu felt her teeth hurt just hearing this. "And then what?"

[I can't tell you the rest until the female lead shows up. Right now, your job is to act as sweet and sneaky as you can in front of the male lead, and fight hard with Woman Number Three. Make the male lead sick of women like you two. Then, when the kind, simple female lead finally appears, he'll think she's so much better — not fake at all!]

"Wow, what a totally 'not fake' story," Su Jiujiu said flatly. "So what am I now, as a cat?"

[Right now, you're a pet cat that Woman Number Three is about to bring to the male lead's house. She wants to use the cat as an excuse to visit him often.]

Su Jiujiu understood. "So I need to make sure I get to stay at his house. That's how the story moves forward, right?"

[Exactly!]

Song Yijiang was driving. He glanced in the mirror and saw the cat in the back seat — one moment clawing wildly at the air, the next staring blankly at its own paws, then flopping down with its tongue out. It looked very strange.

"Are you sure this cat is okay? Something feels off about it."

"Huh?" Li Jiaojiao turned to look. "I had someone check it fully. It's totally fine."

With both of them staring at her, Su Jiujiu's cat body froze. She quickly sat up straight, put her paws together neatly, and looked back at them with big wet eyes, tilting her head. "Meow?"

Even a tough guy like Song Yijiang couldn't help but soften. "It's really cute."

Li Jiaojiao had also thought so — until she heard him say it. Then her face changed. "What if Tan Chen thinks it's cute too?"

Song Yijiang looked at her like she was silly. "Isn't that the whole point — you want it to stay at his house? Isn't being cute a good thing?"

Li Jiaojiao bit her lip. She couldn't quite explain the mixed feelings inside her.

She did want to leave the cat at Tan Chen's place, so she'd have a reason to visit later. But what if Tan Chen liked the cat too much?

No, no, that couldn't happen. A man like Tan Chen only cared about work — there was no way a cat could win him over.

After telling herself this, she noticed the car had already stopped outside the apartment building.

Song Yijiang went to park the car. She stood downstairs holding the cat carrier, waiting for him.

"Listen up," Li Jiaojiao said to Su Jiujiu inside the carrier, giving a classic evil-girl smile. "Be a good cat and stay at Tan Chen's place. I'll come visit you sometimes... oh wait, I mean I'll come visit Tan Chen sometimes."

Then she laughed happily, as if she could already see a bright future ahead.

Su Jiujiu, hiding in the corner of the carrier: "...Help. Something is really wrong with her."

The baby-panda system, squeezed in beside her, nodded nervously. [No wonder she gets to be the evil character. Host, take notes!]

When Song Yijiang came back, he typed in the door code and rode the elevator up with Li Jiaojiao.

Tan Chen's front door was already open. The two of them changed their shoes and walked in .

" Brother Tan! Jiaojiao brought you a gift!" Li Jiaojiao shouted the moment she walked in, heading straight for Tan Chen's bedroom.

Song Yijiang quickly grabbed her. "Tan Chen doesn't like people going into his room."

In the end, Li Jiaojiao was reluctantly dragged over and made to sit on the sofa in the living room.

Soon, Tan Chen came out of his bedroom.

He looked like he had just showered, wearing light white home clothes that made him look tall, and his nice body was half-hidden, half-shown.

A towel hung around his neck. His damp black hair fell down, half-covering his deep, bright eyes, you could only see a little bit through the gaps.

Li Jiaojiao, who had just been complaining about how small this place was, felt her heart beat faster at the sight of him looking so relaxed at home.

Two swallowing sounds came from the living room.

That's right, two — one from Li Jiaojiao, and one from cat-Su Jiujiu.

As for Song Yijiang, he was already used to his childhood friend's good looks, so he felt nothing.

Su Jiujiu lifted a paw and wiped at her mouth, even though there was no drool there. "System, he's so handsome."

The system was very proud. [Of course! He's the male lead! How could he not be handsome!]

That made sense, and Su Jiujiu had expected it, but she was still dazzled. So this was the difference between a book's male lead and real life.

Li Jiaojiao seemed a little dazed too. Just as she snapped out of it and opened her mouth to speak, Tan Chen spoke first.

"Why are you two here?"

"We came to give you a birthday present!" Li Jiaojiao lifted up the cat carrier. "Look, I brought you a British Shorthair cat! One year old, very easy to take care of!"

Tan Chen only glanced at it. "No thanks. Take it back."

