Directions for Business Expansion

Because of Lin Guo's wild idea at that Youzui all-hands meeting, Zheng Qing had suddenly seen the light. Not only had he found an outlet for his cat subordinates' "excess" productivity, but he had also found a "flagship product" for the hunting team's as-yet-unopened shop on Pedestrian Street—selling rats might have a time limit and be a one-off business, but the short-term demand was enormous.

So, starting a few days ago, Zheng Qing and Xiao Xiao had taken advantage of the time after afternoon classes and dinner, when they went out for a walk to aid digestion, to summon his cat subordinates and have them catch rats.

This time, the young scholarship student had greatly relaxed his requirements for the rats. Whether physically disabled or mentally listless, as long as it was a live rat, he wanted it.

The reason he did not want dead rats was, on one hand, because of poor storage conditions—the street-facing shop on Pedestrian Street was very small and had no separate refrigeration facilities, making it extremely difficult to preserve a pile of dead rats. On the other hand, it was a matter of price. No matter when, live ones were always worth more than dead ones.

Though live rats were a bit more troublesome to care for—they needed to prepare a large number of cages, food, and fresh water, and occasionally stick up talismans to dispel pestilential air or keep the rat colony calm—their higher price meant that keeping live rats was relatively more profitable.

In a clearing in the woods.

The black cat paced leisurely around the pile of rats. Dr. Xiao held a notebook and scribbled beside him, recording the day's haul. The cats crouched obediently some distance away, staring eagerly at the two big shots inspecting their "tribute," hoping to