Chapter 21: Throwing Money Like Water
The big cat sensed Ning Yunyi’s gaze and slowly opened its beastly eyes.
Unlike the dull, gray pupils it had a few days ago, the color was now slightly deeper. Its vertical pupils and the fur covering its body appeared fluffy and radiant under the sunlight.
Ning Yunyi waved at it.
The big cat choked at the sight of his playful "cat-teasing" gesture. But after having eaten two large bowls, it lowered its eyes and cautiously leaned its big head forward.
Ever since Ning Yunyi had traded a basket of strawberries for the chance to pet its head for half an hour, he would occasionally come by to play around. However, the touching was only limited to its large ears, which was still within its tolerable range.
After getting used to it, the big cat even found itself somewhat accustomed to the smell of food that lingered on Ning Yunyi whenever he approached.
As usual, Ning Yunyi began by playing with the large, soft ears, enjoying their texture. Then, he carefully examined a scar behind one of the ears.
The wound, which had just started to scab over yesterday, had now completely healed, and even tiny new hairs were beginning to grow over the scarred area.
In a few days, it should be fully fluffy again.
Ning Yunyi was in a great mood. He checked a few more of the deeper wounds, including the ones that had once cut to the bone.
As he had suspected yesterday, his spiritual energy had indeed played a significant role in healing the wounds.
The big cat allowed him to continue without moving. However, its tail behind it twitched rhythmically.
Ning Yunyi glanced at the tail, amusement glinting in his eyes. It seemed this creature wasn’t as calm as it appeared. Compared to the beginning, it even seemed to be... enjoying it?
The big cat had initially closed its eyes, but unlike before, this time, it finally opened them.
However, just as it did, Ning Yunyi withdrew his hand.
The big cat let out a sigh of relief. Though this human’s proximity made it feel comfortable—the scent and touch seemed able to soothe its uncontrollable rage—it still wasn’t used to too much contact with people. This amount was already the most it could restrain itself.
Fortunately, Ning Yunyi stopped.
The big cat thought Ning Yunyi would leave as usual after petting it, but instead, he opened the cage.
When the door to the cage swung open, The big cat froze for a moment. It thought it was seeing things and looked at Ning Yunyi in shock: "??" What did this mean?
Was he disgusted because it had eaten too much and was planning to abandon it?
Didn’t he say he was going to take care of it?
Ning Yunyi could see the hint of grievance in The big cat’s eyes. He stood up and moved aside, saying, “Really? You actually enjoy being locked up like this?”
Previously, because The big cat was injured and didn’t fully trust him, it had to be kept locked up.
Now that both issues were resolved, there was no need to keep it confined.
Realizing what his words meant, The big cat slowly got to its feet, immediately making the already cramped cage feel even smaller.
So, it could go out now?
Ning Yunyi spread his hands. “But before you leave, let’s set some rules. First, your activity is limited to the courtyard and the first floor. You can’t go upstairs unless Xiao Zai is in danger. Second, you can’t appear in the kitchen while I’m live-streaming.”
The big cat had no reason to refuse and obediently nodded its big head.
With Ning Yunyi’s approval, it finally stepped out.
Unnoticed by either of them, Ning Xiaomiao had snuck up behind Ning Yunyi, clutching the corner of his clothes. His large, green eyes were wide with curiosity as he stared at the big cat.
While the big cat had been in the cage, Ning Xiaomiao hadn’t fully grasped its size. But now, as The big cat silently padded closer on the soft mat, the sight left Ning Xiaomiao’s mouth hanging open in shock.
His eyes sparkled brightly, as if he had found a new goal to strive for. He was determined to eat well and grow strong so that one day, he could be as big and strong as the big cat and protect his father!
If Ning Yunyi knew what Ning Xiaomiao was thinking, he’d probably be speechless. But it wasn’t necessary.
When Ning Xiaomiao had crouched in front of the cage, he would often watch the big cat from a distance. But now that he was up close, he didn’t dare approach.