"But you're always home alone. Wouldn't it be nice to have a pet with you? I can come take care of it a lot, you don't need to worry about it!" Li Jiaojiao said quickly.

Tan Chen didn't pause even a second. "I don't need company, and I won't keep a pet. If you don't take it back, I'll throw it out myself."

"But..." Li Jiaojiao wanted to keep trying, but she was a little scared of his cold face.

While she was stuck between pushing on and giving up, she noticed the cat quietly watching everything from the carrier.

Her eyes lit up. She quickly pushed Su Jiujiu forward.

"Maybe you just haven't felt how fun it is to have a pet! She's so cute!"

Once she was pushed out, Su Jiujiu knew this was her moment.

She leaned against the bars of the carrier, stared at the male lead with big sad eyes, and gave a pitiful "meow."

Tan Chen's eyes met hers. She even stuck her fuzzy white paw out through the bars, reaching toward him.

"Meow?" Quick, let me stay!

But the man just looked at her calmly. "I'll say it again, I don't need a pet."

Li Jiaojiao still wanted to push further, but Song Yijiang held her back.

"Forget it. If Tan Chen doesn't want her, just take her back. Don't make it worse."

His warning finally worked. Li Jiaojiao had brought the cat to try to get closer to Tan Chen, if the cat wasn't helping, forcing it would only make things awkward.

Seeing that she understood, Song Yijiang quickly picked up the carrier and pulled Li Jiaojiao toward the door.

As they left, he mouthed to Tan Chen: I'll come alone next time.

.....

While waiting for the elevator, Li Jiaojiao took out all her anger on the cat.

"You're totally useless!"

"Forget it. Some people just don't like pets, and you know Tan Chen likes being alone anyway. So, what do we do with the cat now?"

Li Jiaojiao gave a cold laugh. "Take it back to the shop, obviously. You think I'm going to keep it? It's completely useless!"

Since she hadn't managed to stay at the male lead's house, Su Jiujiu was worried too. Just then, the system sent her a new mission.

[Mission 1: A bad supporting character must know how to act pitiful and be shameless. Use pure stubbornness to stay at the male lead's house. Reward: 100 points.]

The system rubbed its hands together, excited. [Finally, a mission! Finish it and get 100 points!]

Su Jiujiu got excited too. "How many points do I need for a new human body?"

[...5,000 points.]

Su Jiujiu: now she understood exactly how many points the system had wasted on that panda look.

But how could she actually manage to stay at the male lead's house?

Frustrated, she pushed against the carrier, and it suddenly popped open a little.

Wow! The carrier hadn't been locked properly!

Su Jiujiu had an idea right away. The moment the elevator arrived, she pushed the door open, jumped down, and dashed away in a flash.

"Hey!"

Ignoring Li Jiaojiao's shout behind her, Su Jiujiu ran quickly back to the male lead's apartment.

The door hadn't fully closed yet, so she squeezed through the gap without hesitation.

Getting inside wasn't enough, she turned around and pushed her paws against the door, trying hard to shut it, so no one could throw her back out.

"What are you doing?"

The male lead's voice came from behind her. Su Jiujiu's cat body froze

. She turned around and saw that Tan Chen was still sitting in the living room, he had watched everything she did.

She quickly pulled her paws back, turned around, sat down on the floor, tilted her head, and looked at him like she had done nothing wrong.

Tan Chen looked at the small creature by the door and frowned. "Did Li Jiaojiao tell you to run back here?"

"Meow meow meow." What are you saying? I don't understand you.

Pretending not to understand, Su Jiujiu stood up and walked over to him with graceful little cat steps, then jumped up onto his knee.

She was testing him a little with this, but Tan Chen didn't stop her at all. He just looked down at her quietly, as if waiting to see what she would do next.

Su Jiujiu made up her mind. She jumped, trying to wrap herself around his neck.

Of course, her tiny paws couldn't really hold on. Just as she was about to fall, Tan Chen reached out and caught her.

"Little one, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Meow meow meow!" Let me stay!

Once he was holding her, Su Jiujiu got even bolder.

She reached out her furry little paws, pressed them against his face, and rubbed her cat face against his.

"Meow, meow~"

Keep me, please keep me. Li Jiaojiao and I might both be "bad characters," but we are not on the same side~

Just then, the system made a "ding" sound and gave her a message.

[Congratulations, Host! You've naturally learned a basic "sneaky sweet girl" move — "She's not like me at all, I'm the real favorite one." Reward: 50 points. Keep it up!]

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***