Ning Yunyi wasn’t in a hurry. After all, children naturally love fluffy things. Soon enough, The big cat and Xiaomiao would be playing together.
They were both of the same kind, after all.
But before that, he placed a bracelet, which he had stayed up all night to make, around Ning Xiaomiao’s wrist.
The bracelet had been specifically designed for Ning Xiaomiao. It contained a mixture of high-tech components and a program he had personally set up.
Once it detected any nearby danger or attack, it would instantly activate a spiritual energy barrier. The barrier would not only block the threat but would also protect Xiaomiao for ten minutes inside the shield.
Currently, Ning Yunyi didn’t have much spiritual energy, so it could only last ten minutes. As his energy grew, he could extend the time.
Although Ning Xiaomiao was always by his side, there was no guarantee that nothing would happen.
The bracelet wasn’t like the usual high-tech ones. Instead, it was shaped like a small cat, with its furry body wrapped around her wrist. Its tail coiled around the inner side of her wrist, and the entire thing clasped around her arm, looking both playful and cute.
Ning Xiaomiao’s eyes lit up as he held the bracelet like a treasure. He tilted his head up and rubbed his little head against his father in an attempt to express his affection.
Ning Yunyi chuckled and picked up the little one, playing with him for a while before letting him go to play with the big cat.
After Ning Yunyi left, the big cat, worried about scaring the child, lay down in a corner. It placed its front paws together and rested its head on its fluffy paw pads, lazily watching Ning Xiaomiao... or rather, the bracelet on his wrist.
At first, Ning Xiaomiao was still a bit too nervous to approach, but when he noticed the big cat’s gaze, his eyes lit up.
He squatted down in front of the big cat, showing off his wrist. Pointing at the bracelet, he gestured excitedly.
“My father made this for me, and I’m the only one who has it.”
“Did your father ever make you a bracelet?”
“Maybe you want one, but you’re a big cat now, so you need to learn to make it yourself. Even if you can’t, this one’s from my dad. If you want one, you’ll have to ask your own father.”
The big cat strangely understood the little one’s babbling and fell silent. Why wasn’t it time for dinner yet?
But it quietly stayed there, accompanying the little one in his “showing off,” occasionally glancing at the bracelet, then glancing again.
While the silent conversation between one person and one cat continued downstairs, upstairs, Ning Yunyi activated the bracelet and entered Xingbo.
After his midday live stream ended, he had withdrawn most of the star coins from his account, leaving only a few hundred.
He had also planted a small program that would alert him when the total star coins reached 100,000.
However, not long after ending his live stream, he received a notification: “Withdrawal amount reached, ready for withdrawal.”
Ning Yunyi found this odd. Although his fan base had grown rapidly in recent days, and the tips had been substantial, earning 100,000 in two hours seemed too far-fetched.
Either the program had malfunctioned, or someone had gone on a tipping spree after the stream ended.
At the time, he had been busy checking The big cat and hadn’t given it much thought.
Now, entering the Xingbo backend, he clicked in and saw the current balance of star coins. He went silent.
He counted twice. It was indeed one million.
Who had suddenly thrown one million star coins at him? Were they crazy?
He clicked into the details. The top contributor was far ahead of the second place by a large margin, and the name was familiar.
It was none other than the previous top supporter, An Dong.
Within the minute that Ning Yunyi was looking at it, An Dong’s tipping amount had surged by another 20,000.
If the platform didn’t limit tips to 10,000 star coins at a time, this person might have easily thrown in millions.
Not only Ning Yunyi, but even the fans who hadn’t yet left the live stream were stunned: “??”
Aside from the tips that kept flashing, there was also the fact that before tipping the streamer directly, An Shao had scattered 100,000 star coins among the fans in the chatroom.
The fans who managed to grab some, received at least 100 star coins, with some getting over 1,000.
【?? What’s going on? The tips aren’t stopping.】
【Old Man An must be heading to the ER. His son is wasting money like crazy!】
【You don’t get it. This is called the power of money. Look at what An Corp does—nutrition supplements! Bold guess: they’re trying to buy the streamer’s cooperation. In the future...】
【Oh no, does that mean we won’t be able to get the flavors anymore?】
【On the bright side, maybe the cooperation will mean that even though the price goes up, everyone can get a tube of delicious nutritional supplement?】
【But it won’t taste as good as the original, right?】
The live stream chat was filled with mixed feelings, with fans unsure what An Shao was up to.
Ning Yunyi glanced at the tips that still hadn’t stopped and opened his private messages. Sure enough, an hour before the tipping spree began, An Dong had left him a few messages.
However, the messages were somewhat strange.
【An Dong: Mr. Zong, if you see this message, can you reply? I have something important to discuss with you.】
【An Dong: If you don’t want to reply, it’s okay, too. I’m not tipping for any other reason but to thank you for saving a life.】
【An Dong: I tipped the fans in the chat because I took up six of the 40 slots today. The tips are just to make up for that.】
Ning Yunyi read through the three messages. He understood the last one, but the first two seemed odd.
When had he ever saved An Dong?
Unable to figure it out, he simply replied:
【#1 knife of the sect: ?? I’ve never saved you.】
An Dong’s tipping finally stopped. He was probably too excited about Ning Yunyi’s reply to continue.
【An Dong: Ahhh, Mr. Zong, you replied! I swear I’m not trying to use money to insult you. I really want to thank you. The flavors of your meals saved Brother Xun’s life today.】
【#1 knife of the sect: What do you mean?】
【An Dong: I haven’t been on the live stream these past two days because a family elder—Brother Xun—was in trouble. His mental breakdown reached level 6, and if it hit level 7, he would’ve been dead. I just wanted him to smell the ancient Blue Star food before he died. But when I managed to grab six servings today and placed them by his bedside, you won’t believe it—he was at death’s door, and the moment the food’s aroma filled the room, Brother Xun’s mental breakdown dropped two levels!! Even 3S-level healers can’t do that! That’s what I wanted to tell you. Did you know? Did you know the food you make can suppress mental breakdowns?】
Ning Yunyi furrowed his brows as he read An Dong’s long message.
He didn’t respond immediately.
An Dong’s claim that the food could suppress mental breakdowns was probably inaccurate. It was more likely that the spiritual energy he infused into the food was responsible.
He had known that spiritual energy could accelerate recovery, which was what he had been trying to confirm with The big cat today.
But he hadn’t expected that food infused with spiritual energy could suppress mental breakdowns—and with such a significant effect.
Even 3S-level healers couldn’t manage that?
An Dong’s last cautious question made Ning Yunyi acutely aware of the dangers that could arise if this information got out.
Especially given the current state of the Ning family.
When Ning Yunyi didn’t immediately reply, An Dong grew uneasy, worried that Mr. Zong might misunderstand. He quickly sent another message to explain.
【An Dong: [Voice Message.wma]—Text Version: Mr. Zong, I mean no harm, really. I’m just giving you a heads-up. I swear on my entire family that we would never do anything to harm you. The person you saved is the future heir of the Xun family. You know the Xun family, right? The Xun family from the main star—Xun Xun. Brother Xun has a great reputation. Back when he was at the Main Star Academy, he was as famous as Ning Zhanfeng.】
In a panic, An Dong sent a voice message. Once it was sent, he realized what he had said. Although he didn’t believe that the Ning family would do anything like that, how could he bring up Ning Zhanfeng at this moment? What if Mr. Zong believed the rumors circulating outside...
Just when An Dong thought he had messed everything up, a message popped up from the other side.
【#1 knife of the sect: Say that again. Who was he compared to?】
Ning Zhangfeng is the og big brother or smt? It definitely wasn't his father cuz we know back then the dad is a researcher (unless author forget about that).
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